We could continue to see a back and forth between the Xbox and PS3 as each company introduces new changes to reshape the playing field.

This holiday season, the safe money bet is on the PS3 as a $299 120GB Xbox "elite" just doesn't measure up to a $299 PS3, and I think a lot of consumers are aware of this.

Next year, MS seems to be banking pretty heavily on reintroducing the Xbox along with Natal. Xbox fans in particular seem to be parroting MS on this despite the fact that the only thing that's been seen are some tech demos with no word at all regarding actual games to be released in 2010 that make a compelling case for practical applications of Natal. The potential is there, but without a compelling line up of titles to support the interface, people will not be buying Natal in droves "just because it's there and it's pretty neat!" without a hardware seller like Wii Sports.

Something tells me that the PS3 motion capture interface may not have quite the same impact although it depends entirely upon the quality and quantity of games that use the interface once both are on the market.


On a related side note: if Natal is anything like Z Camera or better, I think it has a very strong chance of being a potential game changer, assuming we see a launch with strong titles and continued solid support for the interface down the line.

http://gear.ign.com/dor/articles/855511/z-camera-video-feature/videos/zcamera_GDC08_022708.html

With Mass Effect 2, Halo 3: ODST, and COD MW2 coming out, I really don't see how a possible GT5 + FF13 + COD MW2 on PS3 > ME2 + ODST + COD MW2 on 360. I'm positive SW sales will be in favor of 360. I've worked enough retail during holiday seasons to know that in terms of HW, it will be all about the bundles - which company is going to provide the most games + accessories.

@CGI

ODST isn't HUGE

if your talking about system selling capabilities

To some, anything with "Halo" on the dusk jacket = million console seller.

It will move hardware, just not on a significant level.

One could liken it to the difference between the 2007 release of Crysis, after which many PC gamers were more or less forced to upgrade video cards to make the game playable and look good, and the 2008 release of Crysis Warhead, which accounted for a significantly smaller number of PC gamers upgrading their systems as they presumably had already done so in order to play Crysis.

While I'm sure there are still a fair amount of gamers out there who haven't bought Halo 3, but are hugely hyped about ODST enough to choose now as a time to buy a $299 Xbox, they are still among the vast minority of Halo fans.

Anyone in that category feel free to chime in now.

@greenmedic

Halo 3 is out thats why I said this

CGI has both GT5 & Halo ODST as HUGE

when GT5 is obviously the bigger system seller

Catching up to the 360 this year is a start, but I'm not entirely sure how long the momentum of the PS3 slim will hold over the 8 million gap long run. My personal prediction is that it will catch up eventually, but I'm not sure whether it'll be able to put enough day light between the 360 and itself at the end for it to matter that it did catch up.

Though I'd much prefer one of them to explode in sales and challenge the wii, the battle for 2nd got interesting again.

It's not that I don't understand them, it's that they are completely useless. THey are really only for lulz and for creating a false sense of security. Just look at the responses on those threads from people who believe the averages.

"Oh the ps3 has to outsell the 360 by 8k a week for 3 years to catch up, and it's been selling 18k less for the last month. Never gunna happen"

In one month, it might make up 40 weeks of sales. At any given point the scales could be weighted in either direction. MS could sell two mil in one month when Natal comes out. MS could hit shortages, you never know and it's not a very good indicator of anything other than which console is on top at the moment.

LOL

I love these threads, truly shows the biggest fanboys of the site, especially the bitter ones.

another one that will soon understand :

WW sales =/= NA sales