2013

PlayStation 4
Figure 48 - PlayStation 4

Specifications
The PS 4 also known as the is the PlayStation four is the successor to the PS 3 and is Sony’s 8th generation console; the PS 4’s most notable new features are the new and improved DualShock 4 controller and the PlayStation camera. The PS 4's tech specs feature an x86-64 AMD "Jaguar" single-chip custom processor, a next-gen Radeon-based graphics engine that can make 1.84 trillion calculations a second and 8 GB of GDDR5 memory plus a 6x Blu-ray drive.

Sony also launched a cloud-based gaming service called Gaikai for saved games, PS 3 games, DLC content and Vita Streaming. The new DualShock 4 controller has a touchscreen in the centre, a share button and feature color-coded sensory bar which interacts with a light bar to determine depth, location and more.

At this point the PS 4 doesn’t support backwards capability but Sony have stated that in the future they hope to make it possible to play the entire PlayStation line through the cloud.

Specifications
The Xbox One is Microsoft’s third generation console that was released on 22nd November 2013 in direct competition with the Sony’s PS 4 and Nintendo’s Wii U. Initially Microsoft announced a lot of complicated and unprecedented policies restricting playing second hand games or even sharing games between friends as well as the console having to connect to the internet every 24 hours and the Kinect 2 was mandatory to be connected at all times in order for the console to function. However, after a huge backlash from fans and the announcement from Sony that they weren’t putting any of these restrictions on their customers they decided to undo all these restrictions. Regardless, it was too late as the damage was done and with Sony selling a better console for 100€ less, Microsoft lost a lot of customers; so many that Microsoft was forced to launch another console without the Blue-ray player at the same price as the PS 4.