PS3
The rumors are true. The Sony PS3 will receive a $100 price drop beginning on September 1st. The new incarnation of the PS3 will also be considerably slimmer.
Xbox 360
The infamous “Red Ring of Death” happens… a lot.
I’ve been hit with it twice. I’m fairly certain my brother had to deal with it at least twice. The reports were that somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of Xbox 360 owners had to ship their console back to Microsoft, after it perished in a not so spectacular red glow.
A new reader survey by dying gaming magazine, Game Informer claims that 54.2 percent of Xbox 360s have failed. That’s a pretty staggering difference.
However, it doesn’t seem to matter because…
“Only 3.8 percent of 360 owners surveyed said they’d never buy an Xbox 360 again.”
Brand Loyalty
I’ve read a lot of posts that attribute this to brand loyalty (I had links before this nasty storm killed my power).
When my 360s failed, dealing with Microsoft was slow and painful. So, why I am one of the 96.2 percent of 360 owners who would buy another 360.
Most of the Xbox 360 owners I know really like video games. They didn’t buy their console to exercise, and they didn’t get it to watch Blu -ray.
They bought it to game.
With the exception of a few titles, the Xbox 360 has the best game library available. It might not be as family friendly or gimmicky like the Wii, and it certainly isn’t as slick as the PS3, but my noisy, ugly, prone to failure 360 “has it where it counts kid…” just like the Millenium Falcon.
It has good games.
What better reason could you think of to buy a gaming console? No my friends, it’s not brand loyalty, it’s a brand that is currently meeting the needs of it’s user-base. That’s how Microsoft continues to dodge bullets with Red Ring of Death. It sure as hell isn’t great service or PR.
When God of War III comes out, the PS3 should call me. Until then, it doesn’t have the games to make me want to play it.
The Geek Whisperer 
You nailed it. If it were not for the awesome games on 360, it would be a dead ship. Now with all the moves Sony is making to gain ground, I wonder how long it will be before Microsoft’s ship sinks. It is taking on some water right now. I have a love hate relationship with xbox for that very reason.