Ben-DutkaObviously, the chances of this are extraordinarily small, but it's a fun what-if question.
More information continues to come to light for Microsoft's new console, and Sony has said they intend to have the next PlayStation on store shelves before the Xbox 720 (or at least around the same time). So there is some evidence to support the theory that both new machines will launch during the 2013 holiday season.
This has never happened, by the way (at least, not in the realm of Sony vs. Microsoft). The original PlayStation only had Nintendo and Sega as competitors; the PS2 launched in October of 2000 while the Xbox and GameCube didn't drop until November of the following year (US dates, of course). The PS3 hit in November of 2006 while the 360 had already been out for nearly a year. So far, the launches have been a year apart. So what might happen if both consoles came out on the same day? Or even in the same month…? It'd be interesting to see the wars that would erupt online; perhaps it'd all come down to launch software, or maybe the price would be a big issue if one console was significantly more than the other.
The question is: If the not-so-impossible did happen and both systems launched closely together, which company would have the advantage? Early adopters of the PS3 might be inclined to wait, as that launch had all sorts of problems. Furthermore, while the 360 clearly seems tapped out, the PS3 has a lot of life left in it (as most developers have attested to), and many gamers might be plenty satisfied with the current PlayStation for a while . So a simultaneous launch really might favor the 360, especially in the US, where Microsoft just about always tops Sony in terms of sales.
What say you?