You should never underestimate the power of N4G.  You just lost half of your readers from there.    Many will never forgive you for even postulating this.

I've said from the start that Sony's system has the potential of pulling away. In my eyes, they followed the original XBox strategy, which only didn't work (I use the term loosely) because the console generation was too short.

However, I don't believe it's doing so just yet. A great many wouldn't even consider buying those exclusives, for example, and getting games a year early (BioShock, Tales of Vesperia etc) can be a real deal-breaker if you're looking forward to the game.

@Sandy I would agree with you if the 360 were still getting games a year prior to the PS3, but by and large the old multi-platform exclusives (Bioshock, etc.) are coming out at the same time at this point.  I would agree it's a bit early to call, but I'm just getting a feeling that things are starting to shift.  Who knows?  Maybe Microsoft will kill at E3 this year, and since Sony released most of their big exclusives in the past year I'm not sure how many God of War quality games they have left.  But it's fun to postulate.

I will say this year Microsoft has Crackdown 2 :) 

Indeed. Perhaps I am turning into an adamant 360 fanboy, but I see it taking a good year or two before Sony overtake, if indeed they do.

I would agree. I'm finally wanting to buy a PS3 after years of indifference. 

@Gabriel,

Did Dan Shoe read this garbage? I dont understand, how did this make it to print? This article is wrong on so many fronts:

1. Don't relate the PS3 & 360 in the same league as the PS2 & XBOX. The XBOX was clearly more powerful than the PS2 in every facet of console gaming. The PS3 imaginary power' I'll explain: Killzone 2 looks the way it does because they sacrificed gameplay for graphics, Killzone 2 has no features compared to Halo 3 a much older game than Killzone 2 that doesn't even have campaign co-op. When the PS3 can make an exclusive game with campaign co-op & some of the features of Halo 3, then & only then will I listen to you talk PS3 power.

Uncharted 2, same thing, why is U2 so damn linear? I'll tell you why, SONY with its split memory cant make the game pretty & the game not be scripted linear play! It cant, if it does I'd like to see it please. If Halo wanted to be scripted & have no co-op, I have no doubt it would look better than Killzone 2. If Gears wanted to be linear as hell, it would look better than that cartoony Kameo looking Uncharted 2.

As for exclusives being better on the PS3, well, I'm glad the consumer agrees with me. Halo 3, Fable 2, Forza 3, Mass Effect,  Halo:ODST, Left 4 Dead, Crackdown, & Halo Wars all outsold the exclusives you mentioned by a considerable margin. Notice, I didn't even mention Gears of War!

You also mentioned God of War 3, what about Splinter Cell:Conviction, Alan Wake, & the new Crackdown 2, all on the way.

So what on earth are you talking about? SONY is about to get destroyed. 

Otherzinc - Please go in to the "Account Settings" in the upper-right hand corner, and put in your real name. We like to know who we're talking to -- that's how we roll here. To answer your question, anyone can post an article to the Mobfeed. If you click the "About" link in the main navigation bar at the top, that will give you an idea on how the site works.

Also, just for the record, features such as co-op gameplay modes have little to do with the power of the system. The system doesn't allocate memory for these unless you're actually playing them and, last time I checked, it's pretty hard to play single-player and multi-player on the same system at the same time. The only true limiting factor in adding additional content is the space on the disc, which is why you see some cross-platform titles show up on a single disc on PS3 and multiple discs on the 360-- because Microsoft stubbornly refuses to adopt Blu-ray.

Keep in mind that Gabriel is entitled to his opinion just as much as you are. Just because he disagrees with you, that doesn't make his article garbage.

In any event, I own both a PS3 and a 360, I play them both, and I love them both.

@Jay: Heh, you can hardly blame Microsoft for not wanting to adopt Sony's Blu-ray technology...

Brett - I understand to a point. With some of these new games, though, it's becoming apparent that standard DVDs are just not enough. I was honestly hoping that my days of disc swapping were over.

@otherzinc:  Aaah, the righteous vitriol I so richly deserve for daring to express an opinion.  I'm not really sure about Dan Shoe, a better question would be whether you read this "garbage"?  But nonetheless I will attempt to answer your rambling diatribe.

1.  I clearly state that the Xbox was more powerful than the PS2 in terms of hardware as it was released later.  Any other facets of console gaming are your own affair.

2.  As far as PS3 power goes, the PS3 is a more powerful system simply by virtue of being released later.  I'm not sure, but I don't think the Air Force has built a Supercomputer out of 1700 Xbox 360 processors.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/PS3-Roadrunner-supercomputer,5688.html

This increased capability is what leads me to believe that the PS3 has more potential to expand in the coming years, much like the original Xbox had more capability to expand than the PS2.  However in this instance it is more important as this console generation is going to last longer than previous iterations.

3.  As far as Gears of War is concerned, maybe you played a different version than me.  The one I played had me going down corridors and through buildings and would occasionally stop the action to launch into a scripted sequence.  I'm not sure exactly how that differs from Uncharted 2, you'll have to enlighten me.  If you're talking about the one or two short branching pathways per level I'd have to say you're reaching quite a bit.

4.  I stated that nothing in the past *year* had dazzled me short of Forza 3.  Notice that Halo 3, Fable 2, Mass Effect, Left 4 Dead, Crackdown, and Halo Wars were not released in the last year.  ODST just felt like more Halo.  Which is fine and good, I enjoyed it.  But it didn't accomplish anything groundbreaking in my opinion.

5.  I state very clearly that I enjoy both systems immensely.  I preferred my 360 for most of the time that I have owned both of the systems.  I just feel that Sony may be starting to pull ahead in terms of games and hardware capability.  I also state my points very clearly.  If you are having a hard time understanding what on earth I'm talking about you might want to go back and actually read it instead of skipping down to the comments to rant.

Jay, and what's even crazier is that you still have to disc swap on the Xbox 360 even if you install the entire game.

And one other point I just want to mention -- Mass Effect and Left 4 Dead are not Xbox exclusives. Don't forget about the PC!

@Rob: P....C? What is this strange device you speak of? =)

@otherzinc One of my few pet peeves: using the word "linear" as a negative. What's wrong with Uncahrted 2 being linear? How would it have benefited from being an open-world game?

@otherzinc

1. Power does not equal gameplay. You have no idea what you are talking about. The reason co-op isn't implemented in many cases is because it affects the storyline. All developers want to do is make a solid SINGLEPLAYER experience instead of putting in a half-assed co-op mode. If developers wanted co-op, they'd put it in. Just because they had good graphics does not mean it is sacrificed in the features department. They have seperate teams working on seperate aspects of the game, so it isn't affected whatsoever.

2. Gears of War is linear.. so what the hell are you talking about? And MAYBE if you actually PLAYED Uncharted 2 you would see the wide open vistas that are presented in SEVERAL of the levels, showing that the game could be made into a non-linear story if they wanted to. But who cares if it isn't non-linear? The story in Uncharted 2 is one of the greatest we've ever seen. As long as we get action, it really does not matter whether it is linear or not.

3. All those exclusives you mentioned were all released like one or two years ago. ODST was an expansion pack. Mass Effect and Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 came to PC. Halo Wars was a massive failure, I don't know who would play that game. Splinter Cell: Conviction is coming to PC.  You have Alan Wake, we have Heavy Rain. You have Crackdown 2, we have Infamous, and Infamous 2 which will come eventually. You have Halo, we have Killzone. You have Gears of War, we have Uncharted. We have God of War, you have.... Dante's Inferno? We have Resistance, you have... I don't know? You have Forza, we have Gran Turismo. We have Ratchet and Clank, we have White Knight Chronicles, we have LittleBigPlanet, we have SOCOM, we have Metal Gear Solid 4, we have.. god I could go on forever. Point is, the PS3's game library far exceeds that of the 360 in terms of quality. Sony is hardly about to get destroyed. You are just so ignorant as to where Sony really is at the moment.

4. Oh, and uhh, PS3 has dedicated servers, so suck on that, and Cross Game Voice Chat is in development so don't argue with that either

5. And seriously, nobody cares about sales. Oh my, Halo 3: ODST outsold a PS3 exclusive! Yeah but look at the game, it's terrible. And it's only an expansion pack. Sales does not equal quality.

That is all.

Which console is the best is a very subjective thing. Everyone has their own opinion. I agree that every console has their good side and bad side. I also agree that Sony is doing great things with their exclusives. I just happen to think that 360 is pretty much the go to console for third parties while still having a great pool of exclusive titles... just ones that aren't as innovative as Sony's. Still, they sell better and more copies. Most PS3 titles disappear from the top of the NPD after a month.

The biggest problem I had was you claiming that "the 360's three-to-four years of dominance have given way to the PS3's sudden leap forward."

If you look at recent months the PS3 and 360 are trading places in ranking, with 360 still on top most of the time.

Also, saying that either Sony of Microsoft can even compare in sales of the Wii is just plain crazy. Nintendo is the winner no matter how you slice it.

And trying to remove Wii from the proposition is just a cop out for anyone who tries to claim it.

____________________________________________________________________________________

November's U.S. hardware contest shaking down.

• 
  Nintendo DS - 1,700,000


• 
  Wii - 1,260,000


• 
  Xbox 360 - 819,500


• 
  PlayStation 3 - 710,400

11/29/09 - 1/2/10, according to the NPD Group.

• 
  Wii - 3,810,000


• 
  Nintendo DS - 3,310,000


• 
  PlayStation 3 - 1,360,000


• 
  Xbox 360 - 1,310,000

January 3 to January 30, was....

• 
  Wii - 465,800


• 
  Nintendo DS - 422,200


• 
  Xbox 360 - 332,800


• 
  PlayStation 3 - 276,900/li>

January 31 to Feb. 27, was:

• 
  Nintendo DS - 613,200


• 
  Xbox 360 - 422,000


• 
  Wii - 397,900


• 
  PlayStation 3 - 360,100

____________________________________________________________________________________

Now, I think the most important thing to take away from all of this is that all three of the home consoles are doing pretty well. I think it is great that there is enough consumers out there buying all three consoles. That does nothing but make gaming a better hobby.

I will also agree that critically Sony has been doing extremely well lately, even if they are going back to their habit of making limp wristed knocks on the competition and still seem to not have any kind of unified plan.

I am really excited to see where Sony goes, and think the best thing for everyone is for Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft to all switch places on top from month to month.

That would really drive the hardcore fanboys crazy!

I really enjoyed this piece! I know any talk of the console wars will bring out the crazies, but I trust that the Bitmob community can stand some heated debating and interloping flamers from time to time.

Great job!

@Jon: Take a breath, dude. It will be OK.

PS- Trying to say that sales doesn't matter is crazy. They are not everything, but they are the biggest factor companies consider when deciding if they will bring their game to a console.

... Not that I think developers are going to ignore the PS3 because a PS3 exclusive didn't sell as well as one on 360.

@Frank:  If you go back and look when I made the comment about the PS3's great leap forward it was in reference to graphics, not sales.   Nintendo clearly dominates in terms of sales.  It's unfair but I just don't classify the Wii in the same category as the PS3 and 360.  The Wii is a great console, but I'm not sure if I (again this is my *opinion* Nintendite bomb throwers) classify the Wii as a true next-generation console.  It has an innovative control scheme, but under the hood it's basically a Gamecube with a few upgrades.  Again, a completely unfair comparison but it's a subjective argument to begin with.  You like what you like, and no amount of sales figures and Metacritic scores are going to convince you if you are a fanboy of a particular camp. 

One other thing.  (Not at you Frank)  A good way to figure out if you are losing your mind is if you make statements that use the pronoun "We" referring to yourself and the faceless corporation that manufactures your console. As in "We have X and Y, while you guys have Z!"  I assure you "they" don't know you.

@Gabriel: You are right... I totally missed that somehow. Sorry! ...It has been a long week. :)

The thing about trying to discount the Wii is that no matter what you think of it, it is competing for the same customers as the 360 and PS3. While I seriously doubt all Wii owners would have bought a PS3 or 360 if the Wii didn't exist, there has to be at least a portion of Wii sales that are customers who want home gaming that have passed on a PS3 or 360 for a Wii.

Put shortly- no matter how you slice it the success of the Wii has to have affected the sales of the 360.

The masses have shown that high-def gaming is simply not the winner this generation.

Now, my opinion on the Wii varies greatly from my opinions on its success.

Again, put shortly, I think the Wii is mostly a steaming pile of poo. Now, I will admit that there are tons of things I love about Nintendo. Mostly Nintendo made games. But, I think the Wii has damaged gaming just as much as it has seemingly opened it to the masses.

There have been buckets full of shit games on the Wii that I fear have turned many Wii gamers off buying any games that do not star Mario or have some shitty peripheral attatched.

I pretty much hate the Wii Remote, and think most of the games that take advantage of motion control suck donkey dick.

... But I am also a Nintendo whore that will buy all the good games they make... and a few of the shit ones accidentally.

With Playstation Move and Project Natal coming up, I do worry about how much the Wii might change the future of gaming. After all, why bother spending millions on a blockbuster epic like Uncharted 2, when you could spend much less rehashing a simple mechanic (Guitar Hero, I'm looking at you) and reach a much bigger market? Bung a peripheral in, and the profit further increases.

I have some problems with this article, and since everyone else made a list I'll do one too. Not in any particular order, of course.

1. Getting a bunch of really good new exclusives after an abysmal multi-year-long showing isn't "shifting the balance," it's "catching up."

2. On the graphics front, there's far too little difference to be worth noting, and not everyone cares.

3. You don't even mention Left 4 Dead 2. (Not really a grievance, just an oversight)

4. You don't even consider the amount of those sale attributed solely to the Blu-Ray player (it was the cheapest one for about a year.)

5. All that stuff you say the PS3 does? Aside from the Internet browser (which sucks) and the wireless, the 360 does all of that, and even then wireless is just a dongle away.

6. From the fourth paragraph on, this reads a lot like a love letter to Sony's black behemoth, which sort of invalidates the argument in my opinion.

@Jon Cleary: Your picking a fight. Knock it off.

Uh Oh, the fanboys are out...



I also own both a PS3 and a 360, and I definitely love some PS3 exclusives (LittleBigPlanet, Valkyria Chronicles, Demon's Souls, the Uncharted Series, God of War 3), and like some others (Ratchet and Clank, Infamous, MGS4). I think there's lots of good exclusives on the 360, too. To a voracious gamer like myself, there's plenty of reason to own both.



Putting aside the Halo series, which I've always disliked (above and beyond a general dislike of FPS on console), there's games like:



Beautiful Katamari

Crackdown

Dead Rising

Fable 2

Forza 3

Gears of War/2

Viva Pinata



Chromehounds was great before they introduced party chat, which ruined the 'beyond radio range' tension. Although I'm yet to play it, Alan Wake is also getting some good reviews.



Then there's the 'PC/360 exclusives.' If you play FPS on console, the Left 4 Dead series. If you don't play games on PC at all, the Mass Effect series.



I do think the exclusives on XBox Live are better than the PSN exclusives, particularly if you played through the extensive PSN PS1 collection the first time around, but that's neither here nor there.



Basically, if you can afford it, get both.

I think both Sony and Nintendo should be thankful for the Xbox 360 as it has distracted gamers for several years now, giving them something to do while everything else released their new hardware and nailed down their feature sets. I don't think anyone would think much of the PS3 right now if they'd not had the Xbox available to play the great first and third party disc based games as well as all of the XBLA content.

What I'm trying to say is it's easy to now say "the PS3 has the best library and graphics" or "the Wii has those great Mario Bros games and is a must have console" when you could always rely on the Xbox for your prior gaming needs. It may not have been reliable hardware but it was a great platform for games at a time when there were no competitors or those competitors had tiny libraries.

I have yet to abandon my Xbox 360 and although I have owned a Wii and two PS3s, I don't own any other consoles now. I am admittedly a more Western focused gamer, happy with the RPGs and shooters and other games on the Xbox. But regardless, I am not willing to say the PS3 is winning when the Xbox 360 has served us so well for so long.