This generation console war between Xbox 360 and PS3 is not just between MS and Sony, but also the graphic card makers, Nvidia and ATI.

Of course Unreal Tournament 3 was going to be made available on the Xbox 360 someday. Epic and Midway would not have missed on the financial payback from the 360’s 10 million and growing user base. However, I think they would have released it around half a year later if it was not for the PS3 slow movement into the channel and Gears of War doing really well on the 360.

My theory for why the PS3 is preferred over the 360 is that Epic created the unreal engine to be optimised for Nvidia graphic cards and so they may have a strong relationship with each other. This would explain the support that Sony were getting from Epic at E3. Since Nvidia have partnered with Sony to create the RSX Video card for the PS3, Epic may have felt inclined to do a short exclusivity deal for the platform. That is, no mentioning of the 360 release until a few months after releasing the game.

At the moment Epic are happy to talk about the 360 release, which is very severe for Sony because the PS2 was popular due to the name and the exclusive games that came to be synonymous with the system. Losing more exclusive titles to Microsoft and the fact that there is a higher price to pay many gamers will soon be forgetting the name "Playstation" as an embodiment for great gaming experiences. Nvidia may then lose out to ATI, which produces video cards for Microsoft and Nintendo, within the console space.

The PS3 still has a chance to win back gamers attention and buying power, but it will take a great exclusive IP to do it, maybe even two or three. I would presume that Nvidia and Sony are working hard to make development much simpler for developers, especially for internal studios that are creating follow ups to well known franchises. Killzone and Shadow of the Colossus come to mind. It is still early to predict an outcome; PS3 has not yet come out in Europe and other parts of the gaming world. It’s more an investment for many people right now than a true worthwhile purchase.

Diehard fans will disagree most definitely to my view. I just would like to say to them that I hope it will work out for Sony in the long run. As usual competition is what drives any market and without it consumers are the ones who suffer. If the PS3 costs £425 in the UK with heavy competition imagine what the price would be for the system if the others did not exist. So at least be grateful for Nintendo and Microsoft for just that, a more affordable PS3.