The OG Xbox One came from a x360 "winning" generation (in terms of exposure to the media) and therefore was not seen as a console to stay away from...or anyway linked to some negative prejudiceAre you acting like XB1 in its original form didn't consistently struggle to hit an industry standard 1080p, and wasn't priced $100 more than the PS4?
I think that was one of the biggest sticking points and what made appearances worse for Xbox.
The only way that power becomes a problem next-gen for Sony or Microsoft is if either of the two are aiming for a 4k/60fps baseline and it then becomes a problem for developers looking to achieve that on hardware that was built in a way that means it cannot effectively do that. Can you see either of these things being a problem for either Sony or Microsoft next-gen, and even if MS has better hardware it's only going to be a problem for those who feel the need to follow up with some kind of senseless retribution act for how XB1 was judged this generation for how it was severely underpowered for a generation. Which would be off base and completely ridiculous. PS5 won't be underpowered because of a multimedia "broad entertainment" focus, like the XB1 was. Both will be focused machines.
Surely the price ... the always online, and the DRM fiasco have been a fundamental part of its horrible launch but to exclude the power gap as a relevant factor means to want to blindfold and not want to see the reality. I could put my hand on the fire that we will see the same speeches at the launch of the new consoles. People want to be sure they have bought the best they could with their money (always staying in an acceptable price target)
The OG One Xbox had only around 500 gflops of difference from its Sony counterpart..and it was enough to being annihilated by all the outlets on the internet ... even Edge came out with a cover that clearly said to buy the PS4 ....
"Resolutiongate" broke out on the forums and Digital Foundry was launching gasoline on the fire (rightly) showing differences of 900p vs 1080p in multiplatform titles ... so as to almost make the world of gamers cry out to the scandal.
With the usual eco chamber before the launch of the new consoles we will know who will be the most "powerful" and people begin to talk about it .... the outlets to write ... and digital foundry like all the others to say why one is better of the other ..: To the average user will arrive so the news that the prox COD will turn better on the console Y or Z and depends on the price make its choice (obviously linked to other things ... services ... digital library etc. etc. )