did you honestly just say that Sony and Nintendo are bigger brand than MS?  Cause if so you are absolutly INSANE. 

Unless you mean that the Wii and Playstation brands are "bigger" than the 360 brand which you have a case for but both Nintendo and Sony as companies are like small fish compared to Microsoft. 

@ MARCUSDJACKSON

I really don't think they will have to do much better than a $50 price-cut.  I mean it would be the first time a PS3 was available for $249.  This would make it that much closer to that Holy $199 price point.  Granted, I think that at $199 is when it would see a HUGE boost.  But, at $249 it will see a pretty nice boost, as well. 

Also, we still have Gamescon and TGS to go this year, so Sony may announce a cut to $279 and a GT5 bundle at the normal $299 in time for the holidays.  That would definitely give Sony a nice boost this holiday season.  I doubt they will, but I wouldn't put anything past them.  I mean I didn't think they were going to cut the price by $100 last year.

People keep saying that the PS3 will be on the market longer. I really can't see that happening, neither Sony nor MS will want the other to get a head start in the next gen, if one of them announces a new box my bet is the other will also announce a new box with a similar release date.  the year headstart hurt sony a lot and I don't think they are dumb enough to let it happen again.

I agree with the statement of this thread for several reasons. Since last August PS3 saw stronger sales then the 360 primarily due to a PS3 Slim. The worldwide sales difference dropped from about 8.5 to 4.9 million since the PS3 Slim launched up until the point the 360S launched. However before that the 360's lead was growing, and only until recently (again due to the PS3 Slim), has the PS3 to 360 difference only ever been slightly lower then what it was when the 360 launched.

If PS3 were ever going to overtake the 360 it would have happened within the first couple years, but it didn't and a lot of people (especially on thiswebsite) have let that get to their heads.

The fact of the matter is PS3's recent burst of popularity was due to the PS3 Slim, not a price cut, not the games, not the fact that blu-ray is more popular. Now that the 360S has launched in Americas, and is a showing a stronger sales rate then the PS3 Slim had, the 360 will not only regain it's initial sales lead, but it will re-establish it's peak sales lead of 8.5 million, and will re-take the European and Other reagions.

Not only is the 360S showing slightly more popularity then the PS3 Slim, it came without a price cut. When the PS3 Slim came out, it came with a price cut, and the 360 followed with a price cut. The 360S is outperforming the PS3 Slim sales wise in North America without the handicap the PS3 Slim had. Not only that when the PS3 Slim was released 360 sales saw a slight booast in sales, but when the 360S was released, PS3 sales actually dropped slightly, and this thing has yet to be released in Europe!

PS3 is a great system, but so is the 360, and Microsoft really shows why they are such a powerful organization. Their market strategy was just amazing, they outsold the best selling brand of consoles for 10 years prior. Mind you Nintendo is kicking ass now, I am only comparing the HD consoles.

I predict that Microsoft will expand their lead to at least the 8.5 million difference they had prior to the PS3 Slim, most likely 10 million. I predict that the 360 will re-establish the pre-PS3 Slim 1.75 million difference in it's favor. However in the last few remaining years of this generation of gaming, I think the European region will see roughly balances sales between the 360 and PS3.

So I beleive that the 360 will outsell the PS3 until the next set of holidays. Not only that, but the Year end total console sales will be in favour of Microsoft for 2010 and 2011. However, I think by Fall 2011 PS3 will see roughly the same sales volume as 360, and most likely will experience stronger sales in 2012. By 2012 or 2013 I beleive all three compeditors will release new consoles, and 360 sales will severely drop, while PS3 sales will slowly dwindle (similar to how the PS2 is still selling units, but the PS3 won't do as well as PS2).

So in all honesty I do beleive PS3 sales will start to catch up in the long run. To the point where the PS3-360 sales difference will be smaller then the initial boost 360 experienced due to it's extra year on the market. However I really doubt that the PS3 will EVER outsell the 360. It's very rare in buisness for a compeditor that has had a weaker sales bracket for 3-4 years to outsell it's compeditor in total sales over the lifetime of the product. That means that since PS3 sold weaker then the 360 until the PS3 Slim, and only outsold the 360 due to the PS3 Slim, it's unlikely to ever outsell the 360. Even if it experiences stronger sales in a year or two, it's just too late to recover. The war is over, it's just a matter of time until the news spreads, and the pockets of soldiers are cleared.

P.S. Kinect, and Halo are very much likely to push more console sales then Move, and Gran Turismo. GT versus Halo is arguable since GT5 is the first full GT installment on the PS3, but just as many users missed Modern Warfare 1 and bought MW 2 in larger quantities, Halo Reach will outsell and attract more gamers then Halo 3. However the PS Move lacks supporting software, and (like Nintendo always promotes) it is less innovative then Kinect. People want something new, and PS Move is not that differenct from the Wii. Like I said it is also lacking software, Kinect launches with 15 titles, most exclusive, and some looking pretty damn awesome. Move has Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition, a SOCOM title (which could be an epic fail like the last one), and some sports game that no one can remember the name witout looking it up.

P.P.S. Spring sales also depend on exclusives, and Gears of War is not only a better rated game then Killzone, but it also sells about 2.5 times as many units. It will push 360's popularity just like God of War pushed the PS3 this spring.

Basically Microsoft is copying what Sony did that pushed Sony sales above 360 sales. Not only that, but it is taking advantage of a poor PS3 fall lineup (2009 and 2008 were far better for PS3), and blocking every big PS3 release. Kinect over Move, Halo over Gran Turismo, Gears of War over Killzone etc... If anything messes up for Microsoft, they can always do a price cut, and since a 360 is cheaper to produce then a PS3, they can do it more readily then Sony.

Don't be so sure about Japan... PS3 slim had a long term effect that's basically raised the baseline to 18-22k weekly (way up from about 10-14k weekly pre-slim).  I wouldn't be at all surprised to see 360 settle into a new higher baseline, say 6-10k weekly, similarly up from 3-5k.

Dont care if suddenly 360 suddenly becomes the fave of casual gamers for dancing and fitness routines, Im a lazy guy and dont anyone told me to stand up and kick here and there for 'gaming'. I love to play my core games in my bed in my tiny room, probed back by my soft pillows, playing exclusives with amazing graphics like inFamous 2, Ni No Ku Ni. I will continue support PS3 even if PS3 remains the third in this generation due to lack of support from casual gamers, I dont have Sony share anyway.

Mean while, 360 gamers have lots of Shao Lin Kung Fu Master, Mystical Yoga, You Think You Can Dance, and Jane Fonda fitness programs to look forward to, enjoy. The rest assured, you guys will be a lot slimmer and fitter than us PS3 owners after this gen is over.

actually sony is bigger than microsoft.

microsoft makes more money but they dont make much off 360. profits come from windows and office

By what measure? This is the most recent analysis I've read from April - http://www.kotaku.com.au/2010/04/firm-sony-brand-less-valuable-than-microsoft-cigarettes-beer-toothpaste/

You're absolutely kidding yourself to presume to know what MS makes from the 360, it's buried in a sea of other products, which has made ~$1billion this year so far.  It's also estimated that MS makes ~1.25 billion from their online subscriptions and marketplace downloads alone - http://blogs.forbes.com/velocity/2010/06/17/microsofts-xbox-live-is-making-boatloads-on-virtual-goods/ 

By number of employees...

Sony: 167,000

Microsoft: 93,000

Nintendo 4,000 (lol)

seriously in a few weeks i dont know what some you you'l be saying when the 360 is back down the the same level of ps3. dont people understand that when theres a price cut and re modeling theres hardware boosts?