1. Time - This is the most obvious advantage. MS has consoles in boxes waiting at stores as we speak. Games are ready to go. Sony has a lot of slick pre-rendered footage, and not much else. Having just played my first PS2 game in a while (the amazing Shadow of the Colossus) I wasn't prepared for how bad the PS2 is looking these days. The idea that people will be playing this old black box for the next seven months or so while milions of shiny new white 360s are sitting in store windows down the street makes me think that MANY people will want in on this. For a while, I thnk the 360 will be a bit of a curiosity- I'm not planning on getting one for a while. My Xbox works fine, and most importantly, I can still play Halo 2 and it looks great. But having the 360 out there as the latest greatest thing, especially through the holidays is gonna steal some SERIOUS mindshare. And I direct you to the Joystiq article below for the clincher: By the time the PS3 comes out, MS will be able to slash the price on the 360, coming in at potentially HALF the price of the PS3, and by then the game library will be filling up nicely.

2. Online - Apparently Sony has made some comments recently confirming my suspicions: there is no planned Sony answer to Xbox Live. All the game companies will be responsible for any kind of online gaming. This is a disaster for Sony. As MS is rolling out it's SECOND generation online gaming network, Sony is leaving you on your own online, as well as misssing out on untold millions from gaming subscriptions. MS makes $50 per year per Xbox LIve account, which will be much more key to the whole Xbox experience this time around. So MS is basically getting you to pay another $50 for your console, and you are happy to do it (I happen to think it's one of the greatest entertainment values that I have spent my money on the past few years).

3. BlueRay - As the great article on Joystiq below calls attention to, the PS3 is gonna cost Sony a LOT more to manufacture than the Xbox360. Not only is Sony's fabled "Cell" processor more expensive, but they plan on launching thier high definition BlueRay optical drive standard in each PS3. These will be among the very first drives available. They will add a lot of extra cost to these consoles, and MS is just using a plain old DVD drive. MS may eventually add some sort of HD-DVD combo drive to the 360 (if BlueRay doesnt win the HD format war, which I'm sure it will), but it's not gonna matter much by then. Sure I'd love a cool new HD optical drive in my game console, but mainly, I want a good game console with good games. Anything else that comes with it is gravy.

Other Issues -
Many many game developers are comfortable with MS's developer tools for the 360, and they seem to be winning alot of people over to their simpler game development environment. Rumors of the PS3 cell being very hard to write for are spreading everywhere, and could prevent a lot of Sony exclusive titles.

And let's not forget the biggest card MS has up it's sleeve: Halo. The hype surrounding the Halo franchise will reach unimaginable levels as the movie gets deep into production, and word of the next Halo game comes forth. This will be a inter-media buzz firestorm that marketers dream of. This is right in the Star Wars/Lord of the Rings sweetspot. I can't really think of a singular property that Sony has to move boxes out the door. Solid Snake? The cars of Gran Turismo? I just don't see an answer to Master Chief. Well, maybe the little pill fella from Katamari Damacy...Or his father the King of the Universe..."ROYAL RAINBOW!!!"

Joystiq: Xbox 360 could cost only half PS3’s price by 2006