Analyst: It's Not Too Late For PS3 This Cycle

[Nuvian]

by Billy Brown
http://www.ps3news.ca/images/ps3la.jpgWhile the budget-priced Wii has been outselling both PS3 and Xbox 360 since its release, the latter two have been duking it out for the number two spot aggressively in 2008, with Ad Age proclaiming that Sony may "be finally turning the corner" with PlayStation (http://www.ps3news.ca/06302008/18/analyst_its_not_too_late_for_ps3_this_cycle#) 3.
NPD analyst Anita Frazier says that regardless of how it may seem at the moment, the next-gen race is far from over.
Taking on the potential of Sony's PS3 run taking place too late, the analyst asserted that it is not.
"No, it's not too late," she told AdAge.com (http://adage.com/).
"All three console manufacturers need to make sure they continue to bring on great content for their platform. ...No one has lost the battle, nor has anyone won the battle. There is plenty of life in this cycle yet to conquer."
Justin Townsend, CEO of IGA, had plenty of positive things to say about PlayStation 3.
"Sony's going to be a force to be reckoned with," he beamed. "I think all the pieces they're amassing now will become a cohesive digital strategy for marketing and advertising."


Source (http://www.ps3news.ca/06302008/18/analyst_its_not_too_late_for_ps3_this_cycle)
I belive the PS3 will catch up the 360 sometime before xmas 2009, thoughts?

[seebs]

(moved because it's clearly about comparative sales, and thus, multiplatform.)

[radgamer420]

Source (http://www.ps3news.ca/06302008/18/analyst_its_not_too_late_for_ps3_this_cycle)
I belive the PS3 will catch up the 360 sometime before xmas 2009, thoughts?

I'm thinking more like mid or late 2009. Its not outselling 360 by a wide enough margin to catch up before then imo.

[AnonymousB]

I'm thinking more like mid or late 2009. Its not outselling 360 by a wide enough margin to catch up before then imo.
Using basic math skills one can deduct that at the current rate, the ps3 needs at least 20 years to catch up on the xbox360. If sales go up it might need 5-10 years. If sales really boom (highly unlikely) it would need 2-5 years. It is therefore mathematically impossible for the ps3 to catch up before 2010.

[sentry23]

Using basic math skills one can deduct that at the current rate, the ps3 needs at least 20 years to catch up on the xbox360. If sales go up it might need 5-10 years. If sales really boom (highly unlikely) it would need 2-5 years. It is therefore mathematically impossible for the ps3 to catch up before 2010.

I doubt it.. PS3 is already over the 360 in EMEA and Japan, with just the US area behind (which is at most 1/3 of the total market).

So, which basic arithmetic are you using ?

[Dave-The-Rave]

Yep PS3 is nearly in 2nd place..its already beating the 360 in Europe and Japan and all that is left is the USA..

Quite frankly, I'd admit that the Wii has pretty much won...unless people realise that they'll buy it play it for a few months then barely touch it (which according to various reports from people happens a lot).

The PS3 getting 2nd place has a very good chance.

[mickice]

Who ever believes that PS3 wont atleast come second is crazy.
PS3 will either come first or second this gen.

[AnonymousB]

I doubt it.. PS3 is already over the 360 in EMEA and Japan, with just the US area behind (which is at most 1/3 of the total market).

So, which basic arithmetic are you using ?
The ps3 currently outsells the 360 by no more than 20,000 units each month. We'll disregard the bad months and we wont even take notice of certain months where the 360 has a worldwide lead.
Next we realise that the 360 has a 5 million lead. 5mil divided by 20k equals 250 months. This equals about 20 years.

Now imagine that the sales of the ps3 go up by a large margin whilst the 360 sales stay the same. The ps3 now outsells the 360 by 100 000 units a month, we will all agree that this is highly unlikely given the marketing strength of microsoft. 5mil/100k == 50 months == 4 years.

I'm happy to see how you can bend this into a pro-ps3 thing. The current 360 lead is nigh impossible to catch up to unless either the 360 stops selling (highly unlikely) or the ps3 gets insanely popular (equally unlikely).

Ofcourse I realise that there are certain blockbusters that'll give very good months. Imagine LBP, KZ2 and FF13. But even those titles will only give a nice lead for 1 or 2 months as we have seen with mgs4.

Conclusion: the ps3 has settled for the 3rd place. A miracle needs to happen to change this, and miracles don't happen 3 times for the same company, it's nintendo's turn this time.

[To.Ken]

We are less than 1/3 of the way into this market. Sony is currently showing the strongest line-up going forward. People would be foolish to count them out yet.

Also, the battle is not just boxes. Its boxes plus games sales. Nintendo will have to keep its current customers buying to keep on winning.

[seebs]

I don't think that "we all agree" that it's unlikely for PS3 sales to further improve. That said, 360 sales could also improve.

I'm very interested in seeing how they do during the holiday season, and after their next respective price cuts.

[aayman_farzand]

OMG!! seebs double posting!! BAN HIM!!!

[Vulgotha]

I think the PS3 will finally eclipse 360 sales when FFXIII hits the shelves.

There is nothing in the MS arsenal to combat that powerhouse of a title. Nor it's spin off, FFXIII Vs.

[seebs]

I think the PS3 will finally eclipse 360 sales when FFXIII hits the shelves.

There is nothing in the MS arsenal to combat that powerhouse of a title. Nor it's spin off, FFXIII Vs.

An interesting point. FF7 (and FF7CC) both seem to have moved systems pretty well. I think FF13's a lot more likely to move systems than most of the other games we've heard proclaimed as "system sellers".

(eta: nuked the double post, thanks for pointing it out)

[AnonymousB]

I don't think that "we all agree" that it's unlikely for PS3 sales to further improve. That said, 360 sales could also improve.

I'm very interested in seeing how they do during the holiday season, and after their next respective price cuts.
I wasn't talking about unlikely improvement in sales. I was talking about unlikely improvements of sales differences. I don't believe the ps3 will ever sell 100k per month more than the ps3, and talking about spikes here, not about consistent outselling by 100k units. And even with a +100k balance, month by month, it would take years for sony to leave last place.

Please explain me where I'm wrong?

[seebs]

I wasn't talking about unlikely improvement in sales. I was talking about unlikely improvements of sales differences. I don't believe the ps3 will ever sell 100k per month more than the ps3, and talking about spikes here, not about consistent outselling by 100k units. And even with a +100k balance, month by month, it would take years for sony to leave last place.

Please explain me where I'm wrong?

You're wrong in saying "we all agree". We don't.

Well, to be fair, I do agree that the PS3 is unlikely to sell 100k/month more than the PS3, but I think it quite likely that it could sell 100k/month more than the 360. The PS3 has been in a poor position; not that many recognizable hit games out, high price, and so on. The 360 had the incumbent's advantage, a lower price, and a bunch of games... And the PS3's already selling a little better. Given continued improvements in the PS3 game library, I think the PS3 will do better.

Simply put, the 360's targeted at a much narrower market than the PS3, so I do not think its sales have as much room to grow. The PS3 has had issues reaching its target market, but it does have a noticably broader market.

[Zabuza]

I wasn't talking about unlikely improvement in sales. I was talking about unlikely improvements of sales differences. I don't believe the ps3 will ever sell 100k per month more than the ps3, and talking about spikes here, not about consistent outselling by 100k units. And even with a +100k balance, month by month, it would take years for sony to leave last place.

Please explain me where I'm wrong?

You're definitely not wrong there. But why would you waste time pointing out something so trivial?

[F1Rules]

The ps3 currently outsells the 360 by no more than 20,000 units each month. We'll disregard the bad months and we wont even take notice of certain months where the 360 has a worldwide lead.
Next we realise that the 360 has a 5 million lead. 5mil divided by 20k equals 250 months. This equals about 20 years.

Now imagine that the sales of the ps3 go up by a large margin whilst the 360 sales stay the same. The ps3 now outsells the 360 by 100 000 units a month, we will all agree that this is highly unlikely given the marketing strength of microsoft. 5mil/100k == 50 months == 4 years.

I'm happy to see how you can bend this into a pro-ps3 thing. The current 360 lead is nigh impossible to catch up to unless either the 360 stops selling (highly unlikely) or the ps3 gets insanely popular (equally unlikely).

Ofcourse I realise that there are certain blockbusters that'll give very good months. Imagine LBP, KZ2 and FF13. But even those titles will only give a nice lead for 1 or 2 months as we have seen with mgs4.

Conclusion: the ps3 has settled for the 3rd place. A miracle needs to happen to change this, and miracles don't happen 3 times for the same company, it's nintendo's turn this time.


SOOOOO... are you even including the rest of the world in your figures?

[seebs]

SOOOOO... are you even including the rest of the world in your figures?

Presumably, because otherwise he'd probably show the PS3 underselling the 360...

[A7MAD]

Since 2007 I've been saying 2009 is Sony's year, they will (imo) have further console sales than MS but they will not beat Nintendo, as Nintendo will finish this gen with more consoles sold than Sony with the PS3 at that same point in time.

The PS3's "golden years" will be when the console is around 5 years old and the developers start to break down the walls of development difficulties.

[greepoman]

SOOOOO... are you even including the rest of the world in your figures?

He is...we know from Sony that the ps3 just recently passed the 360 install base in Europe so we can pretty much consider that a tie. We know pretty exact numbers for the US and Japan from NPD & media create...so that's where the 5 million lead comes from.

Now where the logic isn't quite right is that he's not considering Holiday months (Nov & Dec) where consoles sales can go up ten-fold. This is the time when ps3 can make real inroads.... If there were no big titles for 360 and the ps3 did, the ps3 could probably make up 1 or 2 million in those two months. The problem is that I believe Gears of War2 is coming this Holiday season for 360 so that will probably keep 360 sales strong, so there probably won't be a big change. So catching up by next year might still be a stretch. Maybe by the beginning of 2010.

[mickice]

He is...we know from Sony that the ps3 just recently passed the 360 install base in Europe so we can pretty much consider that a tie. We know pretty exact numbers for the US and Japan from NPD & media create...so that's where the 5 million lead comes from.

Now where the logic isn't quite right is that he's not considering Holiday months (Nov & Dec) where consoles sales can go up ten-fold. This is the time when ps3 can make real inroads.... If there were no big titles for 360 and the ps3 did, the ps3 could probably make up 1 or 2 million in those two months. The problem is that I believe Gears of War2 is coming this Holiday season for 360 so that will probably keep 360 sales strong, so there probably won't be a big change. So catching up by next year might still be a stretch. Maybe by the beginning of 2010.

Gears of War 2 will most likely make the majority of sales from people whom already own a 360.
Or people whom buy the PC edition. If anything Banjo-Kazooie will bring in more console sales than Gears 2.
Only new IP's like Little Big Planet and such can grab a greater number of new users.

[Switch]

As it stands now, the Xbox 360 is beating the PS3 in Europe, Australia and of course, the United States. In order for the PS3 to "catch up" at the current rate of sales of the two consoles, it will take years. At least 5 or more. That is, unless MS for some reason stopped selling consoles....or the Xbox 360 stopped selling....or the PS3 sales when up 5x.

With the price drop coming for the 360, expect about 4-5 million consoles sold between now and the end of Christmas. So, with an already 6 million unit lead, I can't see the PS3 taking over anytime soon.

However, the Analsyst is correct (which is rare), but it's pretty much a given. It was never too late IMO for the PS3. Look at the success of the PS1 and PS2, and how they performed out of the starting blocks. The PS3 has been, is, and will be very successful. They gambled with Blu-Ray, and it paid off. Not to mention, the console is built like a solid brick ***** house. MS could learn from taking apart the PS3 to learn how to build hardware.

[Zabuza]

With the price drop coming for the 360, expect about 4-5 million consoles sold between now and the end of Christmas. So, with an already 6 million unit lead, I can't see the PS3 taking over anytime soon.

4-5 million? I don't know if you've done the math but with 6 months until the end of Christmas, MS would have to sell around 650k on average each month. I can only see them selling that much in December and even that's a big leap.

[godofspeed]

As it stands now, the Xbox 360 is beating the PS3 in Europe, Australia and of course, the United States. In order for the PS3 to "catch up" at the current rate of sales of the two consoles, it will take years. At least 5 or more. That is, unless MS for some reason stopped selling consoles....or the Xbox 360 stopped selling....or the PS3 sales when up 5x.

With the price drop coming for the 360, expect about 4-5 million consoles sold between now and the end of Christmas. So, with an already 6 million unit lead, I can't see the PS3 taking over anytime soon.

However, the Analsyst is correct (which is rare), but it's pretty much a given. It was never too late IMO for the PS3. Look at the success of the PS1 and PS2, and how they performed out of the starting blocks. The PS3 has been, is, and will be very successful. They gambled with Blu-Ray, and it paid off. Not to mention, the console is built like a solid brick ***** house. MS could learn from taking apart the PS3 to learn how to build hardware.
Wrong, the PS3 has been outselling the 360 in EU for quite awhile.

And now, they had outsell the 360 in both Japan and EU, the last one would be the US, which has the biggest market for gaming i believe.

Just imagine, the PS3 is the most expensive next-gen console, little games, media bashed it, and yet it still outsells the 360 in EU. It's more about brand loyalty if you ask me.

But i still believe the PS3 will either come in 1st or 2nd in this console war, the PS1 and PS2 started out just like the same as the PS3. It takes time man, it takes time. :D

[Switch]

4-5 million? I don't know if you've done the math but with 6 months until the end of Christmas, MS would have to sell around 650k on average each month. I can only see them selling that much in December and even that's a big leap.

Um, they are currently selling 8 million a year on average (20 million units in 2.5 years equates to 8 million a year), and they get most of their sales in end of summer/fall/holiday...in the millions.

You do the math :D

Wrong, the PS3 has been outselling the 360 in EU for quite awhile.

It has been outselling it yes, but the 360 has more units in Europe still. Also, the 360 is still close in sales, and leads in the most densely populated area, the UK.

[greepoman]

Gears of War 2 will most likely make the majority of sales from people whom already own a 360.
Or people whom buy the PC edition. If anything Banjo-Kazooie will bring in more console sales than Gears 2.
Only new IP's like Little Big Planet and such can grab a greater number of new users.

I didn't mean that Gears2 would push more units, just that it (and other big name games) would keep 360 sales from declining or dropping off. If 360 just sells the same amount as last year I'm sure M$ will be plenty happy with that.

[Switch]

I didn't mean that Gears2 would push more units, just that it (and other big name games) would keep 360 sales from declining or dropping off. If 360 just sells the same amount as last year I'm sure M$ will be plenty happy with that.

GOW2 will surely push some 360 units. There are millions of people that didn't have the money or were not ready to jump on the next gen bandwagon at the time when GOW1 was released 2 years ago. Many are waiting for a price drop still on the 360, and will jump in when GOW2 is out.

Not MILLIONS of people, but probably something similar to the move that MGS4 made (which wasn't big either as far as moving consoles).

Generally AAA titles can move some consoles. I would like to see a GOW2 bundle out there actually.

[Agriel]

Um, they are currently selling 8 million a year on average (20 million units in 2.5 years equates to 8 million a year), and they get most of their sales in end of summer/fall/holiday...in the millions.

You do the math :D



It has been outselling it yes, but the 360 has more units in Europe still. Also, the 360 is still close in sales, and leads in the most densely populated area, the UK.
I sure hope your not going off the MS reps. PR spin :DD I bet you are. Because there is no way you could possible know. And that statement was made before MGS4 landed. So lets say that MS was telling the truth in that article. The margin they were ahead by was very slim to say the least and here we are almost 2 months from then and a AAA game has been launched. Do I need to go on with this?
As far as your 360 says figures go, if you been tracking it sales wise I believe the 360 is tracking lower each year its out.
As far as Gears 2 goes. Well I think Gears 1 doing so well as it did at the time, was that it was the first real next gen game to come out. The genre its in, is about the same as the Halo 3, GTA4 demographic. And most everyone who wants one for those games more then likely has one already So I don't think I will be far off in saying it will not really push as many consoles as Gears1 did. will it sell consoles? Yes, but the impact will be minimal.
A price drop for the 360 IMHO will also have minimal impact. How many price drops has it had already?

[Zabuza]

Oh my bad. I thought you were referring to US sales. Cuz 4-5 million seemed low for worldwide but high for US sales and I didn't know what to assume considering the price drop should bring up worldwide sales a little higher than that. Didn't they already break 4 million worldwide the last half of 2007?

[Switch]

I sure hope your not going off the MS reps. PR spin :DD I bet you are. Because there is no way you could possible know. And that statement was made before MGS4 landed. So lets say that MS was telling the truth in that article. The margin they were ahead by was very slim to say the least and here we are almost 2 months from then and a AAA game has been launched. Do I need to go on with this?
As far as your 360 says figures go, if you been tracking it sales wise I believe the 360 is tracking lower each year its out.
As far as Gears 2 goes. Well I think Gears 1 doing so well as it did at the time, was that it was the first real next gen game to come out. The genre its in, is about the same as the Halo 3, GTA4 demographic. And most everyone who wants one for those games more then likely has one already So I don't think I will be far off in saying it will not really push as many consoles as Gears1 did. will it sell consoles? Yes, but the impact will be minimal.
A price drop for the 360 IMHO will also have minimal impact. How many price drops has it had already?

Well, there is Sony PR spin and MS PR spin. What can ya do. But your opinions are noted.

This will be the second price drop in the U.S. It will have a GREAT impact on sales through the holiday, hardly minimal. Just like the PS3 spikes and improved sales with price drops, the 360 will also enjoy a similar sales spike and continued sales.

[Agriel]

Well, there is Sony PR spin and MS PR spin. What can ya do. But your opinions are noted.

This will be the second price drop in the U.S. It will have a GREAT impact on sales through the holiday, hardly minimal. Just like the PS3 spikes and improved sales with price drops, the 360 will also enjoy a similar sales spike and continued sales.
if that's true, then answer me this. Why did the last price drop not do that, they are in fact tracking lower this year then they were last year after the last price drop. Last Price drop gave them a sales spike for a very short time and then it was back to square one.
And if you think this Christmas will be different then last year. look at the 360s 2007 line up to this years, there is really no comparing them. I don't think Gear 2 by its self even with a price drop will drive their sales higher then last year. I think it will be lower this year.

[webshark]

my take on things.

due to the fact that europe is europe, no one knows exactly who has more sales there. sony says they do, MS says they do too. either way its effectively an even heat there.

before everyone says gears2 wont push units, take a moment to remember when everyone said halo3 wouldnt push units, what happened that time?

and as many have said, unless 360 has a sharp decrease in sales or the ps3 has a BIG increase, its going to take quite some time for the ps3 to catch up...

if that's true, then answer me this. Why did the last price drop not do that, they are in fact tracking lower this year then they were last year after the last price drop. Last Price drop gave them a sales spike for a very short time and then it was back to square one.
And if you think this Christmas will be different then last year. look at the 360s 2007 line up to this years, there is really no comparing them. I don't think Gear 2 by its self even with a price drop will drive their sales higher then last year. I think it will be lower this year.

arent most systems tracking lower than last year? (yes, i know ps3 is doing better, but in general) i know everything but the psp is WAY lower this year in japan, i would have to check my database for US, but im thinking that in general, hardware sales are down a bit from last year.


also, cant we wait one more week before we decide on the state of each hardware's holiday lineup? did we KNOW that halo3, mass effect, bioshock, and all those others would be coming out last winter before e3 hit?

edit: sorry bout the double post, but he posted while i was posting...

use the EDIT button next time--Agriel

[Switch]

if that's true, then answer me this. Why did the last price drop not do that, they are in fact tracking lower this year then they were last year after the last price drop. Last Price drop gave them a sales spike for a very short time and then it was back to square one.
And if you think this Christmas will be different then last year. look at the 360s 2007 line up to this years, there is really no comparing them. I don't think Gear 2 by its self even with a price drop will drive their sales higher then last year. I think it will be lower this year.

I can't answer anything, as we are all speculating. The first price drop did a great job increasing sales. Are you telling me that the sales today would be the same as they were before their first price drop? I am postive that if the premium was still $399 today, the sales would be lower today.

The 2008 line up is a great line up, less Halo 3. It's a line up that can sell tons of consoles in the holiday with the price cut, just like the PS3 2008 line up, and that will sell a lot of consoles this holiday as well. It won't break records though. As noted by probably one of the PS3's biggest (if not the biggest) release this year, MGS4 generated some consoles sales, albeit not very many.

I would guess that we will have about 25-26 million 360's at the end of the holiday, and 19-20 million PS3's at the end of the holiday. PURELY a GUESS, PURELY my opinion. I have ZERO facts, ZERO links and ZERO ANALYST CREDIBILITY to back that up. Just me taking stabs in the dark.

[Agriel]

my take on things.

due to the fact that europe is europe, no one knows exactly who has more sales there. sony says they do, MS says they do too. either way its effectively an even heat there.

before everyone says gears2 wont push units, take a moment to remember when everyone said halo3 wouldnt push units, what happened that time?

and as many have said, unless 360 has a sharp decrease in sales or the ps3 has a BIG increase, its going to take quite some time for the ps3 to catch up...



arent most systems tracking lower than last year? (yes, i know ps3 is doing better, but in general) i know everything but the psp is WAY lower this year in japan, i would have to check my database for US, but im thinking that in general, hardware sales are down a bit from last year.


also, cant we wait one more week before we decide on the state of each hardware's holiday lineup? did we KNOW that halo3, mass effect, bioshock, and all those others would be coming out last winter before e3 hit?

edit: sorry bout the double post, but he posted while i was posting...

use the EDIT button next time--Agriel
Well the PsP worldwide is selling better this year then last year. The ps3 I do believe the Wii is. And no, Sales are suppose to track up wards not down, as the price gets lower more people buy. That's the way it normally works.
First to buy are the hardcore, and once it reaches is sweet spot in price, it's suppose to sell more. Same with any electronic, or any new product on the market.

@Switch
So now your opinion is not fact its just a your opinion. You pretty much been stating it as fact this whole thread.

[greepoman]

Well the PsP worldwide is selling better this year then last year. The ps3 I do believe the Wii is. And no, Sales are suppose to track up wards not down, as the price gets lower more people buy. That's the way it normally works.
First to buy are the hardcore, and once it reaches is sweet spot in price, it's suppose to sell more. Same with any electronic, or any new product on the market.


Actually I read the NPD analyses every month and I'm pretty sure that all 3 consoles are tracking higher than they were last year. In fact the articles I remember reading were amazed how strong the video game market was growing despite the economy.

Now I do believe that the ps3 is actually tracking higher in the US than the 360 this year, maybe this is what you were thinking of. I'll try to find some of them.

EDIT: Now I do remember reading that 360 was doing worse in 2007 than 2006, maybe you were thinking of this as well. As to 2008 vs 2006 numbers, that I have no clue.

[Agriel]

Actually I read the NPD analyses every month and I'm pretty sure that all 3 consoles are tracking higher than they were last year. In fact the articles I remember reading were amazed how strong the video game market was growing despite the economy.

Now I do believe that the ps3 is actually tracking higher in the US than the 360 this year, maybe this is what you were thinking of.
No and how could I be saying that when I haven't talked about ps3 at all. And I am talking about World-wide sales not just sales in the US. The 360 has been tracking lower each year.

EDIT I was comparing 2006 to 2007 yes, and the 360 sale were down.

[Advance]

I believe the PS3 has the potential to catch up, and even overtake, the Xbox 360 in terms of sales before Christmas this year. Just look at some of the titles coming out for the system compared to Xbox 360. Killzone 2, Resistance 2, Home, LittleBigPlanet, Motorstorm 2, Tekken 6, inFAMOUS, Final Fantasy XIII and Buzz: Quiz TV are all coming to PS3 only. It might not seem like that much of a list, but that's a lot of PS3-exclusive titles coming in just over six months, and with plenty more on the horizon, such as The Agency and Gran Turismo 5.

When you compare that to the list of Xbox 360-exclusive titles (Alan Wake, Banjo-Kazooie 3, Halo Wars, Too Human) you really begin to see that Sony are pushing the boat out to make sure that 2008 is their year. And with a bunch of extra features coming to PS3 (like PlayTV and in-game XMB), the PS3 really is fast becoming the only multimedia hub a person will need. I really think that Microsoft will have to go the whole extra mile to win back gamers who have been tempted by the PS3, and even then I imagine it would be pretty hard. Without meaning to start any sort of fanboy war, what does the Xbox 360 have to offer what the PS3 doesn't have?

[Zabuza]

I believe the PS3 has the potential to catch up, and even overtake, the Xbox 360 in terms of sales before Christmas this year. Just look at some of the titles coming out for the system compared to Xbox 360. Killzone 2, Resistance 2, Home, LittleBigPlanet, Motorstorm 2, Tekken 6, inFAMOUS, Final Fantasy XIII and Buzz: Quiz TV are all coming to PS3 only. It might not seem like that much of a list, but that's a lot of PS3-exclusive titles coming in just over six months, and with plenty more on the horizon, such as The Agency and Gran Turismo 5.

When you compare that to the list of Xbox 360-exclusive titles (Alan Wake, Banjo-Kazooie 3, Halo Wars, Too Human) you really begin to see that Sony are pushing the boat out to make sure that 2008 is their year. And with a bunch of extra features coming to PS3 (like PlayTV and in-game XMB), the PS3 really is fast becoming the only multimedia hub a person will need. I really think that Microsoft will have to go the whole extra mile to win back gamers who have been tempted by the PS3, and even then I imagine it would be pretty hard. Without meaning to start any sort of fanboy war, what does the Xbox 360 have to offer what the PS3 doesn't have?

You forgot Socom for ps3 and Gears2 for 360. But I'm pretty sure Socom will draw in more people.