If I had to say who had the “won” the press event war, I’d probably put them in this order:

1.  Microsoft

2.  Nintendo

3.  Sony

I think Microsoft brought a lot to the table.  The Netflix announcement could even spur 360 console sales for people who want one just to use as a Netflix download box.  And some games like Gears 2 looked great.

Sony was a disappointment.  They keep saying “wait for us, it will be worth it” but they still seem stalled.  There was a lot of talk about Resistance, like it was Halo or Mario, but let’s remember that the original was not the stellar title.  It’s metacritic score is an 86%, which to me means its good but not system-defining.  There are 12 titles with higher metacritic scores right now.  Resistance 2 looked great (although why that guy running up the building couldn’t shoot through the broken window walls at the monster is beyond me), but since the beginning of the year, they barely sold more PS3’s than PS2’s.  I didn’t see anything that would break that trend.

In the last few days I’ve read a lot of grumbing on the internet about the Wii and how they continue to bring nothing to the table for “hardcore gamers.”  If “hardcore gamers” continue to insist that there is nothing for them on the Wii, then they are missing out on a lot of good gaming.

While I think Microsoft had more interesting announcements, the thing that struck me about Nintendo is that there was something in there that every person in my family would like.  I loved the original Animal Crossing, and so AC: City Folk is exciting to me.  I thought Call of Duty: World at War looked interesting too, as did Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  My wife, a complete non-gamer, said “they are going to have a recipe game thing for the DS?  Neat.”  And my kids (6 and 4), who are not coordinated enough yet to play a Rock Band or Guitar Hero game, but are dying to play every time they watch me, will just go apesh*t over Wii Music.  Neither Sony or Microsoft announced anything that would be of interest to the rest of my family.

In my mind, it’s that business philosophy that puts Nintendo in the catbird seat.  They will continue to do very well, while Sony and Nintendo continue to draw from the exact same, smaller market pool.  By that standard, history may show that it was Nintendo that came out #1.