Xbox One or PS4?
After coming back from E3 L.A. 2013, I was really impressed with what both Sony and Microsoft had to offer, The Xbox one with it's amazing new Kinect 2.0, the PS4 with better designed graphics, the playstation eye camera and the touch pad on the controller. Although Microsoft has included blu-ray on the new xbox one, though it's only catching up to what the PS3 had last gen.Both consoles have improved towards the better and more PC like, easier for developers to develop for, and microsoft out doing sony by including the Kinect with every single xbox one, there's going to be better games for the kinect since the developers and manufacturers will now be sure that everyone who owns the console also owns the Kinect.
Before taking sides, one should also take into mind the price difference, the Xbox One at 499$ or 142 KWD (according to Google) and the PS4 at 399$ or 113.500 KWD (according to Google) Even with the price advantage, Microsoft still has the exclusives like Halo, the upcoming Son of Rome, Forza etc.
Earlier, I've noticed a lot of people online jumping ships from Microsoft to Sony, because of the DRM and the internet connection requirment at least once every 24 hours, but now, Microsoft has backed down from that and completely removed DRM and the requirment of internet once every 24 hours, what now?
The problem is that most gamer's have already pre-ordered the PS4 and jumped ships, this change would do microsoft only some good now, since the damage has already been done.
Design:
I've got the chance to get up close on both of the consoles and check out all the angles, curves and the design was pretty nice, although the finger print magnet part wasn't one of my favorite things about the consoles.The PS4 kinda resembled the PS2, or more like 2 PS2's glued together, I must say they could've been more creative about the PS4's design.
The Xbox One reminded me of the good old VHS players back when I was small, instead of making it look like a huge Atlas, they could have been way more creative with the Xbox One's design as well.
Controllers:
The improvements on the controllers weren't much from both Sony and Microsoft's side, one of the biggest complaints from last gen about the PS3's controller was the size, the PS3's controller was small to a degree that when playing for 4 ~ 6 hours would give one cramps, for most gamer's that is, the Xbox 360's controller on the other hand just fit perfectly in one's hand, although the huge battery pack sticking out was quite annoying at times.For the new gen, the PS4's controller has improved, Sony making it a bit more thicker and more hand fitting, the PS4's controller was 50% more comfortable compared to the PS3's controller.Microsoft has improved as well, making the battery pack inside the controller, and improving the buttons, especially the D-pad which was really annoying when playing certain games on the 360.Sony adding the "share" button has also been a good addition since now, you can just stream games from whichever point you stopped at and start showing off to other players about your style or just streaming it for your friends, either way, good addition, most people still preferred the Start and Select button.As for the touch pad on the PS4's controller, I didn't get the chance to test it out properly, I'll do proper reviews when the consoles come out in the holiday season this year hopefully.
Price and arrival in Kuwait:
The price yet remains a major difference, the PS4 being a 100$ cheaper, most of the Westerners would preferably buy the PS4, though the price difference might not be much to the regular Kuwaiti family in Kuwait, it would mostly depend on what people had past gen and what most of the people around them would get, my prediction would be the PS4, since a lot of the Kuwaiti's would just go to a shop in Rihab and ask for the "Playstation" the shop keeper, would just put first the PS4 "Baba hada Jadeed"
Though most of the expats, would buy the Xbox One, since the past gen, me and my friends got the Xbox 360 and most of my Kuwaiti friends got the PS3.
Conclusion:
As of now, the PS4 has the upper hand over the Xbox One in the Kuwaiti market, majorly because of how the past gen PS1, PS2 and PS3 had worked out, even till this day, there are some shops that sell PS2 CD's and the console itself.As for the price, Pre-ordering it from Amazon would probably be the cheapest one could get the PS4 or the Xbox One for.The price of the PS4 + Shipping from Amazon (converted to KWD using Google) 122 KWD as of August 20th 2013.As for the Xbox One + Shipping from Amazon (converted to KWD using Google) 152 KWD as of August 20th 2013.
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*Amazon.com, The US website, not Amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.du etc etc
*All these conclusions are of August 20th 2013 and this is my opinion solely.
*All the conversions for USD (United States Dollar) to KWD (Kuwait Dinar) have been done directly through Google.
