While those QoL features may not get the attention of the general public, Game Pass certainly will and it's very much in the process of becoming mainstream.

If I show my friends, who are average gamers, how Xbox has these great features like boosting select games to 60FPS, smart delivery, superior BC with 3 generations, quick resume, Game Pass, and the more powerful hardware, you don't think that would sway them towards getting one? Then you say, "These games you can't play anywhere else." Right now, there are 4 actual ps5 exclusives and a tech demo. Demon Souls and Returnal are great games, but lets not act like these are big sellers, and Godfall and Destruction Allstars aren't exactly knocking anyone's socks off. The PS5 is selling out everywhere mainly by name brand alone.

Neither console has any system seller exclusives and we likely won't see any until Halo and God of War release. Rachet and Clank could potentially, but that series has never really been known as a system seller. If my friends are really into games like Returnal and Demon Souls, then I would absolutely recommend the Ps5, but if they really don't care and those kinds of games, then I think Xbox is more appealing. 

Unless Infinite shatters expectations, PS5 already has a system seller bigger than Halo will ever be sales-wise (Miles Morales), and may receive its 2nd system seller (Horizon 2) before God of War or Halo Infinite.

And "brand name" is the result of a solid collection of high sellers (Spider-Man, Horizon, Uncharted, God of War etc) and core gamer candy (Demon's Souls, Returnal, Bloodborne, Shadow of the Colossus, NieR Automata (before it was ported) etc). So Demon's Souls and Returnal are already contributing to the strong appeal of PS5. The hype and energy generated by core gamers (word of mouth) affect the perceptions of casuals and attract them into wanting a PS5, even if some of these casuals or mainstream gamers will end up not buying any exclusive.

True, but how did Sony and Nintendo get that name brand... The expectation is that those exclusives will come, while with XBox that's much less. People aren't buying PS5 only for Returnal or Demons Souls.

60 fps, casuals don't care
Smart delivery, general gamer doesn't care, as long as it gets there
(most people happily watched 4:3 SD tv stretched to 16:9 HD, do you think they care about smart delivery)
Superior BC, general gamer wants to play the latest hot thing
Quick resume, general gamer doesn't care for those extra few seconds
Game Pass, yep that's one that could sway people depending on whether the games they want to play are on there
More powerful hardware, switch sells best...

So basically it's gamepass to make the difference. The question is how appealing is it really. As most gamers only play a few games a lot. Buying them is cheaper in the long run. And gamepass is basically tied to the console library, it's the exclusives that make the difference. If someone wants to play the next Spiderman or God of War game, then having access to a 1000 other games on gamepass is not going to make any difference. Just like when someone wants to play Halo, no QOL feature of free games list on PS4 or Switch are going to make any difference.

Sony and Nintendo have brand name appeal for a reason, MS has it to a lesser extent. MS doesn't get the benefit of the doubt like Sony does, and for obvious reasons, but once those Xbox 1st party games start dropping people will notice, and combine that with Game Pass? Could be huge for Xbox sales. I already stated how those QoL features will hardly be noticed by the general public, but I disagree with the statement about casuals not caring about these features. It's more so not knowing about them because some of these features like 60FPS boost is a big deal and quick resume is one of the most 'next gen' features any of these consoles have. 

Now you arguing how appealing Game Pass is when it has 20 something million subscribers and growing? I don't think you can make a compelling argument without reaching and using your own bias to downplay it, when in fact it is really appealing and the numbers speak for themselves. 

Could be huge, if MS can deliver great 1st party games that also appeal outside the US/UK demographic.

Gamepass mostly has existing XBox customers subscribed, yes it's hugely successful for the fans and those that like to try a lot of different games. I'm arguing how appealing is it to the 'play a couple games a lot' player. The free to play games gamer and the PC and mobile gamers MS wants to get to with game pass. It's the same with all the other things MS does, great for the hardcore gamer, but still fails to touch the blue ocean like Nintendo can. That blue ocean is what creates the brand name appeal.

SSD is the big deal this gen, quick resume just adds some sugar on top. Loading times aren't really a problem anymore, at least not for games made for this gen. And 60fps boost is for BC games, not a big deal. People don't buy consoles to play last gen games, it's a bonus, not a deal maker.

Anyway, maybe in two years we can see whether this strategy pays off. Far too hard to tell now with supply constraints, Covid boosting entertainment consumption numbers while delaying games left and right. In 2 years, exclusives should be out, people are back to work/school, recession will be in effect. I wonder what the landscape will look like.

You're downplaying these features to create an argument. People buy consoles to play games, and being BC is irrelevant especially when there are hardly any next-gen only games to play. If I showed a casual gamer a handful of BC games and was like, you can play these at 60/120fps on Xbox and only 30fps on Ps5, I don't think they will be like nah these are last gen games. If we looked at a graph of what games are being played on XSX and PS5, the vast majority will be cross-gen games and last gen games by a wide margin. 

The main point of this thread was, if someone really care about the few Ps5 exclusives out right now, then I would say go with the Ps5, but if someone doesn't, Xbox is a more appealing console when we break down everything both system has to offer, but is mainly being overlooked because varies factors like brand name. 

You seem to be blinded by ms vs sony console war and keep ignoring the Switch entirely. No BC, no 60 fps (boost), no game pass, sells truckloads.

The more casual gamer doesn't buy a new console the first year they are out. So yes, I am downplaying all these early adopter features, since that is what they are. Once the masses get into the new consoles, exclusives are out and BC has gone back on the back burner until next gen.

If you showed a casual gamer that they can play the games they are playing now at double the frame rate for a $500+ investment, I think you'll just get some funny looks. They'll stick to Switch / PS4 / XBox One S until a price drop or there are new games they really want to play and can't play on the systems they already have.

It is not overlooked because of brand name, it is less popular because of (expected) game libraries.

I'm not mentioning the Switch because it's the unanimous victor of this generation and that is due to system seller games, something both PS5 and Series X lack. 

Okay, but I'm talking about someone wants to buy a console right now. Anything can happen 2-3 years down the line and I fully expect both consoles to be in the swing of things when it comes to games. I also wouldn't call quick resume an early adoption feature when it something that will benefit gamers the entire generation, unless you are only referring to BC. 

I agree with you on that. I wouldn't recommend either system in it's current state unless they really care about certain features. 

I'm not mentioning the Switch because it's the unanimous victor of this generation and that is due to system seller games, something both PS5 and Series X lack. 

Okay, but I'm talking about someone wants to buy a console right now. Anything can happen 2-3 years down the line and I fully expect both consoles to be in the swing of things when it comes to games. I also wouldn't call quick resume an early adoption feature when it something that will benefit gamers the entire generation, unless you are only referring to BC. 

I agree with you on that. I wouldn't recommend either system in it's current state unless they really care about certain features.