10 Ways The PS4 Has Systematically Destroyed The Xbox One

9. Playing The Nostalgia Card

Unless you're Nintendo and have built an empire out of character-based legacy and goodwill, playing the nostalgia card so overtly can only be done once.

Granted, Sony have since realised the staying power of their biggest mascots, reviving Crash Bandicoot, WipeOut and Shadow of the Colossus within the same year, but this gets around the fact that whilst Microsoft were faffing about with the Kinect, Sony were honing their "For the players" messaging.

Now, it's very interesting to read about "intertextuality" (the idea of 'trading off of' recognisable imagery and pop culture ephemera) as a means to understand why the idea of seeing the original PlayStation symbol 'means' something, but this is precisely why Sony's tactic worked. The PS3 for the most part was a disaster; a glorified blu-ray machine that forced millions of consumers to jump-ship to the 360 - though that cultural cache of brand loyalty didn't go away.

All Sony had to do was remind everyone why they loved their PS1s and PS2s (childhood consoles for two specific generations, no less) and we all came running back, no questions asked.