I think price is key. People who haven't made the leap to current gen can't afford or justify the price. It probably goes:

1) hardcore fans who can afford to buy at launch
2) people who wanted it day 1 but took longer saving up
3) people who waited for the first price drop and a bigger library
4) people who can't afford it or don't get as much time to game due to commitments who wait for a big price drop (slim console).

I think Sony designs their slims so they can target a new wave of customers with each iteration by making the jump to their platform cheaper.

The risk with MS's slim might be it having to compete with a more powerful gaming platform that's a lot cheaper and also competing with a system that's almost 3 times more powerful at a similar cost.

Ps4 s will be cheaper with better graphics. In the end, it's only interesting in US and UK, other countries just prefer PlayStation like they ever did and nothing will change that.

I think the new PS4 will kill it. It is a gaming console and it could even be priced less than Xbone S. 4K support is unnecessary and most people use 1080P TV. People needing that are probably going to be interested in more expensive console like PS4.5 or Xbone2 next year. Also I like the new PS4 with rounded edges.

MS seems to be more focusing on giving current owners a reason to upgrade than to appeal to new gamers. The same price point and added features show this.

Sony already has a console for current owners to upgrade to, it's called the Neo. It'll have all the bells and whistle of the XBO S, plus have increased power to 4.2 Tflops to 5.5 Tflops (if Sony ups the GPU clock to be more in line with the Scorpio.) So, the Slim is going to be focusing on bringing in new gamers. One's who like to wait for that $299 sweet spot. And if Sony can actually price this thing for $249, then all bets are off and Sony is going to win even bigger.

Also, if MS decides to continue to match or beat the PS4's entry price (which means they'll have to price it at $199-$249 in just a couple of months after their Slim launches), they're going to be eating losses, again, thanks to the inclusion of the 4K player.

@ bold

I think we are already seeing this. If we go by Amazon, there seem to be quite a few more XBOs being sold than PS4s, yet the PS4 still reigns when it comes to new SW and Network Cards being sold. I think A LOT of consumers are either upgrading or purchasing it for a cheap 4K player.

As an owner of a regular PS4, its a bit of a releif to find my current console isn't obsolete (just yet).. which is nice to know.

I'm going with Sony's traditional strategy...

Lower priced console for mainsteam audiences. And a high end machine for enthusiasts (4k and all).

I think as more and more people get 4k tvs, 4k support will be important. According to this article, the demand for 4k tvs grew a ton and shipments grew by 173%.

http://4k.com/news/while-tv-shipments-fall-4-in-2015-4k-tv-sales-bucked-the-trend-and-continue-to-do-so-12971/

4k is slowly but surly becoming the norm and console need to support 4k imo. I don't mean play games at 4k obviously but 4k output at a minimum. Stuff like Netflix also has 4k support for virtually all their Original Content.

So I think MS made a good move by adding 4k support with the x1s. Being able to buy a cheap UHD player helps the x1s have more use than just being a thing to play games. Idk how much it will help overall but it is certainly helping now. And MS will certainly market the hell out of that.

Ps4s and x1s will just be entry level consoles for those who don't want to spend the extra for Neo and Scorpio. I don't care as much about 4k as far as console games go so I will be getting the neo due to its exclusives.

In the UK though people are moving towards 4k TVs the content just isn't great right now. I mean Sky (one of the main providers) still is using SD and charge ten pounds a month extra for the HD version. Though I think its great the S has it, I just don't think europe will care that much just yet. I don't personally think 4k is going to be mainstream (i.e large numbers) for another 5 years.

I would rather the Neo/Scorpio concentrate on making 1080p and 60FPS a reality or at least better looking games, its a shame they may chase 4k when most gamers don't care.

People with datacaps dont wanna stream 4k, that sh*t eats up bandwidth like crazy.
Ultra HD (4k) blu-ray discs are expensive compaired to normal ones.

I dont think 4k is as big a deal as people make it out to be.
I know some will say "its better to have a feature and not use it, than need it and not have it"

But if your not useing it and drives up the price of the console? meh... I think sony was smart going for a cheaper slim build instead.

^ this.

I dont think its only Europe, I bet most of the world its like that too.

Well, it's definitely not that big a deal, right now. And I say that as a 4K TV owner. It's just a feature that adds to the cost somewhat pointlessly, now. Sony wants the Slim to be cheap so they can sell it to the mainstream at a cheap price. Those who want 4K can upgrade to the PS4 Neo, and have extra power to boot.

Of course, by the time the PS5 launches, it'll probably be a standard feature for consoles, as many more adopt the tech.