Evidence, please? Lots of 3rd parties are flocking to the system, which would imply that they firmly expect to make money off the console. They may not outsell many NIntendo games, but as I said earlier, one does not need to be a top 10 game to turn a profit (especially when you consider how little was seemingly invested in early Wii games).

Perfect Dark is one of Rare's big IPs (hey! why's my text so big?). It helped fill the need of a known FPS in the launch window, as Halo 3 (and new IP GoW) was over a year away.

Conker (ah! that's better) was a huge disappointment on the N64 (in terms of sales, not quality), and the remake didn't fare well either.

Banjo Kazooie was a hit on the N64, but not a blockbuster, selling less than did Perfect Dark, and I don't believe that Banjo-Tooie even managed to break 1m. There is no real reason to believe BK (whom I love dearly) are adequate mascots to build a console around.

What's left? Blast Corps? Jet Force Gemini? They have even less pull than Conker. Killer Instict? It's been over a decade since the last installment, and a lot of air has done out of the fighting genre since then.

Really when you look at Rare's history, they've always done best (in terms of sales) with other companies' licenses: Goldeneye, Donkey Kong Country, Diddy Kong Racing. They've not had a real hit since Perfect Dark, and even their once spot on quality has proven inconsistent.  It seems to me that more gamers are interested in seeing classic rare games on the VC than they are in any new titles under development. If Banjo Kazooie 3 fails to take off, I wouldn't be suprised to see the the whole company disappear.

 Honestly I'm not sure mascots really matter so much anymore. Crash never really took off as hoped, Sonic couldn't save Sega, and I'm not sure anyone thinks of Jak & Dexter or Ratcher & Clank as the face of the Playstation, the way we do Mario and Nintendo, Sonic and Sega, or Master Chief and Microsoft.

 The fact that Microsoft didn't make sure prior to launch that they would have enough units available is their fault and their fault alone.

The PS3 wasn't available in Europe until four months after launch, but again, that's Sony's own fault.

If you re-read my post, I wasn't talking about mascots so much as a diversified game lineup. Rare can make a decent platformer, Kameo wasn't bad and had potential but there should have been a Banjo game in its place.

MS needs some mre platformers. 

 madskillz you're a true fanboy (just like me) :)

Why do you think MS and Sony will fight by pissing money away? They are in this business to MAKE money not to loose money. Also Sony has $11B in cash and MS has $23B in cash, none of them will run out of cash anytime soon. On top of that both companies are profitable. Yes, Sony is profitable, even with the huge losses from PS3.

Anyway if you really believe MS is in this fight to win at any cost... dream on man. We are the one's that want 360 or PS3 to win at any costs. MS and Sony just want to make their businesses profitable and make money. That is why they created the consoles in first place.

 But I'm happy to see that even you now say "360's lead over the PS3 may evaporate" even if you think that will force MS to drop prices "until Sony is bleeding". I think MS will rather drop the ball on the 360 than lose much more money on it. Making Sony bleed but bleeding too is not how MS makes money at all.

But I'm sure MS will drop prices, but so will Sony. The price drops will be modest and not radical like most people may think. I expect 360 to drop $50 on the low end and $100 on the high end. The same I expect from Sony.

So I can see an Arcade at $229 and an Elite at $349 but I also expect a 40Gb PS3 at $349 and a 80Gb at $399 about the same time and both cuts before next Thanksgiving. And at the same price the 40Gb PS3 is still the better value, smaller HD but has WiFi, bluetooth and Blu-ray.

 I suggest you buy a PS3 but I know you will not. I have a feeling you had an Xbox last gen and never bought a PS2 to enjoy all the freaking great games on it. Am I correct? What was the best PS2 game you ever played? Did you miss out on all those great games just to enjoy Halo/Halo 2?

Price cuts will hurt both companies bottom lines, not only Sony's. You think MS has unlimited money to throw at their Xbox division? They have a lot of money ($23B in cash) but they have to manage it in such a way it produces more money and not piss it away. They are down $7B already in their Xbox business, I think they want to be on the black for a change.

PS: Sony also has $11B in cash so none of them will run out of money any time soon. 

krik sony will be bleeding non stop if they plan to keep up with 360, i highly doubt another price drop in the spring, they would recieve alot of crap for it. 3 price drops in 1 and a half years? Unlikely and would look terrible

They are already losing alot of money they dont want to make it worse

xbox last in worldwide sells, halo 3, biggest advertised game in and out

ps3 sales for first year around or more then xbox 360 sales for their first year while xbox 360 was the only next-gen out.

wii sells sometimes triple or double the sells of xbox or ps3 in worldwide sells

i would love to see the 360 drop 100 bucks down to $250 by mid-2008. cuz then i'd actually buy one! but also it'd just be interesting to see what ps3 would hit back with. i'm guessing sony can't afford to drop prices any lower than they are till next fall. anyway i think the ps3 will cut into 360's 7 million unit lead little by little (not necessarily every week or even every month but overall yes) but 7 million is a huge difference when you are talking about two systems that are both selling slowly. i'd say by end of 2009 ps3 might be in striking range probably only 2-3 million down from 360. ps3 will never catch 360 in NA and probably won't close the gap beyond what it is at now but it should pass 360 in Others in about a year.