It's possible but that goal goes hand in hand with getting a better install base in Japan. And as we all know that doesn't look to good right now.  They will prolly break 1 milion units in Japan this generation (the jrpgs will def. help) which is an improvement over the previous generation but the japanese market is still a market thats going virtually untapped. Until MS can get Japan to buy a more substantial amount of units I don't think they can do it. When and if they do get japan on board...it would shake up the console races big time.

lol...i don't know where to start

No because ms already has the stigma laid on by the masses that its a console with only shooters and that its too hardcore. Nes/snes/ps1/ps2 all achieved the status that they did by capturing by having a lot of diversity so it was enjoyable by many different kinds of gamers and there was no negative stigma about it. I don't think that the way the masses views the xbox will ever change which means that it can't reach that level of success

if they keep on thinking like losers they'll never make it!!

i mean, saying Xbox360 is the best, trying to copy etc.....

It's possible but it'll be hard. Has an American console ever been successful in Japan as in the leading console of its generation?

I'm not sure about that but if the answer is no then for MS to win they would have to outright dominate both NA and Europe by substantial margins. The 360 has gotten some damn good Japanese support and is still dead.

Really I would have thought people on these boards would have looked at it differently.  They seem to have the software side licked aka boatloads of fucking games being sold and had trouble with the hardware aka the rrod.  They do innovate, they just do it in a manner that is behind the scenes in their research division which keeps mum on all things new, hell they have many many university research departments in their pocket.  They were the first to come up with the idea for AJAX(in Outlook).  What you do not realize is that all companies buy most of their innovations.  They see a start up that does something special and they buy them.

It will never happen.

15 years ago no one would have expected Sega to be out of the market and Sony to dominate for the next decade. So, yes, it is possible.

However...

Their primary obstacle remains Japan. In order to become a "true" number one, MS needs to find a way to make headway in that market, and they are a long way from cracking that puzzle. Without that, the only way they can top the market is if Sony or Nintendo similarly falls apart in the US or EU, and in that case, #1 would likely have only a narrow sales lead, not worldwide domination as we saw with the NES, PS1 and PS2.

Atari?

Aside from that there hasn't been an American system since the Boxes.

Really this is a goofy question since you have to take into account all sorts of variables.

How long with the market survive, how long will microsoft stay in, Sony, Nintendo, Other companies coming in?  Other companies that don't exist yet coming in?  etc.

Companies tend to buy Microsoft software because "No one ever got fired for buying Microsoft" ... On top of that, a lot of companies still believe that they need the same level of support from companies that they needed in the 90s which eliminates the option of open-source and small company projects.