Xbox One released before Playstation 4, will it help drive more sales?

Many gamers are waiting with bated breath for the new consoles from Sony and Microsoft, and yesterday the Windows giant announced that the Xbox One would be released on the 22nd of November.

The Sony prelaunch Playstation 4 details have been more warmly received by the enthusiast user, not really a shock considering Microsoft announced a lot of restrictions, initially. Microsoft were almost forced to handle a full 180 degree change on several of their ‘rules', but for many people the damage has already been done. Yesterday we also reported that the Xbox One had received a core clock boost, by 150mhz. We hope this clock increase has been thoroughly analyzed thermally, because the Xbox 360 did have its fair share of RMA issues in the first couple of years.

With all the pre launch drama, it was important for Microsoft to ensure that Sony didn't get the upper hand when the consoles were released. Their Xbox One release date of 22nd of November is important because it is a full week ahead of the Playstation 4 launch (29th November).

Microsoft claimed that the Xbox One went into full production this week and it will hit the streets in 13 countries initially, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, the UK and the US. Other countries will have to wait until 2014, which hasn't been well received.

The new Kinect system is, according to Microsoft three times the 3D camera detail of the current system on the Xbox 360 and can take pictures at 1080p resolution. It has infrared support which will appeal to many people.

In the UK, the Xbox one pricing will be £430. The Sony Playstation 4 will be £81 cheaper at £349.

We would imagine some people will buy both, but will the Xbox One earlier release date damage sales of the Playstation 4 – which is out a week later?

Kitguru says: It will be interesting to follow up later this year to see which of the two companies is in the lead.

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