Possibly the best rule of thumb for judging the utility of 3D programs is to look at the work by people using those programs. It's quite clear that all the leading programs around today are very capable and are having excellent work done with them.
The next question (for game developers) is whether the program supports key functionality you will need to make your game. To my mind, these functions are:
a) Good mesh editing (VITAL)
b) Good texture mapping (VITAL)
c) Can export to the file formats you need (3DS, X, B3D, MD2 etc. - VITAL)
d) Can import the file formats you need (VITAL)
e) Good animation support (VITAL if you want characters)
f) Subdivision surfaces (HIGHLY DESIREABLE)
g) Scriptable (HIGHLY DESIREABLE)
h) Ability to burn lighting into texture maps (HIGHLY DESIREABLE)
You don't need to get all of these from one program, but it's very helpful if you can. To my knowledge, the following programs support all of these features (in alphabetical order):
3D Studio Max R5 (R4 does not burn lighting into texture maps)
Caligari Truespace
Cinema 4D (requires some additional modules)
Lightwave
Maya
Softimage XSI
If you drop features (g) and (h) some more programs qualify, e.g.:
ElectricImage (really oriented towards pre-rendered work)
Carrara (really an entry-level tool)
Hash (oriented towards film work)
Additionally, I'd suggest the following features are worth looking for:
i) Cross-platform (you may want to work on a Mac or Linux, or you may have artists who prefer those platforms).
j) Flexible license arrangements (you may want to transfer your license from laptop to desktop quickly and conveniently).
If you want these features you're left with:
Maya (sort of! Maya barely qualifies for (j))
Lightwave
Cinema 4D
(and Hash)
So my take would be:
If you don't care about cross-platform support, price, or inflexible licensing (e.g. you love Windows, have money, or are a pirate), you really can't beat 3DS Max for game content development.
That said, upgrading Max + Character Studio from 4 to 5 costs twice as much as the base version of Cinema4D, the same as a complete Lightwave license and over half as much as Maya. Maya is now cheaper than Max and Max's new license scheme is just as annoying as Maya's.
Edit: it's also worth noting that Hash and Caligari have extremely odd user interfaces. (Lightwave's UI is odd, but Hash and Caligari are odder still.)
The next question (for game developers) is whether the program supports key functionality you will need to make your game. To my mind, these functions are:
a) Good mesh editing (VITAL)
b) Good texture mapping (VITAL)
c) Can export to the file formats you need (3DS, X, B3D, MD2 etc. - VITAL)
d) Can import the file formats you need (VITAL)
e) Good animation support (VITAL if you want characters)
f) Subdivision surfaces (HIGHLY DESIREABLE)
g) Scriptable (HIGHLY DESIREABLE)
h) Ability to burn lighting into texture maps (HIGHLY DESIREABLE)
You don't need to get all of these from one program, but it's very helpful if you can. To my knowledge, the following programs support all of these features (in alphabetical order):
3D Studio Max R5 (R4 does not burn lighting into texture maps)
Caligari Truespace
Cinema 4D (requires some additional modules)
Lightwave
Maya
Softimage XSI
If you drop features (g) and (h) some more programs qualify, e.g.:
ElectricImage (really oriented towards pre-rendered work)
Carrara (really an entry-level tool)
Hash (oriented towards film work)
Additionally, I'd suggest the following features are worth looking for:
i) Cross-platform (you may want to work on a Mac or Linux, or you may have artists who prefer those platforms).
j) Flexible license arrangements (you may want to transfer your license from laptop to desktop quickly and conveniently).
If you want these features you're left with:
Maya (sort of! Maya barely qualifies for (j))
Lightwave
Cinema 4D
(and Hash)
So my take would be:
If you don't care about cross-platform support, price, or inflexible licensing (e.g. you love Windows, have money, or are a pirate), you really can't beat 3DS Max for game content development.
That said, upgrading Max + Character Studio from 4 to 5 costs twice as much as the base version of Cinema4D, the same as a complete Lightwave license and over half as much as Maya. Maya is now cheaper than Max and Max's new license scheme is just as annoying as Maya's.
Edit: it's also worth noting that Hash and Caligari have extremely odd user interfaces. (Lightwave's UI is odd, but Hash and Caligari are odder still.)