Home Gaming Is the PS3 really catching up to the Xbox 360?

Is the PS3 really catching up to the Xbox 360?

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ps3vsXboxSales.jpg

With PS3 sales overtaking Xbox 360 sales in the last couple of months there have been many articles and reports flying around the internet saying that the PS3 is finally starting to catch up to the 360 and may possibly even overtake it soon.

Interesting concept, except for the fact that it’s flawed.

The current sales of the Xbox 360 and PS3 on VGchartz are as follows:

Xbox 360: 20.44 Million

Playstation 3: 15.05 Million

The thing is, that if you look at the console sales, you can see that the gap in sales between the PS3 and Xbox 360 is still roughly the same as it was when the PS3 was launched.

This means that in the current state, the sales of the PS3 are at best only matching the sales of the Xbox 360 even though sales for Sony’s console have picked up recently.

The PS3 is indeed becoming more popular and the past problems with the Xbox 360’s hardware have made quite a difference. However, we all know that the Xbox 360 is going to be the only console offering HD next-gen gaming at the magic price of $199 US dollars.

As we have stated in previous articles, come Christmas time, parents are going to be flocking to stores to ensure a truckload of new foul mouthed children join us on Xbox Live and when they do, the low price of the Xbox 360 is going to be incredibly tempting, especially with Nintendo’s Wii suffering from shortages abroad.

As much as the PS3 enjoys strong brand recognition and a large fanbase from the PS2 generation, the purchasing decisions are that of the parents and not the children and when the price is right, the parents are all for it. So how is the the future of the PS3 looking?

We spend so much time discussing exclusive titles and graphics comparisons that we forget that at the end of the day it largely comes down to parents, standing in a store, staring at shelves with PS3’s and Xbox 360’s on them. They don’t care about MGS4 and Gears of War 2. They see a low price tag on one of them “new console thingamajigs” and the truth is, its not the PS3.

It seems pretty obvious which one is going to be leaving in their trolley.

[Thanks Ewie for the tip]

Last Updated: September 1, 2008

116 Comments

  1. Well there’s a fatal flaw in your reasoning too, you are assuming that these devices target 10 year olds when then actually target the 20-40 year old age range, and their parents aren’t saying anything.

    The parents of the group you are referring too actually stand in the shop and say let me get my kid a Wii cause it’s cheap and i actually recognise this Mario character and he won’t be killing and raping things with the Wii and also, he’ll be active and not just a couch potato. Which is why the Wii is trashing both the XboX and the PS3.

    As for the gap, check out the graph on VGCharts for Sales from Launch and you’ll clearly see that the gap is in fact closing.

    Reply

  2. Milesh Bhana ZA

    September 1, 2008 at 13:00

    In countries where shows are broadcast in HD and flat panel TVs are little more mainstream. PS3 still holds the trump card in being the best bang for buck Blue-Ray player you can buy.

    Parents who know this and have noticed that “normal” TV looks better than their DVDs are going to want the PS3 (and they’ll get Little Bug Planet for their kiddies :))

    Milesh Bhana ZAs last blog post..Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune [PS3]

    Reply

  3. Mac

    September 1, 2008 at 13:20

    agreed flawed article, PS3 is catching up, the facts are simple. Look at the monthly reads and you will see PS3 has out sold xbox just about every month meaning the incremental sales are in fact closing the gap. Furthermore as stated above the average age of gamer is +/- 32, hence people who have money and are infact willing to invest in a superior console:)

    Reply

  4. Zayne

    September 1, 2008 at 13:27

    One major flaw… You used vgcharts? Umm… Use the official numbers next time… Guys at n4g are having a field day at your logic for using vg… Use NDP >>> OFFICIAL… VGCharts>>>Uses estimates

    Reply

  5. Banana hammock

    September 1, 2008 at 13:29

    Although i said what i said, it’s also not all rosy for the PS3. The rate at which the PS3 is catching the XboX is too slow. It will take a few years at this rate for it to catch up.

    However, Sony are hoping for a bumper holiday season and things might accelerate once Blu-Ray get more popular.

    The question is: When/if the Wii will ever slow down!

    Reply

  6. jak

    September 1, 2008 at 13:31

    True i am gonna say it again…flawed logic! Very silly of you to think like that. Typical Xbot behaviour! o and once they see GeOW2 next to LBP what do you think parents would rather buy! The cute little sack boy or the demented brute sawing aliens in half…hmmm.

    Reply

  7. Edward Jones

    September 1, 2008 at 13:35

    💡 Lazy article, The PS3 has outsold the Xbox 360 every month this year in nearly every regon except for one month in the United States and one month in japan. Thats according to NPD numbers for United States. The PS3 will come pretty close to beatting the xbox 360 by the end of the year, and there is a good chance they will beat them in sales.

    Reply

  8. Banana hammock

    September 1, 2008 at 13:45

    Actually, VGChartz adjusts their numbers to actual sell-through figures when they come in. So untilmately they are much more accurate than most people give them credit for.

    They will never be out by any significant amount. So using them creats no problem at all, but it is very convenient.

    Reply

  9. Banana hammock

    September 1, 2008 at 13:53

    Yes, but you have to take note that the PS3 has outsold the XboX by around 200,000 units a month.

    So it will take 25 months at that rate for the PS3 to catch the Xbox. That is not nearly good enough for Sony. They really need to have a very good holiday period this year and get that boost they need. They also really need to figure out how to convert all those PS2 owners quickly. My guess is the only way to do it is to drop the price significantly.

    Reply

  10. McValdemar

    September 1, 2008 at 13:56

    What people don’t uderstand is that PS3 outsold Xbox360 by very very low margins. To outsold in a month by 10,000 consoles doesn’t restict the gap.
    So we can say that PS3 is closing the gap but, how quick?
    We don’t have a reliable source for Europe.

    I guess that by 2011 PS3 and Xbox360 will have a close world wide userbase.
    Meaning that when we’ll be close to the end of this generation of harware, MS will see a growth (from last generation) of about twice the market share she had, and Sony will se a little more of half the marked she used to have.

    Overall there will be a much better equilibruim that last gen.

    Reply

  11. Crazy

    September 1, 2008 at 14:02

    Using Vgchartz data here is the sales gap between the 360 and PS3.

    Sales gap as of 1/1/08 6.7 million
    Sales gap as of 8/23/08 5.4 million

    Do you still think the logic is flawed?

    Reply

  12. Itachi

    September 1, 2008 at 14:06

    Who the heck wrote this article? His reasoning is kinda flawed. Does he really think that the only people who buy consoles are parents for their children? His data’s wrong too.

    Reply

  13. Banana hammock

    September 1, 2008 at 14:08

    His logic is flawed with regards to what he thinks is going to happen during the Christmas period, not with his use of VGChartz.

    As i said earlier, the gap is closing but too slowly.

    Reply

  14. inja

    September 1, 2008 at 14:08

    this article makes no sense, i think parents would be aware of what
    they buy- theres always a helping hand in stores that will explain.
    banana hammock got it right. when sony announced a blu-ray playing
    full home media centre i doubt they were informing children who would
    obviously understand that blu ray is the new hd media format.

    Reply

  15. Bboy

    September 1, 2008 at 14:08

    I see your comment… and raise you another comment.

    Reply

  16. LazySAGamer

    September 1, 2008 at 14:19

    Thanks for clarifying that… I was hoping someone would pick up on it.

    Reply

  17. Wesley

    September 1, 2008 at 14:33

    Thats the reason PS3 is closing the margain little by little, its purely just to have a blu ray player not a PS3 gaming console, i saw this one tempting add of the features the Blue Ray has and i have to admit it was tempting for about 30 seconds

    I dont think parents will buy they’re children hardware of the value of $500 give or take and let some little bastard of a postman’s
    child come destroy the thing in seconds

    Even young adults can barely afourd what they want these days
    if you keep the account of fuel and luxury foods in hand. that
    being said PS3 is purely selling for the blue ray movies half

    Not for gaming purposes, you can bet your bottom dollar on that

    Reply

  18. Toony

    September 1, 2008 at 14:51

    Jeez this article is getting bashed on N4G

    http://www.n4g.com/gaming/NewsCom-191866.aspx?CT=1

    Reply

  19. Jinfash

    September 1, 2008 at 14:51

    your stupid article failed the minute you mentioned “VGChartz”.
    gimme my “click” back :/

    Reply

  20. Mark

    September 1, 2008 at 14:54

    LMAO look at these fangirls in denial

    “bu..but its flawed logic :(”

    Shut the fuck up.

    Reply

  21. allister

    September 1, 2008 at 14:57

    i agree but i still think the ps3 is a waste as
    i don’t see blu ray making mainstream and microsoft need
    to compete more on the online scene to make the package more
    attractive.

    Reply

  22. SlippyMadFrog

    September 1, 2008 at 15:06

    “Typical Xbot behaviour”
    I see PS3 fans are still not above calling people names. Typical

    Reply

  23. SlippyMadFrog

    September 1, 2008 at 15:09

    Do you realize that VGChartz adjust the forecasted values after actual values are released?

    Reply

  24. SlippyMadFrog

    September 1, 2008 at 15:11

    For that matter, do you have any figures that state that the gap is closer than what VGChartz is saying?

    Reply

  25. ewie

    September 1, 2008 at 15:18

    just after launch of the ps3 the gap was at 5.4 mil. And now almost 2 years later it is still so even if the ps3 have outsold it the last few months they still have sold the same amount over the same timeframe.

    Reply

  26. Burekman

    September 1, 2008 at 15:26

    I only have one problem with the article… It’s the assumption that 199 really IS the “sweetspot”. This hasn’t been proven yet and there are two good exaples to counter that logic.

    1)Wii is priced at 249 and is nowhere to be found. This obviously proves that price is not as important as some say it is and if consumers find enough things to justify buying a certain product, the thing will sell well. Ipod is also an example. I mean, you can get generic media players for half the price of an Ipod. Yet people still buy Ipods because they’re awesome, reliable and good looking.

    2)The xbox360 already IS 199EUR in Europe. And guess what, the “magical” 199 pricepoint ain’t doing much.

    All in all I expect a 1 month spike throughout september, than it’s back to normal + the obvious holiday sales spike each console gets.

    Reply

  27. LazySAGamer

    September 1, 2008 at 15:28

    yeah but it’s not being bashed with facts… Just fanboy nonsense.

    Even the ‘official’ NPD and GFK figures back up the story. The fact that it will take years for the PS3 to overtake the 360 is still sound. Until tomorrow that is 😉

    Reply

  28. HairyAsHell

    September 1, 2008 at 15:35

    Wow! Looks like a fanboy is sweating that the PS3 is catching up like Sony predicted. Listen xbot, if you were REAL gamer then you wouldnt give a crap about the hardware sales and just enjoy all the MGS4s and Gears.

    HairyAsHells last blog post..TWO awesome!!!

    Reply

  29. MysticStrummer

    September 1, 2008 at 15:40

    I don’t give even half a damn about who is outselling who. I’m a happy PS3 user. It’s the superior console in terms of raw power, and it’s the best Blu-Ray player on the market. If the 360 was in third place, Microsoft would have already abandoned it. Sony just keeps adding to the greatness. I’ve played Gears of War and thought it was good, not amazing. It certainly didn’t make me want a 360. Halo? Please. Never thought that franchise was anything special. I know two people with a 360 and both are getting rid of them so thay can get a PS3 and play Warhawk. Go ahead and crow about second place, circle jerks. For next-gen gaming, PS3 is the only game in town.

    Reply

  30. duncan

    September 1, 2008 at 15:47

    😆 Vgchartz again?

    Reply

  31. Ben Dover

    September 1, 2008 at 15:49

    If the PS3 really was catching up it would be a lot closer in sales it is. Even despite the hardware problems the PS3 really couldn’t take advantage.

    And they aren’t going to when Fable 2 and Gears Of War 2 hit in the Fall.

    Sony is going to need to do a lot more than what they are to pass anyone.

    Reply

  32. jak

    September 1, 2008 at 15:51

    Is this guy ever going to admit his mistake?!?

    Reply

  33. alphav1za

    September 1, 2008 at 15:52

    Now there’s thinking that I agree with. 🙂

    Reply

  34. mookins

    September 1, 2008 at 15:55

    1. VG Chartz? Your biggest mistake. VG Chartz has been knowing for cheating, lying, and using overinflated numbers to make the 360 sound as if it has such a huge lead over the PS3.

    2. The PS3 has been outselling the 360 for months already despite Microsoft’s infamous price cut and sudden *flow* of rpg’s. More and more people are recognizing it as a gaming console and not just a bluray player.

    3. When Little Big Planet hits, it will more than likely be a huge hit on the PS3 because of the bundles in Europe and hi expectations for the game.

    4. Your article is just flawed period. 😛

    Reply

  35. mookins

    September 1, 2008 at 15:56

    Btw, that should have been *known*, not knowing.

    Reply

  36. ewie

    September 1, 2008 at 16:05

    you can use microsoft and sony shipped numbers over the same timeframe and your answer will be in the same ballpark

    Reply

  37. Eh?

    September 1, 2008 at 16:06

    do you understand currencies?
    $199 is 136EU.
    $199 is the sweet spot for america ONLY.
    what about the UK £199 is $359 is that a sweetspot?
    what about 199EU thats $290 so it hasn’t hit the sweetspot yet.

    Reply

  38. Fudzy

    September 1, 2008 at 16:07

    “They see a low price tag on one of them “new console thingamajigs” and the truth is, its not the PS3.”

    It’s not the Xbox either, its the Wii. Good point though.

    Reply

  39. vio

    September 1, 2008 at 16:10

    on the total of 20.44M units of xbox360 sold, how many of those
    are modded and playing illegal games? hardware wins, software
    lose

    Reply

  40. Nick - Lazygamer

    September 1, 2008 at 16:15

    You are definitely right. The Wii is still selling like crazy. The question here though is whether or not the PS3 is catching up to the 360. Wii’s are in short supply overseas, but if there is stock then it will probably be the one to go. That doesnt mean that the PS3 is catching up though, it just means that the 360 ans PS3 stay the same. When it comes to us gamers, we know what we like and we will play what we enjoy the most. Christmas sales are a different ballgame though and it IS a lot of parents that make all the purchases over that period. The point also is that a lot of people budget for the price range of the Wii. If they are out of stock then they have the option of a more expensive PS3 or a less expensive Xbox 360. Its all down to what they think when looking at the shelf and that goes for more than just parents. Price is a big deal and even though the 360 Arcade SKU isnt the best set up of all of them, its price will make a lot of people lean towards it, especially when they can add a couple of games to the bundle and still have it the same or cheaper than the more expensive 360 and PS3 SKU’s.

    Reply

  41. Nick - lazygamer.co.za

    September 1, 2008 at 16:20

    Do you think that enough of them are modded to make a large difference? it will be interesting to see the numbers if we could track them, but you may (or may not) have a good point. Console piracy is at least not nearly as bad as PC piracy though which is still helping the industry out at the moment because if it goes the same way as PC then there will definitely be issues.

    Reply

  42. Eh?

    September 1, 2008 at 16:33

    1. Only according to ps owners. ninty and xbox have no problem with them. But then they aren’t last

    2. the ps3 has been outselling for months but the 360 had more than just a few months of outselling the ps3 so they don’t even cancell each other out.

    3. true lbp will be big for ps but gears sold 5 mil and the sequal is just as anticipated if not more by 360 owners. Same as fable. Two proven franchises so lbp will sell ps3’s to those who know the game but not to those who dont so don’t expect the majority to care.

    4. your points are fanboyism period.

    Reply

  43. Eh?

    September 1, 2008 at 16:35

    exactly.

    I think its ps owners going of how the xbox was modded and pssing it on to the 360. Over inflating the numbers like they did with rrod and the power of the ps3.

    Reply

  44. Def

    September 1, 2008 at 16:44

    The problem with most of you is that you fail to realise the PS3 is outselling the 360 worldwide and not just in the US. The PS3 has overtaken 360 in japan, almost level in EU, and has as of this year been outselling the 360 in the US.

    So if you take it all into perspective, the only place 360 is showing resistance is in the US. And the fact that a more expensive console has even started outselling it in its home market, should have long since put this issue to rest

    Reply

  45. gazza

    September 1, 2008 at 16:47

    actuly your logic is flawed, how about we put lbp up against banjo or viva pinata, and wonder what those parents will think when they see resistance 2. lol

    gazzas last blog post..Nice but ouch.

    Reply

  46. Makidian

    September 1, 2008 at 17:09

    Fable and Gears 2 will not move consoles for Microsoft, their fanbase already exists in its global instll base. The same goes Resisitance 2. So you lost your ability to call out a fanboy based on your last comment

    Reply

  47. Edgar

    September 1, 2008 at 17:12

    Yeah but the PS3 is only outselling the XBox 360 by 10,000 units per month and it has to make up a gap of 5,000,000. I could keep outselling the 360 by 10,000 per month for the next ten years and not catch up.

    Reply

  48. thechampion116

    September 1, 2008 at 17:16

    This is article is very flawed. I assume the Wii will be in
    shortage but the big factor your forgetting is the PS2 which
    sells quite well every month for an 8 year old console. Sony
    will be heavily relying on it to take away potential sales from
    Wii and Xbox360.

    At this point, Sony is gaining momentum. XBOX has proven games
    ike GOW, Fable but you need to remember that mostly people buying
    those games ALREADY OWN the 360. With less PS3 owners its more
    likely for people to be pucharsing their console. Another big
    factor will be Blu-Ray as I expect many more people to be making
    the transition to HD as well. With Sony providing that deadly
    combo (The Dark Knight coming Dec), they will sell more consoles.
    I can see many big box stores selling the Blu-Ray alongside the
    PS3.

    Also, more people are becoming aware of understanding technology and will realize that the cheapest 360 is missing a lot of hardware that the other consoles have built in from wireless to HDD.

    The final flaw of course is VGChartz. It is well known that NDP actually provides accurate numbers in regards to sales.

    Reply

  49. thechampion116

    September 1, 2008 at 17:18

    quite a few are modded, but new drives on the 360 prevent modding and knowing Microsoft to sneak in bans with updates, I fully expect a lot more people to get banned with the big Fall update.

    Reply

  50. thechampion116

    September 1, 2008 at 17:22

    here is incompetence to assume Blu-Ray won’t make mainstream. Once more bigger movies start showing up it will. Also all stores sell TV’s with HD built in whether is 720p, 1080i, or 1080p. Owners will see HD content and may be persuaded to buy a bluray player (or PS3) and useuse it to upconvert the DVD movies and get new Blu-Ray movies.

    Everyone also thought DVD wouldn’t make mainstream if your forgetting and they are almost following identical trends. Blu-rays are already dropping in price and eventually will become affordable to more people. Transformers is out next week, with TDK out Dec.

    Blu-Ray/PS3 even got some time on Tropic Thunder.

    Reply

  51. Eh?

    September 1, 2008 at 17:26

    true.
    I messed my point up. You said it better for me.
    Thanks.
    Lbp will not sell consoles as it’s not known outside of the gaming world as its a new ip. The bundles will sell but thats because people buying a console will want to get a free game with it. But with GoW2 there will be a few people who played the first on a friends console and buy a 360 for it but not many. Fable on the other hand has a fanbase from the last gen and will see that as well as GoW2 as a reason to get a 360 at chrimbo. So not so much a fanboy comment as you think. But yours still was.

    Reply

  52. that_guy

    September 1, 2008 at 17:30

    Sigh, it’s time to learn you Nick.

    Gap in sales = 5.5 million at launch of PS3. Current gap = 5.5 million units. Let’s just say for the sake of argument that these figures are accurate. This indicates that the PS3 has indeed made up ground on the Xbox 360. How? If you considered everything in your article (which you so obviously did not) you would have realized that consoles aren’t legally bound to sell the exact same number of consoles as each other when launched for the first two years. Seriously, do you not remember Sony’s terrible launch? It was bad, really bad. This caused the gap to swell to roughly 7 million units, which confirms that Sony is indeed catching up. This tells us that they have closed the gap by 1.5 million units since the PS3 surge began.

    Another incredibly HUUUUGE factor that you haven’t taken into account is the fact that these consoles sell in other countries. Europe has been a key proponent to this shrinkage in the sales gap. So has Japan. It’s easy to know why this is happening in Japan. Sony is a Japanese company. Not rocket science. For Europeans, it could be a number of factors. It could be hardware reliability, it could be the fact that America doesn’t look so hot in the eyes of the world right now, it could be game selection (not everyone loves violence as much as America) and it likely had a small part to do with GT Prologue (those Europeans loooove Gran Turismo).

    At anyrate, you didn’t think of these factors in your article. The more I read, the more depressed I became, especially since their were Xbox 360 enthusiasts defending the article. For shame.

    Reply

  53. Makidian

    September 1, 2008 at 17:33

    You are grossly over estimating how the 360 will sell over Christmas, and now that the 80gb PS3 is $399 and the 160gb moving into the $500 spot later this year, sales have already spiked and will continue to do so. I am not saying that the 360 won’t sell well over the holiday period but it will not outsell the PS3 it doesn’t matter what price it is. The trend for the entire year has been PS3 outstripping the 360, in North America the margin is a little bit more slim, Europe holds the biggest margin, and Japan it’s about 2-3x but the sales of both are still low there, however the gap is still very large and will not close anytime soon. In fact the sales lead that the 360 has over the PS3 only exists in the US, nowhere else. Microsoft is dropping the price to to try and compete better against Sony, but it didn’t work in Europe and it won’t work in the US. Dropping the price of the Arcade to $199 isn’t to compete with the PS3, it’s to compete with the Wii, and the others are for PS3 competition. Microsoft is spreading itself too thin by doing this and it is going to cost them as the hardcore look at it as a joke and the casual look at it as a hradcore system that isn’t as fun as the Wii. Sales of PS3 systems are catching up to the 360 it’s just slower in America where the lead exists. And I wouldn’t be surprised if there were temporary price cuts for all solo systems and multiple bundles. That along with in store incentives will help push it even closer to closing that gap. Say they have a $50 price cut from October 1st-December 26th, and Walmart and Best Buy run another promotion giving a $100 gift card, now you would be able to get and 80gb PS3 for $50 more than the 360 Arcade and the PS3 comes with a Blu-Ray player, wifi adapter(built in), free online and incredibly stable hardware, and it comes with the cutest looking game ever created, LittleBigPlanet.

    This article not only reeks of blatant fanboyism, but I think your actually retarded for writing it the way you did. I love my PS3 and I think the 360 is great but the way you did this article is fucking stupid and you should try to do some real research and learn what people mean when they are talking about outselling the 360. To save you some time remember that means month to month not overall global sales. Do you honestly think that Microsoft is cutting global prices because they still maintain a lead over the PS3 in install base!? Well they don’t, they care about month to month just like Sony and Ninty, and they are in last from month to month, not first or second. That is the reason for immediate price cuts not because they love the consumer so much they think they should give them a break.

    Idiots

    Reply

  54. Saigon

    September 1, 2008 at 17:34

    I do admit, articles like this make no sense. But I think people need to look at a bigger picture here. Right now the 360 is only selling out the PS3 in NA. All other regions the PS3 has taken the lead. This is one fact many people are missing.

    Another is the fact MS had a 10.6 Million (give or take one or 2 million it might have been an 8 mil lead) lead on the PS3 and the wii before they both launched. The wii has deminished the gap and the PS3 is still slowly burnning the gap.

    jak made an interesting comment. parents looking at LBP vs GeoW2 will pick LBP. And gazza that was a bad comparison. If you would of compared banjo and vp to LBP (similar audience) i would of seen your logic, but I guess what jak is trying to say is that those are the 2 big titles this winter for both platforms and when parents logicly look at which will be better, they will choose LBP.

    Reply

  55. Scruffy

    September 1, 2008 at 17:35

    But first the parents decide to be responsible and do a little research and what do they find but thousands of articles online about how horrible the people on Xbox Live act and all the racist bullshit that comes out of their mouths on a regular basis.

    Scruffys last blog post..Gaming is a way of life, it’s like what the Republicans think being gay is

    Reply

  56. remitability

    September 1, 2008 at 17:43

    fair enough but dig this, why r we still talkin about sales 2years later. isn’t it obvious that comparing percentage increment of sales now is jus not logical b’cos most ppl already hav the xbox. meaning ppl 1st thought of buyin the 360 before goin like uhhh maybe NOW i’ll get the ps3. both consoles r the shit and i gotta admit soul calibur 4 plays better with the ps3 pad but i’m also a hardcore gamer and blu-ray does not fall under my agenda giving the xbox the best bang-4-buck deal.
    P.S. i’d much rather own both tho.

    Reply

  57. WWII

    September 1, 2008 at 18:08

    one year head star and only 5 millions more than the ps3
    ? what do you think?

    Reply

  58. AugustusCole

    September 1, 2008 at 18:08

    Whats with this “flawed” word being tossed around everywhere today?

    Reply

  59. Tahiri

    September 1, 2008 at 18:08

    “Interesting concept, except for the fact that it’s flawed. ”

    No it’s not.

    “The thing is, that if you look at the console sales, you can see that the gap in sales between the PS3 and Xbox 360 is still roughly the same as it was when the PS3 was launched.”

    No it’s not. 360 had far more than 5 million sales when PS3 launched.
    PS3 reached 10 million sales 2 months faster than 360, it will overtake 360 eventually.

    Reply

  60. Eight Ball

    September 1, 2008 at 18:22

    And another thing is once that age range hits about 14 the kids are much more aware technically and will be influencing the parent and persuading them to go for the more expensive option. 🙂

    Reply

  61. retarded

    September 1, 2008 at 18:32

    haha u are widely mistaken…. there not going to buy them crappy 360’s and join you {QUOTE} “foul mouthed children ~join us on Xbox Live~ and when they do….” but all parents will be buying the Wii… stop loving 360 so much.

    Reply

  62. tito

    September 1, 2008 at 18:45

    the total amount of xbox 360s sold include failed units that were returned and had to be repurchased again in stores.this is true in many cases where the units were bought at best buy,target etc.Also given the 33% failure rate and the fact that on average 10000 units are returned to microsoft every week and that their are people that have had thier unit break about 6 times;that 5 million unit difference really should be about 2 million.question what is the install base for the 360 vs units sold?maybe there are only 17 million people that actually have a 360.

    Reply

  63. Excel

    September 1, 2008 at 19:32

    Well, here’s the most telling thing. At the beginning of 2008, the 360 had an 8 million console lead. Now it has 5 million lead. The PS3 probably won’t catch up this year, but to say it isn’t catching up at all is ridiculous.

    Reply

  64. morons

    September 1, 2008 at 19:41

    “The thing is, that if you look at the console sales, you can see that the gap in sales between the PS3 and Xbox 360 is still roughly the same as it was when the PS3 was launched.”

    Did you graduate high school? Even if your numbers are spot on… that means from the start the PS3 was down by 5mill, and continue to be down by 5mill now as well. That still shows, through simple math that the ps3 is catching up, if you can’t understand how, you really must not have graduated high school.

    I’m not gonna point it out, but wow. I hate people that word things in their favor to try and prove a false point.

    Reply

  65. jak

    September 1, 2008 at 19:45

    I really cannot believe that you are still are trying to back up your article Nick! 😯

    Reply

  66. Tye

    September 1, 2008 at 19:47

    You need a fact checker. The Xbox wasn’t 5 Million ahead at PS3 launch, it was about double that.

    Reply

  67. kabraal

    September 1, 2008 at 20:16

    Parents buy Wii for the kiddies.

    Theory is theory. Percentage wise the PS3 caught up with the 360. Quite a lot actually.

    Reply

  68. kabraal

    September 1, 2008 at 20:25

    Nah dude, his fact are right. 360 had about 5-6 million in the world market by the time the PS3 launched in Q4 06 in the US. However the PS3 only launced in MRT/APR in the rest of the world by which time the 360 had 2 million in other regions.

    So the difference then for “other regions” was two million then where it is 400k now.

    Look will it even matter once the 360 strikes 100mill with the PS3 on 95mil?

    Reply

  69. true

    September 1, 2008 at 20:27

    ps3 is selling very fast and piracy is a big factor. people here in asia have a option to make their console modded or wait for the original (which will release after one or two months). ps3 owners on the other hand have no options, they have to buy original games. Even developers like VALVE, who once called ps3 as a waste of time are going to make left 4 dead on ps3. which will be soon…. ps3 games and ps3 are selling fast and very fast…. this is just another shit article for getting attention… and yup u have ur attention but people will just abuse u. hope u this kind.

    Reply

  70. This is lame

    September 1, 2008 at 20:30

    Cant believe people are throwing opinions on facts and get it wrong.
    Just look at the charts, you will see that PS3 is catching up 360.

    Stop denying it, don’t be a fanboy, look only at the facts.

    http://vgchartz.com/hwlaunch.php?cons1=Wii&reg1=All&cons2=PS3&reg2=All&cons3=X360&reg3=All&weeks=156

    Reply

  71. oni

    September 1, 2008 at 20:32

    You know what’s absolutely insane? No matter how well or poorly
    either console sells, I still enjoy playing video games on my
    console of choice precisely as much as I did before.

    interesting…

    Reply

  72. jroxo21

    September 1, 2008 at 20:38

    In my opinion the reason the PS3 hasnt caught up is the people
    that had 6 or 7 RROD and did buy 6 or 7 360… It´s a fact that alot of people have both more than one console…

    Reply

  73. Jean

    September 1, 2008 at 20:54

    Actually, the 360 was at 9 million when the PS3 launched. Now the 360 is only 5 million consoles ahead.

    Reply

  74. NanoGeekTech

    September 1, 2008 at 20:56

    Hey I own both a PS3 and 360..I have been playing my PS3 more than my 360 in the past year plus…

    Sales for the PS3 will greatly increase for a few reasons: Blu-ray movies will help the sale of the PS3 Batman 2 blu-ray, Ironman Blu-ray, Transformers Blu-ray…videophiles will purchase a PS3( my dad just bought one becuase of the Blu-ray player he does not even play games)

    With games such as Singstar, LBP, Virtual Eyepet…will also help bring in the causal gamer…

    With nothing Big brewing at MS camp besides FF…..sales for the 360 will also begin to drop even more next year even witht a price cut…the most recent price cut did nothing to the sales of the 360……

    Sales really do not matter because MS will replace the 360 by fall 2010…it is not going to be 2011-2012…

    MS has nothing too exciting besides….GOWII..Fable II…Left for dead..and FF what do they have plan for 2009 or 2010…what type of waves are they creating for the 360 for 2009/2010…nothing…

    The only thing I have seen is rumors about the 360Next or 720 or whatever you want to call it….

    PSN:ProPaperPusher
    360:KMJFNIGUY

    Reply

  75. marc

    September 1, 2008 at 21:00

    i disagree i am 20 years old and i choose the ps3 over the xbox 360
    if you think about it the xbox is dropping it price not just for
    parent it because there hard ware sucks if you were me then you would
    want a console that doesn’t break everytime. and having it to send
    it. i like the ps3.i have it for threes years now and look it still in perfect shape.

    Reply

  76. Fudzy

    September 1, 2008 at 21:13

    Ooo I wouldn’t have tempted fate like that if I was you. Seems the optical drive on the PS3 is quite prone to failure, not nearly as much as the Xbox but I’d still knock on wood if I was you.

    Reply

  77. BLazingKrotch

    September 1, 2008 at 21:56

    This article is true. At the rate PS3 are moving it will probably never past the 360 until the end of its “10 year life”. Especially after the price drop. I doubt it going to make a giant difference like this guy makes it seem but it will make a difference thought. And for that gears vs. LBP comment, trust me 1) gears will sell more and 2) how are you going to compare LBP to gears. One is aimed at adults and the other is aimed to evryone(but mostly kids). You need to compare LBP to viva pinata.

    Reply

  78. ewie

    September 1, 2008 at 22:22

    not true – only about 5 – 6 million was sold at that stag,
    microsoft only shipped 10 mllion december 2006,

    Reply

  79. Jay

    September 1, 2008 at 22:42

    all i gotta say,
    X360’s been out 2 1/2 years, and as sold ~20 mil.
    PS3’s been out 1 1/2 years, and as sold ~15 mil.

    you do the math and tell me who’s really selling more.

    Reply

  80. redsnake

    September 1, 2008 at 22:49

    wat about the rest of the world outside of North America where
    the ps3 is creaming the 360 flawed article indeed

    Reply

  81. gunnar2906

    September 1, 2008 at 23:06

    first of all try to use more reliable sources for data.
    According to NPD USA and Canada data XBox360 was sold 600 000 units less then it is shown at vgchartz.com by the end of july. That means that diffence between XBox 360 and PS3 is about half million less then you expect.
    Microsoft lowered prices at Europe 2 months ago – so what? nuffink… No one cares
    Microsoft lowered prices last month at the USa and Canada – so what? PS3 oversold 360 by 50 000 units again…
    Ok … Parents will come with their kids to buy them something for Xmas… Do you really consider that all kids are idiots? Or parents are too stupid and cares about their money… Noone likes wasting money.. Noone wants to get a pain in ass with RRoD.
    Do you really think that parents want their children play games like Fable 2 where gay releations (even marriages) and candoms are allowed? Kill me but I dont let my 7 years old son play this game.
    When an adult will come to a shop to buy a Xmas gift to his/her child he/she will see a lovely choice. Bloody face of Markus Fenix from GoW2 poster from one side and lovely face of sackboy from other… He will reasonably ask about price of both consoles… What do you think he / she will want to buy to precious enfant? Yeah .. sure bloody game and will pick up left 4 dead and a pice of gayish relations .. sure ….
    An adult will say – Fuck it .. I’d better pay a 100 bucks more to get something relaxing and not so provocative … And to have fun…
    So stop this shit about 360… Noone cares about it here in Europe
    seems to stop caring in NA
    It will take some time to get the same tend to the shores of ZA and wash this shit away

    Reply

  82. Adrian

    September 1, 2008 at 23:26

    haha your right it did get some time on Tropic Thunder… that had me lmao because i was playing with my friend on his 360 and there were advertisements for tropic thunder… haha… so xbox advertising tropic thunder advertising ps3! haha

    Reply

  83. Adrian

    September 1, 2008 at 23:29

    fable II… come on i don’t know why people are trying to hype this game up… i’ll give it to GeoW2 that game looks bad ass but fable?!? wack…

    Reply

  84. RuddigerPez

    September 1, 2008 at 23:58

    Wrong. So far this year, the PS3 has outsold the 360 by an average of 46914 systems per week worldwide (according to your own source vgchartz.com). That means in the 33 weeks so far, the PS3 has caught up to the 360 by 1548154 systems, which is significant compared to the 5390000 system lead that the 360 currently has. At the rate set by sales so far this year, if you do the math, the PS3 will catch up with the 360 in console sales worldwide in 2.21 years. Not that VGchartz.com is accurate, but it is the best worldwide estimate out there. You say that the difference between the systems is “about the same” as when the PS3 launched and that at best the PS3 is “only matching” 360 sales. I say you need to use math instead of vague statements based on your poor perception. Suck it XBot

    Reply

  85. RuddigerPez

    September 2, 2008 at 00:00

    Just look at “hardware from launch” on VGchartz.com and compare the 360 trend to the PS3 trend if you need a visual.

    Reply

  86. gazza

    September 2, 2008 at 00:27

    I dont know how else to say this, but did you actually read my comment? My point was that lbp shouldnt be compared to gears, rather it should be compared to banjo or viva. but im guess you missed that huh?

    gazzas last blog post..Nice but ouch.

    Reply

  87. doobiwan

    September 2, 2008 at 00:29

    The question isn’t only the $$$, but look at E3 and you the point. Sony has one decent eye catching title (LBP) and a ton of generic stuff.
    A parent looking at the Xmas for colourful family titles sees:
    PS3: LBP, Eyepet and Singstar
    360: Banjo, Viva Pinata, Fable 2, Lips, Scene It, Crash bandicoot(comes to PS2 not 3), Tales of Vesperia and overseas ‘Primetime’

    Weight that with most other games being available on both + $200 entry, it should be a winning formula. Who knows, maybe the rumoured motion controller may even make it.
    But on the other hand there’s no accounting for brand loyalty.

    doobiwans last blog post..Nintendo are officially evil again

    Reply

  88. pixelsword

    September 2, 2008 at 05:59

    I though the 360 sold 10 million it’s first year; if that’s the case, then the whold premise of zero advancement is bunk.

    Reply

  89. Dustin

    September 2, 2008 at 06:57

    You can also realise that gamestop has about 20 360s per store, while they keep about 3-4 in each gamestop. And they always sell ps3s as of late, but for somereason, we still have a couple that have been there for a year, those poor 360s arent getting any love on our floor.

    Yes i work there. So shipped numbers actually dont mean much mr.

    Reply

  90. dude

    September 2, 2008 at 08:01

    fanboys dont sell consoles, the wii has sold the most cus its better! no its less money. still u knew that right?

    Reply

  91. Ethereal05

    September 2, 2008 at 08:11

    Dont know if anyone said this already but did everyone forget the 360 has been on the market for nearly a year longer than the ps3? Sony is catching up.

    Reply

  92. ewie

    September 2, 2008 at 08:37

    only the last few months . And only now have it sold the same number as xbox over same period. Yes PS3 will sell more longterm but will take at least 2 to 3 years to get there

    Reply

  93. BHW

    September 2, 2008 at 09:23

    I think the point to be made is that the PS3 is catching Xbox undeniably. However if the current rate is maintained realistically the PS3 will only catch the X360 towards the end of next year probably with both consoles having approximately LTD sales of +- 30 mio units. So I think it safe to say that 3P Devs are going to keep doing MP for the foreseeable future. Biggest selling Exclusive to date for PS3 I believe is MGS4 with round about 3mio sales which compares favourably with EA’s sales figures for the Sports Franchise shovelware (FIFA , Madden etc) and pales into insignificance compared with GTA 4 , COD4 etc. So really for the remainder of this generation it is not really going to make any difference which console you chose to endorse .

    Reply

  94. Icepray

    September 2, 2008 at 09:25

    I don’t think that in the end it’s the parents choice. Maybe on birthdays and xmas but through out the year it’d be the kid moaning that he wants a 360/ps3 that will make his parents buy that console and this only holds for younger gamers, lots of the ps3/360 users i’m sure bought the console themselves with their money, thus they decided.

    Reply

  95. abe

    September 2, 2008 at 09:26

    There is one simple way to see the PS3 is catching up.
    And that is that the number of ps3 fanboys is rapidly approaching
    that of the xbots 🙄

    Reply

  96. Torpedo

    September 2, 2008 at 10:16

    Fanboys see what they want to see. When the PS3 was released and for almost a year, the PS3 was lagging far behyond the XBox , but since the very beggining of 2008, the PS3 started to sell more then the XBox and that gap is getting bigger by the week. Look at the graphs and you will see the PS3 graphic going up, and the XBox graph going down. If this keeps going like this, in 1 year from now, the XBox will be outselled 3 or 4 to 1. And when that happens the PS3 will catch up really quikly.
    Ha, and don’t forget that the PS3 sales are getting bigger and bigger not by cutting in the price, but by providing better and better software and this is the most important thing.

    Reply

  97. bballer

    September 2, 2008 at 11:10

    Do you guys realize how stupid u r being arguin over hardware sales of consoles? For one the 360 has been out a year longer than the ps3. Two if MS weren’t so damn wealthy their game division would b dead by all the money they have to put into faulty hardware and buying software exclusives. And lastly why dont u guys use VGchartz compare console sales matching launches, when u do that of course the wii is killin everything (which btw nintendo give us Super Mario RPG for god sakes in the US the best RPG till i started playin Final Fantasy games) but the ps3 has 3.7 million sales lead in that comparison, considering the 360 had no competition for a year and devs had way easier time making great games like Gears or Halo. In the end juss go play a game and have fun.

    peace

    Reply

  98. Burekman

    September 2, 2008 at 11:56

    Do you understand standards?

    In Europe, the standards are higher than America. We are used to paying more here. Actually, when it comes to electronics, the price conversion is 1:1 when it comes to dollars:Euros conversion.

    Which means when a product is priced $199 in america, it’s 199Eur here.

    The arcade is priced at £159.99 which is about 199EUR, the “sweetspot” for Europe (which it obvously isn’t).

    Reply

  99. me

    September 2, 2008 at 13:23

    PS3 fanboys out in full force again I see. Appears they suck at basic math too.

    Reply

  100. LazySAGamer

    September 2, 2008 at 13:39

    100 comments :D… I need to get a plug in to page these comments,

    Reply

  101. abe

    September 2, 2008 at 13:42

    Great backing of your comment “me”!
    Hey do I get something for the 100th comment? 😛

    Reply

  102. LazySAGamer

    September 3, 2008 at 01:43

    Nope because I stole it :razz:…

    Reply

  103. Mark

    September 3, 2008 at 02:34

    PS3 is outselling the 360 by a huge margin.

    Consider this:

    1) When the 360 was launched there was no competition.
    2) When the PS3 was launched it was up against 360 and Wii.

    Therefore, what do you make of the following numbers?

    Sales in the first 22 months from launch:

    360: 11M
    PS3: 15M

    Reply

  104. Ernie

    September 3, 2008 at 16:27

    Spoken like a true fanboy Editor

    Ernies last blog post..White Knight Story to be shown at TGS?

    Reply

  105. Nick

    September 3, 2008 at 16:54

    Spoken like a true fanboy commenter

    Reply

  106. gunnar2906

    September 3, 2008 at 20:36

    5.5 only

    Reply

  107. Wesley

    September 26, 2008 at 12:18

    People buy PS3 purely for the blue ray capabilities not for gaming. thought that would be obvious.

    I would buy a PS3 for blue ray but, the titles are lacking…. And i already own most of it on DVD a bit of a waste buying a R5400 console that has the same games as the 360.

    I gaurentee you most of the PS3 ever bought almost never get used anyways. No good games really and too little Blue ray movies to back it up for the time being

    Reply

  108. Ray

    March 12, 2009 at 00:15

    your article is flawed. so far to date the 360 has sold 28 million since Nov 2005, the PS3 has sold 22 million since Nov 2006. AVerage the sales numbers out for 28 million over the course of 36 months that totals an average of 777,000 a month world wide. now the PS3 with 22 million sold over the course of 24 months thats an average of 916,000 a month world wide. So yes the PS3 is catching up FAST! PLus how many of those 28 million 360s sold are rebuys. i know people who have bought 2 or more of this craptastic console.

    Reply

  109. henry

    August 25, 2009 at 11:31

    i whould just like to say you all forget about the problems on both consoles,i got all 3 consoles wii xbox360 and ps3 and realy ps3 is the shit i can put al my movies on hdd or extarnal and can download blu ray movies and watch it in full 1080p.the thing is there is no deferance in both dh consoles,i dont use my xbox at all couse the the interface is so cool on ps3,i think it is just fan boys if you got n xbox 360 then it is the no 1 console or if you have n xbox get all 3 then you sit back and lougt about all of this couse realy both is the same and now days all games are out on both consoles

    Reply

  110. henry

    August 25, 2009 at 11:37

    o yeah and onother my xbox give the the ring of death was so pised lucky microsoft swoped it out so the i lost trust in xbox but the the weekend my ps3 broked and geus what sony dont have that to swop it out the new thing with ps3 is the bluray lens is so weak itis going to cost me 1400 to rpair it so both company had bad harware

    Reply

  111. janrik

    August 25, 2009 at 12:08

    Market saturation?

    Everybody I know have a PS3 and a couple of 360’s.

    PS for media, 360’s for gaming.

    Reply

  112. henry

    August 25, 2009 at 12:12

    yeah it is like that but i think ps3 is stil beter and for media it kick ass xbox you have to download codecs and all sort of crap to play avi and whatever,where ps3 play about everything,just sad that now sundely ps3 bluray disk is not trust worthy

    Reply

  113. janrik

    August 25, 2009 at 12:35

    Sony has always had dvd/br issues.

    How many Ps2’s did I go thru? Alot!

    And the xbox codec is one 5 mb file… 😉

    But yeah, for media, I do thing the ps3 is better.
    Games? Not so mutch.

    Live intergration is awesome. And Achievement… they rock.

    Reply

  114. henry

    August 25, 2009 at 12:49

    so true but the prize tag is uge now acording wel known source the bluray lens last about 2 years that’s crap i hope they fix it with the new slim ps3,hopefully.cool thanks wil dowload it i did the new dashboard upgrade and it looks beter but stil looks like wii for me,geus it is for project Natal and that is a whole deferent story

    Reply

  115. sguardians2

    April 13, 2010 at 14:47

    “We spend so much time discussing exclusive titles and graphics comparisons that we forget that at the end of the day it largely comes down to parents, standing in a store, staring at shelves with PS3’s and Xbox 360’s on them. They don’t care about MGS4 and Gears of War 2. They see a low price tag on one of them “new console thingamajigs” and the truth is, its not the PS3”

    This quote sounds valid, until you realize that those parents were, and many still are, gamers too! Your premise relies on the assumption that the parents have no clue what that “new console thingamajig” is all about. Your assumptions may have held water 10 to 20 years ago, but are no longer valid. Time to update your premise.

    Reply

    • Nick de Bruyne

      April 13, 2010 at 15:38

      Fair enough, many are but the majority of parents are still pretty oblivious to gaming.

      Reply

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