Today at Microsoft's event in Redmond, Washington, officially announcing the Xbox One, among the details unveiled were specifications about the hardware that the next-generation console is packing, as detailed by Microsoft's Marc Whitten.
The Xbox One sports a reasonable set of specifications. It's nothing groundbreaking, but it's several times better, faster, and more efficient than the Xbox 360.
That said, it's difficult to tell how well it compares to the PLayStation 4 as Microsoft has been slightly reticent with its actual specifications. Aside from the new Kinect that the Xbox One offers and the software built into the system, the specs look similar to its counterpart at Sony.
Xbox One – Specs
CPU: 8 Cores
Memory: 8GB System Memory
Hard Drive: Built-in 500 GB HDD
Optical Drive: Blu-Ray Drive
Communication: 802.11n Wireless with Wi-Fi Direct
I/O: USB 3.0
AV Output: HDMI In/Out
PlayStation 4 – Specs
Main Processor: Single-chip custom processor
CPU: x86-64 AMD "Jaguar', 8 cores
GPU: 1.84 TFLOPS, AMD next-generation Radeon-based graphics engine
Memory: GDDR5 8GB
Hard Drive: Built-in
Optical Drive (read only): BD 6xCAV, DVD 8xCAV
I/O: Super-Speed USB (USB 3.0), AUX
Communication: Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T), IEEE 8.02.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 (EDR)
AV output: HDMI, Analog-AV out, Digital Output (optical)
————————————————————————————–
Xbox One Official Features
Pros:
- New controller has force feedback triggers
- 1080p HD RGB camera
- Time of Flight (TOF) Technology
- Built-in microphone arrays
- Skype integrated
- You can switch between music, videos, apps, OS, and games almost instantaneously
- 300,000 servers with cloud storage
- Achievements are carried over from Xbox 360
- Exclusive partnership with EA for special features (e.g. Ultimate Team in FIFA 14)
- Partnership with NFL
- Partnership with Activision for early DLC for Call of Duty: Ghosts
- Xbox can find you personalized matches while you are multitasking
Exclusive Games:
- Forza Motorsport 5
- Quantum Break
- 15 total new exclusives, 8 are new IPs in first year of service
Cons:
- Xbox One is not backwards compatible.
PlayStation 4 Official Features
Pros:
- PS4 will not block used games
- Users can play games after only downloading a small portion of the game
- Share button allows players to livestream their games
- Offline controller charging
- All PS4 games are playable on the PS Vita via Remote Play
- No startup time, instant resume for games
- Cross-game chat
- All PS4 games available as digital downloads
- PS4 will support Move
- New PS4 controller has a touchpad
- Blu-Ray drive
- "PlayStation App" for Android and iOS phones allow the device to act as a second screen for the PS4
- PS4 supports 4K video output for movies
- PS4 is 3D capable
- Apps such as browsers can run in the background
Cons:
- PS4 is not backwards compatible
Exclusive Games:
- Deep Down
- Diablo 3
- InFamous: Second Son
- Killzone: Shadow Fall
- Knack
- The Witness
- DriveClub
More details about the Xbox One, along with the games exclusive to the platform—fifteen in total, eight of which are all new IPs—will be revealed early next month at E3 in Los Angeles. It's unknown what games will be exclusive to the platform but it remains to be seen whether they'll be able to catch up with what Sony has to offer—and what Sony plans to offer at E3, just as well.
