Sony Just Won the First Real Skirmish of the Next Console War

Nintendo won the early rounds of the last console wars, followed by Microsoft as Xbox prices dropped and the Kinect made its presence known. Despite attractive features like a fully functional Blu-ray player, Sony largely missed the boat entirely. The Japanese electronics giant was hurt by unfortunate pricing decisions that made you reach for the cheaper (but less impressive) rival systems instead.

The new Nintendo system has failed to repeat the Wii's massive success, leaving Microsoft and Sony to do battle over the video-game throne in 2013. At this week's E3 conference, Microsoft appears to have copied Sony's mistakes, while the PlayStation 4 benefits from the hard-won lessons of recent years. Both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 look like eminently usable machines, but is the Xbox One really worth $100 more than the Sony system? Plenty of consumers will probably think it's not.

In the following video, Fool contributor Anders Bylund walks you through the E3 action, explaining why Sony's low prices and Microsoft's draconian content control systems make Sony the early favorite.

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The article Sony Just Won the First Real Skirmish of the Next Console War originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Anders Bylund holds no position in any company mentioned. Check out Anders' bio and holdings, or follow him on Twitter and Google+.The Motley Fool recommends Nintendo and owns shares of Microsoft. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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