Azzanation said:
I think a lot of people underestimate the power factor of a console. Power doesn't technically make a console the best selling in its generation however its a huge boost to the marketing, which has a huge potential to boost sales if done right. Lets not forget that the common gamer also plays 3rd party games. The PS4 outsold the XB1 based on its price and power difference at launch. So having the power does help leverage some customers just in itself. You have enthusiasts, hardcores, and even those that just want to have the best console experience for a game like COD or GTA etc. Also what makes up a Software line up is the 3rd party games. Of course throw in 1st party exclusives however with the way next gen is going, all consoles are going to have there exclusives that the other console brand wont have. This is where power and price can also be a edge factor in a sale. Why game in 900p when you can play the game in 1080p for the same price. I believe that's why both Sony and MS are playing the waiting game on price. Whoever has both the price and power advantage will dominate launch. However its hard to see 1 brand having both advantages this time around. |
Azzanation said:
Price is very important, however the same can be said the other way around, if the X is $489 and the PS5 is $499 than the same result will apply. I never said the gap was 40% different, I just used an example of how gamers view marketing. You might think, its only 18% different (On paper) however marketing isn't going to say "Console A is 18% more powerful than the Console B" it will grant slogans like "Console A is the MOST powerful console in the world!" even if its just 2% more powerful, they are entitled to use that term of marketing which will help favour in sales. If the companies can supply a good demand of games, deliver on friendly customer practices and services with great deals, having the power edge is icing on the cake. Also there is a lot more to it than just 18% more power, some are saying the Velocity architecture, BCpack, better implementation of Raytracing is in favour of the X as well as being easier to program for. Also add whatever advantages Direct X 12 Ultimate brings to the table. Top that off with faster Ram, a superior CPU and GPU makes that 18% number a lot more powerful than it shows. ^ Again its all speculation and rumours at the moment so don't take that as gospel just yet, I am just giving examples. |
Power matters more if you're lacking elsewhere. MS has lacked in high end titles so they need something else to boost their image. Nin doesn't care about performance much because they don't need to for more than a few reasons. SNY cares enough and also understands what too much of a hardware power focus can do, or can't. MS also needs to strengthen AAA games if they want to make much progress, but the power narrative will help in general.
There certainly will be people who want the XBSX simply because it'll be marketed as the worlds most powerful console. That's one of the things that hooked me at the time of the PS3. The unlimited potential of the cell had me cross eyed and drooling at that point in my life. Now if SNY hasn't completely lost their mojo, they will market PS5 as the worlds fastest console as one of their hooks. This will mean more to some than power, and it will also confuse those who don't understand what that difference really means for a console. This would put the pressure on MS to deliver superb marketing and messaging.
In terms of resolution, I don't see the same thing happening this gen. Both will be marketed as 4k/60 devices and should hold true for both early on with third party cross gen titles for a while. That narrative will stick for casuals well into the future. The hardcore will know the smaller details behind the scenes though, especially as the gen rolls along.
As for price, it again, depends a lot on Lockharts existence. Assuming it's just PS5 and XBSX, worst case scenario, both will cost the same, so $499 each. If SNY feels that MS has control over the narrative and that enough gamers are leaning towards XBSX, they will make sure they undercut XBSX by $50-$100. SNY would and could since it's much more important to them to get as many consoles as possible under TV's compared to MS.
While SNY hasn't shown to care about dropping PS4 prices in comparison to XB1S, they also didn't care to drop them much for PS3 later either. SNY has always boasted about their cheap launch prices, except for that while the PS3 sub was massive, it was still too expensive. While it certainly looks as if MS subsidized XB1X to some degree, it's likely that a subsidy for XBSX would put it at $499. A $449 PS5 would steer some back to SNY, where as a $399 PS5 would be a problem for MS in multiple ways. XBSX would not only be $100 more, but XB1X would have to drop to $299 on shelves immediately or they might as well discontinue it at that point. PS4 Pro would also have to drop to $299, but that won't be a problem for SNY since Pro isn't the leap that XB1X was, if they don't discontinue it that is.
That's not to say we would have another gen just like this. I think a $399 PS5 vs a $499 XBSX would be a closer battle than last gen, but it would take some pretty dumb moves by SNY to have it be neck and neck.
