Sony "Nailed It" With PS4 and Deserves "Victory" Over Xbox One, Ex-EA CEO Says

[Zanten]

Mad55 said:

Zanten said:

Equal footing isn't enough, though; let's set aside the differences in performance that do still exist, and the inevitably larger differences in available content, (if you're a big fan of plentiful Japanese titles, prooobably going to shoot yourself in the foot if the Xbox One is your only console,) as well inevitable brand power in the mainland European, Asian and nearly every other region that the Xbox doesn't have.

Just to be sure, your point appears to be that while Sony isn't doing anything spectacular to warrant higher sales, neither is Microsoft, putting them on literally equal footing when it comes to deserved sales. Basically, from what I can tell, your point doesn't seem to be that Microsoft is offering an objectively superior product either.

Now, for sake of argument, let's say that what differences DO exist between the consoles were sandblasted away tomorrow. No performance gap. Identical libraries except for first-party or money-hatted exclusives. Equal brand recognition and popularity. What you'd still be left with is one console that has been more or less on course from the beginning, and another whose messaging and image has been muddled by often rapidly changing policies, backtracking, reversals and alterations that make its incarnation today VASTLY different from the product that had been envisioned. Perception is everything, and even WHEN everything else is equal (which it really isn't,) the simple fact that one competitor made fewer mistakes and stuck to a clearer, far more confident message does have an impact. While making all these reversals was definitely the right call, it does shine the Xbox One in the light of being less an industry leader, and more a follower. =P

It's not simply going to be enough for the Xbox One to be on equal footing to the PS4; if it turns things around and regains control of the U.S., it's going to have to be because it is the BETTER option, at least in the U.S., with more desirable titles and features than its competitor. It's part of why Halo 5 gets tossed around alot as an expected sales driver; chances are, the last major pocket of holdouts waiting for a reason to jump on board will do so when that game hits. (Obviously, smaller pockets of holdouts will arrive in the future, I just think the peak of 'FINE, the time is now!' decisions will be this holiday.)

My point was never to say that microsoft deserved better sales. I was pointing to the fact that they deserved equal sales and that sony hasn't done alot to deserve the lead they still have against Microsoft or the wiiu honestly. I pointed to Microsfts price drop as a point to why they deserve to be on equal footing. As well as other things like a better public image, constant monthly updates to the OS, and a few other things all of which I didn't believe I needed to point out givien you all know this already. Saying a company stuck with a clearer more focused path doesn't mean anythingt to me as a gamer when their not really giving me a whole lot better in comparison to the competition when it's allegedly their main focus in compairson to microsofts console. 

Also no one thinks of the Xbox one as a follower for resversing its rules to that of the PS4 and last gen consoles and consoles before that. People just wanted the rules reversed and they were honestly at least most people who I know prsonally who had 360's felt that way. 

But by what metric do you believe they deserve equal sales? o.O Generally speaking, whomever wants a PS4 is going to buy the PS4, whomever wants an Xbox One is going to buy an Xbox One, and those who have no particular attachment to either brand (or their exclusives) are probably just going to pick one so they can play whatever third party title they have their eye on. Now, this third group of fence-sitters will ultimately be influenced by any number of factors that the consoles really don't have in common. Price, the general 'flavor' of its library, any ancillary features that may or may not attract interest, how many of your friends already own one or the other, general buzz or word of mouth, (which is where perception ties into, for the record,) even library history for those of us who take the time to properly research the options, etc, etc, etc. In some of these fields, the Xbox One has the edge, and in others, the PS4 does.

Something you have to keep in mind, though, is that different factors are going to be more or less important to different people. Some will gravitate towards the cheapest console, some will want the one with the most stable performance, some want more shooters, others want more Japanese titles, others still just decide to play on whatever their friends already own. I've generally believed that it's not necessarily whether a console is better than its competitor that gets it to higher sales; it's simply that more people think it's better FOR THEM. You might not see a difference, (or, more specifically, the differences that are there might not bother you one way or another,) and that's fine, there's nothing saying you need to be swayed one way or the other. But in my case, it was a serious no-brainer on which to get, and that was because the PS4 simply hit waaaay more of my buttons than the Xbox One, and the Xbox One's 'pro' points- the whole multimedia Kinect thing, their own exclusives and then, later, the price, for example- just didn't outweigh what I'd miss out on. Different tastes, different conclusions.

 

The consoles aren't identical. Similar, yes, absolutely, but to pretend there's no POSSIBLE way anyone might pick one- either one- over the other is greatly oversimplifying things to 'Well, they both play games. Boom. Done.' By that metric, the Wii U, the Xbox One, the PC and the PS4 should ALL have equal sales. =P The differences are far subtler than comparing the PS4 or Xbox One to the Wii U, of course, but they're still there.