I'm pretty sure that their strategy has always been to buy their way into the market, in the hopes of strong-arming Sony and Nintendo out of the market. I seem to remember several articles to that effect back when the first xbox was launching, but I don't have references. Judging by the ps3's performance, their tactic may have worked with regards to Sony. I also think that 360 sales will pick up more now that more and more ps3 "exclusives" are being announced to be released on the 360 as well. As much as I hate microsoft, the 360 seems to be a really solid product, with xbox live being a fairly excellent service. I will be purchasing one when I get some cash together.

gears of war

None of these arguments holds water if you take a hard look at the author's claims.

The "hard core" gamers have always driven the gaming industry. While the novelty of the Wii has succeeded in reaching a new audience, it isn't going to change the core of the industry. The novelty of the Wii will wear off. But the hard core gamers, who will continue to spend lots of money for years to come, are going to buy either an XBOX 360 or a PS3.

Let's look at developers and exclusive titles. With the unimpressive launch of the PS3, developers are already shifting their budgets away from the PS3 and toward the XBOX 360. XBOX has Gears of War, and several outstanding multiplayer shooters. There really isn't a single exclusive title that justifies buying a PS3. And speaking of a techo-trojan horse to destroy freedom, have you heard of a little thing called Blue-Ray? XBOX 360 has already won the battle against Sony. Don't take my word for it. Look at the sales figures.

And what about Japan? The Japanese video game market has stagnated, and developers are shifting their focus to the U.S. for revenue growth. Japan is no longer the leading indicator that it has historically been.

XBOX is here to stay, and the profits for Microsoft won't be far behind.

While this may appear to be bad publicity for microsoft and bad news for its investors, Its great news for gamers. If it is part of microsofts grand scheme to invade our living rooms, then they will keep throwing money into the machine. Not only do you get a very nifty piece of tech at a heavily subsidised price but also they will pay the money to secure key the game releases. I think the PS3's technical superiority will eventually show on the cross-platform games, the 360 has, so far, the better exclusive titles lined up.

what actually constitutes a "Hardcore Gamer" anyway? if your talking about a system the provides games and graphics that prevent the user from leaving the screen and experiencing the world for real then the PS3 and Xbox 360 are exactly what they want; however don't these "Hardcore Gamers" also want fun original games and ideas that allow them to experience gaming in a completely different way? We've become so stuck with the idea that gaming involves sitting down and using a multi-button controller in order to mimic activities within the game. what Nintendo has done with the Wii is not "... succeeded in reaching a new audience" but rather opened up an entirely new way of looking at games. "Hardcore Gamers" may find solitude in their small controller and large couch, but now that the idea that gaming is less about mimicking activities and rather actually doing the activity more and more of these "Hardcore Gamers" will move towards the Wii.