@mad--its sony kool-aid--they send a little packet of it in every box that turns you into a blind fanboy

pretty soon your daughters knocked up and there is money missing from the dresser...i've seen it a hundred times

think ps3 will kick ass of xbox soon :)

^we will see,it will depend alot on what GTA4 will help more

LOL. I'd hunt the clown down who knocked up my girl and have a lil talk with that jackass. That is, unless they're married. Otherwise, he'd meet my boys Smith and Wesson.

OT - I blame my boy KN for this foolishness. The PS3 is in more trouble than the 360.

It never fails - folks are fast to start writing off the 360 based on the past performance of the Xbox. That's not the case now. Things have changed - Sony has dropped core values for a quick buck. And folks are quick to point out the red-light drama. Guess what? The disk read error didn't stop folks from buying the PS2. And I doubt seriously that at the right price, folks will forget the RROD drama and get a 360 and a few games - unless you find a Wii.

This generation will see a new victor. And I'd rather have a lead and be in a position for a price cut than be 7 million back and potential on the horizon and not momentum. 

Ummmmmmmmmmmmm. It already has, son.

As far as the 360, PS3 = 8.96M, X360 = 16.33M

Film at 11 ... 

end of HD DVD will help ps3 in USA

As someone who has a preference for the 360 over the PS3, allow me to present my opinion:

Yes, the 360 will be outsold by the PS3 by a signifficant margin worldwide in 2008. It will NOT pass it in lifetime sales, but it's sales will likely be a full 50% higher than the 360's in 2008. As you'll see in my sig I expect it to be within 4 million worldwide. There are many reasons for this.

First, consoles tend to peak in their 2nd full year on the market. Not only did the 360 just have that year, but they also released a massive amount of quality titles including what is undeniably the biggest title the system will ever have in that year. Add to that the fact that the 360 ALSO had a price drop, and even created a viable low-end unit with the Arcade (finally) and 2007 was the 360's best year. The chances of the 360 ever doing better than it did in 2007 are very very very very VERY low.

Second, assuming Blu-ray kills HD DVD this year (something very likely at this point) the Playstation 3 will still be a very reasonably priced Blu-ray player. People do tend to overestimate this though for a few reasons. First, once HD DVD is dead Blu-ray players will come out that are much cheaper than the PS3. Second, a lot of people simply buy their movie players by walking into that section of Best Buy, and the PS3 won't be in that section. Still, this will boost sales.

Third, 2008 will be the strongest year in the PS3's life. Just as 2007 was for the Xbox 360, 2008 will be for the Playstation 3. The Playstation 3 has a large library of major exclusive games for 2008. Gran Turismo 5 is their Halo 3. It will be the best selling game ever released on the system. The 360 is depending on new IPs in 2008 (the same thing the PS3 tried to do in 2007), which really doesn't work well for systems very often.

So, in conclusion, the PS3 will gain on the 360 in 2008 significantly. Lifetime I expect them to end about equal (like the GC and Xbox did). Again, I greatly prefer the 360 over the PS3 right now in game library, so I'm not saying this because I love the PS3 and "want it to win" or anything. This is just my logical analysis of the 2008 situation.

Very interesting post, NAznatips. I think something else to consider is - folks still considering a system. You have a lot of PS2 owners still wondering about what system to buy. I wouldn't be shocked if PS3 and 360 sales are neck and neck this year. 

I honestly have never really understood the argument that there are 100 million PS2 owners just sitting around staring at their computers trying to decide whether to buy the PS3 or 360. People are constantly upgrading, but a large chunk of the PS2's audience was the budget gamer. Around 100 million of PS2s sold were sold at under $200, and the budget gamer isn't going to end up on the PS3 or 360 because the price of games and system is simply too high. Most of those will end up on the Wii.

Most of the "hardcore" audience of the PS2 has already upgraded to a Wii, PS3, or 360, because they are early adopters. The vast majority of GTA owners are already playing one (or more) of these 3 platforms. The hardcore Gamecube and Xbox owners are as well. Most of what's left in the market today is by and large the casual gamers and budget gamers who the PS2 excelled at capturing, and the PS3 and 360 are ill equipped to lure in.

I see... We're arguing different points here. I'm arguing that the 360 is showing gains over the Xbox, though not enormous gains. Enough to keep in the console business, that's for sure. I fully expect the 360 to eclipse Xbox sales by at least 10m and unlike the Xbox, most of those sales will be the profitable kind.

As for the Wii, I completely agree and anyone would be foolish not to. It is completely dominant and will continue to be so for the rest of the generation. There's no stopping that freight train.

Whether the 360 is doing better or the PS3 is failing miserably is really a moot point in my eyes and MS probably feels the same way. Their true competitor in this market is Sony and no matter how they beat them, it's a victory for MS if they do. And right now, they have to be pretty pleased with how things are turning out.

No matter if Sony ends up passing them late in the generation, MS still has to feel this as a victory. They are bleeding Sony dry and finally turning a profit in the process (though we'll see if that keeps up over the long run). If by the end of the generation things are nearly tied up between the two consoles, who won? It isn't Sony, that's for sure.