With only a little over a month until the next video game consoles are released, there is a lot of opinions being shared online. There are several camps of people: PlayStation fanboys, XBox fanboys, and the undecided group trying to decide which console to buy. As someone who works for PlayStation, I am probably biased and so I will refrain from discussing the technical merits of either console. For me the big deciding factors are what I am used to and where I can get the cheapest games. You may agree with me yet still end up getting a different console than I will. That's just fine.
As I read through the various reviews and comments, I enjoy reading some good-natured ribbing but some of the remarks are just plain mean. I don't like that at all, regardless of the product being discredited. It is also interesting to view how some people can read the same information and use it to argue against each other. Ultimately we should all agree to disagree with one another and not take it personally.
The most recent comments I have read deal with how Microsoft and Sony both handled the pre-order situation. Sony said that pre-orders for the PlayStation 5 would be available the day after their price and availability announcement. Unfortunately that is not what happened. As soon as the announcement finished, retailers made the consoles available and they quickly sold out. Those who waited for the day after missed out. Microsoft saw Sony's mistake and ensured that retailers didn't start selling before the agreed upon date and time. Then they sold out minutes after the consoles became available. So who had the better strategy?
Those in the Sony camp (remember, that is where I work but I am trying to be fair and impartial) defend what happen by saying things about how the unplanned release kept the bot authors from buying up all of the stock at the appointed time. Those in the Microsoft camp argue that at least they knew when to be in front of their computer or when to go stand in line at a retail outlet. So who is right? Ultimately it doesn't matter because both console makers underestimated how many people wanted to purchase the machines. This is my personal opinion but if my college Economics teacher taught me anything it is that if both Sony and Microsoft knew there was such pent up demand for the new consoles, they would have priced them higher.
I will admit that I am not a fan of rivalries. I think our sports culture does us a huge disservice by encouraging this hatred for the other team and it has started spilling out into other parts of our society. I would like to see it stop and this post is my attempt to enlighten everyone with my point of view from inside one of the major console vendors. Competition is good and companies rise to the challenge of trying to create better products because of it. If Microsoft decided to stop producing consoles and pushed all gaming onto the PC, tablets, or mobile devices, it would not be a win for Sony. The whole console segment of the video game market would suffer in the long run.
One more thing before I finish tonight is that Sony and Microsoft benefit each other in ways that most people don't see. A lot of my colleagues came from Microsoft and I have seen Sony employees leave us and go to them. We are like those sports teams that trade players from time-to-time. Therefore it is in my best interest to never badmouth the competition. After all, I may end up working for them one day and would hate to have one of my posts cause my future employer question my loyalty. In the end we really are working towards the same objective: create the best gaming console for a price we think people are willing to pay.
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