I do think xbox series consoles will beat PS5 in North America, South America, and UK. However, other regions are going to PS5.

All-digital consoles are not very popular in many markets yet, the majority of potential consumers worldwide still have very poor internet speeds (or at least semi-poor) and prefer physical copies. Digital is slowly taking over, but the current numbers we've seen with Corona and various limitations and restrictions are not representative of the overall market under normal circumstances (I mean, hell, look at the crazy hardware and software numbers for Q2 this year, breaking records). The digital-only Xbox One sold very poorly and was discontinued after only a short time on the market. Even if digital console gaming revenue has crept up towards and beyond physical, this is likely due to microtransactions, DLC and other add-on software. The fact that there is practically no market yet for an all-digital console says a lot about consumers in the console gaming segment overall. Gaming revenue is only a part of the story, the most profitable games are usually free-to-play and that speaks volumes of what the market has become. Downloading a smaller DLC or cosmetic add-on or shortcut pack for competitive games is also a lot easier than entire games if your connection sucks.

Perhaps a digital-only console from MS and Sony will do really well, I can't really say I know for sure, but recent trends would suggest that physical media will continue to be an important factor for many customers, especially in developing markets where internet speeds are really poor. These are also the markets where Sony has traditionally head-and-shoulders above both Nintendo and Microsoft, they just can't seem to gain much traction here, not even with decently priced hardware.

TL;DR: No, a cheaper all-digital Xbox won't decide the console generation one way or the other.

PS4 NA: 37.2 million

XBO NA: 31.39 million

And with Xbox on a downward trajectory and doing so bad it can't even have Halo at Launch...what in the world makes you think that'll happen?

The machine is only 4 Tflops and can only power 1440p. It's going to hold the generation back if anything. PS5 discless machine (if it is more expensive) is only 100 dollars less for a fully powered next gen machine? If anyone's done some research, its easy to know which console to buy. 

Price > anything else. Most gamers typically just want to play COD, GTA, Fifa, Madden, Fortnite, ect at the cheapest price possible.

As long as it has the same CPU, RAM quantity and sped that is proportionate to what kinda resolution its aiming to push and also has an SSD... then it will not be holding anything back. And it has all those things.

The XSS would be no different from running a game on similarly specced PC with the only difference being the GPU. Think of the XSX as a 4K@60console, and the XSS as a 1080p-1440p@30-60fps console. The funny thing is, average joe will not be able to tell the difference and will think they are getting "4K" from the XSS anyways.

Well, the size difference would at least make them wonder though. Surely they would think that smaller = less powerful.

Quite simply I view value as “bang for buck”. You could pay $180 for 3 PS exclusives, or you can pay $180 for access to over 200 games in a year and clear as many as you can depending on your free time.

Latest example is Wasteland 3, or Outer Worlds. On PS4 you have to pay full price day 1 to play. I played them day 1 for a flat monthly fee but my gaming wasn’t limited to those either at the time. That’s value. 

The value aspect is on Xbox’s side no question. Personal preference is secondary to what is a black and white comparison. Which console gives more for less money? The answer should be obvious. 

Value in GP is quantity and quality. Don’t see why it can’t be both. Plenty great games on the service. Of course nothing has a 100% market penetration rate, and everybody is entitled to their tastes in genres and don’t want to wait for big games to enter the service. That said, you have to put your personal preferences aside and look at this from a broad picture.

I may be bias as hell, but it’s a no brainer to say you pay less and get more with Xbox via Game Pass, especially coupled with Xcloud, EA Play and day 1 1st party. More often then not the average gamer is more likely to find something they like among all of that then find nothing appealing at all. 

The average Joe will be looking for 4K, it is a popular enough term now for everyone to know. PS5s and Xbox Series X will have 4K 60 FPS printed on their packaging while Series X will not. And if the difference is only 100USD, then consumers should be smart enough to buy the best value. 

Seriously, Xbox have the most confusing names for their consoles. X, S, 1. Same freaking names as last gen as well. And it isn't even obvious which is the more powerful one, X or S just by looking at the name without doing research. 

In NA/UK, yes, outside those markets- no

Sony dominates Europe, Japan and ROTW although I believe MS could do better in those markets than the Xbox one if it was the case.

(I know switch dominates japan by far, but I was comparing the twins and leaving the big N out)