So far the PS3 is selling faster then xbox/GC did, and the PS3 is selling at the same rate as the 360, and all this time the PS3 has been priced alot more then those systems, to imagine the PS3 not selling more then the 360 over its lifetime is crazy. The wii is selling as a gimmick right now an due to its price.

So back to the original topic!!

Wii is likely to remain top seller for a while, easily the next year.

360 and PS3 sales will gather momentum but slowly.

Big games like Halo 3 or Gran Turismo will boost sales but they have their work cut out.

360 is mostly dead in Japan so worldwide sales totals take a dive, but strong support in USA keeps it very much alive.

PS3 although not selling lots compared to crazy Wii numbers it is selling evenly across most regions, a trend which I see likely to continue. Maybe MGS4 and Gran Turismo give it a boost in 2008 (price cut also needed) and it catches 360 numbers.

Bottom line Wii stays top for a few years with slow and steady growth from PS3/360 either catching it or coming very close. I do not see an outright winner from this console generation. Nintendo wins because it is such a huge comeback in profits / market ownership. Sony looses it domination of the market and Microsoft more than holds its ground.

Not me, I will be buying a Wii in November when Galaxy hits.  The rest of the good games that are out are on the 360.

It is possible for the 360/PS3 to catch the Wii, but I do doubt it will happen.  The face of the industry is changing, for the better or the worse, depending on your perspective, but from my view, Nintendo has accomplished what it had set out to do with capturing, and in a lot of cases creating, the casual market,.

The wii is following in the footsteps of the DS and the number of 'gamers' who solely play games like Brain Training and Nintendogs is growing steadily.  Wii fit will make a huge splash in this gaming group, especially in Japan.  I also think Nintendo is getting the timing right with Wii Fit, and I can promise you they have something else in the pipeline to release once wii fit fever dies down.

Most people who would be swayed by the 360 or the PS3 probably already are.  The 33 year old female investment banker isn't going to buy a PS3 because of MGS, she will buy a wii for wii fit, as well as many innumerable other demographics.

Throw in the massive 3rd party support shift, and it seems unlikely that there will be much of a change in the coming years.  The recent 3rd party releases are no indication of what will be done on the wii, considering most were rush jobs, ports or both.

Expect to see a lot more "Casual" type games from MS and Sony camps.  Though the PR spin always goes along the lines of "They are targeting a different demographic," the truth is they can't look at the success wii is having and think "Well good for them"

Just keep in mind that the wii's success is in no means a guarentee of future nintendo success, as was shown this gen with the Playstation brand.  Also that 3rd parties know the respective fan base of the consoles and Sony and MS aren't going any where.  While the 'harcore' games may not attract a massive new audiance, they will still be released and you will still get to play them.

Actually, I would say that it is selling at (pretty much) the same rate as the Gamecube and XBox which is not a good thing considering that the industry has grown since the XBox and Gamecube were released.

http://vgchartz.com/hwcomps.php?cons1=PS3&reg1=All&cons2=GC&reg2=All&cons3=XB&reg3=All&align=1

This is why I think a market share graph would be a better comparison for this type of analysis.

Any chance of the Xbox 360 passing the Wii, because of Halo 3, will quickly be battled off once Super Mario Galaxy is released.

No, the Wii will not be caught by the PS3 nor the 360. The better question is can the PS3 catch the 360. My guess is that it might eventually worldwide, but not in the States.

So if the PS3/360 is only appealing to the 25% of forward thinking gamers with HDTVs that would explain why the wii is doing so well and will never be cought, since afterall, its reaching 3x as many gamers...but..on the other hand you said HD is the future of gaming. This ofcourse isnt true but you have basically contradicted  almost every point made in the previous post.

Bioshock isnt really an example of a modern game being shallow because of casal gamers, its an example of a game trying to be a good pc and a good console game at the same time, to maximise sales.

System shock was a great PC game and a typical PC game, alot of technical depth and so on, but thats not what makes a good console game. You have MS to blame for this, pushing PC games onto console. I believe the market worked best when cheap consoles got mario 64 and expenisve pc's got system shock. 2 entirely different markets, not this mess we have now of expensive consoles with HDDs and cut down, sloppy versions of PC games with poor controls. 

To return to topic, i beleive that the world as a whole isnt yet ready to embrace HD in any form, be it movies or games and since the 360 and the PS3s primary sales pitch is HD (and HD movies to an extent), this is always going to put them behind the Wii. Next (ie not current) gen will all be HD and by that time the HD market will be alot more established, we will have a final HD movie format and there will be far more HDTV owners after the digital push at the end of this decade. 

By the way, i do own a HDTV and i use it to play HD movies with great enjoyment. 

It's too late... I've already lost hope in mankind a long, long time ago...