Big gaming turns out to be big money. The latest annual report on the US video games industry by The NPD Group shows record spending by Americans on video games with an 8% year-over-year increase from 2020.
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EA might be accused of being quite fond of Microsoft and Xbox as a result of Titanfall and EA Access not being available on PlayStation platforms but the feeling may not be quite as mutual following a recent EA investor call. EA CFO Blake Jorgensen told investors that the current-gen console install base was 55 million units through two years on sale. That info also accidentally let slip how many consoles each manufacturer has sold.
Since the start of the current generation of video game consoles, Microsoft has been on the back foot. Whether it’s the DRM controversy at the console’s unveiling or the inclusion of Kinect or the $100 higher price tag at launch, Microsoft has been struggling in its battle with Sony for the living room.
For the upcoming holiday season, Microsoft is going to fight back with discounted bundles that will see a $50 discount applied from November 2nd to January 3rd.
Given that it’s lagging behind in the console war by an estimated 1.7 million units after three months of sales, it was only a matter of time before Microsoft tried something to close the gap. I don’t think, however, that anyone expected them to try a price cut so soon.
To gain competitive ground with the PlayStation Four, Microsoft UK announced a £30 price cut to £399 for the Xbox One and that Titanfall Xbox One console bundles would be available at no extra charge above the base price.
The resolution, graphic quality and framerate differences between the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 games released on both platforms has been a big story since both consoles launched last November. It was expected that the PS4’s use of GDDR5 RAM would allow it to dance circles around the DDR3 RAM of the Xbox One.
However, one developer says that it isn’t that the PS4’s hardware is so much superior but that the Xbox One’s architecture is the issue. The small 32 MB of high-bandwidth eSRAM isn’t conducive to getting games to render at 1080p.
While Sony and Microsoft’s new consoles have been out for a couple of months and are in a quiet period before the next big wave of next-gen games come in March, the upcoming Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition could reignite the battle between fans of the two biggest players in the home console market.
Recent reports indicate that TR:DE will run close to 60 frames per second for the majority of the game on PlayStation 4, the Xbox One version of the game will be floating between 30 and 45 FPS.
We’re officially four weeks from the launch of the next-gen consoles (five weeks if you’re outside North America). While you’re unlikely to get your hands on a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One any time soon if you haven’t already pre-ordered one. Still, that doesn’t mean that the console wars are going to cool down anytime soon.
Today, to mark the final month before the next generation of the home console gets well and truly underway, here’s an infographic comparing the two consoles.
The latest point of contention between PlayStation 4 and Xbox One fanboys has come courtesy of a Sony event in Spain. A PlayStation 4 unit showed a red LED line on the top of the console where there is normally a blue LED line. Many people are jumping on this as a major potential issue with the PS4’s hardware but Sony is saying not to panic.
When we last checked up on the state of next-gen gaming, we found out that PS4 exclusive Killzone: Shadow Fall would be a 50 GB digital download. Now, we have some of the minimum specs for the PC versions of some next-gen games. If you use a slightly dated laptop as your main PC gaming rig, you’re definitely in need of a major upgrade.
Recently, we’ve seen the official announcement of minimum and recommended specs for three major triple-A releases this fall and they’re not going to go easy on your rig.
An anonymous survey of developers by Edge Magazine shows that the performance difference expected based on their specs turns out to be a reality. Developers told Edge that the PlayStation 4 is up to 50 percent faster than the Xbox One and the recent GPU boost hasn’t done much to fix that.
et geekera 