TheGodling
Los Ingobernables de Sala de Cine
Now before you pull a 
stay with me for a sec.
At the time the Wii U was officially announced, it came with the revelation that rather than a true next-gen console, it would only be marginally better than a PS3/360, which put no real pressure on Sony or Microsoft to hurry up their next gen console because their current gens could easily compete with the Wii U for a couple of years.
While that might seem like it is a small thing, I think that's where Microsoft fukked up. While I'm sure they were already knee-deep in developing their next gen console, I think they started aiming for a later timeframe (like 2014) once they realized Nintendo would not be getting a headstart in the next gen console race, and assuming that Sony, who had still so many big PS3 releases set for 2013 (GOW: Ascension, The Last Of Us, Beyond: Two Souls) would also wait until 2014 for the next gen reveal.
Of course they miscalculated how much Sony was hurt from the PS3 release fukk-up that allowed Microsoft to have a full year head start, and how determined they were to not repeat that same mistake and thus made sure they would be getting a console out before Microsoft.
And the consequences are visible now. Microsoft scrambled to get their shyt together when they found out Sony was doing their big PS4 reveal in February and thus aiming for a late 2013 release (if they would've dropped it in 2014, they could've waited until E3 with the reveal so that was clearly done on purpose). And to not completely look flabby & sick, Microsoft quickly put out word they would do their own console reveal, which ended up taking place a mere two weeks before E3, pretty much showing that they were aiming for an E3 reveal but did a separate event to make it seem like they weren't struggling behind.
To get back to the point I'm trying to make, if Nintendo had delivered a more next-gen worthy console with the Wii U, I think Microsoft would've put more pressure on getting their next gen console out at a faster pace as to not run behind on both Sony and Nintendo. But because Nintendo proved to be no competition (in terms of hardware) they got too comfy while Sony was working hard to make up for their mistakes in the past.
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TL;DR version: Nintendo and Sony tag-teamed Microsoft, the first by lowering the expectations of their opponent and the latter by putting up twice the fight compared to their last match.
stay with me for a sec.At the time the Wii U was officially announced, it came with the revelation that rather than a true next-gen console, it would only be marginally better than a PS3/360, which put no real pressure on Sony or Microsoft to hurry up their next gen console because their current gens could easily compete with the Wii U for a couple of years.
While that might seem like it is a small thing, I think that's where Microsoft fukked up. While I'm sure they were already knee-deep in developing their next gen console, I think they started aiming for a later timeframe (like 2014) once they realized Nintendo would not be getting a headstart in the next gen console race, and assuming that Sony, who had still so many big PS3 releases set for 2013 (GOW: Ascension, The Last Of Us, Beyond: Two Souls) would also wait until 2014 for the next gen reveal.
Of course they miscalculated how much Sony was hurt from the PS3 release fukk-up that allowed Microsoft to have a full year head start, and how determined they were to not repeat that same mistake and thus made sure they would be getting a console out before Microsoft.
And the consequences are visible now. Microsoft scrambled to get their shyt together when they found out Sony was doing their big PS4 reveal in February and thus aiming for a late 2013 release (if they would've dropped it in 2014, they could've waited until E3 with the reveal so that was clearly done on purpose). And to not completely look flabby & sick, Microsoft quickly put out word they would do their own console reveal, which ended up taking place a mere two weeks before E3, pretty much showing that they were aiming for an E3 reveal but did a separate event to make it seem like they weren't struggling behind.
To get back to the point I'm trying to make, if Nintendo had delivered a more next-gen worthy console with the Wii U, I think Microsoft would've put more pressure on getting their next gen console out at a faster pace as to not run behind on both Sony and Nintendo. But because Nintendo proved to be no competition (in terms of hardware) they got too comfy while Sony was working hard to make up for their mistakes in the past.
_____________________________________
TL;DR version: Nintendo and Sony tag-teamed Microsoft, the first by lowering the expectations of their opponent and the latter by putting up twice the fight compared to their last match.
