This time next month all of the next generation games consoles will be available to buy. Unsurprisingly Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony all claim to have the best machinery on offer. Whilst many fans will already know which one they want, others may be unsure which one to choose. From an impartial perspective, these monuments to contemporary technology are tremendous works of creative and technical wizardry. All three have pros and cons, and all come at a reasonably hefty price. So which one is for you?
Depending on what you’re after the Wii U, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 offer a different experience, so here’s our lowdown on the games machines of the future.
Wii U
Nintendo’s latest has been out since November 2012. After struggling with poor sales due to a lack of games, there is now a steady stream of excellent titles becoming available. To help matters Nintendo have recently launched some inspired Wii U bundles, and these have seen sales improve dramatically.
The best of the lot is the £250 Zelda: Wind Waker HD remake package which comes with the 32 GB premium Wii U. The game has met with rave reviews and it’s reminded everyone of the Wii U’s impressive potential, particularly with the innovative touch screen GamePad. This lets you switch (at the press of a button) between your TV and the GamePad, allowing you to play the game on the tablet screen. You can set your TV up so you/others can continue watching your favourite shows whilst you continue playing. This is just one of many unique features it has.
With Nintendo’s amazing trademark franchises on the way (Super Smash Bros, Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, and a new Zelda next year), an affordable price tag, and a new selection of exciting third party titles out soon, the Wii U is establishing itself as a brilliant console and shouldn’t be ignored by games fan. It’s backwards compatible with the Wii’s impressive catalogue of games, and you can also stream Netflix, LoveFilm, and YouTube through its WiFi connectivity.
Games To Get: Zelda: Wind Waker, Pikmin 3, Rayman Legends, Wonderful 101, Mass Effect 3, Mario Kart 8.
Pros: The GamePad’s unique abilities, Nintendo’s impending franchise titles, it’s the cheapest Next Generation console, the games are considerably cheaper than on the PS4 and Xbox One.
Cons: Several top name developers aren’t committing to the Wii U (there will be no GTA 5, for instance), and it isn’t as powerful as the PS4 and Xbox One.
Xbox One
Microsoft’s console will be released for £429.99 on the 22nd November 2013. The Xbox One has been billed as an “all-in-one” entertainment unit, which means the increasing integration of the Kinect motion sensing device. It offers media inter connectivity (applications, like Skype and Internet Explorer, can be moved to the sides of the screen for multi-tasking), allows voice control, runs three operating systems, an improved version of Xbox Live (making the online gaming experience more vital than ever), and a SmartGlass feature which allows you to use devices such as a Windows Phone to be used as a second screen. Perhaps one of the most popular features is likely to be the integrated support for live streaming gameplay online, and for recording and sharing your antics from games. This all comes with an enormous 500 GB of hard drive storage!
The games are also very impressive, with Halo 5 likely to get brains melting in excitement. The launch titles are very appealing and will offer some of the best graphics we’ve seen in video games to date. With Blu-ray and DVD capabilities added in to this, Microsoft’s “entertainment unit” claims are certainly spot on. However, there is one thing which dampens this excellent looking console – no backwards compatibility with any Xbox 360 games. Microsoft also outraged fans earlier in the year with a series of restrictive digital rights plans, which they had to drop due to the online reaction. However, despite these teething problems the Xbox One will be a real blast which will particularly cater for dedicated gamers.
Games To Get: Ryse: Son of Rome, Dead Rising 3, Forza Motorsport 5, Halo 5, Titanfall, Sunset Overdrive.
Pros: Very powerful, arguably the best online multiplayer console, impressive “all-in-one” entertainment unit, an impressive set of games on the way.
Cons: By far the most expensive Next Generation console, no backwards compatibility with Xbox or Xbox 360 games, expensive games at around £50 a title, digital rights issues and privacy concerns.
PlayStation 4
The PS4 will be £349 and is released on November 29th 2013. For your money you will receive the sleek and powerful technology you’d expect from Sony. There is a greater focus on social gameplay this time around, with the incorporation of social media styled “share” buttons on the analogue controller. Sony have also put forward Gaikai, a cloud based service capable of streaming game content. The PlayStation App comes with the console and will connect to smartphones/tablets to make for a second screen (as the Xbox One has done, which is a move to lessen the impact of the Wii U’s GamePad), and the PlayStation Vita will also have a similar function. Sony haven’t held back and there’s an enormous 500 GB of user storage on the hard drive,
The list of launch games looks quite brilliant. Favourites such as Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed are amongst the launch titles, whilst Battlefield 4 and Killzone ShadowFall have all been met with great hype and are virtually guaranteed must buys.
As with the Xbox One, the PS4 will be able to play Blue-ray discs and DVDs, but it is also somewhat stricken with the annoying news it won’t be backwards compatible with PS3 or PS2 games. Cloud support is being considered, however, which would allow you to download older games, although you will presumably be charged for this privilege. Despite this, the reception from the games industry to date has placed the PS4 as the favourite console of the moment, due to its price and lack of digital rights issues.
Games To Watch: DriveClub, Fifa 14, Watch Dogs, Battlefield 4, Killzone ShadowFall, Call of Duty: Ghosts.
Pros: Very powerful, a competitive price, lots of gaming exclusives and big name titles.
Cons: Expensive games (it’s around £50 a title), not backwards compatible with PS3 or PS2 games.
