New Technology in Game Consoles

Thomas Darden

Electrical Engineering Dept.

The Citadel

Charleston, South Carolina

I.

Men and women of all ages enjoy video games more than ever and with rapidly advancing technology of today’s world, video games are becoming more and more realistic. Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One are the major competitors I today’s game console market. The friendly competition between the two corporations makes sure that consumers always get cutting-edge products at a good price. The consoles were released this year within one week of each other. The video game scene is a very lucrative market. In the early 1990’s, Nintendo generated more profits then all the American film industries combined. Because of the ability to gain such profits, Sony and Microsoft spend large amounts of money on research and development to gain just a slight advantage over their competitors to create a more desirable game system.

II.

With both producers having the same access to the technology of the day, there are bound to be similarities between the new products. Both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One have eight-core AMDx86 processors, eight gigabytes of RAM (random-access memory), and 500-gigabyte hard drives. The new consoles also share a high-tech camera with facial recognition that allows gamers to play some games with only their bodies. Both systems are Blu-Ray compatible. The PlayStation 4’s predecessor, the PlayStation 3 was also Blu-Ray compatible unlike the Xbox One’s predecessor, Xbox 360. Sony has made a change to their PS4 controller to make it more like the controllers of Xbox. The analog stick for the PS4 controller is now concave so that the player can better grip the equipment. The R2 and L2 are now slightly hooked in, much like Xbox 360’s controller, to prevent slipping. Both systems can recognize gamers by their controllers so that if two gamers switch seats, the in-game split screen with change so that the player’s screen is directly in front of them. In order to make more money, both systems are incompatible with their predecessors’ games, forcing gamers to buy a whole new array of games. Another similarity between the two products is the new closeness of the online gaming characteristics. Previously, the Xbox 360 charged a monthly fee for gamers to play on line while the PS3 offered the same thing for free. With the new systems, both producers will make gamers pay monthly fees for online access.

III.

Both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One have cameras to monitor gestures and microphones to receive audio commands the Xbox’s technology is clearly superior in this field. The Xbox can change channels on the TV, Download movies, and Skype with friends and family just by the sound of the consumer’s voice. The Xbox uses technology in its camera that can utilize facial recognition, monitor mood, and measure heart rate. The Xbox’s voice recognition works nine times out of ten while the PS4’s audio recognition is much less reliable. The Xbox One allows consumers to watch TV through the gaming system and record shows, all through only voice commands. An advantage for the PS4 is that it is easy to upgrade the hard drive with a separately sold product, this can prove very useful for future gaming where a gamer can very several hundred games downloaded onto his device. Both consoles have games with contracts exclusively for that console. Xbox has Forza, Halo, and Quantum Break, while PlayStation has Knack, Killzone, and Infamous. The Xbox boasts a much large array of exclusive games. A large difference between the two consoles is the price. The Xbox One is $430 but includes the Kinect Camera while the PlayStation 4 is $350 and the camera is sold separately for $45. Both consoles are incompatible with previous games but the Xbox One offers gamers the opportunity to plug in a Xbox 360 and play Xbox 360 games with a Xbox 360 controller but on the Xbox One interface.

IV.

Xbox is showing a more media approach to marketing and is clearly the better choice when it comes to apps and movies but if consumers are looking for a purely gaming device, the PS4 has a slight advantage

Feature / PlayStation 4 / Xbox One / Wii U
Price / $399.99[1] / $499.99[2] / $349.99/ 299.99
Release Date / US: 11.15.2013
EU:11.29.2013[3] / 11.22.2013[4] / 11.18.2012
Optical Drive / Blu-ray/DVD[5] / Blu-ray/DVD[6] / 25GB Optical Disc (Proprietary)
Game DVR / Yes, PS+ subscription not required[7] / Yes, with subscription to Xbox Live Gold[8] / No
RAM / 8GB GDDR5[9] / 8GB DDR3[10] / 2GB DDR3[11]
CPU / Single-chip x86 AMD "Jaguar" processor, 8 cores[12] / 8 Core Microsoft custom CPU[13] / Tri-Core PowerPC "Espresso" CPU[14]
GPU / AMD Radeon Graphics Core Next engine w/ 1152 shaders[15] / 853 MHz AMD Radeon GPU w/ 768 shaders[16] / AMD "Latte" 550 MHz GPU w/ 320 shaders[17]
Peak GPU Shader Throughput / 1.84 TeraFLOPS/s[18] / 1.31 TeraFLOPS/s (estimate)[19] / 0.352 TeraFLOPS/s[20]

Figure 1

V.

References

Multiple Authors. “PS4 vs. Xbox One Comparison Chart” Internet. http://www.ign.com/wikis/xbox-one/PS4_vs._Xbox_One_vs._Wii_U_Comparison_Chart, 11/28/13 [11/30/13]

Multiple Authors. “Microsoft Xbox One vs. Sony PS4: In Depth” Internet. http://www.stuff.tv/microsoft/microsoft-xbox-one-vs-sony-ps4-depth/feature, 11/21/13 [11/30/13]

Kirk Hamilton. “PS4 vs. Xbox One: The Comparison We Had to Make” Internet. http://kotaku.com/ps4-vs-xbox-one-the-comparison-we-had-to-make-1472058236, 11/27/12 [11/30/13]