Has The Xbox 360 Already Won?

Murmurs out of E3 are pointing to a Microsoft victory over the might Sony Playstation. Even Nintendo’s Wii is looking like a contender for second place.

The problem? First up, the 360 has a 12 month lead. But the real killer is Sony’s reliance on Blu-ray as the next big technology breakthrough – all their money is being put on this competing next gen DVD technology, and it doesn’t come cheap. The PS3 is expected to debut worldwide in November for US$600 (NZ$1,200?). That’s a lot of money for a gaming machine that some say doesn’t out perform the 360 in any way.

Add to that Rockstar’s announcement that they will be sitting on the fence with the next GTA game – no exclusivity, it will be available on both the 360 and PS3 at the same time – though the 360 is rumoured to have exclusive content.

And lets not forget the Wii. Nintendo are leaving the digital hub concept to Microsoft and Sony to duke out over – their little console won't be playing DVDs of any kind – it’s a small, unobtrusive games machine, with a small, unobtrusive price tag: US$150 (NZ$300?) and at that price it’s almost an impulse buy.

And you could probably pick up a 360 and a Wii for the price of the PS3 – you do the math on who’s gonna win this race.