Famitsu Publisher: PS3 will lead Wii, 360

According to reports from Reuters and other news services, Enterbrain President Hirokazu Hamamura, who is behind Japan's top gaming magazine Famitsu, recently spoke at a seminar and forecast Sony's PlayStation 3 to outsell the Xbox 360 and Wii.

Hamamura admitted that Sony may struggle initially, however. "The PS3 will have a tough time globally at the initial stage. Its launch titles in Japan and exclusive software titles overseas are quite limited," he noted, and then added that the console's high price will also be a factor in the beginning. Over the course of a few years, however, Hamamura expects the PS3 to surpass both the Xbox 360 and Wii because of its realistic visuals and certain software such as Konami's Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots. Much like the PS2 has continued to sell well today (even outselling the Xbox 360 in certain months), Hamamura believes the PS3 will have very long legs.

"[The PS3's] overwhelmingly realistic graphics will give it a long life span. It will stay competitive even when a game console battle breaks out among a newer generation of machines in 2010. Sales should grow every time Sony cuts prices," he said.

Although Sony is sticking to its target of 6 million PS3s shipped worldwide by next March, Enterbrain is forecasting sales of 4.13 million units. The publisher believes Nintendo will do better with 5.47 million units sold for Wii by March 2007 (Nintendo is also targeting 6 million). By 2009, however, Enterbrain envisions a very different scenario. The publisher expects Sony to sell 34 million PS3s, while the Xbox 360 will be at 28 million units and the Wii will come in third place with 25 million units.