superchunk on 14 June 2017
I feel like most consumers make this buying decision in terms of game consoles.
- What consoles play gameList ?
- How much do they cost?
- Which console do my friends have or are buying?
- Which one costs the least that has the critical features I want?
What then happens in real life is the average gamer (taking Nintendo out of the equation) will end up making a platform decision based on gamesList and then cost and friends.
That means for any given variation of an XboxOne or PS4, the direct competitor is actually within itself. Once someone decides an Xbox is best, then they'll decide fi they want the S or and X and same goes for PS4 vs Pro.
For my own perspective:
- I bought a Switch (and WiiU) because my gamesList is dominated by Nintendo IPs.
- I bought an Xbox One because my family and friends all owned an Xbox One and my kids wanted to play with their friends and cousins.
I knew PS4 was a more powerful system at largely the same price. I knew PS4 had the special SWBattlefront Edition I wanted. In the end the gamesList between the two was almost identical for what I or my kids intended to buy, cost was equal but friends were on Xbox.
This is why focusing on the raw power as the defining sales pitch for your console is stupid. PS4 isn't selling the most because it was the most powerful. It is selling the most because it had a similar gameList, lower/equal price and wasn't dragged down by launch day negativity that plagued XboxOne. This lead to most folks friend groups going PS4 which propelled others to decide that way as well.
I'd argue MS Xbox S (4K at low price) was a better product to compete directly against PS4 / Pro. X should have been built to be priced $100 cheaper. With the same or arguably less content, no one is going to consider paying more for it vs PS4 outside of the US where their friends may already have Xbox.. and even then they'll choose an S.
