Will Microsoft ever win a gen?

[Wyrdness]

Imo no for the following reasons:

- Playstation and Nintendo are too strong a brand WW, one seems to lead while the other slows MS down. Both these competitors have a certain identity that another platform doesn't have (you see this in their first party titles) while MS' image for the platform is basically being very mainstream (online, GTA, FPS etc...) something that another platform can emulate.

- Both of MS' competitors have strong first party support that have mainstream power that only Halo in MS' arsenal's can match.

- Last gen was their best chance because they killed the Xbox off after 4 years to get a full year headstart, what killed them in the end is that the last third of the gen they seemed lost, it's like they know how to start well but aren't as good at finishing a gen which is why the X1's slower start is worrying, being market leader is a marathon not a sprint. This may be a result of the first party issue.

- One outstanding issue is that I'm not sure if MS are adept at adapting to market changes like the other two, how ever hard the situation is for their competitors they've shown an ability to adapt to tough situations. Currently the mainstream is more western catered which obviously benefits MS heavily if the market mainstream was to change (which it probably will in future gens) I wonder if they can adapt to a situation where a market is catered less to what favours them.