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wow its taken sony 2 yrs to shorten the gap back to 5 million!
way to go.. at this rate they might be no.2 in another 3-4 yrs! How the hell is the world is the ps3 ever gonna match the ps2 sales..especially without that FF exclusivity to ride their hopes on

 probably not

PS3 will likely not manage to catch up to 360 in American sales before the next generation rolls around. However, it will almost certainly manage to beat it in worldwide sales before that happens.

I think the PS3 will catch the 360 in NA eventually. Big numbers now don't remain big numbers forever. Meaning.

5,000,000 consoles is huge to overcome if a console is selling 10,000,000 a year total. Once a console is selling 15,000,000-20,000,000 consoles a year its much more achievable for a console to over come a 5,000,000 lead.

What I'm saying is, if the PS3 can hit 20,000,000 WW next year (with FF in Japan, GT5, God of War, Killzone, etc) and the 360 doesn't come up with something huge to keep interest after Gears 2, the 360 selling 8,000,000 next year could be a huge blow.

The PS3 will hit $299 by next Christmas, there is absolutely no doubt about that. At $299 price in not an issue for the mass market, flat out. If enough value can be seen in its games and lineup, the PS3 is going to pull numbers not too far off of the Wii's numbers this year. (Of course then, at this rate, the Wii will be doubling its sales this year once again)

It seems to me that Europe is the real important battleground this generation--In terms of absolute numbers, the PS3 and 360 are in a virtual deadlock week-to-week in America and Japan. Europe is pretty what's giving Sony its' most outstanding numbers. Microsoft will need to try harder, though I believe the upcoming 360 price cut will at least even it out somewhat, possibly putting the 360 ahead week-to-week with proper advertising (including newspapers, so people will buy them as Christmas presents).

This is a critical time in the HD console "struggle". The 360 has seen its high points over the past year or two, and we see the results here in these graphs. I believe that MS can extend their lead a fair bit longer with the price cut this holiday season, but the PS3 seems like it'll eventually hit its stride everywhere... even in NA, unless Microsoft pulls some pretty fantastic stunts (like a mini 360, for even cheaper next year).

This console war is destined (doomed?) to be much longer than previous generations, due to various technological and economic trends, IMO, and this is exactly the kind of drawn out race I'd expect to see.

WW is all that matters...correct?

No, it is not. Why should I care what my fellow Europeans like? They are drowned in a sea of casual games and lame franchises. I care about territories that define and determine the kind of games that I like. And of course I don't give a damn about what Japanese gamers like. Either way we are not living in the same planet...
And with this point of view I just care for Americas numbers.

I think 2009 will be the year that will decide which one of the two sell more.
Also i think that PS3 will never outsell 360 in the Americas,and cause of that 360 will always get 3rd Party support(and ofcourse Microsoft buying games).