Hmmph. Would you look at that? Nary a fortnight after EA proclaimed that Sony's PlayStation 3 would
best the Xbox 360 in sales during 2008, said prophecy is already starting to come true. Granted, we're only talking one month so far, but according to new US sales data from NPD Group, Microsoft's console actually slipped to third in the numbers race. Unsurprisingly, Nintendo's darling took home the gold (
again) with 274,000 units sold in January, while the PS3 slipped in just 5,000 units below with 269,000. As for Redmond, it only moved 230,000 units last month, but spokesman David Dennis boldly stated that the firm believes its third-place finish to be "an anomaly." Considering that the Grim Reaper is
well on its way to claiming the life of the 360s HD DVD add-on while Sony relishes the decision to cram BD drives
within the PS3, we're not so sure these figures won't become a trend.
[Via
TGDaily, ]
posted Feb 15th 2008 1:09PM
Explain to me why I should be surprised that people are buying more of a fairly new console over one that's been around for years & has saturated the market?
+1
Once cheaper blu-ray players get out there, Sony will have to depend on GAMES for a change. That's when it will get challenging for them.
because engadget is clearly a microsoft/sony/windows/mac/console/pc/blu ray/hd-dvd/AMD/Intel biased site.
n00b.
You should be surprised because America is Xbox turf. This is like Xbox outselling PS3 in Japan.
Take these numbers with a grain of salt though, as lots of people buy PS3's just to play Blu-Ray movies.
FYI
the soon to be 8 year old PS2 outsold the "saturated the market 360" so that argument my fine feathered freind hold no water.
No SOUP 4 u...thank you try again.
massive_98 is right. The PS3 is still the cheapest and best blu-ray player. Sony isn't just selling a game console like Microsoft is. Now that blu-ray is pretty much the winner, people are probably deciding it's time to buy into HD and looking at the PS3 as the best bang for the buck.
I agree w/ AJ- I've been thinking of buying a PS3 for the blu-ray alone as well. I have no interest in games since Kung Fu.
It's been stated. This is news because the PS2 is the only systme currently on the market that has actually reached saturation. The 360 does not even have 10% of the market share that the PS2 has and yet the PS2 sold a whole lot more.
Maybe SONY should release the PS2.5 (just at a blu-ray player to it) it it could give the Wii a run for its money.
http://htcsource.com
1. go to sonystyle.com
2. sign up for a sony style card
3. buy a ps3
4. get a 100 credit on your statement
5. ?
6. PROFIT!!!
On top of that, PS3 is technologically more superior than xbox360 right off the bat.
Unlike M$, they tried hard to beat everyone to the gate, resulting a half baked cake, RROD, sooner obsolescence. True they do offer "halo" gaming experience, better online service and gaming platform (some multimedia support).
PS3 features a well rounded product, which covers the full multimedia spectrum, BR drive and best of all (an open sourced o/s). STill, PS3 needs more kick ass games (like really kick a$$ ones)
Kudos to SEEE
P.S. to Logitech - Harmony with Bluetooth !
@ Sinai
That's not how it's done. Please stop butchering an already overused joke.
+2
The Xbox 360 had a good two-year head-start, it's getting dry. Especially the HD-DVD player, that's going to be an epic fail now.
umm it was out for 1 year before. so nice try bud and second microsoft decided to rush their piece of crap of a system thats why it has a 33% failure rate. while wii and sony are at less than 3%. its all about quality.
ps3 may get bought becaue of the bluray player but i dont know a single person that doesnt even play the occasional game so its still getting used for video games
@ sinai
How can you be Blu-ray and HD-DVD biased. Are you implying Miller Lite tastes great AND is less filling?
My ps3 is called my blu ray player while my 360 is my video game system.
PS3 plays games?
The PS3 has been out for over a year now. It's not like it's some "newcomer" anymore. Minimize it all you want but it's still something to take note of.
I'm still waiting on a BluRay player that will be 2.0 compatible AND have an IR sensor. If the PS3 had IR, I'd buy it.
Dongles are so 1998. I might as well re-join the JP1 group.
I can give you one good reason it's selling, it's $299 after SonyCard rebate. How can you pass up on a really nice $299 blu-ray player. I just bought one, and I've had the 360 and Wii since launch. Finally the PS3 is looking like something worth owning. Not so much for the games.
@ massive:
Actually, the US is PS2 turf.
The 360 looks like its going to be another also-ran. And that division will NEVER be profitable. Well, maybe not never, but not for another 25 years or so. Must be nice to run a division with no regard for profitability.
Microsoft got 2 things right with the 360: decent games and rabid fanboy support. Unfortunately, they missed with hardware quality, exclusives, broad appeal and HD-DVD. I don't consider xbox live a plus, since I don't like paying an extra subscription for something that should be included and I don't care for raving racist, misogynistic and homophobic users (ie. insecure 14yo boys). And regarding hardware reliability, this has been one of the number one selling points of consoles for, oh, forever. Stick in a game and it just works, unlike a computer.
At rip:
Actually, they are profitable:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080125-gaming-profitable-once-again-as-microsoft-reports-earnings.html
@ newgalactic:
Yes, they had one profitable quarter. At that rate, they will be in the black as a division in about 25 years.
Why? Because the original xbox lost about 7-8 billion and the 360 is about 1 billion in the red.
Rip, so it's MICROSOFT WITH NO EXCLUSIVES?!
What crack are you smoking?
@ abuzar:
Well afaik, only 3 of the top 10 rated games (metacritic) are 360 exclusive: Halo 3, Mass Effect and Gears of War. And maybe 5 of the top 20 are exclusive. Doesn't seem like a lot of exclusives to me.
Compare that to 7 of the top 20 for ps3 and 11 of the top 20 for wii.
I did say that the 360 has some very decent games. So I'm not knocking the quality at all. That said, I personally have no interest in yet another FPS so that kills about 80% of the quality games on 360 for me.
I guess what I am wondering is why get the 360 unless you love halo and fps. Yes, you save a few bucks over the ps3 and get a somewhat deeper library of titles. But you lose the hd disc. And some major exclusives, like FF13, MGS and others. Not to mention that the ps3 is worlds quieter, which is important to me.
But hey, I can also see the argument reversed. Except for blu-ray vs. hd-dvd. Which is what ultimately swayed my decision.
And like someone else posted in another thread: I just dropped 6k on a HDTV, like I really care that the 360 elite is $50 less than a ps3.
@ abuzar:
Well afaik, only 3 of the top 10 rated games (metacritic) are 360 exclusive: Halo 3, Mass Effect and Gears of War. And maybe 5 of the top 20 are exclusive. Doesn't seem like a lot of exclusives to me.
Compare that to 7 of the top 20 for ps3 and 11 of the top 20 for wii.
I did say that the 360 has some very decent games. So I'm not knocking the quality at all. That said, I personally have no interest in yet another FPS so that kills about 80% of the quality games on 360 for me.
I guess what I am wondering is why get the 360 unless you love halo and fps. Yes, you save a few bucks over the ps3 and get a somewhat deeper library of titles. But you lose the hd disc. And some major exclusives, like FF13, MGS and others. Not to mention that the ps3 is worlds quieter, which is important to me.
But hey, I can also see the argument reversed. Except for blu-ray vs. hd-dvd. Which is what ultimately swayed my decision.
And like someone else posted in another thread: I just dropped 6k on a HDTV, like I really care that the 360 elite is $50 less than a ps3.
I for one welcome our Sony PS3 overlords to take over the world!
If you're so damn rich then buy all of them. lol
Trust me it's worth it. I have my PS3 for Resistance and that's it. My game consoles are PC and the 360 and the Wii just collects dust.
I don't notice a big difference between DVD and Blu-Ray. I'm using a 65inch LCD 1080p TV over HDMI so it's not the equipment, I just don't see the big deal.
you guys are so smart! you think that "Once cheaper blu-ray players get out there, Sony will have to depend on GAMES for a change. That's when it will get challenging for them" like AJ said in the 2nd post! I wonder, how did the original XBOX do when compared to PS2? Who had more titles? I say HAD because XBOX is dead, and I loved that thing - the 360 is simply an upgrade, the PS3 is a revolution....
keep thinking Sony will have a hard time repeating history, Blu-ray won this time which is more then they could say in previous format wars, so you must be dreaking if you've got your head up your @$$ like the Microsoft's spokesman calling it "an anomaly." This isn't the Matrix, you're going down just like the Toshiba-branded format you supported.......
lol, "dreaking" = dreaming, stupid laptop keyboard
I'm not sure that's all that surprising considering the piles of PS3's laying around and the region wide shortages of premiums and Elites that went on into February.
Exactly... make no mistake about it, this is an anomaly indeed. M$ can't sell what's not there- ie: there were virtually no consoles (Elites and Pros) out there during Jan and 1st half of Feb.
There is no shortage. Find me a store sold out of the 360 premium. Even Elites are easy to find. One example: http://www.gamestop.com/search.asp?N=133+83
Check the local store results for each too. Even for the Elite, all the stores in my area are showing stock.
You bought into the pre-NPD MS spin, my friend...
If the shortage was in my head, then why could I not find an elite in any of the over 50 stores in the St. Louis area for over a month?
I checked every store twice a week for four weeks before I found one.
You can post links to all the Internet "facts" you want, but what I experienced IS fact not subject to change or retraction in the face of new "facts".
Umm Jeff.. My Prem was giving me problems and at the beginning of Jan I finally used my BB warranty to exchange the system. When I called the nearest store , they told me they didnt have any Prems in stock and were hopping to get some on one of the next trucks. They did have a few arcades and an elite in stock and told me I can uptrade or downgrade for the difference in price. They check the store on the other side of town and they were in the say state. So the next day I went and payed a whole $50 extra for my Elite.. Which was the last Elite in stock.
So YES they are short on stock or were in the First weeks of the new year..
@jeff-
Go to those game stops yourself and see where the xboxes are. The gamestop "store indicator" is notoriously unreliable. I checked a few of those stores that say they have 1-3 360's in stock and none of the stores I went to had them.
this obviously shows the PS3 is better then the 360 in every aspect
Well for $50 more you get 20 more gigs of hard drive space, a slightly more technically advanced system and a blu-ray player. I'm not surprised if this trend continues at all.
Don't forget you don't have to worry about the device failing!
Seems to me like the 360 is just hitting a saturation point. It's been out a lot longer than the PS3 and for a long time had better games too. And the whole death of HD-DVD thing surely had something to do with the jump in PS3 sales. I think the 360 still has a better game library overall.
How do you explain the PS2 outselling the 360 then, you wanna talk saturated.
i know ken kutaragi's crazier than batshit, but talking logically to zak actually defies logic. divide by zero and whatnot.
Just because the ps2 has sold more doesn't mean the 360 isn't meeting the saturation point for its priced market. The PS2 has a massive pre existing library of titles and is cheaper for both media and the system. Hell I just bought a ps2 less than a year ago for that reason, but wouldn't have dreamed of it at the higher original price. Only so many people are willing to spend 350-400 dollars on a video game system. The PS2 is cheap enough I would buy it as a gift.
But I don't actually think that is the case anyways. These are the first few moths that blueray has been unceremoniously declared the winner of the format war, and even I thought about grabbing a ps3 for HD video even though I could care less about it as a system. It was inevitable that the ps3 would start gaining traction if only for its legacy so it is hardly a surprise.
I'm sorry, did you have a point to make? Are you going to counter anything I said? If not, then why say anything?
Goddamnit sinai, did you just discover 4chan or something? That's like the 3rd meme you've used on this page...
i think i'm up to five now. trying to catch up to zak for most "lowest ranked" comments on a single thread.
I gotta admit I laughed about Sinai's last comment.
IMHO, this is all about Blu Ray. I'm considering a PS3 simply for the BD. Xbox however, has Xbox Live. That's where I'll be.
Also, why buy a standalone BD when you can get a console to boot?
Leapfrogs?
Oh please.
Congrats for Sony for being able to say they outsold the 360, but this in no way makes the console a winner in the next gen race.
True. But the PS3 at $400 offers something we can't get with Xbox 360...a viable High Def movie player option. It's got two things going for it. Even if BR players were $300, a $400 PS3 is a great deal as it gives people a real BR player and gaming platform.
Yeah, that title goes to the Wii.
Not yet. But the gap is slowly closing. M$ better hurry up and beat everyone to the next-gen's market so they can once again have a multi-million console head start.
No viable option? How about digital downloads? You've been able to download HD movies/tv shows on Xbox Live for some time now.
If you honestly think the gaming market is saturated....well, you really have no insight to the industry. I mean, as many people have said above me, the ps2 have been out for 10 years, sold over 120 million consoles, and it still outsells the 360. I'm not sure what the numbers are here, but you would think the saturation would be even worse in japan. But they're still buying them like gangbusters (Wii - 81,737...PS3 - 23,985...PS2 - 11,038...Xbox 360 - 3,615)
In all honesty, though i'm much more of a PS3 fan than 360, i must say a big contributing for this sales leap from is well, MS can't pump out their 360s right now http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/14/microsoft-drums-up-its-very-own-xbox-360-shortage/
MS is loosing out on sales, Sony is reaping the benefits, and as this has been hailed by many as the year of the PS3, i think this trend is definitely going to continue on. Many magazines have reviewed the upcoming ps3 exclusive titles and 360 titles and said that the ps3 has a better lineup.
@Jayve
Umm...you do realize that America, where these numbers are being cited from, is Redmonds home turf. You do realize that PS3 is currently outselling 360 in every other territory in the world except for NA. You do realize that in Japanland even the 10 year old ps2 outsells the 360 almost 4-1 (ps3 7:1).
fanboys from near and far, no matter what side you support/dont support...do your research.
I find it bigger news that the PS3 was only 5000, or 2%, behind the wii.
i think it's crazy that nintendo could only deliver about 274K Wii units in a month.
I agree. I think this is the bigger news here. I really think the novelty of GameCube 2.0 will wear off soon.
I bought mine just before Christmas of '06, and it's still fun.
...and by the way, you use the term "Gamecube 2.0" pejoratively, but that doesn't really make any sense...
I really think the novelty of "Playstation2 2.0" will wear off soon.
I really think the novelty of "Xbox 2.0" will wear off soon.
tyler, I disagree. If anything, it shows you don't need great graphics to sell. Hell you don't need great games either.
Jeff - I agree, you don't really make any sense. Unlike the PS2 and 360, the Wii did not make many significant graphical advances. Fun controllers, yes. New games with , yes. Same engine with NOS and a new paint job, yes. Hence GameCube 2.0
Fastolfe - I agree with you as well. You don't need great graphics (Wii) or great games (PS3) to sell. It definitely helps that it came in a couple hundred bucks less than the competitor.
This is only US console sales. The trend worldwide is that the PS3 has beaten the 360 for the past 66 weeks and counting.
I"m not making a fanboy statement, just putting out the facts. But I think this may be one of the first weeks that the PS3 has topped the 360 in the US. It should come as no surprise. The 360 came out a year earlier--1 year of people already buying/having owned that console.
Unless the PS3 sucks balls you can expect it to outsell the 360 in 2008 simply due to the fact that so many "hardcore gamers" already own a 360. Not that it will catch up by then in total sales (again, 1-year difference) necessarily.
i know eh...all these numbers are deceiving. Same thing to the box office sales, US only! >_<
It seems like US is the center of the universe or something (no offense) Look at North of the border too =P
HELLO?
XBox shortages? LMAO. When did they say that? Like two days ago before these numbers hit the public? Oh puhhlease.
There has been a shortage. There hasn't been a non-Arcade Xbox in any store I've been to in a month. You can't sell what isn't available on the shelves.
Doug:
What stores have you actually checked? Xbox 360's are available all over the net and at every store in my area. It's a rare shortage indeed when you can buy an unbundled system online at GameStop.
Ummm... all of them? Target, Walmart, Circuit City, Best Buy, FYE, etc... nobody has anything besides the Arcade.
I know one can be purchased online. But not everybody shops online.
what's the game attach rate? closer to zero than a good number.
Hi, it's the best Blu-ray player you can buy for the money (and I heard it can play a few games too!)
Last month, we learned that Blu-ray has won the format war.
duh.
do us all a favor and shut the hell up
Just a sidenote--it's really insane how pro 360 and pro HD-DVD the Engadget forums are! Take a look over at Gizmodo and it's almost the complete opposite (pro Blu-ray and console neutral). CNET too has both sides represented in their forums.
Over here, if someone simply states their opinion that the PS3 is a good system or that PS3 sales are doing well, 25 people instantly jump down their throat talking about how they PS3 has "lost the next-gen console war" etc. etc. As if 2 years into it that doesn't sound rediculous. All 3 consoles could end up being beaten by a 4th yet-to-be-released system.
I just wonder why the Engadget forum posters happen to be so biased in these cases.
It's hard being a Blu-ray/PS3 supporter here. :P
We get lots of idiots who scream at the top of their lungs about their favorite device/platform/medium without thinking that maybe the other side might have at least a little merit, too.
For one thing, HD-DVD is pretty much dead. So, their supporters don't have much to work with anymore. But yeah, I like to support damn near everything I see on here. I'm just a fan of technology in general.
I just wonder how many of those 360 fans are pro-Apple? lol..
PS3 sales was also greater than DS sales. Now the real story would be how many of those PS3 buyers already have a 360.
Seriously who cares about the unit sales on DS! The purchase of games per user is piece o' sh!t. It just looks good on the stats.
Thanks to R4, M3....
My point was DS sales are usually the highest.
NO U!
and of course, because MS is so stupid, the cannot simply market a Blu_ray add-on drive to replace the current HD-DVD add-on drive.....
because that's just "UNPOSSIBLE!"
Once again, score one for he morons writing summaries.
Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division couldn't turn a profit until the second half of last year.
Didn't Microsoft say they had huge shortages of Xbox 360's after Christmas? As much as I might like to see my favorite console do better in console sales, I think we should consider 360 shortages as possible reasons for this.
People who are buying a PS3 for a high-def movie player only need to look at how well the PS2 played DVDs. It eventually broke your system. I'll pass until we get 2nd gen players.
Funny thing is, my original xbox at home won't play dvds anymore, but my ps2 still works. Also, google doesn't really back you up on PS2s breaking from DVDs.
"Microsoft's console actually slipped to third in the numbers race."
Actually, the 360 slipped to SIXTH, behind the PS2, DS, and PSP.
Although, the PS3's boost might be due to Blu-Ray and never translate into games. Only one PS3 game (CoD4) broke into the top 10! (Nintendo had 5 and Microsoft had 4).
So what?
Sony made the decision of including a superior high def player in their gaming console. Microsoft made the mistake of not doing so.
So regardless of WHY, Sony still deserves some credit. I wish everyone would stop downplaying the PS3's new found success merely because of Blu-Ray. It is only one feature, and I'm pretty sure that people pay $400 or so for more than just Blu-Ray.
Why do I care about sales again? I have the systems meaning I get to play games...relevance?
sales = third party support = games
its a lot like supporting your favourite football team. its an armchair sport. it might seem childish , and it is , but ask almost anyone here , and if they were truthfull tuey will tell you its fun.
currently i am pro psp , ds, wii and ps3. im anti 360 because its noisy.
Andir:
Tell that to the Wii with it's horrible 3rd party support.
That's actually another interesting angle on it... historically speaking, people who buy Nintendo games are not apt to buy third party titles, so the opposite rings true. Say what you want about the "quality" of Nintendo games, but it's apparently to the point where people don't buy very many games on Nin-consoles unless it comes from Nintendo.
My point was, vote with your dollar. If we don't like the end products, cast your vote: don't buy it whatever it may be.
where are the great game sales? if people arent buying the games you arent going to get a lot of third parties making extra games if they arent going to sell.
there have been shortages in a lot of places, maybe not where a few of you live but through out most america they are short.
i've been a huge sony fan since ps1 and will be buying a ps3 around 2009 after the big games come out like gt5, i think final fantasy is coming out that year, and by then mgs4 will be out as long as they stop delaying games, which by 2009 i figure they will have the coding pretty well figured out. the only games i would like to play now are warhawk and uncharted, not enough for me to justify a purchase. blu-ray doesnt excite me right now as I, like many others do not have an HDTV yet. until then i am gonna play the hell out of my 360 with live, something that the ps3 cannot match YET.
PS3 Revenues are leading the pack By Far. It looks like the Wii might actually be hurting itself a lot by limited supply.
Hear, hear for PS3!
Wow- the misinformation around here is staggering...
Fact:
spending on Xbox 360 hardware, software and accessories was $297 million for the month, compared with $244 million on Wii and $219 million on the PS3.
The gap is closing!
The PS3 sold more than the 360 in January by 39k units!
At this rate, the PS3 will surpass Xbox 360's installed base in 180 and 2 weeks, if Microsoft stopped selling the Xbox 360.
Xbox 16,980,000
PS3 9,940,000
Difference = 7,040,000
Xbox +230,000
PS3 +269,000
Difference = 39,000
Number of months to catch up to where the Xbox 360 is TODAY = 180.5 Months
By that logic the Xbox360 will never outsell the PS2. We'll call it even.
I think you are looking at everything completely wrong. The numbers you listed are world wide sales numbers. The numbers in the article are just US sales. Outside of the US the PS3 sells very well and the 360 does not.
You are right. The Xbox 360 will never outsell the PS2. The Wii will likely never outsell the PS2 either since a new version will be introduced prior to it reaching that saturation point.
Jay:
You are right. I used worldwide totals. I've re-done the calculations using installed bases for the USA.
Xbox 10,869,080
PS3 3,866,125
Difference = 7,002,955
Xbox +230,000
PS3 +269,000
Difference = 39,000
Number of months to catch up to where the Xbox 360 is TODAY in the USA = 179.5 Months
You were right. The PS3 will catch up in 179.5 months, not 180.5 months.
My bad.
Wow, way to use a linear prediction.
I mean it's not like sales fluctuate or anything.
I don't like the PS3, but it is probably going to outsell the Xbox by 2009.
Miles:
Yes, I know the linear prediction isn't accurate because sales fluctuate every month. January is a perfect example of that. Nintendo's North American sales were down due to diverting Wii systems to Japan for the launch of Smash Bros, as one example.
Yet I am pointing out that this 'victory' is very minor in the grand scheme of things.
And yes, the PS3 may surpass worldwide sales of the Xbox 360 in 2009. It is unlikely based on all of the trends, and the fact that both systems have room to lower their price.
I see.
@ben "By that logic the Xbox360 will never outsell the PS2. We'll call it even."
Correct, the 360 will never outsell the PS2 using any logic. The PS2 had wide-spread appeal - hardcore gamers, kids/parents, and casual gamers. The 360 only has appeal to hardcore gamers, and as seen by the success of the Wii and continued sales of the PS2, hardcore gamers are only a small part of the market.
Err, your statements and numbers don't match.
"if Microsoft stopped selling the Xbox 360"
"to catch up to where the Xbox 360 is TODAY"
If MS did stop selling XBox 360 (that's zero consoles sold each month), and PS3 sales stayed at January's level (269k) it would take 26 months, not 180.
7,002,955 / 269,000 = 26.033
However, if you were to assume that Sales of XBox360 and PS3 were to remain constant (230k and 269k respectively), then yes, it would take 180 months for PS3 to overtake XBox360.
While I understand the point you were trying to make, your statements were false.