PS3, meet Gamecube

Delays in the release of the PS3 must of really set some of the marketing team off at Sony. Nintendo had a real lackluster preformance with the Gamecube after being last out of the gates last console war, and promised that they wouldn't fall behind again this time. Well, Nintendo's doing better than that now. Worldwide sales have the Wii outselling the Xbox 360. And the PS3, the latecomer to the party? Barely a third of the sales. The Nintendo and Microsoft have sold nearly 9 million consoles each, and the PS3 has roughly 3.7 million sold worldwide. Thats a sad sales number, considering that Microsoft, Sony's most direct competitor, only sells well in two of the three markets that Sony particiates in (North America, Europe, and Japan).

I remember that, when the next-gen console war began, people clamored to take a stance on who would win between Sony and Microsoft. People weren't willing to bet on Nintendo, given that since Sony entered the market, they haven't had the lead in sales. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that, unlike Sony and Microsoft, instead of pushing the same thing on a new engine, Nintendo took a step that actually made their system new and more appealing, opening a new market for themselves instead of just relying on previous system owners to buy the new console version. It seems to have worked out well for them.

Nintendo as taken the crown back again, for how long is unsure. Even with the Wii on top, the battle between Sony and Microsoft for sales is still more interesting, as they are essentially drawing from the same pool of consumers. Theres rumors that Sony is dropping the price of the PS3 for christmas this year, and with a repertoire of games coming out this fall that many critics say outdo Microsoft's lineup. Sales of PS3 may experience an upswing that will catch them up to their rival. Given that the Wii did it with a year's lag, PS3 could potentially do it as well, even though their initial sales weren't as strong (Blame that on high entry costs and bland entry games). They've still got time to catch up.

And I place bets on all three ensuring that their release dates for the next generation of consoles will be in a much tighter time frame, given that history seems to be repeating itself here.