How the next generation consoles play out is really going to help define Microsoft's place. It's already shaping up to be an interesting little war. XB2 expected out in time for the holidays next year, PS3 about 6 months later. Sony seems to be going with their blu-laser technology, where MS is being courted by the HD-DVD faction. Game development companies already have production cycles started for games targeting the new platforms. Based on early estimates, this jump appears to be an even bigger leap forward than the PS > PS2 genesis was.
The big knock on XB for a while was definitely the range of games. While that's not much of a concern for me as I have pretty focused interests, I know they've really come around on that issue. Rockstar is the only top-tier company I know that releases for both, but puts a delay on the XB releases. That's a major coup for Sony, and one I suspect they'll do almost anything to hang on to. The crumbling of the virtual Berlin Wall between EA and Microsoft tore down one of the biggest barriers for that system to date, and I suspect the launch of XB2 is going to see MS on much more even footing with Sony, at least here in the US. MS's standard aggressive approach to everything they do seems to have served them well, nailing down exclusives with guys like Peter Molyneux and his Lionhead Studios (despite the Fable flap), as well as the Bungie team (Halo/Halo 2) amongst others were solid moves. From the perspective of one who plays the games, I wish taking the 'competition' to that level wasn't necessary, but from a business perspective, it makes perfect sense.
All I know is that this MS vs. Sony 'war' is great for the end users as both will be going out of their way to wow us with the next generation. Make no mistake, I'll leverage every single contact and favor I have left in the industry when they come out to try and get free copies of both systems. But even if forced to pay, I'll be getting both.
Ugh, lol, I haven't written that much about general gaming in years. And I wasn't even paid for it this time.
--edit--
Funny in retrospect that it's the newcomers to the industry that have effectively dominated it. I know Nintendo still has a share, but realistically speaking, they focus on the younger niche market now and I only consider them in loose competition for gaming dollars. Sony made a huge splash with the Playstation. Microsoft with the XBox a full generation later. And we've seen former powers (Sega for example) fade into hardware history, and some (3DO) implode along the way.
I wish I still had my Odyssey2. Lol, Magnavox. That was the first platform I played football on. Red Dog Blitz was the shit.