Okay, so as of today that is the 23.08.2013 Microsoft has changed their policies in many instances .But what they have changed is, Ill be surprised if you havent come across these in the internet in the last few weeks. They are
1. The Xboxone will no longer need to be connected to the internet 24x7
2. Users can exchange their games without any restrictions
3. The Xboxone no longer needs kinect to be connected to be used.
4. Headset will be bundled up with the console.
From IGN to 9gag to Facebook to twitter the reaction to the console war has been phenomenal. Totally opposite to Microsofts initial policies, Sony with their PS4 had announced the above policies in this years E3 convention itself. This started a wild reaction by the dedicated gamers in the internet; praising Sony and frowning at Microsoft. I will explain later on this blog why i used the term 'dedicated gamers' instead of average consumers.
A recent poll which I read (I cant remember where) showed that even the hardcore Xbox fans preferred the ps4. with these kind of articles and massive out lash on Microsoft prevailing in the internet the casual internet surfers' and the dedicated gamers' mindset will be that Microsoft is going to be crushed this time in the console market specially with the Xboxone priced at 499$ and the ps4 at 399$. But what they fail to grasp is that these are posts and reactions are by 'dedicated gamers'-people who spend their free free time on researching video games and consoles and who have time to post articles relating to such topic in the internet. Not by the ordinary consumer.
Okay before I get to my point here are some facts you should know
Number of Xbox360 sold in USA -25.4 mil.
Number of PS3 sold in USA - 13.4 mil.
Number of Xbox360 sold Worldwide-79 mil.
Number of PS3 sold Worldwide - 75 mil.
Another thing worth mentioning is in my point of view is that the neither the Xboxone nor the ps4 is cheap. There both equally poised in terms of price. You see what many forget is that the Xboxone comes with a device which enables you to play wireless...controller less..., yeah it comes with the kinect, whereas the ps4 doesnt offer any means of gaming apart from the joystick based ones. So I would say 100$ for the modified version of the kinect which we are currently using is a fair bargain. This would be a major factor to the average consume when deciding which console to buy although the hardcore gamers find it less exciting.
A thing which I have noticed is that many people tend to upgrade from their current device to the latest device form their current device manufacturer-given that the new device is what was expected. The main reason for this is that the user would experience many hardships if the transformation from one manufacturer to another took place. For an example, you dont see an iphone4 user switching to an S3; the user will most probably switch to a 4S. The main reason being that he wont be able use the special feature provided by apple to connect with his/her friends who already use the apple. This is the same the other way around. If a S2 user switches to a 4S rather than switching to a S3 he/she wont be able to transfer data or connect via bluetooth with his/her friends because they still will be using the samsung products. So the same applies to Gaming consoles. Many people are going to upgrade their experience. They are not going to switch from one Microsoft to Sony. Im not saying that everyone will stay with the same company which manufactured their current console. There will be a few who will want a different experience, but there wont be many. Therefore i would like to call this phenomenon 'No change behavior'
The dedicated gamer might be willing to give up his/her favorite franchises (halo.gears of war,etc) and face the tedious procedure of switching manufacturers. But the average consumer wouldnt. The average consumer will want to play games with the friends he already made. The average consumer will want to transfer his contents from his older console to his new one with just a flick of a button. The average consumer wouldnt to step out of his comfort for the sole reason of what the internet thinks. another point worth mentioning is most of the consumers purchase a gaming console to play the CODs and FIFAs and NFSs and not the franchise games unique to the consoles.
You can see your Aunt and Uncle falling for this picture.
Most of you will accept the following. Practically and logically speaking, the number average consumers (the dads, the casual gamers, the small kids, the moms, the uncle who wants to by a gift for his niece, etc) are way higher than the dedicated gamers. So with all the policy reversals the Microsoft is still in the race. As stated above the number of xbox360s sold is higher than ps3s. Taking this in to account and the 'No change behavior' I can safely say that Microsoft is still ahead in the console race. Microsoft could also rope in the Wii fanatics with the Kinect. (Also taking into consideration the free FIFA copy to the European gamer and 'TITANFALL')
But one can argue stating that the pre order records. If you dont know it is stated that the ratio of number of preordered console between xboxone and ps4 is 1:4. If you also thought of this just give more thought to it. Who do you think pre orders consoles, dedicated gamers or average consumers? Dedicated gamers of course. With the recent policies and tactics followed by Sony it is right on track. Because of the recent procedures taken forth by them they have won the hearts of many dedicated gamers which means Microsoft could see many of their dedicated gamers moving to Sony. So with all these taken in to consideration:
One could say that Microsoft is still ahead in the race, But not by far. The gap is closing, closing fast. With Sony on the right track and Microsoft trying to make amends we only can sit and watch for what hold of the future for these two tech giants. Oh yeah. This goes without saying Nintendo is safely in the third position. No arguments there.
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