While the general perception is that this generation has been "won" by Microsoft -- largely due to the Xbox 360's dominance in North America -- analyst firm IDC's data now shows a slight advantage for Sony's PlayStation 3.

In a new report entitled "Worldwide Video Game and Entertainment Console Hardware and Packaged Software 2012-2016," IDC says that Sony passed Microsoft's worldwide numbers in the recent holiday season. PlayStation 3's worldwide sales numbers now stand at 77 million, compared to Xbox 360's 76 million.

This near dead heat is surprisingly, considering that Sony got a late start in this generation, and has struggled to catch Microsoft in the U.S. and Canada. It's also worth noting that -- despite the previous conventional wisdom -- the video game market in this generation was robust enough to support not one, but three, successful home game consoles (including Nintendo's Wii).

Source: IDC via Digital Trends