Xbox or PlayStation?

[Eggshausted]

It’s DH birthday soon, and I’m thinking about getting him a console. He had a PlayStation a few years ago until it broke. I subtly asked him if he would like one and got a positive response. He liked games such as the military ones (call of duty) and that Getaway game where you had to travel round London, and a Lord of the Rings game. I’m looking to spend around £400ish including a game or two. Which one is the most popular nowadays? If any of you have both, which do you favour?

Or if you don’t play, which do your DP/DC prefer and why? Thanks.

Does he want to play online, with his friends? If so, he will need whichever his friends have. There are very few games where X-box and PS gamers can play together.

Call of Duty is available on both, but Microsoft have just purchased the developers, so in a few years, once existing contracts have been fulfilled, future CoD games will probably be only on X-box.

If you are on a budget and don't want to spend a lot on games, then consider an X-box with Gamepass. That is a service like Netflix. It has all Microsoft-owned software on it (unless the licence has run out) and a lot of third party games too.

The options at the moment are:

PS5 disk version.
PS5 digital edition.
X-box Series X
X-box Series S

The PlayStation disk version is more expensive, but the games are a bit cheaper, and it allows you to buy second-hand games (as well as games from the online store). The PlayStation digital edition is cheaper, but then your only option for buying games is from the online store, which is expensive.

X-box Series X is for disks and games from the online store, and is the most powerful of the consoles. That said, the difference in performance between it and the PS5 is usually not very noticeable. X-box Series S is slightly less powerful, does not take disks but is a fantastic bargain, especially with Gamepass. It is also the one that's easiest to find - the PS5 in particular is very difficult to get hold of.

I prefer the X-box for its driving games, although PS5 has a flagship driving game coming out soon (Gran Turismo 7 in a month).

If he's the one who's going to be using it most, I'd recommend that you ask him which one he'd prefer. If the PlayStation he used to have was a PS4, then games for that will work on the PS5 (with about eight exceptions). Likewise games from the last X-box will work on the X-box Series.

The RRP of X-box series X is 450 pounds in the UK. Series S is 250. PS5 is 450 for disk edition and 360 for digital.

Or you could get a last-gen console more cheaply - PS4 or X-box One. The most recent of those is PS4 Pro and X-box One X.

PlayStation gets my vote, although Xbox if he likes the halo series,

Well I cannot compete with BadLad's forensic knowledge - all I can offer is that Ds has always preferred xBox - though has friends with Playstation too. I can ask Ds tomorrow why if it helps.

Thanks so much for your help, especially the details and effort from Badlad. He won’t be playing against friends. I think I like the sound of the Xbox x, then at least I can treat him to a game from time to time. I won’t be playing it! We have a good 4k TV and sound bar, so hopefully I can attach all that. Any other tips from anyone else would be great. I have seen one on Argos for £449. That doesn’t come with a game, so I will have to buy a couple. As long as it is advertised as X box game, can it be used in any X box I take it? Is anyone aware of any deals at the moment please?

It’s out of stock EVERYWHERE! I thought Christmas had gone!

For games, we get all ours from Computer Exchange (CEX) they are online and High street. I always check with the staff if the game is compatible (we don't use xbox live) and they are v knowledgeable. They do consoles too second hand which come with guarantees.

@Eggshausted

Thanks so much for your help, especially the details and effort from Badlad. He won’t be playing against friends. I think I like the sound of the Xbox x, then at least I can treat him to a game from time to time. I won’t be playing it! We have a good 4k TV and sound bar, so hopefully I can attach all that. Any other tips from anyone else would be great. I have seen one on Argos for £449. That doesn’t come with a game, so I will have to buy a couple. As long as it is advertised as X box game, can it be used in any X box I take it? Is anyone aware of any deals at the moment please?

The X-box Series X plays all X-box One games and all X-box Series games. See the pictures - if it says X-box One or X-box Series at the top, you can use it.

It also plays a few hundred X-box 360 games, and about 50 games from the first X-box.

The Series X and both PS5 consoles are very hard to find, due to high demand and a shortage of chips.

The biggest difference in our house (we have both) is if you want to stream your gameplay on twitch the PlayStation is the one to get.

Other than streaming we always gravitate to the xbox, no idea why, seems more user friendly, lots of games on game pass, just personal preference though.

Xbox, definitely.

I'd go with Xbox because if you subscribe to an Xbox game pass you get access to a lot of different games and it ends up being a lot cheaper than buying them!

Finally got one! From Microsoft direct, at a sensible price too. I am just looking at some games on Amazon and at the bottom of all the games boxes it says ‘requires internet connection and Xbox subscription’ . So do I have to pay a subscription on top of paying £50 for a game?
Thank you for any advice

@Eggshausted

Finally got one! From Microsoft direct, at a sensible price too. I am just looking at some games on Amazon and at the bottom of all the games boxes it says ‘requires internet connection and Xbox subscription’ . So do I have to pay a subscription on top of paying £50 for a game? Thank you for any advice

You need to pay a subscription if you want to play games online against other people or if you want Gamepass, which is like Netflix for games.

You don't need to pay a subscription to play games on your own.

Bear in mind that some games are multiplayer only. Chivalry 2 is one such game - if you aren't going to pay for multiplayer, then don't get that game.