The doom and gloom about MS in this thread makes me laugh.
I'm getting an XSX on launch day for one simple reason - It's the best box to play Cyberpunk 2077 and I know that MS has Halo, Forza, Gears, Fable etc... on the way. Who cares about a particular game at launch? Not me.
My oldest son and his friends just care about the latest Call of Duty, Apex, Battlefield etc... They'll just buy the best box (XSX) for those games. None of these guys care about Sony or MS 1st party. At least MS has a chance of getting them interested if Halo or Gears turn out well. These guys would rather watch paint dry than play something like The Last of Us. LOL
People overestimate the value of some 1st party titles in driving sales.
The people I talk to:
1) Does it have Call of Duty?
2) Is it powerful?
3) What are my friends getting?
We're not 18 any more. People have jobs now. $500 is "whatever" to every single person I know, even my underemployed 23 year old son.
We're living in a world where high school kids are walking around with $500 phones in their pocket and spending their money on dance moves in Fortnite (well not on iPhone, LOL).
Launch is all about early adopters. Most of the guys I mentioned above probably won't bother getting their XSX until 2021. MS and Sony will sell everything they can produce this year if they sell at $499, and maybe even $599.
10% of the userbases have the money and want these things NOW!
It makes for great click bait, but only 1 in 10 Xbox gamers even bought Halo 5, so most people either understand or don't care that Halo was delayed.
Well said, it's the reality outside of gaming forums like this one. You usually don't buy consoles for a couple of games over a seven year life span.