Xbox One: The Console War Has Only Just Started

We have all watched a Rocky movie or two during our lives and we are all familiar with the theme. A fight is arranged , the bad guy gets the upper hand for the first 11 rounds and then 'BAM' out of nowhere the underdog suddenly finds his feet and wins the fight in the 12th round.

Microsoft were aware that they were against the ropes right after the first bell, and they knew that they had some tough choices to make and a hard slog ahead. Phil Spencer in Microsoft's corner never lost clarity or focus the whole time that the Xbox One was being battered by Sony's PS4.

"As the Xbox team, we are the underdog" -- Phil Spencer

Team Xbox have made several U-turns and totally transformed the horrible mess left behind by Don Mattrick. The focus has shifted from an entertainment system and more towards a hardcore gaming machine. The Kinect was brutally sacrificed in a bid to drop the price of the games console to compete with its rival and also gain an extra 10% power.

A leaner, trimmer more powerful Xbox One was now fighting back with a whole host of games backing its corner the real fight had began.
Microsoft had now got back to the roots of the Xbox brand and heading into the holidays started to pump out the exclusive titles such as Sunset Overdrive and Halo, coupled with some killer bundles and some epic price drops, the fight has really began.

When I first purchased my Xbox One 12 months ago, it was £429 with Forza 5 digital download. In comparison you can now pick up Forza 5 GOTY for a mere £349 at Amazon.

The gap between the consoles is closing now with sales of Xbox One starting to catch up to those of the PS4. This is largely due to Microsoft's determination and strategy. Price drops coupled with bundles and exclusives,whilst the PS4 lineup appears to have dried up.

EA Games have noted the change in the console war, Blake Jorgensen, Electronic Arts CFO recently predicted that the Xbox One will close the gap by Christmas, "Clearly, Sony has jumped out to a lead with a great console and I think a great pricing strategy. But Microsoft is catching up quickly," Jorgensen said during a presentation at the 2014 UBS Global Technology Conference. "And pricing actions that are taking place, particularly within this Christmas season, driven by Microsoft around reductions plus a lot of bundled software, I think will continue to help pull the consumer into the new consoles."

Whilst the console war continues to battle on, and both sides battle for supremacy it becomes clear that now the battle has been taken to the high-street, there can be only one true winner, and thats us the consumer.