After all the shit MS took about being weaker at launch and the lengths they then went to to ensure they later had "the most powerful console ever," it seems inconceivable that they would again launch with the weaker box. But that's apparently what will happen? I haven't been keeping up with this stuff closely.
Even if the performance difference is imperceivable, simply all the negative PR about beaing weaker than PS5 will be an anchor. I would've thought Phil was going to make it absolute priority #1 to have that bragging right, no matter how much it truly matters.
You would imagine that he'll be asked in every interview he does "You made such a big deal just months ago about being the most powerful but have now released a weaker machine than you competition. Why is that?"
If Xbox ends up being the weaker console of the two, it will be by a delta of about 15% at the maximum (from Matt's info about the differences between the two) and if that's the case, the marketing move is a simple one:
1) "This is the strongest console we've ever created"
2) "We have unique services and offerings such as GamePass and Xcloud"
3) "We have a plethora of first part studios that will be releasing content on our platform"
You can already see most of these talking points out in the wild, so to speak, already. There will not be large amounts of negative PR if the two systems are so close together power wise. Any executive above D-tier is capable of handling the PR speak regarding differentials between their competition and Spencer is no exception. He's also not going to be asked in every interview about having the weaker console, because that isn't reality.
Someone IS going to have the "weaker" console between the two of them, and no matter if its Sony or Microsoft, they'll just focus on their unique value propositions rather than being the "strongest". Advertising yourself as the "strongest" never amounted to all that much anyways in the past gens (without factoring in a number of other things), and the niche few who care about that extra small amount of power will just pick up the more powerful revision down the road instead.
You don't fight in a market as diverse as the video game industry for one talking point, you fight for multiple. This idea that a large amount of non-enthusiasts actually care about minute power differences (and minute power differences is the ONLY thing they care about) is frankly insane.
You can't win every battle when you make a new product, so you fight PR wise on the fronts you think your product is stronger. Power is just one of the many spokes in that wheel and one, in the past, that has proven to not be a large factor in buying decisions for the greater market. This is ESPECIALLY true heading into next gen, where the first priority for both Sony and Microsoft will be keeping their current customers locked into their ecosystems while trying to acquire new customers from other ecosystems/the greater market.
