[foamdino]

As someone that spends a lot of time reading about games, gaming culture and gaming hardware, I can assert that the Xbox One is not the most impressive console of the next (soon to be launched) gen.

In terms of GPU hardware it is a reduced version of the PS4 GPU (50% fewer compute units).

As a package XBox One + Kinect 2 might be quite impressive, but in which markets? None of the TV integration technology works outside of the US (as far as anyone can tell).

Between PS4 and XBox One there are many similarities and a few differences - and in terms of console hardware they're both very impressive pieces of kit.

Microsoft's messaging has been atrocious though - a case study in how not to launch a games console.

[InclinedPlane]

Pure hardware performance has never been the deciding factor in any console generation. Most of the things that give the xbox one an edge are not apparent by merely looking at the console in its inert state, they are built into how the system works as a whole.