William Arger of Puyallup, Washington tries out the Forza 5 racing game on the new XBOX One at Microsoft's annual shareholder meeting in Bellevue, Washington November 19, 2013

Console games have been played for seven generations if the Magnavox Odyssey is counted. Gaming console rivals like Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo and Sega changed themselves many a time over the years. However, the basic nature of competition was overall the same. The one with the most Random Access Memory eventually won the battle. On the contrary, modern day gaming has changed considerably. Let's have a look what Engadget thinks of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One against each other.

Hardware

No matter how good every other aspect is, the hardware is the deciding factor for many. Both of these consoles have the same processor. There is hardly a noticeable difference in terms of performance. However, when it comes to the graphics kit, Sony has 18 compute units compared to Microsoft's 12. It also has 8GB GDDR5 RAM, while the Xbox One has a much slower counterpart, a DDR3. The differences will be apparent when you play multi-platform games such as Call of Duty and Battlefield 4.

Exclusive Games

The Xbox One's range of exclusive games is almost double of what the PS4 offers. Microsoft offers exclusive games like Ryse: Son of Rome, Forza Motorsport 5 and Dead Rising 3. In comparison to that, Sony has only Knack and Killzone: Shadow Fall to boast of. However, you must not forget that the PS4 promises to have more multi-platform releases before than the Xbox One.

Cameras

The PS4 has one motion-tracking camera even though it is absolutely optional to own it. That is why you don't have to pay the extra bucks for something you don't want. This also means that gaming developers will be less interested in making games for the PS4, which require the use of camera. The Xbox One, on the other hand, has the Kinect which is an integral part of the console.

Controllers

The gamepads do not look much different from their older counterparts. However, there are treasures to be unearthed. The DualShock 4 controller in the PS4 has a share button as well as a clickable touchpad area. The Xbox One gamepad, however, looks like an advanced version of the Xbox 360 controller. The localised force feedback under the triggers can make actions like driving and firing more exciting.

Entertainment

Microsoft does not focus only on gaming with its Xbox One. It targets largely on media and television consumption. When compared to Sony, Microsoft definitely outsmarts its rival in terms of media. Both the PS4 and Xbox One offer streaming to popular Web sites like Netflix, Hulu Plus and VUDU; the Xbox One has got more number of content channels. In addition to Microsoft's video platform, it has apps for Fox Now, ESPN, NFL and so on.

Video courtesy: YouTube/Engadget