1. Gareth Walsh, Application of Number, 31/3/14 Page 1
Comparing Games Consoles
Introduction
In this project I am going to compare two games consoles and
make a decision of which one is better. The two games consoles I
will be comparing are Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PS4. For
this project I will: -
Gather information to allow me to compare the cost,
specifications and changing popularity over time.
Identify an average cost of both consoles by comparing five
different retailers.
Produce a table comparing the specifications of my two
chosen consoles.
Produce a pie chart comparing the sales of each console
worldwide.
Demonstrate how I have checked my work.
Produce a report summarizing my findings and giving my
opinion on the best buy.
Task A – Collecting my data
These are prices from 5 retailers for the Xbox One and the PS4.
PS4
GAME – £349.99* - £519.99
Argos - £349.99
Tesco – £349.00
Amazon – £349.99
Curry’s – £349.00
Xbox One
GAME - £399.99* - £629.99
Argos – £429.99
Tesco – £429.99
Amazon – £429.99
Curry’s – £429.00 * = Preowned
2. Gareth Walsh, Application of Number, 31/3/14 Page 2
The main thing about the new consoles compared to the old ones is
that there are a lot better specifications on the new consoles. The
new specs are: -
PS4:
CPU – 8-core X86-64 AMD “Jaguar”
Graphics – AMD Radeon Graphics core Next engine (1.84
Tflops)
Memory – 8GB GDDR5 RAM
Storage – 500 GB Additional storage
Optical Drive – Blu-ray Drive (6xCAV) DVD Drive (8xCAV)
Input/Output – HDMI, USB 3.0, AUX, Analog, digital output
(optical)
Communication – Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1
Xbox One:
CPU – 8-core CPU
Graphics – 1.23 Tflops
Memory – 8GB System Memory
Storage – 500 GB HDD
Optical Drive – Blu-Ray Drive
Input/Output – HDMI, USB 3.0
Communication – 802.11n, Wi-Fi direct
3. Gareth Walsh, Application of Number, 31/3/14 Page 3
Task B – Prices
* = Preowned
I think that the PS4 is cheaper overall because Microsoft knew
that the Xbox 360 was so popular that they thought they could
raise the price of the Xbox One and still get a lot of people to buy it
regardless of the price.
Task B - Specifications
This table shows the important specifications of the both consoles.
It shows CPU, memory, resolution and hard drive.
PS4 Xbox One Superior console
CPU 8-core X86 -64 AMD
“Jaguar”
8-core CPU 1
Resolution 1080p 1080p -
Memory 8GB GDDR5 RAM 8GB System Memory 1
Hard drive 8GB internal, 500GB
external
500GB HDD 1
In my opinion the PS4 is better because it has better specifications
and it’s cheaper. The CPU on the PS4 is much better as it runs
faster and smoother. The resolution on both consoles are exactly
the same so there are no pros or cons to them. The memory on the
PS4 is better than the Xbox One as it runs faster in the RAM than
it does on the system. The hard drive is also better on the PS4 as
it already has 8GB internal memory and an additional 500GB
PS4 Xbox One
GAME £349.99* £399.99*
Argos £349.99 £429.99
Tesco £349.00 £429.99
Amazon £384.99 £429.99
Curry’s £349.00 £429.00
Median Price £349.99 £429.99
Average Cost £356.59 £423.79
Range £349.00 - £384.99
£35.99
£399.99 - £429.99
£30.00
4. Gareth Walsh, Application of Number, 31/3/14 Page 4
whilst the Xbox One only has 500GB on a hard drive disc. Another
feature of a console that may affect you buying it is the size of the
console. If a console is big and bulky and takes up an unnecessary
amount of room, you may be pushed away from buying it and
would want to buy a smaller console.
Task C - Popularity
At the moment, the PS4 is leading world sales having sold 5.3
million consoles to the Xbox One’s 3.6 million consoles. The PS4
also sold more consoles in the first 48 hours in the UK than the
Xbox One. The PS4 sold 250,000 consoles to the Xbox One’s
100,000. The sales for the PS4 were highest in January because of
the after Christmas sale dropped down to near £300 and people
jumped on that offer. The Xbox One sold most in December due to
excitement of it being a new console. So far the PS4 is the most
popular in the world and still hasn’t launched in Japan yet so
when it does it will have an even bigger lead.
Task D – World Sales
These are the sales figures for both consoles in the 2 main
continents: -
As of December 21st 2013
PS4 Xbox One
North America 290,244 225,748
Europe 264,100 64,099
Total Worldwide 656,655 307,366
As made clear in the table, the PS4 is ahead by more than double
in sales and the most units sold by both consoles was in North
America. The PS4 was so popular in 2013 that it sold more
consoles in Europe than the Xbox One did in North America.
5. Gareth Walsh, Application of Number, 31/3/14 Page 5
As of December 21st 2013
PS4 Xbox One
Total Worldwide 656,655 307,366
- North America - 290,244 - 225,748
- Europe - 264,100 - 64,099
Rest of World 102,311 17,519
In the table above I used a calculator to work out how many
consoles were sold in the rest of the world, then I created the pie
charts below to show the proportion sold globally.
PS4 Sales Chart
16%
40%
44%
North America - 290,244
Europe - 264,100
Rest of the World - 102,311
Xbox One Sales
6%
21%
73%
North America - 225,748
Europe - 64,099
Rest of the World - 17,519
The PS4 is much more popular in Europe compared to Xbox One.
6. Gareth Walsh, Application of Number, 31/3/14 Page 6
Early Sales Trends
http://techbooters.com/2014/01/07/xbox-one-vs-ps4-sales-figures/
This is a graph for the sales of the first 60 days of each console
coming out. The PS4 leads throughout in the race to see who can
sell the most consoles and make the most money. I think the
reason for this is because the PS4 is dedicated to gamers only and
it is a lot cheaper than the Xbox One.
Report
I found out a lot about these two consoles that I didn’t know
before. The most challenging part of this project was finding the
sales figures as I couldn’t find the specific ones I wanted. In my
opinion, the PS4 is better as a console because it is dedicated to
gamers whilst the Xbox One is an entertainment system as it
supports Netflix, TV and Internet Explorer. If you are looking for
a dedicated games console to do nothing else on but play games,
the PS4 would be the best buy for you, but if you are looking for
something to put in your living room as an entertainment system,
the Xbox One is the console for you.
