Commercials, press releases and the announcement of an extended one-year warranty for the Xbox 360 might seem like Microsoft is sitting pretty. But it might be quite the opposite; the competition (from Nintendo’s side) is closing in tight and fast. Even with 100 plus games, the Xbox 360 is only a heavyweight in numbers. Gears of War is the first real heavy hitter for Microsoft’s new console, and proved to be just enough to carry the 360 through the holiday. But content-wise, the 360 is only sitting pretty because of its one-year head start. Had it launched with the other two consoles it would have easily been left in the dust.

The new one-year warranty (up from the 90 day warranty) will grant US and Canadian 360 owners with a little more security with the purchase of their next-gen console. Over-seas territories already have a one year warranty and so the larger market for Microsoft’s console finally have more support...one year and tons of failed consoles, burnt out 360s, and overheated systems later. With the millions and millions of 360 SKUs sold, it would seem like this announcement would have come back at E3 – just to keep things steam rolling. But Microsoft needed to steal the spotlight during the PS3 and Wii’s launch windows, just so the new kids on the block wouldn’t hog all the marketing glory.

But even with its feigned console supremacy in the next-gen fighting arena, Microsoft seems to think that they must constantly re-appeal to gamers with announcements of one-year warranties and commercials for a game that isn’t due out until November 2007 (Halo 3 if you didn’t know). It almost seems like MS fears the 360 will fade out of existence – like the Dreamcast – because of its one-year head start. But next year at this time, Microsoft will have to rely purely on software and content to maintain any sort of relevance in this next-gen war. Here’s hoping Halo 3 isn’t a disappointment waiting to happen.