this thread is funny.

None of the HD-twins will crash and burn. MS sold 20 Million consoles, which is not that bad. Should be reaching the gamecube in the next 3 months or something. It will top the first Xbox by something around 15 million units at the end of the lifetime, which is not bad either. Well and MS just start making money with the Xbox360. Xbox-brand starts to grow and Microsoft finally made the step towards people's living-room. That was their target and they made it or are doing it right now.

And Sony? Well they had to suffer some losses, but they are selling pretty okay at this point. They got a huge and worthful brand, why the hell should they drop one of the biggest brands in the whole entertainment industry? okay, they won't top the PS2, but the PS2 is the biggest benchmark you can find.

The market is big enough for all three competitors.

Both HD consoles are backed by multinational corporations, so even if they lose $5 billions this generation, they will still have alot of money to spend.

Xbox 360 is doing significantly better than the first Xbox, so MS must be atleast pleased they've taken away a share off Sony.

PS3 is not doing good, but it pushed the Blu-ray format and the money loss of PS3 is being supported by PS2 and PSP's profits.

That's pretty bad considering he has only 16 posts.

Don´t agree with "crash and burn".....at least IMO, "crash and burn" is reserved for the likes of real failed systems (3DO,CD-I,Jaguar,etc..).

The 360 is selling better than the original Xbox, tons of 3rd party games are bought for it and even if/when the PS3 passes it, we´ll probably be just 1.5/2 years away from the next gen...in a nutshell, the 360 will remain a very viable platform...if not because of hardware sales, then due to the system being a heavy 3rd party software mover.

As for the PS3....yes it´s no PS2, at this point there´s no hope that it´ll be, but despite all the missteps by Sony, and considering everything against this system, it´s doing pretty good.

If these systems end up in the 40 million/50 million range, I´d personally consider it well done, given the circumstances....people just have been spoiled by the "OMG 100 million PS1s and PS2s".

well i have a feeling you could be right about the 360 dying, once sony gets the PSN up to par with xbox live the 360 won't have much of a niche anymore and its users will most likely leave it for ps3

the ps3 dying out its highly unlikely sony has unimaginably huge brand awareness and tons of exclusives coming out this year and next, neadless to say....playstation aint going anywhere!

I don't see it happening, at least not so long as virtually every new game is multiplatform between 360 and PS3. In order for one system to start dying off, you'd have to see a major migration of software onto one of the two platforms. And we've seen absolutely nothing like that - if anything, quite the opposite (fewer and fewer exclusives).

I still don't get why anywhere cares about the whole 360 vs. PS3 issue though. They share 90% of the same games, their actual exclusives are virtually identical (Halo vs. Resistance, Gran Turismo vs. Forza, etc.) and they both appeal to exactly the same demographics. Their competition is completely meaningless: this "war" is the biggest farce in gaming history. What exactly is at stake when both consoles continue to receive the exact same games?

Who said their market is shrinking? In the last 18 months, the HD console audience grew from roughy 10 million to over 30 million. And while the 360s weekly sales are down slightly, the PS3's robust rebound more than makes up for it. Moreover, each console is still priced out of the "average gamer"'s price range. Knock $100 off the price and I suspect you'll find a whole slew of gamers rushing to embrace at least one of them.

You are crazy...

Microsoft announced they won't make another xbox, playstation will never die, and wii might still lose this gen. It's been 1 year and a half still 8 and a half year sto go!

>.> hardcore ps3 owners and 360 owners all around the internet are very funny about the differences of the PS3 and xbox360.

Of course the ones who talk to most are he most sensative to the issue so they continue to talk as who they are talking to is also sensative to the issue and continues to talk. Each is talking up their console and putting down the other, but in the same breath fight to distinguish the differences between the two consoles in how they accept their console.

Both groups love their game engines but since nothing has been provided on either the PS3 or Xbox360 that can distinguish the two - straws are grabbed and used as data. They kind of put themselves in a catch22.

Truth be told as far as video games go and not technology PS3 is the exact same machine as the Xbox360 - that statement is before all distinguishing elements such as business motives and support from 3rd parties and again technology - none of those three things affect video games. People have been making games since their was a person on the earth, video games existed even in the form of pinball, checkers, monopoly and so on, 3rd parties do not define video games this entire thing about 3rd party support is just a amazing, and business at the mot intricate level can turn a video game into crap but it will still be a video game, just crappy.

anyway at the thread.

Wrong - Sony has more of a chance of dropping out that Microsoft as Microsoft wont drop out until Sony drops out. Microsoft lost around 7 billion dollars up to now in this industry but their guys have been cheering every day since 2004 as they watched Sony's profitability keep on dropping.

@Zen
I see it as Microsoft trying to reach the Wii's market before Sony goes for it - truely they believe Nintendo is a non-factor and isn't competeing, which would explain their constant phrases about co-existing.

Flatly wrong, almost certainly wrong, and no chance in hell. And despite Sony's protestations, this generation won't last another 8 years. The consoles will still hang about as the PS2 still does, but the new consoles will start hitting in 2010, in headlines if not actual store shelves.