Consumers also worried about the requirement for the new console to always be switched on and connected to the internet, especially with an always-on 3D camera and microphone. How much internet bandwidth would it use, and how would privacy be affected? In one of the most stunning corporate turnarounds seen, Microsoft changed its mind about the whole lot: no restrictions on used game sales, no need to be always-on and always connected to the internet, and no requirement to have the Kinect camera plugged in at all times. They even went a step further in recent weeks, announcing that the Xbox One could now be bought without the Kinect at all, bringing its price down by $100. In a business world that values decisiveness and mocks those who change their mind or admit mistakes, these were all risky moves, but Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice-president at Microsoft and one of the primary minds behind the Xbox One's direction and marketing, disagrees. "In a way it's tough, but in another way it's not tough at all," he told Fairfax Media at the recent E3 video games expo in Los Angeles. "I mean, being accused of listening to your customers and adjusting to their feedback? In my mind, that's a good problem to have.

"Sure, you'd like to be able to get everything right the first time, but I think it's better to be able to be responsive." Mehdi also feels that consumers are warming to this willingness to admit they have misjudged the market and are willing to change their minds. "In the beginning I think we had some of those criticisms, like, 'oh you're changing, you're reversing positions'," he admitted. "I think we've now shown our customers, hey, we're going to respond, we're going to adjust. I think if we back that up with continued innovation, it's something we can feel really good about." Mehdi lists some of the recent additions to the Xbox One's feature set. "Just in the past couple of months we've added Twitch support, real name support and external hard drives, plus we've freed up resources in the GPU for developers." The final item refers to system RAM that was reserved for Kinect processing which has now been opened up for other uses by game studios. Mehdi explains that this is already paying dividends, with Halo creators Bungie announcing a visual upgrade on Xbox One for their highly anticipated new game Destiny.

"Hearing Bungie say they're going to get Destiny to 1080p and 30 frames a second like it is on all other platforms, that's pretty fantastic. "We came to E3 very humble, hungry and focused," Mehdi says. "We're going to continue like that as we go forwards." Following Microsoft's announcement that they would be selling the Xbox One without Kinect, industry analysts were quick to predict an uptick in sales. "This change will be enough to push the Xbox One installed base higher than PS4 in the US and Canada in 2015 rather than 2016," IDC research manager Lewis Ward told GamesIndustry International. " It kind of reminds me of Microsoft's evolution on Windows and IE. The initial design needs some serious help ... and then improves to point of being a serious contender."

The Xbox One is in second place behind Sony's PlayStation 4, with five million units sold worldwide compared to the PS4's seven million. Gamers considering the purchase of a new video game console will be watching this race with interest. Will Microsoft be remembered as indecisive and fickle, or – as Mehdi hopes – as responsive and adaptable? Will the reversal on Kinect really help Xbox One's sales? Only time will tell. DexX is on Twitter: @jamesjdominguez