The fight for Christmas begins: Xbox 360 Vs PS3

The biggest rivalry in gaming hardware is between Microsoft and Sony, with the Xbox 30 up against the PlayStation 3. Now, the Xbox 360 was in the market a whole year earlier than the PlayStation 3 and they were incredibly astute at marketing the console. They learned a lot of lessons from the original Xbox, but one thing they didn’t forget was how to scrap when it mattered the most. According to news recently release by the guys and gals at Xbox, the Xbox 360 experienced what it called “record-breaking consoles sales” during the Thanksgiving weekend I the US with an estimated 25 per cent increase in sales from the previous year.

This is significant, because the guys at PlayStation have been chasing Xbox for a while now and for all intense and purposes, it seems that the Xbox team is beating them at their own game. The PlayStation 2 was still in the market when the Xbox 360 was released and was hands-down the most popular console in the market, shifting some serious numbers and well and truly beating Xbox 360. Now, admiittadly, the PlayStation2 was significantly cheaper, had a larger install base and a greater number of titles, but isn’t that what’s happened here? The Xbox 360 is now in line with the Wii over here in Australia and has a great install base and a raft of titles, people know and understand the Xbox 360, therefore will they be more comfortable buying in to it as the prices get lower and the number of titles increase?

The other great thing that Microsoft did with the 360 is that they built it with add-ons in mind and to some extent, followed the iPod model with new models like the Elite. Therefore, they have a “fresh” console on the market on an almost regular basis. But what about the PS3? They have blu-ray, the legacy of the PS1 and the PS2. All of this is true, but the old exclusive franchises that they used to have are no more and although they’re a lot of hope and hype surrounding Sackboy, will he deliver? The could-be-killer-blow for PlayStation was that the Xbox 360 was released first and has had acres of ground to get to a pretty commanding lead. But, you can never underestimate the guys at PlayStation, they have been redefining the gaming genre for decades and will surely be taking the fight back at Xbox 360. The DVD market is likely to move on next year and with an in-built blu-ray player, will the PS3 steal some ground?

MyTake – So many questions. It’s a tough one to call this, you have to wonder how far off the next generations of consoles is and just who will get the first the get one in to market. One thing’s for sure, if it’s Microsoft, you have to think that it won’t look good for PlayStation. On the flip side, all you need is one killer franchise for PlayStation and the whole thing could get flipped on it head. It’s a cliché, but the ultimate winner is the consumer. Get out there and get gaming.