PlayStation 3 Worldwide Sales Eclipse Xbox 360's

[compl3x]

While the general perception is that this generation has been "won" by Microsoft -- largely due to the Xbox 360's dominance in North America -- analyst firm IDC's data now shows a slight advantage for Sony's PlayStation 3.

In a new report entitled "Worldwide Video Game and Entertainment Console Hardware and Packaged Software 2012-2016," IDC says that Sony passed Microsoft's worldwide numbers in the recent holiday season. PlayStation 3's worldwide sales numbers now stand at 77 million, compared to Xbox 360's 76 million.

This near dead heat is surprisingly, considering that Sony got a late start in this generation, and has struggled to catch Microsoft in the U.S. and Canada. It's also worth noting that -- despite the previous conventional wisdom -- the video game market in this generation was robust enough to support not one, but three, successful home game consoles (including Nintendo's Wii).

Source: IDC via Digital Trends

http://www.gameinfor...e-xbox-360.aspx

[Yogurtmaster]

Sorry, this is false and based on a prediction and not actual fact.

[watkinsx2]

A slight advantage hardly means its been eclipsed.

[HawkMan]

These reports always seems funny to me, how there's always someone saying PS3 is catching up or has caught up... but how would that be possible when month after month, the 360 shows higher sales numbers... maybe it's just me, but it seems impossible to catch up and overtake someone when you have lower numbers.

[compl3x]

These reports always seems funny to me, how there's always someone saying PS3 is catching up or has caught up... but how would that be possible when month after month, the 360 shows higher sales numbers... maybe it's just me, but it seems impossible to catch up and overtake someone when you have lower numbers.

Maybe that is in only one region. Probably the U.S.

[MikeChipshop Member]

Always stop reading when it's not official figures. "An analyst company IDC". this always rings alarm bells because these companies make money reporting things like this and the more sensationalist the story the more they earn so take it with a pinch of salt.

I'm an XBOX user but if this turned out to be correct i'd relish it. Nothing spurns innovation like some good healthy competition!

[nekkidtruth]

If these figures end up coming to fruition, Sony should remember this as "the good ole days" as if/when they decide to put that stupid new patent they applied for into place, they're going to be praying for figures like these!

[RatherLargeBear]

Nowhere in those 'numbers' does it show that the PlayStation sales has 'eclipsed' the Xbox 360. Hell, even the original article doesn't even contain the word eclipsed

You have made up a sensationalist headline for thread views, with unfounded rubbish.

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

The source site is GameInformer. Those guys are always dead on the money with scoops and news. I believe them if they say its eclipsing the Xbox.

[HawkMan]

The source site is GameInformer. Those guys are always dead on the money with scoops and news. I believe them if they say its eclipsing the Xbox.

/s ?

[123456789A]

Maybe that is in only one region. Probably the U.S.

That's the only region that matters!

[thechronic]

It doesn't matter which console has sold the most. It doesn't matter what other people think. If you enjoy the console you have then that is enough.

I've owned an XBOX 360, a Playstation 3, a Nintendo Wii and i loved them all for very different but valid reasons.

Seriously guys, stop acting like children.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

It doesn't matter which console has sold the most. It doesn't matter what other people think. If you enjoy the console you have then that is enough.

I've owned an XBOX 360, a Playstation 3, a Nintendo Wii and i loved them all for very different but valid reasons.

Seriously guys, stop acting like children.

Good luck with that. For some reason certain people just feel the need to pledge their allegiance to a piece of plastic with components inside of it. It is why I made these signature over 4 years ago.

It dumbfounds me that 4 years later, people are still fighting about which console is better. I never got it, always thought it was childish and immature, but now I REALLY do not get it.

I mean seriously, who cares which console is better? Does it really affect your life one way or the other? Like what you want to like and move on.

So yeah, whether these numbers are true or not, I would say chances are very, very good, they will come true eventually. People keep forgetting a few very important things. US Sales are not everything. Ditto for Europe. And in a lot of other parts in the world, Sony is still known as the brand for video game consoles, which has almost everything to do with the PS 2. Also the PS3 also doubles as a BluRay Player. So that is going to push its appeal towards people for a bit longer as well. What a lot of people also fail to realize is a decent amount of the world are not wealthy. They have to wait years until they can afford a console like this. So once those people are looking at a console, the PS3 will probably be the one they go with because of the PS2's success and possibly because of the addition of the BluRay Player. So yeah, this probably will be the reality of things eventually regardless. So those who somehow get butt hurt over sales might as well just accept it now and move on with things. And or better yet, grow up and not care at all.

[AbandonedTrolley]

It dumbfounds me that 4 years later, people are still fighting about which console is better.

Me too, surely everyone knows it's the PS3 by now! /s

As others have said, just enjoy your console if it has games you like then go play them and stop arguing on a forum that it's better than the other. For me I've often thought about picking up a 360 but then I think "I already have a console with a backlog of games, why get another for a few exclusives and pay a monthly fee to pay online" that just doesn't work for me. Maybe with the next generation if the Microsoft offering seems a better option I will go that way instead. But there is still no way that I would pay a monthly sub to play online if a competitor is offering a similar machine and service for free.

[theyarecomingforyou]

Regardless of sales figures, most people acknowledge that the X360 has won the current-gen. I'm not one for console gaming myself - so I really couldn't care less - but my brother has the Wii, X360 and PS3 and he says he barely plays the PS3 or Wii now, as he much prefers the X360. It tends to be the lead platform for multi-platform titles, which is why the PS3 has had some really bad ports (GTA4, Skyrim, etc). He still buys PS3 exclusive games so he doesn't regret his purchase - it's just not his main platform.

Perception matters.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Regardless of sales figures, most people acknowledge that the X360 has won the current-gen. I'm not one for console gaming myself - so I really couldn't care less - but my brother has the Wii, X360 and PS3 and he says he barely plays the PS3 or Wii now, as he much prefers the X360. It tends to be the lead platform for multi-platform titles, which is why the PS3 has had some really bad ports (GTA4, Skyrim, etc). He still buys PS3 exclusive games so he doesn't regret his purchase - it's just not his main platform.

Perception matters.

Because your brothers opinion is all that matters in the gaming world right? :rofl:

Yes, in the US, the XBox has clearly won this generation, but go ask a Japanese gamers how often he touches his XBox 360. He will say never, as chances are extremely high he does not even own it.

So yes, perception is everything. So you may want to realize your perception is not the same as someone else's perception. And for that matter a person in the US's perception is not the same as someone in Japan for example.

And just off topic, GTA4 was a bad port on the PS3?

[TruckWEB]

Considering that Japan market is lost for the X360, I'm surprise that the number is not higher for the PS3... It should have sold allot better. After all, it was, at the time, the cheapest Blu-Ray player you could buy.

The Wii was/is a HUGE success, but seeing the numbers for the Wii U, I guess people got wiser this time around. The Wii is probably under lots of dust in many houses, so no big rush to buy the next generation with that big tablet gamepad.

[shakey]

Considering that Japan market is lost for the X360, I'm surprise that the number is not higher for the PS3... It should have sold allot better. After all, it was, at the time, the cheapest Blu-Ray player you could buy.

The Wii was/is a HUGE success, but seeing the numbers for the Wii U, I guess people got wiser this time around. The Wii is probably under lots of dust in many houses, so no big rush to buy the next generation with that big tablet gamepad.

I like both, but the reason the 360 has such high numbers for sells is also due to how often it broke and had to be rebought. I worked in the department that handled 360 issues, and the turnout rate on those things was insane the first few years due to faulty hardware. But everything about it is/was still pretty good, that the fanbase didn't let a few deaths deter them from getting another.

[HawkMan]

BluRay never took off like they expected, and at the time when the PS3 was the cheapest/best BD player, people really didn't care about bluRays as the movies themselves where to expensive and few had a full hd tv anyway.

[efjay]

How does "This near dead heat" become eclipsed?

[HawkMan]

I like both, but the reason the 360 has such high numbers for sells is also due to how often it broke and had to be rebought. I worked in the department that handled 360 issues, and the turnout rate on those things was insane the first few years due to faulty hardware. But everything about it is/was still pretty good, that the fanbase didn't let a few deaths deter them from getting another.

Except the majority of them got repaired for free, and those that sold/gave them away, gave them to other peopl who ha them fixed, so there was actually very little market loss. and lets not pretend the PS3 hasn't had a fairly high rate of fault post launch either, with the difference that just as with the PS2, Sony didn't take repsonsibility for the problems and didn't offer extended warranty repairs.

Either way they are both fairly equal in sold units, or so is the claim from some analysts, though that still seems weird since global sales numbers (Japan excluded) still puts the xbox at higher sales(US) or fairly even ground with minor fluctuations to and from(Europe). and Japan isn't big enough to balance out America,.

Still a moot point, software sales/attach rate is what really matters anyway, well for the developers/publishers. which is kind of a catch 22, as the Wii showed, low attach rate mean few third parties, few third parties mean... low attach rate...

[shakey]

Except the majority of them got repaired for free, and those that sold/gave them away, gave them to other peopl who ha them fixed, so there was actually very little market loss. and lets not pretend the PS3 hasn't had a fairly high rate of fault post launch either, with the difference that just as with the PS2, Sony didn't take repsonsibility for the problems and didn't offer extended warranty repairs.

Either way they are both fairly equal in sold units, or so is the claim from some analysts, though that still seems weird since global sales numbers (Japan excluded) still puts the xbox at higher sales(US) or fairly even ground with minor fluctuations to and from(Europe). and Japan isn't big enough to balance out America,.

Still a moot point, software sales/attach rate is what really matters anyway, well for the developers/publishers. which is kind of a catch 22, as the Wii showed, low attach rate mean few third parties, few third parties mean... low attach rate...

Not really, for the first year, you had to pay. After that, it was only those who knew about it. Many people who sent in their consoles to be repaired, also ended up buying another console while theirs was away, just so they woudn't miss out on gaming. Again, I worked there, I don't need to be told what you think about how many it was.

At the beginning, the 360 had almost a 60%+ failure rate, and up til around 2011, it was around 30%-50% failure rate. They have gotten much better, but to say it isn't that big of a deal, is just throwing away something that really did boost it's sales.

PS3 failure rate has been around 11% consistant. So no, you can't say they are even. And while they didn't offer compensation, it wasn't an epidimic as it was for the 360.

But, if you want to ignore that from someone who worked there, and saw really what it was like, go ahead.

And also, you can't say "global sales" and then exclude japan. That's not global. Could basically say the PS3 sold better in global sales, excluding America :p

Japan

Population: 127,817,277 (2011)

Again, not bashing any console, just reporting facts.

I bet everyone here has had their 360 crap out on them at last once, if they bought it around 5 years ago.

[HawkMan]

Not really, for the first year, you had to pay.

Nope for the first year you had regular warranty, even in America despite it's lack of consumer protection laws.

over here I would have had 5 year reclamation with or without MS' extended warranty. granted they actually offered free repairs beyond 5 years.

Then there's the little fact that, the RROD generally didn't trigger until a year after use, which is why it wasn't detected in the first place. the only people it triggered earlier for was people who regularly turned it on and off a LOT. causing temperature fluctuations. Being on all the time was in fact better. Regular use with being on "onc to twice"* a day and off during the night wouldn't trigger it until after about a years time or more.

*off to change disc/games doesn't count as it doesn't have time to cool down.

Many people who sent in their consoles to be repaired, also ended up buying another console while theirs was away, just so they woudn't miss out on gaming.

and as I said, these guys sold or gave the other one away, and thus, they where still in use. Also I think you're over using the word "many" a little bit. some core gamers with too much money or parents that spoil them, yes.

And actually, at the beginning the failure rate was the regular 5%, lower in fact, at around a year it hit 20%, and the 60% is only an estimate from third parties, never released as a confirmed value.

And while the PS3 failure rate was 11%, which is still over twice the industry standard, and it's gotten progressively worse. there's the difference, these 11% are effectively OUT, they're "dead", well not all of them, in europe they get repaired, and some of them would be in warranty in the US as well. but unlike the 360 the ones out of warranty don't get repaired and are effectively out.

And I didn't exclude Japan, I merely pointed out they're not enough to out balance the American sales. you also have to remember that the young" population in Japan are very small, with 60% above or near retirement age. so the PS3 target demographic is much smaller in Japan.

Also my 360 did a RROD about umm I think 2 years into it's life, and was repaired. Later I bought an Elite, just for the bigger HDD, and my old box was handed down. and my GF bought a Slim before we moved in together, so now we have one in the living room and one in the upstairs living room. so we can both play different games.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

And just off topic, GTA4 was a bad port on the PS3?

It ran at a lower resolution upscaled (680 or 640p?), but with the "smear filter" Rockstar applied to GTA4 it looks like crap on all consoles (IMO). I've been playing it again recently on my PS3 and it's still awesome, the graphics simply weren't a strong point of the game though, more so the scope was back when it was released. I do hope GTA5 is a bit less serious (at times, not 100% saints row mentality), or more fun, whatever you want to say was lacking a bit in GTA4.

With sales being so even there isn't really much to argue, the gamers have spoken with their wallets this generation and bought consoles when they have wanted to. The last few years have been good to the PS3, the start not so much, but a sale is a sale whether it comes now or 3 years ago. 2013 looks like an excellent year for the PS3 on the exclusives front (Wii/360 look to be tiring), labelling Sony the tortoise is not a bad call, they always show up with the goods, at some point :p In typical PS development fashion the best looking titles are coming out pretty late (Uncharted 2 was simply outstanding at it's time mind you, and even now). I do hope from the get go next generation we do not have the typical PS development moaning/issues/timeline, yeah it's awesome to see the PS3 produce The Last of Us now, 7 years on, but there was a lot of multiplatform pain for months.

One thing this generation has taught is the incoming console wars arguing 6 months after the release of the next consoles will most likely grey your hair, make you tired and lose you friends, and ultimately you will be waiting years for any real statistical results (that don't REALLY matter as long as your platform is supported well). In other words for the most part, completely pointless. I've learned a lot from my own experience, and a large part of that was due to growing up I guess :p

[theyarecomingforyou]

Because your brothers opinion is all that matters in the gaming world right? :rofl:

Definitely. ;)

Yes, in the US, the XBox has clearly won this generation, but go ask a Japanese gamers how often he touches his XBox 360. He will say never, as chances are extremely high he does not even own it.

All you did was point out the one territory that is the exception. Other than that most people without a vested interest in either platform consider the X360 to be the victor, as most multi-platform games have the X360 as the lead platform as the X360 version of a game usually outsells the PS3 version. Not that it concerns me, as I'm a PC gamer and think both consoles are pretty terrible.

And just off topic, GTA4 was a bad port on the PS3?

It ran at a lower resolution than the X360 version and suffered from slow down... so yeah.