The console war continues between Microsoft and Sony. After the Xbox One dominated console sales over the holiday months, as reported here by Inquisitr, Sony’s Playstation 4 came roaring back to life in January. Previous to the Xbox One’s victories in November and December, the Playstation had beat out the Microsoft system for 10 consecutive months in 2014.
February’s numbers are in, according to Tech Times , and once again, Playstation is dominating. Microsoft, however, seems to be celebrating. According to IGN , Microsoft announced that the Xbox One had seen an 84 percent increase in sales over February 2014. Microsoft is attributing this increase to a variety of factors, but most media seems to feel that dropping the price by $50 has made a huge difference. You can now purchase an Xbox One at about $349, instead of the release price of $399. While Microsoft has not said that this price is permanent, they also have not announced any plans to end the sale in the near future.
And if you leave near a Sam’s Club, Gotta Be Mobile announced an even deeper price cut at the retailer; the Xbox One can be had at Sam’s Club for a mere $299. The site did note that users wanting to take advantage of this deal should move quickly, as it seems that Sam’s Club is selling through stock rapidly, and may not offer this deal again.
Mike Nichols, Microsoft’s corporate VP of marketing for the Xbox, also stated that users on average spent as much as 74 hours a month on Xbox Live. He noted that this is “three times the amount of hours the average user spends on social networks.”
GeekWire reported that neither Microsoft nor Sony released the number of consoles they sold in February 2015, so it’s not possible to determine by what margin the Playstation 4 beat out the Xbox One. However, the NPD group, which tracks console sales, did say that February 2015 saw “high double digit increases” over last year, indicating that the next generation of consoles was picking up momentum.
“February also marked the first time since the PS4 and Xbox One launched that the top-10 best-selling console games were all from the new machines.”
Finally, NPD noted that the first 15 months of PS4 and Xbox One combined sales have surpassed PS3 and Xbox 360 combined initial 15-month totals by close to 60 percent.
Still deciding which next gen console is right for you? Tech Radar has put together a detailed comparison of the two consoles, comparing hardware, features, and exclusive games.
Will you be opting for the Xbox One or the Playstation 4? Convince us in the comments!