As the holiday season approaches and gamers get set as software publishers release their best games; a new, difficult decision needs to be made. This decision is one gamers have not dealt over many years: Which new system to buy? It used to be Atari vs. Intellivision, Super Nintendo vs. Sega Genesis, PS1 vs. Saturn vs. Xbox and to the current PS3 vs. XBox 360. As the 2013 holiday season arrives, it’s Playstation 4 vs. XBox One. Both are guaranteed to be powerful machines that will no doubt involve online entertainment features as well as gaming. But which to buy? Here are factors from a gamer that matter most.

Publisher support

The machines are powerful that is known. But do they have games? An ongoing joke about the PS3 when it first came out was that it had “no games”. The structure of the PS3 was deemed too difficult to create games for by some publishers. With time, launches for the PS3 coincided with those for the XBox. For a short time, versions of PS3 games were sparse as well as with DLC (Downloadable Content). As both systems launch, consider how many games will be first available and also what software publishers are on board for mass producing games for the system.

Multiplayer community

If you are player of an FPS (First Person Shooter), tower defense or an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) then you would know that playing with a community is not just fun but a much needed feature in modern gaming. Whether it’s a 1 on 1 fighting game, 6 on 6 capture-the-flag match or a 25-man dungeon raid, a good community is needed to experience the full features of a game. A system’s success is determined by the amount of online gamers it has. The XBox 360 unfortunately experienced a lot of technical difficulties with its early consoles (see Red Ring of Death) but nonetheless it remained popular due to exclusive multiplayer games like Halo. Call of Duty, a first person shooter franchise, is extremely popular on both PS3 and XBox 360. Yet, the quantity of online users on the XBox 360 overshadows the community on the PS3. So what will happen when the new systems come out this fall? No one knows yet.

DLC

As stated earlier, DLC is downloadable content. It is extras that are available for games. It could be a new map, a new outfit or new levels added to the game. From a gamer’s perspective, it is a good indication of how dedicated the software publisher and the console manufacturer are to their consumers. It still is the practice of developers to come out with a new version of a game every year. Madden by EA and the aforementioned Call of Duty come out with new versions of their game every year. While that is good, gamers are expecting added features via downloadable content. They want the little things like new guns, new gaming modes, new maps and maybe new characters. These things usually hold a gamer’s interest until the next game comes out.

We all know both the PS4 and the XBox One will sell out. They will be powerful and widely popular among gamers everywhere. But before buying, try to take a look at how many active gamers are present, how many games are available at launch and how much support publishers will give before and after game launch. The modern gamer is more sophisticated now, having a powerful gaming console is great but it’s the games and added content that count now.

Image Credit: - EMR - on Flickr