The FACT is that the standards for what an "RPG" is definitely has changed in the 21st century.

The highest rated RPG games nowadays are Award winning Action-RPG games such as Mass Effect and Elder Scrolls 4: Game of the Year Edition.

Final Fantasy VII certainly would NOT have been rated as high if it were released today. Everyone has great memories of games like the original Zelda, Metroit, Final Fantasy VII, Pac-Man, Street Fighter 2, ect...

However, when those games are re-released on the Xbox Live Arcade, or the Wii, then look at how the games aren't rated nearly as high as they originally were 10-25 years ago.

Lost Odyssey is a Japanese style RPG, which is why it didn't get rated as highly in North America as it did Japan. In North America, the games that win awards are Mass Effect and Oblivion. But in Japan, the games that helped the Xbox 360 sell well with big bursts in sales were Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey.

There is NO DOUBT that Lost Odyssey is better than ANY Final Fantasy game ever released. Obviously, the PC version of Final Fantasy VII is considered the best Final Fantasy game ever made. But Lost Odyssey has graphics, sound, that are way better. And more importantly, Lost Odyssey has game play and a storyline that are just as good, if not better!

Call of Duty 4 is virtually identical on the Xbox 360 and PS3...but that is one of only a small number of games.

What about all those other games like Orange Box and Assassins Creed that are better on the Xbox 360.

And what about the games like Madden Football 2008 from EA, All-Pro Football 2K8 from 2K Sports, F.E.A.R, Call of Duty 3 from Treyarch, Splinter Cell from Ubisoft...and so many others.

Those games are Significantly better on the Xbox 360.

Madden Football 2008 is a game that will represent the Playstation 3 until the summer of 2008 (close to the PS3's third birthday)...and the Xbox 360 version runs at TWICE the framerate (60fps vs 30fps). And the Xbox 360 version runs at 1080p resolution, compared to 720p resolution for the Playstation 3.

Gamespot itself said, "The Xbox 360 version smoothly runs at 60 frames per second at 1080p resolution, while the Playstation 3 versions struggles to run at 30 frames per second at 720p resolution."

Bottom Line: Talk about "what-if's" and "potential" all you want. Actons speak louder than words! You are not crowned as a champion based on potential. Xbox 360 is far ahead of the Playstation 3 in terms of performance, and it shows BIGTIME!!!

Just consider fundamental things such as Online Voice-Chat. The Xbox 360 versions of sports games such as Madden 2008 let you talk to the person you are playing online with, while you are playing. But the Playstation 3 version does NOT let you talk online while you are playing.

And games like Virtua Tennis 3 and Virtua Fighter 5 allow you to play online on the Xbox 360, but not on the Playstation 3.

I'm wasting my time writing. If you don't know the Xbox 360 is FAR better by now, then you may never realize it. Just remember, the song says, "But Killzone one, sucked bee-fore, so what makes you think we want it more."

Gran Turismo 5 does not use the specifications you list.

Let me explain:

Resolution: You claim that Gran Turismo 5 runs at 1080p. That is not true. The game actually runs at a lower resolution of about 540p, but it uses a software resolution upconversion technique that "mathematically" allows Sony to potentially say the game runs at 1080p. However, Gran Turismo 5 does not run in true 1920x1080p resolution.

Frame-rate: You claim that Gran Turismo 5 runs at 60 frames per second...that is true...BUT, the game only runs at 60 frames per second during the actual gameplay (car level) point of view. For example, even the replays only run at 30 frames per second, because the Playstation 3 does NOT have the polygon power to run that type of detail at 60 frames per second in the same way that Forza Motorsport 2 does during replays.

Comparisons: There have already been comparisons of Gran Turismo 5 vs Forza Motorsport 2. There are tracks that appear on both games. There is no doubt that Forza Motorsport 2 has more polygon detail and better lighting. For example, it is common for the PS3 version to deliberately use a type of "shaded" look for the trees in order to make it seem like the polygon display detail for the trees is not needed. However, the Xbox 360 displays the trees in those courses with all of the necessary detail. This is very similar to the way Ridge Racer on the PS3 lacked many of the sailboats that were in the Xbox 360 version...Playstation 3 simply doesn't have the polygon power.

Also, as of December 2007, it has been confirmed that Gran Turismo 5 will not have Damage to vehicles. This is a problem, because the level of software quality has been raised by great games such as Forza Motorsport 2. Forza Motorsport 2 is considered the best Racing game ever made (It won Best Sports Game of the year from G4), and it allows Damage to happen to the vehicles.