Very true, but let's look at what's real. When Microsoft had exclusives droughts Sony was destroying them with exclusives closing an eight million console sales gap. Exclusive Games and world appeal will always be the reason Microsoft can never convincingly beat Sony. We're mid gen with a mid console refresh which means the Scorpio won't reach a decent market price to constitute proper sales if it launches at $500. It's not going to affect much but Microsoft does get a pat on the back for accomplishing what most could not with 4K closed hardware tech. Trust me... I'm getting the Scorpio but I'm one in the minority who cares about this stuff no different than the pro. Again, you're right that the Scorpio will convincingly overshadow the graphics against the pro for some in the PS4 / Xbox ecosystem.

Thanks for the explanations guys.

Yessss ! I convinced Ryuu again to make one of my polls ! ^^ everything is better then the new poll is coming "ok" so vote guys! :D I am more excited because there is so much custom stuff done by Microsoft I cannot wait to see how it turns out in the tests.

Your assessment is not entirely true. Exclusives were not really the biggest factor in the closing of sales gap. Brand recognition and a lower price of PS3 did that. 

Sony always had more consumers willing to buy their hardware based on their name than Microsoft. The only issue was the PS3 price and X360 surprisingly well put together (everything), rolled out a year early with a much more competitive price.

You say that brand recognition is the reason why Sony closed an eight million console gap. Sony was bleeding money when they dropped the price of the PS3 to be competitive with the 360. Even then Microsoft had exclusives droughts and Sony after 2009 was dropping exclusives like an avalanche on Microsoft from the east and the west. Microsoft had the door open to the east and failed to blast the doors open because they didn't have enough eastern content to sate the hunger of people over there and Sony destroyed everyone with new ips. Again... more diverse games .... more Eligible consumers. microsoft is trying to be Sony by trying to beat them with the format they've championed and almost died for while Microsoft was using hd DVD against them. They will find they are playing the wrong game. This little battle will pass. Wait and see. You don't win wars on console with a hollow vessel that's more powerful and costly. Sony beat Nintendo in a lasting manner by becoming the standard for third party relationships, whilst having exclusives of their own. The fomat change...completely changed everything. 

What you're on about? Microsoft opened the door to the East with their checkbooks and still Japan didn't embrace them with the "avalanche" of their own JRPGs, JRPGs exclusive from Namco, Square etc...

It was never about games, MS couldn't go on by handing them over money while their games were not helping them out. After 2009, Kinect and its games  were the hottest things in the market and Microsoft rightfuly capitalized on that. 

Microsoft is trying to cater to an audience and there's nothing wrong with trying to show the value of their box and try to attract users to it. Nintendo is using SD cards, are they also trying to get in format war with Sony?

And what are you guys on about empty vessel? You can play any Western 3rd party game on Scorpio, additionally exclusives you can only find on Xbox. Just because the box doesn't have as much Japanese games as PlayStation, doesn't mean it doesn't have games.

The persecution complex is really played out man.

Some features, like backwards compatibility and the improvements Scorpio gives in old games and Xbox Game Pass over PSNow and the ability to share your Gold access on a console plus the UHD drive, media center features, ea Access and better modding support among other things are great

And although obv. almost nobody would disagree they are great each of these features will get much more praise if the PS4 got them and it makes sense because more people have the PS4 and this reflects in how many people write about it and like it, right.

But when the PS3 was behind on the Xbox360 the "positive" vibe from the PS3 when they did things was bigger it seemed when they also screwed up at launch, just like Xbox, I don't know the exact reason because just like the Xbox in many ways the PS3 was a weaker console compared to the Xbox360.

In the end it doesn't matter. Microsoft is making a lot of right moves and Sony is just continuing the course they set out but I would like to see Xbox get some well deserved positive vibes like the PS3 did when it was offering more value to gain more gamers to buy their console, because Microsoft has made their console the better value in terms of features and hardware when the Scorpio launches at the end of the year in my opinion.

BUT where are the games?

The good thing is that they are trying to win back developers and the Scorpio really does a great job for developers. Also the play anywhere feature and game pass services are not bad for developers, getting a share of pc sales from the same game and a share of the game pass sales while reducing the pre-used market by offering digital value.

Sure they don't have a ton of games but by just cheaking this year, path of exile, cities skylines, state of decay, sea of thieves, crackdown, forza and smaller titles like voodoo vince and fable cardgame, hey, thats not a bad list !

Anyway they have to start somewhere and they did that the last few years and even tough they clearly havn't won back the big percentage of the market they have supported their device well and offer a better experience in software- features and games every year.

I will just own both consoles and be super happy but the direction Microsoft is heading is very exciting to me and I think there is a big chance other people will see it at some point.

i have an x1 and kinda want the scorpio. More power is good. maybe i'll get it in a ocuple years after it releases a next gen xbox.