It’s war as Microsoft and Sony go head-to-head with new games consoles

Microsoft and Sony sparked predictions of a Christmas sales “price war” as the technology giants went head-to-head over the release of their new games consoles.

The firms last night revealed their next generation Xbox One and PlayStation 4 devices, with Sony landing the first blow by undercutting its rival by £80.

The two hotly anticipated consoles are set to be released within weeks of each other in time for Christmas in a lucrative battle for the $60 billion-a-year gaming market.

Both companies are battling to regain ground after years without new hardware launches and are fighting the increasing presence of mobile and tablet games.

It is the first time the two companies have released new consoles at the same time in direct competition. Hours before the Sony launch, Xbox fans had expressed disappointment at the machine’s £429 price tag.

But there were cheers from fans in the sports arena in Los Angeles when details of the PlayStation 4 were unveiled. The Japanese firm announced that its machine would be sold for £349 in the UK.

Sony also has tried to pull away from its rivals by announcing users will not face any new restrictions on how owners trade their PS4 game discs, nor will they have to sign in online to play.

Microsoft has introduced limitations on who consumers can buy second-hand titles from and will make gamers connect to the net once every 24 hours to play games.

Further improvements to both consoles include next-generation graphics allowing games to look similar to Hollywood movies, with both able to download films and TV shows.

Microsoft’s Xbox One will also feature a new Kinect sensor to track users, which the firm claims is so sensitive it can detect their heart rate by analysing changes in their face colour.