It really doesn't matter if Sony or Microsoft are second or third.
Third parties are going to support them both because AAA title budgets are too large to be supported by just one platform.
And total console sales don't mean much because it is impossible to figure out whether people are buying second consoles, re-buying a newer (bigger, better, or more reliable) model, or buying their first console.
The health of a console is in third party software sales and availability of development tools. And both Sony and Microsoft are experiencing strong third party software sales and tool support so developers keep producing for them. I wish people would realize both consoles are here to stay.
We are getting to the part in the generation where it will get boring over the next few years. The current generation is about milking gamers now (because companies have to pay for the engines they created this generation and receive return on those investments - Look at Prince of Persia, Assassin's Creed, Dragon Age, Need for Speed, Skate, Madden, Gears of War, Little Big Planet, Motorstorm, etc. as examples). How many (real) new games are coming out? This year is sequel city. Don't get me wrong. I love some of the engines that have come out this generation. And there are new IPs, but they are almost all being based on broadening the reach of tech engines already created for this generation.
People have to get over the console war for at least this generation. Cause it will end in a stalmate. Nintendo came back from the dead, Microsoft proved it can be a player, and Sony has showed staying power. That sums up the result.
