I don't think it will ever happen.

NA dislikes Sony and that's a very big chunk of the market. Unless Sony manages to improve it's image in NA, they'll lose to MS WW (that goes for future gens too) and I very much doubt Sony will ever be able to beat MS at marketing on their home turf.

They should instead for an interesting side effect: Sony trying, MS resisting and Ninty having given up for this gen could mean for both PS3 and XB360 a chance to outsell Wii lifetime, no small achievement.

About PS3 and XB360 slow race: considering the small yearly lead for PS3, but that it accumulates it during the first 10 months of the year, then XB360 during the last two recovers part of the lead lost, it could happen that PS3 surpasses it a first time, then XB360 gets again the lead, then PS3 has to surpass it a second time to take definitiveley the lead. The first time could be in September or October 2014. If PS3 can't surpass XB360 at least a first time then, I guess it will need to keep on selling after XB360 is retired to achieve it. Not bad, because late sales give high profit margins, but nothing outstanding, either.

Let me put it this way, Sony is beating Microsoft on console value alone. If they dont get the attention of the casuals on top of what they already have it will pretty much be the same. Microsoft is dependent on casuals at the moment and Sony needs to figure something out to get their attention.

Personally i think its quite feasible for the PS3 to catch up and reach the same sales as the 360 in 2013, it just depends on if it can keep a steady lead throughout the year in sales and have quite a successful Christmas season. This generation isn't as dead as some are making it seem. Even if a new HD system is announced this year during this E3, I still give these curret HD systems at least another two years of quality gaming before it goes downhill.

When? Long after it matters is when.

NA doesnt hate Sony. They just dont know about their top games. Microsoft no saturates the television set with Xbox 360 commercials. If they believed games like Skyrim and COD were exclusive, I wouldn't fault them at all the way Microsoft's commercials are made. Microsoft pay for third party commercials then stamps their insignia on the end of it all. Anyway, the PS3 as a gaming console dominated MS in 2011. It was the Kinect that kept Sony at bay all year. I think Sony needs to say hello to the casuals, dont you?

Soon enough I would say.

You can say the same with all the EA sports game with the PS3 logo at the end of the commercial.  Its not exclusively on M$ who does that.

I wrote "dislike" not "hate" and judging by the sales it's true. The PS3 sold worse in NA than it did in Europe and afaik it's the only console that ever did.

@casuals:

That's easier said than done though. Just look how much effort MS had to throw behind Kinect to make it take off. Now imagine what Sony would have to do to make casuals migrate from Wii and Kinect to PS3. Sony is neither able nor willing to risk that much, even if they had a good idea that could attract the casual crowd. Remember the eye toy? Everything that took off this gen (dancing games, fitness games, motion party games) was already there, yet nobody cared. Sony wasn't able to attract the casual masses like Nintendo (or recently MS) did this gen.

STAGE and VG King arguing about Kinect sales and Xbox 360s future...Way to go!

I expect a Xbox 360 pricecut later this year, so I don't think anytime soon. Like Kowenicki said: This gen ends this year anyway. It is all about PS4, Xbox 3 and Wii U from 2013 on.