This is my impression so far of the next gen console war:
Sony:
From everything I have read They have really thought "within the box" so to speak and focused on designing a great gaming system, that is first and primarily a gaming system. That's not a negative but just a design strategy, as they seem to believe that's what will move the market instead of the all-in-one approach of microsoft. The basic idea be gamers want games not a bunch of other stuff. The one element to their system that I really like is the built in game capture/stream ability. I think they hit a homerun here and caught MS off gaurd. I have read that this is an easier system to design for due to it's game focused build.
Microsoft:
Almost the complete opposite in approach in what the overall system is designed to do. That being a all-in-one that sets next to your TV and handles just about everything media and entertainment wise. What I am excited to hear about is what "else" it will bring to the table gaming wise. They released the teaser (or proff of concept) trailor for the Illuma-room that projects 360 degree detail of your gaming environment around you, or at least your complete field of vision. They also have stated that the 720 will support, to some degree, augmented reality but they have said very little about this. Smart Glass is expected to take another step forward as well. Will there be aother gaming resources we don't already know about?
Tech stuff:
I think people are making too much of this. I read some statements from game designers and industry experts who basically are saying both are basically able to produce the same things. What is more important is the things inside like solid state drives, amount of storage, BlueRay vs Digital download, etc. etc. We will have to wait until the MC presser to judge here. But I'm reading more and more that used games will not be blocked on either system but that backward compatability will likely be an issue.
The one area the MC could steal the show tech wise would be to up the graphics cards specs -which some are whatching to see if they do.
Price:
The same amount for both systems or within 50.00 of each other. Around 400 or so.
This is a good source.
http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/games/1296739/xbox-720-release-date-specs-price-rumours
Release Dates:
A little more solid info here. The game developers behind Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag are saying to look for an October to November release for both systems and that was always the thinking for "holiday 2013" we have heard from the start.
http://www.ubergizmo.com/2013/03/playstation-4-and-xbox-720-could-see-a-release-by-november/
http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/ps4-and-xbox-720-release-in-october-says-ac4-developer
Many other sources out there, just google Xbox 720, etc. stc.