I've seen both consoles at a friends house, got to spend a good amount of time with each, and while the PS4 is defiitely a powerhouse of a console, the X1 was the only machine out of the two that actaully made me feel like I was interacting with something 'next-gen'.
We played Battlefield on both systems and there's no doubt which one looked better. The PS4 version. Played Killzone also and can't really say I was all that impressed by it. Great graphics, but not really enough going on to make it feel like the vanguard shooter of the 8th gen. Sorta boring after a couple days. Spawn. Shoot. Die. Cruised around Sony's UI for a bit and there simply wasn't all that much to do, to interact with.
It just feels like a more powerful PS3
The X1 on the other hand, the downgrade in Battlefields graphics notwithstanding, truly felt next-gen to me. Let me explain that a little bit. Every gamer understands that better graphics won't equate to a better experience, it's the level of interaction you have with the game that matters, and that holds true with the consoles themselves.
Sony, again, brought a monster console to the masses, a graphical beast, but did so at the cost of innovation. No one buys a console anymore 'just to play' games. Those that say that are simply fooling themselves, intentionally, and doing so in an attempt to downplay the advantages that the competitor has.
And this is where the X1 really shines against the PS4:
What it can do in addition to games, the different ways you can interact with it, what it offers as a complete package.
The X1, right now, can do things that the PS4 simply can't and will never be able to.
The Snap feature is awesome, play your game while checking facebook, or Vgchartz at the same time, or video chat with your friend while both playing... the same game, or something different.
The Upload Studio. We must have spent 45 minutes or so just checking out the different videos that other players posted, some just a few minutes before we clicked on them... everything from a 5 second stream of somone's three point shot, to a quick video blog about Sports Rivals.
It was all amazingly fast, intuitive, and seamlessly accessible right there on the dash.
The Kinect 2. Say what you want about it, hate on it if it makes you feel better, but the thing is simply awesome and a huge advantage for the X1.
The HDMI input, don't really need to say anything more about that.
Sony went for more of the same, just bigger.
Microsoft went for something different, innovative.
Sony wins the graphics war... Microsoft takes everything else.
Pretty easy decision.














