I dont disagree that it might be down YoY, my point is that it'll still have enough spark to win the holiday sales battle over the HD systems again next year. Come 2012, all 3 will be drastically down, as I fully suspect new home systems to be announced in 2012 for the 3 companies. I just feel that of the 3 Nintendo still has that one more big push (Zelda), where I feel that the HD systems have already thrown their full arsenal into the arena already.

There's a number of reasons.

1 - Zelda has a MUCH bigger fanbase than GT games, Zelda has been around a lot longer, covers many gaming generations.

2 - The racing genre has been dying. People want more out of their games, you can only do so much customization in a game. The rest is all making turns and trying not to crash. Its becoming a smaller and smaller niche market. Thus why you don't really see many developers making racing games anymore.

3 - Link as an IP is among the top 10 in videogame history. GT doesn't really have a specific character that draws people in. The Zelda IP and the character Link are sort of like a book or tv series - you want to know what adventures the main character is going to go on next.

4 - Zelda games are very popular across both sexes, where there traditionally is a small amount of females into racing games.

As for why the full year? The game releases in Japan in Jan/Feb barring any delays. Releases in March in the US. Sales will stay afloat a few months, with a natural summertime lull, and then the demand will be very big once again come holidays 2011, so June-Sept might be a bit slow, common for the overall market. Yet the initial Zelda demand will get those hardcore Zelda fans who havent yet got a Wii (yes, they exist, surprisingly!) out to get their "official" Zelda Wii game.

Damn, I can't believe Donkey Kong sold so much even though its franchise has showed little significance to hardware after Donkey Kong Country 3. It also shows similar sales to New Super Mario Bros. Wii in terms of total pre-order to first week sale ratio in America. This proves Donkey Kong Country Returns has similar but smaller proportional amount of potential buyers to New Super Mario Bros. Wii. If this is true, then next week's sale for Donkey Kong Country Returns should equal near 285,000. That's a pretty big drop, though, so hopefully it doesn't.

I'd say thats pretty normal when the consoles past years sales weren't anything spectacular, thats why matching those sales or even surpass it by a small margin its plausible.

Throw in heavy marketing and a new peripheral on the consoles "old" stage, and you got your trending up completely explained.

Now wanting consoles like DS and Wii to be up is an epic task, given both consoles past sales.

Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom floped :(

Since we are talking about sales of 2011 I will give my personal opinion.

The 360 will be in the most trouble since it now only relies on America with the sales being week in Japan and slowing in Others..G.O.W.3 isn't until Late 2011 and Kinect has proved to only be a system pushing hit in America. Kinect is strong in Others but hasn't really done anything big yet.

PS3 is gaining ground in Others and Japan. I expect it to continue to do well in those regions but in America PS3 is slowing quickly due to Kinect being a massive hit when compared to Move in America. If Sony doesn't do something soon in America PS3 could see some >30K weeks from America in 2011. Even without America I expect PS3>360 nearly every week in 2011.

Wii has the best chance of doing well in 2011 and I honestly don't see why many see the Wii in trouble again in 2011...I see the Wii being up YOY for most of 2011. I say this because 1. new games but more importantly the "legs" of already released games. If you think about it Nintendo has 2 already announced games for the 1st half of 2011.(Zelda and Mario Sports Mix in Others and America and Zelda and The Last Story in Japan) When compared to 2010...2011 wins easy. 2010 had S.M.G.2, Sin And Punishment, and Endless Ocean...T.L.S should be a decent hit in Japan and Z.S.S should make a big impact in America and a decent one in Others and Japan. Mario Sports Mix also has the potential to be a 10 Million seller! Also as I said the "legs" of the Holiday games will be so much better than last year. 2010 had the "legs" of N.S.M.B.W, Wii Fit Plus, Just Dance, Mario Kart Wii, Wii Play and Wii Sports Resort. 2011 will have the "legs" of N.S.M.B.W, Wii Fit Plus, Mario Kart Wii, Just Dance 1 and 2, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Wii Party, D.K.C.R, Disney Epic Mickey, Micheal Jackson The Experience, and uDraw (Studio). All 11 of these games should continue to sell well for a good part of 2011!

PS3 is gaining ground in Others and Japan. I expect it to continue to do well in those regions but in America PS3 is slowing quickly due to Kinect being a massive hit when compared to Move in America. If Sony doesn't do something soon in America PS3 could see some >30K weeks from America in 2011. Even without America I expect PS3>360 nearly every week in 2011.

hahaha

Wii didnt prove nothing to people over the years i see... Well some people are just blind what can we do... nothing.

Why would Kinect take away from PS3 when they are directed  at different audiences. People will  buy a ps3 in 2011 because of the hardcore lineup, not because of move.

EDIT: I do believe that the 360 will be over PS3. Not because of the PS3 slowing though but because the 360 is gaining.