Without question, Microsoft's decision to get the 360 to market early and their hard work getting 3rd parties on board have assured that it will outperform its predecessor by a substantial margin. Breaking out of the NA market is definately the next long-term goal for the platform, but the 360 can only really set the stage for the next Xbox in that regard.
In the short-term, the next test for 360 will be GTA4. There's no doubt that it will sell excellently, but the question is whether it will move more units than the PS3 release. And perhaps more importantly, will it sell more hardware than the PS3 release? If GTA4 is a system seller for PS3, but doesn't push people to buy 360s in similar numbers, it could be a sign that 360 is close to market saturation.
"The worst part about these reviews is they are [subjective]--and their scores often depend on how drunk you got the media at a Street Fighter event." — Mona Hamilton, Capcom Senior VP of Marketing
*Image indefinitely borrowed from BrainBoxLtd without his consent.
