balls in SONY's court....they cut price momentum swings again....they don't it stays with 360

Wii is untoucable at this point, so I don't even factor for it...it's like a legend...totally out of reach, and i think both sony and M4 realize it at this point.  The key is building momentum into the next gen to try and get that top spot.  I think 360 has an opportunity to solidify it's standing in 2009.  Notice i made ZERO mention about PS3 and Wii...because it's not a zero sum game, imho.  I think 360 can align xbox owners for the next gen, and it starts in 2009...if you're going to try and get a console out in 2011...that's my point.  not some diss on wii or ps3.

360 will continue to beat the ps3 until a price cut happens. Until that time it can keep rolling with its higher numbers.

It's more cost-effective to focus on internal development. One of the reasons Nintendo was able to turn a consistent profit after losing nearly all third-party support is because of its first and second party titles. Outside of Halo, MS doesn't have anything that impressive in this department.

The 360 simply isn't selling well enough throughout the year to warrant the kind of third-party support that MS is seeking and needs in order to make a profit. The PS1 and PS2 managed to get it, but their sales and install bases were enough to achieve it. The 360 doesn't have this.

Like it or not, you have to factor it in. It's obviously having an effect, so to ignore it is rather short-sighted.

The more the 360 pulls away from the PS3 as it is doing now, they worst it get's for Sony. There are those saying 'oh the PS3 with a price cut will swing it in Sony's favour' but the longer Sony hold out on a price cut, the more 'sitting on the fence' customers they lose to the 360. They ain't gonna get someone who recently spent $200 on the 360 to part with their cash on a PS3 that has just had a price cut.

I see too much faith in Sony from some quarters and not enough realism. I used to think the 360 would never be able to beat the PS3 cause of the JPN but they arn't even buying the PS3 in large numbers and US consumers dwarf Japanese consumers now.

Ensemble was close, but not really, since many fof the employees moved to MGS, and Bungie when independent...what other studios closed? as those are the only 2 that I know of?  Lionhead and Rare still seem to be working on stuff, so can you refresh my memory?

Taken from wikipedia:

• Ensemble: Pending dissolution (and partial absorption) as of September 9, 2008 (to be finalized after the completion of Halo Wars)
• Bungie: Became an independent studio on October 1, 2007
• Carbonated Games: Dissolved on March 27, 2008
• Digital Anvil: Dissolved on January 31, 2006.
• Hired Gun: Dissolved shortly after Halo 2 launch for PC
• FASA Interactive: The studio was closed on September 12, 2007.^[7]
• Indie Built: Sold off to Take 2 in October, 2004.

Ball is rolling down hill and it is getting larger and heavier. This makes it harder to stop even with PS3 price drop. More people will expose thier 360 to friends and they will jump in. MS will invest more into new games as well as the profits increase.

Looking at that list, I see Ensemble, which was dissolved, but quite a few stuck around, and Bungie, which wanted more control and independence.  Looking at that list, one can hardly ascertian M$'s move to shift to all 3rd party, and in fact, the current bolstering of MGS points to the opposite of more 1st party/2nd party software.  With Digital anvil and FASA, M$ absorbed quite a large portion of the employees, but M$ still owns all that IP, so with a more robust MGS, I can see new Mechwarrior games and maybe even Wing Commander games.  Actually, M$ licensed back the Mechwarrior IP, but I expect to see something announce in the future, as that IP is too rich not to do so.  Time will tell, but I think we will see MORE content, not less from MGS in 1st/2nd party software titles.