For all the buzz the Wii generated in the US, it wasn’t able to outsell the year-old Xbox 360 – but was that just because Wii’s were in short supply, although available in much greater numbers than the PS3?

But as anyone who has been following the games console market over at least the last year knows, the Xbox 360 went through the same scenario in December 2005, as Microsoft struggled to get consoles out of the factories and onto retail shelves.

Once Microsoft had their manufacturing both up to speed and expanded by one more factory, Xbox 360s sold in the millions. This continued right through the pre-Christmas US holiday season, with market analysts NPD suggesting that from November up until December 25 around 2 million Xbox 360s were sold.

According to NexGenWars, Microsoft has sold nearly 9.5m Xbox 360s, with over 2.2m Nintendo Wii’s and over 850,000 PS3s sold. NexGenWars acknowledge these are not necessarily 100% solid figures, but are estimates based on many reports, with the figures regularly updated.

In the same November to Dec 25 timeframe, NPD claims that, in the US, the Wii sold 1.8 million units, with 750,000 PS3s sold in the same timeframe, too.

But that brings us back to the unknowable – how many consoles would Nintendo and Sony have sold had they had the stock available?

For now, we’re sure Microsoft is happy that Sony and Nintendo couldn’t completely get their act together. Yes, they shipped consoles, but couldn’t manufacture enough, just as happened with Microsoft in 2005.

The next 12 months is a crucial time for all three consoles. True gamers will buy all three, but for those on a more limited budget, it’s a tough decision. All three consoles have their merits, and honestly, no matter which one you purchase, you’ll be happy with a relatively wide and constantly growing collection of games.

As someone who has played all three systems, and currently owns an Xbox 360 and a Wii (with a PS3 to come when they launch here in Australia during March, 2007), they are all marvels of technology that take home entertainment to new levels our parents and grandparents could only have dreamed of.

The Xbox 360 clearly leads in the number of consoles sold and the number of games available for the system. But with the strength of Sony and the underdog-who-came-good nature of the Wii, plenty more games for all three consoles are on the way.

For now, Microsoft can be happy that they won round one. Round two was much shortened and mainly heralded the arrival of the Xbox 360’s true competitors, the PS3 and Wii, and the melee that was the pre-Christmas holiday season.

But with 2007 now here, round three has only just begun. The impact of Blu-ray and HD DVD playback has yet to be felt. PS3s are yet to be launched in Europe, the Middle East and Australasia. Microsoft is yet to offer their video download service on a global basis, and are yet to offer a browser as is available on the PS3 and the Wii.

There's no clear winner here. What is clear is that it's going to be an amazing and unprecendeted struggle for global gaming domination. As Capcom’s StreetFighters would say… FIGHT!
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