Xbox One Vs PS4: Price Drop For PlayStation 4 Points To Further Xbone Fail?
The Xbox One vs PS4 console war continues, and in spite of the Titanfall bundle, Microsoft is still falling behind. Even the limits of PS4 in stock aren’t giving the Xbone the edge it needs to pull ahead of the PlayStation 4. Sony’s console is simply selling too fast to keep it on the shelf, while the Xbox One is not.
Not even the discovery of Sony lying about its 1080p native resolution was enough to stop gamers from choosing Sony’s side in the PS4 vs Xbox One debates. Is Microsoft in trouble? Will they need to finally take the Kinect out of the box to match the rumored PS4 price drop?
@VirtuaMe PS4 price drop after gamescon Ireckon, just in time for a Christmas shortage, that’ll keep demand high into 2015, makes sense
— Mike Carter #JFT96 (@The_Stripe) April 25, 2014
For the reason behind the Xbone’s problems let’s look at the biggest reason gamers choose a console; the games. The Xbox One thus far has had very few must-play exclusives other than Titanfall and Dead Rising 3, and both of those titles have failed to raise the excitement of titles like inFamous: Second Son, and the recently announced Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us PS4 port. The Planetside 2 PS4 port is also expected to take on Destiny, the latter of which nobody outside the industry has played yet. Sony was already winning, and now they’re rumored to be dropping the price of the core console to $349 by 2015.
This round of Xbox One vs PS4 isn’t looking good for Microsoft, and they’re going to have to pull out some stops to compete. This could mean that they’ll have to break their word and take the Xbox One Kinect out of the bundle to match the rumored PS4 price drop. Is Microsoft willing to do this, or will they continue to trail behind Sony in sales?
Michael Pachter commented on the issue:
“I think that you will probably get in 2015 a redesigned Xbox One that has no Kinect, and I think what will accelerate that process is if Sony cuts the PS4’s price: if there is a $349 PS4 on the market, Microsoft has a real problem. They’re gonna have to do something, and they’ll have to do it really quickly. I think that in 2015, you might see a $349 PS4, and an uncoupled Xbox One, and if you see both of those for $349, the consumer wins, and they will both sell very well. Microsoft is not looking to lose this cycle.”
What does Kinect do now that makes it necessary for Microsoft‘s current gen machine? It accepts voice commands and facial recognition to log players in to Xbox Live without needing a password, something that could have been an advantage. However, other than an enhanced interface device, the Kinect is still about as useful a gaming peripheral as its Xbox 360 predecessor. Not one game made to work with it has been considered a “must play” title, meaning that the Kinect is little more than an console interface device that adds to the cost of the Xbone and further gives Sony the advantage in the Xbox One vs PS4 debates. The simple truth is that the Xbox One Kinect does what Sony’s camera does, and everything else is technically irrelevant.
Will Microsoft be willing to take the Kinect out of the bundle, or will they continue to struggle in second place in the Xbox One vs PS4 console war?
