To start off, I’m not a fanboy for any of the available [and unavailable] consoles. I’m just here giving my opinion on what I see happening, so far, between the 3 next-gen systems. Although the only console I currently own is a ps2, I’ve been through both the xbox and the Gamecube ordeal as well, and enjoyed both.

The xbox360 has been out almost a year now, and is definitely building a good name for itself without feeling too much heat from Sony and Nintendo. This would make alot of sense, since both Nintendo and Sony’s offerings won’t be available until later this year.

So who is going to come out on top after all three parties throw down? Well, we’ll have to wait to know for sure, but I’m guessing the 360 is going to enjoy overpowering market share over Sony and Nintendo, at least for a little bit. This is odd coming from me, since I never really got into the xbox or Gamecube when they first came out. I was to busy playing my ps2. Don’t get me wrong, the 360 is hands down an amazing system. Very feature rich and intuitively designed, with some pretty good looking games to back it up. Getting out of the gate a full year ahead of the competition, and at a decent price and with great performance, sounds like a recipe for success as far as console wars go. And so far, that’s what it’s looking like. Success.

What Nintendo and Sony don’t understand, is that the 360 is garnering a lot more praise than anyone thought it ever would in the US. In my opinion, Nintendo is doing just fine so far with how they’re handling marketing the Wii. I don’t agree with the whole name fiasco, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it. Revolution seemed a lot more mainstream, but I guess they went for something “different”. Nintendo has always had a loyal backing among the masses of gamers, and I don’t think they’ll lose that with Wii. If anything, it’s going to get more fanboys on their wagon. Sony, on the other hand, seems to be running into some problems with their ps3. Whether it’s the HIGH launch price, or the fact that most developers aren’t giving it a lot of breathing room in their reviews and interviews, Sony is definitely doing something wrong here. For years they’ve been riding the wave of the ps2, and they think this wave will flow over with the ps3 as soon as it’s released. They don’t understand that most people aren’t going to be able to drop $600 on a gaming system. I know I’m not, anyways. I will wait on the sidelines and just watch until the final out come of the ‘war’ is over. By then, the prices will be lowered, and the winner declared. Until then, there’s always wishful thinking…

- Roo