The wise of 72 vs 13 or The un-wise of 13 vs 53 Part 2

[DonFerrari]

pokoko said:
"Enough of the 13 vs 72. Ms didn't release before because they knew it wouldn't help much."

Pretty much that. In the end, I don't believe it would have made a difference either way. Microsoft knew that importing would take care of any real issues, and without them having to bother with "official" launches that they weren't ready for.

The fact is, they knew that most of those countries were going to go for the PS4, anyway. They secured launch units in places they thought would be pro-Xbox first. In effect, they were conceding certain locations to Sony, much the way political parties will concede certain states they know will be against them.

Sony, on the other hand, has been a more global brand. Last gen, they depended on a more varied consumer base, which they needed to protect.

The real negatives would be in audience perception. I think Kinect came off as a scapegoat, which was yet another blow to it's already ragged image.

I do agree that the other countries were "left aside" to save face... after the reception in reveal, E3, bad pre-orders, backlash, etc even in their stronghold they knew of the slaughter on other markets so they prefered not to expose themselves... as you said a strong political partie won't subject to run on a area where they will get like 10% against their biggest rival 60%... they will preffer to make a coaliation and put a partner to try to make the 40% into 51% and maybe win, but when losing not having to take the blunt.