Every few years, the world of technology gets rocked by the release of new home video gaming consoles. Though the technology that supports these games improves every year, new consoles, such as the PlayStation, Nintendo, and Xbox systems, are expected to take major leaps forward with a new version, meaning that a good amount of time passes between releases.  

The industry has become reactive to itself, meaning that, since most of the technology being used is widely available, all the gaming console companies tend to release their new products in the same year.

This is true in 2013, when we will all see the release of the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, both of which have been teased and talked about for over a year.  Though the releases will be closer to the Christmas holiday season, large conferences and conventions that serve as staging areas for gaming companies have shown us most of what we can expect from the new system, and as far as the media and most fans are concerned, Xbox has been getting destroyed in the public relations war between Microsoft and Sony.

Microsoft’s Public Overreach

In a very public display at the Xbox One’s initial reveal in May 2013, without knowing what their competition was planning, Microsoft rolled out a slew of new features for the Xbox, including the fact the audio and visual input for the Xbox Kinect would always be on, and the system would, once per day, have to connect to Xbox live and verify the licensing of all games.  

This angered many fans, raising fears that it would do away with used games, and that their console would be spying on them 24/7.  Unable to respond adequately to simple questions, Microsoft was buried under the bad press.

Sony’s solution?  Highlight all the ways their system would not do any of the questionable things (most of which have been removed from the Xbox One) that fans and critics hated about their competitor’s system.

Slow Reaction

Microsoft was slow to react to the clamor of their fans and critics, and as such, both were unable to answer concerns and unable to roll back unpopular ideas in a timely fashion.  This resulted in Sony getting the media edge and using it to bludgeon Microsoft at every press opportunity.

Overpricing

Knowing that interest in their console was already waning, Microsoft still proceeded with announcing an exorbitant price for their console without knowing that Sony would be charging $100 less.  An attempt at spinning the price difference as paying more for greater value failed, since both products had already been demonstrated, and the differences were not apparent to the public.

Unless a major PR shift happens soon, the holiday season will be much merrier for Sony than for Microsoft.