Judging by the deals we’ve seen, it’s now possible to grab a PlayStation 4 for Rs 26,000, or an Xbox One Kinect bundle for the same price. These deals can be found in retail stores as well as online on sites like Amazon, Flipkart and eBay.

Note: While both consoles are available at a steep discount, it bears mentioning that the official Indian prices are bloated. After discount, both consoles are selling at their official US retail prices of $399.

These deals are great, but for someone picking a console for the first time, making a decision can be quite hard.

You’re buying a game console to play games. That’s why it’s called a game console and not something else. And when it comes to games, there’s no doubt about the fact that the PlayStation 4 (PS4) is the winner.

The Xbox One has some great offerings in the form of Forza, Gears of War and Halo, they’re also getting a tonne of timed exclusives. That said, Microsoft’s focus on the Xbox is lessening a bit, but their focus on gaming is broadening.

Sure, you’re getting a handful of console exclusives on the Xbox, for now, but Microsoft intends to see the bulk of these games land on Windows 10 on PC as well. With programs like Cross-Buy, you’ll be able to purchase the game on one platform and play it on both.

Sony, on the other hand, only has their console to focus on and focus on it they will, it’s their only profitable unit after all. The PlayStation has at least three times the exclusives that the Xbox One has and some of them are quite spectacular. The Xbox still doesn’t have games to rival the likes of Uncharted, Bloodborne and The Last of Us (remastered). We’ve also got the long-awaited The Last Guardian and a brand new God of War gaming coming to the PS4 soon. Can Microsoft compete with that? I doubt it.

If you’re purely interested in great games and console exclusives, the PlayStation 4 is the way to go.

If you want an amazing ecosystem and a console that goes beyond just games, the Xbox One is what you want.

To add to this, the Xbox One’s Backwards Compatibility program is bringing back a bunch of Xbox 360 exclusives in a remastered form, so if you’re feeling nostalgic, that’s another point in favour of the Xbox One.

Personally, I’d go for the PS4. If you like the Xbox One’s offerings though, go ahead and pick one up.

Microsoft and Sony currently offer 5 consoles. Microsoft is offering the Xbox One and Xbox One S, while Sony is offering the PS4, PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro.

The Xbox One and PS4 were, until recently, the most powerful consoles that both companies offered. With the One S, Microsoft is offering a slimmer console with support for HDR (High-Dynamic Range) and 4K video playback. HDR support is a big deal if you have a compatible TV.

Sony however, has one-upped the Xbox by offering HDR on every single PlayStation 4 ever made via a software update. The newly announced PlayStation 4 Slim is a slimmer version of the current PS4, but it doesn’t offer much more than that.

In terms of hardware, the Xbox One is the weakest model in this lineup. It’s barely capable of 720p gaming, unlike the PS4, which usually manages 900p-1080p.

The wild card here is the PS4 Pro. It’s about 2-3 times as powerful as the PS4, offers pseudo-4K gaming (2K upscaled to 4K) and, judging by the hardware, will be perfect for the PSVR headset.

All things considered, purchasing an Xbox One this October may not be such a good idea, especially when the Xbox One S is set to hit our shores soon at about the same price.

Choice?

If you’ve got your heart set on a certain game, just pick the console that offers it.

In terms of hardware, nothing beats the PS4 and the just released PS4 Pro. Till the Xbox Scorpio comes out and shakes things up, it’s unlikely that Microsoft will gain an edge in terms of hardware.

Even if you’re willing to go for the Xbox One, it might be a better idea to simply wait a few months for the Xbox One S.