Now, with Nintendo Revolution announced, it's clear the battle for gaming will have two key players: Sony and Microsoft.
Sony is confident that its PlayStation 3 will win the battle, due to advanced technologies, and sees Xbox 360 as a combination of things available today.
"We want to pack everything in today and future-proof this as much as possible," said Kazuo Hirai, the head of Sony's U.S. game unit, in an interview.
As you already know Sony plans to launch its new gaming console in 2006 and Xbox 360 will be available in the store later this year.
The only missing information from both companies is the price, and this may be vital criteria for the success. Although Microsoft manages to be the first on the market, a better price from Sony for PlayStation 3 might be a tough blow for Xbox 360.
Hirai only said that PlayStation 3 may cost more than the PS2, which had a price tag of $299 in the United States. Microsoft didn't mention anything about an estimative price for its next generation console.
Some experts believe that the maximum price for a gaming console to be attractive for gamers is $399, but considering the hardware specifications is hard to believe that Xbox 360 and PlayStation will be so cheap.
The games available for the next generation consoles are the next key factor. Right now, Microsoft has announced an impressive list of games for Xbox 360 that are almost ready to be launched and the big game publishers, like Electronic Arts and Ubisoft, seem to be more willing to support Xbox 360.
So, for the moment, although Sony has won the race for processing power, the battle for prices and games maybe change the course of the war.