From a gamers' perspective, what's important in a console war is to get developers' support for their console of choice. Total hardware sales can be fun to look at, but in reality they only matter to the bottom-line of the companies which make them (MS/Sony).
Even now, there are a lot of heated discussions on whether PS3 or 360 will win the HD console war. However, I believe these squabbles can stop, as that war is over from a gamers' perspective. The reasons for this are:
1- Both consoles are virtually dead in Japan (with very little chance of recovering in a useful timeframe), the PS3 has an edge in Europe (where the 360 still sells well), and the 360 has an edge in America (where the PS3 will continue to sell well too).
2- The development cost of making 360/PS3 games is, by all accounts, only slightly above the cost of making a PS3 only or 360 only game.
Due to number 1, it's clear that these two consoles will continue to sell well, and their userbases will never be too far apart from each other. Reason number 2 above will ensure that it will always be worth it to port a 360 game to the PS3, and vice-versa. With only a few exceptions, the only PS3/360 exclusives we'll see will be the result of moneyhats from Sony and MS to game developers.
When you look at the big picture, it's clear that Microsoft and Sony have laid all their cards on the table. Both companies had the financial capability and will to ensure that their console wouldn't lose the war early. Both companies spent enough money to provide worthwhile exclusive games for their consoles. Microsoft and Sony will continue being so aggressive that none of them will be able to gain a significant userbase size advantage. The results of that are obvious for developers - if you make your game PS3 or 360 exclusive, you're wasting money.
However, the fun is not over. The real war now is HD vs ED gaming (360/PS3 vs Wii). The reasons for this are:
1- The Wii is vastly different from the 360/PS3, both in terms of processing power and control scheme. This means that it's not cheap to port from 360/PS3 to Wii and vice-versa.
2- Game development costs are said to be much lower on the Wii, mainly due to lower cost of developing ED graphical assets vs HD ones.
3- Even before Nintendo announces the new level of Wii production, the Wii is inching closer and closer to near-50% market share, which means that choosing to target the Wii as a development platform will give you access to a userbase which is nearly as big as 360/PS3 combined.
The economical reality resulting from those factors is what will determine developers' decisions of today and tomorrow. That's where the fight is at now.
My Mario Kart Wii friend code: 2707-1866-0957
