I thought this article was interesting - if only because it's so contrary to the general internet sentiment at the moment.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/the-console-war-isnt-about-gamers-anymore

Some of the quotes that stuck out for me that deserve comment/were interesting/controversialt:

I hesitate to call the thing a game console, any more than I’d call a tricked-out PC a game console. It is an impressive device that does a lot of interesting things

People are talking about PS4 as if it represents some kind of moralcommitment to gamers by Sony. That’s ridiculous. Gamers have been good to Sony in the past and Sony has made a short-term bet that they can still buoy an expensive consumer device.

Looking at the X1 as a closed PC system and less a traditional console is the common perspective.

thanks for sharing, was an interesting read. Really stoked to see what the future brings.

Gamers buy consoles. It's never a case of wowow, I've got this video and music machine that also plays games. It's a games machine that does extras. PS3: It's a game machine and also has a blu-ray. Microsoft are trying to sell a car based on the radio... and cup holders if you're from USA. Do not underestimate the power of the cup holder, they taught us that on Top Gear.

The iPhone does many things besides calling people. It's still referred to as a phone. The same principle applies here.

If you don't play games would you buy it? No. So it is still about people who play games.

@nictel: Although many people in a household use Xbox's and PS3's for everything but playing games, will households without someone buying it as a games device still buy it for themselves? It seems as if the the story that MS's usage data may not tell is that the primary decision maker for that purchase will buy it primarily for games, and the household will benefit from that purchase.

I say "may" because I don't actually know this for sure.

@brendan: I would be willing to bet on that. I am an avid gamer and consider anything a console does besides games to be like the lettuce and tomato on a bacon cheeseburger. However my wife never plays games but often uses my PS3 for Blu-rays and steaming and never for games. But she would never spend the money for one when most Blu-rays now play Blu-rays and stream for a lot cheaper.

I've come to the realization over the last couple days is the sad truth about the gaming console business, is that this last gen was the last gen of consoles.

Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. None have made a profit over the last ten years on consoles. Individually they've had profitable years but those years added all together they are well in the red.

I guess it make sense they'd all move on in their own ways. Nintendo with underpowered cheaper machines, PS4 as a streaming device and X1 as a multimedia device.

Well it is called a smartphone. So in this spirit I hereby call the X1 a smartconsole!

I'll admit, it seems like a great multimedia device, but to pay $60 a year just to use it as such is ridiculous.

The difference is you can do whatever you like on a tricked-out PC, not whatever Microsoft wants you to do.

That article would have more merit if it addressed the fact that game publishers exist, that they exist to make a profit, and that none can make a profit on one or two releases each per year. Reads like a tech guy writing about a game console.