As long as the PS2 is still on the charts.

In VGChartz's numbers, the PS didn't stop selling until after the Mar 2005 6-month report.  From the Mar '02 report to the March '05 report, the PS sold a total of 14.23 million units.  (I don't know why I only used Sep '03 forward in my earlier post on this subject.)  This is a substantial addition to the PS total, but not the kind of difference you seem to be expecting.  

If the PS2 sells more than this starting from now, I will be surprised.  And 15 million (or 20) added to the PS2 total will only slow down the inevitable DS victory.   

Oh, I'm not trying to deny the PS2 its place in history.  It DOES have the highest sales numbers ever (so far) and it did so as the LEAST powerful system of its generation. (Well, I'm not sure about the Dreamcast.)

I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to baseball trivia, but I doubt that Mickey Mantle still has any records on the books.  But we (in the USA anyway) still know his name, because he's a freaking legend.  

4 years from now seems reasonable. It all depends on how much life there is in the DS. I don't see the chance of the DS dying within the the first 5 years. And chances the popularity of the DS will die off is only dependant on how well the competition is doing! As far as the PSP goes, there's no real competition and when it comes to software sales... the PSP is a joke. Nintendo need not to worry to bring out a new handheld soon. Unless the PSP comes with a true successor. Nintendo needs to launch the next system around the same time. With Sony introducing a redesign instead of a new system means they tend to keep the PSP alive for a long time too. And they are putting all their efforts to make the PS3 more profitable than to invest in a true successor for the PSP.

The ps2 has sold amazinly, and it will be hard to beat it, I might say that the ds and the wii have the chance of surpassing it.

i reckon the GBA might have done it had neither the DS or PSP come out, i mean it has managed 80 million even though it had a successor and a rival with a big name behind it when it was only 3 years old.

for DS passing ps2, i reckon christmas 2010

Wii i have no idea... i'm sure it will manage 80mil lifetime, but where it could get to might be a lot higher....ask me after christmas.

The PS2 will never be beat, unless somehow the wii drops to $50 and Nintendo can make 140mil of them, which will never happen. maybe next gen something can beat the PS2 but not this gen.

nothing this console gen. ds could do it.

my rationale. it needs to have dominance and price and a large market. the wii is the only console that has it, but i dont think its market is as big as people think it is. one could say the ps2 didnt have price, but remember it was actually priced competitively.

i think the market for consoles will grow a bit this gen, but it very well could sky rocket next gen with globalization and the "poor" being able to afford them.

The poor being able to afford a system will be when gaming takes off. Maybe wii2 can beat the PS2 but not this one. The DS system is very odd, it fails in alot of ways and is great in others, i have fun with my DS, but its nothing really that great, except for the touch screen. Most times i'm just to lazy to push the buttons :P

Nintendo was pushed in the handheld market this gen by the PSP, the PSP is a great system, i love all the media funtions it offers, along with the great graphics.

The DS2 needs to add some Media functions next gen then it will be better then the PSP overall. Even just some MP3 playback and it will rock, add some better screens, more power and some more games, like shooters to match Socom/killzone, plus get something like GTA. Now that would break the PS2s record.

I am very curious: in what ways do you believe the DS has failed? It does have weaknesses of course, but I want to know why you say it has failed in "a lot" of ways.

I don't think that Nintendo should follow the PSP's path of multifunctionality at all. Part of the genius of the DS is that it plays great games at a great price. The PSP has a lot of cool functions but you do pay extra for them. I would like Nintendo's next system to have better online (of course) and I know a lot of people would like to be able to load their own mp3 music onto the system to play instead of the game's music. But adding all the extra funtions that the PSP has would drive the price up and perhaps confuse consumers.

There is a market for the PSP's model of "game system plus handheld multimedia device" but it's a smaller market than the "game system" model Nintendo uses attracts. The real revolution could be in the software: in Japan, that "game system" is already being used as an educational tool, and that is hardly the end of its potential.

That said, I do think that there will always be a place for the PSP model: I personally know a guy who absolutely loves his PSP and has spent time trying to convince others to get one too -- successfully -- but he has hardly played games on it at all! It's just a multimedia device that happens to play games too to him.

I see from your comments that you already agree with a lot of what I said. I just want to add one more thing: The DS is completely capable of FPS-type games: witness Metroid Prime Hunters. But apparently people just aren't making many of those games for it yet. They probably will in the future.