its rol, this has to be a joke thread

^ However many of Sony's games were bundled heavily (RFOM, Motorstorm) and Microsoft has done a lot of bundling with 3rd/2nd party games. This has to be factored in as well.

Good reasoning in the OP, although there's not much novelty in the things you wrote down. Then again, seeing how the Sony fanboys are denying it shows that you can't write it down often enough.

And a thanks for the laugh also goes to the Microsoft fanboys that, for once, happily agree with Rol and think it is because Rol has become reasonable and not because things just are in favour of the X360 this time.

More like second party.

 I think I might have found a (relatively small) flaw

This statement seems to jar a bit as, if your assumption about the ps3 and 360 being so closely tied together is true, then they have a 51.1% market share for third parties to sell to. This, coupled with relatively poor third party sales on wii, would mean that from the point of view of third party developers the ps3 and 360 are, together, this generations "winning system".

So, third party support will continue for both consoles and it'll come down to which company decides to take the initiative and release their next machine first, which, judging by the success they found releasing first this gen could very well be microsoft. This would presumably gradually switch the attention of both MS and xbox fans to the new console and lead to a decline in sales and eventual stop of support, which would hand the (frankly meaningless) prize of longest 7th gen HD lifespan to the ps3

First post so please be gentle when telling me how wrong I am

This is another good one from Rol. Can't decide whether or not it is a joke, means it is one!

Even if one jumps the gun for the next generation, so long as there is software still being sold on that platform games will still be ported. Any attention shifting from the current to the next generation would therefore likely effect both platforms equally. Remember consoles are being sold now, four years after the release of the Xbox 360 so one could assume it will take quite a while for the current userbase to trade up as well. If the next Xbox is a smashing success and a large proportion of Xbox 360 owners upgrade all at once, then Sony would likely lose its PS3 userbase as well as future market share.

It costs less that 10% more to produce a port of an HD game, so unless 60+% of the userbase departs the 360 will still be supported.

MS doesn't own Epic, or BioWare, so we take down 13 million units, and the 360 is 3.5 ahead.  Rol is correct, they are about equal.

But down the line, this will change as Sony has tons of first-party games hitting relatively soon, while MGS is only interested in publishing third-party games.

im suprised that no one has mentioned the rumors of forward compatibility that microsoft is planning on implementing with their next system, in which games developed for the 360 would see graphical enhancement on the xbox next (720 or whatever you wanna call it). i really think that this will significantly increase the lifespan of the 360 after its successor is released (my guess would be 2012), as developers (whether 1st to 3rd party) will continue to release high budget productions for both systems knowing that they are selling to a larger pool of gamers.

and i know someone is gonna say it, but couldnt sony implement the same ideas for their next system- true they could, but we're 2 and a half years into this gen, and they just got in game "texts" up and running, and we know sonys reputation with development kits.

the bald dude at m$ is famous for his "developers!developers!developers!" rant, and i really dont think he was f'ing around

1. 360 being out longer more likely means it will make a sooner exit for it will become more stale then PS3 sooner. The hardware is already inferior to the PS3's and lacks the tech to stand the test of time.(SideNote: this is still not a sure thing because XBOX exited first and came out last, but Sony wont have that problem.)

2. BluRay is slowly being adopted by consumers. Every year BD sales are rising to the declining DVD sales. BD's marketshare is also rising. BD can and will be a deciding factor just as DVD was at the inception of the PS2 era. When PS2 became cheap enough many would buy multiple ones instead of an actual DVD player because they were about the same price but PS2 had more functionality. BD also insures the PS3 won't be outdated.

3. Consumers are also slow to adapting with the PS3. This is bad for PS3's immediate sales but good for it's life span. The slower the pace the longer it lasts. PS3 is nowhere near done with selling. THe price is still really high, too high for most who want one. As the price slowly trickles down over the years more people will be getting one.

4. RROD and E74 killed any inclination that the 360 can last as long as PS3 for many(definitely Me). 360 has the largest failure rate seen in years for any console (PS2's was much smaller in comparison). That has/and is turning a lot of people off to the system. Many are jumping ship(from my perspective) like my friends who in the last few months all got PS3's due to 360 failure.

5. In a few years when all 3rd party developers create nothing but Multiplat games, Sony's 1st party will tie them over. Sony has the more 1st party studios than MS and Nin combined, as well as more IPs to choose from while creating new ones everyday.

6.PS2 did/is doing it. This is not to say the PS3 is in anyway the PS2. Yet this speaks more on the fact that Sony is willing to stick to their lifeplan for the system. Sony may have many screw ups this gen, but making their system's stand the test of time is one thing we know they know how to do. They are not completly clueless about what they are doing.