Basically sooner rather than later. If they announce the price before Sony, how does that benefit them?
Striking first and effectively could literally change things around for them at this point. Going second just to undercut them anyways but with as little loss as they can just doesn't compare.
You seem to think that they have no choice but to announce the price after Sony, maybe MS thinks it as well. But the worst case scenario is the XSX being the same price as the PS5 because realistically Sony doesn't need to be cheaper. I have no idea what the internal discussion is like for MS but maybe they think even having the XSX the same price as the PS5 would be too tough for them to compete with and thats why they are holding out like this.
Remember, the XSX was revealed
8 months ago versus the PS5 being revealed only 2 months ago. I think they should take control of the situation and just go low on the pricing to make their consoles as attractive as possible.
Can they not show off games, get hype going, talk about Game Pass deals coming without talking about the price?
Wasn't that exactly what the July Xbox Showcase was about? That didn't do much despite the many GP additions. There is only so much they can talk about Game Pass when they have a premium console and another open secret console that hasn't been announced and neither have a price in sight.
It is a little bizarre that MS has so much price anxiety when the XSS being significantly weaker than the PS5 and XSX already gives them the entry point price edge.
It honestly feels like Sony is making them sweat it out to effectively give them as little time to market as they can. I doubt they have any intention of being the cheaper competitor when they have so much going for them with their first party games like Miles Morales.
It seems like their goal was always to announce the price after Sony did, that's a major reason of the Series S console. Announcing it to create some possible short-term hype which be counteracted by Sony doesn't seem to be the best move imo.
They gain nothing from announcing the price ASAP, but there is the possibility of waiting a bit longer and seeing what happens.
That was the goal just like having Halo Infinite day one on the XSX was the goal, but the dominoes aren't falling as they intended. Right now it feels like they should throw down the gauntlet and price their hardware in a way that is too good to pass up. It is the only area left that they can turn into a huge win, and they know they have to be cheaper anyways.
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