I just saw this:
"Sony's new console will fully support the company's proprietary Blu-ray format for its gaming discs, the same format the company is pushing for next generation DVDs."

I wonder why the heck they're doing that. That's a bad idea if the Blu-Ray format really takes off. Then it will be no problem whatsoever for people to rip/burn/share games and the PS3 will die. That's EXACTLY what happened to the Dreamcast and why Sega no longer makes consoles. It's always best to have a proprietary format for games. Now I hope DVD-HD is the format that wins the format wars.

Copying games was never a major issue with ps1 or ps2. Though I do have to admit hd loader is a nice piece of software. I don't want to have to buy a blu-ray dvd player and a ps3, when I could just buy one unit. Besides we knew all along that ps3 was going to use blu-ray technology. Besides, it has a larger capacity than hd-dvd's.

the only negative I see with the current known PS3 plans is Sony didnt also support HD-DVD just for the sake of compatability.

It's common sence they used blue-ray for the games but if in the long haul blue-ray does not catch on for movies and everything goes HD-DVD, the PS3 will not support the format.

I realy want sony to swallow it's pride and suport it's competitors format for the sake of future compatibility.

Another game machine tht blows my PC out of the water. blu-ray LOL.. yeah.. anyway, gunna get an Xbox so i can run linux or Windows on it.. hehe.. computing POWER.

Now, i must say that PS3 is awsome. I can't wait to see the DOA babes now ... LOL..duf.

Just read an article that says PS has almost 44% of the market and Xbox is second at something like 17%. Didn't realize it was such a huge gap. Both machines spell winner for us, the game players!

Oh, and what kind of nimrod buys an Xbox 360 to put Linux on it!? Get a life. I buy consoles to play games, and computers for everything else (and play some games on the computer!)

From the very beginning, we knew that Sony was working on the Cell technology and could tell it was going to be awesome! This sounds very cool! I can't wait.

Though I will buy both Xbox and Sony consoles. I have seen some very good games come out for the both of them and until you can play all games on any machine.

I have always been a PS fan, but have recently seen some games out for Xbox that I would really like to play and therefore, this time around will buy both systems.

IMO. . . the Game Cube needs to do something fast or get left by the side of the road. They will be the "Apple" of the consoles.(never liked)

As I have said before, I don't care to say which is better Xbox or Sony, it is the games that I will enjoy. Competition will be in game development, and the use of the technology in the machine that will be the real deciding factor. Both have some great components!

I have always like both too, but I haven't bought anything for the PS2 in the last year. Now, with XBOX getting more support from Square-Enix I may not need to get a PS3. Maybe the FF series will start being released on Xbox 360

I'm going to pass on XBox360, and wait for PS3, it's gonna be the buisness.

I may buy a PSP to keep me going in the meantime.

dude. u don't have a psp yet?

Unfortunatly Sony shat on us Europeans, and moved the launch date back to Sepetember 2005, so they could keep up with demand in the US.

Personally, it's a shrewd move, as all those US PSP owners, I wonder which console with integrate seamlessly with it, (guess, it's not got 360 in it's title).

Sony are basically reserving customers now with a PSP handheld with will integrate nicely when PS3 launches 6 months after XBox 360. very clever.

I read on another source that the practical processing power was 2 teraflops.

Wow.

it will be interesting who will be more successful microsoft or sony with their latest gaming units. only thing xbox got is halo...ps2 is a lot better...hopefully ps2 will be better then xbox 360 :)

I have always been a PS person but recently i have also wanted to setup a Media Center, to stream movies from my server to the Home Theatre.

Seems to me if the XBox 360 can connect to Windows networks, play digital media, games and DVDs all with a remote and wireless access, why buy a Media Center for $800+ when the XBOX will do it all for less.

Will be interesting to see how integrated the XBOX is.....cant wait

except what xbox 360 has is a media center EXTENDER, it doesn't run on it's own, you still need a computer with media center

For the xbox you can replace the bios with Linux and use it as a computer. I'm sure the same will be available for xbox 360, so you CAN use it as a computer =)

But it also says:
"Xbox 360 instantly streams the digital media stored on your MP3 player, digital camera, Media Center PC, or any Microsoft® Windows® XP-based PC."
So presumably will work with Windows Media Connect meaning you don't need a media centre, just a link to your PC.

Either way you look at it, we're all better off because of this rivalry.

These console specs make my home PC look like a kids toy and it runs the latest games without a hitch.

Who cares which is better!

Buy both and mod them! You'll have the two most powerful machines ever in your home, with all the manufacturer strings cut. BluRay/no BluRay, Cell/PowerPC, ATi/Nvidia, who cares! Love them both... I know I will.

For all you puritans out there who say "don't mod, it's pirating"... If I like a game and want to play more then the first two levels, I'll buy it. If it's crap, and can't hold my attention for more than two levels, these publishers/developers should be ashamed and don't deserve to be paid. I won't keep it on my HDD anyhow.

I want my media on my terms! I'll pay if it's worth the cost but if a developer is just trying to rip off the customer, they deserve what they get. Value for money! We can all tell a good game from a bad one.

When I waited for Brute Force (touted by the big game sites as "the next Halo"), paid $65 for it and played it for all of 15 minutes, I took my machine out for a mod the next day. Fool me once...

I agree, it is the consoles that will be the next generation of game play. It doesn't matter who we think is better than the next, but the next generation games are going to be better because of the competition between these two systems.

I, for one, can't wait!! I will purchase them both.

Im not sure but I think the streaming will only work on Xbox 360 if you have Media Center Edition. I bet 3rd parties will release other applications to make this work without Media Center though.

shame on you, fool me 2x, shame on me...

They don't deserved to be paid because YOU think it's crap? Now that's funny.

Take few business classes then come back to planet earth.

Really, in general, I don't see how it's different. I'm not taking either side, but I'm a college student working in a restaurant. If a person doesn't like their food, their food is made again. If they still think it's bad, we'll make it again. If WE can't get something right THE CUSTOMER is the person that gets out of paying for it. I don't see how this industry should be any other different than any other. Yes you'll have people that say, "Oh this is crap I don't like it" but eat the food anyways, BUT you also will have a ton of customers that cannot thank you enough for what you've done for them, their food, their experience. In short: Maybe these companies shovelling tripe down our throats should be rethinking their strategies, get creative, and actually make a game worth us paying for.

BTW: I don't have an XBox. I don't have a GameCube. I don't have a PSanything. I have no consoles, but have played on all of them, liked them all, but am not ready to spend a ton of money on them with the new ones coming out.

PS- if they're going to expect to keep the prices under $1000, how in the HECK are we paying so darned much on freaking computers still for?! ESPECIALLY since these consoles are 100x better than what I've ever used thus far (not b/c I'm cheap or technologically behind the times, but because I just don't have $1k to toss around)!

Still waiting for nintendo to die are we?

The reason PCs are much more expencive is the manufacturers make a profit on the sales of PCs and consoles sell for no profit and make thier money afterwards in game sales.