XBOX ONE ESO vs PS4 ESO...I played both versions and this is my review

Kaide · June 2015

Where shall I start? How about with a question?

When is Elder Scrolls Online coming to the Wii U? I want to use my controller like a sword! I'm kidding...I'm actually am a very lazy gamer and sold all my Wii and Wii U stuff because I felt like Nintendo was trying to force me to work out while playing their games. I will cry tears of joy the day Nintendo goes back to the basics and delivers a solid gaming console.

Ok here's the break down:

XBOX ONE vs PS4:

- The XBOX ONE controls are as smooth as butter. My fingers felt like they were ice skating. You know that feeling you get...but can't describe...when everything is just "perfect"? That's the XBOX ONE controller. I can only hope that I can eventually use my XBOX ONE controller to play Elder Scrolls Online on my PC or PS4 as well. It is freakishly perfect.

- Crowns cost more for XBOX ONE players. Why? Probably for the same reason I've seen Destiny on the XBOX store for $99.99. Prices on PSN appear to always seem normal...but on XBOX the prices can get pretty crazy.

- Even though the PS4 has a 50% more powerful GPU...you will not notice it in game. In side by side comparisons with multiple screen shots, and friends looking over the pictures with me...we cannot tell a difference between PS4 and XBOX ONE. Now PC is another story...but the differences are not as great as you might think. Both the PS4 and XBOX ONE versions are highly polished. If you are determined to see a clear difference between the consoles and pc...go to an area with a lot of light...and you will see a small increase in detail on the PC version.

- It is also worth noting that XBOX ONE allows for external storage. Which means for a mere $100 you can have up to 4TB's of solid storage in your external hard drive. With PS4 being restricted to 2TB's (you can always go more but anything over 2TB's internally greatly increases risk for failure)...it is easier to lean towards XBOX ONE for memory reasons

- This is the sole reason I returned the XBOX ONE version and kept my PS4 version of the game...the naming options. On PS4 you are allowed to use almost every alt key code available to name your character. Which means you can use characters that look just like several letters in the alphabet with only very minor unnoticeable alterations. This means the sky is the limit when it comes to possibilities for your characters name on PC and PS4. On XBOX ONE for some reason that I've yet to understand...you cannot use the same alt key codes as on PS4 and PC....instead they give you symbols like #$@<?> . If a name is taken...I'd at least prefer one that looks similar to it over one with question marks or a @ symbol. No idea what they were thinking. I wish we could all just name our character whatever we wanted since in the end all of the names are linked to one account anyway.

- When it comes to lag and disruptions I expected to see less on the XBOX ONE since XBOX LIVE is on a paper a superior service. However, this is not what happened at all. In major towns both consoles shared in the same amount of lag spikes/frame skips. Neither was superior. At one point I started tallying how many times I noticed frame skips or lag spikes and they literally finished almost dead even over and hour.

In closing...I picked PS4 for better hardware, cheaper crowns, and I was able to create literally any name I wanted. HOWEVER, I did feel like the XBOX ONE had superior performance when it came to how the controls handled. On PS4 I felt like the controls were "good"...but sometimes when I wanted to do something another action would occur that I did not expect. On XBOX ONE it was rare for me to see anything happen other than the command I was expecting. If all you care about is the graphics....then I assure you that you will be fine either way. I'm a perfectionist and my friends and I even took pictures of the amount of grass/bushes on the landscape to see if one had more than the other. The consoles are dead even in terms of graphics even if the PS4 has superior hardware. Now...I'm NOT saying the XBOX ONE will be able to handle the graphics just as smoothly as the PS4...but I am saying that the overall look is equal.

It's also worth noting that the new XBOX ONE standard consoles being released will be 1TB. With the new 1TB console Microsoft has also updated the XBOX ONE controller. I don't know how you could make that controller even more perfect....but apparently they did. I can only hope that PS4 updates its controller soon as well...or at least we see some more 3rd party options for the PS4 controller. Microsoft appears to be on the attack in 2015...and hopefully we will see a response from PS4 in a similar fashion.

Nintendo-Wii-U-vs.-Sony-PS4-and-Xbox-One.jpg

Nintendo-Wii-U-vs.-Sony-PS4-and-Xbox-One.jpg

nosleeves · June 2015

Interesting

Kalifas · June 2015

You can get 2 TB storage easy on PS4 and with this databank addition you can go up to 3,4,5,10 terabytes for storage but slightly longer load times. I actually like the 360 controller more than the xbox one controller.

ign.com/articles/2015/06/09/nyko-data-bank-for-playstation-4-review

Pallmor · June 2015

Hey, this isa Mario, why you no lika the Wii U??

brandon.coker101_ESO · June 2015

What res is the Xbox running in?
I have it for pc and ps4 and the resolution difference is pretty big when comparing 1440 vs 1080.

After playing on ps4 for about 8 hours I logged into my pc and it was night and day difference to my eyes.

BuggeX · June 2015

The Point with the Name on X-Live has a genius idee behind, you cant confuse someone with somebody else.
ex. Kalifas or KaIifas looks the same, but they arent.
if you send Zos a screen KaIifas is hacking, how do they know witch one is the right one?

sry Kalifas, you are the first with a Name witch can used for this

Gedalya · June 2015

I am a PC gamer however I do own a PS4; and my initial impressions of the PS4 version have been great so far (although I've largely been trolling PvP).

Korah_Eaglecry · June 2015

I enjoy the PS4 version. I do accidently pop off the abilities more often but its because Im still memorizing where everything is and turning to it when I want to hit it.

Otherwise I feel like in this instance. Its more about personal preference then any discernable differences between the two.

Kalifas · June 2015

BuggeX wrote: »

The Point with the Name on X-Live has a genius idee behind, you cant confuse someone with somebody else.
ex. Kalifas or KaIifas looks the same, but they arent.
if you send Zos a screen KaIifas is hacking, how do they know witch one is the right one?

sry Kalifas, you are the first with a Name witch can used for this

[

https://youtube.com/watch?v=u0Wf2RbjSl4[/url]

izenkim_ESO · June 2015

Kaide wrote: »

... This is the sole reason I returned the XBOX ONE version and kept my PS4 version of the game...the naming options. On PS4 you are allowed to use almost every alt key code available to name your character.

Great review. It came across as a fair comparison.

However, I'm a bit perplexed with character naming being the deciding factor since it is very rare that the character name will be encountered on the console version. I understand that it may be really important to you, but if it is that important, I would think that the logical choice would be to stick with the version where character names are seen by all - the PC version.

Kaide · June 2015

izenkim_ESO wrote: »

Kaide wrote: »

... This is the sole reason I returned the XBOX ONE version and kept my PS4 version of the game...the naming options. On PS4 you are allowed to use almost every alt key code available to name your character.

Great review. It came across as a fair comparison.

However, I'm a bit perplexed with character naming being the deciding factor since it is very rare that the character name will be encountered on the console version. I understand that it may be really important to you, but if it is that important, I would think that the logical choice would be to stick with the version where character names are seen by all - the PC version.

I'm actually playing the console version way more than I played the PC version. It's just something about having to sit upright position in order to type on a keyboard and use a mouse....vs...laying on my couch relaxed with a PS4 controller.

I know that names are not always seen....but they are seen eventually...and seen more frequently at later stages in the game when we see the same people over and over. And to some of us naming is very important...especially when our name matches or is very similar to our PSN.

traigusb14_ESO2 · June 2015

Kaide wrote: »

izenkim_ESO wrote: »

Kaide wrote: »

... This is the sole reason I returned the XBOX ONE version and kept my PS4 version of the game...the naming options. On PS4 you are allowed to use almost every alt key code available to name your character.

Great review. It came across as a fair comparison.

However, I'm a bit perplexed with character naming being the deciding factor since it is very rare that the character name will be encountered on the console version. I understand that it may be really important to you, but if it is that important, I would think that the logical choice would be to stick with the version where character names are seen by all - the PC version.

I'm actually playing the console version way more than I played the PC version. It's just something about having to sit upright position in order to type on a keyboard and use a mouse....vs...laying on my couch relaxed with a PS4 controller.

I know that names are not always seen....but they are seen eventually...and seen more frequently at later stages in the game when we see the same people over and over. And to some of us naming is very important...especially when our name matches or is very similar to our PSN.

Of course. it is hard for people to invite you to stuff if you have a weird /hard to type name.

People started to do this when old school games put in full Unicode char sets. It became a real pain to invite people to stuff because they were all named like weird Sweedish Heavy metal Albums.

limbolime · June 2015

The only names I see are the gamer tags on the X1. Names are almost pointless

lsneakl · June 2015

Is ZOS even hosting its server infrastructure within Azure and Xbox Live? For some reason I don't feel any failing occurs on Xbox Live but falls back to ZOS and their server practice. Either hosting themselves without enough power or not renting enough space in Microsoft's server infrastructure.

Part of the issue likely stems from them not using azure where they could seamlessly upscale the server usage.

karmamule · June 2015

As others pointed out, you don't even see player names on the console version so I'm a bit mystified why that matters. (And that annoys me no end. I like a sense of immersion and seeing everyone's crappy player names doesn't make that very easy. Please Zeni, give us an option as to which to show!!!!)

I have both as well, and agree with almost all of what you said. I think the Xbox One actually looks a touch nicer than the PS4, much to my surprise. Water effects are sometimes noticeably better, and while I agree they both get hitch-y at times, the Xbox One seemed to do it a bit less than the PS4 for me.

I really like the UI and using the controller (especially the Xbox One controller as you mentioned) and hope they bring that as an option to the PC.

Toophat82 · February 2016

brandon.coker101_ESO wrote: »

What res is the Xbox running in?
I have it for pc and ps4 and the resolution difference is pretty big when comparing 1440 vs 1080.

After playing on ps4 for about 8 hours I logged into my pc and it was night and day difference to my eyes.

The difference to most is not as big as you think at those resolutions its when you get into 2k to 4k that you really see the differences if that game is of course 4k ready.You also forget that not all Pcs are equal and i can bet you more people play ESO even on Pc at 1080P or less then they do over that because the majority of gamers that own high end Pcs or even mid end are far fewer then those who own budget to low end gaming Pcs just check statistics on steam Gog or even origin and you will see that 1980p or less is still the norm even on Pc for most Pc gamers as most don't own High end Pcs its not needed and still to expensive. My video card alone on my Pc cost me 700 bucks on sale would have cost me easy 1000 bucks if it wasn't on sale at the time and now still a 500 dollar card even today. I can do ESO at 4K but i still only do at most 2k resolutions but still mostly 1080P on every game because i'm not willing to spend another few hundred just to get a 4k ready monitor my Pc alone cost me over one thousand and closer to two thousand actually and that was with me building it myself if it was retail it would've been alot more. Consoles are modeled after you base gaming Pc and can deliver 900P to 1080P at 30 fps to 60fps that is still good enough and hell of a deal for 300 bucks a gaming laptop which you can compare consoles with still cost you over one thousand for a gaming one and the only way to pay less then one thousand for a base pc fully loaded with everything you need to play is if you build it yourself and still will be more then any consoles and in fact both next gen consoles combined.

Lastly i play ESO on both Pc and console and for some reason guess which i prefer more console version even though visually consoles can't compare to my High end Pc its all about the experience not about the hardware i learned that long ago with consoles. While you can't compare consoles to Pcs for simple fact that consoles are standardized to begin with PCs ain't and they were created to bring gaming into homes and mainstream on a platform that is both affordable, fun, easy to use, compact, and unique just for gaming at a time when while computers existed not Pcs btw they were too new and expensive and few never mind knowing how to use one.. Consoles not only started gaming industry but consoles still dominate the gaming industry today and are catered to for good reason its called money as that is what matters most with any business. The fact is ESO has sold more copies on consoles then Pc and does have a bigger player base the PC and if you play on both you easily notice it never mind facts about sales and numbers.On Pc eso sold less then a million copies while with both consoles combined they close to 3 million copies that is a big difference in sales so its not surprising why consoles are catered to never mind have all the top games first then again if it wasn't for consoles we wouldn't have the gaming industry we have today period remember that just read up on history of gaming. So what you should be saying is that depending on the PC you can get alot better results visually with the Pc platform.

bedlom · February 2016

I am still always surprised by how great this game looks and plays on my xbox.
Even after playing on pc all the time for a year which it did look gorgeous on.

Liko · February 2016

One relevant thing that made playing this game on Xbox so enjoyable for me is using the Microsoft Elite Controller. Assigning Bar Swap to one of the paddles is one of the great things and you won't notice how convenient it is unless you've tried it!

Xerosus · February 2016

The only thing that i envy about PS4 is the lighting. I want that glorious dinamic lighting.

nbksaske · February 2016

its been announced recently that zos are looking to up the graphics on pc and look at taking advantage of the ps4's 7th core, nothing about the xbone though, im on ps4 so it can only be a good thing , right? an extra core being used?