History of Video Games: Struggle for Second Best (2003-2004)

VGChartz's Taneli Palola: "With the recent launch of both Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's GameCube, 2003 was set to be the year when the console war would truly heat up once more. The two newcomers had now established themselves in the market with numerous excellent games and were setting their sights on breaking the dominance of Sony's PlayStation 2.

However, it would soon become apparent that dethroning the reigning king would not be at all easy. After very successful launches both consoles encountered some notable setbacks in 2003. The Xbox, despite a strong marketing campaign, was struggling hard in Japan. By the end of 2002 the console had sold only around 300,000 units since launching in February of that year. It was even outsold by the PSone and the WonderSwan at times."