Heading into the launches of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, most analysts are predicting that the sales tally will be close to equal.

The PS4 has the current lead in terms of pre-orders but that lead has been dwindling for several months, and after Microsoft rescinded those policies that everyone hated (but nobody should ever forget ), the Xbox One has been rising. Still, there's no doubt that currently, the PS4 has the edge.

We know the launch lineups and we're aware of the contrasting interfaces, available services, controllers, etc. So what else is left that could have a significant impact on the first six months of sales? Could it be reliability? Is it possible that either the PS4 or Xbox One could end up with a significant issue that deters consumers from buying the console? Historically, launch systems have always had issues; both Xbox consoles sucked – and in the case of the 360, continued to suck for many years – in terms of reliability, and the PS2 had that problem of scratching discs in the vertical position. That issue was resolved relatively quickly, though.

With reliability being a question for all new hardware, maybe this is the X factor. Maybe this is what we have to think about. Then again, as both consoles are using pretty common off-the-shelf PC components, we're hoping that both will be pretty darn sturdy. That being said, I'll still be getting a warranty with my PS4.