There has been a fight brewing for months if not years. It has all the fervor and excitement as Frasier/Ali, Lord of the Rings and Stars, re-imagined Battlestar Galactica with the original. Avid Gamers are pretty much in two camps PS3 and Xbox 360. Check out the message boards and you’ll find tech specs and floating bit calculations swinging wildly from both camps. It’s a good fight, if you’re into games. And one that in the end will hopefully lead to better games for consumers.

(As a side note: For real fun head down to Ebgames or Game Crazy and randomly ask which is going to win the console wars Xbox or Playstation. Of course, you could be held legally responsible for causing a riot, but it’s all in the name of good clean fun. )

Oh yeah and don’t forget the Ninetendo people. Well, honestly most fans of the Nintendo system don’t spend as much time defending their love of Mario and the GameBoy. Honestly Ninetendo doesn’t compete in the same gaming market as Xbox and Playstation. The machines, the games, their entire philosophy of marketing and doing business is different then the rule the entertainment world mentality of Playstation and Xbox.

There are a number of issues that go into this fight. For some it boils down to Sony vs. Microsoft. Nostalgia for the Playstation they loved years ago or fanaticism over late nights with Halo. For the companies themselves, it’s a business and the only sure sign of victory is money in their pockets. In this battle, they both win it’s only a matter of how much. But back to the players and the battle between Xbox and Playstation.

The Playstation 3 hasn’t been released. Sony has been tight lipped about all but the most basic aspects of their machine. (What it looks like and it’s tech specs.) Other than that we don’t know much. It’s difficult to compare the machines. Whereas the Xbox 360 was recently released and we have all the specifics. Logically it’s almost impossible to have a rational debate over these machines without reliable information. And at the end of the day the argument over which machine is technically more advanced will mean little to end consumers. Without the games to support these systems and make the most out of their abilities, it doesn’t matter two cents if the Playstation 3 could be rated as a supercomputer or if the 360 is so ergonomic, fan boys are sitting in their living rooms stroking their consoles. If the games aren’t fun it doesn’t matter. And won’t matter in the long run.

So far the 360 hasn’t produced enough bang for the buck. With a handful of games that look beautiful but won’t get much attention for game play the team in Redmond did a better job then with their first Xbox, but that isn’t saying much.. Of the titles released so far only a couple are worth playing, let alone owning. The investment doesn’t make much sense. Luckily, for Microsoft early adopters to new technologies have money to burn and they care more about the prestige of owning the newest consumer electronics then in spending their money wisely.

As far as Playstation 3 goes. We really do have to wait and see. Sony has held their ground over the years but Microsoft has been steadily gaining on their market share. For a company with as much experience as Sony has with gaming consoles there is a higher expectation for them to deliver. Based on their lackluster performance with the Playstation 2 (The number of profitable games for Playstation 2 was abysmal. The percentage of good games versus the sheer volume released is quite low as well.), I’d say they have a long way to go to gain back much of their superiority in the console market.

The part most of us don’t count on is the relationship the console companies make with the game developers. They are the ones that produce the final product we see on our screens. They invest millions to design, develop, and bring a title to production. If Microsoft and Sony don’t insure these companies succeed with their product then all this talk of console wars is a big waste of time. Gamers need good games to play. Pure and simple.

If you’re an avid gamer and you’re reading this you’ve already made up your mind and are probably in one of the two camps. Frankly, I’m not sure why you’re reading this other than to find someone else to get agitated with and send off a slurry of hate mails. Thanks for reading anyway. This is really intended for the casual gamer and everyday consumer that may not follow the gaming world as a whole.