MS lacks some first party developpment power. They have the exclusives, which is great, but that is gone once the contract is over... All will have to be done again next gen.
Now I admit that myself I saw the XBOX as a POS and only came to consider it when it was apparent that sony was exactly on the same strategy.... but with a price above the moon. Though the initial price of the 360 and the +10€ price of the games makes me not buy anything on release day in the HD segment.
What MS did is position itself as a real player in the industry, not just a moneyhated experiment. Sony at the same time gave them credibility by playing the exact same hand they did... so yes MS is getting close to Sony, but the first party and the prior success of the PS brand still keeps them appart. MS is not even close to Nintendo though....
(You can't either say MS is like sega... cause there again, sega had a very healthy set of first party developpment that really set their consoles asside).
The answer to your question will probably come next gen.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
