Amazon: Upgrade some of your Xbox 360 games to Xbox One versions for just $10

Could be me, but reading all the reviews on the web i've seen, most people seem they are really excited about the PS4 and not so much for the new xb0x given the current state...

...or so some people would have you believe.

The Amazon charts are showing Microsoft have picked back up after listening to their potential customers.

Truth is, the #s games behind both systems won't reveal until after launch and MS is still hush hush on their launch date: all this guessing until then is simply trivial and the winner will be the one who pushed most consoles and software globally. Both systems have potential, and the debate with who's better than who hasn't been this passionate since SEGA VS Nintendo.

I think MS is going to push well at the start, but they are going to have issues pushing sales once the unit is out, as a lot of consumers are not satisfied with buying a unit they feel they have to pay extra for a device (in this case kinect) that they simply don't want to use. Ballmer and team have adamantly stated they changed enough policies and refuse to launch XBoxOne without Kinect. This could hurt them in the long run, with most analysts assuming withing a year - two this policy will change too when the hype of the console dies down and they seek to gain newcomers.

Imagine the backlash Sony would have received if they added the Eye to their console and made it mandatory sale with every console regardless if you can turn it off. They were smart not to do this, recognizing that not everyone enjoys being social and that although consumers can commonly enjoy interactive entertainment, some just want to do it with privacy without the need to pay extra for it. MS is banking they can convince those consumers that Kinect will somehow change their way of life in a positive manner if they give it a try, failing to recognize these are people who just don't care for the features they are advertising.

Thus at launch my prediction it will be a very close race, but after that Sony will take the lead as they push out better exclusive titles and offer more direct TV services pushing out the need of cable. The only question I have is, who gets hacked first after both systems launch?

My bet is that economies of scale as millions are sold and free game bundling (as is happening with pre-ordered launch consoles) will erode the (actually pretty small) differential.

The latest news on free indy dev'ing kits for Xbox One is pretty interesting too.

We've had a ton of comment and the things aren't even out yet, lots of people thought they knew all about it & yet Microsoft responded and changed things....and the pre-ordering pick-up shows they are far from out of contention in this coming gen.
Despite the usual vocal chorus.

Game on, I'd say.