Unfortunately for us, the Console Wars are dying down. On the low end, the PS4 Slim is trouncing the Xbox One S. GameStop says Xbox One buyers are waiting for the Xbox One X and plenty of evidence shows casual consumers are confused by the Xbox One S an Xbox One X brands. Both low end consoles are selling at just about the lowest price possible. Unless the Xbox One S can gain some traction, Sony and Microsoft have no reason to sweeten the deal for us consumers.
The Nintendo Switch has been very successful, but neither Microsoft nor Sony seem interested in competing directly with the Switch. R.I.P. PS Vita. The main competition for the Switch are smart phones and tablets, and most of them cost more than the $300 Switch. Worse for frugal consumers like myself, the Switch is mostly sold out and the price will never drop so long as supply is short.
The only hope my be on the very high end. Microsoft says the Xbox One X is the fastest selling Xbox ever. Though I suspect this is the usual corporate bs from Microsoft, I do think a successful Xbox One X will be good for me as a PS4 owner. If the Xbox One X sales flame out once the early adopters are exhausted, we will be stuck in a holding pattern of prices on the mid-cycle upgrades until Microsoft and Sony discontinue them before the release of the next generation of consoles. Think of the ramifications for an Xbox One owners. $500 at launch, $500 for the Xbox One X upgrade, and then $500 for the next gen console means Xbox loyalty could cost as much as $1500 in 8 years. For PS4 owners, this holding pattern means the current gen could last as long as the last gen, and true PS 4K gaming may be 3-4 years away. For our own sake, we need the Console Wars to erupt again.
-
Edited by Weirdboy99: 8/30/2017 2:36:37 PMNot real console wars, they should go the way of the dodo, the console war is poluting the industy. Healthy competition however is good and that is what you are suggesting. I also hope the Xbox X does well but I can understand the confusion for the uninitiated, MS is making a mess of branding their consoles and that might become a problem later down the line. I do believe that the X is their fastest selling console, but that is honestly not saying much. The OG Xbox never sold that well and the 360 had supply problems the first months after launch. Also back then preordering was much less common, and I expect a bunch of cancelations later because of suply not being met.....that happens a lot lately. So many of those preorders might not be met but MS counts them as sales already.