Hi Albert,
Thanks for taking the time to participate in the forums in addition to your job responsibilities. As a console gamer, I enjoy all consoles and owned them all but there is always a "primary" console. Even though I owned many of the consoles of the generation at one time, my primary consoles was the Genesis, PS1, PS2, and X360. I own a PS3 but my 360 has been my primary console and my preference. The 360 offers better multiplatform performance and I personally prefer the 360 UI, the 360 controller, etc., far more than my PS3. However, it seems much of this is in doubt this upcoming generation. The PS4 looks to have a revamped UI, including recorded videos linked to a players profile, which is an appealing feature, but most importantly better hardware ensuring better multiplatform performance and higher quality of graphics especially in exclusives in years to come.
As someone who really likes the X360 and I consider myself unbiased is, I am really disappointed about the hardware in Xbox One. I am also not a computer engineer. The 360 has won this generation and earned substantial revenue in Xbox Live far outnumbering what Sony has made in PSN throughout this entire generation and it is no doubt Microsoft is one of the largest companies in the world with sizable resources. With this success, I fully expected Microsoft as a company to invest heavily in the Xbox One hardware to better the PS4 with the latest future designs or the least equal it, even if it means selling the console at a greater loss than Sony. It would have been worth the cost, and probably win the generation. It seems this is not the case with Microsoft being more cost conscious with the Xbox One hardware (lesser GPU, less expensive ram, DDR < GDDR).
Prior to its unveil, I was certain in getting an Xbox One. With the DRM restrictions, I was certainly not getting it but then I was after the reversal. Now with the latest information on the XB1 hardware, and more news and reports of XB1 titles struggling to hit 1080p, I am really on the fence. In all honesty, I am extremely disappointed in Microsoft and the Xbox One hardware that has me leaning towards the PS4.
I know you say all to know about the hardware is known so you have reduced your participation, but I disagree. Perhaps more details of the system has been released but I feel the argument that the PS4 is significantly more powerful than the XB1 has not been defended to satisfaction by Microsoft hence the discussions in these forums, or it is likely the PS4 does indeed have much better hardware. I have a feeling your using Digital Foundry's articles as an outlet to counter this, and while the articles are great and insightful, I don't think they are in layman terms and more of a 'spin', or maybe too technically written more suited for computer engineers.
I know there are many more people like me who were maybe an X360 user or even not, who are now getting the PS4 simply because it has better hardware. My question is what can Microsoft say/argue in simple terms if any about its hardware being less powerful than the PS4?. A possible totally made-up example is if the XB1 has more on-board processors than the PS4 alleviating CPU usage by offering its separate use and for instance providing better audio.
P.S - I'm a longtime lurker on these forums and is why this is my first post.