Neither the Xbox 360 nor the PS3 will last as long as the PS2 has. At the end of the day, what kept the PS2 going was it's immense userbase, library and exclusive third party support, none of which are assets held by Microsoft or Sony this generation.

The concept that somehow their "powerful" tech will keep them relevant is equally ridiculous, as both consoles have been long surpassed by gaming PC's, and from the Wii we can see that the broader gaming community doesn't give a rats about horsepower.

Within 6 years the upgraded console of console X,Y and Z appears. PS3 and Wii could have a 10 year lifespan. The upgrade will overlap the current generation and arrive during the seventh year of the console.

Wii - 7 Years (About a Year after Wii 2, the Wii dies)

360 - 5-6 Years (360 dies as soon as 720 releases)

PS3 - 10 Years (New Console after 6)

I suppose the real question is "Being that these systems have had so much difficulty attracting customers when they're new and 'cool' why would they be able to attract consumers later in their life?"

In other words, I don't really see either console lighting up the charts later in their lives; they may survive, but I don't think that either system will see much more than about 5 Million console sales per year after they're 5 years old, and much more than 2 million console sales per year after their 7th year.

Most PS2 sales are at $179.00 and below. So until the PS3 gets to that price, we have no idea how the market will go.

Either that market will be already consumed with the Wii, and they won't want a PS3, or they will see the PS3 as an upgrade to the Wii, and the masses will come.

The PS3 also is the best BR player on the market, and that will effect sales.

The 360 needs to both cost less, and overcome it;s hardware issues. Once it has done that, the above applies to it as well.

As far as the PC surpassing the PS3, the PS2 was far less powerful then a high end PC the day it was released. The fact that the PS3 and the 360 ever were more powerful then a PC was an anomaly. 

The PS2 isn.t even 10 years old. Just think when the 360 came out the PS1 was 10 years old in NA and 11 in Japan.

 And the PS1 was still for sale.

 By the time th PS3 reaches that price the generation will be nearly over, not only that the Wii and 360 will hit that price point before the PS3.

Nintendo Wii: 7-8 Years.

After 6 years, Nintendo has won the console war. With 100+ Million sold, the next console is released. The Wii will still be purchased due to its cheap price of