MS's biggest competitors at this time are in deed Apple (OS, Tablets, & Phones) and Google (Search Engine, Tablets, & Phones). Sony is currently only MS's gaming competitor. The wants/needs of the many out weigh the wants/needs of the few in this case.

I'll also point out that MS needs Sony much more then Sony needs MS. People want BlueRay and Sony Pictures' movies. Both of which Sony owns the rights to. How does Sony need MS for their console?

Microsoft CLEARLY overestimated Sony this year. The fact that they thought $500 was a good price WITHOUT clarifying the rumors around their console was/is a HUGE mistake. As is the idea of "Day One" text on the console is a selling good point. I'm clearly not getting a XBO on "Day One". Microsoft has lost the 2013 war before it's started. They are asking far too much from Console Gamers. They clearly don't see what has made consoles so popular.

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I'm VERY disappointed in the complete lack of clarification from MS. Although they waited til the end, Sony did clear out the rumor webs that's been tangling up the gaming industry in the last few months in regards to their console. Offline play is possible as is game trading. They also focused a LOT less on the Cloud tech for their games.

I've never liked how Sony ran their gaming section. Always using fake videos and basically stealing tech from competitors at the last minute. And I REALLY REALLY REALLY hate what they did to BLAM! (Blamcast!). That was just flat out dirty pool. But I actually want a Playstation now. Their presentation trumped the Xbox's lackluster Illumi Room show/effect. Sony used the iMAX effect with a wraparound screen that we could see and filled the space. Plus they have some very cool games and a LOT less smoke and mirrors this time around.

I still want a XBO even tough I'll (properly) never be able to play offline nor test/rent games. I like the new shared Gold feature and LOVE that they are getting rid of MSpoints. And they also have some awesome games to play.

But 3 things from MS stood out to me.
1) The first was Halo5 video. That completely took me by surprise and love it (even for a smoke and mirrors video).

2) Project Spark is by far my favorite game from all of 2013's E3. Thought it was just a cute little game with some FarCry map editing features at first. But then they showed user created games from it. I literally jumped up and rewind the video just to listen to what they were saying more closely. As a Forger/Artist this game has me excited. Just hope it's as easy to work with as they make out.

3) Then there was the Twitch example. I LOOOOVE this idea. It takes the Theater from past Halos and brings it to all games. And it's instant as well. No computer required and that's a big plus. I don't film my gaming/creations today because I don't have the means to do so. So the ability to share that easily gets me all tingly inside. Of course this means there's going to be a huge flood of gamer videos in the near future (and possibly Twitch payment requirements) but I don't care. I just want to be able to create How3s like others have.