| my 2 cents
Price
for some people 600 bucks is not that big of a deal. My xbox 360 cost me 600 after all the accessories and 2 games (core 399.00 + hd 99.99 + 3 wireless controlers + remote and hd connector). And even with that price point there were still lines to pick it up.
But at a 500/600 pricepoint with no games in the box sony might have an issue if the xbox360 drops it's price another 100 bucks for the xmas season.
for average households (44,000) thats a lot of money. I have talked to a few parents and they think the xbox360 is a lot. Ask them to spend another 100-200 bucks (or 200-300 if they drop the price) on another console and xbox360 starts looking better on the shelf.
even if microsoft does not drop the price and instead bundles 2 games (pgr3 and another for example) your still looking at a 100-200 dollar diffrence in price and not having to buy as many games.
BlueRay vs. HDDVD
As far as blueray as a reason to buy the ps3, you will be able to get a hddvd player addon for the xbox360. So for people like me I get one for 200-250 bucks. Granted you cannot play games from it but my thought is more games are going to start using hd space on the consoles rather than the disk (ffx for example)
If Microsoft comes out with another hd at 200 gigs then the size of the content becomes less of an issue (other than the 30 min it will take to load up the game the first time)
Games
exclusive games will start being less of an issue for what console is better. For example one of the biggest exlusives for ps2 was the gta games. Coming out 1 year before they were on the xbox. Now gta4 is going to be released for both consoles at the same time.
Granted sony games like god of war and others are going to be a + for that system but fable2 (don't laugh) and Halo3 are looking good as well. Gears of war is looking like its going to be the game to combat the ps3 launch and nobody thinks thats not going to be a huge seller.
Online
xbox live is good and sounds like it is only getting better. classic arcade games like streetfighter online and the new deal with Mame is going to be cool. some of its restrictions are preventing games from coming over to the xbox360 (an interview said WOW won't due to how xboxlive works) so thats the space Sony can try to get some ground on them.
As far as Sonys online goes we will have to see how it works and then write about it. My guess is that its viewed as a money maker rather than a feature. The last thing I want to do is buy music that only plays on my ps3. The biggest reason for me not getting a psp is the fact that movies cost as much on that as they do on dvd. To me thats being greedy.
Power
There is no denying that the PS3 has a stronger core. But people do not take into effect the xbox360's advantages like chip embedded ram and larger l2 memory. We also forget that the stronger console does not make for a automatic win. First to market is a huge advantage.
Conclusion
I have too much time on my hands.
In the end price, games and timing will be what console "wins" for me (microsoft fanboy) i see that the xbox 360 has at least 2 out of 3. Games by sony currently seem to have the upper edge over MGS. if this changes then you will see the xbox360 win.. if not I think sony will see success but not as large as it was with ps2 vs xbox . | 