While it's not exactly a deciding for what system you'll buy next, with both consoles confirmed to offer video recording and sharing so gamers can rub their victories in opponents' faces, examining the differences offered by each system still deserves to be explored. So let's get right down to it, shall we?
It was recently revealed that Sony's PlayStation 4 will be able to record 15 minutes of gameplay in the background that players will be able to capture, and publish online (provided that last no-scope headshot was as pretty as you think it was). CVG reports the news came from an official spokesperson from Sony.
The footage can be brought up via the DualShock 4 controller's "Share" button, and will allow players to do some basic editing and cropping to pretty up the footage for their Facebook page.
On the flip side, Microsoft's Xbox One will also be able to record gameplay for gamers to share. However, the primary difference between Microsoft and Sony's new consoles is that Microsoft's will only be able to record five minutes of gameplay, but still allows for sharing over social networks and Xbox Live. Creative Director Kenn Lobb described the creatively named "Project Upload" over the weekend to GameSpot during Comic-Con, saying, "the idea is that you're always recording. We have a ring buffer game DVR basically, so the last five minutes of any game you're playing is always being stored locally on your hard drive." he said.
Like most other features, gamers can control the feature with voice commands via the One's new Kinect.
So, have a great match on the Xbox One exclusive Killer Instinct? Yep, you can share that. Get a crazy kill streak on PlayStation 4's Killzone: Shadow Fall? Sony has you covered. All in all, neither console varies too much in regard to video recording and sharing. But to play devil's advocate, minute differences do exist. For one thing, Microsoft didn't mention anything about editing options, so we can't' count on that being a possibility. The fact that it can only record for five minutes total may be a bit of a letdown for a lot of gamers, but realistically, this kind of feature is normally reserved for clips that typically fall under the one minute mark.
Looking at Sony, the editing is a nice option, as are the 15 minutes provided, but this also means the clips will take up more space and require more storage until they're edited down.
In the end, the choice is yours, but I'll bet good money that this won't be much of anyone's deciding vote.