When the Xbox Scorpio hits the market later this year, it will be boasting a lot of power advantages over the PlayStation 4 Pro, more so than the Xbox One S already does. However, having a bigger engine doesn't necessarily mean your car is better, and the same goes for consoles.
In the early 90s, Sega was competing with Nintendo, the latter of which had somehow created a more powerful console with their Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or SNES. Many claim that the SNES won that round of the console wars handily, but that's not entirely true.
There were several exclusives and technicalities which made the Genesis the preferred console. Sega had "Sonic," the hedgehog with an attitude, and with a code entered at the right time, a more arcade-true version of "Mortal Kombat." The Super NES wouldn't allow the appearance of blood, due to its "graphic" nature, almost literally watering down the violence.
That was the peak of Sega's rule, however, as "Mario" regained the lead. Their controllers always innovated and they always aimed for fun. Let us ignore the existence of the Virtual Boy on this one.
The first PlayStation was actually horrible
Yes, there were numerous exclusives which gamers preferred, and the controller was unlike anything we'd ever seen before, but there was a major flaw in Sony's debut console.
If you thought the Xbox 360's "red ring of death" was annoying, consider the possibility that the device which read your game disc could go bad and you had to buy another console. Many of us bought several PlayStations just because they kept wearing out.
It wasn't until the PlayStation 2 that Sony started making their consoles to last, and by then we had the alternative of the Xbox, which allowed us to save music to the hard drive and play it in the games.
It made racing games so much nicer, even if it likely got in the way of enjoying RPGs.
Sony has been paying attention to what gamers want
When the PlayStation 4 was released around the same time as the Xbox One, there was a big problem on Microsoft's side. Their PR people didn't have a clue what gamers wanted. Thankfully they fired everybody who gave their reputation such a massive proverbial wedgie and started doing what gamers asked for.
Sony has made minor improvements on occasion, but they still manage to stay on top.
Now Xbox Scorpio is supposedly aiming to close the gap with the PC gamers, but that's one crowd which is tough to win over with a console. Plus the focus on virtual reality games hasn't really proven a long-term plan more than just a fad to rake in a few dollars.
In the end, it's always the games which keep us coming back for more. If there aren't any games we want, we don't buy it after the hype has died down.
