Everyone was so happy when Sony announced they wouldn't be charging or imposing any sort of restrictions on buying used games, we almost missed them slipping in the addendum that you'd now have to pay to play online. Luckily, PS Plus as it stands right now is a far more impressive beast than across the PS3 generation. Both that and Xbox Live's 'Games With Gold' services will get you a handful of free titles each month, with Microsoft definitely delivering in this area. Not only have they been great at providing landmark releases like The Walking Dead and Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, but every month, thanks to the backwards compatibility addition, each free 360 game will work on your Xbox One too. Price-wise they're both very close (at time of writing they're sitting at £40 each in the UK, with $50 and $60 for PS Plus and Xbox Live respectively in the US), meaning it comes down to what you get alongside the actual service of playing online - which is where Sony have the upper hand yet again. Point goes to... PS4 The sheer amount of discounts for PS Plus members are staggering. There are regular reductions on premium titles that shave a few notes off the full price, alongside monthly deals and some massive weekly discounts for top-tier games - all things that Microsoft just don't have, and on the occasion they do, are very hard to find. The monthly free titles are the biggest reason to stump up the cash and get something new to play every month (an area where Microsoft excels), but outside of this there's very little even on a surface level to reward you for opting into a premium service.
So, let's tally up the points...
The Winner Is... PS4
PS4 - 6 Xbox One - 4 Overall, despite Microsoft making some very key changes to their software and ensuring the Xbox One works without the Kinect, alongside having one hell of a catalogue for games next year, the PS4 is still the better system to recommend to those yet to jump ship. It's got the better controller, better user experience on the dashboard end, better overall value for money if you put down the cash on a yearly PS Plus subscription, and better hardware specs to future-proof it considerably, providing Sony do right by the consumer and use its power to full effect. The vast majority of titles you're going to want to play are most likely third-party, and will continue to be - so take stock in your head of what you're dying to get your hands on, and if something like Halo 5 sways you enough, then let that be your guide. Outside of that, if you don't have one specific game you simply can't live without (hey, I bought a PS3 for Metal Gear Solid 4), the PS4 stands proud with a better set of features across the board that'll give you a better experience as a consumer. Are you team PS4, or Xbox One? Let us know in the comments, and sign up to write for the site if you'd like to contribute your own content!
