I'll say it loud and I'll say it proud. Maya is the best, for all the resons listed above.

Plus a larg user base. That makes a difrence in the amount of plug-in's, shaders and information avalible about it.

Not to mention I'v sean and heard to many horror storys about the scripting, api, and develiper kits for like xsi, and max. Maya gives you a good back bone to do anything. Others might have some new nifty toy but maya can do it also. This is still very much a industry that is exploring new frontears.. I want a APP that I know, use and have my assets invested in, that can be made to do what any of the other studios are doing and then some.

just my .02

however I'm very much in agreement its the artist and not the app in 95% of the cases. The question was asked so its fair game.