Great article, Link. It looks like you really did your homework
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I would be surprised if Sony actually released the PS3 significantly later than Nintendo and Microsoft. Sony does have a hugh fanbase, but they won't wait around forever. Besides, I would really like to have a PS3 before I graduate college
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I am somewhat amused by Nintendo's touting of "innovation" as a feature for its next console. The fact is, Nintendo didn't get to be one of the top 3 game developers by coming out with all sorts of quirky novelty systems; on the contrary, they lost money on the Virtual Boy, showed stagnation with the N64, and failed to impress with the Gamecube. If they continue that trend, they will be running a distant third in the next round of console wars, hanging on only by the nostalgia factor of their franchises. The success of these franchises should tell Nintendo something: improving and working from time-honored ideas is the way to win the console wars. Sony didn't pull ahead by radically irrational innovation
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