Wrong. The publishers are the ones driving this.
And, in case you didn't notice, FF and Kingdom Hearts went cross console today.
And pre orders of the XBone on Amazon are sold out. Not for PS4.
Agree Grape-
here is a little story- I was out to dinner last Saturday (live in Seattle) and there was a group of older adults (about 10-12 in the party) I overheard them talking about the new xbox, and how Microsoft was genius about implementing the whole tv thing with the Blu-ray player and the skyping, Kinect gestures, and the Siri-like voice activation, as well as being a video game console. I joined there conversation, and the whole party were talking about it with an excitement like Elvis Presley was in the building.
It is interesting how Microsoft is really trying to cater to the mainstream population whom get the new ipads for $499 even though there are better tablets out there, Microsoft much like Apple, is really trying to solidify themselves as the must have gadget for not just the gamers, but the casuals, the tech-savy, and ones whom buy name-brands just for the sake of. Moreover, the only real people whom are mad about the new Xbox, are the hardcore gamers, whom will probably be trying to pirate games anyways.
I look at the industry, and my, has Sony just been getting hammered. They used to be the Apple of the east, Now there TV's barely sell, there laptops and tablets are forgettable, as well as there movie's they produced, c'mon After Earth with Will Smith's son? Did anyone see that $140 million bomb? Now there most lucrative business is selling insurance?! The Playstation brand must succeed in this generation, and not just get by like the PS3 did, but be the gold standard like they were more than 10+ years ago.
People can make all the excuses about the Xbox 360 being out a year ahead, but Sony was so dominant, it was unheard of to even challenge them. It was like when the industry thought they (Sony) were stupid to go launch a system against NEC, SEGA, and at the time the unstoppable Mario at Nintendo. But, who would of known, the Playstation became the premier choice for gamers , and took Nintendo from its spot and put Sega out of business, even though they did everything right with Dreamcast, which came out earlier than the PS2, but Sony just annihilated Sega, when it was released.
Microsoft did the same thing to Sony-caught them slipping, and took advantage of it, and bested them in America and also other parts of the world, to become a premier gaming brand as well. Now they open the E3 show with a jaw-dropping Metal Gear Solid 5, which was always known as a Sony exclusive! Will Microsoft's plan of going after the casual audience of the tv watcher, social media user, and brand buyer work out?
I'm guessing probably, and if it all works out, people usually buy the device that most of there friends socialize the most with, so I could see the xbox one attracting a whole different crowd than before. They keep talking about how you can constantly stay connected with your phone or smart-glass enabled device, and this is a dream for the person whom is waiting for the next episode of "Scandal" and be able to get the info on there phone, as well as stream it to there friends, while on Skype and talking about meeting online to play Battlefield 4 later on in the day.
Again the only people upset are the hardcore gamers, but it seems if Microsoft can win over the casual population, much like Apple does, the hardcore gamer, will eventually succumb and by an xbox one. How Sony plays there hand then, if that is how it plays out will be very interesting, since they created more of a gaming machine, instead of a all-in-one machine.
I'm pretty excited and will get both systems. Should be a great generation, that won't just include gaming but a connectivity with other users/players that will be a really cool experience, or just a bad dream, either way I am awaiting Witcher 3!
