A few weeks ago Sony and Microsoft released their brand new consoles to the public. Many people have waited patiently for the next generation of consoles to hit the market and now they are finally among us. I was blessed to be able to purchase both consoles on their respective launch days and had the opportunity to spend a considerable amount of time on both of them and here is my take on both platforms so far. (Keep in mind that this is mainly a review of the hardware and overall experience.)

Playstation 4:

-Console Design: 8.5/10:

Pros: -Sleek and elegant.

-Quiet

-Small

-Replaceable hard drive

Cons:-Power Cord and USB cord are too short

-Only one air vent, and it's located in the back of the console. I question how good the air flow is.

-Controller: 9/10

Pros: -Much better fitting in the hands than the dual shock 1,2 and 3.

-Actual triggers!

-Stiffer and more concave thumbsticks

-Touchpad offers interesting new ways to play and navigate through games

-Built-in rechargeable battery

Cons:-High gloss finish in the areas of the D-pad and face buttons leaves tons of fingerprints.

-Built-in battery can be a hassle if you sit far away from the console and need to recharge.

-Overall Experience:

Overall, the PS4 is a nicely built console. The interface is pretty simple to use, but can get really cluttered at times. As of now, there's no way to move any of the tiles around to your preference, and can get a bit overwhelming when navigating through everything.Unfortunately, on launch day the PSN network was having problems and my PS4 ended up freezing the entire console as I was downloading an update, so that wasn't a pleasant experience, especially for a brand new console. Usually, when I purchase a new console, I have an urge to play next-gen games, however, after purchasing the PS4, I didn't have the urge to play any of the new games it had to offer. The only game I was looking forward to at launch was Killzone, but after hearing many reviewers claiming that it's just a standard shooter in a beautiful package, I had no more desire to play it. If you plan to purchase the PS4 just to play prettier versions of multiplatform games, I would recommend that you save your money instead, until Sony finally releases their first "killer app". If you have an xbox 360 or PS3, I would just play the multiplatform games on those consoles, as I can't justify paying $400 just to play a better-looking version of a game that exists on your current-gen console.

Sony marketed themselves as a "gamers" console; they improved upon their design of the console and controller, and made the dashboard interface easier to navigate through than before, however, there are no games that can be recommended to justify the early purchase of the console. I would recommend that people play multiplat games on current gen consoles and wait for that killer-app before shelling out $400.

Overall Rating: 7/10

Xbox One:

Console Design: 7/10

Pros:-Queit

-Lots of vents

-Sleek design

-Kinect is quite responsive

-Long cords

Cons:-Huge console

-Power Brick

Controller: 9/10

Pros:-Feels similar to the xbox 360 controller

-Smaller thumbsticks fit better in the thumbs

-Triggers are more satisfying to press

-The home button is placed in a better location than the 360 Guide button

-D-pad is vastly improved

-Battery pack is now flat

Cons:-Bumpers feel awkward and require a bit more force to press down

-Kinect is not 100% responsive to voice commands, but usually understands the second time.

-Overall Experience:

The Xbox One contains a wealth of features not found in the competition. The voice controls make it very simple and easy to turn the box on and off, switch and snap between apps, games and TV instantly, it's quite impressive. Sony's camera does offer voice control, but not to the extent that Microsoft's console provides; and the fact that Sony's camera isn't included with every console will only mean that developers will view it as an afterthought, and will likely result in Sony abandoning the peripheral eventually. I was very impressed with how "futuristic" the Xbox One felt; this is the first time I can actually say that a console is a true entertainment center. I was ecstatic to be able to control everything without having to use a controller, it's very convenient to have in any living room. Unfortunately, the Xbox One is slightly less powerful than the PS4 (even though multiplatform games are quite indistinguishable at the moment, and the best looking game so far is on Xbox One) however, I felt that the Xbox One just "feels" more next gen than the PS4, simply because of the entire experience. I've always felt that the next-gen system shouldn't just have more powerful hardware, but it should evolve the way we play games.

Microsoft marketed the Xbox One as an all-in-one entertainment system, and even though all the features have not been included on day one, I still feel as if they have succeeded in their vision. I haven't experienced something like this before, and it's a very pleasant step in the next generation of gaming. Even if gaming wasn't their main focus, Microsoft still provided more quality launch exclusives than the competitors. I found myself using my Xbox One a lot more than the PS4 so far, not only as my entertainment hub, but because of the better launch games as well.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

As I was playing through "Far Cry 2" and admired the beautiful vegetation and lush foliage, I thought to myself: "This would be the perfect environment for a new Jurassic Park game. The graphics in the upcoming JP game look really bad, animations appear choppy, textures look bland and "plastic-ey" in areas, and the lighting looks very artificial. The overall gameplay idea doesn't interest me at all. Here's my idea of a good JP game, I hope it will get released sometime in the future. Genre: Survival/horror Engine: CryEngine 3 Story: This can be simple, just make sure the survivors have a purpose for being there (young daredevils wanting to film and photograph the creatures for a day, for example) and they arrive via: helicopter/plane. They become stranded when a large carnivorous beast attempts to attack the pilot and decides to save himself, only to lose control and crash land somewhere in the far edge of the island. Have a moment where everyone is together, and they suddenly hear the footsteps and screams of a pack of velociraptors. Someone gets attacked as everyone runs to the nearest building. The person that brought the weapons took a different route, and you need to locate him via walky-talky. You meet a man that has been stranded on the island for years, and knows some parts of the island very well; although he's a bit delusional and uneasy. Gameplay: This is a 1st-person survival game, not a shooter. Weapons and ammo are scarce. Your main elements of survival are running,climbing and hiding. You have flares, matches, a machete, a camera, rope, walky talky, a pistol, and a flashlight... you eventually come across items such as: night-vision goggles, shotguns, jeeps, maps of the island, etc... It's an open world game and there are several ways to get off of the island. It's up to you to decide how to gather the materials and resources needed to get home safely, and the needed materials are scattered throughout the island. Your character needs to eat and sleep every day, and dinosaurs are a great source of food. There are vending machines and food throughout the tourist locations as well, but you can only carry several items at a time. The dinosaurs roam freely around the entire island, so venturing off to a location is very unpredictable; although some dinosaur encounters occur more commonly than others...depending on its' population. I hope a JP game similar to my idea will come to light, because the one being released this November looks disappointing.