I registered just to post this little rant.
Microsoft only has themselves to blame for the situation of the Xbox brand. They could have killed SONY this gen if it weren't for their greed, but now it looks like SONY will have a monopoly in the hardware market starting next gen (Nintendo is irrelevant and doesn't count).
You know, the funniest thing about this whole flip-flop sales situation is that it was all due to Microsoft's greedy practices. I'm not talking about always-online DRM like what everyone else talks about.
I'm talking about building a good exclusive line-up instead of milking Halo, Forza and Gears and then bribing the media to give those games decent scores. After what happened in the 2nd-half of the generation with the 360, many 360 owners couldn't trust Microsoft to deliver exclusive games on the Xbox ONE.
However, the biggest reason for the Xbox ONE's failure is the bullshit pay2play online fees with Xbox LIVE GOLD. Now that SONY is also charging for online play, there is a huge financial barrier in owning 2 consoles. Both machines are half-gimped without online play, and PlayStation has a far bigger online community for every important online game, so there is more incentive for people to stick with PS+. And this is where the biggest irony comes in. XBL was supposed to be a giant money-making scam by MS, but now it's the main reason why they're getting poor sales. MS is reaping what they sowed.
If Microsoft wants to remain competitive, they should do the right thing and make online gaming FREE. It costs nothing on MS end to host peer2peer online gaming, so they won't be operating at a loss - They just won't be making free money.
In fact, I think this is the only move that can save the Xbox division. It would be big enough for current playstation owners to consider owning a second console just like last generation when many 360 owners bought the PS3 as a secondary console. It would also put enough pressure on SONY to drop their BS online-gaming fees as well, which would benefit all gamers.
