| Noobie said: I think it would have spelled the end of XB ONE if they had not released it alongside PS4. My point is that if they have have delayed it by 6 months to around Feb - April following were the possible outcome. - They would not have been able to change the SOC APU (the processor, GPU) as these things need around 10 - 12 months of testing.. and 6 months of testing after the final silicon.. - They would not have been able to change the OS as it would have not been able to redesign the OS - All the current games would have to be put on hold till they finalize the system and OS which would mean that they game would have been pushed further back. Sony would have created a total domination in USA and UK.. and when MS would have launched Sony would have been comfortably sitting at 4 million or so in these 2 strongest of MS territories and all the momentum would be with Sony. More and more developers would have gone to Sony like what happened in the PS2 era and it would have been even more difficult for them to secure exclusives. So i think in the end the justification for keeping XBO would have been difficult for the new CEO. Like Cerny said they started working by the end of 2007 on PS4. They defined vision and goals set out with surveys and this designing and making of new console is not a matter of months but years.. So delaying would not have i believe removed the fundamental flaw in the XB One.. |
The 6 month delay would have allowed some hardware changes. Remember, both Sony and M$ announced the basic system specs almost 6 months before launch. I think they wouldn't have bothered to change the look of the system, but they could have certainly made some memory changes. That alone would have had an impact on the overall system performance quite a bit. They also might have had a chance to change the GPU, but not as likely. The gap would have been much smaller just with the memory change.
As far as a domination by Sony if they hadn't launched goes. Haven't they dominated even with the launch of the XB1? Sony will have sold close to 7 million(or more) units by May 1. The XB1 will be behind by 3 million or more by that point. If the had delayed their launch, they could have had the focus on them all alone. They would have probably closed the gap from 7 million to 3-4 million by Christmas anyway. THey would have been ready to sell the system in more than 13 countries. Also, they wouldn't be fighting such an uphill battle perception wise. They would have a lot of heavy hitters for games and the abilities of the machine would have been up to speed with more time to work on all of the software issues. It would have had a much better ability to "Wow" people with not having to fight Sony's launch PR and Christmas keeping the focus off of it's machine. They could have probably launched for $50 less too, losing $20 or so per machine vs. making $10-15 now. Again, making the machine more appealing. People don't mind spending a little more for a "newer" thing.
It is near the end of the end....
