My (not-so-important) view on next gen consoles

Unfortnately, since this is a new blog, i was unable to comment extensively on the E3 event that happened last month, (blame on exams). So to give some nice afterthoughts on the whole matter, i give a view on the big 3.

Playstation 3: $599! MASSIVE DAMAGE! GIANT ENEMY CRAB! RIIIIDGE RACER!! ETC! Ok, everyone's heard the jokes already, but that sums up how everyone felt about the Sony Pre-E3 conference and even to this day, Sony is still taking hits from the public about this.
To be honest, Sony brought it upon themselves, their whole conference smelt of arrogance, it was boring, every single demo they showed felt as though they're the kings even if they produced crap. Genji 2 was crap, GT:HD was crap, Resistance was crap, their PSP lineup was crap. In fact, form their whole conference, the only games of interest (which may make the PS3 worth purchasing.. eventually) were Heavenly Sword and MGS4 (FFXIII is also good). Next gen games better shape up for the PS3.
As for the ideas, lets take the lesser of the stolen ideas, its 'X-box Live' style feature. Ok, fair dues, X-box pretty much guided the console into an online gaming world (though Dreamcast though of it first), so a logical step would be a (free) online service, great stuff, though hardly new or exciting.
Now, its daddy, the motion-sensing controller, notice in the conference, Kutaragi looked very smug about the whole thing, notice how Harrison tried to look excited, notice how ridiculous that guy looked when playing Warhawk? This is the half-assed product from Sony to combat Nintendo's Wiimote. Audience members booed Harrison, people were unexcited, Sony fanboys who dissed the Wiimote began swallowing their own words, Oh Sony, you think this is innovative? Stealing other people's 'general' idea (not an exact copy of the Wiimote mind you), Sony, hang your head in shame.
With all that said, Playstation 3 does have a chance of winning the next gen war (thoguh almost guaranteed a massive lost in market share), 2 factors come into play here, the Playstation brand and Casuals. The playstation brand is worth 100s of millions of dollars, that alone makes it more powerful than the X-360 or Wii, importantly, its the casuals who may make or break Sony. Casuals, generally do not care about the price (especially in the UK), they will view the PS3 as the next coolest thing to have, they will buy it, enjoy it and ignore the rest of the competition because its the playstation brand. In the end though, could Playstation3 become a by-product of its 'success' with the PSP, gaining sales but ultimately lost because of much better compeittion?

Wii: Hey look! Its the Wee! ROFL! Nintendo is taking the piss right? *sigh* ok, everyone made fun of Nintendo when they announced the name, but now everythign is calm now and everyone says 'Wii' without a chuckle or smirk now. Wow, Nintendo did something right, 'Wii' stuck through days and weeks of constant bashing and everyone matured up to it and accepts it. Well done.
Now its E3 presence, 4-6 hours of waiting in line to have a chance (i.e. extra 1-2 hours to actually touch the Wiimote) says a lot of things. People are actually willing to wait almost 6 hours or so just to play the new-generation in gaming? People are excited, they want to play to believe and the general consensus, the 'Wii' works. Games like Mario Galaxy, Metroid prime, Red Steel, Wii Sports, Warioware and Zelda showed variety on different genres of gaming as well as giving a demo on how the Wiimote could actually be implemented in current day games. Great stuff Nintendo, you're on the right track now despite playing a different beat to everybody else.
Very little to complain about Nintendo nowadays, their DS sales are through the roof (constantly sold out in Japan) and their E3 presence made a massive ripple in the gaming world. In some respects, the Wii is almost emulating the DS i nterms of coverage its getting, despite inital thoughs of a 'touch screen' being gimmicky and pointless in gaming, gamers have changed their way. The Wii can change things (and looks as though they have by 'forcing' Sony to use a motion-sensing controller) and Nintendo can only look at good times ahead.
Keep at it Nintendo!

X-360: What a crap launch lineup! *yawn* X-box 1.5! This game can be on the X-box etc! Yes, X-360 didn't have a great launch lineup (Call of Duty 2, PDZ and Kameo being the main games for me.. and im stretching it) but that didn't stop the console from selling out (Sony can emulate that + more stock).
At the moment, X-360 can look at good times, their E3 presence was showered with praises from media outlets across the inter-web, Gears of War winning action game award, Bioshock ganing its deserved recognition, Mass Effect becoming more well known, Dead Rising and Lost Planet are superb fun games etc...
Due to their one year head-start with the competition, they have a chance of winning, also the X-360's capabilities are 'almost' similar to the PS3, so there really is no reason to get both because alot of the games aren't exclusive (similar to what PS2->X-box games are like). To make the X-360 worth while from the PS3, you have to look at exclusives, and each have their own batch.. except X-360's batch are more fpsy-action style games, so many shooters, wheres the variety.. and that is where the PS3 may be able to produce gold from.
X-360 only has good times ahead, a strong lineup in E3 can produce strong sales in the future! Keep going Microsoft!

Overall: My inital prediction (before the X-360 came out) was that Microsoft will be market leader, the Wii second and PS3 third. And from the E3 event, my mind's not changed, The general feeling from everybody is that PS3 will lose market share, Nintendo will gain, Microsoft will also gain. No, im not a Microsoft fanboy, in fact i *loathe* X-box, but X-360 has a strong lineup and the two games like Dead Rising and Lost Planet on offer, thats 2 more games than what i wanted o nthe X-box. Im more of a Nintendo fanboy that favours Sony as well, but tides are changing and this cold be the most interesting console war we've had since.. well ever i suppose.