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Machiavellian on 09 August 2014
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jnemesh said:

OK, where to start...the PS3 vs. Xbox 360 battle was defined by multiplayer gaming.  XBL and cross game chat made the Xbox THE place to play multiplayer games.  This gen, Sony has improved their server infrastructure and has added cross-game chat, so on that, the playing field has leveled.

Next, there was VERY little difference between the multiplatform games...they ran at the same resolution, and the difference in frame rate was negligable.  Sometimes there were bugs in one version and not the other...but for the most part, games played IDENTICALLY on the 360 vs. the PS3...aside from the factors I mentioned in the beginning.

This generation, we are seeing a fairly dramatic difference in the games.  Most Xbox games run at 900p or less, and most PS4 games run at 1080p.  Some games, like Tomb Raider or Sniper Elite 3 have 1080p resolution on both platforms, but then the frame rate suffers on the XB1.  These are NOT subtle differences!  They are obvious to anyone playing!  If your framerate drops below 30fps, it's noticable!  If your screen tears because they have vsync disabled, it's noticable!  In comparison after comparison, news article after news article, the XB1 comes up short.  Fans of MS try to minimize these shortcomings, but they are there, and people ARE paying attention...as reflected by sales.

The other mistake people make is to say "well the PS3 came up from behind, so the XB1 will also!".  This couldn't be more wrong.  The PS3 was able to come up from behind due to the strength of the Sony brand (especially internationally), the number of exclusives on the PS3 that were NEVER available on the 360, and the fact that many bought it strictly for use as a blu-ray player.  Last gen, it was common for gamers to buy both platforms...the PS3 for the exclusive titles, and the Xbox 360 for multiplayer gaming.  THIS generation, the LESS POWERFUL console with FEWER GAMES is the "underdog".  There is not a good reason this gen to own both consoles, either, as the multiplayer experience is just as good on the PS4 as the XB1 and the number (and quality) of the Xbox One exclusives are just not there to justify owning one.

@Bolded:  I guess I am not seeing this difference between this gen and last gen.  The things you just stated happen last gen but opposite.  It was the 360 with the stable framerates or higher resolution, better textures, better AA, added graphica features you name it while the PS3 suffered.  You can go back through all of those Eurogamer face offs to read all of that stuff.  At that time, the 360 had the most marketshare and it was crusing pretty strong (Unitl the RROD blew up).  The thing is developers worked harder to get their games to play on the PS3 and seek parity.  They did not seek to make the 360 better, because spending 50% more effort to get 10% better visuals do not net 50% better sales or even close.

The problem with your comparison is that its about console sells.  What I am talking about is 3rd party developer effort.  The things you list has no real value within a 3rd party studio trying to develop a game on multiple platforms.  Developers have a set amount of time and resources to throw at a project.  Making all of your platform play great is way more important then trying to squeeze more ommph from one platform.  This is the reason why the weaker system holds down the stronger.  Hell consoles have held down the PC platform for years.  Nothing has changed for 3rd party developers for this gen.  One console is stronger and another is either harder or weaker.  Developers will find out how much they can push the weaker system and base their target graphics and performance on that.