Xbox One And PlayStation 4 Prices Revealed

Computer games firms Microsoft and Sony have gone head-to-head with the launch of new devices aimed at sparking a next-generation "console war".

Sony unveiled its new PlayStation4 to gasps from fans packed into a sports arena in Los Angeles.

And the price - £350 for customers in the UK and $399 in the US - has already put it one step ahead of its rival, according to analysts.

Hours before the Sony launch, Microsoft had unveiled its Xbox One system and fans had expressed disappointment with its £429 price tag.

Customers in the US will pay $499 for the Xbox One, which will go on sale in November. The PlayStation 4 will also be available in time for Christmas.

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

And they are trying to woo game players with a bumper collection of new and updated games and stunning graphic fidelity.

The buzz around the launches, coming on the eve of the E3 video and computer games trade fair in Los Angeles, has generated something like the excitement around the introduction of their previous consoles.

Microsoft is struggling to convince game fans that it is not more interested in creating a multimedia tool for people to watch live television.

It has promised that "games, games, games" would be the focus of its launch and the 5,000 fans who attended were treated to a spectacular display.

The Sony launch was just as impressive - even if two of its showpiece offerings suffered from picture freezing.

Sony appeared to take a swipe at their rivals and their game-sharing restrictions by putting out a mocking video guide to underscore the fact that Xbox One doesn't use a disc-based system.

The video shows a company representative say: "This is how you share your games on PS4" - before simply handing a disc over to another person.

Microsoft has elicited groans from gamers when it announced restrictions on used games for the Xbox One and said players had to log onto the internet for authentication.

At the presentation, the company was focused on cloud computing and, in particular, sought to demonstrate it would make games more immersive for users.

Games journalist Guy Cocker told Sky News: "The games industry has had a tough couple of years. They're just not selling as they used to.

"They really needed to come out all guns blazing and I think they are really going to kickstart the next generation of games and make people excited again.

"Whether they go out and buy them, when they have so many other games on their other devices already, that remains to be seen."

It is estimated the games business will be worth £60bn by 2016 but as much half could be generated by games on mobile devices.