As we approach E3, the largely dormant console wars are about to re-erupt. And there’s not just Sony and Microsoft, which will launch yet another gigantic public relations and marketing wave. Expect also Sony and Microsoft fan boys to weigh in and join the battle. Can we just have a bit of calm and get along for once ?

The last two months have been truly tranquil in the gaming world. After the second half of 2005, which saw the rather predictable frenzy surrounding the then happily un-launched Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, everything has gone rather silent since Microsoft failed to give us a smooth worldwide launch.

We’ve been sitting on our hands since late November (or early December, depending on where you live) having sort-of received the Xbox 360 and a rather limited selection of games. Microsoft has sold plenty of them, though ; with an attach rate of 3.7 games per console making the Xbox 360 the most successful console launch from a videogame sales point of view, but the problem has been that we’ve seen little in the way of new content since.

Sony’s PR staff has been silent as they can simply let Microsoft’s release woes speak for themselves and cover the fact that they don’t actually have a product at market yet. However as we come into the running for the expected PS3 release and the E3 trade show, things are starting to get nosier.

In the context of being first to market, Microsoft’s much maligned launch of the Xbox 360 is actually going quite smoothly now. They claim to be on track for their goal of having 4.5 - 5.5 million units shipped by June 2006, and so essentially there will be an Xbox 360 in many living rooms before the PS3 has had a chance to get its shoes on and start jogging.

Sure we have not a huge selection of games for the 360 right now, but you can bet we’ll see a deluge this year in the usually quite sombre and preview-filled summer months. Having a Halo game coincide entirely accidentally with the PS3 release date wouldn’t be out of the question either.

If you did jump over people in the squash to get an Xbox 360 at some extortionist forced-bundle price from one of the ever opportunistic retailers then, this year at least, you didn’t pay to be ahead of the curve ; you paid for the big bully Microsoft to be poised to kick the PS3 around the football field.

Ohh well, what are you going to do ? Certainly not buy a PlayStation 3, considering the $500 price speculation that’s being bandied around. It has been mostly drowned out by the more pressing concerns of the 360 launch and some pretty dour financial results that have seen major players like Activision and EA lay off a fair amount of staff, but issues like the price of the PS3 are again coming back into the spotlight.

Perhaps Sony marketing types might dispute the idea that "Any publicity is good publicity", but we’re beginning to see the rumblings that will characterize the next six months or so. It’s debatable whether or not the PR contest will be any more substantive or not than when the two consoles were competing purely on paper, but Sony will have to make a hard sell against a "real" product ; and smug Microsoft is going to be releasing games ten to a penny on their established console, and making sure we all know about it.

I find that the best way to avoid becoming embroiled in the likes of the upcoming fan boy war is to simply ignore it altogether. If you have an Xbox 360, buy whatever good games come out for it. If you’re a Playstation fan, read the PS3 previews. If you’re undecided, wait a while.

As much as I generally despise the PR types who will light these kinds of marketing wars with generic buzz words and repetitive marketing slogans, the fan boys who put fuel on their fire by running around forums screaming at one another like fanatical ideologues of old won’t be winning many accolades from me either.

Maybe we can all calm down by grabbing our remote controls and practice waving them around ? I think that come November when Nintendo’s Third Way console, the Revolution, hits, we’ll all need some practice if we’re to take up the rather odd (perhaps ingenious, perhaps not) motion-sensitive controller. Heaven only knows it’s just about the only new and innovative thing we’re seeing this year beyond flashier graphics and rehashed press releases from the last console launches.

Maybe I’m just deeply cynical but I don’t really care about what Microsoft says their console can do and Sony’s can’t, or vice versa. It’s about whether or not they have decent games ; they arrive to market promptly and at an affordable price. The rest is just chaff for which we would do best to avoid. We’ll all get our consoles, and saying the one that the other guy has is worse than yours isn’t going to improve your experience.

So as we hurtle towards E3 let’s try and keep it civilized.