Xbox One Announcement Sends Rival Sony Stock Soaring

In a possibly unwelcome sign for Micorsoft, gaming rival Sony — which produces the Playstation console — saw it's stock price soar immediately after Microsoft unveiled its new gaming console — the Xbox one.

Microsofts stock, on the other hand, dipped.

During a special event at the company's Redmond, Washington, headquarters on Tuesday, Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One. 

Voice recognition is central to the new Xbox. Saying "Xbox on" turns on the hardware to power up an instant-on system with a new Home dashboard that is near-identical to Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system. You're able to use the Xbox to play games, watch live TV, watch videos, surf the internet, and even Skype.

It's all voice-controlled.

Wow. Next-gen indeed.

But immediately around the time of the Microsoft announcement at 1 p.m. EDT, Sony saw a jump in their stock, amounting in about a 10% rise before trailing off a bit.

Microsoft, on the other hand, saw their stock slide: 

:-( 

Both the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One will be available during the holiday season. The console wars are on, and both companies are seeking to spark a fan base with exciting new technology and a completely re-imagined video game experience. PS4 will seek to be a gaming hub of sorts, true to past consoles. Xbox One on the other hand will seek to be an all-inclusive master entertainment hub, not limited just to gaming.

About 63% of the U.S. population plays video games, while about 70% of the world plays video games. But, as the Wall Street Journal reports, console gaming in general is declining. But console games like Halo, Skyrim, Call of Duty, and Grand Theft Auto off more compelling gameplay, graphics, and story lines then whatever new version of Tetris being pedaled at the App Store. There is a demand for high-quality games.

Does Sony have an advantage, selling PlayStation 4 as a purely gamer-centric box? As Wired explains: "If the mainstream consumer doesn’t buy in to Microsoft’s vision of a grand unified set-top box that pulls your live TV feed in and does witchcraft to it, then maybe Sony’s grand overtures towards those who identify as gamers will have been worth it."

Here is an awesome look under the Xbox 1 hood, for what it's worth.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to remove language that was used without attribution to The Verge and the Wall Street Journal. We apologize to our readers for this violation of our basic editorial standards. Mic has put in place new mechanisms, including plagiarism detection software, to ensure that this does not happen in the future.