It will be a sad day when that happens.

This was not the point he contested.

Who wins? It depends on how long this generation will last. The longer this generation lasts, the greater the likelihood for the PS3 to pull ahead of the 360.

Not to be a pollyana, there are no winners or losers in the cutthroat sense.

Nintendo with the Wii has redeemed itself for the sales failures of the N64 and GC (in comparison to the PS1 and PS2).

Sony with the PS3 has shown that if given close to a decade, it can finish strong....as a runner-up to Nintendo's champion.

Microsoft with the 360 is just happy to be selling consoles and building off the success of the Xbox.

Back to my point of the length of this generation. The PS3 is highly reminiscent of the Atari 2600. Both were built to last for a decade or more, both intend to create a generation which lasts a decade or more, and both are iconic consoles for different reasons.

The PS3 from 2006 until it's price drop in 2009 was the laughing stock and butt of many gamer's jokes. To go from the world-dominating, universe shattering megalith of a console that was the PS2 to a multi-billion dollar blackhole in the PS3 was the joke. A few price cuts and a 5 years later, the PS3 is now cool...Finally.

Don't think Nintendo and Microsoft are not well aware of Sony's stated intentions of grinding out this generation. If anything, Nintendo is going to crash Sony's party and force them to release a console before the PS3 decade is up. I stand by that prediction.

It would seem that PS3 has 2nd place in the bag. If Sony follows their history and cuts price this year, I can't see 360 outselling it this holiday season. Last holiday was Microsoft's big chance to pull ahead by announcing a price cut of their own to go with their slim revision, but instead they likely decided to put all their eggs in the Kinect basket hoping it would be enough to carry 360 sales above PS3 sales which it hasn't. Even if Microsoft cut price now, unless they can cut more off the already cheap 360 than Sony can off the still fairly expensive PS3, then it won't put them ahead.

We'll have a much better estimate of what Sony's plans are when their fiscal report comes out later this month. But if a $199 PS3 is on the cards, the battle for 2nd is pretty much over.

just for the lulz - ps3 already outsold the 360 if you align the launches.

**attempts to align the launches in VGC's robust charting features ... fail**

The PS3 might win in 2012, yay go PS3

Hmmm not sure I like that mental image. No offence Carl.

Who's got more momentum at the end of the generation, wins. Remember: there can be only one!

So ps3 is winning all along the line, unless MS somehow manages to invert the tide.

At the be-all end all of the gen (2013):

Wii-120mil

360-73mil

PS3- 70mil

But when all is said and done (2018):

Wii- 140mil

PS3-88mil

360-85mil

So PS3 overall. But it depends on when you count the end of the gen. No way will the PS3 last another 5 years

Just curious, but what do you think MS is going to to stop the gap from decreasing?  And more importantly, what are they going to do to keep it at least 3 mil ahead for another year and a half?