Exactly.  Look at the PS4 reveal vid.  It went viral for a couple of weeks and has now amassed over 33M views.  With the ever expanding internet, it's not like it was in the 90's or even early 2000's.  Word spreads.  Quickly.  Not to mention that the people who purchase consoles at full price/launch are the ones who are gaming fans.  They have kept up with the gaming news and/or have done their research.  If DF turns out to be true and the Scorpio still uses Jaguar cores and isn't quite as impressive, basically a little more suped up Pro, those gamers are not going to be very excited by it.  Especially with no exclusives to push it.

And if they try that, I could completely see Sony just going ahead and announcing the PS5 at E3 '18 for a launch in mid-late '19.  Then, having the PS4 drop to $149 and the Pro to $249-$279 at some point in 2018.  The Scorpio at $399-$449 would be over at that point.

Come on, do you honestly believe the masses were attracted to that vid because of the specs? They were attracted to it because it was 'next gen'.

Then, please, explain why the PS4 is kicking the XBO's butt?  Even in the US (though, not at such a large extent) when the 360 dominated America?  Let's not pretend to be naive just so you can push your point.  You're better than that.  People knew the specs on the PS4 were better.  That's part of the reason the PS4 outsold the XBO, even when it was $50 cheaper some months.  And they also knew about the 180 MS pulled.  Something that left a bad taste in gamers mouths.  Even if people didn't find this info out first hand, they had gamer friends that were informed.  News spreads.  And a XB2 that's not really a next gen system is NOT going to get those gamers excited.  Not with a real next gen PS5 just around the corner.

Yes ... they were told it was 'better'. That's all the masses needed to differentiate, but the initial push was from the established PS audience. Let's not forget that the XB1 was selling brilliantly too to begin with. I agree that social media has made it much easier to spread a consensus of opinion and I do understand that which ever console gets the best reputation is likely to get more possitivity attached to it. There is a difference here though, and that is when the PS4 and the XB1 released they were BOTH next gen consoles and so people were looking for reasons to make the right choice. What I'm pointing out is IF MS can successfully blur the lines between 'mid gen' and 'next gen' then the initial messaging will follow suit. There are bound to be counter arguments if that narrative takes roots but it's going to be much more difficult to explain than to simply say 'the PS4 is more powerful'. The Scorpio has that AND the idea it's 'next gen' and as I've said, that gets people excited.

I'm not saying this strategy will be successful by the way, I'm just pointing this out because I've seen people dismissing the Scorpio as a threat to Sony. I see it as an extention of the XB1 and so know it isn't going to make much difference in that regard, but it could be seen as a success if it's perceived as a 'next gen' console, especially if MS decide to start showing numbers for it. To put that into perspective: I'll know, in 'reality', that the Scorpio only adds to the XB1 numbers and so will still be behind, the less than educated gamer (or current XB1 owners who desparately want to eek out a victory) will accept the 'perception' it's a next gen console in order to imagine it 'leading' and not 26m behind. Call it 'comfort thinking'.

The reason I don't think MS is going to try that is its going to look very bad if they are still being outsold by the PS4 and Pro.  They can boast all they want, if sales for the Scorpio are even good enough to brag about, but they are going to stop REAL quick once they get a bunch of gamers replying to their tweets with PS4 sales numbers.  Or PS5 info once that's starts to leak.  Or even ones comparing it to XBO's launch.

I just seriously don't see MS trying to go that route with the crap they had to go through with the XBO launch.  And if they abandon XBO gamers to focus on making the Scorpio a success, they are going to get almost the same amount of shit they got from their attempt at DRM.  Of course, the big elephant in the room for MS is that the Scorpio is no longer going to have any exclusives to push the system, which is something that's really important in the launch window of a console.  They're all on the PC and XBO, if they continue support for it.  Might as well call it MulitplatBox.  Lol, which is definitely something I could see being picked up by the gaming community, like Xbone.

I think some are putting too much tout into the words of someone with an obvious MS bias, who's just trying to push their new system as if its something more than it really is.  I'm sure MS aren't going to be quick to change this messaging, but I don't see them pushing it themselves, cause they would be corrected really quick by sites, like DF, and by gamers in general, if the specs aren't up to snuff.

Yes then PS4 pro is a next gen consoles because it runs backward compatible with PS4 games :)

its not a next gen system.

Jut for example.. it would need a launch line up of games. So if they call it Xbox Two or Xbox 4 then it will need to launch with games that have Xbox 4 on the cover. what can they say? oh its next gen machine that plays xbox one games but doesn't actually have any you can buy yet.. you have to wait a few years

It should be a next gen system, whether it is or isn't I'm not entirely sure but for those confused as to how it could be next gen: 

1. Microsoft releases fully BC "Next Gen" Machine with mandatory X1 compatibility for first 1.5 years. Remember how pS4/X1 shared 90% of their library with PS3 and Xbox 360 throughout 2014? This would just be an extension of that and include 1st party titles, a very soft hardware transition. But scorpio exclusive features will be availble from day 1 (Halo 6 split screen, unique OS features, VR). High Entry price $499 at launch but huge performance and hardware advantages over competitors and X1.

2. Microsoft lifts the ban of Scorpio Exclusive games at beginning of 2019 and releases their first Exclusives that fall including Halo 7. By now (holiday 2019) the system is $349 and they're officially pushing it as a next generation system (with a slimmer version?) ahead of or alongside sony's PS5 depending on whether thats a 2019/2020 machine. 

3. Yes PS5 will be hugely more powerful than Scorpio, just as the Xbox and Gamecube were notably more powerful than the PS2, but Scorpio's has a price advantaged and an already established userbase. On top of that its unlikely the PS5 will outperform the Scorpio by much more than a factor 2. Something which isn't huge where graphical differences are concerned in this day and age.

4. 4 years after the Scorpio releases & 1 or 2 years after the PS5 is out Microsofts issues their next hardware update which again will have a soft transition. Every Microsoft Hardware receives 6 years of support but the concepts of generations are blurred.

Having said that unless it has a new CPU, its not next gen.

Ideally Microsoft would also set a higher goal than 6TF for the GPU.

Tbh i don't know even what to expect anymore i think it would be stupid for them to make a nxtgen system.
Because i know sony will support the og PS4 at least till 2020/2021 even more with Pro.

And games that's what Microsoft is missing,i mean come on give me a game that has much hype as Last of us 2 and it's only on Microsoft platform.

Halo not so much that horse has been beaten to death,Gears it's not big anymore,Microsoft's best games are already out now wait 3/4 years till the new entry comes out,i don't know what they will show at E3 but the way they are going and from the way i see it it's not good.