A lot has already been said about the next generation of game consoles, the Xbox 360, the Playstation3 and the Nintendo WII. I believe that the 360 and the Wii will do just fine, but the PS3 will be the end of Sony’s endavours in the game console market.

Actually I shouldn’t even mention the Wii in this post about second generation game consoles, because it really isn’t a second generation game console. When you break it down the Wii is just a GameCube with a gimmick, the new controller interface. Don’t get me wrong, I think the new interface is amazing, but still it is just a gimmick. Because of this new way of playing (and the far lower price) the Wii will do just fine as game console, but it can’t be compared to the mediacenters that the PS3 and 360 really are.

These two game consoles are so much more than just game consoles, these things have so much power they could control your whole house. You can use them to play your music and your movies (on either Blueray or HD), these consoles really are ment to be the media-HUB in your living room. When I look at the technical specifications, I must admit that the PS3 looks amazing, so much in one box almost justifies the price Sony is asking for it.

Microsoft knows better than anyone else that being the best is not what counts, it is making sure that everyone uses your product. Of course they have had some luck considering all the delays Sony has had with manufacturing the PS3, but I believe that they’ll win this battle of the consoles simply because they understand what the market wants. For instance, playing a game together with your friends is what people want, so Microsoft has bet everything they’ve got on Live, the online gaming environment. One system that works seamless with every game and is integrated with the users Live/Hotmail/MSN-account. The PS3 has a system that let’s you connect to others online, but you will have to build a list of friends for every game seperately. Only advantage of the PS3-system is that it is free. But maybe the folks over at Sony will change this when they have more than the current 22 games in the market (compared to about 160 for the 360).

Also the 360 connects to your PC via your network to play your music and video’s. This integration of soft and hardware in the living room may be just what Microsoft needs to combat Apple over control over the living room media, but more on that some other time…