In a bizarre twist, it looks like there's been a real world blowback against Microsoft since their unveiling of their future console, the Xbox One, and it goes far beyond online ranting and raving.
Wii U sales have rocketed on Amazon U.K. since Microsoft unveiled the new system. According to MyNintendoNews, the Wii U console was ranked at 390th in Amazon U.K.'s sales ranks. But shortly after the reveal, the Wii U leapt to 40th. That's a jump of over 800 percent. It's dropped a little since then, sitting at the 51 spot, but it's still very impressive.
The jump could be the result of consumer disappointment in Microsoft's new system. Even a number of developers had some harsh sentiment towards the Xbox One.
While it may not be as high as Amazon U.K.'s numbers, the system is also expected to perform better in the US since retailer giant Target recently cut the system's price by $60.
While the Wii U's increased sales numbers could be attributed to the price cut rather than the new Xbox reveal, there was at least one direct consequence.
Sony stock dropped a bit prior to the Xbox One reveal, but rose dramatically once the presentation was over, more than making up for the loss. According to IGN on the day of the reveal, "Sony's stock closed today at 22.91 points, nearly two points higher than it was eight hours before. That's good for a 9.25 percent jump in Sony's market price, an outrageous jump that many companies would kill for. Then again, with such a low market valuation, such jumps aren't unheard of for companies in Sony's position." As of 11 a.m. East Coast time Sony (SNE) gave up most of those gains and was down at 20.86.
Some have pointed to Microsoft's focus on the console itself, rather than the future games as the reason for the disappointment over the new system. Promising to focus more on the library at E3, it remains to be seen if Microsoft can help spark a bit more interest in the new console. But for the time being, it looks like Sony has the upper hand.