Xbox, PlayStation or even Nintendo?INA FASSBENDER/Reuters
Most people make the decision to buy a video game console based on the titles that are exclusive to it. But what happens when there aren't many of those, and when the ones that are available are lacklustre?
Such is the case this holiday season. The usual crop of third-party sequels – from Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed to Dragon Age and FIFA – are reason enough to buy a new Xbox One or PlayStation 4 since their graphics are considerably better than on older consoles.
But those games are available on both the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4, which doesn't help in choosing between the two. Microsoft and Sony aren't doing much to move the needle either with their exclusives, which are themselves mostly either sequels or reissues of older games.
Fortunately, both consoles – as well as Nintendo's Wii U – do offer reasons to buy that aren't strictly about exclusive games. Here's our rundown on those attractions:
PlayStation 4
In 2012, Sony bought Gaikai, a California-based cloud streaming company that was trying to do for games what Netflix did with movies. Much of that purchase is paying dividends now through services unique to the Playstation 4 (base price: $449).
PlayStation Now, for example, allows for streaming rentals of older PlayStation 3 titles. Games can be rented for four-hour, seven-day, 30-day and 90-day windows, with prices ranging depending on the time. Twisted Metal, for instance, is $2.99 for four hours or $14.99 for 90 days.
Rather than taking hours to download and eating up precious hard drive space, rented games are streamed from the cloud in much the same way that a Netflix video is. Sony currently has more than 150 titles in its PlayStation Now catalogue.
The PS4's cloud capability also gives it remote-play functions. If someone else in your household wants to watch TV, that's not a problem if you've also got a PlayStation Vita. You can stream your PS4 game to the portable device. You can also do this if you're thousands of miles away over Wi-Fi, although Sony doesn't recommend using two different networks because the connection can get patchy.
Cloud storage also enables PS4-to-Vita crossplay in a growing number of titles, especially indie games such as Spelunky and Guacamelee. In many cases, if you buy one of these games on one console, you also get it for free on the other one. And, if you save your progress on one, you can pick up where you left off on the other.
Also unique to the PS4 is Share Play, another cloud-driven feature that lets you invite someone else to view your TV screen and take over your game for up to an hour. If the game supports local multiplayer, like FIFA 15 does, you can also invite in a friend to play online even if they don't own the game themselves.
Otherwise, the PS4 offers up a slew of multimedia features, many of which are to be expected in any modern console. There's a bunch of video apps, including Netflix, Crackle, YouTube and Crunchyroll, as well as the PlayStation Store where TV shows can be rented and purchased.
A $50-per-year PlayStation Plus subscription also delivers online multiplayer, discounts on purchases and two downloadable games per month.
This season's big exclusive games: LittleBigPlanet 3, Driveclub.
Xbox One
While Sony has directed its console efforts to the cloud, Microsoft has instead aimed at television itself – plus motion and voice recognition technologies. Most of Xbox One's exclusive features are available only with the Kinect peripheral, which is an optional purchase this year (rice without Kinect, $399; $499 with Kinect).
The Xbox One features a second HDMI slot on its back, into which you plug your cable TV provider's set-top box. From there, the game console generates its own programming guide. TV functions, from channel changing to volume adjustment, can then be controlled either by voice if you have Kinect or via a phone or tablet with the additional Smartglass app.
Kinect enables high-definition video calls through Skype, which Microsoft also owns. The person on the other end doesn't have to be using an Xbox One – they can be on a computer, tablet or phone. Many smart TVs have some version of this function, but the Xbox One take works smoothly with a great picture. And the camera follows your movements so you don't have to sit rooted to one spot.
Xbox Fitness is handy for anyone in the household who wants to shed a few pounds. Downloadable workout videos from the likes of Jillian Michaels and Tracy Anderson sync up with Kinect and track your progress, creating a game-like interactive fitness regime.
Microsoft also recently added streaming support for a variety of video formats, including Mpeg 2 TS and MKV, which is handy for those who want to watch content from other devices.
As with the PS4, the Xbox One's online store also offers up TV shows and movies for purchase or rent. The $60-a-year Xbox Live Gold membership also nets online multiplayer, two free downloadable games per month and discounts on purchases.
This season's big exclusive games: Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Sunset Overdrive, Forza Horizon 2.
Wii U
After seeing the wild success of Activision's toy-meets-game Skylanders phenomenon and the similar Disney Infinity, Nintendo isn't one to miss out.
The Wii U has been out for two years now (price: $299), but this holiday season it's getting a major refresh with Amiibo, a new form of interactivity with Nintendo's own line of toys. Unlike similar efforts, Amiibo doesn't require an additional peripheral to zap NFC-enabled toys into games, just the Wii U's existing gamepad.
Amiibo toys aren't exclusive to just one game, either. The individual characters, including the likes of Donkey Kong and Mario, will add to various games in the forms of new playable characters, power-ups and other bonuses. The toys work with Super Smash Bros., for example, which is Nintendo's big exclusive game this season.
The Wii U also features Miiverse, a social network of sorts that lets players communicate and share pictures created on their console, as well as on the 3DS portable device.
Hooked into that is TVii, which lets you watch your cable television channels on the Wii U gamepad and share comments with other users. The gamepad can also be set up to act as a remote control for your TV.
Aside from that, the Wii U has most of the same basic multimedia functionality as the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, including a shop where downloadable games can be purchased. It also has the basic video apps, including Netflix and YouTube.
It's also worth noting that while the Wii U is the oldest of the so-called next-generation consoles and the least powerful, it's also the most affordable. On the flip side, it's also the one with the fewest big third-party games.
This season's big exclusive game: Super Smash Bros. (Bayonetta 2 isn't bad either)