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Xbox Gamers Are Helping Sony Beat Microsoft

Xbox Gamers Are Helping Sony Beat Microsoft

It’s not the destination, but rather the path you took to arrive there which is truly the most important!

I want you to close your eyes and picture yourself watching one of those old black and white classic Universal Studios monster movies. As the moon rises over a rundown village, the villagers storm a gloomy castle with torches in hand. Inside, Dr. Frankenstein awakens his grotesque creation after a few thunderous bolts of lightning. While naturally his intent was pure (or pure-ish), they say the path to hell is paved with intentions such as these. The course of events set in motion would eventually lead to his undoing. Not exactly a happy ending for the poor doctor or his monstrous creation.

And what the hell was the point of that little exercise you might ask? Simple! This essentially mirrors the tale of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4! WE are Dr. Frankenstein and Sony is Frankenstein’s monster.

It’s been a heated topic of debate around the site here for the last year or so, as I’ve taken both Microsoft and Nintendo to task on more than one occasion. Some would say it’s out of biased hate, I would suggest much different reasoning. My vitriol has always come from a place of motivation. I grew up on Nintendo and have enjoyed Microsoft’s Xbox console as my favorite for the last decade. Unfortunately, both these companies have simply lost sight of true-north in a BIG way. Nintendo’s financial struggles have forced them to completely re-evaluate their place in the market moving forward, and Microsoft’s next-gen system is such an afterthought behind its Sony counterpart, it’s almost embarrassing to see them fall from grace so hard. In just the first nine months, Sony has managed to move 10 million units (and that number is only expected to grow by the end of the year during the holiday rush). Microsoft has barely hit half that and still refuses to release any hard numbers in that regard. This is no doubt a welcome surprised to the higher-ups at Sony; President Shuhei Yoshida himself recently expressed he’s not complete clear how the new PlayStation flew so far so fast during its initial launch.

However, new insight recently made available sheds lights on what could have been the miracle pill here (one that might be a pill too hard to swallow for some Microsoft / Nintendo fanboys).

I compare us to Dr. Frankenstein due to a new study by Nielsen unveiling that almost 1/3 of PlayStation’s latest install base comes from both 360 and Wii users jumping ship. If you were an early adopter of the Xbox One (and are pissed that Sony fans keep giving you the business about being second rate ), you really have only your fellow brethren to blame. They basically loaded the gun and handed it to the opposition. If you think of it in terms of a pro wrestling match, this would be the equivalent of Hulk Hogan dropping the leg on WCW’s Macho Man Randy Savage and joining the n.W.o.! The Wii and 360 were the most successful systems of last-gen, reining supreme in their respective offerings. Microsoft hit on all cylinders in regards to graphics and hardware, with Nintendo being the accessible alternative of non-gamer types. Fast forward just a few years later to where the crater each system has left in the dirt is so large, it can almost be seen from space! Long-time supporters closely looked at both the Wii U and Xbox One accordingly, glanced down at their wallets, and then answered with a resounding “ NOPE !”

Xbox Gamers Are Helping Sony Beat Microsoft

I didn’t turn this into another piece highlighting all the reasons why the PS4 is the place to be in 2015, because those points have been made repeatedly in the past (and quite successfully I might add). I think the take away here should be the giant divide between Sony’s position and literally everyone else. It almost seems like an impassable cavern that Microsoft is attempting to cross, which only widens with each passing month. If we are to believe the numbers from the study, then consider those who have yet to buy a next-gen system. Come Christmas time, how likely is it folks will drop their money on a system that is seemingly going nowhere (when the PlayStation 4 is calling to them from the shelf like a mythical sea siren)?

Time will tell the tale, but SPOILER …I think I already know how this particular monster movie ends.

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