In today's gaming industry we have multiple devices on which we can game on and entertain ourselves, both within our homes and when we are traveling to work and/or school. This therefore develops a very competitive market, and today there are many companies with many consoles, some of them stationary for homes, other mobile for use while traveling. This allows the user to pick and choose based on what they like the best, each console has its own strength, different markets for games as well as different power in terms of specification. It is therefore important for a user to research the consoles before buying one since it will allow to pick the best one for that particular person.
Stationary/Home Consoles (8th Generation of Consoles):
PS4:
The PlayStation 4 was the second console of the 8th generation to come out, it was developed, published and marketed by Sony Entertainment. The console was launched in November 2013 and is a successor to the PlayStation 3. The console this time around focuses around on streaming services as well as social interaction.
Xbox One:
The Xbox One was the third console to come out as an 8th generation console, developed, marketed and published by Microsoft, the Xbox One replaces the obsolete Xbox 360. The console was launched in November 2013, about a week after the PlayStation 4 was launched. Xbox One focuses mainly on being an all in one entertainment system, meaning that the user is not only able to play games on it, but is also able to stream through it, watch TV through it, listen to music or exercise and have fun with the Kinect.
Wii U:
The Wii U was the first console that was released that begun the 8th generation of consoles, developed by Nintendo Entertainment it is a successor to the Wii, the second most successful console in the history (After PlayStation 2). It was released in November 2012, a full year before the appearance of both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One which was a double edged sword for the company, at one side, they had a head start before other companies and therefore perhaps were able to squeeze in more sales, but from the other side they were putting their new console at a massive risk of being outrun by its competitors in terms of technology once their products come out. The Wii U is focused mainly on integration between Nintendo's home consoles and mobile devices. So far the Wii U is struggling to achieve success due to a lack of third party support.
Mobile Consoles:
Vita:
The Vita (PlayStation Vita) is a successor to the successful Play Station Portable (PSP). Developed by Sony Entertainment and released in December 2011 and February 2012 (Dependent on the region). The Vita is a light, easy to carry, square like console that can play many HD games, throughout the years, additions have been made for the console, such as being able to play the Vita games on a TV, basically allowing it to be transformed into a home console. Additional accessories have also been released.
3DS:
3DS (3D Dual Screen) is a mobile device released by Nintendo in February 2011, the device features dual screens with the ability to go 3D and has a range of good mobile games including series like Pokemon, Mario and Fire Emblem. Nintendo is very popular within the teenage audience, the console also features things like online network to connect with other 3DS users as well as play games with them.
Nvidia Shield:
Nvidia Shield is the newest try of Nvidia at gaining a market share within the mobile console market. The Nvidia Shield is a device which looks similarly to a gamepad with a screen built in, it allows for easy portability as well as can be easily plugged into a TV and played on while at home. The console runs in 720p. It is also the first device to features the Nvidia Tegra 4 technology. A big plus for the Nvidia Shield is that it allows streaming of games from a computer directly to the Shield (if the computer has a GTX 650 or higher GPU) as well as in between which can be quite useful, this means that technically games from PC can be run on the Shield without bigger problems. Nvidia Shield came out in July of 2013.
Ouya:
The Ouya is a project that was funded by a crowd funding site called Kickstarter, it was the second most funded project after a Pebble Smart-watch, raising over 8.5 million dollars for its production. The Ouya is meant to be a High Definition, cheap and very small and mobile console. The console itself is a very micro one, of a size nearing rubik cube, having some internal storage but mostly cloud based, the OS of the Ouya is a self developed android OS which is modified for the needs of the console, the Ouya is available for only £100 but it has its drawbacks as well, the gamepad doesn't come with the console, it costs additional £40, it is also very badly made and has a bad design overall. The console has problem as it lacks a killer app that isn't available somewhere else and it also sits in that weird spot where it neither is a mobile console or a stationary console, meaning many people see it as useless, the Ouya also has a very fast aging hardware meaning that phones like Nexus 6 or above or Samsung Galaxy 4 are already stronger than the console. Ouya was released in December, 2012.
Comparisons:
Stationary/Home Consoles:
Xbox One:
CPU: Octa-Core (2 quad-core modules) AMD x86-64 "Jaguar"-based @ 1.75 GHz with Shared 4 MB L2 cache
RAM: 8 GB DDR3 RAM @ 2133 MHz (68.3 GB/s), (5 GB available for games)
GPU: AMD Radeon, 768 shaders @ 853 MHz (1.31 TFLOP/s)
Video Display: 1080p, 720p and HDMI
Audio Output: Internal system speakers, HDMI audio, digital audio via optical out
OS: Windows, Hyper-V, Windows 8-based, Xbox OS
Power Supply: External brick power supply
Storage Media: 500 GB HDD, 8 GB flash memory, No external HDD support (Will support external HDD at later date.)
PlayStation 4:
CPU: Octa-Core (2 quad-core modules) AMD x86-64 "Jaguar"-based, shared 4 MB L2 cache (Cores 0-3: 2 MB, Cores 4-7: 2 MB)
RAM: 8 GB GDDR5 RAM @ 5500 MHz (176.0 GB/s)
GPU: AMD Radeon "Liverpool", 1152 shaders @ 800 MHz (1.84 TFLOP/s)
Video Display: 1080p, 1080i, 720p and HDMI
Audio Output: Stereo output via 3.5mm jack stick in the controller, audio output via HDMI, Digital audio output via optical out
OS: Orbis OS, which is a branch from the FreeBSD project.
Power Supply: 250 W internal power supply
Storage Media: 500 GB HDD, No external HDD support
Wii U:
CPU: Tri-Core IBM PowerPC "Espresso" @ 1.24 GHz, 3 MB L2 cache (Core 0: 0.5 MB, Core 1: 2 MB, Core 2: 0.5 MB)
RAM: 2 GB DDR3 RAM @ 1600 MHz (12.8 GB/s), (1 GB available for games)
GPU: AMD Radeon "Latte"
Video Display: Component Video, Composite Video, 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p, HDMI.
Audio Output: Six-channel PCM linear output via HDMI, Analog stereo via "AV Multi Out" port
OS: Wii U System
Power Supply: 75 W external power supply
Storage Media: Basic Model: 8 GB flash memory, Deluxe/Premium Model: 32 GB flash memory, Supports up to 32 GB SDHC cards, Supports up to 2 TB USB HDD (Wii U Mode only)
Since Wii U came out an entire year earlier than its competitors, it is safe to assume that it is technologically inferior in some ways:
CPU: In terms of CPU, both Xbox One and Playstation 4 are standing pretty much at the same footing, using very similar builds of the CPU's, while the Wii U lags behinds a little bit by having slower speed and power.
RAM: For RAM, Playstation 4 definitely takes the lead with the best RAM possible, the GDDR5 with the strongest power and the fastest speed. Xbox One comes secondwith DDR3 3 and then Nintendo Wii U comes last with also a DDR 3, but with much lower memory (by 6 Gigabytes) than the Xbox one and with lower speeds.
GPU: In terms of GPU, Playstation and Xbox are on similar footing, while Playstations AMD card can support more shaders and is generally stronger, it has slower speeds than the Xbox AMD card which might equalize the difference, Wii U is again, lagging, with slower speeds and power with its Latte build.
Video Display: Pretty much all 3 consoles stand at the same footing in terms of available displays
Audio Output: Very similar audio setups are available and thus the consoles do not vary that much to be compared.
OS: All 3 OS's are builds designed specifically for the consoles, with the exception of the Xbox One being based off Windows 8, therefore it is hard to compare as we do not know the specific powers of those OS'es.
Power Supply: Playstation 4 offers the best power supply, the power supply of the PS4 also doesn't come as a brick, then comes the Xbox one with its still 7th generation like power brick with a power a little lower than Playstation 4 and the lastly comes the Wii U with only 75 W in its PSU.
Storage Media: While the basic memory for the Playstation 4 and the Xbox one is similar, the Xbox one promises to introduce a support for external HDD later on which puts it ahead of the Playstation 4, at the last spot comes the Wii U with its lower memory no matter the version of the consoles, however, it has a small advantage in that it supports external HDD.
Mobile Consoles:
Vita:
CPU: up to 2 GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor (3 of the 4 cores are usable for applications)
RAM: 512 MB of system RAM and 128 MB of VRAM
GPU: quad-core GPU SGX543MP4+
Video Display: 130 mm OLED capacitive touchscreen in the center of the device
Audio Output: Stereo Speakers
OS: touchscreen-based UI dubbed LiveArea
Power Supply: 2200 mAh: approx. 3-5 hours for games, 5 hours for video, 9 hours for music (in stand-by mode)
Storage Media: PS Vita memory card (4, 8, 16, 32 or 64 GB)
3DS:
CPU: Dual-Core ARM11 MPCore
RAM: 128 MB FCRAM, 6 MB VRAM
GPU: DMP PICA200 GPU
Video Display: Auto stereoscopic 3D LCD screen with a resolution of 800 by 240 pixels. (Top screen). The bottom screen is a 3.02 in (77 mm) 4:3 resistive touchscreen with a resolution of 320×240 pixels
Audio Output: Stereo speakers
OS: Nintendo 3DS OS
Power Supply: 1300 mAh lithium-ion battery
Storage Media: Included 2 GB SD card, 1 GB internal flash memory and cartridge save
Nvidia Shield:
CPU: 1.9 GHz GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A15
RAM: 2 GB DDR3L RAM
GPU: 72 GeForce graphics cores (24 vertex shaders + 48 pixel shaders)
Video Display: Multi-touch capacitive screen
Audio Output: Stereo Sound
OS: Android 4.2.1 (Jelly Bean)(upgradable to Android 4.3)
Power Supply: 7350 mAh (28.8 W·h)
Storage Media: 16 GB flash memory, microSD card reader
Ouya:
CPU: 1.7 GHz Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A9
RAM: 1 GiB DDR3-1600 SDRAM (shared for CPU and GPU)
GPU: Nvidia GeForce ULP @ 520 MHz (12.48 GFLOPS)
Video Display: HDMI 1.4; 1080p or 720p resolution. Stereoscopic 3D support.
Audio Output: HDMI (ARC), 5.1 or 2.0 channel
OS: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
Power Supply: 12 volt DC, 1.5 ampere max via Coaxial power connector
Storage Media: 8 or 16 GB eMMC flash memory
When coming to this comparison, we need to take into comparison that Nvidia Shield is the newest handheld out of the 4 and the Vita and 3DS are the oldest, considering how rapidly mobile technology is changing the hardware is quickly getting old and therefore the comparison might not be fair in some parts.
CPU: In terms of CPU, Nvidia Shield comes out on top because it has a 1.9 GHz quad core with a ARM Cortex A15 which is equal to about 2.5 GHz of power. After the Shield comes the Vita with up to 2GHz ARM Cortex A9 and quad core (3 of the cores are used for gaming and applications which signifies a good amount of power within the console). In the third comes the Ouya with its Quad Core ARM Cortex A9 with 1.7 GHz and lastly comes the 3DS with Dual Core ARM 11.
RAM: In terms of RAM the Nvidia Shield comes in as the best with 2GB DDR3L RAM which is very good for a handheld, in the second place comes the Ouya which has a 1 GiB of DDR3 memory which is also quite good for such a small console as Ouya. The third place is taken by the Vita with only 512mb of RAM which is considerable since PC's back in 1996 had that amount. But lastly comes the 3DS which comes with the whopping 128MB of FCRAM which is very bad but considering the 3DS build, not so much.
GPU: Again, Nvidia Shield comes as the best with a good GPU that centers around the amount of in build processors which calculate at 72. This allows the Shield to do 24 vertex shaders and 48 pixel shaders which is very advanced for a handheld.Then comes the Ouya with a Nvidia Geforce ULP which is a graphics card that was designed partly for handhelds. At the third place is the Vita with quad-core GPU SGX543MP4+. Lastly comes the 3DS with an older GPU, a DMP PICA200.
Video Display: In terms of video display, all handhelds are pretty even, with variations in terms of screens (how they look), however all screens of the listed products are capable of outputting some kind of 1080p quality games (in some cases and games the resolution is scaled down to allow more detail and complexity over the amount of pixels per screen). Some devices such as the Nintendo 3DS are capable of a 3D display however it is very poor and therefore not very valid into the comparison, the technology isn't there for a mobile 3D yet. All handhelds use screens that are between 100 and 250 mm width and length. The Ouya, being a more stationary console also supports HDMI.
Audio Output: All consoles use stereo sound, Ouya also uses a HDMI port for their sound system.
OS: The OS is really hard to be compared in this circumstance, it is because the OS'es really don't matter as much in terms of handhelds, besides, there is very little information about them available widely to the public, both the Shield and Ouya use Android systems while the 3DS and the Vita use their own systems developed specifically for them.
Power Supply:The power supply of all the consoles is pretty similar, with Ouya having a little bit of a bigger one since it can also be used as a very practical stationary console that plays indie games very well. Most power supply's of handhelds won't be large whatsoever because they will usually be mainly powered by things like batteries or accumulators.
Storage Media: Again, in terms of storage the conflict is varied, while the Shield offers a straight up 16 GB of space, Guys like the 3DS or the Vita don't really have a lot of internal memory built in whatsoever, instead, they have cards of memory with various sizes available for the users, available to pick dependent on the preference and usability. The Ouya has from 8 to 16 GB internal memory (dependent on the model). And supports things like flash drives.