Loll, poll is broken.

OT: Yes, I think so. It is tracking quite a large amount above the PS2, with aligned launches, and continues to outsell it every week (duh). By the end of the gen, it will certainly have overtaken the PS2. Not too soon, though- 2011 or 2012.

I don't understand. Why can't they be compared? They pull in comparitive sales numbers, do they not?

Well I think that portables have a higher upper level that is possible to achieve in salesnumbers. If you think of it this way: let´s say a family like videogames. They buy a Wii console which the whole family play on, then they have three children where the brother and sister both want their own Nintendo DS. They refuse to share and mom and dad buys them one each. That´s two DS vs one Wii. And older kids most likely buy one portable for their own even if one or more member of their own family owns one as well. Escpecially Japan is totally crazy about portables where they sell to amounts that consoles simply cannot. I don´t think it´s fair to compare portables with consoles saleswise.

(Also portables generally come at a much lower price than consoles but that is perhaps besides the point since consoles also differ in prices. It´s quite a big difference in price for PS3 and the cheapest version of 360 for instance.)

If portables have a higher ceiling as you say, then why is the benchmark in sales set by a console?

Also hypothetically a parent could just tell their children to share a single handheld, and they can also buy two consoles for their non-sharing children. Handhelds come with many disadvantages also that consoles can take advantage of to sell more. Also, each handheld, and each console are so different in selling potential and features now that if you're arguing about not comparing them because of the differences, then frankly none of the 5 platforms should be compared at all. I see more in common between the Wii and DS than I do the Wii and 360/PS3.

By the end of this gen? Quite possible.

By the end of its lifetime? Most defininitively.

Well you have a point there, PS2 was simply huge. But it seems to me the portable market is growing rapidly (thanks to DS and PSP) most notably in Japan where portables long since have had the salescrown. Granted the rest of the world is not/have not been so keen on portables as the japanese but I think that there could be a trend that will spread to America/Europe. Sure you could make a case like you said where parents force the kids to share the portable but I think I have a good point there regardless. I don´t think it´s totally uncommon in families to have several portables vs one console. In Japan that most likely explains why portables sell more than consoles.

About the last point we´ll just have to agree to disagree, I think that no matter how much that separates Wii from the HD consoles they will always have more in common being consoles than Wii does with portables. They compete more directly for developers and it´s more justified comparing them in sales for my reasons I´ve stated above. Consoles are a different breed than portables that´s the way I see it.

Why don't you think that? 

The Wii sold better every single week since its release, than the DS when it was that old. 

http://vgchartz.com/hwlaunch.php?cons1=Wii&reg1=All&cons2=PS2&reg2=All&cons3=DS&reg3=All&weeks=400 

If it outsells by 500k a week, then it will take

150 weeks to outsell it. So roughly 3 years

the average is closer to 250k a week though, so more likey it would take 6 years

this.

Even so it would be amazing if Nintendo has 2 x 100+million sold systems in the same generation

what you typed and what you showed aren't exactly the same thing, but that doens't really matter.

However, if you look at the graphs and extrapolate, you will see that the DS is selling faster later in its life than the Wii is. Unless the Wii really starts taking off again the DS will take the lead in realative lifetime sales.