Wow, this year has been quite interesting.
The PS3 has proved to be the most consistent seller over the course of the year. The price cut was probably a bad business decision, though. It likely would've sold similar numbers without it, as the boost was negligible. Interesting, though, how the relentless storm of exclusive titles didn't cause a comparable boost in console (or software) sales. Still, great year for it.
The almighty Wii has fallen to 3rd place even with a price cut, likely due to the Wii U introduction, Kinect and the disappearance of notable software. Is it really just a Zelda and Just Dance 3 year??? Still, it didn't sell horribly, just compared to previous years.
The 360 shuffled it's feet most of the year but came ROARING back during the holidays for it's best year ever and almost the top selling console WW even. Kinect didn't seem to be the huge seller it was at launch, but likely contributed much to the 360's holiday boost (though 2nd year software was more iterative than expected). All of this despite being the console that is longest in the tooth this gen and one without a true price cut since 2008. 2008!!!
Though I'd imagine annual console sales are down (due to the Wii drop), Sony and especially Microsoft (profits!) should feel good about the life of their current consoles for the foreseeable future. 2012, with the introduction of the Wii U and Kinect finally getting true 2nd generation games, should be an interesting year as well for sales. The BIG question, though, is will 2012 be the year where everyone's sales start to recede greatly. The Wii is there already and got there in a big way fast. MS still has a 360 price cut in them that just has to hit this year (I'm shocked they've gone this long and sold more) and, as I mentioned, Kinect's appeal may grow with bigger titles coming soon. Considering all of the shots taken in 2011, I'm not sure what Sony could do to slow the receding of sales, but we'll see. 2011 may indeed have been the peak year for the HD consoles.
As for the handhelds ... 3DS shockingly rebounded better than I thought and the PSVita sold worse than I imagined it would in Japan. Who knows what the future holds for these things ...
