PS4 vs X-Box One - Which is better for a casual gamer?

[Thunderscream872]

I'm trying to decide which one I should go with as someone who only really plays video games on the weekends (and hardly every weekend at that). There are only a few games here and there that really interest me enough to dish out the ridiculous amount of money they want for them. The new Star Wars Battlefront happens to be one of those games. So, I need to decide what system to go with: PS4 or X-Box One?

So, here's some stuff you should know before making a recommendation:

-The last system I bought was an X-Box 360
-I'm not in anyway a hardcore gamer
-I mainly only try out games if I can get them cheap or for free, and I usually only end up playing those for a couple hours
-I'll probably only be using the system for gaming; I won't really use it for Blu Ray, Netflix, YouTube, etc.
-Backward compatibility is not a huge issue, but it would nice
-Halo, CoD, and the Soul Calibur series are some of the few game series I actually keep up with, but Halo's kinda dead to me since they ditched splitscreen.
-More of my friends are X-Box people, but I don't really play the games they're playing...so yeah.
-Graphics are important, but there doesn't seem to be a huge difference between the two systems
-Lag sucks, I don't wanna deal with it

I don't really think that's enough info to make a solid recommendation, but its what I got for now, and I'd like to get one of the two sometime in the fall.

[Mullet Death]

I can't in good conscience recommend a console to anyone. That said, if you can't be disuaded, then it sounds like it really doesn't matter which one you get, as they're both similar experiences. In deciding a console, what really matters is what exclusives you want (ftr, I think the concept of exclusives is bad.) Both of them have the new Star Wars Battlefront. If you haven't given up on Halo totally and you care enough about backwards compatibility then you'd need an Xbone. If you don't care that much then get a PS4, as it has a slight edge on the Xbone when it comes to free games thanks to its Plus service, which costs ten dollars less per year than Xbox Live. It's also slightly more powerful in terms of specs than the Xbone, and it's more popular in Japan and so is more likely to get certain Japanese games, if that interests you in any way (and then there's Bloodbourne, one of the only PS4 exclusives I'm even interested in.) Future CODs will release on both systems, and any future Soul Calibur games likely will as well. Lag has nothing to do with what console you'd be playing on so it really doesn't factor into your decision. So overall, if it has to be one or the other, then I'd say go with a PS4. Just don't share financial information with Sony; buy prepaid cards.

If you're willing to spend more money short term then I personally recommend a Steam Machine: a prebuilt and configured GNU/Linux PC running SteamOS (which is based on the Debian distribution.) You could turn it into a dual boot PC with Windows 10 to play Battlefront with a little effort, or possibly simply by special request from the Steam Machine manufacturer. If you really wanna save money then forget about all of that and just get Battlefront for Windows on EA's Origin service on your current PC. With either scenario Steam and other PC platforms are definitely the way to go, especially if you're all about free and deeply discounted games. And that's true no matter how casual or hardcore you consider yourself.

[shooraijin]

These two certainly seem more alike than they are different.

I only recently got an Xbox 360 at a garage sale, so I'll be sitting out this console generation, personally.

[Midori]

I'm sad not enough people take the Wii U seriously. If you're going to get a console, you may as well get one that can do things a PC can't, right? The XBox One and PS4 are basically PCs in boxes if I understand things correctly.

I realize that the Wii U isn't exactly the kind of high-powered shooter-heavy system you're looking for. I just wanted to complain.

[Shroopy]

I agree with Midori.

[Thunderscream872]

Thanks for the input guys. Originally me and my brother were gonna split the cost, but he's thinking of going the PC route, which I am trying to talk him out of. So, I don't really know if I wanna dish out all the money for a console. At very least, its gonna delay me getting a PS4 or an X-Box One if I can't convince him that its better than gaming on the PC. Sorry, Mullet, I just honestly don't see how PC gaming can offer you the same experience that console gaming can. I want to game on a big screen with a controller in my hand, not in front of my laptop.

EDIT: I looked into Steam Machines a bit, and they definitely seem intriguing. I have to admit, up to this point I didn't really know what they were. I had heard of them, but never really thought twice about it. I'll definitely look into them a little more before making a decision.

I'm sad not enough people take the Wii U seriously. If you're going to get a console, you may as well get one that can do things a PC can't, right? The XBox One and PS4 are basically PCs in boxes if I understand things correctly.

I realize that the Wii U isn't exactly the kind of high-powered shooter-heavy system you're looking for. I just wanted to complain.

lol, I'm sure it has plenty of great games, but every time I even consider the Wii U, I just think of my Wii sitting in a cabinet in the same place its sat for the past three months. I use it every so often, but not nearly enough to make me consider the Wii U over its peers.

[Bobtheduck]

The machines are so close, it's crazy. Xbone has limited BC, PS4 has a netflix like game streaming service which actually works pretty well, but it's too expensive (Yeah, I was able to stream American games from Japan... I think they must have all versions of their PSNow store on all their servers) but if you want a variety of last gen games, it's pretty cool. Xbone has TV integration... Sony is king of the indy games right now, but MS will no doubt get a flood of phone-ish games because of integration with Windows 10 Phone. They both have super fast menus and streaming capabilities, I think sans camera, the prices is the same between Xbone and PS4 (350 dollars), but the camera is cheaper on the PS4. Of course, for camera based games, obviously Kinect is better... And, OH YEAH, there are no camera based games on PS4 yet (not until Morpheus comes out).

Speaking of Morpheus (even though VR isn't quite casual ATM), PS4 will be the cheapest serious game capable VR solution. 350 for the machine rather than 1000+ for a Consumer Version Oculus Rift which has higher minimum specs than DK2 (but, you know, not completely cheap like Google Cardboard or Samsung Gear), and probably the same price for the VR headset itself, and Resident Evil 2 Remake may becoming to Morpheus. Combined with Kinect, Hololense makes Xbone the cheapest serious game capable AR system, and they've got some good ideas for it already. I will add that VR can become AR with modifications, but it can't go the other way, because you can't block out the view on the Hololense... I don't see Morpheus being modded into an AR system, though, unlike Oculus (which has already had AR mods made for it)