After all the fighting words Kaz Hirai and Aaron Greenberg slung at each other's console offerings, here comes Michael Pachter to the rescue! Well no, not really, but seeing as how he's never been one to shy away from a chance to get himself heard, he's thrown his own two cents in on the issue.

Interestingly enough, Pachter credits both parties as being right. "Aaron Greenberg is right that Sony likely won't catch Microsoft in the U.S. until at least 2014," he told GameDaily. "Kaz is right that Sony will likely catch Microsoft globally."

Pachter's analysis of the situation hinges on the fact that both consoles are being offered globally:

Sony likely has a 4 million unit lead in Japan, is behind by 7 million in North America, and is behind in Europe by 2 million. My guess is that Sony can sell 2 million PS3s per year more than Microsoft in Japan for the next several years, and can catch up in Europe in two or three years. So by the end of 2011, Sony should be even in Europe, ahead by 10 million units in Japan, and behind by a greater margin than 7 million in North America.

In a nutshell, Pachter thinks that if the 360 outsells the PS3 by 1 million units a year for the next three years (including this one), both consoles will be in a dead heat by the end of 2011. At least we still have some time left to see who really wins over who, because everybody knows the world's gonna end in 2012.

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• Sony's Kaz Hirai: we're the official leader, Ninty in a different world, MS lacks longevity
• Strategy Analytics: The PS3 pawnage by 2012