Alternate history: What if Xbox joined the console race a gen earlier?

[Wman1996]

Soonerman said:

Perhaps it would have just destroyed the brand a gen earlier. The only reason Xbox failed is because they screwed up massively with Xbox One. Had they stayed consistent with the success of the Xbox 360 instead of pushing down an add on most people didn't want and trying to force always on perhaps Xbox would still be neck and neck with Playstation. Sadly, I do agree it's too late because most of us have our games tied to an ecosystem and it's really hard to switch. I like my Xbox library and I don't want to lose it so most likely I won't switch to PS ever.

Sony screwed the pooch with PS3. Microsoft made other good moves, but Sony's underwhelming and high-cost PS3 was one of the biggest reasons Xbox 360 was so successful. Even years into the PS3's life, third-party games almost always ran better on Xbox 360. 

Xbox One can't really go past 70-80 million units unless Sony screwed up with PS4 or didn't turn the PS3 around. 

There is always a chance Xbox would be out of hardware by now if they did start a gen earlier. That would be 6 or so years earlier in the market and different things going on that might've caused them to just leave the console business.