Perception is a two sided coin, and every console develops a perception within its first year. A console develops a great reputation or a poor reputation. Unfortunately the PS3 had to cement a reputation against one console with a year long head start, and against the phenomena that is the Wii. The result its reputation has suffered greatly.
Perhaps it is unjust, but it is often a immutable fact a reputation once earned is hard to change. Nintendo got branded kiddie for two generations solid. The 360 is labeled the FPS machine. The PS3 is labeled the magnificent failure. Your first year like virginity once gone can never truly be recovered. Forever it taints consumer opinion.
Sony and their PS3 are not done struggling yet, and they have plundered the cupboards bare just to survive this year. When you see a console slash its price by a third, offer massive movie pack ins, offer game bundles, and do hardware reconfigurations on the fly. Well you cannot fault the effort that has brought them this far, but realistically you have to accept there is nothing left.
Which is something every poster in this thread has forgotten Sony has primed PS3 sales through a non stop glut of stunts. One after another allowing them to spike sales with some new pitch be it a sale. The fear of losing backwards compatibility in your PS3. The movie offers seem less appealing when you realize high definition formats are languishing in stalemate. They can only offer so many free games before developers grow upset with lost sales, and so forth.
How can Sony keep the sales up, or generate spikes as was the order of business this year if they have effectively backed themselves into a corner. Not only that but counter the negative impression the market has developed towards their product. How many gamers opt to buy into the losing platform. Intelligent gamers know the lead platform gets more support. They know the last place platform isn't going to get the best in support. Simple intelligence tells you to bet on a winner rather then the longshot if you want the better return.
I might be the only one in this thread to say this, and I might get a lot of grief for it. However I must say it I actually expect the PS3 to languish next year more so then this year. The market has made its decision, and it decided the PS3 was going to be a distant third place player this generation. They obtained no level of dominance in any market, and honestly the lineup is just too late in the game to change the outcome. I have seen consoles turn on strong for their second years only to fall on deaf ears. A few good games are not going to change gamer opinion of this console. The longer it takes for those games to arrive the worse the result.
Finally both Nintendo and Microsoft leave this year in a far better position to capitalize on their gains. Microsoft has a lot more room financially to work in. They can make fantastic strides in lowering the price of their machine, or use their new liquid assets to secure a mountain of exclusive games. Nintendo likewise has a lot of liquid assets to invest in game development, and to secure exclusive games. Both saw a hot holiday season in North America, and both dominated the media. The Nintendo hype was fantastic, and Microsoft has done a stellar job owning year end rewards.
Nintendo and Microsoft will leave this year having made a point, and having won a lot of converts. That really isn't the case for Sony. All they managed to do was survive, and honestly it took everything they had to do so. Gamers are going to be very reluctant to jump onto the PS3 platform especially considering the expensive risk that it is. Especially once supplies of the Wii are freed up, and the 360 is making a run towards a more affordable price.
Just my two cents.
