There are several reasons to buy a 360 over a PS3. Why would someone pay more for the same experience? Why not wait for the potential to be realized, then buy it? Potential is on thing - fruition is something completely different.

Even based on track record, the PS2 and the PS3 are completely different machines. One had a strong library, tons of exclusives and a jump on the Xbox. One has a library, few exclusives and a delayed start. Based on this alone, with different ingredients, you get different results. Put another way, you can have a killer recipe, but if you don't have the correct ingredients, brand be damned, but you will NOT have the same cake as described in the recipe. The PS3 may share some of the same features and characteristics of the PS2, but mind you, it's not the PS2, nor will it ever be.

The PS3 is a Playstation only in name. Without its core value, it's the best Blu Ray player on the market that happens to play games.

If the PS3 was released without BR, it would be a different ballgame altogether. 

Say that, elnino. It's like watching a football team, though they were champs last year, getting buried by a strong team the next year. If you are the winning team, you can rest your starters eventually, but you won't let up on the former champs. You know what they are capable of, but since you are on top, you can adjust your defense accordingly.

MS has been in the business of making money for ages. They know how to weather storms. It's a lot like stocks. The investors in for the long term won't gamble on the short-term gains and losses. They'll ride it out. Like MS. So what is Sony beat them a few weeks in the charts. They aren't worried. So what if Sony beats them one year. They know they can't win every battle, but they are in it to win it. Trust me, MS will do another price cut and erase their measly Sony gains.

This is spoken from a journalist and business man, not an Xbox fanboy, so if you wanna post and call me a fanboy, I will not respond to your rant. 

And you are basing this on ... 

I have an Xbox and a PS2. I enjoy both of them. And I am a winner even if I went with my PS2 or with my Xbox. I love Fable, Halo and Halo 2, Counterstrike, Crimson Skies, and I am a fan of SOCOM, Ace Combat and other exclusives. The last gen made folks really pick sides. This generation, MS is the one in control. Reliability affects some potential customers, but not as many as folks think.

It's all about the games. Some folks love Ratchet and Clank, some love Bioshock and Mass Effect. It's not a stupid choice unless you are buying a console based on a brand.

Halo 3 is awesome, but the 360 is by no means a one-trick pony. The PS3 still needs exclusive content or graphics that completely descimate the 360, or folks will ask themselves 'Tell me why I am paying $200 more for a PS3?!"

You don't think the 360 is far ahead? The console has a 7 million plus lead, and it would have been even larger gap if Sony didn't take a few hits for the team and cut prices even further to make it a contest again. So, they have even bigger losses compared to MS doing one tiny price cut. From a business standpoint, I'd go with the company on top, with a 7M lead over brand any day. 

I enjoyed my Xbox - but with the Nvidia suit, and the rumor that MS used the Xbox to break into the gaming market for the 360 - it was time to go. That won't happen this time around with the 360. Being first to the market worked well for MS. No one could have predicted the Wii would be the beast it was, but even in light of that console, the 360 is still selling remarkably well, and going over 2 years with just one price cut is outstanding.

The Wii has a lower price point, a simple yet engaging game (Wiisports) and Bluetooth motion sensing, as well as built-in Wifi and Gamecube BC. It is an excellent value. But the word of mouth, plus the casual gaming aspect really propells the Wii's success. It's fun and soccer moms, grandparents and children have a console they can play together and not have to worry about achievements, online deathmatches and the like. Nintendo marketed this to get nongamers into the gaming fold. The 360, nor the PS3 can even compete with that. Plus, the motion remotes have RUMBLE (so last-gen, huh?).

The Wii isn't a hardcore gaming machine. It's built for folks who don't know the difference between a boss and leveling up, and yet offers hardcore gamers something as well.

MS realized this and released Viva Pinata and Scene It! (with some pretty cool controllers) to get folks over to the 360. It's working, but not even as fast as the Wii is. 

I agree. I owned them both, along with the PS3, 360, DC, PS1, 3DO... all the way back to Pong...

I have never bought a console I felt I wasted my money on. If someone today could find an old x-box, I am sure they can be happy with it. That's not the point I am making. The fact of the matter, is Sony sold 90 million more PS2's then MS sold of the XBox. That's not my opinion, it’s fact. That's what I am basing this on.

One day, one will stop selling, for whatever reason. It happens every generation. 

I agree with your post. The reason that Sony sold more PS2s was a variety of mixtures in this explosive cocktail.

1. The PS2 had full BC. If you owned a PS1, you could migrate your PS1 library to the PS2 without worry. That was definitely a huge plus for the PS2.

2. the PS2 had the head start. The Xbox had good numbers, but had to play catch up, had to have price cuts and could never, ever keep up with the PS2. Starting to sound familiar, huh? 

3. The PS2 had timed exclusives or exclusives that would never see the light of day on the Xbox. That was huge and nailed several nails into the Xbox's coffin. The PS2 landed GTA after MS turned them down. In order for Xbox fan boys to play GTA, which is the top selling franchise on the PS2, they had to wait at least 2 years. By the time it hit the Xbox, it was played into a coma on the PS2. This time around, it's not the case, and losing it as well as other exclusives, it a huge blow to Sony. You may not think right now it is, but you'll see in the long run.

4. Lastly, Xbox had to deal with the Nvidia lawsuit. It was just easier to pay the damage, bow out and go into a different direction with the 360.

Though differences paid off for the 360. Folks just look at how badly the PS2 beat the Xbox and think it's the same now. With no way to play your old PS2 games right now, and no real system-moving games out, the only way the PS3 will outsell and beat the 360 with the current ingredients will take an act of God.

You keep saying there is no way to play your PS2 games. Mine does, and so does the 80 gig. Most of what you say has merit. Please stop with lines that only fan boys say (like there is no way to play a ps2 game on a ps3), and the rest of your posts will carry more credibility. Just some constructive criticism :)

Anyway, back on topic… all the things you have said has made it a lot harder this time around for Sony to so what Sony has done in the past. GTA is a big blow, but only in the sense that it is not a factor. Multi platform games do very little in the console wars. Exclusives do, and Sony still has some big guns. If GTA had become exclusive to the 360, then Sony would have a lot more to worry about.

I think it won’t be a cakewalk like it was last time around, but I do think in the end, the PS3 just has more staying power.

BTW, I am from Albuquerque, good to see someone from my neck of the woods online (I have lived in MN for the last three years however, winters up here suck :p)