Are the video game console wars over? I did not realize that the PS4 was the clear winner. I am curious are you from Europe? It is my personal experience that xbox is the preferred platform (at least among my peers) in the US and that the PS is the preferred platform in Europe.
The public reaction to the XBox One at E3 was catastrophic. Microsoft is making an all-singing all-dancing entertainment device while Sony is making a pure gaming machine - this allows Sony to charge less and have more to show off that interests their core audience.
Microsoft also made some DRM-oriented plans related to used games that they've had to intensely backpedal on, and this really hurt them.
Basically, Microsoft completely disappointed and enraged the biggest hardcore gaming fans. It's worth asking whether those fans represent the entire market, but they definitely have a huge marketing footprint. You might see MS recoup this loss when they start getting demo units up with their impressive TV features and home automation stuff and whatnot. If MS can really produce a killer app for the Kinect (which is integrated into the One) they could do some damage - Sony has completely backed off on their plans to provide a 3D Move camera as a bundled feature of the PS4, which allows them to whoop MS on price, but also means they'll be in trouble if something makes the camera a "must have" feature.
Brand loyalty goes out the window with new consoles - I'm hearing PS4 preorders at Gamestop already outnumber XBox One preorders in the states by 4:1 from a Gamestop manager. While this doesn't mean competition is over, Microsoft has a lot of catching up to do.
Historically the console hardware itself has typically been a loss leader, at least towards the beginning of its life cycle. Most of the profit has typically come from the sale of games. So, supporting legacy games increases the cost of a product that has little or no margin, while simultaneously reducing demand for a higher margin product.
Actually, the later versions of the PS3 that don't include hardware compatibility with PS2 titles have no compatibility with PS2 titles at all. The only software compatibility layer is for PS1 titles, which are sufficiently simple enough to emulate in software.
The biggest reason that software emulation won't work for 360 titles is that the hardware architecture of the new consoles is completely different from the older generation. The CPU instruction set is x86 instead of PowerPC-based, and the entire memory and GPU interaction system is different than the 360. To emulate the entire instruction set of everything in software is just not going to be possible.
Yes, it's all but over. Perhaps you're not a gamer and aware the new Xbox is less powerful than the PS4, has a camera for the NSA/advertisers, and is significantly more expensive.
Microsoft also backtracked on horrendous anti-consumer DRM policies, which were wildly unpopular.
I thought the PS4 without and with camera was $100 or $40 cheaper than the xbox one. If you do an apples to apples comparison does 10% really count as significantly more expensive? Backtracking or "responding to customer complaints" is a bad thing?
Most consumers do not want a camera, so the PS4 represents a significant saving. And even in your comparison it's more expensive while being less powerful.
Responding to consumer feedback isn't a bad thing per se, but creating such anti-consumer policies in the first place makes one reluctant to spend a significant amount of money when a competitor has a more impressive product for less money.
Anti-consumer? I don't think so. The plan was to allow you to use your games wherever you want without the need to bring the physical disc. I don't know why you MS bashers have such a strong need for discs. Disc technology is dead, Microsoft was just leading the new technology that people perhaps aren't ready for. Sony doesn't have nearly the online capacity of Microsoft, not even close - which is why they had to make a more powerful console. In the end, it's not going to matter wether the PS4 is slightly faster. Multi platform games never looked better on PS3, and I don't have to worry about exclusives it seems, since Microsoft has the better line-up at this point. MS has also stated formally that the console won't be used for ad targeting - you can also unplug it if you want.
Multiplats never looked better on the PS3 because the cell platform was a PITA to develop for. PS4 is moving to x86, as is the Xbone, so whoever champions the better hardware is likely going to win the battle this iteration.
Also, discounting exclusives is pretty huge. You also need to discount indie games, since Microsoft has proven they don't give a shit.
Disc technology is far from dead. Tell me this again when you have people biting at the bit to download 50GB worth of data (blu-ray DL size disk). Microsoft wasn't leading the next generation of anything... both physical media and online media should be able to exist without a persistent internet connection.
If you want to buy a console from the guys who, when asked about an offline offering of the One said "we have that, it's called a 360," then go for it. Super consumer friendly, no doubt.
The scuttlebutt is that Sony was planning on mirroring many of Microsoft's announced policies, but backtracked after the reaction of consumers. Could be bogus though.
