Microsoft: Xbox 360 Will Win Over PS3 This Christmas

[Andy Chalk]

Microsoft: Xbox 360 Will Win Over PS3 This Christmas

Xbox 360 Group Product Manager Aaron Greenberg has boldly predicted that the PlayStation 3 [http://www.xbox.com] over the holiday season in both North America and Europe.

Okay, so maybe a NPD [http://www.microsoft.com] figures.) Perhaps even more impressively, the 360 outsold the PS3 in Japan in September for the first time ever.

It's a trend Greenberg believes is going to continue. "We expect to continue our price advantage over the PlayStation 3 for a long time," Greenberg told Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5065004/microsofts-aaron-greenberg-well-outsell-ps3-worldwide-this-holiday]. "And we feel confident that we'll outsell the PS3 this holiday season in North America and in Europe. We'll do it on a global scale." He also pointed out the Xbox 360's very high attach rate of 8.1 games per console, compared to a 2:1 rate for the PlayStation 3 and 3:1 for the Wii, as another reason to have high hopes for the console. "We've seen lifts across all consoles, but the Arcade is doing exceptionally well," he added.

The price cut is obviously having a huge impact on Microsoft's console sales, and Greenberg's optimism was no doubt strengthened by Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai, who said last week that Sony had no intention [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/86719] of making similar price cuts to the PlayStation 3. But the strength of Sony's commitment to that stance will be sorely tested if the reduced prices continue to drive Xbox 360 sales at the expense of the PS3.


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[Eldritch Warlord]

The PS3 has a lower attach rate than the Wii? Interesting, unless Wii Sports counts.

He's probably right, the consoles have comparable holiday lineups and the 360 goes for cheap. It's really a rather safe assumption.

 

[Lt. Sera]

Wow, i can't believe the Wii is still crushing them both combined.

 

[fluffylandmine]

Look at exclusives for 360, OK now look at the exclusives for PS3, now look at the prices.

It appears that the 360 has legions of fans waiting for any one of them. PS3 people(as in already own it and would be deep into core gaming)are the only ones looking towards the exclusives for PS3(with a few swing buyers)

Both try to cater to casual gamers and any one who'd buy the console, with the Little big planet recall this has been detrimental to SONY, as for MS they have all guns blazing into the holiday market with every exclusive that will bring in housewives and more fratboys.

The fight is fair but it turned to MS favor at a key time with price recalls, and other factors making the PS3 sit in the rear. Not for long though if they have a way to fix this.

I'm jealous of the lucky fools that get both Gears 2 and Killzone 2.

 

[Jumplion]

Holy crap! A Microsoft employee....predicting their success?

I know Malygris said that, but I just wanted to emphasize that.

 

[smallharmlesskitten]

Why is is always Microsoft who boast. Is it because they have an Inferiority complex?

 

[SomeBritishDude]

Well, this was pritty much a certainty anyway. Fable 2, Gears of War 2, plus the 360 gone down in price. The only PS3 exclusive is LBP which is great...but its not going to do as well as the other games this christmas

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

Why is is always Microsoft who boast. Is it because they have an Inferiority complex?

Why is it that people can't remember anything? Sony and Nintendo boast plenty too.

 

[smallharmlesskitten]

Why is is always Microsoft who boast. Is it because they have an Inferiority complex?

Why is it that people can't remember anything? Sony and Nintendo boast plenty too.

My beef is that they have been boasting for the last while

"OH WE CAN PLAY MGS4 WE HAV GOOD HAAARDAAAWRE!"

 

[silentsentinel]

Oh look. One gaming company thinks its console will outsell another.

In other news, kittens are cute, Southern India is hot, and I would lose in a pistol duel with Vladimir Putin.

 

[Bored Tomatoe]

The only PS3 exclusive is LBP

Resistance 2?
Motorstorm: Pacific Rift?
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation?
Valkyria Chronicles?

All of these are out before Christmas in Europe.

The only one of those I am jealous of is R2.

 

[jsouth88]

why do we always see articles about Microsoft gabbing off about the PS3 being inferior? I own a 360 and a PS3 and there are great games coming out for both, but I see more variety in PS3. I don't see anything like Littlebigplanet coming out for 360, but i also don't see anything like Fable 2 coming out for PS3. I personally believe the two are tied. And i believe people who look at the face price of a 360 and jump right in will be disappointed to find out there is no hard drive attached to it. Its like selling a half made system in the generation.

360 has Left 4 Dead, PS3 has Resistance 2 (and yes, resistance does rely heavily on teamwork in Co-op). 360 has Fable 2, PS3 has Littlebigplanet (not really related, but still two games out of the shooter norm). Gears of War 2, Killzone 2. The console started with on simple question, do you like Metal Gear Solid or Halo? I know i'm missing a lot of exclusives, but those are the ones that immediately come to mind.

It all comes down to preference, but i feel both sides aren't digging deep enough. The PS3 is a great value being an extremely powerful system with blu ray and free online play (although it is pretty quiet online), but a bit pricey. The 360 is also very powerful and cheaper (possibly due to the HD-DVD being sold seperately) and a great online community that, while needs to be paid for, is great and always has people playing, but you will have to press the mute button a lot.

Also, to respond to someone who said the PS3 is doing everything the same, I have to disagree. One main difference is Sixaxis which, while being pretty abused and mistreated, is still an interesting factor is games. Sure, you may just have to shake it every now and again, but it does add another level of depth. And the new 360 interface looks awesome, no doubt about it.

Both consoles have strengths and weaknesses, whether it be price or a good chance of malfunction. This has been a long enough rant, but it is really annoying to see Microsoft openly state that they will defeat PS3 this season, or rather to ever see it. This is a console "war", but they should keep it clean and let numbers and gamers do the talking.

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

Spoiler: words

why do we always see articles about Microsoft gabbing off about the PS3 being inferior? I own a 360 and a PS3 and there are great games coming out for both, but I see more variety in PS3. I don't see anything like Littlebigplanet coming out for 360, but i also don't see anything like Fable 2 coming out for PS3. I personally believe the two are tied. And i believe people who look at the face price of a 360 and jump right in will be disappointed to find out there is no hard drive attached to it. Its like selling a half made system in the generation.

360 has Left 4 Dead, PS3 has Resistance 2 (and yes, resistance does rely heavily on teamwork in Co-op). 360 has Fable 2, PS3 has Littlebigplanet (not really related, but still two games out of the shooter norm). Gears of War 2, Killzone 2. The console started with on simple question, do you like Metal Gear Solid or Halo? I know i'm missing a lot of exclusives, but those are the ones that immediately come to mind.

It all comes down to preference, but i feel both sides aren't digging deep enough. The PS3 is a great value being an extremely powerful system with blu ray and free online play (although it is pretty quiet online), but a bit pricey. The 360 is also very powerful and cheaper (possibly due to the HD-DVD being sold seperately) and a great online community that, while needs to be paid for, is great and always has people playing, but you will have to press the mute button a lot.

Also, to respond to someone who said the PS3 is doing everything the same, I have to disagree. One main difference is Sixaxis which, while being pretty abused and mistreated, is still an interesting factor is games. Sure, you may just have to shake it every now and again, but it does add another level of depth. And the new 360 interface looks awesome, no doubt about it.

Both consoles have strengths and weaknesses, whether it be price or a good chance of malfunction. This has been a long enough rant, but it is really annoying to see Microsoft openly state that they will defeat PS3 this season, or rather to ever see it. This is a console "war", but they should keep it clean and let numbers and gamers do the talking.

I agree with you, but I must add that the Arcade version of the 360 has a built-in half-gig hard drive.

That'll do fine if you do nothing but play games on dvd and the pre-packaged XBLA titles. And don't get too many games.

 

[shadow skill]

I'll laugh so hard if they get their asses handed to them. R2 is most likely going to just destroy Gears 2 in terms of quality, as far as I am concerned Gears 2 doesn't even exist. Halo 3 Recon looks more interesting than Gears 2 and I hated Halo 3. That said Fable 2 is definetly a good counter to LBP though I honestly think that LBP will end up being bigger than Fable 2 only because the last Fable was only alright. Besides this whole recall mess actually caught the attention of non gaming media.

 

[ellimist337]

Well, you might think Halo 3 sucked and that the first Fable was only so-so, and that's cool. It's what you thought of them, and I have no problem with that. But millions of others loved them, and will buy the next editions of each of them. Same with Gears 2. Even if R2 ends up a better game, it won't affect Gears 2 sales. When it comes down to it, they tend to be mostly the same system with a few different games. One costs way less and occasionally shits all over itself (and doesn't have some of the big titles- MGS4, R2, LBP, etc), and the other is solid and reliable, but the number of quality games, the questions about control(ler)s, and game load times and glitches are it's suspect points. Mostly it's personal preference. It just looks like more people prefer cheaper for comparable gameplay. Everybody here is right- predictable.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

Ok, let me point something out - Gears 2 won't do shit for console sales, cause all the people who are gonna buy the game, already bought the 360 for Gears 1. All the 360's got to go by are Banjo (but how likely is it that the sort of die-hard Rare fans who will be its target market haven't bought a 360 already?) and Fable II. So, its Fable II, versus Valkyria Chronicles, LittleBigplanet, SOCOM: Confrontation, Fat Princess (with all the free publicity it got its gonna be pretty big), Home, and so on.

A franchise can really only boost sales in a significant way once. Or, to do it again, it must make a significant change. No matter which side you're arguing from, we can all agree that has not happened with Gears 2 (the widespread occurence of it being called Gears 1.5 is evidence of that).

I would argue God Of War 2 was God Of War 1.5 but that didn't stop it from being awesome. Same goes for Gears Of War 2. If it ain't broke...
I agree with you that it may not shift units like Fable 2 will, but it will translate into a LOT of software sales.