Is the PS3 Poised to Obliterate the Xbox 360?

[CrONoS]

Originally posted by Asher
Official November NPD US Retail sales numbers:

PS3: 196,000
Wii: 476,000
360: 511,300

It's pretty good for the Wii, since it was launch 19th November....

360: not bad also.. It will be interesting to see the sales of December!

PS3: No comment! (since they are not able to supply the stores)

[Asher]

Launch numbers are always high. Gamecube sold 500,000 in November 2001 also.

[Elok]

But Asher, didn't you say in another thread that the 360 should also be considered "new," since it was in roughly the same supply situation when it came out a year ago as the PS3 is now? I'll grant you that it's still not brand-new like the Wii is, so for fairness's sake let's not count the pre-ordered/reserved copies bought by the real nuts. I don't know how many that is, but I'll estimate half or more. So, let's put the Wii's sale figure at around 200K...for eleven days on the shelves. The 360 was available for the whole month. Multiply 200K by three, round down a little because it was eleven rather than ten, and you get somewhere over 500K. The Wii did at least as well as the 360, unless you think the XBox 360 is selling a lot less than it would have if it had been in stock last year.

Or am I missing something? How long has the 360 been genuinely available to non-diehards?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Elok
But Asher, didn't you say in another thread that the 360 should also be considered "new," since it was in roughly the same supply situation when it came out a year ago as the PS3 is now?

Yeah, and sales are up 100% from October and are expected to more than double in December again.

Or am I missing something? How long has the 360 been genuinely available to non-diehards?

Since January/February or so.

[DaShi]

Xplay trashed a lot of the PS3 launch games. The only one they liked was Fall of Man, which they gave 5 out of 5. The average for the rest was about 2 out of 5.

[Elok]

And yet sales are only really taking off now, it sounds like? Is this a "hot new console" figure, a function of the holiday season, or do you expect MS to sell over a million units a month regularly for the foreseeable future?

I suppose it's hard to compare; the Wii isn't in incredibly high supply, though much higher than the PS3, so as has been said before the figure probably doesn't mean much. Whereas the 360 is able to match demand, or so I thought.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Elok
And yet sales are only really taking off now, it sounds like? Is this a "hot new console" figure, a function of the holiday season, or do you expect MS to sell over a million units a month regularly for the foreseeable future?

They "took off" in February and have sustained several hundred thousand a month, which is not unexpected given that few titles were released and the console's price.

I suppose it's hard to compare; the Wii isn't in incredibly high supply, though much higher than the PS3, so as has been said before the figure probably doesn't mean much. Whereas the 360 is able to match demand, or so I thought.

It's hard to compare the Wii with the 360 for a few reasons, mainly the price of the Wii puts it in a different category of consoles.

Also, launches are usually sales spikes for a few reasons: it's typically a couple months' supply of consoles released at once, and people have been waiting for it (early adopters). It usually drops off after that point.

360 sales are surging now because it's got more games, including high profile ones like Gears of War...and it's getting close to Christmas.

[Ned]

Dumb question:

Wouldn't game designers adapt their games for both platforms making your choice one of preference for console features/quality rather than access to the primo games?

[Gatekeeper]

*shrug* Sounds like Sony's taking a few plays from Microsoft's "attitude" playbook toward consumers. Gee. Big surprise, huh?

Maybe it's just me, but I tend to think that the bigger something gets — whether it's government, business or religion — the less likely it's going to be responsive to the concerns of its citizens, customers or parishioners.

Gatekeeper

[Asher]

Don't see why Sony's taking plays from MS' playbook. MS has been well received with their support, they actually replace consoles quickly. Even refunding early adopters who paid for repairs.

[Q Classic]

I think he means more the company as a whole, not so much the XBox division.

[Elok]

Originally posted by Ned
Dumb question:

Wouldn't game designers adapt their games for both platforms making your choice one of preference for console features/quality rather than access to the primo games?

Some would. However, some of them make deals to give exclusive rights to one platform, and some just don't like dealing with a particular platform's SDK or people or something. And one platform might just be better suited for the game in question, e.g. the Wii for something requiring the Wiimote, the 360 or PS3 for raw power, whatever.

[Gatekeeper]

Originally posted by Q Cubed
I think he means more the company as a whole, not so much the XBox division.

[Ned]

Elok, one think I see is that the Xbox, having a disk drive, has the ability to download content. That has to be a significant plus if everything else were equal.

[Ninot]

I'm with Ned

GO XBOX!