A great game console for early adopters

Now that we're more than two months out from the mid-November release date of the PS4 and Xbox One, it's a good time to take a second look at both consoles with fresh eyes.

And right now, the PS4 is looking pretty good.

The Sony console has the edge on value -- it delivers a better value. And some recently announced gaming and entertainment features due later this year have the potential to make the investment in a PS4 pay off in 2015 and beyond.

The affordability appeal is twofold. The PS4 is available for $100 less than the Xbox One -- $399 versus $499 for the Microsoft console -- so you're saving money right off the bat. But the Xbox One also requires one to maintain an Xbox Live Gold account to do nearly anything interesting, right down to watching Netflix. By contrast, Sony's PlayStation Plus online service ($50/year) is required only to play online multiplayer games -- and that membership includes access to several downloadable digital games, available at no extra charge.

Meanwhile, Sony announced two big PlayStation initiatives in January: PlayStation Now and a Sony online TV service, both due before the end of year. PlayStation Now aims to deliver real-time game streaming to the the PS4 and other Sony game consoles. Details are more vague on the online TV service, but it looks to be a cable-like video streaming app -- think Netflix or Hulu, but with live TV channels.

To be sure, game lineups on the PS4 and Xbox One are both still small, but they'll continue to expand as months and years progress. And if there's a must-have title on your list that's exclusive to one platform or the other -- well, that pretty much makes the decision easy.

We're not ready to count the Xbox One out by a longshot -- it's still an ambitious console with a lot to offer. As always, a software update or two could totally shift the balance of power. (And the Xbox has two such updates on deck for February and March.)

And -- to be clear -- there's still no urgency to purchase a new game console, especially if you're happy with the PS3 or Xbox 360 you probably already own.

But if you feel compelled to make the jump into next-gen gaming right now, the PlayStation 4 is a solid choice.

Here's why.