PS4 vs. Xbox One: Which Console Is Right for You?
Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4 are constantly evolving, each adding new features and exclusive titles in a bid to take over your living room. The Xbox One offers a wealth of entertainment options and now plays a bunch of Xbox 360 games, while the PS4's excellent sharing capabilities make it easy to show friends your favorite gameplay clips — and even virtually hand your companions the controller for a little while.
Game Library
Both PS4 and Xbox One play many of this generation's best titles, from third-party blockbusters such as Fallout 4 and The Witcher 3 to charming indies such as Shovel Knight and Rocket League. Most sports games come to both systems, though Sony's MLB: The Show series is exclusive to PlayStation.
Winner: Xbox One. Both consoles have excellent game libraries, but Xbox One's robust first-party offerings and backward compatibility with Xbox 360 games give it an edge.
Hardware
Both consoles start with 500GB of storage, which will fill up fast considering how many games take up upward of 50GB on your hard drive. Fortunately, both consoles support expandable storage. Xbox One has the advantage in this department, as you can simply plug in any USB 3.0 external hard drive for more space. On PS4, you'll have to open up your console and swap in a new 2.5-inch or SATA drive.
Winner: PS4. Sony's new console is more attractive, with a controller that offers more functionality out of the box.
Interface and Streaming
Both consoles can broadcast gameplay directly to Twitch, though only PS4 can stream to YouTube. PS4 players can share their screenshots and videos to Facebook and Twitter, whereas Xbox owners are limited to the latter network.
Both systems also permit off-TV play, for those times the family is hogging the living room. Sony's Remote Play feature lets you stream PS4 games to a PlayStation Vita handheld or select Xperia devices, and will soon let you play your PS4 titles on PC and Mac. Xbox One players, on the other hand, can stream their games to their Windows 10 laptops or tablets.
Winner: PS4. Sony's system continues to have more-intuitive options for broadcasting gameplay and sharing with friends.
Online Experience
Microsoft's Xbox Live Gold and Sony's PlayStation Plus online services are both required for you to play any game's online multiplayer mode, and both come with their fair share of extra goodies.
Both services offer frequent discounts on digital games, and both provide cloud storage in different capacities. PlayStation Plus provides 10GB of cloud storage, whereas all your Xbox One saves are backed up to the cloud regardless of whether you have Xbox Live Gold.
Winner: Draw. PS4's online service offers a wider range of free games and can be had for cheaper, but Xbox One has better cloud storage and online stability.
