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Dallinor on 31 May 2021
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smroadkill15 said:

Fast forward to current generation, Xbox has been making all the right moves. I think it's safe to assume Xbox has become the most consumer friendly between the 3 console manufactures. Several examples include:

Xbox has the widest range of BC games of any system reach back to the 6th gen, and they are committed to adding more BC titles in the future.
Have been adding FPS boost to select titles, and as of today have 97 titles that enable that feature. 
Game Pass continues to grow, and offers the ability to play hundreds of games on it's platform. Many of which are newer titles, and 1st party games get added day 1. It's the best value in gaming. 
Offer cloud saves without any kind of paywall. 
Offer multiple ways of playing games via Cloud, PC, and Console, and accessing your save progress on any device is seamless. 

What about the 1st party games? Well, there is still work to be done. With Xbox now having 22 1st party studios(23 if you count XGP), they out number any other console maker by a wide margin, but it hasn't shown yet. With Halo Infinite delayed, Gears Tactics was the only 1st party game to play at launch, and there hasn't been much since then except for a few 3rd party exclusives. But for those who have a Series X|S, most will agree Game Pass has filled that void for now. With that said, It's only a matter of time before the games start dropping, and once they do, it's going to be hard for consumers to overlook.

I completely disagree with that.

I think if we're going to look at the moves and reasons Xbox is being 'overlooked' we have to look at the PR and advertising prior to and during launch as well.

This included both of their heavily hyped showcases. One, which was predominantly third party games that showed off no "next gen" graphics or features, and then one of the most bizarre flagship reveals in the entire history of gaming - a decidedly rough looking Halo Infinite that was subsequently delayed. 

After the initial reveal of the Series X, the powerful hardware was given glowing reviews from the media and at an amateur level across social media channels, youtube etc. MS had shown their cards, and it looked like they had an ace. This was their moment to capitalize. 

They had some significant momentum building for the Series X. What followed was poorly executed by MS, and consumers became aware that they they didn't really have the software ready for the console. This was then followed by the revelation that not only were early multiplatform games not running significantly better on the most powerful console in the world, they were actually running better on the weaker PS5.

In essence, MS looked like they had the fastest, prized horse at the gate, then the gun fired and the horse came out with a limp. 

Features like BC and Cloud saves don't really push hardware. They're nice to have, but they're not moving units and swaying gamers over one console or the other. The vast majority don't even know the differences of these features between the consoles.

The term overlook is a failure to notice. I believe consumers have noticed the Series X. Early sales seem to be strong, but I think had MS made better moves, the Series X would have been riding much more momentum at this point.