Here’s what you should get now on PS4

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi9xF_zzHmcj-ukpZzh86eGexdiBsloUChWk0Aq1z3CW3056eb1BHFTgfgJ3IyJw3ynBalTimwrBHW-qnvT8tnbJOwENUN1-Pj0LRl8NhEfy23Up1ECo-3MZXssFbLoUkLpPASiTymOWs/s1600/ps4_frontbox.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>PS4</i></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi9xF_zzHmcj-ukpZzh86eGexdiBsloUChWk0Aq1z3CW3056eb1BHFTgfgJ3IyJw3ynBalTimwrBHW-qnvT8tnbJOwENUN1-Pj0LRl8NhEfy23Up1ECo-3MZXssFbLoUkLpPASiTymOWs/s1600/ps4_frontbox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #464542; line-height: 1.3em; padding: 0px 20px 20px 0px; word-spacing: 2px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now that you have obtained the once difficult-to-find console, on what should you now set your sights (and gift certificates)?</span></div> <h3 style="background-color: white; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">An extra USB cable</span></h3> <div style="background-color: white; color: #464542; line-height: 1.3em; padding: 0px 20px 20px 0px; word-spacing: 2px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A second DualShock 4 controller is an obvious supplementary purchase, but the obnoxious and somewhat sneaky bit is that the extra controller doesn’t come with its own charging cable. Sure, you can just use the one that came with the PS4, but then you won’t be able to have both controllers plugged in at the same time. A USB cable for the controller is a cheap purchase, so it’s only mildly irritating that the extra controllers don’t come with their own.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #464542; line-height: 1.3em; padding: 0px 20px 20px 0px; word-spacing: 2px;"> <a href="http://www.geek.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/roku3.jpg" style="color: #fb2e39; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="roku3" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1580649" height="344" src="http://www.geek.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/roku3.jpg" style="border: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="590" /></span></a></div> <h3 style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">A device that streams and plays external media</span></h3> <div style="background-color: white; color: #464542; line-height: 1.3em; padding: 0px 20px 20px 0px; word-spacing: 2px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For now, both the Xbox One and <a href="http://www.geek.com/tag/ps4/" style="color: #fb2e39; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">PS4</a> don’t fully support streaming media from an external device (such as setting up a media server with your computer), nor do they play external media (such as from a USB stick of external hard drive). Considering both consoles have a multitude of media streaming services, like Netflix and Amazon Instant Video, this isn’t a deal-breaker. However, sometimes you just really want to play some media not found on those services — whether it’s a homemade video, or something obtained from the internet via legally murky means. You can’t stream your funny film project to your PS4 from your computer, nor can you put it on a USB drive and play it from there.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #464542; line-height: 1.3em; padding: 0px 20px 20px 0px; word-spacing: 2px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The cheapest ways to maintain this functionality in your living room is either with a Roku or — surprisingly — an Ouya. The Roku is the easiest solution, and doesn’t have any headache — it’s a breeze to set up, and you can just plug-and-play your external media. You can use the Plex app to stream from another source. The Ouya is the other cheap solution, as it can also handle external media, and has a few streaming app options, but controller support for the media players can sometimes be a pain. The Chromecast cannot play external media, but can stream using the Plex app (and others). All three devices are under $100, with the Chromecast being the cheapest at $35, but you miss out on the ability to plug-and-play media from external storage.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #464542; line-height: 1.3em; padding: 0px 20px 20px 0px; word-spacing: 2px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Alternatively, you can attempt to wait it out. Sony has previously hinted that it might put external storage and DLNA support back into the PS4 in a future update, but nothing is concrete.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #464542; line-height: 1.3em; padding: 0px 20px 20px 0px; word-spacing: 2px;"> <i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Source : <a href="http://www.geek.com/games/you-just-got-a-ps4-heres-what-you-should-get-now-1580619/">Geek.com</a></span></i></div>

Here’s what you should get now on PS4

PS4 Now that you have obtained the once difficult-to-find console, on what should you now set your sights (and gift certificates)? ...

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How to get a PS4 today, and our PS4 stock tracker

<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><br /> <div style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br />How to buy a PS4 todayWe’re now six weeks into the PS4′s release, and it’s currently looking like it’ll be the biggest- and fastest-selling console launch of all time. With one million sales in its first 24 hours in North America alone, and then over two million after releasing in Europe, Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand. While the first shipment of PS4s has well and truly sold out, Sony appears to be slowly replenishing stocks across the US and the rest of the world. Unfortunately, these small batches of PS4 stock are quickly selling out, making it very hard to get your hands on a PS4 — unless, of course, you follow our tips on how to find some PS4 stock!</span></div> <div style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">To begin with, the most important thing to remember is that the PS4 is completely sold out at retail stores. In urban areas, Best Buy, Walmart, Toys R Us, Target, and GameStop are out of stock. If you want to find some PS4 stock, your best bet is primary, online retailers, such as Amazon. (In fact, Amazon seems to be by far the best place for locating PS4 stock.)</span></div> <div style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Walmart says it will have a large shipment of PS4s arriving at its stores on December 15, for Christmas buyers. It’s not clear if this is stock that Walmart has kept in reserve, or a shipment from Sony. As far as we can tell, that shipment never appeared. Sony seems to be sending small shipments of stock to retailers, piecemeal — so if you’re lucky you might find a real-world store that has PS4 stock, but you really should call ahead first to avoid disappointment.</span></div> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_171138" style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; width: 650px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><br /> <div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; line-height: 15px; padding: 10px 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">PS4 launch day at Best Buy in Soho, New York. The five remaining PS4s!</span></div> </div> <div style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">If you need a PS4 <em>right now</em>, Ebay is your best bet. The Buy It Now price is now down to around $550 — $150 more than the MSRP, but a lot better than the $650+ that they were originally listed for last month.</span></div> <div style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">If you’re willing to wait a while, and you don’t want to hammer F5 on Amazon.com, the other option is to use a stock tracking website that automatically alerts you when a website magically finds some PS4 stock.</span></div> <h3 style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">PS4 stock tracker</span></h3> <div style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Don’t let the name fool you: Wiialerts originally started as a website that tracked down the hard-to-find Nintendo Wii, but now it can be used for all sorts of consumer electronics, including the PS4. Basically, you sign up with your email address, add your mobile number (optional but recommended), and then select which products you want to receive alerts for (the PS4). Wiialerts then constantly scans a bunch of stores (Amazon, Walmart, Target, GameStop, Best Buy, etc.) for PS4 stock, and sends you a text when stock arrives.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The advantage of this method is that some stores that were previously out of stock of the PS4 occasionally “find” small batches of stock. Earlier today, for example, Best Buy had some PS4s in stock for nine minutes; if you had been signed up to Wiialerts, you would’ve received an alert and possibly beat the crowd to buy a PS4 from Best Buy. Likewise, the Xbox One was in-stock on Amazon for eight minutes earlier today, but quickly sold out again.</span></span></div> <div style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Via: <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/171063-how-to-get-a-ps4-today-and-our-ps4-stock-tracker">ExtremeTech</a></span></i></div>

How to get a PS4 today, and our PS4 stock tracker

How to buy a PS4 todayWe’re now six weeks into the PS4′s release, and it’s currently looking like it’ll be the biggest- and fastest-sellin...

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Xbox One, PS4 battle for gaming supremacy

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL2DBgQg0V3LNxO_GOZB7Ui6ZTZpvjvEizVeuVyH0aIvnCqpvnYRTWP2MoDKoZD5OM014DImuinj3X9WZwAF1FbVWqgbVfAT7MGtn2EY4Xo0H-rlhye81CUaDannV6mtOMJf81oNsLpCoL/s1600/man.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL2DBgQg0V3LNxO_GOZB7Ui6ZTZpvjvEizVeuVyH0aIvnCqpvnYRTWP2MoDKoZD5OM014DImuinj3X9WZwAF1FbVWqgbVfAT7MGtn2EY4Xo0H-rlhye81CUaDannV6mtOMJf81oNsLpCoL/s1600/man.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 15px; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Emanuel Jumatate, from Chicago, hugs his new Xbox One after he purchased it at a Best Buy in Evanston, Ill. Microsoft is billing the Xbox One, which includes an updated Kinect motion sensor, as an all-in-one entertainment system rather than just a gaming console. / AP<br /><br /></span></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the first time since 2005, both Sony and Microsoft are introducing complete refreshes to their gaming consoles. For gamers, this is a big year and the start of the eighth generation of console gaming. For Sony and Microsoft, this means war.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Both strive to be more than just your go-to piece of gaming hardware. This is the first time that both machines are almost identical on paper — specification-wise they are two beasts of the same breed. For generation eight, the winner will have to rely on software services and branding. Both companies are focused on finding an edge.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For Microsoft, this largely has come down to software services, which is hardly surprising considering Microsoft has made a fortune from its Windows software. Last generation, Microsoft gained an edge on Sony by relying on a similar tactic. Although Sony’s PS3 was built of superior hardware, Microsoft was able to outsell Sony by introducing consistent software updates and finer online services.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Microsoft also introduced the Kinect accessory in 2008 to add diversity to its offering. Microsoft again is taking a similar approach. Its next gen Xbox 360 successor, the Xbox One, will rely heavily on Kinect. In fact, both devices are now bundled together and central for gaming and navigation.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With generation eight, Microsoft is looking to make Kinect input a staple feature — one that it believes Sony cannot match. The Xbox One is also an attempt to be much more than a gaming machine. TV integration is one of its biggest selling points, routing your cable box feed through the console and enabling sophisticated overlays, and the ability to receive game invites or even watch television while playing a game.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This feature previously has been attempted by Google for its Google TV boxes, with moderate success. So far, there is no clear indication that Microsoft has fared any better. This is not to say that it won’t work, simply that it may cause frustration. Still, it is a cool feature.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sony’s PS3 successor, the PS4, also will have many media features, albeit not as many as the Xbox One. From a mere face value perspective, Xbox One aims to be the “one and only” device needed for complete living room entertainment. In doing so, however, it has been criticized. After all, this is a gaming device, and since Xbox One was announced, gamers have made it clear that games are what matter most.</span><br /><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[[ <a href="http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20131216/LIFESTYLE/312160003?nclick_check=1">source </a>]]</span></i>

Xbox One, PS4 battle for gaming supremacy

Emanuel Jumatate, from Chicago, hugs his new Xbox One after he purchased it at a Best Buy in Evanston, Ill. Microsoft is billing the Xbox On...

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'Call of Duty' and PlayStation 4 Are Gaming's Most Wanted

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFG9UoqwLIIIq-BfrKMFJTkyflHAjSBX379-8GXbZVQNghaA-ueYHP3QqkjbK7-z4RjqJDvp5y0mQOwxuvX5b6EW450kk2WNulgLzAyWkAYsOVWsmFyr6mnT7NzDdvpiWaU1ytJGHct5M/s1600/adaf4d886e73eef46d338a0fd4b0c41c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFG9UoqwLIIIq-BfrKMFJTkyflHAjSBX379-8GXbZVQNghaA-ueYHP3QqkjbK7-z4RjqJDvp5y0mQOwxuvX5b6EW450kk2WNulgLzAyWkAYsOVWsmFyr6mnT7NzDdvpiWaU1ytJGHct5M/s1600/adaf4d886e73eef46d338a0fd4b0c41c.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Call of Duty' and PlayStation 4</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you're wondering which new game console to get, and you like playing online with others, you might be thinking about which console is more popular, since Microsoft's and Sony's networks aren't compatible. If that's the case, a recent report hints that you should get a PlayStation 4, and that you'll likely be playing "Call of Duty: Ghosts" in multiplayer. </span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A report from Nielsen shows that more gamers want Sony's PlayStation 4 over Microsoft's Xbox One. Nielsen asked 1,200 "active gamers" about their shopping plans via an online survey. Thirty percent answered PS4, 22 percent answered Xbox One and 10 percent answered Wii U.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When Nielsen asked these gamers what titles they wanted for the new consoles, the most requested was "<a data-rapid_p="8" href="http://www.tomsguide.com/us/review-call-duty-ghosts,review-1936.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #324fe1; text-decoration: none;">Call of Duty: Ghosts</a>," leading both the Xbox One and the PS4 top 10 lists and ranking No. 7 on the Wii U's list.</span></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1386429799057_979" style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Take that news with a grain of salt, though. Black Friday sales data gathered by research firm InfoScout showed the Xbox One outselling the PS4 two-to-one. However, "Call of Duty: Ghosts" also topped the company's results.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Looking at games that were exclusive to their respective platforms, the choices were unsurprising. A new edition of the "Uncharted" series, of which little is known except its existence announced at the PS4 launch event, led for the PS4 games. A new "Halo" game, similarly a mystery (except for a teaser from Microsoft's Xbox One event in June), led for Xbox One games. And Nintendo's latest "Mario" game, "Super Mario 3D World," topped the Wii U list. All three games are part of critically and financially successful series.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Via: <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/call-duty-playstation-4-gamings-202151753.html">Yahoo News</a></i></span></div>

'Call of Duty' and PlayStation 4 Are Gaming's Most Wanted

Call of Duty' and PlayStation 4 If you're wondering which new game console to get, and you like playing online with others, you migh...

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Which is the best games console? Xbox One vs. PlayStation 4

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Xbox One vs. PlayStation 4 " border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDTn7ZrF8rT6rWr7RE1BNg3CXgY2EV68s0gDj5q2_ScyarO-7zbyT8QEfEKY39h5B7g_iG4cOaCs1lb9dUyG2CNF0A3y6GPstGbzXWBNCq6sAcvLfKk864KsV4z9Sg2pwKixYqJIk3QY8O/s1600/xbox+vs+ps4.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Xbox One vs. PlayStation 4 </i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDTn7ZrF8rT6rWr7RE1BNg3CXgY2EV68s0gDj5q2_ScyarO-7zbyT8QEfEKY39h5B7g_iG4cOaCs1lb9dUyG2CNF0A3y6GPstGbzXWBNCq6sAcvLfKk864KsV4z9Sg2pwKixYqJIk3QY8O/s1600/xbox+vs+ps4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Price</b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first variable is price. The PlayStation 4 is priced at $399, compared to $499 for the Xbox One. For many, cash is king and the $100 price difference might well swing things in favor of the PlayStation 4.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Titles</b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Buying a console is just part of the equation, and it is nothing without games, and since neither are backward-compatible with older titles, you need to give some thought to what's on offer, especially exclusive titles that are only available for a single platform.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The PlayStation 4 has three exclusives on offer, including "Killzone: Shadow Fall," while the Xbox One has nine, "Forza Motorsport 5," "Dead Rising 3" and "Killer Instinct." This will change over the course of 2014, but for now games are tight, and the changing landscape of titles might make you hold back on pulling the trigger on purchasing.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Sensors</b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you're interested in gesture and voice control, then the Kinect 2 is streets ahead of PlayStation Camera. If waving at your console like an ape doesn't appeal to you, then you can ignore this feature.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Ecosystem and social</b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you already own an Xbox 360 of PlayStation 3 then you might have a preference when it comes to Xbox Live versus PlayStation Plus. There's no right or wrong answer here, and if you're not committed to either then in real terms there's little difference between the two.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Conclusion</b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The bottom line is that picking the best console is tough. Weighing up the options I'm tempted to say that the Xbox One is the better console, despite the price. That said, you're paying a top dollar price for a console where the game lineup is pretty limited no matter which one you go for.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Source : <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/xbox-one-vs-playstation-4-which-is-the-best-games-console-7000024025/">ZDNet</a></i></span></div>

Which is the best games console? Xbox One vs. PlayStation 4

Xbox One vs. PlayStation 4  Price The first variable is price. The PlayStation 4 is priced at $399, compared to $499 for the Xbox One. For m...

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Sony PlayStation 4 Sales Top 2.1 Million

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQayHGVl2luaBFaglDJPyCcDpISHxkkNnnk04QuvdM1o__VoDOEpJMmXTmubInVuPgLe0CDi9nuApT4sM2MWmQZWNQIurnLbzUYz5dEB4iKzNFPoT55G4YabvW4RqT0b3hpdRSP_QpoksL/s1600/ps4-vs-xbox-one.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQayHGVl2luaBFaglDJPyCcDpISHxkkNnnk04QuvdM1o__VoDOEpJMmXTmubInVuPgLe0CDi9nuApT4sM2MWmQZWNQIurnLbzUYz5dEB4iKzNFPoT55G4YabvW4RqT0b3hpdRSP_QpoksL/s1600/ps4-vs-xbox-one.jpg" /></a></span></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>Sony PlayStation 4</i></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class=""><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Sony Corp. sold more than 2.1 million PlayStation 4 game consoles globally since its release last month as Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai seeks to revive the company’s consumer electronics business. </span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">About 700,000 units were sold in Europe and Australasia as of Dec. 1 after the console went on sale in those markets on Nov. 29, the Tokyo-based company said in a statement today. Sony sold more than 1 million PS4s in the first 24 hours of its release in North America on Nov. 15. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Hirai, who surprised investors in October with a second-quarter loss, is trying to turn around the company with holiday console sales after cutting forecasts for televisions, cameras and computers. Sony is trying to differentiate its PS4 gaming machine -- which sells for $399 in the U.S. compared with $499 for <span class="ticker_wrap"><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Corporation"><span itemprop="name">Microsoft </span></span></span>’s Xbox One -- by offering a wider selection of popular and eclectic titles. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">“A lower price than Microsoft’s Xbox One is probably helping boost sales of the PS4,” Keita Wakabayashi, an analyst at Mito Securities Co. in Tokyo said by phone. “PS4 sales will certainly help Sony.” </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Sony is confident it can meet analysts sales estimates of 3 million units by year-end and its own target of 5 million units by March, Jack Tretton, president and chief executive officer of the company’s U.S. computer entertainment division, said Nov. 11. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Sony’s previous version of the console, the PS3, sold 197,000 consoles in the first month after it was released in the U.S. on Nov. 17, 2006, NPD Group, which tracked sales of video games and consoles, said at the time. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>Source : <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-12-03/sony-playstation-4-sales-top-2-dot-1-million-as-hirai-seeks-revival">Businessweek </a></i></span></span><br />

Sony PlayStation 4 Sales Top 2.1 Million

Sony PlayStation 4 Sony Corp. sold more than 2.1 million PlayStation 4 game consoles globally since its release last month as Chief Executiv...

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The future for the Playstation 4?

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_hPsgLQ4prWDd0P4lV5pjbsOB3YcyvGSn2WJsnb8DZxlXgWtLI4_MCPDS0uYoE7k5KeL6GwfplKeP-uZ1Q-2Kodepc4ZgxH8107jbLCSuAY6ldQhUsyjnAtjQsSciWdLhMVycAQWyJOn3/s640/1000x66575.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 12.09375px; text-align: start;"><i>Sony Playstation 4 video game console </i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 18.1875px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now this new era has shaken off cynical doom-mongering, where does Playstation 4 go from here?</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 18.1875px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As was pointed out by readers of <a data-track="inline-link" href="http://metro.co.uk/2013/11/26/what-does-the-future-of-the-xbox-one-look-like-4202323/" style="border: 0px; color: #17318b; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">my speculative Xbox One piece</a>, it’s difficult to tell precisely where any system is heading.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 18.1875px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are too many variables to be certain, and some developments can’t be predicted. All the same, I do think there’s something really quite special about the PS4 despite its lack of a killer-app this Christmas.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 18.1875px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If put to the test, I’d wager that the system’s social aspects will be a quiet revelation in how we play over the next decade.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 18.1875px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The ability to get help on difficult stages hasn’t materialised yet, but it promises a medium with increasingly fewer barriers between players. Considering how heavily Sony have been pushing friend activity on the dashboard, I don’t see things changing course.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 18.1875px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then we come to sharing. This feature – both on Xbox One and PS4 – is ground-breaking in a couple of regards. Firstly, the ease of throwing your best and worst moments onto the web means that we’re more directly involved with the experiences of our friends.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 18.1875px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Secondly, it’s a god-send for those wanting to dip a toe into making YouTube videos, live-streaming or reviews. Considering how expensive (and complicated, in the case of Twitch TV) it previously was to achieve the above, this is something worth celebrating.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 18.1875px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Those hoping for Playstation exclusives to appear anywhere other than sharing sites shouldn’t hold their breath, nevertheless. While Sony have considered <a data-track="inline-link" href="http://me.ign.com/en/news/15544/playstation-s-future-is-as-a-service-not-hardware" style="border: 0px; color: #17318b; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">becoming a service before,</a> the incredible success of PS4 means that this isn’t going to happen for some time. Barring any unforeseen disaster, there is literally no reason for them to put Uncharted or God of War on the likes of Steam. Why bother when millions are buying your console?</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 18.1875px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Source : <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2013/12/04/what-does-the-future-hold-for-the-playstation-4-4213181/">Metro News</a></span></i></div><div style="border: 0px; line-height: 18.1875px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Image : </i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 12.09375px;"> Getty</span></div>

The future for the Playstation 4?

Sony Playstation 4 video game console  Now this new era has shaken off cynical doom-mongering, where does Playstation 4 go from here? As was...

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Sony 2 Million Global PlayStation 4 Sales

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidx6-aoM0XFjUiyxlyj4mQETzhElQtJfpEgRb6QHwDYbRps0G2LJ61bv56r2aqOxk-X5fxPybeSOMs6ZI1AeIj201HPqUDhthga4LSZS_cgZPFGbAfT4VT6Vxr3t-Onw5vB8Ium-EPFALl/s1600/388697-sony-playstation-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidx6-aoM0XFjUiyxlyj4mQETzhElQtJfpEgRb6QHwDYbRps0G2LJ61bv56r2aqOxk-X5fxPybeSOMs6ZI1AeIj201HPqUDhthga4LSZS_cgZPFGbAfT4VT6Vxr3t-Onw5vB8Ium-EPFALl/s400/388697-sony-playstation-4.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Sony 2 Million Global PlayStation 4 Sales<br /><br /></span></i><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Two weeks after announcing record initial sales of its new PlayStation 4, the company today revealed a milestone 2.1 million consoles sold worldwide.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">"It's an impressive and record-setting accomplishment for our company and for our industry, and we couldn't have done it without you," Andrew House, president and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, wrote in <a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/12/03/ps4-global-sales-update/" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">a blog post</a>.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Unveiled in February, the PS4 launched in the U.S. on Nov. 15, and more than <a class="" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2427255,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">1 million gamers</a> picked up a console in the first 24 hours.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">"The best part: the PS4 journey has just begun," House said today. "In addition to an incredible lineup of PS4 games from the best developers in the world, we will continue to introduce valuable new features and services to PS4 in the months and years ahead."</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Source : <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2427873,00.asp">PCMag</a></span></i></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br />

Sony 2 Million Global PlayStation 4 Sales

Sony 2 Million Global PlayStation 4 Sales Two weeks after announcing record initial sales of its new PlayStation 4, the company today reveal...

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Graphic content: do Xbox One and PS4 games really look better

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPrtT0YaNoBCrNlRYUs15aGApjRvb3Nv84KuQVu47D1kL11gAt0yXmqnItOG2Ym-82zB_cCZNKWju797kAFrk9urvLirH4jCJ1gqeJ4Yn2_2rmPnU06jrzI5cqA57y13qXKK2KqiePSo/s1600/cp.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPrtT0YaNoBCrNlRYUs15aGApjRvb3Nv84KuQVu47D1kL11gAt0yXmqnItOG2Ym-82zB_cCZNKWju797kAFrk9urvLirH4jCJ1gqeJ4Yn2_2rmPnU06jrzI5cqA57y13qXKK2KqiePSo/s1600/cp.PNG" /></span></a></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph1" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The words "next generation" have always held a lot of promise — and a lot of hype — in the world of video games. Consoles like the <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/20/5117320/microsoft-xbox-one-review" style="color: #fb4834; text-decoration: none;">Xbox One</a> and <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/15/5107506/sony-ps4-review-video" style="color: #fb4834; text-decoration: none;">PlayStation 4</a> that herald the arrival of a new generation are said to offer stunning graphics that unlock gaming experiences like never before. That’s an exciting promise, and there’s good reason for the fascination with these black boxes: for the next several years, video gaming itself will likely be defined by these two consoles.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph4" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But now that delirium over the launches of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One is beginning to subside we must ask what, exactly, this next generation delivers to living rooms. When it comes to graphics — that jumble of polygons, sophisticated algorithms, and complex maps that create so much buzz — what do these systems offer that your dusty old Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 can't? And, as of today, have these consoles delivered on their promises?</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph7" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To find out, we've carefully examined 10 different games across all four consoles — a grand total of 29 discs. As is common during transitional periods, almost all launch titles are offered on both new and old consoles. These multi-platform games offer a unique opportunity to compare these consoles head to head. For each, we have side-by-side comparisons of the same exact scene across the two generations to let you see the difference for yourself. A few of these comparisons are included in this article (you can slide the divider to compare on each) — <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/29/5155726/next-gen-supplementary-piece" style="color: #fb4834; text-decoration: none;">well over a dozen more can be found in our supplement.</a></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph10" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At first glance, these games may lack that next-gen “wow factor,” but we’ve identified some key improvements that make the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of these games stand out. And developers are just getting their feet wet with this hardware — these are the graphical improvements you can count on getting out of your new console, and they hint at what this latest generation could offer in the future.</span></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph10" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Via: <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/29/5127344/do-next-gen-games-really-look-better">The Verge</a></span></i></div>

Graphic content: do Xbox One and PS4 games really look better

The words "next generation" have always held a lot of promise — and a lot of hype — in the world of video games. Consoles like the...

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Xbox One Matches PS4’s First-Day Console Sales

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk2iFIpgfsjP8aFgfDDjw7YEDziSN5U0VIm5L_Szea_lx5dqRQK_jf-S0t9tHS_3UEL1OZllpWsBDAEZ_nGlC3rW3KjJoIVhjJDWIP8lskEV3k8rNCR6m2cM6GhlGJyNIkOxiHD-FQYn0/s1600/xbox-one-feature-380x285.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk2iFIpgfsjP8aFgfDDjw7YEDziSN5U0VIm5L_Szea_lx5dqRQK_jf-S0t9tHS_3UEL1OZllpWsBDAEZ_nGlC3rW3KjJoIVhjJDWIP8lskEV3k8rNCR6m2cM6GhlGJyNIkOxiHD-FQYn0/s400/xbox-one-feature-380x285.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Starting Thursday night, a major tech company sold more than one million units of its next-gen gaming console, and since then has had to contend with scattered user reports of hardware defects.</span><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It was true of Sony <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20131117/sony-sells-more-than-one-million-playstation-4s-on-first-day-but-some-are-defective/" style="color: #0087bb; text-decoration: none;">last week with the PlayStation 4</a>, and now it’s true of Microsoft this week with its rival Xbox One.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In an email, a Microsoft spokesperson called the one-million-plus debut the “biggest launch in Xbox history.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s worth pointing out, though, that the PS4 debuted in just two countries last week — the United States and Canada — while the Xbox One launched simultaneously in <a href="http://news.xbox.com/2013/09/xbox-one-launch" style="color: #0087bb; text-decoration: none;">13 markets</a>: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. The sales announcement did not break down which countries drove the most sales.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As for those defects: While Sony had to contend with reports of both connectivity issues and console overheating, Microsoft (at least so far) has just one hardware glitch on its plate. Within hours of the Xbox One’s debut, videos surfaced on YouTube of the console “eating discs,” clicking and refusing to recognize game discs inserted in its optical drive.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Both companies, of course, have pledged prompt support to customers via their normal customer service avenues, and anecdotal reports appearing online suggest Sony is promptly returning and exchanging defective PS4s. In an email yesterday, a Microsoft spokesperson said customer service reps could be reached over the phone, on the Xbox forums or via social media.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I asked the spokesperson if Microsoft knew how many Xbox One owners were affected by the disc-eating problem, but she said the company does not have an exact number. She emailed a corporate statement asserting that “the issue is affecting a very small number of Xbox One customers.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Via: <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20131123/xbox-one-matches-ps4s-first-day-console-sales-and-reports-of-defects/?reflink=ATD_yahoo_ticker">Yahoo News</a></i></div>

Xbox One Matches PS4’s First-Day Console Sales

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Starting Thursday night, a major tech company sold more than one million units of its next-gen gaming cons...

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Sony’s PlayStation 4 Costs $381 to Build

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8_ETt72hCmIR7B-ll7avzVeVYhYfh3Y2V2g6OBA6bOlSsRBYD9DBqk2IxMkeNt3H_fR5lBnzuDbq7YSDwNEhRNuGXZRoMs4QGeqrREO9pN965u4rYWeaWGXMepIAjhifuyYVKoZBecAZz/s1600/ps4exploded-640x480.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8_ETt72hCmIR7B-ll7avzVeVYhYfh3Y2V2g6OBA6bOlSsRBYD9DBqk2IxMkeNt3H_fR5lBnzuDbq7YSDwNEhRNuGXZRoMs4QGeqrREO9pN965u4rYWeaWGXMepIAjhifuyYVKoZBecAZz/s640/ps4exploded-640x480.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When PlayStation 3 was first released by electronics giant Sony in 2006, it was sold at a loss with the hope of making money back on individual games.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That’s pretty close to what Sony is doing again with the PS4, although it’s not as extreme. At least that’s the conclusion drawn by the research firm IHS, which will later today release the findings of a teardown analysis of the PS4 and the combined cost of the components used to build it.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">AllThingsD</strong> got an early look at the analysis, in which the firm estimates the cost of those parts, plus what it costs to assemble them, at $381. That is only $18 shy of the PS4’s $399 retail price, leaving Sony little profit margin on the sale of the device itself.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Such thin gross margins on a consumer electronics product are rare. Apple’s iPad Air, for example, sells for a minimum of $499 at retail, yet <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20131105/ipad-air-has-spendier-display-costs-less-to-make-than-earlier-models/" style="color: #0087bb; text-decoration: none;">costs up to $274 to build</a>, leaving a considerable margin, according to previous IHS reports.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, it’s a better picture now for Sony than it was in 2006, when its predecessor game console, the PS3, was first released. Back then, IHS conducted a similar teardown analysis of the PS3 and determined that it cost about $805 to build a console that sold for $599. Over time, of course, the costs came down, but when they did, Sony cut its retail price accordingly in order to encourage more sales. By late 2009, the PS3 was selling for $299, even though it cost $336 to build.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“If Sony could build the PS4 for a lower cost it would do so, but if history is any indicator, it would also lower its retail price,” said Andrew Rassweiler, an analyst with IHS in Los Angeles who oversaw the teardown.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To get into the particulars, chips take up a big proportion of the cost of the internal components. An unusually large microprocessor that is manufactured by chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices costs about $100 to build. When combined with the cost of memory chips, at $88 for 16 individual memory chips, you have more than half of the cost figured in, Rassweiler said.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The AMD chip is 350 square millimeters, making it the physically biggest chip that IHS has ever seen built on the relatively new 28-nanometer manufacturing process. “This chip is just gigantic,” Rassweiler said. “It’s almost three times as big as the next-biggest chip we’ve seen.”</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But, in the complex world of chip manufacturing, bigger isn’t necessarily better. Chips with a larger surface area have a higher probability of suffering from manufacturing defects, Rassweiler said. That, in turn, means that the number of good chips on each silicon wafer tends to be lower, meaning more chips overall have to be manufactured, raising costs overall.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">IHS estimates that roughly a third of the chips are likely to suffer from these defects and therefore aren’t used, lowering the overall manufacturing yield on the chips. “When the yield goes down, the price goes up,” Rassweiler said. “It’s a well-established principle of chip manufacturing.”</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The other big cost is memory chips. There are no fewer than 16 individual memory chips in the PS4, costing Sony about $88. The cost of the processor and the memory works out to $188, nearly half of the total cost, Rassweiler said.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After chips, the parts inside the PS4 become somewhat less unusual. There’s the hard drive from Seagate ($37), wireless chips from Marvell and Skyworks and an optical drive that costs about $28.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then there’s the controller, which costs another $18 to build. It contains Bluetooth chips from Qualcomm, an audio chip from Wolfson Microelectroncs and a motion sensor chip from Bosch. The system ships with only one controller in the box.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With the component cost and the retail price so close, it’s possible, Rassweiler said, that Sony is taking a very small gross margin or even a possible loss on the console in hopes of making it back on games. “If your cost is within $10 to $20 of the retail prices, there’s very little chance you’re making a profit on the console,” he said.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The practice would be consistent with the way Sony has done business in the past, although with a smaller differential between cost and retail price on the PS4 versus the PS3. “It looks like once again, when it comes to profits, it’s all about the game titles,” said Rassweiler.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Source : <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20131119/teardown-shows-sonys-playstation-4-costs-381-to-build/">AllThingsD</a></span></i></div><br />

Sony’s PlayStation 4 Costs $381 to Build

When PlayStation 3 was first released by electronics giant Sony in 2006, it was sold at a loss with the hope of making money back on individ...

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The winner is … : PlayStation 4 vs. Xbox One

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY47WOFxMAb718c63nGnu3gccuTn17yGIIR4ifZApK_qVpe5NS6s4UTD1LYA-xxX5T8FptKDgt00iPIeFDOR5cXk8BMFHKlPKtDu2-8cY5jEJZPHqD_7YeYN2IhNE_pHyUN_7CA4ubyvX5/s1600/ps4-vs-xbox-one.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY47WOFxMAb718c63nGnu3gccuTn17yGIIR4ifZApK_qVpe5NS6s4UTD1LYA-xxX5T8FptKDgt00iPIeFDOR5cXk8BMFHKlPKtDu2-8cY5jEJZPHqD_7YeYN2IhNE_pHyUN_7CA4ubyvX5/s320/ps4-vs-xbox-one.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="post-content" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hitting retail a mere one week apart, Sony’s PlayStation 4 (out now) and Microsoft’s Xbox One (due out Friday) simply offer too many things for me to play right now. They’re giving me more entertainment options than I can reasonably consume in my waking hours. Heck, I even put 45 minutes into Zoo Tycoon, a game that was completely off my radar until a shiny new Xbox One slammed it in there. I know — poor me, right?</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I only have two hands and can only play on one system at a time. So where am I going to spend my hours? And which console would I end up recommending to a friend? I decided to break the two down and compare them in a few categories that matter the most to me.</span></div><h3 style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; clear: both; color: #ef3320; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 9px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px 0px 3px; position: relative; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The games</span></b></h3><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Much of the launch libraries is coming from third-party publishers; you’ll see Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Madden NFL 25, Assassin’s Creed IV, etc. lining up on both sides. Of course, each console also has some exclusives now (PS4: Killzone: Shadow Fall, XBO: Dead Rising 3), some hyped ones to look forward to (PS4: Uncharted, XBO: Titanfall), plus some you probably wouldn’t give a damn about if they weren’t “next-gen” (PS4: Knack, XBO: Ryse).</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So comparing the software lineups is almost futile since they almost mirror each other in quality. It doesn’t help that a lot of extra features for each game are similar, supported on second-screen applications (like Xbox’s SmartGlass or companion apps for PlayStation), further muddying things.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But no one wants to see a tie, so I’ll give the slight, slight edge to the PlayStation 4 here. I give Sony’s machine a little extra credit because, very generally speaking, indie developers seem to prefer making games for that company — citing a more supportive, friendlier infrastructure — despite Microsoft’s big, recent push in this arena. As a result, we have a better variety of indie games on the PS4 now, and that should continue into the near future. (Tiny Brains, Doki-Doki Universe, Hohokum — just a sampling of some cool stuff that you can find on PlayStation platforms either exclusively or before others.)</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Winner: PlayStation 4</span></em></div><h3 style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; clear: both; color: #ef3320; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 9px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px 0px 3px; position: relative; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The controllers/input devices</span></b></h3><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At the moment, I might be more intimately familiar with both next-gen controllers than anyone outside of Sony and Microsoft (thanks to <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2013/10/21/the-playstation-4-controller-what-couldve-been-part-1-exclusive/" style="color: #ef3320; outline: none medium; text-decoration: none;">these articles</a>and also <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2013/11/18/the-xbox-one-controller-projectors-smells-and-other-stuff-that-didnt-make-it-in-part-1-exclusive/" style="color: #ef3320; outline: none medium; text-decoration: none;">these over here</a>). I’ve studied both — a lot. And combining that with my own hands-on experience, my professional expert conclusion would be: They both kick ass.</span></div><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_626022" style="border: 0px; clear: both; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 536px; outline: none medium; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 558px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="PlayStation 4 DualShock 4 - top view" class="size-large wp-image-626022" height="302" src="http://venturebeat.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/playstation-4-dualshock-4-top-view1.jpg?w=558&h=302" style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 536px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;" width="558" /></span><div class="wp-caption-text" style="background-color: #f7f7f7; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: -6px; outline: none medium; padding: 10px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The PS4′s DualShock 4 controller.</span></div></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The PS4 controller is more revolutionary, simply because its touchpad and the light bar change the way you interact with games. I’m excited to see what developers do with both of them. And the controller as a whole is just a huge leap over its PS3 predecessor, feeling and functioning better in every conceivable way.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the other hand, the Xbox One joypad is simply state of the art. The analog sticks and triggers feel so high quality and high end. It’s because of this controller that I decided that the Xbox One will be my shooter platform of choice (even though the PS4′s DualShock 4 is also excellent for that genre).</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As far as the Xbox One’s voice-activated Kinect camera goes — when it works, you feel like you’re commanding a futuristic control panel. I still get a kick out of saying “Xbox, watch Food Network” — or “Xbox, turn off” to power down not just the console but my television, cable box, and audio/visual receiver as well. I did this just last night, in fact, as I hit a new low in laziness and didn’t want to get out of bed to grab the remote control.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The new Kinect is a show-off-to-your-friends piece of cool tech. But it, like the Xbox 360 version, fails to recognize what I’m saying one out of 10 or 15 times, and that one time is enough to taint the experience for me. Why not just use the controller, which works <em style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">100 percent</em> of the time?</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(Note that the PlayStation Camera for the PS4 also offers some voice-recognition and face-recognition features, but it generally doesn’t do them as well, and that’s a separate purchase. Since I’m comparing the $400 PS4 to the $500 Xbox One, I’m not taking the PS Camera into consideration here.)</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I like both controllers for different reasons, but the Kinect pushes this category over the edge for me. Outside of the games Battlefield 4 and Resogun, it’s next big thing between the two consoles that feels truly “next generation.”</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Winner: Xbox One</span></em></div><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_862702" style="border: 0px; clear: both; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 536px; outline: none medium; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 558px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="Kinect (Xbox One)" class="size-large wp-image-862702" height="193" src="http://venturebeat.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/kinect-xbox-one.jpg?w=558&h=193" style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 536px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;" width="558" /></span><div class="wp-caption-text" style="background-color: #f7f7f7; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: -6px; outline: none medium; padding: 10px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Xbox One’s Kinect</span></div></div><h3 style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; clear: both; color: #ef3320; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 9px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px 0px 3px; position: relative; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The dashboards</span></b></h3><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I don’t know why I’m seemingly in the minority there, but I actually like Sony’s cross media bar (XMB). This linear menu of PlayStation 3 options (games, video, settings, etc.) is easy to understand and navigate.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, at least for now, this has taken a step back on the PlayStation 4: All of your games and apps are thrown into one long, unorganized list, and you can’t create folders or group any of them in any meaningful way — a nightmare for OCD neat freaks like me. (Sony tells me that folder functionality will come with an upcoming update.)</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Xbox One is barely better: Games and apps all go into one big pile in a messy, Windows 8-like fashion. But at least on Microsoft’s system, you can “pin” items to a separate section, so you can access your favorites more quickly. Now, the pins area will also end up looking rather disheveled when you fill it up, but it’s better than nothing.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Also helping out Microsoft’s cause: A voice-activated Bing search can find anything you need in an instant. I particularly like it for hunting down movies. A quick ”movies with car chases” or ”movies starring Jim Varney” pulls up results that let you know what purchasing or rental options you have on your machine, whether that’s through Xbox Video or a service like Redbox, Netflix, or Hulu Plus.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Winner: Xbox One</span></em></div><div style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></em></div><div style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Source : <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2013/11/20/ps4-vs-xbox-one-i-pick-a-winner-and-make-crazy-predictions/">VentureBeat</a></em></div><div style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Image : VentureBeat</em></div><div class="sharedaddy sd-like-enabled" id="jp-post-flair" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"></div></div>

The winner is … : PlayStation 4 vs. Xbox One

Hitting retail a mere one week apart, Sony’s PlayStation 4 (out now) and Microsoft’s Xbox One (due out Friday) simply offer too many things ...

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EA’s new CEO welcomes the launches of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCGlFd4oSDwPm7NTkyiV4YEvu1VOZOLXcocEFnUNfLwC4Diklnzu3EwzJEkVpn09t_orI_cuA9THI4hyW_laON5CK3VKiZWYQVapvh9lVXjIWI7g9Yy797Kty6cUtxadAxUzL3TG2q4Qe/s1600/ps-4-andrew-wilson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCGlFd4oSDwPm7NTkyiV4YEvu1VOZOLXcocEFnUNfLwC4Diklnzu3EwzJEkVpn09t_orI_cuA9THI4hyW_laON5CK3VKiZWYQVapvh9lVXjIWI7g9Yy797Kty6cUtxadAxUzL3TG2q4Qe/s400/ps-4-andrew-wilson.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Plain and simple, we haven’t gotten the kind of early feedback we had hoped for on this game,” Wilson said of NBA Live. “I do think we have built a strong foundation, so we’re accelerating a number of game updates to address your biggest issues, including improving the way the game teaches the new gameplay controls. We promised to get back to top form with NBA LIVE, and we’re committed to delivering on that.  We are in this for the long haul.”</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here’s the text of his remarks.</span></div><blockquote style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: url(http://s0.wp.com/wp-content/themes/vip/venturebeat2/images/quotes.png); background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px 0px 0px 32px; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We’re only one week into a new era in gaming, and what a wild few days this has been. I’d almost forgotten how intense console transitions are … almost. The hardware hits shelves and anticipation turns to excitement; the reviews come in for the consoles and the games; our live service teams start working to optimize fan experiences; and we’re actively listening to the community for their feedback.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We’ve launched our five next-gen titles in North America, but that’s like having just cleared the first mile marker in a marathon … there’s a long ways to go. Last week brought us the PlayStation 4, today we’re excited to welcome the arrival of the Xbox One, and then comes the PS4 in Europe next week.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The critics agree that we are in top form to start this race on next-gen consoles – we’ve got the highest-rated games for fans of racing, sports and shooters — which is great news. Lots of fans are playing, too — in the first five days, players logged five million online game sessions and 140 million minutes of gameplay across our next-gen titles on PS4. All of this is a testament to talented teams and their commitment to taking risks and pushing hard for new innovation. I’m proud of how we’re embracing the next generation.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But we’re not celebrating. In fact, we’re still working hard. We have had our challenges with stability issues on Battlefield 4, and the DICE team is 100 percent focused on understanding and resolving the problems that some players have been having. We won’t rest until we get things fixed, so here are two things we’re committed to doing while we work to get it right: 1) all players will get a Double XP bonus and a cool new piece of game content as a way of saying thanks for your patience, and 2) you’ll get open and transparent communication with updates from us around the clock via the Battlefield 4 Control Room.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A quick word here on NBA Live as well. Executive producer Sean O’Brien just posted a thoughtful piece to NBA gamers that I would love for you to check out. Plain and simple, we haven’t gotten the kind of early feedback we had hoped for on this game. I do think we have built a strong foundation, so we’re accelerating a number of game updates to address your biggest issues, including improving the way the game teaches the new gameplay controls. We promised to get back to top form with NBA Live, and we’re committed to delivering on that. We are in this for the long haul.</span></div></blockquote><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Source : <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2013/11/22/eas-new-ceo-celebrates-the-next-generation-consoles/">VentureBeat </a></span></i>

EA’s new CEO welcomes the launches of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

“Plain and simple, we haven’t gotten the kind of early feedback we had hoped for on this game,” Wilson said of NBA Live. “I do think we have...

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'Super Mario 3D World' is the best reason to own a Wii U

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcBaxQgZ1bReBISs4AzTflHGyLa-D73-dr219yhT66VJjuCul70cCmcBzcRFQd5MLJ0-_X5OERvNpZ47LhEEH1st8OlKkC2x91ncOmPjsOyAfHdgZUVZ8SzjpD-EmbibaU56AzGIvCoX0/s1600/sm.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcBaxQgZ1bReBISs4AzTflHGyLa-D73-dr219yhT66VJjuCul70cCmcBzcRFQd5MLJ0-_X5OERvNpZ47LhEEH1st8OlKkC2x91ncOmPjsOyAfHdgZUVZ8SzjpD-EmbibaU56AzGIvCoX0/s1600/sm.PNG" /></a></span></span></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph1"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It’s been easy to forget about the Wii U lately, with this month's high-profile launches of the PlayStation 4 and <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/20/5117320/microsoft-xbox-one-review">Xbox One</a>. In fact, it’s been easy to forget about the Wii U in general; Nintendo's console has sold poorly since its release last November, and truly exciting software has been all but non-existent. Until now.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph4"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>Super Mario 3D World</i> is the best game on the Wii U by far, and arguably the best game to come out this holiday season on any platform. It sees Nintendo finally firing on all cylinders again, at a time when it's needed the most. It's Nintendo at its creative, playful, unhinged best.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph7"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Nintendo typically uses its 3D <i>Super Mario</i> titles as a showcase for new hardware, so the design of <i>Super Mario 3D World</i> could have been cause for concern. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, it draws most of its influence from 2011's <i>Super Mario 3D Land</i>, a fantastic 3DS title that took many by surprise. Both games share the same isometric perspective and simple eight-way directional control; by limiting camera and player movement, the two come off as an accessible hybrid between previous 2D and 3D <i>Super Mario</i> releases. While the formula is proven, some will certainly feel slightly disappointed that the Wii U isn't seeing an all-new blueprint.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="snippet-n"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /><img alt="3" class="photo" src="http://cdn3.sbnation.com/assets/3614047/sm3dw2.jpg" /></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="snippet-n"><div class="g8-3"><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph9"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">But <i>Super Mario 3D World</i> blows that notion away within minutes of its opening sequence. Even if the overarching design is something we've seen before, almost every individual stage is bursting with invention. As with the head-spinning <i>Super Mario Galaxy</i> games, Nintendo is more than happy to introduce a completely new gameplay concept only to discard it after a single level, and it's this momentum that ensures <i>Super Mario 3D World</i> is never predictable and never boring. You’ll ride white-water rapids atop a friendly dinosaur, learn to match your jumps to shifting platforms that appear in time with a disco-funk soundtrack, and guide Mario around a <i>Super Mario Kart</i>-inspired track that plays like nothing as much as an early <i>Sonic the Hedgehog</i> game. And that’s without spoiling some of the crazier stages in store.</span></span></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph10"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Tight controls and level design are a given with <i>Super Mario</i>, though; the series' most successful games are the ones that best apply new, recurring elements to the existing template. On that count, too, <i>Super Mario 3D World</i> is a resounding success. You play the game as one of four protagonists — Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Toad, harkening back to <i>Super Mario Bros. 2</i> on the NES. Each has subtle differences in control: Luigi has a slightly more powerful jump than Mario, and Peach's ability to hover in midair makes her perhaps the strongest character. But the quartet can be controlled by up to four people at once, bringing the <i>New Super Mario Bros.</i> games' riotous multiplayer into 3D for the first time.</span></span></div><div class="snippet-n float-right"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><q>Almost every individual stage is bursting with invention</q></span></span></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph11"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The new power-ups are also instant classics. Cat Mario is both the cutest and one of the most powerful abilities the Italian plumber has ever attained, letting him scamper up the side of walls, claw away attacking Goombas, and scale the top of the level-ending flagpoles for maximum points. Double Mario, meanwhile, is a mind-bending addition that sends clones to run alongside your character and mirror their every action. It’s sometimes a boon, but often sent me into paroxysms of rage as I failed to wrap my head around controlling as many as five Marios at once.</span></span></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph12"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Nintendo has specifically designed certain levels to provoke that sort of reaction, and I found myself gently cursing Kyoto for bestowing this "power" upon me. Still, letting one of them die doesn’t count as a lost life, and it does feel more fair to take on the Hammer Bros. when there are two of you. The power-up is also a neat way to handle some of the levels that were designed for several characters; although <i>Super Mario 3D World</i> occasionally feels a little lonely for the solo player, I rarely felt that the level design suffered from Nintendo’s collaborative focus.</span></span></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph12"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>Via: <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/22/5133098/super-mario-3d-world-review">The Verge </a></i></span></span></div></div></div>

'Super Mario 3D World' is the best reason to own a Wii U

It’s been easy to forget about the Wii U lately, with this month's high-profile launches of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One . In fact, i...

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The first major PlayStation 4-Xbox One battle may end in a draw

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtZix7IKDYLNFp-v3DaEtLL_cmy5XQpLlo6qOYM5fOKlQ9fKwK8F5-pPqi05mMg6J10z9eX6MfYMQLNIqC8PtY96mB2g3e8Bv3Ux_4_PKa2Gd8D1J1OuHXf825OAwC-Lj7G9ePePVyi0/s1600/xbox-one-playstation-4-sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtZix7IKDYLNFp-v3DaEtLL_cmy5XQpLlo6qOYM5fOKlQ9fKwK8F5-pPqi05mMg6J10z9eX6MfYMQLNIqC8PtY96mB2g3e8Bv3Ux_4_PKa2Gd8D1J1OuHXf825OAwC-Lj7G9ePePVyi0/s400/xbox-one-playstation-4-sign.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">With a one-week head start and </span>1 million sales in a single day<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">, Sony has a chance to win the holiday season with the </span><a data-rapid_p="10" href="http://bgr.com/tag/playstation-4" style="background-color: white; color: #324fe1; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none;">PlayStation 4</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">. </span><em style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">The Economist</em><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"> has shared some video game console sales predictions from market-research firm IHS, which gives </span><a data-rapid_p="11" href="http://bgr.com/tag/sony" style="background-color: white; color: #324fe1; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none;">Sony</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"> a slight advantage over </span><a data-rapid_p="12" href="http://bgr.com/tag/microsoft" style="background-color: white; color: #324fe1; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none;">Microsoft</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">during the launch months of November and December. Both the PlayStation 4 and </span>Xbox One<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"> are expected to move more than 2 million units before 2014, barely edging out the </span>Wii U<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"> launch numbers. The Wii U sales went on to take a precipitous dive at the beginning of the year, something both Sony and Microsoft are hoping to avoid. This is shaping up to be one the first evenly matched console launches, at least in terms of initial sales. It will be several months, if not over a year, before anyone is likely to take a definitive lead. </span><em style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">The Economist’s</em><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"> console retail sales chart follows below.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Via: <a href="http://games.yahoo.com/news/first-major-playstation-4-xbox-one-battle-may-175038032.html">Yahoo News</a></span></i></span>

The first major PlayStation 4-Xbox One battle may end in a draw

With a one-week head start and  1 million sales in a single day , Sony has a chance to win the holiday season with the  PlayStation 4 .  The...

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The strangest thing about the PS4: It actually looks profitable

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYWm9Oefv0dWPqXdRKsozRHXvnC1pWo-tSPAol-JUj8gy4BSWf72BdnmhSF0Ppwbje6qFb_ZFU5eAv5v3Qfl8AAUM6GPgJ8GW_TZHtx28aFn3CNBJIhW5RFQgdyo_omp4gaeXi8ItucPc/s1600/playstation-4-launch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYWm9Oefv0dWPqXdRKsozRHXvnC1pWo-tSPAol-JUj8gy4BSWf72BdnmhSF0Ppwbje6qFb_ZFU5eAv5v3Qfl8AAUM6GPgJ8GW_TZHtx28aFn3CNBJIhW5RFQgdyo_omp4gaeXi8ItucPc/s640/playstation-4-launch.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Back in 2006, a TechInsights teardown showed that it cost Sony about $688 to build the PlayStation 3 console it launched at $599. Locked in a tough battle with Microsoft, <a data-rapid_p="9" href="http://bgr.com/tag/sony" style="color: #324fe1; text-decoration: none;">Sony’s</a> decision to sell the PS3 at a loss was widely viewed as a prudent move. But in 2013, TechInsights estimates it costs Sony only $296 to build the <a data-rapid_p="10" href="http://bgr.com/tag/playstation-4" style="color: #324fe1; text-decoration: none;">PlayStation 4</a>, which launched at $399. Sony could be launching the console at $299 or even $249, but is electing to price it high. This is a bit surprising for several reasons.<span id="more-1861290"></span></span></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1384946652915_1283" style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unlike in 2006, Sony’s television business is in a grim state and has little chance of stopping Samsung’s formidable momentum. Sony’s portable game console PS Vita is doing only tolerable business in Japan and is facing extinction in the United States and European markets. Smartphone and tablet markets have matured astonishingly rapidly and have started wresting control of consumers’ living rooms from television sets.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You’d think that Sony would feel extremely motivated to price PS4 as low as possible to maximize hardware sales and thus maximize future software profits. Yet Sony is demonstrating remarkable sangfroid by pricing the console at twice the level of a budget tablet.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are several possible explanations for this. Sony may have early order and consumer survey data that indicates demand for the PS4 is running so high the console can soar even at $400. Maybe the plan is to sell the first 3 million to 5 million units at top price before a price drop to $300. It’s also possible that after being weighed down by debt and unprofitable divisions, Sony simply needs the cushion that the instantly profitable PS4 console provides.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whatever the reason for the gutsy pricing is, it’s clear that Sony can afford an early, steep price cut for the PS4 should it need one. This is a console that may be possible to sell at $199 by the end of 2015 as component prices decline and economies of scale for custom parts kick in. In that sense, Sony has ample room to maneuver if PS4 demand softens next spring or later. Sony may well need that pricing latitude as it tries to maintain consumer interest in the home console market over the coming years.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em; padding: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Via: <a href="http://games.yahoo.com/news/strangest-thing-ps4-actually-looks-profitable-171516324.html/">ZDNet</a></span></i></div>

The strangest thing about the PS4: It actually looks profitable

Back in 2006, a TechInsights teardown showed that it cost Sony about $688 to build the PlayStation 3 console it launched at $599. Locked in ...

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Review : Compelling console with a strong lineup of games Xbox One

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZlYjm_jL-I8uCap7wwc9zmsRP2ndMx_7rYsCGMLu3qi842Kxt-W57MnY8JIucug7DsclwgtWRg1hwAa447azf4aU0h01kUB2oHdB3QCy-SHSyHUcKqRx275y-FdsTp1nfaimVCzSPOb0_/s1600/2D9733855-xbone.blocks_desktop_large.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZlYjm_jL-I8uCap7wwc9zmsRP2ndMx_7rYsCGMLu3qi842Kxt-W57MnY8JIucug7DsclwgtWRg1hwAa447azf4aU0h01kUB2oHdB3QCy-SHSyHUcKqRx275y-FdsTp1nfaimVCzSPOb0_/s640/2D9733855-xbone.blocks_desktop_large.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The six months since Microsoft unveiled its next-generation game console haven't been kind to the tech giant. Gamers were enraged at how the company seemed to be emphasizing the Xbox One's role as a smart TV box over its potential as a gaming powerhouse.</span></span><br /><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And a number of high-level executive shifts — including the departure of Don Mattrick, host of the Xbox One unveiling and president of Microsoft's interactive entertainment arm — gave some people the impression of a company in disarray.</span></span><br /><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Yet after spending the last two weeks tinkering with the Xbox One, I can say that I was pleasantly surprised by just how much fun it was to play. There were a predictable number of technical pre-launch glitches that Microsoft assured me would be ironed out come launch day on Friday. But the Xbox One really is a compelling piece of hardware, complete with a strong lineup of launch games. And that's more than I could say for </span>Sony's PlayStation 4<span style="line-height: 24px;">, which arrived last Friday.</span></span><br /><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If gaming is your No. 1 priority, I would still recommend waiting to see how the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One evolve to suit your particular wants. But if you're really craving a new system now — or need something to bring home to the kids — the Xbox One is your best bet. It offers a wealth of solid entertainment options right out of the box ... or, at least, after several hours of software updates and installations.</span></span><br /><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><div style="line-height: 1.5em; padding-right: 45px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>The hardware: Silent but bulky</strong>When it was introduced in May, the Xbox One was maligned for its <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/microsoft-defends-xbox-ones-maligned-design-6C10145582" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.5em; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out;" target="_blank">sheer monstrosity</a>. For a machine meant to herald a new generation of interactive entertainment, it looked an awful lot like a 1980s-era VCR. Compared to the nimble design of its predecessor, the slimmed-down Xbox 360 — one of the most beautiful pieces of hardware to come out of Microsoft, let alone the video game industry — the Xbox One seemed particularly unsightly.</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; padding-right: 45px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No doubt, the Xbox One is a monstrosity. It's significantly larger than the PS4 in size as well as price — at $499, it costs $100 more at launch. I had to reorganize my console and TV layout just to find a place to comfortably fit it and the new larger Kinect camera.</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; padding-right: 45px;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Source : <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/xbox-one-review-compelling-console-strong-lineup-games-2D11622598">NBC News.com</a></span></i></div>

Review : Compelling console with a strong lineup of games Xbox One

The six months since Microsoft unveiled its next-generation game console haven't been kind to the tech giant. Gamers were enraged at how...

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