Xbox One vs PS4

The Xbox One has been having a bit of a rough time of late when compared to the PS4. In terms of public opinion, the console has been on a roller-coaster ride ever since E3. While Sony has (mostly) been on a plateau since the conference, Microsoft has been jumping around with a series of victories and losses in the public sector. A DRM policy reversal and non-mandatory Kinect have been high points, but just last week there were worries about the console's capabilities when it was revealed that Call of Duty: Ghosts runs at 1080p on the PS4 and only an upscaled 720p on the Xbox One.

Now we have another twist in the back and forth, as it seems that Microsoft's system has been able to one up the PlayStation 4 right before the launch of the consoles, unsurprisingly in the entertainment sector. The Xbox One is an entertainment hub and one of its big selling points is upgrading televisions to a "Smart TV" experience. Many saw this as controversial, but this new revelation is relating to something much more mundane and expected - rather than peripherals to sports coverage.

On the official PlayStation Blog, Sony has revealed what their console can and can't do at launch. One of the things divulged was that while the PlayStation 4 has a music service called Music Unlimited that has "millions of songs" (and a paid subscription), the system won't be able to handle CD or MP3 playback. Many gamers may not be phased by this but there is a certainly a large group of users who like to listen to custom soundtracks when playing online games - or use the console as an expensive CD player.

Xbox Music

Thanks to the Penny Arcade Report's initiative, it has been counter-revealed that, as hinted at earlier in this post, the Xbox One can play CDs and will also handle MP3s (to a certain degree). Those with Windows 7, 8 or a Windows phone will be able to stream their MP3 libraries straight to the console.

One limitation of both consoles? Uploading gameplay videos straight to Youtube - at least at launch. This was revealed by Microsoft a while ago, but Sony has now publicly confirmed the PS$ won't be able to either. Videos shared via the 'share'  on PS4 controllers will be uploaded to Facebook as well as stream on Ustream and Twitch but won't be able to get videos up on Youtube just yet. To keep things optimistic, the feature could be put in place later - as the blog did say that there should be "further news" after launch.

What say you? Is MP3 and CD playback crucial to your gaming experience?

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The Xbox One is set to release on November 22, 2013. The PlayStation 4 is set to release on November 15, 2013.

Source: PlayStation Blog & The Penny Arcade Report