I agree, right now Sony would have to really screw up but it’s not like it cannot happen.  Also Sony can just become complacent, not counter their competition or act the way they did at the beginning of the PS3 launch when they pretty much ignored MS and Nintendo because they thought their brand was so strong after the PS2.  Personally I probably would not make any real prediction until year 3 for both consoles.  I want to see if Sony stays hungry and continue to provide meaningful updates to the their products this gen.  For the X1, II am interested in seeing what other strategy MS has on changing the image and perceived value of the X1.

I can definitely agree with all of that! I hope both continue to stay hungry and keep pushing the games out! It is good for us the consumers!

I'm 100% aware. Doesn't change the fact that Sony's development cycle internally bears more fruit. The advantage MS has is that they can pay more people to work for them. Sony more than made up for their stupid mistakes.

'Crash please!

Yes, Sony development cycle is great, its the reason I have bought all Sony consoles including handheld devices. The thing is, I am not talking about 10 years down the line when Sony was able to provide more value game wise to their system, I am talking about the first couple years where Sony just like MS had to cut price and components to bring the price of the PS3 in order to compete with the 360 and Wii.

Look at the sales charts. Sony was outselling Microsofts  LY even (from the begining) with a six hundred dollar console in their first two years. Once Sony dropped their price it started eating even more away at Microsofts lead. It only It only took them four years to get within two million of Microsoft. If you can outsell a companies LY and they don't you can outpace them. Because Sony turned down the Kinect and Microsoft took it, halted Sony's advancement efforts to Microsoft for two years more until Sony closed the gap and eventually. They had to let the Kinects hype die down.

Sony took a while because they had to fight Microsoft primarily from the inside of their company and they were reformig Naughty Dog to make games which represent what they wanted (since the owners left in 2004). Sony began working on a development style that the company would begin to be known for. Microsoft SEEMED like they had something because they purchased a shit ton of third party real estate. Thats why I've always found their launches to be more appealing than Sony, but history as proven the race isnt for the swift and Sony doesnt buy up every third party they see so they can seem like they have something. They use the multiplats to their advantage and put out what exclusives they can until their true fleet shows up. I didn't even play the first Uncharted until 2009. Luckily for me I was able to buy the next one in succession once the price drop, because I wasnt about to buy a $600 console just because they told me to find two jobs. 

Aside from the initial rush on XB1 consoles, I don't see XB1 being able to maintain momentum even at it's current low prices. Especially considering PS4 (console only) at $399 is now back to outselling XB1 + ACU +ACBF at $349.

What can Microsoft do when xb1 slips back down to the 40's on amazon again. Lower the price to $199 and ride another short-term wave of momentum maybe?

I guess Sony won't lower their prices until they have a big stock surplus, as it doesn't make sense to lower prices even PS4 get sold out anyway over the holiday period..