It's not sufficiently interesting to just look at NA/Jap/Others when considering how things will come out in the wash when VGC gives us so much more information for "Others".

So for this thread I'll look at the following regionalisations:

Americas

Japan

UK

Main continental Europe

Other continental Europe

Aussie

Rest of the World.

The main continental Europe (for want of a better term) are th territories (other than UK) which VGC lists individually for sales in its weekly "Others" report.

No Change. The die is cast and this is how it will end. The only question is which home console system will have the strongest sales going in to the next generation? Right now it looks like Wii is in the best position to be the strongest seller, but who will be selling second strongest in the end is not totally clear. Whether the handhelds will have new generations or continue with incremental changes as has been the pattern so far I don't know enough about the handheld market.

Again this one is easy, the ranks are already determined. Like the US the main issue with the home consoles is who will have the momentum in the end rather than the highest total sales. This time weakest sales is easy: the 360. Strongest sales is the debateable issue, the next few months might well give us the clearest indication of whether Wii can pick up and carry forward a stronger sales momentum or whether PS3 is now carrying the weekly sales flag.

With the UK the only competition is between Sony and Sony, with the PS3 winning in the end I think. There is an outside chance PS3 could overtake 360 but I think the gap is too big. Sales momentum might well go with final rank, though PS3 & 360 could flip momentum-wise.

Once again, here the order is already established. and I think Sales momentum will probably be in line with the current ranking. Though it's possible PS3 and Wii could flip on the momentum front.

On this one I think PSP/DS ranking is almost too close to call. If PSP picks up some strong momentum then it could overtake DS here. This is the one region where PSP is within striking distance of the DS. Sales momentum will follow the final ranking.

In Aussie I think PS3 will overtake PSP for sure, I'm putting PS3 ahead of 360, but it's really going to be a close call. I think PS3 will have the sales momentum over 360 from here on, but the lead 360 has built up might be just enough.

In the rest of the world I'm calling the top 3. I'm giving PS3 4th position and this is the only close call that I'm showing a bit of bias on. If I was to be totally honest I'd admit the Wii is looking best for 4th spot, but it is going to be close with the PS3 catching up. OTOH I might be reading the rest of the world very wrong, and Wii could really kick on after the price cut and overtake the 360. The success or otherwise of Wii's pricing strategy can't be fully factored in yet.

For me the most interesting thing about doing this exercise is the degree to which the sales rankings seem to have already been established for the rest of this console generation. Also that each of the home consoles will rank first (out of the home consoles) in at least one region. But if you look at the regions where 360 and PS3 are the likely winners they represent a substantial number of countries. So while those countries are not major sources of sales, PS3 and 360 seem to be the most popular home console in a decent number of countries. In fact it is likely that the 360 is the most popular console in more countries than either of the other 2, and it will remain so.

I've deliberately not set a timeframe for the end of the generation, neither am I going to look at the whole PS3 & Wii came out a year later thing. My personal view is that we don't know which console will be replaced first and how long the others will sell for after the first one goes. So I'm basing these tables on an hypothetical end of generation where all consoles end their lifespans within a few months of each other. It might not be a valid assumption but we don't really know what the future holds. Videogaming as we know it could be wiped off the face of the earth in a year or 2 if something really radical happens.

These are some good predictions.