QUOTE(dohopoki @ Jul 20 2006, 10:29 PM)

Xbox, lost a lot of money.
Not really. Most people don't know that the Xbox division actually turned a profit right around the time of Halo 2's launch. Also, very intentionally on MS's part, even though the Xbox tended toward loss for most of its life, the overall Entertainment division usually did very well, and largely absorbed the Xbox's losses. Plus, Xbox was an investment by MS designed to nudge Sony to the side and let MS into your home entertainment center (the true goal of the whole Xbox project), so even if the whole project had stayed in the red, it's still really a "calculated investment". MS didn't really even expect to push past Nintendo with their first effort.
And yes, Wii is a different kind of console. It's competing for new markets- 360 and PS3 could keep their audiences completely, even if Wii outsells them, because the "hardcore" consoel crowd will basically own two consoles- Wii for casual quirky gaming, and 360/PS3 for "real" gaming.
It's hard not to root for Wii60, in whatever order, for the top two. Sony's shoveled nothing but lies and underperformance to gamers in preparation for this gen. Now, rumors (and industry insiders) speculate that Cell might clock in at only 2.8GHz. That's .7GHz slower than Sony promised, and .4GHz slower than Xbox 360's core speed. And this comes after people have realized that PS3 doesn't look that much better than 360 right now, if at all, and things are only getting worse. And with BluRay's problems (manufacturing, MPEG2...) it STILL only gets worse from there.
I hope Sony stays in the running, but I hope they get their act together to do it. If consumers buy into the PS3 when the system continues to underdeliver as massively as it seems to be going for right now, it'll just be a loss for the industry.
And yes, competition is good. But this isn't much of a competition. Imagining it as a social runoff...
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Xbox 360 is J. Allard in motion. The (potentially) cool kid on the block. All the best clothes (faceplates), very connected (Live), and fairly easy to get to know ($400). Not particularly original except in spirit (was the first next-gen with online downloadable games!), but a solid buddy.
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PS3 is the rich kid. He owns lots of crazy bleeding-edge technology (BluRay, Cell), and all your friends rave about him (#1 last gen), but you can't help catching a constant wiff of BS in the room (We're ready to launch in Spring '06!). Plus, it's gonna be expensive hanging out with this guy ($600). He's even less original- you think you've even caught him stealing other kids' stuff sometimes and claiming he always owned it! (motion, Guide button, Live)
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Wiivolution is your 8-year-old kid brother. He's a one-of-a-kind experience (Zelda), and he really is different (Wiimote), but ultimately you'll be left wishing you could go out and play with kids your age. Then again, it's cheap to hang out with him! ($~200).