too early to tell but will just throw out some thoughts
I don't think the "hardcore" gamer will be the deciding factor on who wins the next as I believe it will be a drag out fight between the big 3; I'd give Ninty the edge here as if they're serious about becoming the platform for the core gamers, then best believe they will fight every major 3rd party title to at least be on their console. And this Is where I'd think MS will lose ground; what made the 360 such a success was what it did early this gen; with the Wii being considered the "Kiddy/Casual" console and the the PS3 with it's high price point and losing some major titles made the 360 a perfect semi-affordable console with a good and growing library.(and a year start did help as well) I just don't MS will have it easy in securing major 3rd party titles/DLC(besides CoD) with Ninty Supposedly going for the core gamers next and with Sony gaining some 3rd party support in the late half of this gen.
As for the price point I will give it to Sony(reluctantly) as I'm assuming Sony won't do a major overhaul on their next console as the PS3 has already show that has a alot of juice in the tank and hopefully they just make a few tweaks to the PS3 formula and we'll atleast see a $300-$350 model and hopefully they can make a profit off their system fast. don't get me wrong as I believe both Ninty and MS will also have their console in the $300 range, I just think that both the Wii and the 360 have shown more of their age this gen so far so more upgrades might be needed.
