i hope so, but it won't

Would require something amazing that sony has not yet announced and managed to keep quiet or some major supply issues from MS. Neither seem likely, gap should widen slightly over holiday season.

The strongest market for the ps3 is Europe.
Europe is in crisis
I just do not believe can get close to the xbox in the global market

No way in hell. The 360 will have a greater lead over the PS3 than it does now in January 2013...Halo 4, BLOPS2, Black Friday, Kinect, etc. etc...this holiday season the X360 is gonna sell bucket loads; there's a perfect storm brewin'.

I'm sure that once shipment figures are in.. the gap will be less than a million(I'm talking about this past fiscal quarter..) and once it's in for early next year.. ps3 would be within 500k of the 360.. or have overtaken the 360 in LTD sales.. it's what I expect..  sony is getting a huge shipment boost with their extra models.. compared to how they were drying out their storage on older models in the previous quarters..

You people keep forgetting....

1. PS3 has a new slimmer model out there.. bundled with the 2ND BIGGEST GAME THIS HOLIDAY SEASON NEXT TO CALL OF DUTY BLACK OPS II, that is ASSASSINS CREED III...

2. Move isn't fictional..

3. BLACK OPS 2 IS ALSO ON PLAYSTATION 3... you all act as if it's exclusive to 360.. I mean if it sold 2 million on ps3.. and 12 million on 360.. then sure.. you can bring up a case.. but they sell very well on both platforms.. and push a lot of hardware for both platforms..

4. Japan and Europe are going to be easily dominated by the ps3.. UK/US are probably going to be the only markets where the 360 sells more than the ps3..

1. The new slimmer model wont have a noticeable effect on sales; it's not like it has a price cut or anything. 

2. I know, but it's popularity is nowhere near the Kinect, so Kinect will appeal to the motion control market which will subsequently increase sales.

3. Yeah, I know, but it sells a lot more on X360. It always gives the X360 a massive hardware boost.

4. I doesn't matter where they sell, it matters how much they sell. 

Can PS3 sell 1.7 million units more then the 360 in the time of the year where the 360 sells better then PS3?

No

The gap might be 1.7 million now, but like the last 2 years have shown, the yearly difference shrinks during Q4. (or the gap between PS3 and 360 grows in favor of 360)

I think by January 2013, the gap will be 2.7 million in favor of the 360.

However I do think in the long run PS3 will catch up to the 360, probably overtake it, but I'm not sure if it will sustain that (Both systems sell well at different times of the year). I think by 2015/2016 PS3 will start to surpass 360 in worldwide sales in the summer months (only to lose the lead due to strong holiday 360 sales), and they will finish with about the same number of units sold.

I don't think PS3 will surpass 360 this year, but I also don't think PS3 will sell much better this holiday season than in the past, and 360 wont sell as well as it has.
I do think by mid next year it will happen.

not that it would matter by now but i think ps3 will not overtake ps3 this year. the gap is still quite comfortable, with only a few weeks left. halo and cod will do their magic, so no.
it could be interesting how much wiiu-sales can do damage to ps3- and x360-sales...