I can't really comment on all the things that Sony has under delivered on, nor can I comment on whether Sony have or haven't dropped the ball or not, the only thing that really annoyed me was the lack of backwards compatibility for the PAL territories. My experience of both consoles thus far has been very good in fact through my gaming history I've not bought a console and thought that it could have been money best spent elsewhere, even being a former owner of an Atari Jaguar. All hardware manufacturer are guilty of having made promises they couldn't keep, what matters though is, how it get's received by the public and developers alike. At the moment I see no shortage of games or consumers whichever system you choose.

Thus far though I have been incredible happy with the PS3 and Xbox360 both are awesome machines and the games are just as good and of similar quality. There doesn't really seem to be that much separating the two in terms of what they can achieve. So I find it interesting that you are looking past all of that a tool a few very minor issues that may or may not be resolved. In terms of core function i.e. playing games both consoles produce almost identical results

One thing I would say though and this isn't to the detriment of the hardware or its capabilities or to those who own either of them. The PS3 frontend does offer the user a more serious and mature experience, compared to that of Microsoft NXE. It also reflects in the design and build quality of the box, the extra features such as a Browser, Playstation Network, Home, Life, access to other home media servers and a very good blue ray platform. All making for a very powerful entertainment station. Sony can be forgiven for silliness with Firmware, Blue Ray, Voice Chat and Dual Shock 3 as all work and have been implemented successfully although I agree there still need to be some work.

You say Sony have delivered poorly this generation. How so ? aside from not liking the price and awaiting a price drop.

This year has brought Sony and Microsoft users titles being released of both systems, aside from the obvious exceptions, hardware and firmware improvements, entry level blue ray is excellent Sony hard disk can be removed and replaced with any other and not reliant on Microsoft Firmware allowing you to drop in any size you want. Still no subscription fee and the front end is none intrusive PSN has its own section and isn't integrative unlike NXE.

Don't get me wrong the Xbox360 offers a great package, the back catalogue is intimidating for sure. Games are great, but not that dissimilar to those on the Sony. It's a great piece of entry level hardware, great price and value for money, great service with live, although £40 a year is £40 more than Sony and the point system when buying something on the Marketplace in comparison to knowing exactly what you've spent on PSN

I guess whichever you buy, both have their pro's and con's. But equally both are top notch systems, you just have to decide how badly you want blue-ray or that coveted black elite Xbox :D

That's a fair point.. but aside from the exclusive titles. Wii and PS3 also have a similar backcatalogue. Xbox wins on price everytime though in my opinion.

Well either way, it matter's not. there is still a nice shiny PS3 on my shelf awaiting some top titles in 2009 :P

Sony should probably form a religion like Scientology based around the Playstation brand. It'd probably be good business with all the "believers" that take even the company line to the most positive extremes. LOL Nice one :P

The Hardware still has legs and Sony are quite happy doing their thing over in a Japan! In my opinion, I don't see Sony feeling threatened or concerned by this news. I have both systems and in my opinion the Xbox has done very well by offering a cheaper high quality alternative to the Sony hardware, having said that. I don't think Sony really need to drop the price of their hardware, still lots of life left in the PS3 although I do wonder whether the same can be said about the Xbox360.

The Xbox is a stunning system and what has played to its advantage is that games are a lot easier to develop for than it's Sony Counterpart. Not only that, from a consumer point of view, what's the point in spending more money on hardware to play the same games that are available on the cheaper Xbox. Although personally I preffer the Sony system more because the front end is much easier to use and you don't have to pay a subscription to use PSN or it's features in games.

Microsoft to their strength have done some awesome deals making sure that decent titles come to their box first. But this is of course, to the detriment of the owners of other hardware, would be fairer if titles and dlc could be more inclusive of other formats.

When we start seeing studio's putting some decent time and investment into more exclusive Sony titles that you'll see the scales balance. But in terms of pure success with the generation Xbox360 has really proved worthy of gamers attention and has certainly given Sony something to think about.