I would like to buy Xbox One S - BUT

[sasivarnan]

I am planning to buy a gaming console. I am looking to buy either Xbox One S or PS4.
Xbox One S is really awesome and has various unique features like Backwards compatibility and availability of EA Access.

BUT

I found that even for playing Free to Play multiplayer games, we need to have Xbox Gold subscription. Whereas in PS4 Free to Play multiplayer games doesn't need Playstation Plus subscription.

Coming from the PC gaming background, I am tired of having charges for playing multiplayer games even if we brought the game.

I can understand that the subscription costs are used for maintaining servers, but getting a subscription for Free to Play games is not fair and it is not Free to Play at all.

Some free to play games that doesn't require Play Station Plus on PS4 but require Xbox Gold on Xbox.

Fortnite



Paladins






There are lot more Free to play games like this. Now I am really confused about which console to choose between PS4 and Xbox One S.

There is a 2.5 year old request in Xbox User Voice forum to make Free to Play games really free. Kindly cast your votes.

 

[sasivarnan]

Share your comments on this Reddit thread too.

 

[jeffchapik]

Sometimes you get what you pay for. The stability and reliability of Xbox Live is worth $60/year to me. Plus you can sometimes get deals on 1 year Xbox Live cards on Amazon and elsewhere for $40.

Since I have a Windows phone and Cortana uses Bing for all my searches, I get enough MS points every year to pay for a year of Live for free. And last month I got 2 $10 gift certificates. If you haven't signed up for the rewards program, you should do so.

 

[Guest_aotf]

I am planning to buy a gaming console. I am looking to buy either Xbox One S or PS4..

At this stage I would say better get a PS4. It has more games. Since you're also on PC you'll be able to play almost all XB games on PC. The PS4 have way more exclusives that are not available on PC.
PS4 has more free to play games that don't require a subscription.

The PS4 has way more upcoming games that are not focused on multiplayer so no need to pay to play the game. Most major upcoming XB1 console "exclusive" are more into the multiplayer mode, so you'll need to pay more to pay them. And let's not forget MS's strategy with games as a service, where they'll keep selling stuff (via microtransactions/loot box) once you paid the ($60-$90) entry fee. They have done that with most recent big console "exclusive".

 

[DOGC_Kyle]

Since I have a Windows phone and Cortana uses Bing for all my searches, I get enough MS points every year to pay for a year of Live for free. And last month I got 2 $10 gift certificates. If you haven't signed up for the rewards program, you should do so.

This. You get points every single time you ask/search with Cortana (on any device, IIRC even saying "Hey Cortana play [some game]" on Xbox will earn you points), or click something in Cortana Home. It adds up really quickly, you can easily get Gold for free.

 

[Guest_aotf]

Since I have a Windows phone and Cortana uses Bing for all my searches, I get enough MS points every year to pay for a year of Live for free. And last month I got 2 $10 gift certificates. If you haven't signed up for the rewards program, you should do so.

Not everyone has a windows phone or uses bing or constantly uses every "MS" products there is.
The guy has a iPhone 7 and he probably uses google like most people in the western world.

 

[sasivarnan]

Not everyone has a windows phone or uses bing or constantly uses every "MS" products there is.
The guy has a iPhone 7 and he probably uses google like most people in the western world.

I am actually from India and I recently switched to iPhone.
Previously I was using Microsoft Lumia 640 XL and Lumia 630.

I recently started to get rid of most of the Google Services including Google Search and started using Bing instead. Except Google Maps, I got rid of all other services.

Sadly Bing Rewards is not available in India.

 

[sasivarnan]

At this stage I would say better get a PS4. It has more games. Since you're also on PC you'll be able to play almost all XB games on PC. The PS4 have way more exclusives that are not available on PC.
PS4 has more free to play games that don't require a subscription.

The PS4 has way more upcoming games that are not focused on multiplayer so no need to pay to play the game. Most major upcoming XB1 console "exclusive" are more into the multiplayer mode, so you'll need to pay more to pay them. And let's not forget MS's strategy with games as a service, where they'll keep selling stuff (via microtransactions/loot box) once you paid the ($60-$90) entry fee. They have done that with most recent big console "exclusive".

As I am from India, Bing Rewards is not there in our country.

None of my friends owns a console. And I am thinking to invest in EA Access which I feel is a great and cheep way of gaming.

So mostly I won't be requiring a Xbox Gold subscription.

But I do wanted to try some Free to Play Games without any subscription which is available in PS4.
But PS4 lacks EA Access.

These things brought me a lot of confusion now.

 

[sasivarnan]

Also in India, the gaming consoles are costlier than other countries.

View attachment 138226

The Microsoft Xbox One S 1 TB with Assassin's Creed Origins, Rainbow Six Siege Bundle costs around 465 USD.

 

[techiez]

Go for PS4, MS products suck outside US, they'll always be lagging behind or never get full feature set, as others mentioned getting xbox gold is easy with bing rewards but it will be a pretty costly affair for you in India

 

[jeffchapik]

Not everyone has a windows phone or uses bing or constantly uses every "MS" products there is.
The guy has a iPhone 7 and he probably uses google like most people in the western world.

Well, this is a Microsoft forum, so it was a pretty safe bet.

 

[Guest_aotf]

I don't think EA access is that much of a big deal tbh. Since you're also on PC there is Origin access. I believe it offers way more games at the same price.

Also, you could buy the console from outside India. Did you trying looking at the price for shipping? I know the PS4 is not region lock so you can play PS4 games on an american/European console. I'm not too sure about XB1, I think it's the same...

 

[sasivarnan]

I don't think EA access is that much of a big deal tbh. Since you're also on PC there is Origin access. I believe it offers way more games at the same price.

I actually own a 6-year-old laptop Lenovo Z570 which has Nvidia GeForce GT 540M graphics card.

The machine is working fine but it is not performing well to a lot of new games and the machine is not compatible with Windows 10. I am stuck with Windows 7. :unhappy:

Hence I was looking for a console for playing recent games with decent graphics as a dedicated Gaming Machine. So getting an Xbox and EA Access subscription will be a better choice for me.

Also, you could buy the console from outside India. Did you try looking at the price for shipping? I know the PS4 is not region lock so you can play PS4 games on an american/European console. I'm not too sure about XB1, I think it's the same...

I tried to buy a console during the Black Friday sales. None of the sellers on Amazon are shipping to India.

I also checked some shipping sites like borderlinx. But the price of shipping and tax and duty cost more than the Indian price.

The difference in the power supply and Warranty are my other concerns too.

 

[sasivarnan]

Go for PS4, MS products suck outside US, they'll always be lagging behind or never get full feature set, as others mentioned getting xbox gold is easy with bing rewards but it will be a pretty costly affair for you in India

Thanks for the suggestion. Will do some more research on PS4.

Need one more suggestion, between Xbox One S and PS4 slim, which has better graphics performance?

 

[breaker119]

Well since the article post sent me here I'll post about Kinect (even though Kinect has not yet been mentioned).

I still use my Kinect heavily on my original XBOX One. There are 3 primary reasons:

1. IR Blaster (I know it's built into newer models). I want everything to turn on when the XBOX turns on
2. Voice control - I rarely wear a headset and want the voice controls. When I walk into the house I want to be able to turn on the system. When my family is at the dinner table I want to be able to turn down the volume without having to find the remote. When I have to run to the head I want to be able to tell my show to pause...etc., etc.
3. User recognition - the Kinect recognizes each person in my family and I have tons of parental controls set up. It helps keep my kids from doing things I don't want them to do (at least it gives me the sense that it does)

 

[Drewidian]

We had two Xbox Ones in our home using the cable HDMI pass through both with Kinects and use the voice commands all of the time. I got an Xbox One Scorpio Edition a few weeks ago, I swapped the One and didn't have an adapter. After 2 days without it, my wife and kids sat me down and informed me that as the purchaser of technology for the household, it was my responsibility "to make it work", and that there would be consequences if I didn't. Needless to say, I got the adapter that day.

 

[jayruguitar]

The Kinect is still a valuable and viable accessory in my setup. Just last week, I was in Florida on business. Used the Kinect to Skype w/ the whole family. This feature alone makes it worth the trouble of securing the needed adapter. I use it daily for the extra IR blaster range and voice controls. Currently, I have Cortana disabled on the One X as I do not want it to engage while I'm conferring w/ Cortana on the Invoke. Having the original Xbox voice commands back in use are a pleasure on the Xbox. Using the Kinect and Skype on Christmas morning lets my entire family from across the country be a part of my little ones morning of joy as well.

 

[breaker119]

Right - I forgot Skype! With the forthcoming ability to add a standard webcam to the XBOX ONE hopefully this will be covered...

 

[Timothy Collins1]

I would but the thing is... I originally bought a (Day One edition) Xbox One because of Xbox Fitness. It was great. There were other games I was interested in but that was the final nail in the "System Seller" question for me. With Xbox Fitness shuttered and the Kinect scrapped, there is no reason for me to bother with the Xbox now... It's just a TV adapter for Overwatch now and I am happy with the current version I have - I don't need it to look better. So I am voting against the Xbox One S or X.

 

[Immortal Lobster]

Yes, love my kinect, using an adapter for both my one s and one x.

I can't fathom why they killed it. It's great for voice control, and love the auto log in.