When you're very far ahead you always have the most to lose while your competitors only stand to gain.

I would consider the PS3 a success since it already achieved a core goal, winning the format war. I think if it is able to become profitable it will become a complete success.

The Wii is obviously a success for many reasons.

The 360 will be a success if they manage to increase their market share from last gen and also turn a profit.

edit for grammer

Right now, Sony is gaining on Microsoft and pretty soon, Nintendo, since Sony's first party games coming soon are starting to get some hype around here. The only exclusive worth getting on 360 is GOW2. Fable 2 is not exactly a system seller. Sony losing is a thing of the past since their sales are up and 360 sales are getting lower in every country. Most of the time, Playstation systems usually be out after the competition.

If you define probably finishing in last place as winning, then sure, Microsoft won.

I only see one clear "winner" this generation, and two "moral victories".

Sort of.  In any market that has "software" (movies, games, applications), there is an advantage to having a larger installed base first, i.e. - your platform garners the attention of developers.  It can be argued that having 20 m PCs or consoles or movie players on the market will always guarantee success, no matter how many units the competition has.  Why?  Because that large an installed base will always be profitable to someone trying to sell software.

+1 to king_of_the_castle.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

It doesn't matter.  By the time the Wii and PS3 came along, all but the most platform-dedicated developers were already hip-deep in development for 360.  MS probably rushed to market first to try and avoid the "me too" effect they experienced with the original Xbox, where a lot of developers said "we're already making money on a large PS2 base, why should we take a chance on a new dark-horse contender with little market share?"  Getting several million consoles onto the market first provided developers a new base to sell to, which insured that the 360 would have a decent software library by the time the PS3 and Wii rolled out.  There was no way for Sony to say to a developer "why develop for the 360 when you can develop for an established player."

Blu-ray has beaten DVD already? I must not be up with the times..

 You're foolish if you don't think Blu-ray winning over HD-DVD was an accomplishment, and your foolery is even greater if you don't think Sony will see some money because of it.

The OP can suck my balls