The next era of the console wars is quickly approaching. I am referring to, of course, the battle between Sony and Microsoft (nobody really considers Nintendo a competitor anymore) for domination of the home video game market. The most heated battle between the two companies came with the release of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. While many people will fight and say that one side won over the other, both companies were fairly even (though my vote goes to Microsoft).

The next series of consoles are coming out very soon. The Nintendo Wii U has already launched, leaving Microsoft and Sony. Sony is the only one out of the two companies to actually reveal its console, the PlayStation 4. Actual images of the console have yet to surface, but the company has confirmed the console. Microsoft has yet to confirm the Xbox 720/Xbox Next and both companies haven’t released any kind of hardware specs either, which makes it difficult to determine which company will prevail.

With all the rumors, however, we can surmise that hardware for both devices will be evenly matched, meaning victory will have to come from another aspect of the consoles. The biggest factor that will more than likely determine which console wins this round of the console wars will be price. Our economy is terrible and people do not have a lot of money to just throw at things like video game consoles anymore.

Michael Pacther, an analyst for Wedbush Morgan, believes that price will be the determining factor in the console wars and that price will be the reason Microsoft will come out on top. “The reason I think Microsoft wins, I think that you’re going to get a subsidy. So I think the price for the next Xbox is going to be subsidised either by a cable TV company or an internet service provider,” he states. “I think ISPs have a reason, if you add broadband to get the next Xbox, we’ll give it to you for 100 bucks. If you subscribe to our cable TV and sign up for a couple of years, we’ll give you the next Xbox for 100 bucks.”

While price will definitely play an important role in the coming console wars, there are other things to consider. The casual gamer has become a force to be reckoned with and developers are starting to realize that. Casual gamers prefer things like instant downloads of cheap, easy and fun games along with the ability to use their console as a multimedia device to watch movies, Netflix, television shows, network and keep up with the news. When you boil it all down, it will be about variety and the ability to use the console for a plethora of things that will determine the victor of this console wars.

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Source: TGDaily – Why the Xbox 720 (Next) will win the console wars