Saber Forum

Which is your console of choice (and why?)

Xbox, due to certain games but I like Live better than the PS network and I just got used to the Xbox after I bought my first with Halo.  I still did the PS but haven't really touched it since the PS3 and our 4 Pro is just sitting there.  We'll play it every now and then but the Xbox One X has the best graphics and is the most powerful console.  We play about 25 to 30 hours a week that's mainly fps like COD Black Ops 4, Destiny 2, Assassin's Creed: Odyseey, etc.  Really graphics intensive games and mainly online multiplayer Team Death Match. 

So, like many on the forum, I'm olg enough that my gaming goes back to the vintage days of SNES and Sege Megadrive. When the Playstation first came out I was at university. One weekend 3 friends and I hired a PS1 and three games from Blockbuster Videos (NBA Jam, Soul Blade and Tekken if memory serves correctly).

Fast forward a few years and blu-rays have just come onto the market. Being the massive movie fan I am, I was contemplating buying a blu-ray player. When exploring the costs it turned out a blu-ray player was only about £30 cheaper than a PS3. So I got a PS3 as it played dvds and bluray, I could watch BBC Iplayer and Netflix (and later Amazon Prime and NowTv). Plus, most importantly, there were games. Lots and lots of games.

To be honest, I prefer the set up of the controls on Playstation and the console specific games are better on PS3/PS4 than on Xbox in my opinion.

My very first console was the NES, then SNES, Gameboy, Gameboy Pocket, Color, Nintendo 64, Nintendo DS, PS1, Genesis, Game Gear, Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo WiiU, Xbox One X and I like the Xbox One X over the PS4 any day.  Sure, the PS has more exclusives, that I don't disagree.  Microsoft also purchased 5 studios this year so more exclusives will be specifically for the Xbox only so there's that for gamers who only want console exclusives.  I'm a gamer, spending 25 to 30 hours a week playing video games so performance and graphics are key which is where the Xbox is best at.  My One X also have BluRay which was what the 360 lacked but what we do watch are online so there's no real need of any discs in our household but we have it if we do.

I'm a serious gamer and have competed in several competitions in the past.  Performance is key in a console that I buy rather than exclusives which is why we also own the PS4 in case there's a game that we want.  We also have a Nintendo Switch which is really cool.

Honestly, it took some time to get used to the Xbox coming from a PS but I have large hands and it's comfortable to me.  I'm used to it now so it doesn't matter but now, the PS controller feels weird which is the opposite of you.

I liked the Xbox better during the last generation because many of the games I was more interested in were Xbox 360 exclusives, however I have found that the Xbox One has not had nearly the amount of great exclusives during this gen as the PS4. I've been die hard Xbox fan for a long time, but just picked up a PS4 for Black Friday because I was tired of seeing all these great exclusives that I wanted to play but couldn't. I don't really have an interest in setting up a gaming computer, and my work laptop is a Mac, so even PC games are usually out :(.

I'll have to see if the hype lives up. I've played PS4 quite a bit despite not owning one before (I lived in the basement of a Frat house because it was way cheaper than living in my sorority during college lol, so gaming was a huge thing with the guys), but found the controller a bit less intuitive. They also wanted to play a lot of shooters, which aren't really my thing unless I'm playing with other people. I generally play alone so the story rich and RPG options on the Xbox One have left something to be desired in comparison to the Ps4.

That being said, I didn't get an Xbox One until last year because I game so slowly (usually sinking hundreds of hours into games like Skyrim, or replaying different paths in games like Mass Effect, KoTOR etc) that I had a bunch of games still for the 360 I hadn't finished ;). With both consoles I don't know if I'll ever be able to get through all the games I want to play. The good thing about being a couple years behind any console is that I can start with older games and pick them up cheaply instead of spending ~$60 a pop for the newest releases.

Me too. I have never been one for online gaming. Maybe it's my age, as I remember when "gaming with your mates" meant everyone piled round someone's house who owned a console and winner stays on! LOL  

However, I do enjoy open world, story rich games. An RPG element is not essential, but when done right can be amazing.

Haha yeah, the only type of gaming with other people I like is when I've got friends over or we're playing together on a server. I don't really care for online games because I don't like dealing with trolls and squeakers (though when you meet a good, nice, kid who isn't screaming obscenities it's golden).

I'm an online gamer and quite honestly, the Xbox has a better community since you have to pay for it, it's less likely a little kid will get on trolling people and saying dumb stuff like on the PS network. 

But again, like you two have mentioned, you're not an online gamer type so it doesn't matter to you.

Fair enough! I've given a couple online PC MMO's a try and couldn't really get into them, may have to give the Xbox network a try someday. Thanks for the pro tip ;).

I have only gamed online once; Need for Speed Hot Pursuit on PS3. It was fun playing as the police chasing the Fast & Furious wannabes.

I've never had any interest in PC gaming though. Much prefer using a controller than a mouse. Plus, I like using my macbook for creative design stuff for work/friends.

PS4 for me. I much prefer the playstation OS over the Xbox's. Both have their advantages (Xbox's biggest being Halo), and I've played both Playstation and Xbox. When I was younger I'd play on a PS1, and occasionally a PS2 or 3 when over at a friends house. At about 10(?) my grandpa got rid of his PS1 and got a XBox 360, so I played that quite a bit until about 2015 when my bros started getting back into PS4, I've stuck with that for a while now. Most the people we play with have playstations, so that is another reason I play it. They are both good in their own ways, I just like Playstation better.

Heh, I didn't realize there was a thread for this. OK, I'll go into more detail than I did with the reply I left in the other thread.

So, XBOX or Playstation. Right now, XBOX. Though, there are caveats. I have a long history with both, going back to the original consoles for both. I have a Playstation, Playstation 2 and Playstation 4. I skipped the PS3 due to financial reasons. I also have an XBOX, XBOX 360 and XBOX One S. So, I've hit the highs and lows for both. I have managed to avoid red rings on any of my XBOXes, which is a feat, I guess.

So, onto why I prefer XBOX right now, despite the long histories with both. Basically, it boils down to reverse compatibility. Yup. Now, that was announced right after I got my PS4. I was lured to the PS4 by the Star Wars holiday bundle in 2015. It was either that or the Halo: Master Chief Collection bundle for the XBOX One, because I'm a Halo fan. But, there was nothing else really pulling me towards one or the other. Shortly after I bought it, Microsoft announced reverse compatibility for the XBOX One. Had I known that at the time, I'd have gotten that Halo bundle. None of the exclusives really do much for me on either system, other than the Halo games. Love me some Halo. I started playing that in 2001, when I was in the Army. Much of the stuff I play came out for both systems.

Anyway, I was always kind of "meh" about the PS4. It's OK, but some stuff about it drives me nuts. I hate the interface. Absolutely hate it. Everything is one screen, and you can't pin stuff to the front. So, if it's something you haven't used for a while, it gets shuffled back. The system puts stuff up front that I didn't want up front, so I had to put up with that crap. The media apps are all in one spot and that can't be sorted. They have stuff on there that you don't even have installed and it stays in place above stuff that you do have installed, so you then have to go through more crap to get to your stuff. The controller is OK. One thing I like about the controller is that you can just plug it in and charge it out of the box, no need to buy anything extra for that. That's nice.

The XBOX One S I like a lot. I got that as a demotion present for myself back in February. Some context: I voluntarily stepped down from a crappy supervisor position where I work back in February, and I'd had a bunch of money set aside for a work trip they were going to be sending me on. (training) Since I wasn't going to be a supervisor anymore, there was no need to go. Microsoft was having a sale with free games, so I bought the One S with the Master Chief bundle (naturally) directly from them. I got the Ezio Collection and Battlefront II free with that deal. I like the interface a lot better. I can pin stuff to my home screen. I can create little groups, like the one I have for my media apps. All that's in that group is what I put in there, so that's convenient. The main screen has tabs, with the store and other stuff in different tabs. I can also bring up a quick menu with stuff I can easily access. I was watching Deadpool 2 this morning and wanted to see how far along a download was. I was able to pull that up and see it was 92% without leaving the movie. (might be able to do that with the PS4 too, I can't remember) I like the controller shape and size better, but it's dumb that I had to buy a separate thing just to have rechargeable batteries. But, it wasn't expensive and I picked that up at work.

As for other features, it's a mixed bag for me. Even though the XBOX was touted as a huge multimedia console, the Playstation's Blu-Ray player app is better. It will remember where you are (on compatible discs) so that you can resume. The XBOX one doesn't remember where you are in any Blu-Ray film, except for ones that are formatted more like a DVD. Both apps remember where you are in a DVD. The XBOX one also has brain farts sometimes when I rewind, where I have to exit the app and restart the system to get it working again. ::) Upgrading the hard drive was less of a hassle on the XBOX One. For the Playstation 4, I had to buy two hard drives. The first was a USB 1TB Seagate drive that I bought at work and backed up my system and games to it. I had to have another drive to actually put into the system, then I had to install the software (from a flash drive) and then restore my stuff from the external HD. So, 3 drives used in that process. For the One, I hooked up that external Seagate drive, formatted it and it started saving stuff to it, no further steps involved. (They may have changed that on the PS4 since I upgraded mine, I don't remember)

Aside from all of that, (and that's just some of it) I'd been having issues with my PS4 since before I bought the XBOX One. I'd go to turn it off (or on) and the system would freeze on me. The power LED would stay white and the system would go unresponsive. The only way to fix this was to unplug and replug the system. Then I'd have to go through a disk scan and a lecture on how I should always turn off the console the correct way. I also noticed when this was happening that the console was running HOT. This was happening with increasing frequency when I finally unhooked the system and moved my media stuff to the XBOX One. That's pretty bad, considering that the console was only around two years old when this started. One thing I've noticed about the One S over the PS4 is that it has superior ventilation. Half of the top is a grill with a fan underneath to blow hot air out of the system.

So, anyway, those are my main reasons and beefs with both consoles. Both play games great, but there are just little things that push the XBOX over the top for me. But, it's a close call.

Also, why am I the only person in this thread who started with Atari? C'mon, let's get some more middle aged farts in here. ;)

Xbox One, though started with the 360 after my second or third Nintendo gamecube broke [wore them out I think] at the time it was to keep playing madden, but also because I wanted to play the first Gears of War, went on to play 2 and 3 on xbox 360. Went through two 360's before I finally bought an Xbox One about 6 months after it's release I think. I had a smaller version of the original PlayStation, actually I still do in the living room, just didn't like the controls that much.

Yay another Xbox gamer and not by default or a circumstance, lol.

Well, hard to choose but Xbox since the first one, then Xbox 360, now Xbox one S Minecraft edition (maybe my favorite game !)

Envoyé de mon ASUS_X00ID en utilisant Tapatalk

I have an original Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox One - the first PS i got was a PS4 Pro around this time last year - main reason was the exclusive games (Uncharted, Horizon Zero Dawn, Until Dawn, Last of Us, God of War) - my only regret was not getting one sooner - although i prefer the stick position on Xbox controller overall i find the PS4 a much easier to use and overall better console, combined with the exclusive it just blows Xbox away.  Xbox is not bad by any stretch they are both good consoles, but for the types of games i like (RPG/Action adventure TombRaider/Uncharted Style) PS4 is just the better option 75% due to the better exclusives - Halo and Gears are OK but I like Uncharted/Last of Us better and other games (Assassins creed/tomb raider) are on very console so makes no difference, I don't play much online (some SW battlefront 2 on Xbox but got a bit samey and i'm horrible at it so it gets depressing being killed 30 times in a match for 5 kills...).

Unless Xbox gets some seriously interesting exclusive next gen games i will just get a PS5, atm i think that is Xbox biggest weakness from my POV.



Interesting i am the exact opposite i prefer PS4 layout, looks cleaner and is easier to use IMO.

If you're wanting a console for exclusives only, then PS4 is the console.  I don't care much for exclusives although Halo did get me into the Xbox from the military since we did sync up 4 Xbox's together back then to play Halo 1 and 2.  The games I play are graphics and performance heavy which is really where my One X shines and that's what I use it for.

Just like SFD and LSG has mentioned, they both have their pros and cons and are both designed for different avenues of play.  We have both in our house hold but prefer the Xbox over the PS4 for personal preferences and reasons.

At the end of the day, we're all gamers

It would be interesting to see how the market reacted if say in the next generation there are far fewer exclusives- then the competition would be solely on hardware/interface an online support...I think that would push both side to up their game in those fields a lot, as to who would 'win'...i don't think any company would edge the other out comprehensively it would still be a matter of opinion, the real winner would be us consumers as neither side can 'rest' on exclusives for market share, and it would mean No one missed out on great games just because they have the wrong console.


Alternatively if you look at the Nintendo Switch it very much just does its own nintendo thing and carves out a niche - and does so very well it must be said - that might be another path they could go down in future each consoles developing its own world with less over lap, an i can sort of see that being more likely from a business POV.

I think it will be very interesting to see how things develop...at the very least i suspect next gen there will be a big move away from physical release and stronger incentives for online purchasing (I get all my games on Sale digital download now - actually got Shadow of Tomb Raider, Spider Man and GoW on Black friday sale this morning!!!).  I would also love to see cross platform online gaming and friends/messaging i think that would be a massive act of 'bipartisanship' that many customers would love.

Yeah all gamers in the end - more importantly all people with varying preferences some people like ABYX, some like Triangle,Square, Circle X....

Agreed, just like all businesses and industries, things evolve and are subjected to change.  Gaming isn't anything different.  We went from cartridges to disc, to DVD, to BluRay and now, digital content is at an all time high.  I too but digital downloads since it's easier to own, you can download the purchased games into any Xbox, it loads quicker, updates faster and is easier to maintain and store with external hard drives and what not.

I agree on the new consoles and moving away from exclusives.  I'm pretty sure that there still will have focus on exclusives but that would be interesting to see shifts in any fans or gamers alike between systems.

Xbox, when the first one came out its what all my friends had so I followed suit. Since then I've stayed with Xbox, I appreciate the quality of its online service (as Infinit01 mentioned) and I like the ease of its interface (services, apps, settings) over other systems. Game play and graphics are on par and I prefer the ergonomics of the Xbox controllers too. Now most of my friends have a PS, but I love my Xbox One and can't see myself switching for the foreseeable future.

Completely agree, hazard.  I love the controller on the Xbox, it may be bigger but it feels ergonomically better than the PS and I like the locations of both joy sticks.  Microsoft built the Xbox not to be just a gaming console but as an entire entertainment system that allows for movies, internet, and social content if you desire to get into those things with your system.

Yeah i think so too - overall the average person doesn't buy a console because of graphics or user interface - at most they might not buy one if it is utterly terrible but neither side is dumb enough to take a backward step in that regard arguably on par.  It is the games that matter - in that sense i find Spider man being PS4 exclusive a very strong sign PS has got a head start on that - Halo/Gears are good but very 'Video game' meanwhile EVERY average non gaming parent with a 6-12 year old knows who spider man is, will see that and think, 'yep that's for my kid who loves the MCU' - I know at least one person at work who has gotten a PS4 for their kids because of that and the Black Friday sales making it easily affordable - The target is less the kids than the parents who hold the cash after all and they will go for a character they know like spider man not random scifi looking Halo guy, and Ps has just banked another gamer who is unlikely to leave.  

If PS does that again next year with a similar well known title e.g. Marvel, Disney or DC... Interesting times but i think you are on point exclusives may be the only battleground of real significance in the next gen...and as it stands its obvious who's winning.

Now if they switch up to focusing on solid multiplayer exclusives...there the Xbox technical strengths could pull them ahead, but Sony has a vast legacy advantage for having a console long before xbox that i think they will never truly catch up on.


I don't think anyone should have to in an ideal world!!

I'm in the Xbox camp because I started out with it and my library of games is still playable thanks to backwards compatibility.  I can use my 360 to play original Xbox games and my Xbox One to play 360 games which is nice.

Backwards compatibility is a plus on the console and Microsoft now owns 5 new game developing studios this year alone which have already began to design exclusives for the Xbox so in the net year or so, Xbox will have quite a bit of exclusives under it's belt with more to come.

This right here. Both are hooked up to my TV. I can play a number of my 360 games on the One, but not all, and I can even play some of my original XBOX games on the One. I have the 360 for everything that won't work on the One. Both are HDMI, so no worries about my games looking bad.

Didn't even consider backwards compatibility, that's something that I quite enjoy as well.

A lot of us love to play our old games that we purchased.  One of the biggest things that I hated about new consoles were that way back when, they rendered our previous systems obsolete.  Now, it's the same thing console wise nowadays; however, Xbox gives us the ability to play our previous systems's games which is a joy.

Some old consoles were reverse compatible. The Atari 7800 was compatible with the Atari 2600 games and controllers. The Sega Genesis was compatible with Master System games, though you had to use a pin adapter.

What mystifies me about the Playstation consoles is this: PS2 is reverse compatible with PS1 games. PS3 is also reverse compatible with PS1 games, but only a few versions were compatible with PS2 games. PS4 is compatible with nothing from the previous consoles, save for games you play through virtual means. I don't know why Sony has turned their back on their old consoles. And, it's not like the entire PS2 library is available for the PS4, only a handful of games are, and they all have to be purchased again. (thank goodness I have good component cables for my PS2)

ATARI 7800!!! I forgot about it being backward compatible. I had so many 2600 games it was ridiculous. So when I got a 7800 I was already set.

I do not miss those controllers though.
(https://i.imgur.com/A6GvSzt.jpg)
Makes my hand cramp up just looking at it.
 

All of the Atari controllers from the '70s and '80s were better than the Atari 5200 controller.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/5200controller.jpg)

Those were analog joysticks in an digital world. They didn't automatically re-center. (this is why so many of us were opposed to the idea of analog joysticks on the N64) Then there were all the other buttons. Honestly, the worst thing about that console was the controller. Though, it also failed because its library mostly consisted of upgraded versions of 2600 games. ::)

You can tell that I'm much younger in this, my only Atari was the Juguar.  Used to play Alien Vs. Predator among other games. Loved it


(http://i.ibb.co/0X1CQXB/Atari-Jaguar.jpg)

Never had a Jaguar. I was still playing the 7800 then. After I got a job a couple years after the Jaguar came out, it was on to the SNES. (and, later, Sega Genesis)

I got the SNES as a birthday gift from my aunt and the Jaguar was given to me a few months later when one of my mother's friend's son past away. 

That is true. Those things where a nightmare. I never had a 5200, but I played my friends.

The main reason I like I like PS4 better than the Xbox1 is mostly because the controllers are more comfortable to hold.

It's the exact opposite for me, I like the Xbox 1 controller better and placement of the joy sticks feels more comfortable than the PS4.  My opinion of course

I like the PS4 controllers because they are more symmetrical and a bit smaller. the joysticks are easier to reach

Makes sense, I have large hands so the Xbox is more comfortable to me

the Xbox controller is comfortable, but it is just a bit to hefty for me.

Agreed on the controllers.

thank you Taegin

Controller design is such a huge factor, and everyone is going to have a preference one way or the other. I have long fingers and the size and left stick position on the XBOX controllers works better for me. But, I can see where people with smaller hands would prefer the PS4 controller. Both are very nice in their own way. One thing I do like is that both companies have stayed true to their design over the years, with only minor tweaks between versions. Unlike Nintendo, who has radically changed controllers with every system they've released.

Youngster.... I started with Pong and moved up to the Atari 2600 when it came out. I was using PCs before there were disks of any kind. I feel old.

My very first PC games were on floppy disks myself.  Zaxxon is still one of the coolest games!  ;D

Hi Lord Vaalic, don't feel old I think I may be able to beat this ^^. I owned a Sinclair ZX80 personal computer that used audio cassettes for data storage (for the younglings, an audio cassette is one of those things Star Lord has in GOTG with music stored on it!) The computer had 16kb of memory and had to be programmed in BASIC (Beginners All Symbolic Instruction Code).

I then had all the following Sinclair models including the ZX81, the Sinclair Spectrum 48K, Spectrum 128K and 128K+. I finally got an Atari 520 STe before buying my first modern computer - an old 4x86 Cyrix chipped PC!

Now I feel old  ;D

I remember as a kid in the '80s, they brought computers around to the schools once in a while (before they all had them.) We'd do stuff in DOS on 5.25" floppies. I remember playing Oregon Trail. Good times. These days, you can play Oregon Trail in a web browser, or even on a handheld.

Ah yes, Oregon Trail.  Loved that game even til this day

I played in my browser a few months ago. I even survived the trail. The rest of my party, not so much. ;)

Ah yes, I remember playing this in school too, going to have to check out the web browser version to relive the hardships.

No joke, it's like "life sucks 101". Hey kids, guess what? You don't always win, sometimes you die of dysentery on the Oregon Trail! Oh the memories.
But in regards to the topic...

I've owned every generation of each all the way through the present, scrounging and saving to usually have one at launch. The games started to define which I'd play more often, but good times were always had across the board. Now, I am forced to return to my roots, PlayStation has won me over for now (more so Microsoft lost my support). They drove me away for 3 main reasons, 1: first to have a forced "you must pay online fees of membership for access" in a console. 2: Xbox 360's spectacular failure rate. You original 360 owners know what I'm saying, red ring of death claimed my first 5-6 of them in about a year and a half. 3: Xbox One was first time in a console I witnessed "you must be connected to internet to play this title". The arrogance that I bought your system, bought this game (a physical copy), and now I can't play "my" game offline at home without constantly being connected to the internet. Ridiculous, and if the PS5 mirrors that concept I'll sell it like I did my Xbox One and never look back. Nintendo Switch will turn into my main focus.

With Christmas looming on the horizon, the past me would have likely saved up for the new console generation already. But with things the way they are, I opted more toward more cost effectiveness and a healthier hobby in my 1st lightsaber instead this go around. I know as a kid (or possibly still kids now too) I loved and cherished that possibility of high tech adventures in epic games above most other gift ideas (plus I'd be lying if I didn't say I still play my consoles pretty regularly). Although I was blown away when I looked at the new price tags this time around. I knew it would be high, and that made me wait 3-4 years to even buy a PS4 after launch, making me wait till the price of used systems was forced lower. BUT $1300 (1000 digital only)!!! That's more than twice the price of PS4, and beyond 3x the price of PS3 at launch. I feel like they may finally be truly beginning to "price the front runners of the Console Wars" out of/destroying the market. I've personally felt the sting of this for like a decade with escalating prices as family wants to get you a little something special sometimes to add to birthday or x-mas joy. I was smart enough to start combining the two sometimes, but I can't even fathom putting myself in the place of a child asking for this; especially right now as many worry about food/shelter already or in coming weeks and months. It's getting kind of ridiculous, even if I understand growing tech costs, profit margins, recouping investments, and past consumer trends indicating future willingness to "accept such things". I mean this borders on what some consider the threshold of cheap used cars. If it were me it'd take 3-4 kids combining their b-day desires into a joint gift (even if truly sharing in that way is likely not going to go as planned) to justify the expense.

Ok so, complaints aside on price, I decided to do a little looking. Realizing a little research wouldn't feed my desire much more (hopefully) toward necessity for one. Thankfully I found supporting evidence alleviating my greatest concern. It seems the PS5 that is NOT the "digital" only one supports offline gameplay too. I pray this avoids Xbox One's initial nightmare I experienced of the requirement to be internet connected to set it up the first time and ironically set up the offline mode... I really hope the genius(s) that allowed/suggested that were the first to lose their employment way back when. Since little did they know a large portion of gamers still exist within the customer base that either can't afford or don't desire access to these things perpetually. I think this has been made more apparent as people have been forced to examine issues/disparities across America in relation to attempting so much "virtual school" for kids. Many have made assumptions in the past which have been shattered by the reality that for many "the American dream" didn't include fantastic wifi access. I'm really not attempting anything political, simply stating the facts related to this matter. And I feel glad that my preferred company planned this part out accordingly. These were 2 of the reference articles I looked at: (although I dislike the last site for it's shifting urls between articles as you scroll)
https://www.reddit.com/r/PS5/comments/cw5smi/ps5_needs_to_be_an_offline_friendly_console/ (https://www.reddit.com/r/PS5/comments/cw5smi/ps5_needs_to_be_an_offline_friendly_console/)
https://www.gfinityesports.com/article/7422/ps5-not-always-online-single-player-offline-games-disc (https://www.gfinityesports.com/article/7422/ps5-not-always-online-single-player-offline-games-disc)