Next month...

"Did we have a few challenges between May and September? Sure."

Just kidding.

I dont think the console itself was rushed, I just dont think they expected Sony to drop bombs as early as February and thus beat them to the punch.

I just think they were way, way overconfident because of how well the 360/Kinect has done over the last 3 Years. They thought they were in the same position Sony were in pre-PS3.

Don was the problem. His vision had a machine that was a money maker for Microsoft first and foremost. Fuck the consumer. Fuck the indies. Fuck the mum and dad stores. "We lead the industry" mentality that ultimately fell flat on its arse with an almighty thud.

It was planned. They were wrong. Things now look rushed because so much had to be changed so damn quickly.

How could it be rushed? It's been the longest console cycle in a while, esp for first to market 360. May to August they've been scrambling to unpick all the stupid things they tried to do with the console, which makes it look rushed, and announcing features on the fly as they try to reposition themselves, which gives the impression of being rushed.

Besides aren't final hardware specs always bedded in just prior to the announcement of the new system? In this case March / April.

Oh wow!! Did it work? 

Yep! They fucked over millions in that effort! :D

Sony got nowhere near the hate that the Xbone got with the PS3. Sorry but the Xbone was just anti-consumer, period. The internet literally blew up.

It wasn't rushed, they were just leisurely walking with their heads in the clouds oblivious to their fanbase actually wanting to own their games instead of rent tv shows.

They didn't rush, they were planning this for long enough. None of the 180's caused changes in the hardware. The only thing the 180's did was change their message to the core gamers.