If you’re here reading Kotaku Australia, chances are you know a little bit about video games. That’s just the audience we tend to attract! This means that you are most likely to be the guy/girl your family and friends approach with questions like, ‘what game/console/handheld should I buy for me/my boyfriend/my daughter/etc?’ I don’t know about you, but I’ve already started to become plagued with those questions with regards to the PS4 and the Xbox One. What are you telling people?
It’s been a tricky one for me. I’ve usually been going with the cop-out of ‘depends what you want to do with it’. I did the same thing last time round. I played most of my games on Xbox 360 but that didn’t necessarily mean that I always recommended that console.
I suspect it might be the same thing this time round. I’ll probably do most of my gaming on a PS4, but that won’t stop me from sometimes recommending an Xbox One.
What are you telling the people who ask you?
Comments
51 responses to “Tell Us Dammit: Recommending A Next-Gen Console”
I tell ’em Wii U of course. What other option is there? 😛
When there’s only one console, there’s only one choice!
I’m actually wondering how much of a boost WiiU sales will get over the Christmas period if both the Xbone and PS4 are low / have no stock.
And to be honest looking at the options I would probably get WiiU! Something I never thought I would say.
God I can see the look of disappointment on the kid’s face now. Ripping open the wrapping paper to find a …. Wii U. “Thanks, mum” he says dejectedly, barely holding in his rage and sorrow…
Just tell the kids that Santa failed to get the correct licensing agreements in place so his elves could only make Wii Us. This will prepare them for life as an Australian electronics consumer.
It’s “recommending a NEXT-GEN console”.
Trolololol.
Easy. You ask them: “What do your friends play?” If their answer is “Mostly PS4”, then it’s likely they should get a PS4. If their answer is “mostly Xbox One”, then your answer is Xbox One.
Exactly this. I’ve been getting Xbox since the original but this time I’m going PS4 because everyone I play consoles with is. Gaming is only as good as the people you play with.
Except when you play singleplayer. You know that’s still a thing, right?
haha this guy knows what’s up, i said the same thing in another article yesterday 🙂
The hard thing is if they’re all still on the fence, and not buying until next year. I know a few friends who would definitely go PS4 as that’s what they’ve always owned, but they probably won’t have the money to buy it anytime soon. On the other hand i have some other friends who would probably go Xbox for Halo, Dead Rising and Forza. I’m leaning towards getting an Xbox one next year, because i don’t want to wait 2-3 years for Gran Turismo 7 on PS4, and Halo > Killzone (I’ve played both extensively). Also let’s be realistic, we won’t have a Naughty Dog title til 2015. I can save up enough to buy a PS4 before then.
/thread.
I usually just speak from experience. Liked 360 more as a console, but preferred the exclusives of the PS3. That pattern sealed the deal for a PS4 purchase over an Xbone for me but your mileage may vary.
Wait.
I would say don’t bother buying a new console until there’s a game you really want to play. Meanwhile I’m going to be joyfully playing Mario 3D world this weekend. Go the WiiU!
Unless their favourite game is Halo I tell them to get a PS4.
Most of my friends who are into console would be mostly getting cross platform games and they will play best on the PS4.
What makes you think that they will play best on the PS4? Do you have some exclusive insight the rest of us don’t have?
The fact that the PS4 has the superior hardware?
I’m enjoying the games on my Xbone, absolutely hate the size of the updates, install times, and the user interface. The increased emphasis on micro-transactions in every game I’ve played so far is extremely worrying. Controller is awesome though.
Keen to get my hands on a PS4, but since I didn’t pre-order I won’t be getting one till at least Christmas. I’ve got the feeling that it’ll be my goto console for this gen, but then again I haven’t had a chance to hold one of the new controllers yet.
Good luck finding one…
You usually know as a collective what you and your friends are most interested in. Nearly all my multiplayer gaming was done on a 360. Probably 80% of my friends were playing on ps3, i just preferred the company of that 20% on 360. Anyway, PS4, i choose you. Feel free to send me a FR too, i dont wanna play BF4 with Kozicki by myself, he’s an angry, angry man when it comes to FPS. 🙂
“Depends what you want to do with it?” isn’t a cop-out at all, in fact (if anything) it is the most relevant question to ask. People have different needs or requirements which a particular console might cater to, and this is the best way to find out which fits best assuming you are well informed on all products.
I suggest to people they look at the exclusives they want to play, as that’s pretty much the key difference.
The only other difference as has been noted above, if you plan on playing multiplayer what are your friends/family playing.
The advice I have given people is wait. Wait until next year to see what exclusives are available and coming up. Wait to see what the Steam Machines end up like.
For me, its where my friends play. Last gen I had both consoles, this gen i will be getting a ps4 but not an xbone. For now anyway.
Playstation…..its the console baby Jesus would want. You could still buy an xbox if you want but I would not want to risk pissing off god’s kid.
Xbone makes baby Jesus cry!
I got that question a lot a few years back from friends who’d bought a Wii for their kids and now the kid wanted a 360 or PS3; each time I told them that the consoles were pretty equal and either one was good, in each instance they ended up getting a 360! Kinect sold a lot of consoles for Microsoft.
I don’t know what to recommend this time because I don’t know which I’m getting myself!
Each machine seems to have negative points like the Xbone has way more functionality as an entertainment centre yet look at the disc install times!
PS4 is cheaper – but not if live here where you can pay another $100 on the exchange rate THEN GST.
None of the launch games excite me other than 64 player Battlefield and its not worth spending $600+ just for that experience.
To make matters worse almost every game announced for next year which I’m interested in (Watch Dogs, MGS, PvZ GW, Titanfall) has a version for the console I already own!!
Actually at today’s exchange rate the PS4 is AUD$67 more than it is in the US. Still should have been $499 though.
Just wait it out. 1-1.5 years from now, there’ll be a lot of good games, prices might be down a bit, teething problems should be ironed out and we’ll all know exactly what the capabilities of each are.
But then you’ve wasted 1-1.5 years not playing next-gen games.
Which I can then pick up for like $30 a pop!
WINNAR!!!!
But yeah, obviously if you have the need, you gotta spend the cash. I’m cool with waitin’.
Hairy muff.
Obviously not many people have enough for both on launch day but i haven’t chosen one console over another for 20 years. I only buy Nintendo hardware on day 1 and get all other consoles in time as the price drops and the library’s get bigger.
My answer to anybody that asks me is neither yet. If people are willing to spend $600-700 on a console and games, i’m guessing they already have an idea about both and which one they want anyway.
@markserrels Will you be doing some articles for the PS4 launch?
Last gen it was simply based onw what your friends play – or what exclusives you liked better. This gen I think it’s going to be about experience. PS4 is going to be more for hardcore games with better graphics likely to be the norm. While XBone provides a more rounded experience with links into just about every other entertainment area. I’ve started (1st nextgen console) with XBone in the hope that experience plays out well. No guarantees though.
I have been Xbox since the first console came out but I will be getting the PS4 this time, my friends are all going to be playing either PC or PS4 and the exclusives for the PS3 appealed to me more than Xbox, as I was not a fan of Halo or GoW. I will be unhappy when Alan Wake 2 or Fable 4 are released but lets hope for a PC release.
If you have a gaming PC already, get an XB1. If you don’t, get whichever has the exclusives you’re interested in. If you do have a PC, you’re probably going to be playing the games you want to be in super high fidelity on that anyway, but the XB1 has a host of other features beyond just the games that make it complementary to the PC.
I would have thought the opposite, several Xbone exclusives will come to PC as well where things like Uncharted will be purely PS4.
Titanfall is Xbone and PC.
The exclusives are a secondary concern, I think, to the overall purpose of the device. PS4’s purpose overlaps too much with PC, XB1 branches into other areas. What I would recommend is keeping the overlap as small as possible, otherwise one device or the other is going to get neglected and you’ll end up feeling like you wasted money.
As someone with a relatively new gaming PC, why specifically would you recommend an Xbox 1 for me over a PS4?
I mentioned it in my reply to Pete above, but I think there’s too much function overlap between PC and PS4 – they’re both devices that serve very similar purposes, albeit one is at your desk and the other at your couch. The XB1 has a broader range of supporting features, media streaming and such that even if you played every game you bought on PC, the device would still have a respectable amount of secondary value.
I take this view with most devices. I don’t buy laptops because I have a PC and I have a tablet and with the overlap there’s not much advantage left in owning the laptop. At the end of the day, all fanboy arguments aside, you’re going to get a better experience on PC than on console for the majority of cross-platform games. If exclusives are the main reason you’re getting it and it doesn’t really do much else, I think you’ll end up feeling like it was a bit of a waste.
I use my PC from my couch mostly. It’s also my media centre. Exclusive games will be the only thing deciding which console I get.
Mine too, which is why I won’t be getting either console. But I’d say we’re probably a minority case, most people have their PC and TV separate, or have a separate HTPC.
I tell them while I prefer the Xbox for Xbox Live, the controller, the Xbox One exclusives, and the possible further opportunities presented by Kinect, there’s no reason not to buy a PS4 if you like the feel of the controller and the platform exclusive titles. Both are capable gaming machines though Xbox is going for more of an entertainment hub approach and currently has the edge in that regard. Two years down the line, they’ll basically be indistinguishable except on the Xbox you’ll have Halo instead of Killzone, Forza instead of Gran Turismo, and Dead Rising instead of… I dunno… inFamous or Uncharted.
If they are younger I saw Wii U, if they don’t already have a console, I tell them to grab a PS4. Cheaper, faster, quicker installs, the games are just as good on either and Playstation+ is unbeatable value.
Otherwise, grab a PS3, they are cheap, huge game library, new games still coming and still good value from PS+
I tell them to get both. They both have their merits and strongsuits.
I think the main issue is that whether people can afford both consoles or not, most of us will have a hard time justifying buying both right now. Am I really willing to spend another $600+ dollars on a console to be able to play a few exclusives and get some features? Not really. Chances are I’d be buying one console, then if a second one comes, it’ll be at least 2 years down the track.
Probably should have quantified. Your main (meaning the one you buy the multiplats for, will game with mates on) console now(ish), then the other has whatever killer apps you like/want are released.
For me its the x1 now and the ps4 in 2 years or so, when there is something out from naughty dog/that game company.
I would tell them to get a nice gaming PC. Get a console in a year or so when there are some exclusives that are worthwhile. Play superior version of the multi-platform games in the meantime.
The more I think about it, the more I’m leaning towards the PS4, not for the games it has now, but for all the Indie games that it’s going to have. Considering how Sony is embracing the Indie devs, it seems like any time an amazing and unique gaming experience is released on Steam, Sony swoops in to offer them a deal on PS4/Vita. As much as I’d enjoy games like Rogue Legacy and Hotline Miami 2 on my PC, I’d much prefer to have the option to play them on my TV. Add to that the ability to load the same game to my Vita and take it with me, and I’m pretty much set.
It sounds like the Steam Box, once it comes out, would fit your needs more closely. With that, you get all the indie games on your TV, and you can still play them on your PC too for no extra cost.
Except for the Vita part, that’s definitely a PS4 advantage =)