I think most of agree this is a vital holiday season. What do you think is the worst -but feasible- thing that could happen to screw up the holiday for each console?

 My guess:

360: Halo 3 suckage. It's happened before. Series start out strong, are the hottest thing around, but later iterations just lose all steam. So much of MS's holiday season seems built around Halo3 that  if it falls flat, I don't know how they recover from it.

PS3: No one cares. They're selling they're hearts out on new IPs and promoting the $100 price drop as if it now costs the same as government cheese. But outside of the commited PS3 players, I'm not sure how much any of this is really getting through.

Wii: Massive shortage coupled with a 360 price cut. Even if Mario or Smash got delayed to after the holidays, most know the games are coming, and the extra time will only make them better. But if there are drastic shortages this holiday, and the  360 can cut its price to near-Wii levels, Nintendo just might end up losing some customers to the competition.

Worst case scenario:

360-halo 3 ends up being worst than halo 2, and 360 owners are outraged and buy a ps3

ps3-All there new IP's suck, and the sales drop to less than 20k in North america

wii- Everybody that wanted a wii got one and the sales drop like a bomb to near current 360 levels WW.

360: If Halo 3 turns out horrible. That would ruin the 360. They have what 3 new Halo games comming out too.

Wii: People lose interest in the console and the rumors were true that it was just an compulsive buy.

PS3: If the PS3 doesnt have any huge games comming this winter (system sellers). Oh wait they dont. GTA4, MGS4, RE5, FFXIII, DMC4, MH3, KZ2, and many others dont come to 2008 or 2009.

360: Halo 3 isn't the system seller they were hoping for. Sales rates drop below 100k/mo WW.

PS3: The lineup of "killer apps" for the holiday season turns out to be a bust when attached to 6 million consoles (my approximation for mid-December). The PS3 starts slipping back toward (or even below) 360 sales.

Wii: Casual gamers don't jump in for Metroid Prime, Super Mario or Smash Brawl, sales droop, and the momentum starts to slow down as Nintendo drops below 1m/mo WW.

Its Xmas, there is no worst case scenario.

The average customer is a moron, they will make any crap successfull.

360: Despite attempts to stop the class action lawsuits with a billion dollar extension on warranty, worldwide suits mount against shoddy crafstmanship on the 360, and despite a moderately successful year and a promising future, the system that has given Microsoft only a minor presence in the family room and billions in tax saving losses is killed off.

PS3: (Above would be fantastic for it) : Lair bombs. Despite all it's promotion, no game can reach decent sales for the system, and with complexities of programming, nothing new is announced after the holiday season as companies decide they actually want to make money, not just program on a machine that no one will play.

Wii: Actually was a fad like hoola hoops and casual gamers no longer buy it, leaving sales to decline significantly as only nintendo fans pick up the consoles just after Nintendo increases production, suddenly devaluing the company 10 fold.

Frankly, even if Halo 3 turned out to be the biggest practical joke of all time, and the disc only shows a JPG of two words ("PWNED SUCKA"), the game would still sell at least 4 million copies on preorders alone. So that's the worst case scenario for Halo fans.

360: Halo 3 has absolutely no effect on 360 HW sales because everyone who wants Halo 3 has bought a 360 already.

PS3: The monster titles coming out for 360 and Wii means no one wants to buy a PS3 except as a Blu-ray player, until 2008 anyway.

Wii: Nintendo doesn't have a stockpile of Wiis in a secret bunker somewhere; massive shortages ensue, followed by riots.

Final Fan, are you saying that 360 owners are stupid?

 360: as everyone has said, Halo 3 fails to move systems, and even worse, is no good

wii: brawl and galaxy have bugs in them and are recalled (they may also use the word 'spastic', take a pick). No stockpiling

ps3: erm, new IPs don't lift off?

360- everyone in the world finds out the system is junk and not built to last even until the next one. Halo 3 bombs and no one cares about mass effect or bioshock. MS looses a battle in court over faulty systems and rumors of the console ending production run rampent.

PS3- People continue to only look at what today brings and not what will be coming in the next 12 months. HD-DVD kills of Blu-Ray. Uncharted and Ratchet are moved back to 08. 116 million people forget what console they have been playing for the past 12 years.

Wii- People all around the world wake up and relise 6 good games will be out on the console by the time Mario Kart hits and their is nothing slated for the next to years worth playing. Blu-Ray or HD-DVD go over very well making HDTV sales go up even more and people attach the Wii and relize that the game look worse than before (bad day for the PS2, 360 and N64 when it happend to me) and go out and get a PS3 or 360. Everyone gets bored of playing wii sports at thheir friends house and decides not to get a wii.

Worst case scenario or KBG29's fantasy (only with more PS3 units sold, natch)? You decide.