Support NeoGAF

[MikeB]

Notice: Please ignore the cheapshot within the thread title. The involved mod is probably an upset 360 fanboy.

Before any fanboy rantings please consider the following, then read the article to understand where the PS3 advantage comes from:

Sales data from Sony and Microsoft:

- Microsoft sold 4.3 million 360s worldwide in the last quarter of 2007, making it 7.3 million in total for the year.
- Sony sold 4.9 million PS3 worldwide in the last quarter of 2007, totalling 8.83 million for the year.
- At the end of 2007 total PS3 sales were 10.49 million, at the end of March 12.85 million, meaning Sony sold a little over 2.3 million PS3s for Q1 2008.
- At the end of 2007 total 360 sales were 17.7 million, at the end of March 19 million, meaning Microsoft sold roughly 1.3 million 360s for Q1 2008.

I am going to try to compare the market situation currently enjoyed by the high definition consoles in an effort to provide a better global viewpoint. This write-up does not relate to sales of the Sony PS2 or Nintendo Wii, needless to say Nintendo made some excellent choices with releasing the Nintendo Wii, which has been a runaway success and will broaden Nintendo’s marketshare significantly this generation and also the PS2 continues to perform beyond expectations in North America and Europe. Feedback, corrections, additions are most welcome.

There are clear indications HD content will start to play a much more important role in the upcoming years. HDTV sales and Blu-Ray movie sales already saw a big sales increases in 2007, for 2008 the Blu-Ray market is expected to triple and the overall DVD market is expected to decline faster than it did for 2007 (Source: Pali Research’s analysts Richard Greenfield and Mark Smaldon). The emphasis on HD content for the 360 and PS3 sets these platforms apart from the other current console offerings and there’s also a remarkable lack of overlap of game titles amongst the top selling Wii games and the top selling PS3/360 games, for more demanding games these higher specced platforms may well enjoy consumer preference by people who are able to afford them. Those points results into many believing that owning both a Wii and a PS3 or 360 will be interesting to some of the Wii consumer base in the years ahead of us.

The market (PS3 vs 360)

With regard to the Xbox 360, nearly all of the most popular XBox titles have already seen 360 sequels (only Star Wars and Fable are yet to see sequels) and combined with the early demise of the original XBox pushed many of its fans towards upgrading with Microsoft capitalizing on the platform's one year headstart for Japan and North America and around a 1 year and 5 months or more headstart for much of the rest of the world. First up is Europe, currently the strongest performing PS3 market:

Europe

All throughout Europe the PS3 is performing remarkable well, the market trend is clearly that the PS3 is set to soon overtake the total 360 install base for the European market despite this rival platform's 16 months headstart. This seems to be happening in all European markets, but the UK sets itself apart from the rest of Europe by lagging behind with regard to the pace this transition is happening and thus this will be addressed separately.

A quote from SCEE president and CEO David Reeves (24 January 2008):

“We don’t often mention the competition, but I will give you some interesting data: In terms of installed base in some of our major markets, such as France, Spain, Germany and Italy – plus some distributor territories in smaller markets like Switzerland – our current cumulative installed base is now higher than Xbox 360.

“It has not yet reached that in the UK. But the team here expect to overtake the installed base of Xbox 360 across all PAL territories in late summer. It’s also worth mentioning that last week we outsold Xbox 360 in PAL territories by a ratio of three to one.” (Source: MCV)

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/29430/Reeves-PS3-will-overtake-360-by-summer

Update: SCEE boss David Reeves (6 May 2008): "I'm delighted to be able to announce that we have sold more PS3s throughout Europe than Xbox 360, even though they launched 16 months before PS3."

"SCEE has sold over 5 million PS3s in Europe."

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10331&Itemid=2

Software sales seem to back up Sony's statements, game rankings from different countries across Europe show that all mutli-platform games are outperforming their 360 counterparts, (highlighted are 360 and PS3 games, source GfK tracking):

Germany (04.02.2008 - 10.02.2008)

3 (-) Devil May Cry 4 (PS3)
5 (-) Turok (PS3)
7 (-) Devil May Cry 4 - Collector's Edition (PS3)

France (04.02.2008 - 10.02.2008)

1.DEVIL MAY CRY 4 (Capcom) PS3 (E)
5.BURNOUT PARADISE (Elecronic Arts) PS3 (-3)
6.DEVIL MAY CRY 4 (Capcom) 360 (E)
10.CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE (Activision) PS3 (-4)
11.DEVIL MAY CRY 4 Collector (Capcom) PS3 (E)
14.DEVIL MAY CRY 4 Collector (Capcom) 360 (E)

France (week 4):

01 [PS3] Burnout Paradise (Electronic Arts)
04 [360] Burnout Paradise (Electronic Arts)
10 [PS3] Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision)
16 [PS3] Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft)
20 [PS3] Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami)

(week3)

07 (07) [PS3] Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft)
09 (11) [PS3] PES 2008 (Konami)
14 (10) [PS3] Uncharted : Drake's Fortune (SCE)
16 (13) [PS3] Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare (Activision)
20 (19) [360] Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare (Activision)

Italy (04.02.2008 - 10.02.2008)

01 - Devil May Cry 4 (PS3) [14.000]
02 - Devil May Cry 4 (360) [6.000]
07 - Turok (PS3) [3.100]
08 - Burnout Paradise (PS3) [2.950]
09 - Assassin's Creed (PS3) [2.800]

Spain (Full month of January):

05 [PS3] ASSASSIN'S CREED
06 [PS3] PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2008

The Netherlands (Week 6):

04 (01) [PS3] Burnout Paradise (Electronic Arts)
05 (05) [PS3] Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare (Activision)
08 (08) [360] Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare (Activision)
09 (03) [360] Burnout Paradise (Electronic Arts)

Sweden (04.02.2008 - 10.02.2008):

01 Devil May Cry 4 (PS3)
02 Devil May Cry 4 (360)
07 Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock (PS3)
10 Uncharted Drake´s Fortune (PS3)
13 Burnout Paradise (PS3)
18 Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock (360)

The same trend is seen across Europe, PS3 multi-platform titles outperforming their 360 counterparts on the charts. It's worth noting that for other markets there are mere indications, the PS3 seems to perform better in Norway than in Sweden, better in Belgium (confirmed PS3 being the most sold home console in 2007) than in the Netherlands, better in Austria and Switserland than in Germany and the PS3 seems to do well in Eastern European countries as well.

Benelux (end of March 2008):

PS3 ~300K LTD
360 ~350 LTD

A Sony representative estimates the PS3 will overtake the 360 for the Benelux by September 2008). Source: Lesoir.be

Update 2: Swiss figures quarter 1 software.

PS3: 118.569
360: 67.736

Hardware (just Q1):

PS3: 18.144
360: 5.621

Source:
http://www.siea.ch/wordpress/wp-content/files/marktzahlen_siea_q12008_d.pdf

United Kingdom

For this country the discussed market trend is happening at a slower pace than for the rest of Europe, but it's still worth noting the PS3 shows a good market performance here as well. Recently the PS3 hit over 1 million PS3 units sold at retail and this milestone was reached earlier within its lifecycle than was the case for the PS1, PS2 as well as for the 360. This has been confirmed by UK tracker Chart Track.

From MCV (13 February 2008): “ChartTrack has also revealed that the Sony console has been outselling 360 for the last month. “It has been outselling 360 for the last four weeks, but they were neck and neck over the Christmas period, weeks 49-52,” said ChartTrack director Dorian Bloch.”

From MCV (3 March 2008) “PlayStation 3 has officially sold one million units at UK retail, hitting the milestone faster than PSOne or PS2."

Sony Computer Entertainment UK boss Ray Maguire:

“Achieving one million PS3 sales faster than both PSOne and PlayStation 2 is even more gratifying considering PS3 is a premium product introduced at a premium price,” he told MCV.”

(1 April 2008) "Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Dorian Bloch, director of UK sales monitor Chart-Track, said: "We are very close to clocking through 2 million 360s in the UK. It should be next week."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/xbox-360-to-hit-2m-in-uk--next-week-

Looking at a recent software chart shows far more diverse results (Chart Track):

UK: TOP 40 ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE - INDIVIDUAL FORMATS (UNITS), WEEK ENDING 1 March 2008

04 (NE) [360] FRONTLINES: FUEL OF WAR
05 (NE) [360] LOST ODYSSEY
11 (NE) [360] LOST: THE VIDEO GAME
12 (NE) [PS3] LOST: THE VIDEO GAME
14 (06) [PS3] UNREAL TOURNAMENT III
15 (15) [PS3] CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE
18 (14) [360] CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE
19 (20) [360] FIFA STREET 3
23 (27) [PS3] FIFA STREET 3
25 (08) [360] DEVIL MAY CRY 4
26 (12) [360] TUROK
31 (23) [PS3] BURNOUT PARADISE
32 (33) [PS3] UNCHARTED: DRAKE'S FORTUNE
34 (NE) [PS3] LOST PLANET: EXTREME CONDITION
35 (19) [PS3] DEVIL MAY CRY 4
38 (29) [360] BURNOUT PARADISE
40 (26) [PS3] ASSASSIN'S CREED


We see some new high ranked 360 exclusives in the top 40 as well as some lower ranked older PS3 exclusives, some multi-platform games perform better this week on the 360 like Lost, Devil May Cry and Fifa Street as well as some PS3 mutli-platform games like Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty 4 and Burnout Paradise perform better for the PS3.

A MCV report (based on Chart Track data) for January sales reveals 360 games account for 16.0% of total full price game sales (units) and the PS3 accounts for 14.9% of sales. (For value this is 17.3% for the 360 and 16.9% for the PS3).

Update: New concrete figures are available for UK sales in February (no PS3 or 360 exclusives in top 20 for the month, 13 PS3/360 multi-platform games in top 20):

FULL PRICE FORMAT SHARE (units)
Xbox 360 - 18.4%
PS3 - 17.1%


FULL PRICE FORMAT SHARE (value)
Xbox 360 - 19.9%
PS3 - 19.6%

The hardware and software sales suggest that the PS3 clearly is on a strong uprise against the 360 for the UK and the UK is a significant market within Europe accounting for about 20-22% of SCEE's PS3 business within Europe last christmas according to Sony (this would be a similar ratio for this country's PAL PS2 install base). Assuming this corresponds roughly with total SCEE sales for PAL regions (I am trying to be conservative), this would translate into a install base of roughly about 4.75 million install base served by SCEE on the 3rd of March.

Microsoft has been quiet with regard to European sales, but has cut 360 pricing which will help in the months ahead when GTA IV arrives for both platforms and anticipated games like Gran Turismo Prologue and Metal Gear Solid arrives exclusively for the PS3.

Update 2: The hefty price cut did not result into the 360 outselling the PS3 for the UK.

(18 April 2008)

"Even this [price cut] hasn't been enough to put them ahead of UK PS3 sales," he said.

But Chart Track’s confirmed to us that Xbox 360 UK sales did double in weeks 12, 13, 14 and 15, when compared to weeks 8, 9, 10 and 11.
Related stories

UK console sales monitor Chart Track confirmed that for the past 15 weeks the PS3 has largely kept ahead of the Xbox 360. However, a spokesman admitted that the two machines' units have been "extremely close" in some weeks."

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/04/18/xbox_360_european_sales_double/

The release of GTA IV resulted into a 125% UK hardware sales increase for the 360, but the PS3 also saw a 127% increase in hardware sales.

MCV (6 May 2008): "PS3 hardware sales leapt 127 per cent in the week in which the game was released (Sunday, April 27th to Saturday, May 5th).

Xbox 360 hardware sales also felt the GTA effect, climbing 125 per cent in the week."

Australia

Here the trend seems rather similar as compared to the UK. But also here the PS3 sold faster than the 360.

Update: PS3 install base (announcement 1 May 2008):

Gamespot: "Sony Computer Entertainment Australia (SCEA) seems to be more than happy with its performance so far, saying that the PS3 has sold 238,000 units down under since its debut in March 2007."

360 install base (announcement 21 January 2008, including headstart):

Gamespot: "306,000 Xbox 360s have now been sold in Australia"

GTA IV launch week:

"The week of launch, GFK showed that PS3 outsold Xbox, the other format that GTA was on, by over 2 to 1.”"

http://www.gameplayer.com.au/Home/N...6849ec5-6d0d-480c-81d7-1d4a05c60962&v7Pager=1

Update 2: Sony Managing Director Michael Ephraim:

"He noted that the 360 has had a few strong English speaking territories - US, UK and Australia.

"In Europe they were very weak in Continental Europe, so they have done fairly well here, but with the rate we're going we will definitely surpass the install base, we're just guessing somewhere around the end of the year, if not sooner if the trend keeps going the way it is."

"I can tell you in the first quarter of 2008 we have outsold Xbox 360 by around 45 per cent," he added.

"That is not including the Bravia deal, which moved through around 30,000 units, so if you add the Bravia deal to our global sales we have now, in the first quarter of 2008 we have outsold the Xbox 360 by two to one."

http://palgn.com.au/article.php?id=...3+outsells+Xbox+360+by+45%+in+Q1+in+Australia

A recent February chart (Week 8):

06 (__) [PS3] Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
07 (03) [360] Devil May Cry 4
08 (04) [PS3] Devil May Cry 4
09 (__) [360] Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
10 (08) [360] Lost Odyssey

Call of Duty 4 on the PS3 outperforms the 360 version, while Devil May Cry 4 on the 360 outperforms the PS3 version.

Japan

So far the PS3 total install base has significantly outsold the 360 total install base for Japan, this despite the 360's one year headstart. The 360 is going nowhere for Japan, some special Japanese orientated games like Blue Dragon sold much better, but nothing got the 360 really off the ground here, The 360 is a non factor and there seems no hope for this platform for the long run and popular cross platform 360/PS3 titles sometimes sell at a much higher ratio than one would expect based on install base, sometimes more like 7 to 1 maybe suggesting some 360 owners are also PS3 owners. For Japan 2008 seems to become the Playstation 3's breakthrough year with many highly anticipated games lined-up:

Famitsu 22-28 February most wanted listing:

#1 Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)
#2 Dragon Quest IX (DS)
#3 BioHazard (RE) 5 (PS3)
#4 Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP)
#5 Mario Kart (Wii)
#6 MGS4 (PS3)
#7 Dragon Quest VI (DS)
#8 Monster Hunter 3 (Wii)
#9 Dragon Quest V (DS)
#10 Finial Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3)
#11 Animal Crossing (Wii)
#12 The Last Remnant (PS3)
#13 Dissidia Finial Fantasy (PSP)
#14 Orochi Musou (PS2)
#15 GT5 (PS3)

Update: Latest Famitsu most wanted chart: (29 Feb - 6 March)

1. Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)
2. Dragon Quest IX (DS)
3. BioHazard (RE) 5 (PS3)
4. MGS4 (PS3)
5. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP)
6. Mario Kart (wii)
7. Dragon Quest VI (DS)
8. Dragon Quest V (DS)
9. Monster Hunter 3 (wii)
10. Final Fantasy Versus VIII (PS3)
11. The Last Remnant (PS3)
12. Animal Crossing (wii)
13. GT5 (PS3)
14. Musou OROCHI (PS2)
15. White Knight Chronicles (PS3)

MGS4 moving up up from number 6 to number 4, The Last Remnant moves up a spot from 12 to 11, GT5 moves up from spot 15 to 13 and White Knight Story makes its entry into the top 15.

Based on the various Japanese trackers the PS3 install base now stands at roughly 2 million and the 360 install base is about 590K.

Americas and the United States:

The XBox' and XBox 360's by far most strongly performing market and there are still millions of XBox fans here who still haven't upgraded to the 360 despite their console was discontinued and left unsupported since 2 and a half years ago and the 360 received sequels for all its most popular games. Both the PS3 and 360 are now performing well on the North American market, for January and February the PS3 outsold the 360 for the United States according to market tracker NPD and the market is set to adopt HDTV and Blu-Ray players en masse this year according to market researchers. Both platforms are expected to continue to perform well for the rest of the year with the release of anticipated games, but many market analysts give a considerable edge to the PS3 this year due to more high profile exclusive titles.

A quote from Microsoft regarding February NPD figures:

“The Xbox 360 platform now has a U.S. installed base of 9.6 million, the PS3 has 3.8 million and the Wii has 8.1 million.”

Update: Based on NPD data 360 software sales accounted for 45% of total game sales revenue for February. The PS3 accounted for 24%.So despite the release of the 360 exclusive Lost Oddesey, 360 software sales did not achieve software sales in-line with install base advantage.

The install base advantage ratio for the 360 is 2.52 according to Microsoft's figures.
360 software outsold PS3 software sales by only 1.88 based on value. (Source: Next-gen.biz)

Update2:Regarding the first quarter of 2008: "The PS3 sold 806,000 units to the XBox's 746,000, according to the NPD Group, as reported by The Wall Street Journal." (Source: TVPredictions.com)

For the rest of North and South America for countries such as Canada, Mexico and Brazil I assume we should add about 10% to these figures. Of the current gen systems the PS2 rules supreme in Middle and South American countries due to pricing. Some info:
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8749

Other areas: It's known the 360 still has a significant lead for South Korea compared to the PS3 (and Wii) due to a big headstart, but the PS3 is currently selling much faster over there than the 360. There’s near to no data with regard to many countries and regions like Indonesia, India, etc. Any additional info would be appreciated.

Russia:

Hardware LTD shipments (end of March 2008):
PS3: 60.000
360: 50.000
(Wii: 50.000)

Source: kommersant.ru

South Korea (a country with a strong military connection with the US, end of March 2008):

XBox 360 launch: 24 February 2006
PS3 launch: 16 June 2007

360 over 150K
PS3 over 50K

Source: koreatimes.co.kr

Conclusion (14 March 2008): The PS3 is gaining market share on the 360 fast, the install base is now assumed to be around 11-12 million worldwide and the future outlook is quite rosy considering the line-up of games, increase of HD penetration and Blu-Ray movie sales and new anticipated services.

Update 2: By the end of March 2008, Sony sold 12.85 million PS3s to retailers worldwide. (in an equal timeframe Microsoft sold 11 million to retailers worlwide by the end of March 2007)

Microsoft sold 19 million 360s to retailers worldwide by the end of March 2008.

Overall the 360 is now being outsold by the PS3 in all major regions for 2008 so far and Microsoft has lost the HD DVD battle, however Microsoft has cut the price in Europe which may improve the 360 market position there, but this may also somewhat slow sales back in the States as people are now expecting a price cut there as well. The install base is assumed to be around 17-18 million worldwide.

From Sony's latest fiscal year gaming division report:

Discussion 15th of May 2008: Looking at the times and sales figures it can now be assumed the PS3 sold between 13-14 million to retailers worlwide and the 360 sold between 19-20 million to retailers wordwide, about 6 million of a sales gap in between.

 

[nofi]

I dislike it when people do this, but: tagged for later. Looks like an interesting read.

 

[theBishop]

I can't believe anyone would care enough about sales to read this (let alone write it!). But I'm sure Gaf will prove me wrong.

At least add an Executive* Summary


*:lol

 

[SnakeswithLasers]

I can't believe anyone would care enough about sales to read this (let alone write it!). But I'm sure Gaf will prove me wrong.

At least add an Executive* Summary


*:lol

Sales-age and console-warz make people do crazy things.

 

[IzumiK]

All I did was look at some of the sales and the conclusion...

Good news.

 

[Epiphyte]

I appreciate the effort, but isn't trying to analyze the current market while ignoring the Wii a bit like discussing the presidential election while leaving out Obama?

 

[MikeB]

I dislike it when people do this, but: tagged for later. Looks like an interesting read.

I couldn't find any good write-up of all the data, only snips from different regions scattered around on the internet. I have been following sales trends and have had discussions with many people, so this is my attempt to provide a clearer view on things. I hope some will like it.

 

[FrankT]

Not this shit again.

 

[Raist]

At least add an Executive* Summary
*:lol

Japan : "Micorosoftu ? The hell is this ? Is it food ?"
Europe : "We dun care 'bout teh 360 lulz" UK : "No wait, we do" Europe : "Fine but you eat shitty food and don't even use euro as currency" UK : "stfu"
USA : "we mus protek national products"

 

[tanod]

Will probably bookmark to read later but I'm waiting on jvm's analysis since he usually gets some more direct help from NPD.

 

[Guy Legend]

.Americas and the United States:

The XBox' and XBox 360's by far most strongly performing market and there are still millions of XBox fans here who still haven't upgraded to the 360 despite their console was discontinued and left unsupported since 2 and a half years ago and the 360 received sequels for all its most popular games.

I'm curious as to how you made this statement, although it's not at all something I disagree with. In fact, I am one of those original Xbox adopters who have yet to purchase an XB360. It's just that most people assume that most original Xbox owners bought a XB360. If I recall correctly, the word around a year ago (I believe) was that 50% of XB360 buyers were new customers to the brand, meaning there would in fact be a tremendous amount of Xbox 1 owners like myself.

 

[Psychotext]

OP makes me avoid this thread like the plague... sorry.

 

[Phobophile]

I dislike it when people do this, but: tagged for later. Looks like an interesting read.

Thread tools -> Subscribe to this thread

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

I can't believe anyone would care enough about sales to read this (let alone write it!). But I'm sure Gaf will prove me wrong.

At least add an Executive* Summary


*:lol

Oh, I read it.

It's a lot of work mystifyingly done when you consider how slanted the article is. Reams of data about how well the PS3 is doing and only concrete data about how the 360 is doing poorly, along with vague assessments of their current initiatives, like XBLVM, "probably not doing that great". That somehow Blu-Ray is definitively on the rise and yet simultaneously there hasn't been any evidence of Downloads gaining any traction. (AppleTV? Okay, but how about iTMS?)

But as a summary paragraph, this just about says it all:

But let's see what the market conditions are today, this on the eve of highly anticipated PS3 exclusives to be released this year as well as new interesting services like Home and PlayTV soon to be introduced. With regard to the Xbox 360, all of the most popular XBox titles have already seen 360 sequels and combined with the early demise of the original XBox pushed many of its fans towards upgrading with Microsoft capitalizing on the platform's one year headstart for Japan and North America and at least a 1 year and 5 months headstart for much of the rest of the world.

It seems like the primary basis for 360 arguments is the "Early Shitcanning Of The Xbox" approach, which discounts the impact of games like Gears Of War 2 and new franchises that are either exclusive to the console or got their initial primary userbase there (Mass Effect, Rock Band, et al).

It seemed like a slanted look at the current landscape, but I'm sure there will be people who disagree.

 

[MikeB]

I'm curious as to how you made this statement, although it's not at all something I disagree with. In fact, I am one of those original Xbox adopters who have yet to purchase an XB360. It's just that most people assume that most original Xbox owners bought a XB360. If I recall correctly, the word around a year ago (I believe) was that 50% of XB360 buyers were new customers to the brand, meaning there would in fact be a tremendous amount of Xbox 1 owners like myself.

Microsoft shipped 16.42 million XBox units for America. So far the install base for the United States which accounts for the bulk of sales is less than 10 million according to Microsoft's latest NPD comments.

 

[theBishop]

Oh, I read it.

It's a lot of work mystifyingly done when you consider how slanted the article is. Reams of data about how well the PS3 is doing and only concrete data about how the 360 is doing poorly, along with vague assessments of their current initiatives, like XBLVM, "probably not doing that great". That somehow Blu-Ray is definitively on the rise and yet simultaneously there hasn't been any evidence of Downloads gaining any traction. (AppleTV? Okay, but how about iTMS?)

But as a summary paragraph, this just about says it all:



It seems like the primary basis for 360 arguments is the "Early Shitcanning Of The Xbox" approach, which discounts the impact of games like Gears Of War 2 and new franchises that are either exclusive to the console or got their initial primary userbase there (Mass Effect, Rock Band, et al).

It seemed like a slanted look at the current landscape, but I'm sure there will be people who disagree.

Reading tripe: its a dirty job, but someone has to will do it. Thanks Birdie.

Its bad enough that so many people on GAF care about the health and wellbeing of multinational corporations (not even employees, shareholders, etcs), but then the threads are always garbage to boot.

 

[SRG01]

As much as I am a PS3 supporter, this thread is bad.

The 360 is very much a strong performer in North America. In fact, it is a definite lock for #2 (Wii being #1, of course) unless the PS3 can substantially outsell the 360 for at least a year or more. And that scenario is not very likely to happen.

 

[MikeB]

It seems like the primary basis for 360 arguments is the "Early Shitcanning Of The Xbox" approach, which discounts the impact of games like Gears Of War 2 and new franchises that are either exclusive to the console or got their initial primary userbase there (Mass Effect, Rock Band, et al).

It seemed like a slanted look at the current landscape, but I'm sure there will be people who disagree.

I stated both platforms have anticipated games for 2008. But overall analysts give the edge to the PS3 line-up. I agree GTA IV (multi-platform though) and Gears 2 (sequel to existing 360 game, may not attract different audiences) are the two most anticipated games for the 360 this year.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Reading tripe: its a dirty job, but someone has to will do it. Thanks Birdie.

I live to give.

 

[acevans2]

Good to see PS3 software is doing alright outside of America.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

I stated both platforms have anticipated games for 2008. But overall analysts give the edge to the PS3 line-up. I agree GTA IV (multi-platform though) and Gears 2 (sequel to existing 360 game, may not attract different audiences) are the two most anticipated games for the 360 this year.

I was more concerned with the overall structure of it. When you devote reams of data to EU, where the PS3 is doing better, and only a handful of paragraphs with barely any data at all, especially after several months of intriguing NPD trends backed up by hard numbers, to the NA landscape, it just doesn't look evenhanded at all.

 

[MobiusPigeon]

:lol @ the entire analization being torn to shit once GTA4 hits.

 

[SRG01]

I was more concerned with the overall structure of it. When you devote reams of data to EU, where the PS3 is doing better, and only a handful of paragraphs with barely any data at all, especially after several months of intriguing NPD trends backed up by hard numbers, to the NA landscape, it just doesn't look evenhanded at all.

The recent graphs in the NPD thread are the best way to do this. Having a strict numerical method gives a lot more information than a lot of qualitative data that can go either way.

 

[FrankT]

As much as I am a PS3 supporter, this thread is bad.

The 360 is very much a strong performer in North America. In fact, it is a definite lock for #2 (Wii being #1, of course) unless the PS3 can substantially outsell the 360 for at least a year or more. And that scenario is not very likely to happen.

They always are and usually locked pretty quickly to boot. Nothing new however, same ole, same ole.

 

[Kapsama]

Japan : "Micorosoftu ? The hell is this ? Is it food ?"
Europe : "We dun care 'bout teh 360 lulz" UK : "No wait, we do" Europe : "Fine but you eat shitty food and don't even use euro as currency" UK : "stfu"
USA : "we mus protek national products"

:lol :lol

 

[Mojovonio]

-Very long
-Pro Sony
-Anti MS

Yep, MikeB is at it again!

I can't fathom what your day entails if you take the time to make shit like this.

 

[watership]

So, XBOX 360 sucks, and PS3 ROCKS!

 

[mr_bishiuk]

What a waste of time, if you are going to write such a long article at least try to be objective

Is it me or are the nutters getting worse?

 

[Mojovonio]

What a waste of time, if you are going to write such a long article at least try to be objective

Is it me or are the nutters getting worse?

You've never met MikeB before?

He's always been this way.

 

[MikeB]

Any additional input would be appreciated. Please share your perspective on the provided data.

 

[stotch]

I stated both platforms have anticipated games for 2008. But overall analysts give the edge to the PS3 line-up. I agree GTA IV (multi-platform though) and Gears 2 (sequel to existing 360 game, may not attract different audiences) are the two most anticipated games for the 360 this year.

You can't diss the 360 userbase (as much) after LO NA and apparent EU sales. IU and ToV have the chance to do something (hopes desperately).

 

[mabuza]

thread is too sony biased.

 

[rjcc]

philip swann is a moron.

 

[SRG01]

Any additional input would be appreciated. Please share your perspective on the provided data.

As we've said before, the data is weak and mostly non-numerical. It needs a lot more graphs and trend comparisons.

And please, a little less Xbox hating.

 

[MobiusPigeon]

Any additional input would be appreciated. Please share your perspective on the provided data.

 

[Magicpaint]

thread is too sony biased.

This. Seriously.

 

[Mojovonio]

Before page 3, MikeB will start with personal insults.

Just wait.

this thread is going to be grand.

 

[zigg]

Skimmed, so I might have missed this, but:

What about your analysis proves that HD is the factor, and not a desire for the type of games that appear on 360/PS3?

 

[Y2Kev]

I clicked the can has thread posting privileges thread

 

[mabuza]

OP makes me avoid this thread like the plague... sorry.

you avoided it so much your post somehow found itself in it. awesome.

 

[pswii60]

Before page 3, MikeB will start with personal insults.

Just wait.

this thread is going to be grand.

Just wait until he brings his sister in to the thread again, and talks about how attractive she is.

 

[Beer Monkey]

The length, it hurts me

Spoiler

that's what she said

 

[TheRagnCajun]

People need to stop bitching. There's a difference between caring about console sales as though they were pastel-coloured midget-bears that live on clouds monitering a heart-shaped care-o-meter, and merely being interested in the matter, as though you find the market intruiging. I think most mature Gaffers fall into the latter.

 

[theBishop]

Any additional input would be appreciated. Please share your perspective on the provided data.

MySQL%: delete from neogaf_threads where thread_title like 'sales' or like 'analysis';

 

[Mojovonio]

People need to stop bitching. There's a difference between caring about console sales as though they were pastel-coloured midget-bears that live on clouds monitering a heart-shaped care-o-meter, and merely being interested in the matter, as though you find the market intruiging. I think most mature Gaffers fall into the latter.

And this thread doesn't.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

People need to stop bitching. There's a difference between caring about console sales as though they were pastel-coloured midget-bears that live on clouds monitering a heart-shaped care-o-meter, and merely being interested in the matter, as though you find the market intruiging. I think most mature Gaffers fall into the latter.

I agree. Which is why I expected an examination of the current market with the benign title of "Market analysis of HD consoles" to not be so one sided.

 

[RoH]

Thanks for posting this! I found it very informative and corrected many of my own misconceptions in regards to how the software distribution looks out side of the US. Who would have guess COD4 would be doing so well on the PS3!

 

[TheRagnCajun]

I agree. Which is why I expected an examination of the current market with the benign title of "Market analysis of HD consoles" to not be so one sided.

yeah it is pretty one-sided.

 

[RoH]

I agree. Which is why I expected an examination of the current market with the benign title of "Market analysis of HD consoles" to not be so one sided.

I'm not going to fact check the numbers but if they are showing regional sales chart for the all the major systems whats so one sided about that? And if either competing console is on top, I say "To the spoils go the victor".

 

[Evander]

Just a quick note:

Microsoft was not as heavily invested in the HD DVD format as you seem to think thatthey were.

They were using the drive as a tool to add value to their system, but the fact that format failed does not leave them anywhere other than where they were before they added the drive in the first place.