Predictions: The next gen console war.

[TraderJake]

Oh man plagiarism. You fail the class.

Bah, it's not plagarism, it's making a claim without verifyable evidence. Plagarism is flatout stealing something.

[The Metamorphosing Leon]

Yeah yeah so I don't  pay attention in English class or read the stupid assignments. I can already write better than my teacher so              why should I listen?

Hmm, this seems     to    be a new home for unrelated thoughts         god damn this keyboard it's like somebody    poured                   kool aid   on it.

[Rejinx]

I know I am late to this thread, but I just had an idea. 

First I will start with Xbox 360,  It has the lead by coming out first, but worldwide, it just doesn't have the market. I say that it will survive the 7th gen, but I put it in third.

next the Wii, I think it will out sell the crap out of the other two... at first.  It's price, its controller and the ease to program for will win it 2007 and maybe 2008, but by 2009 its weaker CPU will be very glaring.  Ether Nintendo will have to release its 8th gen early or it will end up like the Game Cube is now, a dead system before the new system is released. I put it in second.

last, the PS3, this is a hard one, it is way to pricey, blu-ray is pointless for the 95% of us with out HD, and the games just ain't there.  But I say in wins the gen simply because of the long run.  The system IS next gen, but the games right now are not.  The same thing happened with the PS2 games, at first the game looked a lot like PS1 games, but they got better and better. 

So my prediction is that PS3 wins a much closer battle, but doesn't pull in to the lead until 2010.
just my 2 cents 

[Arrrhalomynn]

I'm with James. Would Nintendo have done so much worse in Europe than in the USA? I find it surprising that so many Americans are so optimistic about the wii's chances.

Nintendo lost a lot of credit here with the dissapointing game cube. I don't want to start a discussion about wether the cube rocked or not, fact is that there were a lot of milked out franchises and very few games in stores, when compared to the xbox and playstation 2. Nintendo has catered to a very specific audience the last 10 years, and I doubt many from outside this group will buy a wii. I also think this group will be smaller than the first one, thanks to the dissapointment with the cube.

The xbox and playstation 2 were, if I'm correct, selling pretty much the same. I'm too lazy to look for any numbers right now to prove it, but it's obvious neither console kicked the other console's ass. And that was back when Sony had the advantage. Now Microsoft has the advantage. They were here first and sony lost a lot of exclusives. The PS3 is more powerful, but they're both so powerful that I can't imagine it'll really be a selling point.

In short, I think the XBOX 360 will win, Playstation 3 will be second and Nintendo third. Of course a few good games for any console can totally change this.  And let's not forget that I also predicted the psp would crush the Nintendo DS.

[Flack]

Here are my predictions.

I think the Xbox 360's initial cost of $299/$399 turned off most casual gamers (and more importantly, the parents of casual gamers who do Christmas shopping). While the 360 is graphically superior to its predecessor, it's not *that* much better (at least not yet). While you and I can tell the difference, our parents may not be able to.

I think a lot of people held off on buying a 360 until they saw what the PS3 had to offer -- which, other than a blu-ray drive, isn't much more. The PS3's price will be its biggest hurdle. Despite what Sony says, people look at the PS3 as a gaming device, not the hub of their entertainment center. I don't know a single person who is looking forward to dumping their DVD collection and replacting it with blu-ray discs. $599 may be a good deal for a blu-ray player, but I don't personally know anyone who's looking for one.

The Wii will start its life as the "available and affordable console". Holiday shoppers who only care about having "a new system" under the tree this year will choose the Wii. The key for Nintendo is having stock. If they're the only console on the shelves two weeks before Christmas, holiday shoppers won't have much of a choice. My grandma has no idea how many gigaflops and bazillion-pixels the PS3 and Xbox 360 have, but she's heard of "Nintendo" and associates that with games. If she were buying a console for me this Christmas (not that she can afford to at these prices), I'm sure she'd go with the Wii.

I suspect PS3 enthusiasts, unable to find one for under a couple of grand at this point, will go with the 360. And those who don't particularly care which of the three they get will go with the wii. The PS3 is going to have to come up with some stellar games and some significant price breaks before the general public joins the bandwagon. Once the diehards and the resellers have one, I'm not sure who will be left in line.

That's how I see it.

[The Metamorphosing Leon]

I say everyone forgets about the next gen and goes and buys Medieval 2: Total War. That's where it's at.