I must say that I am impressed with what Microsoft has done in the last few months.   Lets review 2008

For the first half of the year, Sony made up a lot of ground on MS.  It first started by outselling the 360 in Others (in addition to Japan) and then world wide and then even in America.  For a while there, it was averaging 40-50k a week better.  MGS4 came out, and with promising games on the horizon (including the release of home!)things were looking like the ps3 was going to pass up the 360 and never look back.  Then MS struck back.

First it started bombarding Japan with Japanese style RPGs (even outselling the ps3 for six straight weeks!).  Then they slashed prices on the 360 (making it the cheapest console out there, and i think they cut prices twice in Europe); then there was getting FF to be multiplat world wide, followed by kick ass games like Gears 2 and Fable 2.  The final blow in this round was the NXE (even if the avatars are still somewhat like the creepy miis), which uses many of the advantages from home: social gaming, grouping outside of games, watching movies together etc...And it also make use of Netflix (and does it very well I might add) which helps mitigate one of the best advantages of the PS3:  the fact that it is also a high def movie player.

The playstation is not out of it, certainly.  One good price cut and they will probably start outselling the 360 again, but who knows when and if that will be or if they can afford it.  The ps3 is an amazing console and I still think it is better than the 360 and wii (for my own personal use) but unless they drop the price, it will be relegated to 3rd place.

Bravo MS, Bravo.

M$ recently made the 360 look a much better all round console. Especially in America.

Very true, that is why i am praising them

Here's the *official* timeline with color coding since late 07:

• October: Sony drops the price $100, and introduces a leaner 40GB model. Sales jump, and the Playstation 3 edges the Xbox 360 by very slim margins for the first viable time since launch.
• January-February: Playstation 3 continues,  to lead the 'box in Europe/Others by healthy margins. Playstation 3 is outselling the X360 by 40,000 units in March, per week.
• March: To counter monumental European sales of the Playstation 3, Microsoft cuts prices in Mid-March. X360 sees a 50% increase in sales, but doesn't beat the Playstation for any given week.
  
• April: Grand Theft Auto IV launches, closing the widening hardware gap - Playstation 3 maintains a slim week-by-week lead from late April to mid June
• June: Metal Gear Solid 4 launches. The X360 faces it's darkest days, losing 3:1 in hardware sales the week of MGS4
• E3 Happens. Microsoft announces XIII and Star Ocean 4 for the X360. 
• July: Microsoft announces 60GB model, and slashes 20GB prices by $50 to clear out old stock. X360 beats Playstation 3 in the US for 4 weeks between the drop, and 80GB shortages.
• Gundam: Operation Troy launches in Japan, leading the X360 to begin it's ascent in Japan
  
• August: Tales of Vesperia launches in Japan. Xbox 360 outsells the Playstation 3 2.5:1 in Sony's home territory
• Late August - The Playstation 3 mounts it's last, best margins against the X360's sagging late-August sales, by beating the 'Box 2:1 thanks to the price drop announcement's rumors on the Internet.
• September: Microsoft officially announces Xbox 360's price to drop to $200 for Arcade model. Sales begin to climb for the X360 in the US, overtaking the Playstation 3 after what seemed like months of losses.
• Infinite Undiscovery launches in Japan alongside the same US price cuts. Beats the Playstation over 3:1, and begins a 6 week run above the PS3.
  
• October: Microsoft announces European price cuts - the 2nd in a year. The X360 begins regularly outselling the Playstation 3 in multiple territories, with the UK spearheading the lead. The X360 now enjoys a 50,000 units/wk lead worldwide for late September and all of October
  
• LittleBigPlanet releases on Playstation 3 in late October, leading the Playstation 3 back to a lead in Japan (alongside the 80GB model), and within 15,000 units globally

Thats the way I see it, at least.

I think its a really close battle between the two, I think if ps3 prices drop it will outsell the 360. But then microsoft would do something to regain ground. Droping the price WW can be bad for sony, but I think a drop in the US is necesary, cuz the sales there are bad for this time of the year.
Ps3 is doing well in europe and may start outselling the 360 soon there when the gears 2 effect wears off. In japan it will likely be as it is now for the rest of the year, even if 360 has TLR there because ps3 has PES2009 and WKC later. So a price cut in the US would be the thing to do.

And to add something to that: The weekly gap for this week is ~70k (69k specifically).

Also, the gap between PS3 and X360 is now somewhere around 6 million in favour of the X360... I believe it was around 5.4 at launch!

Its all pretty good.

I am sure that the ps3 has a few shots left, if they drop the price by 100 they will start leading again...but thats a great time line

MS will get a nice bump in japan i think because of "the last remnant". 79k wothout the 360 bundles looks promising.!

Squilliam said: Its all pretty good.

Hey Squi =) that sig is looking mightier by the week ;) Might be somewhat related with the OP's statement.

As a bonus, I'll leave something for you at your wall =D