I'm mystified by what the PS3 has been able to accomplish this year. It should have been a horrible year when you consider that it was one of the worst for AAA exclusives, especially given that the 360 had the one-two punch of Halo 4 and CoD.
I think those who believe the brand to be in a serious state of decline are wrong. Sony made so many mistakes early in this generation; that people are still buying Playstations tells me that the support and recognition are still there. People still want what the Playstation name brings to the table--if they're honest with themselves, that is.
I voted for the "multiple factors" choice. Cheaper price, great value-added bundles, better advertising, PS+, hype over upcoming games, and the fact that it's built such a varied library of games all help to keep the PS3 on people's minds.
The 360 has had a fantastic life-cycle, don't get me wrong, but I think it's main weakness is the PS3's strength, which is the sheer number of exclusives that have accumulated over the years. That's a factor that really comes into play on the back end of the life-cycle. I believe it's the reason why the PS3 is so popular as "the second console".
