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When Jack Tretton addressed the issue of used games and online authentication at Sony’s E3 Media Briefing, to rapturous applause, he was only taking jabs at the Xbox One, the knockout blow was still to come. When Sony unveiled that the PS4 would be $100 less than the Xbox One, Sony had won the battle of E3 and Microsoft’s hard work was undone.
The battle for E3 was always going to fought between Microsoft and Sony as they showcased their next generation platforms. With both Xbox One and PS4 sharing similar hardware specifications (they don’t look to different either) the difference was always going to be the games. Well, at least Microsoft thought so. Bouncing back from the negative feedback from their Xbox One reveal last month, Microsoft decided to focus on games. With Metal Gear Solid, Battlefield, Watch Dogs and exclusives Ryse, Killer Instinct, Forza 5, Quantum Break, Dead Rising 3, Sunset Overdrive, Titanfall and of course Halo, things were looking good for Microsoft. They intentionally avoided talking about DRM and online authentication, issues that would detract attention from what was a great showcase. There was one issue they couldn’t avoid talking about and that was the price of the system. Going first up with their presentation, Microsoft needed to be pretty confident in the price they were going to reveal, surely they had some insight that Sony would be releasing their console at around the same price. The bar was set high with Microsoft’s presentation and at $499 so was the price, at least more than many had anticipated. The challenge was set, how would Sony respond?
As the day progressed speculation that Sony would undercut the price of the Xbox One grew to the point that the question was not if, but by how much. $50 less would be great, but if the PS4 was $100 less, that would really make an impact. That it did, Sony had won the battle for E3 and a lot of what came before it was forgotten. Some things were even overlooked such as Sony now charging for online play or that their announced DRM policy only applied to games they published. It was really Microsoft that set things up for Sony, who as a result scored a huge PR victory, they were standing up for the gamers and was now their champion. Microsoft on the other hand was down for the count.
It’s hard to say where Microsoft will go from here, their near silence after the Sony press conference hasn’t helped. With Don Mattrick’s interview with GameTrailers where he said “we have a product for people who aren’t able to get some form of connectivity, it’s called Xbox 360” spreading like wildfire on the web, Microsoft need to speak up soon as it’s hard to tell if it’s confidence in their product or in fact arrogance that’s driving their decisions. While it’s unlikely we will see an Xbox One price drop before launch, it’s not impossible, back in 2002 Microsoft reduced the price of the original Xbox by £100, just a month after release, in anticipation of the release of the Gamecube. Of course, the Xbox brand is not what it was then, being the leader of the home console market, in North America at least, can change the way you think. Just ask Sony, we only have to go back 8 years ago when Ken Kutaragi suggested consumers would work more hours just to get a PS3. Like the Xbox One, the PS3 promised to be a a future-proof system, it didn’t do too badly either, maybe it’s a good example for Microsoft to follow. Maybe not, the PS3 did big numbers outside of North America, something the Xbox One might have a tough time doing. Europeans will have to cough up around $666 to get their hands on Microsoft’s next home console, while it’s not even known when it will see the light of day in Asia. No doubt we will be hearing about the added value the Kinect offers to the Xbox One, but a $349 PS4 with PlaysStation Eye bundle could take away some of that attractiveness. Whatever Microsoft does to try claw things back, they need to do it soon.
The console war has only just begun, a lot will change from now up until we enter the next-generation in November and in the years to follow. However, with this first battle victory Sony has put themselves in pole position. Can they take this momentum forward> or will Microsoft turn things around? We’ll find out soon enough.