2008 will be another Nintendo year. (I live in Canada, so any price drop numbers will be in Canadian dollars. That is unless Canadian prices now match US ones, which I think they do. Okay, no more paranthesis rambling)
DS: It won't slow down at all. I expect it to sell better in both America and Europe by a healthy margin. Japan might not see a huge increase, as Nintendo has to be getting close to market saturation at some point. The PS2 is at 22 million right now, and it was the system for years. I expect to see sales go smoothly, and get a hefty boost when Dragon Quest comes out. Sales will go up though, no doubt. Sooner or later Nintendo will be releasing a sequel to the bigger DS games (New Super Mario Bros., Pokemon) and that will only drive sales higher. Not much else to say. It's going to continue to dominate.
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DS 2008 sales: 24 million
Wii: The Wii will have an even better year than 2007. Nintendo knows how high the demand is, and will no doubt have Wii production ramped up as high as it can go. Wii Fit will prove to be a hit, much like Brain Age throughout the world. Super Smash Bros. Brawl will also be a huge seller, and will be one of the highest selling games of the year. Mario Kart will also be on that list, providing it doesn't get pushed back too far. With the way Nintendo is going however, Mario Kart might be pushed back into an August/September release, and will sell strongly throughout Christmas. Don't forget that Nintendo still has a few IP's that haven't seen the Wii treatment. Some big ones being Starfox and Animal Crossing. I expect one of those two games to be announced for a Christmas 2008 release. Animal Crossing would be the wiser choice, seeing how well Wild World sold; 8.29 million as of last week. That would sell out immediately in Japan, with launch numbers of what I think would be well over 500,000. Starfox would be a good game for a Christmas release as well. If Nintendo made it a spritual sequel to Starfox 64 (which sold 4 million) then they could make some good money. As for Super Mario Galaxy expect it to sell well throughout 2008 (maybe passing Halo 3). Mario & Sonic at the Olympic games will drop off for a bit, but no doubt return to the top 20 as the Olympics begin. Releasing Virtual Console games with updated Wii control will also help, much like Pokemon Snap. If Nintendo can manage to snag a game like GoldenEye, and put it online, then you'll see a lot of Wii's selling.
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Wii 2008 sales: 18 million
360: 2008 is the year that will decide what happens with the 360. It won't be seeing exclusives like it did this year. The vast majority of the best 360 games will also be on the PS3 or PC. However same goes for the PS3 obviously. Microsoft will have to drop the price by next Summer at the extreme latest if they want to stay competitive with the Wii and PS3. They're losing ground to the PS3, and they need some way to regain it. Getting games like Grand Theft Auto IV, which used to be Sony exclusives, will no doubt let them maintain a healthy lead in America. Expect GTAIV for the 360 to outsell the PS3 version by 2.5:1. Because afterall, the Wii is in a league of it's own and Microsoft is only really racing Sony. The Arcade version is going for $299, and I expect that to drop to $249-$279, to compete directly with the Wii. The Premium and Elite versions will also get a similar price drop, with their respected prices. Microsoft knows Sony will drop down the PS3 price at some point in 2008, and having a system well under $300 will surely help them with the casual crowd. Another thing I believe, is that a chunk of casual gamers play for games we consider hardcore. Halo and GTA specifically. And you'll see people buying 360's just to play GTAIV when it drops.
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2008 360 sales: 10 million
PS3: 2008 also decided what happens with the PS3. If they can drop the price to a competitive level, and actually get some games released, then they should do alright. Metal Gear Solid 4 absolutely has to drop in 2008. Final Fantasy might not, and that's what the PS3 needs over in Japan. Little Big Planet will probably do little to expand the audience as well. As good as it looks (and it looks amazing), casual players just won't be justified by the price tag. The PS3 will probably have to drop to $299 before most people will consider it. I think Home will have the same effect. Maybe a few new players, but nothing substantial. Xbox Live has the online console market way too under control. Japan will see PS3 sales increase no doubt, but Europe and America will probably drop back down to 100k a month for a while. Metal Gear Solid will finally get people buying PS3's, but it's effect on total hardware sold might not last as long as some people are saying.
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2008 PS3 sales: 9 million
PSP: I think it's meeting it's end in 2008. It will still sell respectably, but software right now is absolutely abysmal. And it's Christmas. With no good games, people will stop buying, and in turn, PSP sales will fall. You'll still get the few people who buy it for it's other features, but that will only last so long.
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2008 PSP sales: 8 million
