I really wish Microsoft would be successful. I don't like them as a company, I hate Windows, have switch to Mac and never looked back, but the Xbox 360 was a huge thing for me, my first HD console, with one of the best if not the best controller ever, the ps3 was a huge disappointment because it came a year later when I had already experience so many great games in HD back then, Mass effect, Oblivion, Gears of War, Fable 2, Forza 3, table tennis, Ghost recon, rainbow six vegas, Dead rising, the godfather, test drive unlimited, just cause, Prey and many more, definitely the best year in gaming I can remember from the past 30 years, and all due to xbox 360. Ps3 on the other hand had a terrible controller without rumble, no good games for a long time, it was a lot more expensive.
Fast forward to 2013 and Sony learned from their mistakes and launched a console cheaper than the xbox, yet more powerful, and we didn't have to wait a year for it. And it launched with my favourite game from this entire generation from all platforms, Resogun. Controller was vastly improved, in fact more comfortable for me than xbox (minus the joysticks which I prefer on xbox).
PS4 also had a replaceable HDD, the touchpad which was amazing even if just for a map button, no external power supply, and the OS was way better than xbox One. Best of all, sony had the best way to install games, xbox was terrible, you couldn't play a game while it was installing, you couldn't play and download updates on background, in fact you needed internet just to setup the console or else you couldn't even play it at all. Also I thought the design was bad compared to the ps4.
So my choice was PS4, I do not do companies, I buy the best products for my money, couldn't care less who makes the product.
Microsoft tried to fight and I ended up buying an xbox X, I thought it was the best piece of hardware I've ever seen, smaller than PCs, smaller than the pro, yet quieter than PCs and any other consoles, even quieter than a switch, with a 4K bluray player, and high quality materials. And there's plenty good exclusives on it, such as Recore, Quantum break, Mass effect trilogy, Gears 5, Forza Horizon series and more, the problem I see is I do not play online, and Microsoft seems to cater more for online games, example, PUBG, Sea of thieves, Titanfall, those could have been great games if they had a good single player campaign. So, despite all this power, I tended to prefer the ps4 due to Spiderman, God of war, Last of Us, Bloodborne, Uncharted 4, Death stranding, Horizon zero dawn, persona 5.
The biggest Microsoft mistake by far was not to jump into VR, it made my ps4 pro way more valuable than xbox, VR was like being back to the 90s when we switched from 2d to 3d games, it was magical, still is and sony is supporting it a lot, there's way more games than I ever imagine.
And just like the last 2 generations, it seems this generation Microsoft has abandoned their console early, besides Ori there's nothing great coming in the future, unlike PS4 which will still be supported a lot in the future.
All of this shows in sales where PS4 has been outselling 3:1 and even 4:1 of xbox for years now.
Now, from what we know from next gen, I am happy with what I know of xbox, it looks quality, looks like there will be proper cooling BUT its Microsoft again, so my choice is going to be Sony because I know sony will support the console with great single player games and VR content.
My point is, ps5 will outsell the xbox series X by far, because the general public knows that in the end playstations always get the greatest exclusives, also because its going to play ps4 games, and most people have ps4s so they'd rather buy something that can play games they already own.
In fact in my circle of gamer friends I know of no one who wants the next xbox (I'm in Europe), all of them are planning to get the ps5, in fact I know of no one with xbox now, the ones that had one have sold to get a ps4 around the time that spiderman came out, so in my opinion ps5 will sell 3:1 of the xbox, after the launch period. I hope I'm wrong but I think the next xbox will be a flop, even worse than the current one and I love my X. If you turn your console into a PC and then put all exclusives on the PC and also do not give any exclusive to the series X as those will be available on xbox X too, then either the fans wont upgrade or they will just build a PC.
Sony better step up and build a lot, because that thing is going to be flying off the shelves, better not run out of stock. Sony just needs to keep doing what they are doing, great single player exclusives, backwards compatibility with PS4, and do not turn it into a PC and its guaranteed success.
