As Parokki said, the PS2 sold GTA more than the other way around. We will see blips of a few 100k for each console in the week of release of GTA. GTA Sales on 360 will be more front-loaded and sales on PS3 will have longer legs.

Mid-term, the title could help PS3 more
- because Playstation may still be seen the home of GTA for most consumers
- and because the PS3 library is more lacking so that one game can make more of an impact then on the 360.

On the other hand, Microsoft may indeed be prepared to spend $100 million to get the word out to former PS2 owners that the 360 is the new home for GTA, what with the extra content. Overall, it's mostly an American topic and won't affect Europe that much.

I think GTA will affect onWII
when people understand that they can't play GTA on there wii's
they will not buy it or they will buy ( ps3 or x360 ) if they already have one

Games like halo3 , gears of war , uncharted , GT 5 ...
will devlop this idea in people minds

GTA franchise appeal to MUCH biger user base then Halo or MGS.
This game easy appeal to both hardcore and casual gamers.

GTA4 will easy do 5 mln. in first month in combined ps3+x360 sales, because CoD4 and AC did around 3 mln. each with only 18,5 mln. of combined console sales. With 28 mln. by the release of GTA4
expect game to sell more then 3 mln. in first month. =)

It's open sandbox, combined with killer soundtracks, tons of air/sea/land vehicles, way-cool missions, surrounded by controversy and has sold over 50M copies between two systems. And did I mention you can get with a hooker and kill her afterward? 

All you have to do is look at the charts. The GTA franchise has own3d the FF franchise. Just because it's not selling in your neck of the woods doesn't mean it's not a money-maker. 50M customers, and R* don't seem to agree with you ... 

wii will continue to sell out and the release of gta4 for ps3/360 won't stop that

the release will mean extra sales for ps3/360, tho

Wow. I have to admire this PS3 fanboy spin. Why would the PS3 benefit? The reasons you stated are funny. Really, that's like saying folks who at one time owned a PS2 will get the PS3 version of DMC4 because DMC series was on the PS2. LIE! The other reasons have absolutely NO impact on the PS3 version of the game.

Here's why the 360 version will OWN the PS3 version, hands down:

"They're identical games. We're not hardware makers, and we're not like a pawn between these companies, we try not to be as much as we can. We make great games for people to enjoy on whichever system they want. But I guess if you want the complete experience with the episodes, then yeah, you should buy the 360, I suppose."

Sorry, but if R* is saying that, plus the only versions of the game seen in public have been the 360 version, I'd put the good money on the 360 version.

And pound for pound, even if you don't get the DLCs with the 360 version, buying a 360 plus the game - $279 +$59 for the game - is the cheapiest way to play the game. There's no reason to pay $399 +$59 for the game unless you are buying it for the BR part or other PS3 games. But seriously, if you just wanna play the game, the 360 will get you the same experience for $120 less. (Unless you get a $199 360 from Gamestop) 

I definitely agree. I think a lot of folks offline won't even know about GTA IV and will still be buying the Wii. 

i think GTA4 will have a bigger impact if you count both consoles conbined though,individually halo 3's impact will be bigger then what GTA4 will do for 360.
Though in the end i dont think this game can stop wii

GTAIV will be huge...duh...lol! Personally, I'm excited for it, but I'd rather have FF...but I'll admit...I'm in the minority there.

GTAIV will be the tipping scale for many people sitting on the fence about buying a next gen console.

I think the key for GTAIV moving more hardware for the ps3 is for the ps3 to grab some attention ahead of time with a few other major releases (like MGS4, etc.). If people can say, hmm....I'd sorta like this game too, which just came out, so I'll buy a ps3.