Let's talk sales targets and what would be a success or failure for Sony and Microsoft.

Microsoft are putting a pressure on themselves by saying  that they have "the greatest lineup in Xbox history". They are focusing on old first party franchises.

So what would be a success and what would be a failure for Xbox? Would it be enough to slightly outsell PlayStation for 2 months in the US and UK like last year? Would they have to increase their sales Year-over-Year by 50% or 100%? Would 7 or 10 million in 2015 be a success?  Would it be a failure if don't sell a million Halo 5 bundles? Would it be a failure if they don't even mange to win Europe for one week?

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Sony's estimate from March to March is 16.5 million PS4 consoles sold, so that's their sales target. SCE is focusing on third party deals smaller first party titles such as RIME and Until Dawn July to December.

So what would be a success and what would be a failure for PlayStation? Would it be a success if the small First Party games helped Sony sell +200k PS4 consoles? How many consoles do Sony have sell in Japan before Christmas? Would it only be a success if every third party game sold better on PlayStation?  Would it be a failure if price cut don't help them  outsell xbox in November and December (in the US and UK)?

EDIT: We are talking about this year and this fall.

"666 posts since 27/01/14"

Get away from me you demon!

Xbox - all they care about is exposure, not so much profit because they're Microsoft.

Sony - They need to do everything in their power to keep their third party alliance Sony's home. It has always been Sony's bread and butter for consoles.

So pretty much the xbone was a failure at first, but it's been gradually better. PS4 with dem bread and butter third party support is booming with success.

If it makes a profit over it's lifetime, which may be impossible to tell.

But Phil talks about being ahead of the curve, compared to 360, so they are doing well, but it depends on whether the market has grown or we are seeing a more front loaded sales trajectory.

PS4 is a success already, and will continue to dominate for years to come.
With XOne Microsoft lost some serious marketshare (especially painful at the time when Nintendo imploded completely), and no matter how they end up it will be considered a failure, since it has certainly fallen short of their projections. XOne's pre-launch has damaged the brand so much that it effectively killed its successor, there is no chance Microsoft will ever make another console.

PS4 is a succes.
XBO all considering is doing ok.

Ps3 and vita failures for Sony
Xbox family failures for microsoft

I am talking only about consoles that are relevant in the gaming market. It was 50:50 there, Wii was a completely different (pre-teen/retiree) market with different games.

Now it's 65:35, and WiiU sliding even more into kiddie toy territory.

If the PS4 and X1 are profitable, then they are a success. PS4 seems to be making a nice profit and should make Sony a good amount of money but I'm not sure about the X1.

I should have been more specific. This year and this fall.