everyone who voted first is craazy lulz

sales? 2nd place but games? 1sp place by a mile!! ps3 already has most of the best games and it still has years left! and as the userbase gets bigger the ps3 will get more 3rd party exclusives like agent.

1st, next price cut will put PS3 sales above wii.

Longer life will mean eventaully it will out sale it.

I say 2nd equal. So there isn't a voting option that is suitable for me. You've also gotta define the end of the generation, which isn't easy when the consoles started the race at different times. I say second equal because...

360 will still have a lead when it effectively discontinues with the release of the Nextbox, but I think at that time PS3 will have better WW sales momentum. Sony will be looking to give PS3 at least another 1-2 years of sales (not the full 10-year plan) past the 360's end and so PS3 will eventually surpass 360 sales, but few will give such an achievement much notice).

PS3 will also be the 2nd placed console in all the significant markets except USA, Aussie, UK, and maybe the Vikings. So the 2 consoles will basically share the spoils on a country by country basis. PS3 could also be the number 1 console in the collective minor markets of Europe at the end of the gen, but's it's a tough battle with Wii there. It seems 360 is unlikely to be the number 1 console in any market/region as delineated by VGC. PS3 is already the #2 console in "Others" but that's such a nebulous set of markets I don't really think there is much validity in using it for the purposes of this discussion. But it is overall number 2 in all of Europe (including the UK) which is a slightly better market definition than "the whole world other then Japan and the Americas", as if that was a single relatively uniform market. And, well, we know how things are in Japan.

In the overall scheme of things brand Xbox has gained immensely and brand Playstation has diminished greatly. However while brand Xbox is almost guaranteed to keep its gains for the launch of the next gen machine, it would seem brand Playstation is well on the road to redemption so that its position is much better at the end than it was in the beginning of gen 7.

Looking towards the next generation: Nintendo certainly has it all going in its favour, so I vote Nintendo the console maker most likely to win Gen 8. However, I vote Sony the most likely console maker to spoil Nintendo's party in Gen 8 (though I don't particularly fancy its odds).

Finally the fact that someone can ask this question without appearing to have lost about 30 IQ points in doing so says a lot about the current position of PS3 in the market.

For all the above reasons, and others I can't be bothered writing about I say 360 and PS3 will end in an effective tie.

Oh and the fact that the red line and the green line have not crossed in this graph: http://vgchartz.com/hwlaunch.php?cons1=Wii&reg1=All&cons2=PS3&reg2=All&cons3=X360&reg3=All&weeks=170

Gotta love the people who are saying 1st. What planet do they live on? If the Wii were going to die as has been predicted since launch it would have already happened. Fanboys can't stand it, but people are choosing a Wii over a PS3 even at similar prices. I remember people saying that when the 360 and PS3 got competitive pricewise they would clean the floor with the Wii. That didn't happen. Despite what Sony is telling themselves this gen is starting to age, we are in the middle if not the back end. There is zero chance to change things around (significantly) at this point. Sony will beat MS, unless the MS decides it is worth winning, in which case they could always go $100 and live off their other divisions. In the end #2 will go to whoever is willing to lose the most to get it.

Having 2 HD consoles with nearly the same abilities is bad for the market and leads to fragmentation, especially from 2 companies with similar gaming philosophies (hardcore, and fuck the rest). In the past there were similar systems, but with very different focuses. Right now they are called the HD twins because most people can't tell the difference between the 2. Neither console has become a household name for that exact reason. Sony will never have a console that did as well as the PS2 and MS won't ever make their investment in gaming worth it.

The 360 and PS3 are very niche in the arena of gaming. PC reigns supreme for casuals followed by the Wii. Lets not forget that the hardcore neckbeard types are really the fringe, despite their vocalness. This can bee seen week in and week out in the charts. I mean look at the PS3, it has a freaking Blu-Ray player built in and still has sales that are only good when compared to last years abysmal numbers. Hell I don't own one and even I think its a great deal. We though this was the HD gen, but it will be the next.

Probably 3rd, but it'll be close. Microsoft really needs to hustle.

Generations are named after the best-selling console. Taste/best/quality/good is subjectif, sales aren't. 

LOL this poll is funny!!!!!

I vote 2 1/2.

Natal will make or break the 360's chances. We'll wait and see.

I'd say it's more the moves we'll see alongside Natal (core software lineup, price drops, slim remodeling, etc).  I agree with whoever mentioned it feeling like early 2008 again, people are perpetually overconfident when it comes to PS3 for some reason.