NO one here is going to answer you honestly. Not even me, since were all fans of a console and dislike other consoles because of it. But personally, I think the Wii is still a fad and the PS3 will catch it. But the PS3 still needs something that amazes people more than the Wii's motion sensing does.

It will take software titles, and though gamers want to bitch and moan about it, even better multimedia features for it to surpass the Wii. There is no "wow" factor with the PS3 right now, but it has great potential to do so in the future. The Xbox is solid, yet it has no "wow" factor, and seems to be at the top of its potential, which is why in its best year yet, it was still doubled by the Wii, which doesnt have nearly the gaming experience.

Its the PS3's ability to appeal to mainstream buyers that will give it its edge, not the hardcore or casual gamers. While all three consoles have overlapping fanbases, its the PS3 that will sit most comfortably as mainstream, since it has something for everyone, something neither of the other 2 consoles can say, even by the end of next year. Its why the PS3 has been outsold by less than 1,000,000 this year even with all of the Xbox360's acheivements. No doubt the Xbox is leading all three consoles in the hardcore fanbase, and the Wii is killing the other two in casual, the PS3 has been able to do relatively well because its beginning to get its mainstream fanbase to convert from PS2.

Once the PS3 hits $299 it will be a comeplely different story. And while others will claim a price cut that happened over a month and a half ago is the reason for the PS3 still selling well, I think they are under-analyzing the situation in order to make it seem this current console trend will continue. I doubt it, and recent sales show which way the trend is moving.

@Jandre02:

I'm afraid not, you see it is Wii that really has something for everyone, PS3 only appeals to that 13-35 year old male demographic that doesn't like FPS really, otherwise its trumped by the 360, and it doesn't have the nongamers that the Wii has.

Even now, the PS3 sales are dropping off in Japan, which doesn't bode well for the PS3's future prospects

"PS3 has like what a handful of exclusive big games this gen, most games are shared with the 360, that's not going to keep it going"

Weird logic. The same can be said for the 360. I think sharing their game library is the biggest advantage Sony/MS have over Nintendo. What market would you target 21mio PS3s/360s for a multiplatform game with high attachment rates or 16mio Wiis where third-party titles can only hover up the scraps Nintendo leaves them.

But even so it is weird that we do not get more "We started development for game xyz on the Wii" announcements.

I would personally argue that the reason the PS3 has performed so poorly is because it abandoned the mainstream buyer ...

In the last generation 80% of console purchases were made when the systems were $200 or less. Today (roughly) 75% of homes primary television is still a standard definition television, and in many households the gaming system is hooked up to a secondary television (which is far less likely to be a high definition television). The typical household does not have a 7.1 surround sound system, most still don't have 5.1 surround sound (and those that do it is a cheap home-theater in a box system).

Basically, the PS3 is too expensive of a system for the mainstream and offers features which are not intersting to the mainstream (yet) ...

it's not like someone's choosing between playing mario & sonic, wiiware, wifit and mario galaxy or playing uncharted, pro evo, call of duty and assasins creed

the systems are so different, and the game libraries too
that you cannot speak of direct competition

 Shared titles don't help a system, as sales are split, games like DMC, GTA etc (maybe even MGS 4) won't increase PS3 sales as mch as if they were exclusive since in NA, more people will buy it for the 360, Japan will probably be more for the PS3 and Europe probably somewhere in between.

Wii having exclusives makes the system a must have fort those games

Actually, for the most part they are ...

In every generation to date, the majority of households buy one system because it is nearly impossible to justify the purchase of an additional system when you have a perfectly good system already.

"Even now, the PS3 sales are dropping off in Japan, which doesn't bode well for the PS3's future prospects"

?? Lets remember, 2 months ago the PS2 sold 10k per week in Japan. The Wii was outselling it 7:1 for some weeks. Then came the white PS3 a couple of japan-targeted games and we had a month where they outsold the Wii. Now they are at 35-40k per week without any big games coming out. Next year will see MGS4, Devil may Cry 4, Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy XIII so I do not think that the future prospects of the PS3 in Japan are bad .

i don't believe that HappySqurriel
you choose between a ps3 and a 360
like you did between a Saturn and a PSX and 64
or a Dreamcast and a PS2

but the Wii and the PS3 are way too different
you've got games like wiifit, wiiware, mario galaxy, mario and sonic on one side
and games like uncharted, call of duty, assansins creed, mgs4 and haze on the other side

people don't choose between a nissan micra and a bmw 7

"Shared titles don't help a system, as sales are split"

Shared titles do not help a system against the other system that has the game that is correct. But the Wii doesn't have any of those PS3/360 games. And for example in Japan the 360 hardly exists so shared titles effectively help the PS3.

"in NA more people will buy it for the 360"

Only true for the really hard-core gamers who have both systems. Normal customers will choose between the 360 and the PS3 and when most great games are multiplatform other factors come into play and the PS3 has some neat tricks like being a BluRay player. The 360 outsells it but it had the far better exclusives something that will change next year.

"Wii having exclusives makes the system a must have fort those games"

True the problem of the Wii is, that it doesn't have any of the multiplatform games. So if you make a decision between a Wii and a PS3/360 PS3 OR 360 are a must-have for those games.