As the sales spread between the Xbox One and PS4 widens, business people and analysts have begun to weigh in on Sony's remarkable dominance so far this console generation, now including one of the original Xbox team members.
Business Journal asked former Vice President and Xbox Founder Ed Fries if he thinks either the PS4 or Xbox One will come out on top by the end of the current generation, to which he replied:
A big nose, that is.
Ed Fries worked at Microsoft for nearly 20 years, and was a key team member during the designing of the original Xbox. He now runs a small startup that uses 3D printers to craft World of Warcraft characters. He's also an advisor or board member for several companies including Razer.
Just 18 months after the release of the PS4 and Xbox One the PS4 leads by a whopping 9+ million consoles sold worldwide. This huge discrepancy comes after a generation where Xbox gained a large chunk of market share, and was predicted by analysts such as Michael Pachter to have a strong showing. Some even bet on Microsoft having majority market share by the end of the generation including EA, a miscalculation that led to Titanfall console exclusivity.
There are a lot of reasons why the PS4 is selling better, no more important than the revealing of the PS4 and Xbox One. Sony demonstrated that it was committed to its gaming audience, while Microsoft appeared disjointed, focusing on television applications and Kinect technology. Gamers weren't happy, and many Xbox fans invested in their first PlayStation console at the start of the generation. Price point, processing power, and word of mouth also had an impact.
The Xbox One has continued to improve in many ways, but so has the PS4. As a multi-console owner, I love both for different reasons and believe they're both worth owning, but many consumers only want to own one gaming device, and it appears they have a larger attraction to Sony's current-generation of console.
