You're right, if we're just talking about game divisions it's probably a different story.  I doubt that the 3 times number would still stand but I could be proven wrong. 

"Sony is pulling out all the stops with tonight’s launch of the PlayStation Vita handheld gaming device.  Guy Longworth, senior vice president of marketing and PSN at Sony’s U.S. game division, said in an interview that the $50 million U.S. advertising spend will be the biggest the game division has ever spent on the launch of a product in history." - source

"Peter Dille, SCEA's senior VP of marketing, doesn't think that Sony will ever match the deep pockets of Microsoft's marketing department. Speaking specifically about Move versus Kinect, Dille simply said "I don't think we'll ever outspend Microsoft," although whether he means that it can't outspend its rival, or has simply chosen not to, isn't clear." - source

Microsoft is irrelevant. Halo is great and all. Gears is okay. That's about all Microsoft has going for them. So much potential and the money to challenge Sony with more games, better online that isn't a rip off and etc yet they don't care.

His quotes make the PS4 look like it will win. Microsoft definitely yells louder than they perform.

And why is that? Because you think the PS4 will make the most Impact?

Not necessarily. They might have a plan, but it doesn't mean it's a good one. I still remember when Sega announced the Saturn at $399 and instead of going with their planned September release they pulled a sudden it's available now. Unfortunately alienating certain stores and having no 3rd party games as devs expected the later release date.

Sony then came up after and just said $299... And it was over for the Saturn.

Announcing first is not always best.

Microsoft makes less games but focuses their budget more on mainstream advertising. We can't predict the future but theres no doubt Microsoft barks louder than Sony.

So you're saying Sony will say PS4 is avaialble t purchase on February 20?
You just keep downplayingl Your bias is showing.

Announcing first is a huge advantage no matter how you look at it. These consoles will release months(if not weeks) apart so the more hype they get, the better.

Actually first isn't the best. The last console being announced will be fresh in peoples minds. However all that is moot because there are other factors other than a formal announcemnt that come in to play. You have E3 and marketing where both consoles will get a push at.

Not to mention with Sony announcing in February and Microsoft in March Microsoft may have more to show off at their event since they are going a month later.

Don't blame MS for something you wish Sony would do. It makes you look stupid.

As I said, the marketing budget for Sony is 3 times the marketing budget of MS.
And when it comes to gaming, it is no different, but people refuse to accept this.

For example:

SCE is one of the VERY few mainsponsors of the UEFA Champions League and pays about 60 Million USD for it. Per season and they have been doing this since 1997. So 16 years, you do the maths. And that is just for one sponsorship. TV ads etc are not even included. Sponsoring in continental Europe is basically not existant for the Xbox 360, while Sony spends way more money on it. 

There are crazy numbers when it comes to MS marketing Kinect or something new. Those numbers were proven wrong though as soon as the financial reports released. Too bad most of the gaming audience already had their opinion and did not accept facts. When everybody said Windows Phone 7 and Kinect would both get a 500 million marketing campaign, MS reported 1.9 billion USD marketing budget for the whole company. And 350 or something for EDD (All products combined, so WP7, Kinect, Xbox, Xbox Live etc). That means Xbox & Kinect got a 200 million marketing budget for that year and that was the peak year.

The year the Vita launched, Sony spent 60 million for the UEFA CL, and 50 Million for the Vita launch, just for the US. 100 million globally just for the Vita seems like an educated guess. So 160 million already spent, without one single PS3 ad... So yeah, SCE marketing efforts surpass the marketing of MS for the EDD.

I think MS uses their marketing-budget way more effective than Sony does.

Yes it's an opinion and a biased one at that.