The companies that create the video game decks like Xbox and Playstation are locked into what seems to be a bitter rivalry for the top spot in the hearts of gamers the world over. While both systems offer similar concepts, games and graphics, there are still those that have their favorites. Favorites mean more sales for one company or another. Then one must take into consideration the new advancements that are made and when the new decks hit the market. All of this is highly important to the consumers that make the purchases and the companies that produce them.

This past year was a great and poor year for Xbox. The release of their Xbox 360 model, which is thought to be one of the most advanced of all video game systems on the market hit the shelves just in time for the Christmas rush. The shortage of systems that followed was good for the company as new orders went through the roof and many individuals were told they would be waiting a minimum of six months to see their new system. The secondary market exploded and some of the machines were selling for three or four times the retail cost just before the final day of Christmas shopping.

The only downfall for the organization seems to have been a mistake created in their rush to hit the marketplace with the system. The new Xbox 360 worked on the same premise as a personal computer, with a hard drive and processor. The system was released although prior to all of the bugs had been worked out as well as the games had been locking up during play. The manufacturer rushed to release a patch but the harm was completed.

The same may be said for Playstation on the excellent and bad front. Although their Playstation 2 was a extremely advanced and functional system with hundreds of games, they required to release something new and high tech. They announced the Playstation 3 game system to the marketplace but gave no particular release date for the machine. Anticipation built within the months leading up to Christmas and still no word from Sony. Low and behold Christmas came with out a brand new release from Sony on the Playstation front, setting the business back millions within the market and allowing Xbox 360 to take the lead.

Lastly within the spring of 2006 Sony announced that the release date of the Playstation 3 would be even further off as they were facing comparable difficulties to that of Xbox. This announcement truly helped the organization in numerous ways simply because individuals saw it as a sign that the new machine would not have the glitches that came with the Xbox 360 which produced all involved very happy. There is certainly still no definite date for the release from Sony but 1 can be assured that when the day arrives it will be a mad house for people to pick up the new machine.