Sony boss Howard Stringer has put his reputation on the line with a bold prediction that the PS3 will outsell the Xbox in 2008 – well on the surface it may look a bold prediction!

If you look a little more behind the scenes it is not difficult to see that problems are mounting for the Xbox with the Xbox live debacle tarnishing the Xbox name in many gaming circles.  The gaming industry, more than many others, is a very unforgiving community and you do not often get a second chance to make a first impression.  Microsoft launched their Xbox in a blaze of glory and while it has proved very popular in an array of markets around the world it has not quite set the world alight as they had hoped.  The Wii has put a spanner in the works for both Sony and Microsoft and they are still really fighting for second place in the industry, but is that about to change?

There have been numerous reports in the press that both Microsoft and Sony have been working on improved control pads for their respective machines and they are set to be launched in 2008.  This would take away much of the unique selling angle which the Wii currently holds and move both Sony and Microsoft onto a level playing field with Nintendo.

Whatever happens in 2008 it cannot be as dramatic and ground breaking as 2007, a year when Nintendo came in from the cold and took on the mighty Sony and Microsoft from what many saw as a position of weakness.  Written off by many just a couple of years ago, Nintendo have bounced back and recently announced a doubling of group profits – mostly down to the success of the Wii.  This increased exposure has also given the company a lift in general, putting the name back in the technology headlines, a area it had been missing from for so long.