With the release of video game consoles like Microsoft’s Xbox One or Sony’s PlayStation 4, many people wonder which has been better over time, PlayStation or Xbox?
In its beginnings, the new era of video games was led by Sony and its PlayStation , however, from 2001, Microsoft entered the battle with its Xbox . Which was better throughout history? PlayStation or Xbox?
Beginning of the PlayStation era
In 1995, Sony launched the first PlayStation internationally, making it the console that marked a before and after in the world of video games. Known as PS1 , this device was part of the fifth generation of consoles, also called “The era of 32 bits” . At that time, the maximum competition of the Japanese firm was the popular Nintendo 64 and the beloved Sega Saturn ; However, Sony broke all records by achieving an astronomical figure of more than 100 million consoles sold .
The original PlayStation brought as a novelty the incorporation of a CD player, 3D graphics and the possibility of saving the progress of the games. It also incorporated the first DualShock , the company’s legendary joystick, which included a vibration system and throughout its life managed to have more than 7000 video games in its catalog .
First appearance of the Xbox and the PlayStation 2
The first Xbox was released worldwide in 2002. This console incorporated a 32-bit Intel Coppermine Core processor and only had external storage through memory cards. Theoretically, this team was part of a Microsoft strategy to enter the console sector since the company responsible for Windows believed that the computer market was being threatened . Although obtaining a large profit was not in Microsoft’s plans, around 24 million units were sold, thus leading the sector in important markets such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Colombia, among others.
On the other hand, the PlayStation 2 was released on March 4, 2000 in Japan and soon afterwards in the rest of the world. This console broke all existing records, becoming today the best-selling video game console of all time, with a significant figure of more than 160 million units sold worldwide ; on the console with the most titles in history, thanks to its almost 11,000 and on the only console in history that competed strongly with its own successor, the PlayStation 3, becoming the game console with the longest life cycle .
At that time the result was clear: Sony destroyed Microsoft .
PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360: A more even competition?
With the arrival of the seventh generation of consoles, Sony introduced its PlayStation 3 and Microsoft the popular Xbox 360 . As for the Sony alternative, it was launched on November 23, 2007 internationally and featured a hardware consisting of a Cell Broadband Engine processor running at 3.1 GHz and 256 MB of RAM. As a novelty, the PlayStation 3 was compatible with the Blu-ray format , which translated into high-resolution content .
For its part, the Xbox 360 had a 3.2 GHz Tri-Core IBM Xenon processor and 512 MB of RAM, a hardware clearly superior to that of its competition. One of the most interesting functions was to automatically turn off the console when a certain temperature was reached to avoid overheating. In total, there were five different versions, among which the Core and Elite versions stood out .
Despite the magnificent results obtained by Microsoft (85.5 million units sold), Sony again won, by very little, the battle of the consoles with approximately 86 million PlayStation 3 sold. This very even result occurred in part due to the high prices of the Sony game console and the amount of low-quality games that it had in its catalog .
PlayStation 4 and Xbox One: the war of the current generation
Launched between November 2013 and February 2014, the PlayStation 4 abysmally increased its power compared to its predecessor , the PlayStation 3, incorporating an eight-core AMD processor. Among its improvements is the integration with the PlayStation App , which allows you to turn smartphones and tablets into a second screen or an external keyboard, and the addition of the “Share” button , which allows you to share trophies, transmit games live and others on social networks like Twitter or Facebook .
In addition, the online section was renewed, notably improving all online games and the PlayStation VR system was included , currently being the only video game console to have virtual reality technology. With a catalog of just over 1200 games, the PlayStation 4 reached 100 million consoles sold in 5 years and 7 months, managing to beat the record for the PS2 that took two more months .
For its part, Microsoft launched the Xbox One between November 2013 and September 2014. As with Sony, this console is much more powerful than its predecessor, to be more exact, it is almost ten times more . Among its novelties are the improvement in the Kinect movement system and the quality of receiving television signals, so it would replace the decoders of pay television companies.
Currently, the PlayStation 4 has more than 100 million units sold and, although it is believed that it will be impossible to reach the figure obtained by the PlayStation 2, hopes are still preserved. On the other hand, the Xbox One is considered one of the biggest failures of Microsoft since, despite having an interesting catalog of games, it barely reaches 32 million units sold, a figure that is well below those of its competition
