I'm happy the PS4 is outselling the Xbox One
Unlike others, I didn't think that the price difference between the Xbox One and PS4 was the sole reason for the PS4 beating it in sales out of the gate. And while dropping the Kinect and thus the price has improved the sales, we are still seeing that it isn't taking the top spot.
So who wins? People who bought an Xbox One it seems. Historically Microsoft hasn't been the most amiable to consumer feedback. When they were the undisputed king they simply didn't bother shifting their focus to accommodate user requests. The first victim; Windows Vista.
But after the backlash when they unveiled the Xbox One originally, and since the tepid response of products like Windows 8 tablets and Windows Phone the company has changed its tune substantially. They are now one of the most responsive software development companies I've ever seen. To the point of being willing to compromise their own vision just to resolve what people have complained about (de-emphasising Windows Store apps, adding back the start button and eventually menu, going back on DRM plans for Xbox One, etc...).
I know this was also the story with the original Xbox, but the reason for the responsiveness was the same. And the result looks to be the same. The Xbox One is become more feature rich, much more quickly than the PS4. Easy apples to apples comparisons would be on the support of external hard drives. Xbox One supports them now, the PS4 does not. At least not for downloaded games, which is really the whole purpose of a gaming console.
PS4 fans point out that the internal drive is swappable. Sorry, but that doesn't count. Firstly, many aren't comfortable with that. And secondly it still results in a poorer situation.
Lets start with performance; dedicated drive is not also being utilized by OS. Also, from what I read the USB3 connection can be faster than the bus that the internal drives are using.
Next is cost. theoretically, an external drive might cost more than an internal drive due to the added enclosure, BUT you'd be missing the big picture. If I add a 1TB drive to my Xbox One, I have 1.5TB. If I swap out the internal drive in my PS4 for a 1TB drive, I have just 1TB of storage. I think, overall, for the same amount of storage you'll find this makes the Xbox One the cheaper solution.
And lastly is portability. This one I'll call a tie (and I'm being generous to the PS4 fans here). If I want to cart my console around, the PS4 wouldn't have an extra external drive and cables. I'm being generous here because in addition to your console you already have at least 1 or more controls and possible charging cables and perhaps even a PS4 eye. Realistically, the external drive enclosure is negligible. On the flip side, if I just want to bring my games library over to my friends place to play on his/her Xbox One without waiting for the game to re-download... I just bring my external drive... this isn't even possible on the PS4.
And this isn't the only feature that has been added since launch. At the moment they are pumping out a new Xbox One build every month and each one contains new features which come from a UserVoice site allowing fans to request and vote on features. Other features can be harder to compare as they may be tied to Microsoft or Sony services which are either implemented entirely differently, or simple don't exist on one platform or another.
PS4 has the dominant market position. So, instead of trying to keep users happy, they are instead just riding the waves. They may find that down the road they lost that dominant position for this reason. Either way, I'm happy Microsoft is on the losing end of this battle at the moment.
Honestly though, both consoles are successful enough. Even if XB1 never overtakes the PS4 it won't really be a loss for Microsoft. Both consoles will likely be over 10+ million users before the year is out.
So who wins? People who bought an Xbox One it seems. Historically Microsoft hasn't been the most amiable to consumer feedback. When they were the undisputed king they simply didn't bother shifting their focus to accommodate user requests. The first victim; Windows Vista.
But after the backlash when they unveiled the Xbox One originally, and since the tepid response of products like Windows 8 tablets and Windows Phone the company has changed its tune substantially. They are now one of the most responsive software development companies I've ever seen. To the point of being willing to compromise their own vision just to resolve what people have complained about (de-emphasising Windows Store apps, adding back the start button and eventually menu, going back on DRM plans for Xbox One, etc...).
I know this was also the story with the original Xbox, but the reason for the responsiveness was the same. And the result looks to be the same. The Xbox One is become more feature rich, much more quickly than the PS4. Easy apples to apples comparisons would be on the support of external hard drives. Xbox One supports them now, the PS4 does not. At least not for downloaded games, which is really the whole purpose of a gaming console.
PS4 fans point out that the internal drive is swappable. Sorry, but that doesn't count. Firstly, many aren't comfortable with that. And secondly it still results in a poorer situation.
Lets start with performance; dedicated drive is not also being utilized by OS. Also, from what I read the USB3 connection can be faster than the bus that the internal drives are using.
Next is cost. theoretically, an external drive might cost more than an internal drive due to the added enclosure, BUT you'd be missing the big picture. If I add a 1TB drive to my Xbox One, I have 1.5TB. If I swap out the internal drive in my PS4 for a 1TB drive, I have just 1TB of storage. I think, overall, for the same amount of storage you'll find this makes the Xbox One the cheaper solution.
And lastly is portability. This one I'll call a tie (and I'm being generous to the PS4 fans here). If I want to cart my console around, the PS4 wouldn't have an extra external drive and cables. I'm being generous here because in addition to your console you already have at least 1 or more controls and possible charging cables and perhaps even a PS4 eye. Realistically, the external drive enclosure is negligible. On the flip side, if I just want to bring my games library over to my friends place to play on his/her Xbox One without waiting for the game to re-download... I just bring my external drive... this isn't even possible on the PS4.
And this isn't the only feature that has been added since launch. At the moment they are pumping out a new Xbox One build every month and each one contains new features which come from a UserVoice site allowing fans to request and vote on features. Other features can be harder to compare as they may be tied to Microsoft or Sony services which are either implemented entirely differently, or simple don't exist on one platform or another.
PS4 has the dominant market position. So, instead of trying to keep users happy, they are instead just riding the waves. They may find that down the road they lost that dominant position for this reason. Either way, I'm happy Microsoft is on the losing end of this battle at the moment.
Honestly though, both consoles are successful enough. Even if XB1 never overtakes the PS4 it won't really be a loss for Microsoft. Both consoles will likely be over 10+ million users before the year is out.
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