Gareth Walsh, Application of Number, 25/2/14 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

Gareth Walsh, Application of Number, 25/2/14 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

Gareth Walsh, Application of Number, 25/2/14 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.

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

Mean Price £349.99 £429.99

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

Gareth Walsh, Application of Number, 25/2/14 Page 4

Task B - Specifications

This table shows the important specifications of the both consoles.

It shows CPU, memory, resolution and hard drive.

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

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.

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

Gareth Walsh, Application of Number, 25/2/14 Page 5

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.

Gareth Walsh, Application of Number, 25/2/14 Page 6

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.

Gareth Walsh, Application of Number, 25/2/14 Page 7

PS4 Sales Chart

Xbox One Sales

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.

North America - 290,244

Europe - 264,100

Worldwide - 656,655

24%

22%

54%

North America - 225,748

Europe - 64,099

Worldwide - 307,366

51%

11%

38%