It’s E3 2013. Sony are killing it at their press conference. It seems like every announcement trounces that of Microsoft’s much maligned plans for their Xbox One. The PS4 doesn’t require an always on internet connection, the PS4 won’t stop you trading your games or playing used ones. The PS4 doesn’t require the use of a camera system, and, perhaps crucially, the PS4 is considerably cheaper than its rival. It’s no surprise that immediately following E3 the pre-orders for Sony’s new console outpaced those for the Xbox One, and continued to do so until both systems launched five months later.
In fact, the PS4 continued to outsell its rival throughout 2014 month-on-month, until in November, Xbox One finally pulled ahead for that month’s sales. After months of successes it was perhaps the briefest glimmer of a chink in Sony’s impervious armour, and though some might scorn Microsoft’s huge policy U-turns, they’re clearly starting to have some kind of effect.
Jump to present day and those advantages that Sony has had are slowly beginning to fade. Let’s get this straight – they’re still comprehensively outselling the competition with 18.5 million PS4s sold through to customers compared to, prior to Christmas, 10 million shipped Xbox Ones, but Microsoft’s sales are improving, and frankly from Sony’s point of view it shouldn’t have allowed them any such opportunity.
The major contributor to the improvement of the Xbox One’s sales has been Microsoft’s consistent and increasingly inclusive strategy. Admittedly they had all of the hard work to do, after announcing the Xbox One with a set of ‘features’ that were so far removed from what the market actually wanted that it nearly stalled any interest in the console whatsoever. Since then though, Microsoft have listened to their customers, and paid attention to their competitors, whilst steadily updating the Xbox One’s firmware with features that the community has requested.
The removal and reduction of Kinect functionality, and the subsequent price cut that that allowed were game-changing decisions, and ones that can’t have been made lightly by Phil Spencer and his team. I still find that Kinect, and its voice commands in particular, works surprisingly well, though I generally only use it to turn the machine on and control media content. I originally considered it the Xbox One’s defining strength, though that view has diminished the longer I’ve spent with the console. Arguably the £70 difference between the Xbox One and the PS4 at launch did not offer an equivalent value to gamers, and the price cut following it’s removal finally put it on level pegging price-wise with the PS4 and gave the console a much needed sales boost.
The extra processing power that was freed up by removing Kinect from the experience was also welcomed by developers, who were immediately able to improve the performance of their games. Key titles such as Destiny ran at the same frame rate and resolution on Xbox One as they did on PS4, with minor differences in graphical effects. After months of news stories in 2014 where the lack of parity was an issue and painted the Xbox One as the poorer cousin, Microsoft finally managed to find a way to reduce such issues, though the likelihood is that they’ll never completely eradicate them given the strength of the PS4’s memory. We shouldn’t underestimate though the importance that fewer negative comparison news pieces in 2015 will have on the Xbox One’s fortunes.
Most months Xbox One owners now see an update to their console’s firmware, recently adding features such as custom backdrops, DLNA support and media playback, along with improvements to the various apps that underpin the Xbox One OS. Some of those changes were already available on the PS4, or, especially in the case of media playback, are hopefully coming to the console this year, but Microsoft has got a lot better at communicating their improvements to consumers while Sony often seems reticent to communicate on a regular basis with its customers.
Meaningful exclusives are always going to be integral to any console’s success, though it only takes a look at the Wii U’s stellar output last year to see that it’s not always the whole story. Microsoft delivered some strong exclusives for the 2014 holiday season in the shape of Forza Horizon 2, Sunset Overdrive and the Master Chief Collection, and though the latter was plagued by matchmaking problems it was arguably a stronger Christmas line-up than Sony’s troubled Driveclub and LittleBigPlanet 3.
2015 will be an interesting year, as new IP on both sides of the fence such as Bloodbourne and Quantum Break will join heavy hitters like Uncharted 4 and Halo 5: Guardians. Whilst it’s clearly far too early to judge the quality of any of these titles, Microsoft are rolling out a number of games from exclusive franchises this year; Halo, Fable and Crackdown will be compelling arguments to a large proportion of 360 owners who have yet to upgrade.
Perhaps the most telling of Microsoft’s moves this year was the purchase of Mojang and thus the rights to the gaming behemoth Minecraft. The game, which has shifted nearly 60 million copies across a multitude of formats, is quite simply a social phenomenon. While it could be commercially restrictive to limit future editions to Microsoft platforms, it wouldn’t be surprising in the least to see them at the very least offer exclusive content that make PC and Xbox the definitive place to experience the game which would be a huge boon. We’ll just have to wait to see whether they get their money’s worth from their $2.5 billion investment.
Within Microsoft’s ongoing strategy it would be foolish to underestimate the importance of the Xbox Live service too. Tellingly, as server loads increase, this could be the crucial strength that Microsoft wield against Sony. Xbox Live has been a paid-for service for years, and it shows. Whilst it didn’t escape the same hacker attacks that brought the PSN down over Christmas, Microsoft’s service was back up quicker, and stayed up for the remainder of the festive period.
When the service was free, the state of the PSN was simply something you had to live with. Now however, as a paid for service that boasts nearly eleven million subscribers, it can be catastrophically weak. Sony need to invest the money they’re making into improving servers, network code and security before suffering any more high-profile problems. Each failure to improve plays into Microsoft’s favour, and with the American company seemingly willing to engage directly with it’s customers it wouldn’t be surprising to see them market themselves in 2015 as the console manufacturer with the most robust network for gaming.
Despite Sony’s commanding lead, Microsoft and its Xbox One have every opportunity to turn it around. Glimmers of improvement have already been seen and if they continue to focus on their strengths, listen to their customers and capitalise on their competitor’s failings the next year of this console generation could be very interesting indeed. Either way, healthy competition breeds success, and it can only be good for consumers if Sony are pushed to innovate and excel in this round of the console war – as they have before with features such as Remote Play and Share Play – rather than resting on their laurels following the success of their opening salvo.
cam_manutd
A lot of this is down to opinion. I agree the XB1 has improved significantly since its release to at least put in on some kind of par with the PS4. But to say its the better console is stretching it a bit too far as both consoles have various issues that need sorting for a better experience.
Games wise, I don’t see how the Xbox has more AAA exclusives. Look at the catalogue of games Sony has announced and then their studios which are working on AAA games also will tell a different story come 12 months time.
Fanboy baiting aside, who gives one about console-care about the games and developers-they are the source of enjoyment.
BrendanCalls
I’ve always been a playstation gamer, probably always will be but Sony are letting us all down. The PSN is down far to often without any tangible or noticable reason, mainatenance for stability is an acceptable reason every now and again but its every other month. Any tangible updates come far to far apart.
However, all of this could be resolved by better communication, tell me whats going on, tell me what your planning and what I can expect and a general timeframe and I could stomach all the downtime
uncharted86
“In fact, the PS4 continued to outsell its rival throughout 2014 month-on-month, until in November, Xbox One finally pulled ahead for that month’s sales.”
God, I hate this US = World misconception of the gaming media. Xbox One sold better in November than PS4, in the US only. Not worldwide.
Starman
And the UK. The two biggest markets.
uncharted86
That doesn’t change the fact that the rest of the world markets are big enough to ensure that the PS4 was still pulling ahead.
And it was only a short sales spike for the Xbox One evidenced by confirmation that the PS4 sold better than Xbox One in the UK in November and December combined, so the December sales were high enough for the PS4 to negate the November sales difference in the UK.
Bilbo_bobbins
plus they reduced the price too before Christmas, signs of desperation creeping in.
Lyts1985
TEMPORARY price reduction at that. Just shows how desperate they were to trump Sony over the festive period…
DeadlyChipmunk
For me they failed at the get go. After spending a few years getting the PS3 Firmware to a state where very little was missing they started the PS4 off with a right dogs dinner!
They then see MS putting large amount of time and effort releasing large updates on a monthly basis closing the gap and they only knee jerk reaction was to add 3D Blu-Ray support when MS did, how about supporting your original DVD remote as well for starters.
I’ll still stick with the PS4 but it gets very little use at the moment as I’m still waiting for a decent driving game along the lines of Shift or Grid. After the “unfortunate” debacle that is Drive Club (still waiting on the PS+ version before I commit) it’s getting more tempting to switch to Xbone for Forza and other console exclusives. Hopefully it won’t come to that when Project Cars appears :)
double-o-dave
Go for Driveclub.. Be a dare devil ;)
If you look at the reviews and most peoples opinions & comments since it’s been updated several times, its receiving top marks.
double-o-dave
Plus if you hunt around a bit, you can pick it up for about £20-25.
JR.
I’ve had a PS4 since launch and an XB1 for about a month and I like them both. PS4 is my preferred console overall but they both have their pro’s and con’s. I’m using the XB1 for exclusives only and the PS4 for exclusives and multi-plats. Best of both worlds.
The XB1 does seem to be turning things around and that’s great but I do find that the gaming media tend to defend (or make excuses for) Microsoft’s missteps of late. Whereas Sony are often thrown to the wolves. Maybe this is a way of levelling the playing field but I don’t think it’s fair that we should excuse one platforms f*ckups because they’re struggling and then be overly critical of another just because they are enjoying success.
double-o-dave
“the gaming media tend to defend (or make excuses for) Microsoft’s missteps of late. Whereas Sony are often thrown to the wolves.”
I’ve been getting that impression a lot too lately.
Bilbo_bobbins
Other than PSN going down here and there, the PS4 kicks the Xbox in every other way. Remember its about playing games. If some people play every day and get annoyed at the network going down, then christ…get a life.
We should still get refunds on the days its down, that I do agree on. That and P+ giving us shit games every month too.
TSBonyman
They really did well turning things around, and they really needed to. They are still way behind in terms of sales but at least they are embracing their customer base more tightly than ever now and Sony could definitely take some tips from them.
double-o-dave
To be fair, Xbox 1 was always advertised more of a ‘Multi Media’ Console, whilst the PS4 was advertised more of a ‘Gaming’ Console which is exactly what it does so I think the MP3, DNLA etc criticisms are sometimes a bit unjustified when comparing it to the Xbox.
The PS4 will eventually be capable of doing all the ‘extra’ things hopefully in the near future, plus it does its primary function (gaming) bloody well!
I’m not too bothered whether the Xbox plays music and movies before the PS4 does as I bought it to play games. If there isn’t a movie I want to see on Netflix, I’ll rent it off the PS Store. I haven’t no issues with using a USB stick either if i want to listen to music which Sony did implement after listening to the fans as a temporary solution to listen to music… So hats off to Sony.
stonyk
my issue with the xbone and why I won’t get it to go along side my ps4 at the moment is the exclusives so far aren’t enough (comparable over ps4) and all the good things mentioned above are pretty irrelevant to me.
None of the advantages that some are put forward are to do with gaming and revert back to the ‘media centre’ side of things. Sony release more things than MS, then MS released some and more. In the end they will both do pretty much the exact same thing.
The big differences in the long term will be the exclusives, if playstation now is successful, if the vr thing is successful for sony, if kinnect is successful for MS and anything else they release we are unaware of. At the moment I find the value on PSplus far outweighing games for gold even though its the worst period for ps plus for a long while and will only improve.
I find MS exclusive to be aimed at a younger generation than the Sony exclusives (my taste) and I’m an old man now so they would need to convince me otherwise – especially as I used to prefer the 360 in the old days (i did have two of them to my 1 ps3 afterall :-)
double-o-dave
“I find MS exclusive to be aimed at a younger generation” – Thats the impression I get. Although a lot of the Ps4 exclusives (released & yet to be released) involve mythical creatures and zombies etc, the tone of them seem slightly more serious and adult.
With the Xbox things seem a little more less serious and more gung-ho (which isn’t a bad thing if that’s what you like), none of he storylines in the exclusives have appealed to me whatsoever.
Maybe its my age too?
psychobudgie
I’m in complete agreement with you on that. I just find the PS4’s content more up my alley than the XBox when it comes to first party content. Add to that the extra juice underneath the PS4 and there is absolutely nothing about the XBox that grabs me. The Wii U however is tempting the pants off me at the moment.
MadBoJangles
Yup I have said that elsewhere on here, I am sorely tempted to trade up for a Wii U. MK8 and Wind Waker HD are so so tempting!
My PS4 is a dust gatherer at the moment.
There is nothing I fancy playing on it at the moment.
I mean, I think I am in a gaming mojo slump anyways, but there seems verly little reason to even turn it on at the moment. Destiny has fallen flat and that was the main reason I bought a PS4.
I have even looked at XBONE prices, mainly due to me being a massive HALO fan back in the day and the MCC is a tempter too.
The main problem is that even if I get a Wii U or an XBONE, once I have played the limited number of games I fancy on those systems , I would be back to square one.
So for now I will stick with PS4 and just hope that something grabs my fancy in the near future.
JR.
I also think that Sony will always strive to bring us truly next gen graphics. That certainly seems to have been their focus so far. Whereas MS are more willing to sacrifice visuals for improved gameplay elements. I guess you could see this as a positive from either perspective.
If you take Sunset Overdrive as an example. It’s a great game, really fun but you could be forgiven for mistaking it for a last gen game visually.
The opposite can be said for inFamous Second Son. Looks incredible but gameplay wise, isn’t much different from it’s last gen counterparts.
If you look at the XB1 exclusives released in the past year, most of them could have been last gen games (Dead Rising 3, Forza, Titanfall etc). In fact, many of them actually are available on the 360.
Sony’s exclusives on the other hand (inFamous, Killzone, Driveclub etc) are only available, for the most part, on next gen.
Some will argue that graphics dont matter, that gameplay is more important than anything else. This has certainly been the case in the majority of game reviews I’ve read in the last year. Where breathtaking visuals are dismissed because the gameplay isn’t innovative enough. And yet, nothing beats playing an incredible looking game on a next gen console for the first time and being blown away by how amazingly realistic it looks.
Gameplay is important but graphics are equally so. If not, we’d all still be playing on our megadrives.
beeje13
This article, and comments, are quite interesting. I.don’t know whether sales catching up is the right term, maybe falling behind at a slower rate. Ps4 was still. selling 200k+/week more worldwide than X1, without a third deep price cut and halo.
The PS4 has 2 AAA titles in the first half of 2015, afaik the X1 has none.