by Derek Johnson

Created on: November 05, 2008

We are entering into the next war. No, not a physical war, but the next generation war of video game consoles. Microsoft's X-Box 360, Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3 are all battling out to see who reigns supreme in the market. Buyers and video game enthusiasts alike have their speculations about who will come in on top but it's not over until it's over.

The X-Box 360 from Microsoft came out the earliest this year with little acclaim. "The X-Box 360 had an advantage of being the first on the market," Karl Jin, a video game enthusiast who has been following the console war, said, "and it has a lot of games already out. It has HDTV support which the other systems do not and it is targeting the 20-35 year-old audience." Nintendo, for example, one of Microsoft's rivals in the gaming market, usually targets younger audiences with games featuring Mario of Super Mario Brothers fame. The Wii, however, is targeting the entire family now to stay in the game, no pun intended. But for the older audience, the most popular title for X-Box 360 will be Halo 3, whose predecessors on the original X-Box were the hottest titles. Gears of War, another first-person shooter, is a promising game because of its realistic graphics, the numerous advertisements on television and its similarity to Halo 3. Until Halo 3 is released however, it is unsure which game can make the X-Box 360 sell like hotcakes. "I'm not sure, it's still expensive," Jose Coriano said, while considering purchasing the X-Box 360, "like $400. It's the best one so far though." Perhaps the Christmas season will help Microsoft's console with sales because two other giants have entered the playing field.

The PlayStation 3 from Sony has come in with the highest anticipation. Problems for Sony with manufacturing the PlayStation 3 has plagued its' chance of triumph in the video game world. First off, the price for the PS3 ranges from a whopping $500 to $600 depending on which model one wants to buy. Each model has different hardware specifications, but both include a Blu-Ray DVD player which plays Blu-Ray DVD's that are specifically designed for HDTV's. "The PS3 had a problem with manufacturing the Blu-Ray Chips," Jin said. "That's why they have such a limited number of PlayStation 3's on the release date. The release date was delayed many times, two years after it was first announced." So Sony has a lot of problems, not only with manufacturing, but they also have had a battery recall for their laptops lately. Sony

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