Well, cool numbers, but there's a fly or two ... or three in your concoction, CrazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzyMang.

1. Sony was out the gate first and facing no real competition.

2. Sony had tons of exclusives, including the GTA series, for years, which is the best selling PS2 franchise

3. Sony had a much deep library due to the PS1's library.

Right now, I don't see Sony with any of that. The PS brand and the Blu Ray aspect are cool points, but just keep watching the WW sales. It won't be as easy as you think. 

Not that there's any point arguing with you, but the PS2 was seen as the 'cool' system to have by the general public.  The PS3 is not.  The 360 has had some bad press, but nowhere near the amount of the PS3.  360 is seen as the 'cool' HD console to own in general, and the Wii is the same for casuals.  PS2 had both of those markets to itself when it came out.

Also, a lot of PS3 sales this year were sales that would have come later on.  People didn't want to buy it at these expensive prices, but Sony said "Hey!  We're discontinuing the best model!  Better get it FAST!"  PS3 sales will be about the same this year as they were last year.  PS3 and 360 will likely sell mostly the same amount all year.

 PS3 and PS2 LTD from launch graph look similar also, see. 

The only problem is that for the first 34 weeks of the PS2's life it was only out in Japan, whichwas quite different for the PS3 which was out in the US and Japan for 19 weeks before it launched in EU. 

In any case I think a rational look at the time it will take the PS3 to overcome this lead should lead most people to understand just how amazing it was for the Wii to catch up and pass the 360 in ~9 months. 

 ok ok wow, my brain broke trying to read "HD DVD didn't saved lower price" and how that relates to a lower price for 360 is beyond me.

And to your almost English but actually understandable second statement is this.  Most anticipated games are on other consoles, http://www.gamestats.com/  numbers don't lie the only to be released game for the PS3 in the top ten is MGS4, Smash Brothers is number one and has stayed there for quite a while but as you can see the rest of the top 10 is 360, even multiplatform games are more popular on the 360. 

Bottom line is it will have to take a while for PS3 to ever catch up, I don't even think they have a chance in the US anymore due to bad press and everyone has adopted 360 and Wii, the europe market doesnt care for Microsoft too much and Japan hates them so, of course Sony has Japan, and maybe Europe, but America is the largest game market and is bottom line what makes up most of lifetime sales and is what gives a console legs, GameCube had Japan and a footing in Europe but it was America that made Xbox beat it in lifetime sales, same rules apply to Sony, I know a lot of people don't want to accept that Sony could fall to last this time around but it happens, Nintendo had the market for 2 console lifetimes, Sony had it for 2 lifetimes, and its looking like Nintendo this time around again, so frankly get over it, buy the games you want and if you still stick to Sony, hopefully Sony will but out a better system next time around.

There is no way the PS3 will catch the X360. Never.

This year will see a $250 X360 Premium and 10 million consoles sold. PS3 will remain at $400 for the first ½ of the year, but drop to $300 in the holiday season. Ps3 will sell around 9 million during 2008.

End of generation (31 dec 2011), the X360 will be at 48 million units sold, and the PS3 at around 41-44 million.

I would love to borrow that crystal ball of yours. Since you already know all of this before its actually happend.

The fact that the PS3 is continously outselling the 360 at this stage is a very strong sign. The PS3 brings virtually nothing to the table and still takes away the most sales, the 360 has 10x the amount of good games, yet still falls short.

The 360 has virtually nothing to add to its arsenal now, the market will never embrace anything other than the current genre of games on it and in that sense it will never attract a big rush of new consumers. The console FPS/Racer market is only so big and I feel MS have already pretty much reached saturation. The machine is already hacked too and even after MS's efforts, people are still playing pirate software online which is VERY appealing to a lot of people.

When games such as MGS, GT5, Home, LBP and FFXIII are relased, the PS3 market will get a boost each time, as each one appeals to a new consumer to some extent.

Plus its pretty much certain that BD is the HD format of choice, which will push hardware sales to people who were yet to decide between BD and HD DVD.

When/if the PS3 gets hacked, expect sales to absolutely rocket too.

basically Sony have everything to gain as the market matures, MS have nothing but more of the same.

By this time next year I expect the PS3 to be outselling the 360 by at least 2:1.

@ Nine0Nine

The holidays contributed to the drama, but look at the sales now. They are settling back to normal, and you can expect to see a neck-and-neck battle between the 360 and PS3.

The only way the PS3 will win is - when MS declares victory in second place and leaves the race to roll out the Nextbox ... and lets Sony fight a losing battle against Ninny.

I really don't consider the Wii on the same level as the ps3 or 360 as there is a definite difference in quality of games (HD, unlike the Wii) and it's what we've come to expect with generational shifts. But that's another discussion for another thread.

The PS3 will continue to sell well this year as 360 sales lag a bit as MS has used all of it's big guns at this point in it's lifetime and with many highly anticipated games coming out on the PS3 this year. Expect the PS3 to really eat away on MS's lead and then by early/mid 2009 to pass MS. If those anticipated games really spark more interest then anyone here has expected, look for the PS3 to leap frog MS this year. (Unlikely, but possible)