This may be the first generation where not a single major system (as in backed by a committed and capably company) is, as some say, "left in the dust".

Every generation before, we've had systems that were just lagging far behind the others, in terms of both software and hardware sales, and in developer support.

In the 3rd gen (since before the crash '83 left all systems in the dust), it was the Master System, and failed comebacks by pre-crash companies.

In the 4th gen, any system other than the Game Boy, SNES, and Genesis was left in the dust. The Game Gear and Turbo Graphix 16 had good starts, but they faltered after that (I think the Neo-Geo made money, even if it remained a niche system). Not to mention the systems that tried to jump the gun on the 5th gen.

In the 5th gen, it was the N64 and Saturn, even if the former had some of the bestselling games of that generaion.

In the 6th gen, it was the Gamecube and Xbox.

This time around, the Wii and DS may lead in hardware, but in terms of support and game sales, all the systems are doing well. The PSP may have the lowest attach rate, but it still caught a second wind after Monster Hunter became the first platinum PSP game in Japan. And the PS3 may have lost exclusives, but it's only lost a few games outright, and it's multiplatform games usually sell about 2/3 of their 360 counterparts, if not more.

If developers had not been so slow to catch on to the Wii's success (which Capcom outright admitted), the Wii would likely be leaving the other systems in the dust. The system may likely have a lot of support by the end of the year, but the other systems already have some bestselling games, which guarantees companies will be supporting them as well.

This announcement for Final Fantasy XIII may be just the final sign this is so. Even though the HD system do have high selling games, the costs of them are already sky high, easily twice as high as what a big budget Wii game would be. So multiplatform releases make the most sense in this case. Even games on the 360 are usually on the PC as well. I'm not sure how much FF XIII will cost, but if it's even close to Too Human's $70 million, or even GTA IV's $100 million, I can see why S-E is hedging their bets.

In short, it was investing in systems with sky high development costs, combined with slow support for the system that would turn out to sell the most, are two major reasons that this generation will have support for the systems spread far more evenly than they have before. This will ultimately be good for all of them, since the Wii is selling out even without dominant developer support, and the other two systems are still selling, even if not as fast.