With regards to the 360, the one thing many people discount is that one year lead. That had a profound impact on last gen. Microsoft killing the original Xbox early was well worth it. Even then, people forget that the PS3 was the better selling console during most of its lifetime. It had a much higher sales rate. THAT is why I always questioned the general consensus that the "Xbox 720" would win this gen hands-down and why I always responded with the fact that Playstation is a bigger brand than Xbox.
Now, as far as the Xbox One, it will be interesting to see how well Microsoft rebounds. Honestly, they've done quite well so far, though that does make me wonder how they could have screwed up so badly in the first place.
If the XO never fully recovers, though, then I think we'd have to judge this as one of the worst console launches in history. That would make it worse than the PS3 by default, which did ultimately recover pretty well. It might even challenge for the top spot, depending on how you view the Wii U.
