I don't know if Microsoft will be first next gen(though I do believe they have the best chance)
I don't think MS will have to great start that it had this gen; retaining to its 3rd party support. what made the 360 such a force in NA and EU was it's stellar 3rd party support and nabbing from key exclusives from it's main competitor Sony. With Ninty supposedly going for the core gamers/3rd party support and Sony getting some good 3rd party titles/support later this gen might make it tougher for MS to just throw money around and aquire titles. And hopefully Sony won't have another disaster launch which made many people jump ship.
the only fear is that MS becomes to involved with their next console being more multi-media then what people actually buy their console for; GAMES, I say this because their recent E3 was kind of a drag and they spent too much time on all the networks/companies/etc. that will be included to their services and that's where I think MS might be playing with a little bit a fire here; most people interests in what MS in providing already have some these features on their Ipads/netbooks/ TV's/etc.(though granted they are integrating their features with these devices...and smartglass might take off)
The only thing I think MS needs to improve on is its first-party development, I think it's kind of a common thing that MS hasn't been particularly strong in this section in the later half of this gen....lets just hope that MS is saving up from next gen
though I think the Race will be real close this gen; maybe a 5-7 mil lead on whoever takes first place
