Can we talk about this article?

In my opinion the writer is disconnected with reality. Comparing the Xbox One today with the PS3 at the time of its comeback last gen is delusional to say the least.

First of all, the Ps3 came back because it was "natural". Once the big launch issue (price) was fixed, the continuous support, the variety of the games and the quality of the first party IPs, combined with the PlayStation image and the failure of other consoles in some or most of these areas, took it back. Not "risks", not BC (the opposite actually).

MS is doing nothing to come back except their own Pro console. Nothing indicates a real change to come back, new policies or anything groundbreaking. MS is rather in an acceptance position. They're losing and they're perfectly fine with it, completely opposite to Sony back then.

I don't get what the writer is trying to say...

He doesn't think XBO will make any type of comeback. He just says that being in second place makes them more willing to try different things. Whether or not being in second place was the reason for Sony's creativity last gen is something that can't be proven, though. They did make a lot of  changes, mostly for the better, though.

I think it's like Nintendo having to rethink their strategy after the GameCube and WiiU to win back fans. Then again, who knows how many years in advance companies have to work to put out a project? Anything M$, Sony, or Nintendo do to " make a comeback" could possibly be something they were planning to do anyway.

*shrugs*

At the rate that Xbox One is being outsold by Switch, I think Switch will move into 2nd place and Xbox One will stay firmly in 3rd. Could Switch surpass PS4, it is possible, but right now the numbers don't indicate they could catch up for at least 4-5 years, by which time the generation will be over.

So with Xbox coming in 2nd last generation, after a sizable lead on the PS3, and 2nd again the previous generation to that and either 2nd of 3rd this generation will Microsoft have the staying power to invest in Xbox for a 4th generation? Microsoft's lack of staying power (see Zune, Windows Phone etc) would suggest they might give up and just focus on PC game. Maybe rebrand PCs as Xbox and not have a dedicated console next gen?? OR just crazy thoughts?

That's my point. If they were BC, I wouldn't have purchased them a second time. I'd just play the original one....maybe. I like last gen games. On my Xbox One, I probably have 350 games installed on the HDD and about 150 of them are Xbox 360 games that I bought maybe a decade ago (give or take). I'd say I spend at least 30% of my gaming time on games that are from the 7th gen and earlier. But that's just me.

And yeah, I did hang on to my last gen consoles but there's just something about playing them on the newer hardware. Maybe it's not technically backwards compatibility but whatever you call it, my old software has found new life.

While this is true, the PS3 was coming off of a generation where the PlayStation sold five times as many consoles as Xbox. Early last gen, Xbox was a "non competitor" that many felt would suffer the same fate as the Dreamcast. There's a quote that I read in a magazine that went something like:

Sony: "We've been in this position before. PS1 first, N64 after. Dreamcast first, PS2 after. It doesn't matter what the Xbox 360 sells. We'll overtake that quickly and it'll be business as usual."

Somewhere along the way, the Xbox 360 turned into a real competitor and Sony really did have to start taking them seriously. I don't think the 360 even reached their goal of 10 million in the first year. Sony slowly chipped away at the lead but it took pretty much the entire gen and a lot of money loss to earn a "victory".

You are right on your premises, still that isn't put in the article, he just doesn't even know about sales when you see what he wrote. Much less about sales trend and historic.

I also like one quote that I just can't find that is from 2009 or so "Even if we stopped selling X360, PS3 wouldn't reach us".

Looks like both companies have said things they probably regret! Lol!

Weird, though. Like you said the Xbox 360 lead was never that big. It just took long time for Sony to overcome it.