Xbox One’s HDMI Pass-Thru Can Connect To The PlayStation 4

The Xbox One‘s HDMI pass-thru feature – which allows users to connect their cable and satellite box to the Xbox One so they can watch TV through their console without switching inputs – will also connect to Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 4 console.

The announcement came during Microsoft presentation at Tokyo Game Show. Xbox senior director of product management and planning Albert Panello was asked about the Xbox One’s ability to support a video feed from the PlayStation 4.  Although he did not answer the question directly, later on in the presentation he did allude to it.

Here’s GameSpot’s account of what was said during the presentation:

Later in the presentation, when Panello discussed the Xbox One’s ability to snap applications to the side of the screen during gameplay, he said “any application can be snapped to a game…this could be the live TV feed, so if you wanted to be playing Ryse and Killzone at the same time, you could snap that.”

The Killzone series has been a long standing PlayStation 3 exclusive and with the upcoming Killzone: Shadow Fall being a PlayStation 4 exclusive, it’s safe to say that we’re not taking Panello’s words out of context.

This announcement gives the Xbox One a plethora of possibilities. Essentially, the Xbox One can interface with anything that has an HDMI port. Users will be able to split screen their Xbox One to their computers, DVRs, other consoles, and even dongle apps like the Chromecast, all of which just may make the console worth its $500 price-tag as more games and functionality are revealed.

The Xbox One‘s release date is scheduled for  November 22nd this year in North America and parts of Europe, with follow-up releases in Japan and the remaining European markets sometime in 2014.