Are you sure about that? Would like some proof please, as i'm pretty sure the PS3 will be higher WW without NA, while being $100 more expensive too.

What helped the 360 more than anything was Sony's own stupidity and arrogance. Launching at $600, for example, when the next best thing was $200 cheaper (maybe more) at the time. Along with having all the best quality 3rd party titles on the system. Add in the factor of the one year head start. Oh, and probably the luckiest pricecut ever, cutting it to mass market price as a recession was starting.

No doubt at all it has brand power, but i don't yet think it matches the PS brand name.

The xbox is approximately equal to the PS3
Zune is laughable compared to the PSP (as a gaming machine, they're ok mp3 players from what I hear)
MS's first party studios (even including those who work on the PC) cannot hold a candle to Sony's

So no

No..

Playstation sells WAYY more software than XBOX, and sells WAYY more hardware, every part of the world..

so Playstation is still a much bigger brand than Xbox, and always has been.

But what big global appeal brand has come out of Sony's First party?

Sure, if you compare Microsoft's best effort, 360, to Sony's worst, PS3, then they're equal.

But Microsoft has thrown billions of dollars at the Xbox brand and has yet to equal the success of any of the winning consoles over the years. 360 might outsell Super Nintendo by the end of its run, but it will have had more time on the market than SNES. I guess it will also outsell Atari, but that system was released over 30 years ago to a market that didn't even exist yet.

Xbox has achieved some nice things but if it weren't for Microsoft's big bucks it would have died long ago.

If you want to be technical then yes , sony does way more software and hardware than MS BUT that is only because they have 3 platforms on the market compared to MS having only one......if you want to evaluate brand power you need to compare both of them on an equal platform and that is comparing the 360 and ps3.

The 360 sells more software and has a higher market penetration than the ps3......that is the jist of my logic.

No. Youre way is just spin. How does the Ps2 and Psp which still sell not count here?

I think I can agree with you if we just compare PS3 AND XBOX 360, in the U.S MARKET mainly, many view it as an equal choice or even a superior choice to playstation, but that does not mean everyone else thinks the same..

Clearly though microsoft did elevate themselves greatly in the U.S market, SONY brougth themselves down with the 599 ps3.

It depends how their Windows Mobile 7 launch and the gaming service which is going alone with that does also. If things are just mediocre then they would be about equal with Sony considering they hardly sell games on the PS2/PSP anyway and if things go well then they will be an even bigger brand in gaming. At present they are smaller though.

GT is technically a sports game using licensed vehicles , normally I dont consider it because it uses licensed vehicles but for this case I will.

Is GT the only game that sony's first party has made with global appeal with that many years on the market.........and besides Halo isnt only a brand in gaming , it is also on TV and Novel....that in essence makes it a bigger brand than GT technically but in gaming only yes GT is a bigger brand than halo which is what this is about.