Sony kinda got handed the crown with the PS1 due to the weakness of their competitors. Again with the PS2 the competitors were even weaker. I don't really see any more brilliance in their actions than Microsoft. They were called geniuses, but I doubt they ever were. Anyone can play the "Throw money around game", and in those generations performance/price really did count for something.
At this point I would have to rank their chances:
1. Nintendo. (By a large margin)
2. Microsoft. (Already have massive research in these fields)
3. Sony.
So I would say that next generation is as good a time as any for Microsoft to take the overall crown. It seems like a long shot, but most likely even if they do win the next generation, it will be remembered as "How Nintendo snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory".
Tease.
