I tihnk I can safely say that the PS3 is not in the running in NA anymore. It's all about the Wii and the 360 now. They also lost Japan(under 12k this week) and the Wii(it outsold the PS3 at least 6 to 1) won.

The PS3 will be helped by FFXIII/MGS4/DMC4 and GTA IV but it will go back down to normal levels after a short perio d immaediately after launch of those games. A hallmark of a console war loser. They are playing for second place at the most, same with the 360.

The 360 is not gonna win worldwide without Japan and Sony has a stronger pressence in Europe. Not like it matters, this war is the Wii's to lose.

I don't think Nintendo can lose. It might not sell the most consoles or software. But it is profitable now and for the forseeable future. Worst case scenario is they will make billions of dollars in profit this generation.

At this rate, Nintendo has already "won" (@FishyJoe). They don't need to sell the most consoles - hell, they could call it a wrap this instant and still have their Wii balance book in the black.

If billions of dollars is their worst-case scenario, I'd like to see what their best-case scenario would be...

Think about this: The whole video game industry is worth $30 Billion. Nintendo is worth $8 Billion. And the Wii just started worldwide and the DS is just gearing up for PSP burying in western markets.

That's a REALLY good point, and describes what Nintendo is about to a tee. Unlike Sony/MS, they have to make money (in games) to survive. They aren't too fussed about what MS/Sony do - if anything, they want them to (at least partially) succeed - as it builds the industry (and competition is good).

Best-case scenario - make tens of billions of dollars (per year), and dominate for the next 20 years ;)

NOTE - I don't believe for a second that Sony has lost (yet). Its just that the signs are not good at the moment. Just like MS with the Xbox, then can always decide to lose lots more cash (short-term anyway), and take the fight up to MS/Nintendo with dual price cuts to the PSP & PS3. And there is always a chance that one of their internal titles does blow everyone away, and drives sales. 

Sorry saying that the Wii needs to have games and lots of them to rope the mature audience has failed for Nintendo in the past, and it gives me great insight as to why you don't understand properly why the Wii is selling so well and why it will continue to sell well. Unfortunately Kwaad you only consider the success of anything possible because of hardcore games... that counts for PS2 slightly because it really started to pick up steam because while it had the hardcore games for the hardcore gamers, in and around all of these games all of the casual less hardcore popular games were appearing and snatching the rest of the market. Nintendo has gone for this crowd from the very beginning while going for their Nintendo fans... they AREN'T directly competing for the mature gamers who want the Gears of Wars, Halo's, GTA's etc... of course having those games on their platform only strengthens their capture of the market because the more broad range of games is what made the PS2 win. It's quite simple to understand how the market is working at the moment, and it's quite brilliant that Nintendo were the first to capitalise on these moves. It may or may not be good for the rest of us gamers, but honestly it makes so much sense that Sony have made some big mistakes with their PS3 this generation that it is really biting them in the nuts. PS2 is still selling so strongly, which is quite good for PS3 I think honestly, because while it doesn't have games and while it is expensive the early adopters can pick it up while anyone else will wait for a price drop or for the game that comes out that really make the purchase worthwhile for them. The danger or the problem of all this is the third parties. I'm yet to see an absolute resource shift, but all the signs point towards a big shift towards the Wii. Many new games are being announced for the Wii all the time, it's how it managing to keep it's hype going and also what helps the wave continue. The positive press surrounding this only ads to the benefit of the Wii. Developers and publishers are starting to see these poor results of the PS3 and are ultimately making the hard decisions. John Lucas I think you're a little overly optimistic for the Wii but you certainly understand what is going on with the market. I don't know if the Wii will sell that much simply because of production... how long will it take them to ramp production and get the hardware number up? Was the March figure for Wii ONLY because of supply? I really wonder why it's so low, how could Nintendo provide such a low number of consoles? That's all I have to say about that.

 And don't forget the cost difference. At the moment the HD plattforms are under severe pressure, but I think in the long run, they will gain a better market share. The problem is: How to get there? For the Xbox 360 the solution is: stick to the PCs.

With Microsofts strong role in the PC market they shouldn't have to many problems to get enough games on their plattform and establish their console as a cheap gaming PC.

The PS-3 on the other hand has to rely on general ports. With these sales the power of its Cell is reduced to the Power of its single core (PPE). It's main chance is: BluRay. Otherwise for game developers the plattform won't  matter for the next few months/years.

Many games are being announced how many of 'em actual big and important games? Every third party is trying to make a quick buck with cheap Wii games now...

That's a good thing. Many cheap, crappy games and shovelware is a true sign of a consolo winner. Casuals et. al.

cheap crappy games + shovelware = PS2

PS2 had great games, but you cannot deny the above is also true.

Sign of the times?