It’s been said before but it bears repeating: Microsoft inexplicably shot itself in the foot in creative and amazing ways when it unveiled the Xbox One last year. Whether it was telling gamers who didn’t want to check in online once a day to buy an Xbox 360 or being completely unable to coherently explain its reasons for putting new restrictions on used games, Microsoft spent 2013’s E3 making one unforced error after another. To the company’s credit, it has backtracked off some of its most controversial decisions but that may not have been enough to fully reverse the damage that Microsoft did to itself last year.
Ars Technica has a new interview with Sony executive Scott Rohde, who says that he and his team were positively jubilant watching Microsoft at E3 last year. Specifically, Rohde said he got particularly pumped up when Microsoft announced that the Xbox One would be a full $100 more expensive than his own company’s PlayStation 4.
“I’m not gonna lie,” Rohde explains. “I remember exactly where I was. We were in press conference rehearsals last year. We had a feeling they were going to come in at $499, but we weren’t sure. So yeah, we were dancing in the aisles and high-fiving. It was great. Anyone that came in on an interview, it didn’t matter what the question was, I could always just answer it with $399. It was the answer to every question.”
If there’s any good news for Microsoft in this, it’s that falling behind in the console wars doesn’t mean you’re stuck there forever. Remember that Sony’s PlayStation 3 actually came in third place behind the Wii and Xbox 360 last generation, so it just goes to show how quickly your fortunes can change from one generation to the other.
