If you haven’t bought an Xbox One or PlayStation 4 yet, you’re in
luck: They’re both cheaper than ever at $250. The time is ripe!

The Xbox One
S.
Florence Fu/Tech
Insider

That’s a straight up 50% reduction in price from the original
asking price of the Xbox One, and a major discount for the
PlayStation 4. And since both consoles launched back in 2013,
each has a fully stocked library of games to enjoy. Better yet:
Many of those games have dropped in price as well.

That all begs one obvious question: Which console to buy? The
PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are nearly identical in most
ways: 

• They cost the same amount of money.
• They play many of the same games.
• Both act as set-top boxes, with apps for Netflix, Spotify,
  YouTube, and whatever else you could want.
• Both have online services that cost the same amount of money
  and offer similar things (online multiplayer, “free” games each
  month). 
• They can both stream games to the internet without any
  additional hardware.
• Even the controllers are nearly identical, save for a few
  bells and whistles.

What really differentiates the consoles at this point is a
handful of “exclusive” games. Some folks love “Halo,” and the
only place to play “Halo” games is on Xbox. Some folks love
“Uncharted,” and the only place to play “Uncharted” games is on
PlayStation. 

But, as demonstrated last week during the annual E3 video game
trade show, Microsoft still doesn’t have the kind of big
exclusive games that people want. 

“Uncharted 4: A Thief’s
End” is a ridiculously pretty game. This is actual
gameplay.
Sony

Microsoft’s hour-long presentation highlighted the company’s new,
more powerful Xbox One X, and it did so through the scope of
dozens of games. In total, Microsoft showed 42 titles during the
presentation (“22 with console exclusivity,” Microsoft’s Xbox
lead Phil Spencer pointed out to me in an interview).

Of those 42 games, I’m hard-pressed to identify what people
should be excited for on Xbox One this holiday.

To be clear, I’m not talking about the Assassin’s Creeds and Call
of Dutys of the world — those games are on both Xbox One and
PlayStation 4. No one is buying an Xbox One instead of a
PlayStation 4 because of these types of games. I’m talking about
marquee titles you can play only on Xbox One. In years
past, games like “Halo 5: Guardians” and “Rise of the Tomb
Raider” were the obvious standouts. In 2017? 

“Crackdown 3” and “Sea of Thieves” lead the charge. Huh? 

“Crackdown 3” looks like
fun, but it’s not the kind of game that sells many
consoles.
Microsoft

Neither of these games looks bad — they both look quite
fun, actually! But neither is the kind of game that sells many
game consoles, and that’s a problem for Microsoft considering how
far behind the Xbox One is in sales compared with the PlayStation
4. It’s also a problem for the launch of the new Xbox One X,
which arrives on November 7 and launches with “Crackdown 3,” “Sea
of Thieves,” and a new “Forza” racing game. Diehard Xbox fans may
rejoice, but these are the types of games that sell a few million
units apiece and don’t inspire people to buy game consoles.

Even
the magnificent “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds,” which
Microsoft locked in as a “console exclusive” (the game is already
available on PC, but will also arrive on the Xbox One later this
year) is unlikely to move too many Xbox One consoles. It’s a
fantastic game, and has the potential to explode even more than
it already has, but it’s still relatively obscure compared to
what Sony showed off at E3 2017.

This is the new “God of
War.” It is the kind of game that sells
consoles.
Sony

While much of Sony’s PlayStation 4 lineup at E3 featured games
that don’t arrive until 2018 (including “God of War,” seen
above), it showcased a lineup full of major exclusive games. It
probably wasn’t 22, and many may not arrive this year, but the
lineup included many heavy-hitters: a new entry in the
“Uncharted” series, a major expansion to “Horizon Zero Dawn,”

an exclusive Spider-Man game, and a brand-new,
ridiculously pretty game named “Detroit: Become Human.”

This is stuff people want to play, and stuff that will get people
buying consoles. 

“Detroit: Become Human” is
worryingly pretty. It seems impossible that it’s running on
modern game consoles.
Sony

In the longer term, Microsoft assuredly has a new entry in the
“Halo” series in the works. It’s also likely that there’s another
entry in the “Gears of War” series on the way — two major
franchises that are locked to Microsoft’s platforms. Moreover,
they’re the reason why people buy Xbox consoles. And hey, if
you’re a racing fan, having “Forza Motorsport” as an exclusive is
a genuinely big deal. 

But, for most people, the console to buy this holiday — and in
general, really — remains the PlayStation 4.