Ars Technicast, Ep. 38: So, an Xbox One and a PS4 walk into a room...

This year saw an event that only happens every six or seven years, on average: two major gaming consoles released at just about the same time. The PS4 has just released, and the Xbox One launches on Friday. Gaming Editor Kyle Orland has been losing many sleep cycles as he writes reviews of the hardware and system software for both consoles, but he made some time to join Social Editor Cesar Torres and Senior Reviews Editor Lee Hutchinson as we talk about their highs and the lows. If we were to call Kyle's coverage of these two launches extensive, we would be making a total understatement. He's written thousands of words about the Xbox One and PS4's new games, he's talked to developers about their opinions about both systems. And as if that weren't enough, he's written news, opinion, and historical analysis of the Sony and Microsoft's systems. As you read Kyle's reviews of the PS4 and the Xbox One, gaming fans will wonder, which machine is best? Which should I get? Kyle wrote exactly about this as he compared both consoles in a head-to-head match. But as we find out in the podcast, there’s a few factors to think about if you’re considering dropping a few hundred dollars on these machines at launch. Game developers are barely getting their hands on a new platform right now, and Kyle talks about the impact on graphics and games going forward. Through it all, we talk about what we can expect in terms of true novelty in game play and experience. We also discuss what the future release of a Steam OS console will mean in the future when it comes to game selection, industrial design and ergonomics, and price. As you’ll hear on this episode, we are also putting this format of the Ars Technicast on pause for now. The show will return in a new iteration sometime in the future, but you can enjoy the archive of past episodes on iTunes, Stitchr or on this page. Cesar is also moving on from Ars Technica (though he remains in the tech world), and so we want to say thanks to all of you for listening during the Technicast’s run. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices