KMC Forums - First in, best dressed?

By now most of us have a rough idea of the order in which the next gen consoles will be released. One thing I'm interested to know is, does anyone think that Microsoft have made a smart move by planning to release the Xbox360 quite a bit before it's competitors?
Looking at it from a pro/con point of view, the benefit of releasing their console first is that they can saturate the market with next gen games before the other two even hit the shelves and possibly wow and win over lots of casual gamers while increasing their hardcore user base.
One of the drawbacks is that the other two consoles will be more technologically advanced, which doesn't count for that much but it is still a plus. You can bet that when the Xbox360 is released Sony and Nintendo will come out swinging and release a whole slew of info on their future consoles to take away Microsoft's heat.
This leads me to what I consider the biggest drawback which I think Microsoft may have overlooked - console loyalty. I remember when the Dreamcast was released long before the PS2, so many Sony-heads would not even entertain the possibility of it being any good because the PS2 would be so much better when it was finally released. This bullheaded attitude is suprisingly powerful and widespread it even influenced the casual gamers. When I was standing in shops and I watched people with Dreamcasts under their arm being talked out of buying them because the PS2 "will be so much better when it comes out". These people could have gotten a lot of enjoyable gaming hours out of their DC, like I did, but instead had to twiddle their thumbs for the next four months.
Microsoft is going to have a VERY hard time trying to wrestle sales from console loyalists with a technologically inferior console. It's only hope is the games. What do you think?