PS3 Sales Hot on Xbox 360's Heels

[Logan Westbrook]

PS3 Sales Hot on Xbox 360's Heels

Excitement over motion controllers is having a significant effect on PS3 sales, pushing the console ever closer to an even footing with the Xbox 360.

Microsoft brought the Xbox 360 to market a year earlier than the PS3, and that head start meant that the Xbox 360 has always been a few million consoles ahead of the PlayStation 3. Microsoft is still currently still ahead, but recently released figures show that the gap between the Xbox 360 and PS3 is getting smaller and smaller, and may soon disappear entirely.

Currently the two consoles stand about three million units apart; Sony has sold 41.6 million PlayStation 3s while Microsoft has sold 44.6 million Xbox 360s. The PS3 is selling faster than the 360 right now, however, with 3.5 million units sold in June and September, against Microsoft's 2.8 million. This is an improvement over last quarter of around 1.2 million units and is thought to be due to higher levels of interest in the PS3 leading up to the release of Sony's motion controller, Move [http://www.amazon.com/PlayStation-Move-Starter-Bundle-3/dp/B002I0J4NE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288541703&sr=8-1].

It's too soon for Sony to start celebrating its victory just yet though, as we're yet to see what effect Kinect [http://www.amazon.com/Kinect-Sensor-Adventures-Xbox-360/dp/B002BSA298/ref=sr_1_3?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1288541743&sr=1-3] has on Xbox 360 sales. Sony has done some advertising for Move; including a new line of Move-themed Kevin Butler TV spots [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6sTiyeQ2bI], but its marketing spend pales in comparison to the hundreds of millions of dollars [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104479-Microsoft-Spending-400-Million-on-Kinect-Launch] that Microsoft has spent advertising Kinect. It seems reasonable to assume that Microsoft will see a significant boost in Xbox 360 sales between October and December thanks to Kinect, beyond the normal seasonal increase for the holiday period.

Still, Sony gaining ground on Microsoft means that neither company can afford to rest on its laurels, which is good news for consumers, whichever console they prefer.

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-10-29-ps3-global-total-snaps-at-360s-heels]









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[JediMB]

This generation sure has seen a lot of sold console units.

 

[adamandkate]

how naïve... we all know motion control has had minimal impact on ps3 says, the thing that has really boosted sales are a little more groovy! You know, get out of jail free cards. Breaking out of jail always boosts sales. hint hint

 

[xyrafhoan]

Sony's commercials are at least more entertaining than Microsoft's arty-do-things-unrelated-to-gaming-with-catchy-song advertisements. Kevin Butler does a great job for Sony and the Move is also close enough to the Wii that consumers can understand the product and easily adapt. The Kinect is still gaining interest from families, but its long-term success is by no means guaranteed while the Wii has proven its chosen method of motion control over the past 5 years, and Sony has chosen to play it safe by essentially turning itself into an HD WiiMotion+.

 

[Jumplion]

I'm not really surprised, I remember giving off plenty of charts on VGChartz (and I'd give another one if VGChartz would just let me make a goddamn chart!) that showed that the Ps3, while a year behind the 360 in sales, was selling at a faster rate since launched compared to the 360 sales in launch. I will not be surprised if the PS3 overtakes the 360 very soon, maybe in 2011, but I'm just speculating.

It seems like forever ago when the PS3 was behind about 8 million units. Time flies fast.

This says nothing about the Wii, of course. Though I have heard that sales of the Wii are stagnating a bit, but still impressive.

It's fun to see competition thrive.

 

[Jack and Calumon]

This generation sure has seen a lot of sold console units.

The PS2 has sold 140 million units. More than these guys combined. However I presume the Wii has more than both of these guys, but the article doesn't mention either.

OT: Well it took 'em long enough.

Calumon: Does that mean we can have Spyro on the PSN over here? Jack wants me to play it...

 

[GeneticallyModifiedDucks]

how naïve... we all know motion control has had minimal impact on ps3 says, the thing that has really boosted sales are a little more groovy! You know, get out of jail free cards. Breaking out of jail always boosts sales. hint hint

This man speaks the truth.

 

[Verlander]

Might have something to do with the poor quality hardware of the 360. Will take a bloody miracle to beat the Wii though

 

[JediMB]

This generation sure has seen a lot of sold console units.

The PS2 has sold 140 million units. More than these guys combined.

It's had a lot more time, though. You have to look at what the console sales looked like roughly 5 years after either the Dreamcast or the PS2 was released.

 

[Saltyk]

I wonder how many of those sales are people having to repurchase their consoles... That alone might give Microsoft an edge. Though to be fair, I'm sure some people have had to repurchase PS3s that have overheated or broken, too. I'm just pointing out that 360's do have an established high failure rate.

It'll be fun to see how this all plays out.

 

[Sparrow]

Well, I've got to say that Kinect seems to be making some kind of media storm so I guess only time will tell how big this gap truly is. This may just be me though, but I would assume more people would buy a 360 just for Kinect than people would buy a PS3 just for Move. Of the two products, I would say Kinect is definately the more... how should I put this, the more interesting maybe? By no means to I mean better, I should clarify. Kinect is just a lot different compared to many gaming products we've seen before, but in my opinion Move has a lot in common with the Wii.

Look at how far we've gone...

Bwuh? Do you work for Sony or something?

 

[Simalacrum]

This generation sure has seen a lot of sold console units.

The PS2 has sold 140 million units. More than these guys combined. However I presume the Wii has more than both of these guys, but the article doesn't mention either.

OT: Well it took 'em long enough.

Calumon: Does that mean we can have Spyro on the PSN over here? Jack wants me to play it...

As far as I can remember, the Wii has sold about 75 million units... so it's not actually as great a distance as the PS2 had against the Xbox/Game Cube.

OT: although this is interesting enough, I fear this news may cause another bout of flame wars... aaah wells, I shall just enjoy my own little gaming on my MacBook Pro (I miss my PS3... *sniff*)

 

[Jaded Scribe]

Actually, Kinect may be a hindrance for XBox. I have heard a lot of complaints about how the motion control requires a clean, uncluttered, unobstructed space to play. People who don't want to mess with cleaning, have their console in a room where furniture is hard to move, or just in a small living area that's more condensed or oddly shaped may not get full use out of it.

My personal feeling is that PS3 is just the better console anyways, so I'm happy to see they are losing the underdog moniker.

 

[v3n0mat3]

I'm not surprised, what with the advertisements and the awesome chain of games that came out this past year, and continuing onto 2011. Then there is the matter of the Xbox getting negative attention.

 

[Jumplion]

Well, I've got to say that Kinect seems to be making some kind of media storm so I guess only time will tell how big this gap truly is. This may just be me though, but I would assume more people would buy a 360 just for Kinect than people would buy a PS3 just for Move. Of the two products, I would say Kinect is definately the more... how should I put this, the more interesting maybe? By no means to I mean better, I should clarify. Kinect is just a lot different compared to many gaming products we've seen before, but in my opinion Move has a lot in common with the Wii.

Look at how far we've gone...

Bwuh? Do you work for Sony or something?

Oh, pshaw, you know what I mean, "we" as a collective term for everbody, you know, maybe I wasn't clear, yeah, probably. I mean, seriously, what a ridiculous statement that is, I mean...like, totally, haha, hilarious dude, seriously, haha, you're killin' me dude...

[sup]bring out the memory wipe, can't have him get on to us[/sup]

OT: You do get my original point, though, right?

 

[Dfskelleton]

My class is overrun with PS3 fanboys, and when one says they're actually EXCITED for move, my only reaction is facepalm. In fact, about 3 people besides me have an Xbox 360. However, one of my friends is getting a 360.
But honestly, why do we actually need threads like this comparing consoles? It's getting old and stupid. I don't get it. There is literaally no difference between the 360 and PS3 besides developers and a few exclusives. Why does everyone just HAVE to prove one is better than the other? It's stupid. If you really think PS3 is some miracle console crafted in heaven and sent down by angels and the 360 is some satan spawn piece of crap, whatever. Is there really a need to say this on almost every thread even vaguely featuring the two, even if about 2 paragraphs away? If you say yes, then I pity you.

 

[dmase]

I hope this console generation keeps going i need like 3 years before i'm making a slightly substantial income to buy another new console... you know if i can afford it between all the other crap. I'm crossing my fingers for sony releasing something that costs less than 1k.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Fascinating numbers. I would have thought that either of those sales numbers would be higher by now. Perhaps we finally found the limit for the gamer population/market.

It's still nothing more to me than numbers though; the relative quality of games has plummeted in my eyes over the last 5 years (gameplay vs graphics, market hype vs truth. We have lost sight of what really matters).

 

[katsabas]

My class is overrun with PS3 fanboys, and when one says they're actually EXCITED for move, my only reaction is facepalm. In fact, about 3 people besides me have an Xbox 360. However, one of my friends is getting a 360.
But honestly, why do we actually need threads like this comparing consoles? It's getting old and stupid. I don't get it. There is literally no difference between the 360 and PS3 besides developers and a few exclusives. Why does everyone just HAVE to prove one is better than the other? It's stupid. If you really think PS3 is some miracle console crafted in heaven and sent down by angels and the 360 is some satan spawn piece of crap, whatever. Is there really a need to say this on almost every thread even vaguely featuring the two, even if about 2 paragraphs away? If you say yes, then I pity you.

Get a hold of yourself, boyo. This is one of these threads that actually has VALID differences. I mean, even my grandma can see that this

is different than this

This thread is not about which one is better, it's about what kind of changes to the sales numbers will these two doo-hickeys bring.

I am kinda happy Sony is finally catching up. More money for them means more games for us.