This post, found on the official Xbox forums, was not made by me but echoes what many gamers (including me) now believe to be true. Yes, it’s more Microsoft -vs- Sony discussion about who will “win” the next-gen console war. It’s a great read and that’s why it is here. For all of you to read and leave your thoughts.

The Big Lie (another 360/PS3 post)
Posted: 05-24-2005 10:17 PM
If you don’t like 360/PS3 posts, don’t read this, and don’t complain about it….you were warned….

In the past week, Sony’s strategy for the upcoming console war has become clear….actually, it was pretty clear to some people as soon as MS let the existence of the 360 leak at GDC this past January. It became very clear that Sony was going to be late to market, and they knew it. MS had quietly shipped dev kits out early in 2004, and Sony got caught a little flatfooted. They scrambled to get their dev kits ready for developers (Epic, for example, only just got theirs in March). Some Sony developers apparently still don’t have kits yet.

Sony is faced with a well-funded, software-intensive opponent who has proven they can have a “triple-A killer app system-seller” at a system launch. This opponent has 160 games in development and has the intention to stick around for the long term (and the money to do so). So what can Sony do to stop them?

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Most people have been trying to predict the next-gen console war winner
on their graphics capability alone. This, my friends, is a mistake.

You only have to look at the current generation of systems to see that
the most powerful console does not always equal the most market share.
The current Xbox is much more capable than the PS2 but, despite that
fact, Sony was the clear “winner” when it comes to market share in the
current generation. Nintendo’s GameCube, which is also more capable
graphically than the PS2, is a distant third. It should be obvious that
it takes more than mere muscle to come out on top.

The next round of console wars is almost upon us. All three hardware
manufacturers are trying to position their next-gen system as being
“the one”. Now, more than ever, it will take more than snazzy graphical
effects and beatiful scenery to end up in first place. All three
systems, no matter what anyone tells you, will be more than capable
enough to produce incredible graphics, smart a.i., and huge gaming
worlds. The “big three” will need to offer something above and beyond
graphics to convince gamers that they should spend their hard-earned
dollars on their console. This is where I think  Microsoft will
have an advantage over Nintendo & Sony.

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