PS3 Outships Xbox 360: So What?

Sony's console has apparently shipped more units than Microsoft. Allow IGN to explain why this matters and why Sony isn't telling us about it.

[remanutd55]

yea i dont understand whats the big deal, it was bound to happen even with a disastrous launch, a crazy price tag, the most expensive console on the market and lots of problems along the way it was bound to happen so whats the big deal? i think ps3 will get to 100m by the end of its lifecycle.

[Root]

The big deal is because MS and Xbox fans have been going on about being first for ages, while the PS3 drags on behind them.

Just because the PS3 now has won we now shouldn't say anything...I don't see how that's fair.

Trust me if this was the other way round and MS beat Sony this would be a huge deal and IGN would be going on about it non stop. Sony deserves a little positive attitude since it's negative article after another these days.

[Bathyj]

Hey, if they shut up about it, so will I. I will never brag about sales numbers. I just wanted this to happen so people and the games media would lighten up on the subject and lay off all the doom and gloom.

This hobby is supposed to be about fun afterall.

PS
PS3 lovers should be a bit more gracious about this too, everyone seems to be rubbing it in hard. I can understand that as its just happened after years of crap but I hope they dont go on with it for too long.

[CynicalKelly]

To be fair, the majority of people talking about xbox sales are Playstation Fanboys justifying why that is.

But it's good news that they are doing well. It deserves it for all the support they gave the PS2 well after it's time was done alone.

[miDnIghtEr20C_SfF]

Now that the PS3 has won? Won second place?

It only took what? 7 years almost for them to ship into second?

[morganfell]

"...but I hope they dont go on with it for too long."

You mean for years? The same amount of time sales figures, particularly the North American numbers only, were rammed down like it was the end all be all. You know, the numbers that ignored the PS3 late start and the truth it was outselling the 360 worldwide every year. The fact is the PS3 has been outselling the 360 worldwide since launch. Yet within 4 months magazines like EGM and it's resident jerk editor Dan Hsu were publishing pictures of the PS3 on the cover with a tomato slammed against it asking what went wrong. He even wrote that he laughed when he showed Sony execs the picture of the cover. And he had the nerve to refer to himself as a journalist. Remember that the PS3 actually outsold the 360 at launch yet no one was publishing a picture of the 360 with a tomato. And they didn't put the 360 on the cover with the RROD debacle at it's zenith.

It's been one rant after another, one PS3 is doomed article after another...FOR YEARS. And MS has been given a pass...FOR YEARS. The same people that attacked the PS3's launch price tag do not have the balls to write an article discussing the 360 launch price plus 7 years of Live and how much that cost. The fact that MS thought HDMI and Wifi were a waste. No one is discussing that and the eventual price tag. In fact trying to paint this role reversal as a ho hum matter is the order of the day. The same people that marched around the room chanting totals now want to forget the issue. No, okay? No. They saddled that pony way back when so it's time to ride. Personally I am waiting on the "Will the Xbox finish in 3rd place next generation too?" which will never come because we know if it was Sony there would be a waterfall of such articles. Now it's "So what" whereas before it was all about asking if Sony should leave gaming. Amazing how easily the prejudice shines through. At least I am honest about my preferences and do not cloak them in a pretense of lies.

[riverstars86]

In all fairness, all of the big three won. People should be happy that there are 3 big time console manufacturers that push and compete with each other. The biggest winners are the gamers. All this fanboy stuff really makes you miss out on some amazing games. My allegiance is to gaming, not a particular company, it would be a better place if everybody had the same viewpoint.

[specsmatter]

kellymeister just stfu..... you start your comment by saying "lets be fair" then like a troll say its Sony fanboys tlking about numbers lol of course thy are now bcus for years and years you had xbox trolls tlking crap about lead in sales. You reap what you sow now take your stealth troll comment and gtfo here

[rainslacker]

I miss the old days. Before the internet. When we didn't have instant access to sales numbers.

We used to have to argue on the merits of the systems and games themselves. You'd think with the internet allowing people to communicate and offer new points of view on a discussion outside our personal bubbles, that it would have gotten better. But sadly, now it's all about sales numbers, sales regions, and speculative market analysis on why one outsold the other, or why one succeeded where the other failed despite having roughly equal sales, or what one manufacturer needs to do to get ahead next gen, or why one company is doomed.

It's like the games have taken a back seat, when they should have always been at the forefront.

[BitbyDeath]

Well Said BathyJ, now lets all stop talking about sales and more about games again.

[darthv72]

when 12/21/2012 happened and it wont if the ps3 sells 1 more unit than the 360.

Where even the most diehard sony fan should give props to MS, is for them taking this generation more seriously than the last.

Stiff competition only serves to make the parties involved want to better their product over the course of time. Both 360 and ps3 have evolved into more than what we saw them start out as.

Respect to both sides for making it fun and entertaining.

[Bathyj]

Morgan, I dont disagree with anything you said, its all true. PS3 has received more (undeserved) hate than any other console or probably device in history. Hell it was in full swing 6 months before the PS3 launched. They wanted it to be stillborn.

All I was hoping for is that PS3 lovers(which everyone should know by now that I am one)always say they are more grown up and mature. Now would be an excellent time to prove it by example.

Its your choice of course, and I can understand if everyone wants to gloat a bit, its justified, but I'm personally not interested in rubbing it in, I just want everyone to get over it and get back to what gaming is about. Games.

[SonyPS360]

Outshipped =/= outsold.

[ALLWRONG]

"The big deal is because MS and Xbox fans have been going on about being first for ages"

No they haven't. Why would MS or it's fans claim first when they all know Nintendo has it? You do know Nintendo is top dog in console and hanhelds?

Some people need to wear helmets.

[TheGamerDood]

The "so what" is that everyone and their mother have been holding this over Sony's head for the longest so now that things have changed and it's the other way around you try and make the claim that it's not a big deal? lulz

[BlindGuardian]

@DK286K

with my my previous username doa766 I had counteless times tried explained to you that this day was going to come, maybe as far as two years back and you would not understand it

now that you can see how wrong you have been all this time (and if this is not official just wait a few weeks and see) let me explain you about the media issue you just raised, maybe now you will get it since it is clear as day how wrong you can be

the gaming media never gathered to arrange the doom of the PS3, it is called mob mentality, people and groups of people in particular want to see the big guy fail, it happens all the time, there is no gathering required for this to happen

I don't know you follow movie news like game news but a very similar situation to the PS3 early days took place on the weeks before Avatar came out, literally dozens of articles calling james Cameron washed up, lunatic, etc and his new movie named a failure before it came out and then it went on to become nnumber one of all time, this was because the media wanted him to failed

all the unfairness was real

[TheGamerDood]

It's not a big deal yet you people thought it was important enough to make a video about how unimportant the issue really is. ha!

[Veneno]

Dont bother arguing with

DAK286K

He'll just scream at you here and in PM , call you a fanboy, then block you.

He knows his Battleship Xbox has sunk.

[whoyouwit04]

you know the funny thing about this report is it conflicts with Sony official numbers from December, now Sony own statement was 70 mill how the hell did this report come up with more shipped numbers then the company that produces the product. there is no way any one should think this is true, the fact that you fan-boys are taking this serious shows how far your head is up Sony ass. OK if this is real can you explain why Sony or Microsoft hasn't responded to it? I understand these are shipped numbers but how the fack do they get 7 mill more then Sony and people take them seriously. Now these are December numbers so this happened way back in December and Sony just miss counted so bad they miss counted 7 million consoles, BULLSHIT, And O they also forgot that if this was true they would have out shipped them by 7 million but just didn't think to mentioned it. look it's not a big deal if the PS3 does pass 360, congrats when it happens, but it is a big deal when something is obviously not true and is being taken serious. like I said I will believe this ONLY when I hear about it from Sony.

[InactiveUser]

@DK286K
"EDIT - a quick Google search of "PS3 is doomed" returned 962,000 results. "Xbox 360 is doomed" returned 1,010,000 results." -DK286K

Your google searching is flawed. You didn't use the quotes, so you're getting articles that include any combination of those words. For example, your 360 results could say "Nintendo is doomed, I like the Xbox 360".

Actual google results for most direct references to the consoles being doomed:
293000 - "ps3 is doomed"
139000 - "360 is doomed"

The searches you used have lower results for the 360, because you got more specific with Xbox included in front:
293000 - "ps3 is doomed"
95300 - "xbox 360 is doomed"

Note this doesn't mean 139000 + 95300 = 234300 '360 is doomed' articles, it means that 43700 simply don't have Xbox directly in front of '360 is doomed'.

Alternate spellings/usages:
+4110 - "playstation 3 is doomed"
+9 - "ps 3 is doomed"
+6 - "playstation3 is doomed"

+3070 - "xbox360 is doomed"
+1830 - "x360 is doomed"
["360 is doomed" may actually include these, not sure, so I'll add them anyway]

297125 vs. 143900; at least 2.06x more PS3 is Doomed articles, forum posts, etc.

[InactiveUser]

Just a couple more examples on how DK's google searching was flawed for any possible future disagreers to what I posted above.

3230000 - animal lampshade is doomed
0 - Actual "animal lampshade is doomed" articles

618000 - mayonnaise toothpick is doomed
0 - Actual "mayonnaise toothpick is doomed" articles

[GribbleGrunger]

@Morganfell: take a look at your agrees and disagrees. I think that more or less proves that you are spot on with your comment. Bubble

[DOMination-]

Judging by agrees, Kellymeister is all right about the fact, the only people really talking about this is playstation fanboys.

Which I think is accurate. I cannot see a single troll comment on this article. It's all PS fans talking about PS. Yet, feast your eyes on the new article about Microsofts London Studio and the top 10 comments are all PS trolls. N4G is full of injustice!

[mandf]

@ Bathyj

While I tend to like your comments often, I disagree. This gen IGN and gaming media promoted this fanboy war at every step of the way. Now all of a sudden it doesn't matter. They were all wrong and now they have to eat humble pie. Sony passes the Xbox and now it doesn't matter. Way to move the goal posts.

Here's the list of crap that was reported as fact with no true discussion in the media.

PS3 will not reach 30 million console sales

Harddrive not needed

Blu-ray is not needed

Wi-Fi is not needed

It has no games

It's weak

I can't stress enough how much this crap was posted again and again. A lot of Xbox gamers tore up the internet lashing out at any and all Ps3 fans. We endured this for 2 straight years. With no relief from the mods of those sites. Even today it's has Sony lost it's way? Is Sony doomed? Sony to stay in last place? It's old and any response from Sony fans are justified.

Remember Sony has no games? Then it went Sony doesn't have exclusives? To, Sony has no AAA games? Then it went to, Xbox live is better? We went from games to social ability of a console is more important then the games. Then the status quo of exclusives moved to it's not on Ps3. Once all those arguments played out, it then moved to PC is better.

We as gamers used to talk about games. Even the media used to talk about games. Microsoft came in and muddied up this industry and the media. Playstation and Nintendo gamers used to get along and even Sega. It wasn't poisonous as it is now. The media this gen has been completely disrespectful to Sony and us gamers. Any backlash is deserved even if I agree we should move on.

[aCasualGamer]

At the end of the day, the fact still remains... PS3 managed to outsell 360 worldwide even though the 360 had one year head start. That's a pretty big achievement.

From the words of the legend himself, winning's winning.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

(fastforward to 1:20)

[darthv72]

"PS3 will not reach 30 million console sales"
technically it hasnt in north amarica or Europe or even Japan. In total it has but your comment does not specify general or specifics.

"Harddrive not needed"
I think this was more about the 360 than PS3. we all know the hdd helps on the 360 but it is needed on the PS3.

"Blu-ray is not needed"
this one is still questionable. Granted the capacity of the format is beneficial but the overall nature we were lead to believe made it seem like there would be a night/day difference in the games as compared to DVD media. We are seeing a small percentage of games that differentiate themselves in graphical fidelity thanks to that extra space. The majority of games in general look the same no matter if DVD or bluray.

"Wi-Fi is not needed"
Another one directed to the 360. It did not "need" wifi but it always had the option until it was cost effective to build into the unit. It certainly represents a nice convenience but anyone will say that LAN is the preferred method for connectivity. unless of course, you have no other option.

"It has no games"
To be clear, it didnt at first. well to be specific, many left off a key word to that phrase. "Appealing" games. Everyone finds games appealing in different ways. The PS3 had many games but it was more about if they were appealing to the individual. The same can be said about every other console in history.

"It's weak"
this one is debatable but when you look at what amounts to a $600 machine and compare it with one half the price it does make you wonder why is there such a price gap. By no means is PS3 weak but on the same note, it isnt that to dissimilar to the 360. This particular console generation marks the first time the two main competitors have been the closest matched (tech-wise) than any other before it. The biggest differentiator would be the format itself. DVD vs bluray.

I just had to ellaborate on your different bullet points but dont take the comments as a negative. MS and the 360 sold to a tough market against veteran legend Nintendo and the reigning champ of sony and managed to gain quite a bit of respect in the end.

Sony was selling against the 360 and wii but also themselves with the continued availability of the ps2. Nintendo kept telling everyone they were going after a different market but we all know they were just as much interested in the "consumer" market as much as the next guy.

Sony did good in the eyes of the gamer but it isnt us they have to impress at the end of the day with all these figures. The main goal of ANY corporation is to sell their product to the masses at a percentage that either breaks even with their initial product or exceeds it.

AS A WHOLE....the PS3 still has some ground to make up to be on par with the PS1 and PS2. Keep in mind that Sony still has expectations that have not been met while our expectations of it delivering great games has been met and continues to be met.

[gaffyh]

RE: Outship =/= Outsold.

1. No it doesn't, but there is no way we can know sold numbers other than for North America, which is tracked by NPD. And these ARE estimates, but are usually quite accurate because they are based on a small sample of real data from stores and then extrapolated, however they don't include sales from supermarkets like Walmart.

2. It does imply it though, because if something has been outshipped, it will eventually be outsold, even if it is not immediately.

---------

The other thing is, the fanboy war was stirred up on purpose to give websites like this a lot of hits. And it has worked very well in this generation, but as it is coming to a close, you'll find a lot of fanboys have calmed down a little, which is why flamebait articles are not giving websites as many hits as they used to.

Now they are spilling out the "It's doomed" articles for the 3DS, Wii U and PSVita. And they will do exactly the same for the PS4 and 720. It's the circle of games journalism, and it rules us all...

[solidt12]

According to the report, PS3 stands at about 77 million, while Xbox 360 is at 76 million. That’s despite Microsoft’s box getting a 12-month head start on its leading rival and maintaining the advantage ever since – or at least, up until last month.

[Murad]

I totally agree Root. I feel that MS instead of making good decisions, they have IGN and other companies as their lap dogs, and in a way, rather than giving something to gamers, they stop gamers from having something amazing, in this particular situation, a chance to play great stories like MGS4, or Heavy Rain, or even Uncharted, tough I didn't like Uncharted too much.

[jacksons98]

@mandf
I remember when MS went on and on about how we didn't even need HDMI

[SilentNegotiator]

Ps3 jumps a place and suddenly "UHHH, ummm, oh yeah? Who cares?!!?"

[Kran]

I can see your point.

But then it makes you just as bad as the 360 fanboys :/

Thank god I'm no fanboy of any platform. I'm multiplatformed ftw :) (PS3, 360, PC, Wii U, Vita)

[nukeitall]

The problem with these numbers is that you can channel stuff. Furthermore it is even clear how this number is obtained. Being that the competitors are so close, it is within the margin of error.

Furthermore:

"It’s also important to note that it’s unclear if these numbers were garnered straight from sources at Sony and Microsoft, or are part of IDC’s overall forecast."

http://www.ign.com/articles...

What we do know is that Sony has to make up 700k consoles minimum in a different region (than US) in December alone to just match MS in sales for the US.

That is hard to believe in my opinion when most other regions don't sell as well during the holidays.

Another thing is that it appears to me that MS is no longer competing for market share, but for profitability and ramping up for next generation.

[otherZinc]

@Root
& others PS3 Fans,

All SONY has to do is release a letter to its Shareholders with this "so-called" information of them being in 1st place.

We all know SONY's arrogance ("you will get 2 jobs to buy a PS3).

You guys would rather listen to a non credible site with no business numbers than the industries Gold Standard NPD.

When SONY releases its "sell through numbers", then you guys have some thing to talk about.

Still waiting on SONY to comment on its December 2012 Sell Through Numbers as Nintendo & M$ has already done with their Shareholders.

[Dee_91]

I think the propaganda on N4G makes it seem like PS3 was getting hated on more than it actually is.Just because there where alot of doom and gloom articles about ps3 SUBMITTED to N4G doesnt mean thats how the media felt as a whole.Like DK pointed out in the google search.
Its like that because there are alot of ps3 owners on this site ( as it should be because alot of people own a ps3 now ,hence the article at hand) and when you post negative news about the ps3 it will get ALOT of attention.If this site had more xbox360 owner it would be the same for them.

On topic this only matter to the fanboys.Xbox360 fanboys who was gloating about selling more than ps3 will be on damage control and ps3 fanboys will be gloating and acting all smug.
Before you say shipped dont equal sold.I would like to say in a sense it does as consoles are shipped by demand from my understanding.

[DragonKnight]

You gotta love the entertainment value of this piece of news. But these "journalists" are really all a bunch of hypocrites and liars so really, don't bother listening to anything they say whether it be positive or negative. They'll just say the opposite a week later.

[ShinMaster]

___

I kid. It makes no difference since they're both very successful consoles in the end.

[Diver]

the 360 is half the price of a ps3? really darth? I see the ms marketing guys got you too. add the price of a launch 360 plus 7 years of xbox live. oh while you are at it toss in hdmi that wasn't on launch 360s add wifi and a decent hdd. in uncharted terms "you've been played"

[tommygunzII]

Lol @ Shinmaster

[miyamoto]

It has never been done before!

That matters a lot to to a billion dollar giant company like Microsoft who had a bottomless pit of money not even showing complete domination of a niche industry.

What matters more is losing 2 video game generations. If you are M$ that is not good news.

I expect M$ to retaliate.

They will not go down with out a fight.

[GrandTheftZamboni]

@Bathyj

"I'm personally not interested in rubbing it in"

That's very noble (no sarcasm here), but unfortunately for most people the only way to teach them not to slap others in the face is to slap them in the face. Humans are not much different than animals:

"And Dwight is like a monkey that stabs the tiger in the back with a stick. Does the tiger fire the monkey? Does the tiger transfer the monkey to another branch?"

[HappyGaming]

In my head I always though the PS3 had been ahead for a while now simply because they have been on the market for 1 less year and still were neck and neck with the 360... Remove a years worth of sales from the xbox 360 and you have a kind of fair fight (not 100% fair because the first year 360 had no competition for hardcore gaming).

None the less the PS3 always had a slightly higher price which indicates that people were willing to give out more of their hard earned money to get it surely they must have thought it was worth it right?

This console war is just saddening I wish people could understand that this are just products and not get emotional about which one is selling more.

Do you go out and buy the tshirt that has made the most sales because its more popular or do you actually act like an adult and pick the tshirt you like the most yourself? :/

[ElectricKaibutsu]

It was bound to happen, but the Xbox shouldn't have even gotten close. It shouldn't have even been a competitor.

It's like in Rocky I, if the PlayStation is Apollo Creed, they were undefeatable. They had a perfect record and destroyed all their competitors in every match. And now here comes this upstart, Xbox. Yeah, in the last round PlayStation inevitably won the fight, but they sure took a beating.

[ElectricKaibutsu]

Due to the massive amount of people who disagreed with me I humbly beseech you to read this whole comment before inevitably clicking disagree again.

I'd like to assume no one saw Rocky and couldn't understand my brilliant analogy :), but I think what happened was that people didn't like that I used the word "beating". I guess that term was a little strong but I had this whole boxing metaphor going on. Let me clarify "beating". The PS2 sold (checks google) over 120 million units at the same point in its lifetime. The PS3 just reached 76 million. So a 44 million unit difference of PS sales from last generation is what I meant by "beating". So why did Sony sell 44 mil less PlayStations this gen? Did those people stop playing video games? According to wikipedia the original Xbox sold a little over 24 million. For the sake of argument let's say those 44 million former PlayStation 2 owners all bought a 360 as well as all the original Xbox owners. Together that's 68 million units; conveniently close to the 360's 70 million units sold. So is it not POSSIBLE that some people switched loyalties? Is it also possible that Sony execs are unhappy about that while Microsoft execs are celebrating despite the 360's loss?

My whole point is NOT that Sony sucks or Microsoft rules or anything that blind fanboyish. My point is that I expected the PS3 to knock it out of the park again, as did you, as did gaming journalists, and as did Sony. Don't you see this is why there are so many negative articles about Sony and not Microsoft? Sony was IMMORTAL and untouchable; the gaming industry's golden boy. Microsoft did the impossible and put a knick in Sony's perfect armor and proved the PlayStation brand is mortal after all. You never see negative Xbox articles because we never thought they were above failure; afterall, they sold less than 1/5 the number of Xboxes as Sony sold PlayStation 2s. There's no need to point out the failings of a company that all but failed the last generation.

So disagree with me if you want but I tried to stick to logic here. I'm not a Microsoft fanboy... I'm not even a Microsoft fan. But I have to admit, this gen they went the distance.

*Plays MP3 "Eye of the Tiger"*

[Cupid_Viper_3]

Isn't that very scenario what truly describe a champion? Someone who can everything you throw at them and still come out on top? lol

Ali vs George Foreman in Africa anyone?

[TheRealHeisenberg]

@ ElectricKaibutsu

I could not agree more, with both comments. I think most disagree because it hurts them to their core.

[FunAndGun]

I disagreed because I don't consider Xbox or Microsoft to be an "upstart".

You paint it like they are the boxer right out of High School, ready to take on the champ. When in fact they have been to college, trained in the gym, and have had many years of experience in the world of electronics, computing, software, and hardware...along with a wad of bills to compensate for their lack of experience in the console business. Would a real upstart or underdog even recover from the RROD situation?

I won't ever consider a company that is worth more money then the competition to be an underdog. Just because they were new to the console business doesn't mean they are new to business in general.

[GribbleGrunger]

@ElectricKaibutsu:

I'm not one to ignore possibilities and differing analysis, so it was my great pleasure to read your post. It's the first time someone has actually offered a perspective that doesn't sound like an apologist. Thank you for illuminating a corner of thought that I'd overlooked. I'm not saying that I can completely agree, but your comment has certainly given me much needed food for thought. bubble

[brave27heart]

Im certain that the majority of the 360's sales are PS2 owners. The thing to remember is the PS2 was the perfect storm. A solid console, tons of exclusives, no real competition. No one really expected that to happen twice did they? People saying that Sony should have a similar lead this generation are deluded. There was no way Microsoft and Nintendo could be as poor as they had been. More competition, less exclusives because the competition was better. 70 million + is remarkable really.

[tommygunzII]

And Xbox was like Tommy Gunn in Rocky V, fast upcomer that made poor decisions and didn't value what got him there.
End the end Rocky put him where he belongs :)

[Anon1974]

There's really not even a debate to be had here. The PS3 has consistently outsold the Xbox 360 since it's been available by Sony and Microsoft's own figures. That's not a secret.

What did people think was going to happen? It didn't matter how often PS3 doom articles came out. It didn't matter how often sites and magazines insisted the 360 was somehow doing better, at the end of the day the numbers don't lie. And no amount of smear articles or denial on the part of forum goers can change that.

So all those who've been denying the truth this entire time, they'll dismiss this report, and when Sony eventually reveals the data, they'll say it doesn't matter because the next gen is coming, or they'll say it doesn't matter because the PS3 didn't sell as well as the PS2 a decade ago, or they'll just ignore it and say only the US matters, or suddenly they'll point out the success of the Wii which they've been ignoring for years.

And when the PS4 comes out we'll see a slew of articles predicting it's doom, or explaining what Sony can do to make sure the failure of the PS3 isn't repeated. And they'll be talking out of their asses to a bunch of applauding parrots who'll eat it up and repeat it like gospel while those of us that pay attention to the industry will shake our heads and wonder what the hell's wrong with some people. Nothing will change.

At the end of the day you just have to sit back and realize that these people are lying to make a product seem better and they've been doing it for years like it somehow justifies their existence. They can't go a day knowing that somewhere, right now, someone is enjoying a console that isn't their console of choice, and they've got to tell them how wrong that is, over and over again. How sad is that?

I've never hid my console preference but I owned all three consoles this gen, and I'll probably own all three consoles next gen. In the end it's all about having fun and enjoying a hobby. If you limited yourself to one console this gen, you missed out.

[soxfan2005]

You're right that nothing will change. Just like you will continue to praise the data that supports Sony while ignoring the data that doesn't. You'll gloat about year over year percentages, while telling us that generation over generation percentages don't matter.

When the raw numbers aren't in your favor, you'll talk about percentages. When the percentages aren't in your favor, you'll talk about raw numbers.

You'll continue to use media bias as an excuse when your favorite console doesn't perform as well as expected. Meanwhile, the rest of us who understand the industry (and who aren't conspiracy theory nuts) will look at the real issues. Then, we'll shake our heads at the sheep who blindly eat up the conspiracy theories and wonder what is wrong with them.

You have no high ground here. You've already started a pre-emptive campaign just in case Sony starts out slowly next generation.

[rainslacker]

@sox

So...what are the real issues us Sheep aren't looking at?

Whether or not dark is a hypocrite I can't say, but I found most of his points in this post to be pretty spot on. What he talks about is pretty common to all sides of the fence, and not confined to Sony.

To me it seems that the real issue is this need by many(mostly outspoken voices) to categorically put an entire subsection of the community under a microscope, while only analyzing a small part of what makes up the whole.

[ps3fanboy4ever]

@rainslacker:

Problem with dark is, he is very biased. He will pick apart any financial article that is Xbox/MS positive and twist it until it is negative. When a positive PS3/Sony article like this comes around, he doesn't even bother questioning it.

Dark is a known fanboy on this site. I will leave it at that!

[Clarence]

The big deal is that the media and xbox fans said that this would never happen. They said that the PS3 was a failure, even though it took the 360 7yrs to do what the PS3 has done in 6yrs. All the PS3 is doomed articles.

The 360 should have been $h!tted on just as much, especially since its selling at a slower rate than the PS3

http://gamer.blorge.com/201...
"This makes the PS3 the fastest selling HD console this generation as it has only been out for 6 years in the US and 5 years and 8 months in Europe compared to its competitor, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 which also reached the 70 million milestone after 7 years out on the market."

Remember when Arron Greenberg said this.

"What I can tell you is we remain confident that Xbox 360 will not only outsell PS3 for the full calendar year, but for this entire generation. It is similar to a game of baseball, it is not about just winning one inning, but instead being able to win the game by consistently delivering across all nine innings."

The only reason the haters are saying its not a big deal because they didn't think it would happen.

Its a big deal its shows the power of the playstation brand.

[NeverEnding1989]

LMAO. The media and Xbox fans never said that. I can't know of everything, but that definitely wasn't the case on N4G.

PS2 was the king last gen and its mighty fall from grace is the most newsworthy story on this generation. Microsoft improved greatly this gen, while SONY lost nearly 50% of its marketshare.

It was common knowledge that the PS3 would eventually outsell the 360 since probably 2007. From SONY's standpoint, this generation has been a disaster.

[tommygunzII]

Well said mate. Love me some Coming to America :)

[ratcop22]

Oh well the big deal is. a Console that has way more AAA games/exclusives than it's compettitor. Has online for free. Doesn't ban it's users for complete ludacrsiy. And displays better graphics, and a diverese gameplay I wonder why it wouldn't be a big deal? A it doesn't get rrod.

[kenshiro100]

Its a big deal because if it was the other way around, Xbox fans woukd have been showing off.

And now the spin starts up. This was bound to happen.

[Urusernamesucks]

What??!

To be fair its usualy you guys who start up shit on every article having to do with the xbox.

[HappyGaming]

Having the mentality of "you guys" and "us guys" just stires things up. By saying "you guys" you are picking a side and assuming the other half all think alike.

Realise this we are all gamers.

[solidt12]

Sony’s PlayStation 3 has eclipsed the Xbox 360 in global shipments, according to a market analysis document by the International Data Corporation.

As reported by GI.biz, the document by Lewis Ward – titled Worldwide Video Game Entertainment Console Hardware and Packaged Software 2012 – 2016 Forecast – contains shipment figures for both Sony and Microsoft’s current-gen machines as of December 2012.

According to the report, PS3 stands at about 77 million, while Xbox 360 is at 76 million. That’s despite Microsoft’s box getting a 12-month head start on its leading rival and maintaining the advantage ever since – or at least, up until last month.

[WarThunder]

Congrats PS3! with all the dommed articles and negative media. PS3 has managed to outsell the xbox360!

IMO thats very hard accomplishment for any electronic company accomplishment with all the negative articles!

So called "Gaming journalists" who wrote these negative articles i have 3 words for your: You got owned!

[Sci0n]

Foreal because all those PS3 is doomed articles actually swayed some potential undecided buyers away from purchasing a PS3. People who have never gamed on a console before who looked to do a bit of research came across loads of PS3 hate and was force fed with microcrap BS.

[th3n00bg4m3r]

I wouldn't say a big deal, but it is something you should be happy or amaze about. Think about it, the Xbox 360 had a one year head-start, the PlayStation 3 was pricey, developers kept giving bad comments about the PlayStation 3, and Sony was doing terrible at their job, but the PlayStation 3 still managed to out-ship the Xbox 360. That is pretty impressive to me, but it is still not a big deal.

[IAmLee]

my thoughts on this:
http://cdn.memegenerator.ne...

[fermcr]

What made the difference was Japanese sales... unfortunately for western developers those sales are irrelevant, simply because their games hardly sell over there.

But at the end of the day, congrats to Sony for the 2nd place, congrats to Nintendo for 1st place and congrats to Microsoft because at the beginning of this generation no one believe they would sell this much.

[kikizoo]

Lol, so many butthurt xfanboyz trying to downplay the situation, like they do with exclusives (2006 "ps3 is doomed, xbox steal all exclusives ahahah" 2008-2013 "exclusives don't matter"......2006 "ps3 is doomed, they will never reach 50 millions" 2013 "so what")

"You and many others are still drinking the "media bias" kool-aid even seven years into this generation."

only blind fanboyz can deny that fact, without bias media and fanboyz like you, spreading rumors and lies, ps3 should have destroyed xbox since 2008.

[Gildarts]

The playstation FANBOYS have awakened. FYI its 'outshipped" not outsold..big difference there.

[Godmars290]

Sites like yours have been beating the gaming community over the head with the fact that the PS3 was in 3rd place, and was therefore done and dead?

And now by these numbers the 360 is in 3rd place. So that says what now?

Nevermind that the whole industry has been going down this whole gen.

(Also, why is this being submitted via IGN.UK?)

[Cueil]

Sony has been out shipping MS for a while now... MS has a much tighter turn around... while I worked as a IM guy at a local Wal-Mart I noticed we would get much larger amounts of PS3s... where as we would get 1-2 Xbox 360s every couple of trucks... of course Wal-Mart puts all the PS3s and 360s in a district warehouse, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were shipping these things out nearly as fast as they got them

[BlackTar187]

1-2 xbox every couple of trucks is a lie

[Bumpmapping]

This whole generation long with countless other sites paid off by M$ writing thousands of doom and gloom articles on how PS Brand is dead,it has no games,PSN inferior blah blah.Now them beating out 360 it "Doesn't matter" according to the morons at IGN oh the irony!

[JoGam]

Thank you man. I just couldn't find the words to say it.

[papashango]

The thing is. You guys actually do listen to IGN. They wouldn't be the top dog of the gaming journalist industry if you guys didn't.

[Silly gameAr]

If it was the 360, it would be a joyous occasion, and articles like this would never have been written.

[JoGam]

The funny thing is it already was and people did cheer. That's why I don't understand the problem now. Oh Wait I get it. smh

[Y_5150]

Why mentioned the Vita!? It hasn't been released worldwide for not even a year yet and it's already set to fail. I was a person who thought the 3DS was going to get better and it did. PSVita can do it too, it's not the PSP.

[Cueil]

Nintendo quickly dropped the price on the 3DS though

[Y_5150]

I know. I accidentally made this sound negative..."It hasn't been released worldwide for not even a year yet and it's already set to fail." Meant to have a "?"

The Vita is going to be more awesome in 2013. Lots of quality titles coming I'll be surprised if the Vita fails this year.

[WeAreLegion]

The 3DS did NOT get better. The Vita has been outpacing it in quality titles since launch, man. Earth Defense Force 2017 came out yesterday and I haven't put it down yet...except to watch Conan, obviously. I mean, come on. I'm not crazy...

[Y_5150]

Talk about a mistake....

"It hasn't been released worldwide for not even a year yet and it's already set to fail."

I meant that as a question. But I see how my error made it seem so negative! I love my Vita way better than my 3DS right now. I hate how Greg Miller mentions the Vita in that manner.

[Bowzabub]

Boohoo! Time to move on to Vita doom & gloom exclusively. Let's see... $599USD, Blu-ray, HDMI not needed, blah blah blah. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, which is more often than these lames have been over the last 6 years. Do us a favor and quit your dayjobs, Noobs. ; /

[josephayal]

Another Supreme Victory for Sony

[crazyturkey]

How dare Sony beat MS to second place(1st if not counting the Wii).......Oh the humanity. The world should have ended before this happened. Why did the Mayans had to get it wrong?

[AngelicIceDiamond]

What are you talking about? Sony didn't win anything at all?

Nor did MS.

[imtiyaz6]

It's been almost 3 years since I last visited a n4g article's comment section. It's great to see so many familiar Sony and MS loyalists still going at it, lol. BTW, I'm really happy that the PS3 has finally overtaken the 360. But you have to admit, this generation has to be disappointing for Sony based on the success they had with the PS1 and PS2.

[marigold]

It's interesting that IGN would take a muted tone to the PS3 finally overtaking the Xbox 360, and even trying to downplay it as being somehow unimportant. It's even more interesting given how blatantly anti-PS3 they've been in the past. I'm mostly a PC gamer, but I can understand where PS3 gamers are coming from.

[Veneno]

I never understood the Sony hate and unconditional love for Xbox this gen. Yes it's only right to give props to Microsoft for increasing the power of the Xbox brand by leaps and bounds this gen, but to deny that Sony brought the pain is just silly.

Why do all these lunatics have to like their xbox but wish death on Playstation? There would be no Xbox without Playstation. And yes there would b3 no Playstation without Nintendo to blaze the trail, but when Playstation became successful, no body was wishing death upon Nintendo. All it meant was more awesome games to play. But when xbox got bigger, all the sudden people want3d Sony to die. For what? To have less games to play in the world? I just don't understand the mind of an Xbot.

[Picture_Dancer]

Hate for Sony comes from desparate gamers, from Saturn and N64 users. They coudn't stand that PSX was supreme console. Then it came PS2, Dreamcast, Xbox and Gamecube. And one more time Sony had the supreme console. The history reapets one more time, and now PS3 is ocne again supreme console. There are many frustrated users of Saturn, N64, Dreamcast, X-Box, GameCube and they just can't live with the fact that PS3 is such a great console and from all these years they are just extreamly frustrated and thats why there is so mauch hate for Sony.

[Belking]

Two nerds...lol Sony doesn't like to talk pS3 numbers simply because they are being outsold 2 to 1 in the biggest market out there. It's probably a bit embarrassing. MS doesn't like to talk Japan numbers for the same reason but sony is further behind in the US than they are in japan. Wii leads xbox by a little over 2 mil in the Us. I believe MS leads sony by over 16 mil in the US. In japan Sony has a lead over xbox by 7 or 8 mil. Nintendo leads sony by 4 mil in japan.

[majiebeast]

Yeah Murica is the world! Whats this Giant continent called Europe you are talking about, or this nation of Japan you keep mentioning, are they like Narnia?

The ps3 is outselling the 360 everywhere besides the US dont get salty about that and embrace it. The console that is still pumping out killer exclusives, and new IP's in its 6th-7th year on the market took the lead, how can you be mad about that?

[specsmatter]

Ill pass you the mic . Tell us why you mad ? hahaha
You sound so ignorant lol both count shipped numbers and shipped numbers are basically sales bcus stores by them. lol what you thnk Sony and micro ship units on consignment and guessing numbers? They ship based off need and orders and get paid for them. Some of you ppl come up with the dumbest scapegoat and excuses.

[Hicken]

The biggest market is the world market, you dolt. Breaking it down to one region so that it suits your needs is fine, but it doesn't stop the whole picture from having a different image than what you'd like people to see.

Keep on spinnin, Belking. DK286K, Knight_Crawler, ALLWRONG, Sony360, miDnIghtEr20C_SfF, and the plenty of others who will come.

First there were no games. Then, when the games came, the sales were too far behind. Now that sales can't be used to brag about, what's next? Plus is a better value than Live, so that bastion is gone. Game quality is debatable(though there's no arguing Uncharted 2, is there?).

Right now, all you seem to have is DENIAL. So is that what you'll continue to do?

DENY?

Go right ahead, then.

[kenshiro100]

The river of denial.

[InTheLab]

I suppose money only counts in the US huh? This is a stupid argument.

[2v1]

well if they get paid by M$ they dont want cheer the rival but they got beat at they favorite game

[Bonerboy]

WHO . . . CARES? Such meaningless fanboy garbage. "ooo see internet! Yeah take that MS! My brand of console is Better than yours" followed by....the silence of adults not caring.

[first1NFANTRY]

we care. the ps3 is a beast. tell me how many exclusives are you getting for your 360 next year? lmao

[InTheLab]

I'd take that seriously were it not for the name "bonerboy" and the 1 bubble. One of those things could be an accident but two?

[NateCole]

Funny that a dead console just surpass the almighty x360 in sales.

[OMGitzThatGuy]

shipments

[torchic]

which are sales.

bought by retailers because consumers keep buying their stock.

[MEGANE]

Finally but, unfortunately the real winner here is microsoft that manage to secure a big chunk of the market with a faulty console, only 5 main exclusives, and charging for online, and lacking HD player, no Wirelesready (most of this gen), no rechargeable controls and small HDD. Makes me sad that crazy amount of money in advertising makes people choose an inferior console, but I also recognized sony was arrogant and made a few mistakes.
let see what happens next gen

[OMGitzThatGuy]

I don't see whats so good about the PS3 outshipping the 360 when the 360 sells more with less shipments???

I guess its the fact that the PS3 is finally outdoing the 360 in anything that is making PS3 fans think it is just brutally stomping it all around.

[IRetrouk]

Both companies report shiped numbers, no company reports sold through to consumers

[izumo_lee]

Do you know what i find really funny.

We all know with all the troubles the PS3 had at launch & the unsurmountable task of living up to the expectations of its predecessors, the inflated price tag, the 'no games', the 'hard to develop for' mentality of the 3rd party developers, the inconsistent online, the PS store being a webpage for a few years, the constant 'PS3 & Sony are DOOMED' articles, everything that went wrong for Sony did happen.

And yet the Xbox 360 was not able to BURY the PS3 up to this point despite having a year head start, being the darling of the game industry, having developer support, gaining previous Playstation mainstays (Squarenix,Konami,etc.) to be on their system, all the perks of being an Xbox Live user. Despite having everything pretty much go the way Microsoft wanted.

The Xbox 360 did not do to the PS3 the way the PS2 did to the original Xbox & that is beat it soundly & emphatically. This to me suggest a few things. That the PS brand is strong enough to rebound from perhaps the biggest launch failure in gaming history & become a potential driving force in the industry once again. And that the direction the Xbox brand has drastically swayed away from what made them be so successful during the early years that made them have that almost 10+ million lead & that followers of the Xbox brand are being more aware of that movement.

Bottom line is that IF the Xbox 360 was able to soundly beat the PS3 in term of sales like the PS2 did to its competition than none of this would be an issue. The PS fanbase would have accepted that defeat as did the Nintendo & Microsoft supporters did the last gen. Licked our wounds & make sure that the next installment of the PS brand would learn from the mistakes & have a better crack at it some other time.

Instead PS fans were forced to read constant shameless articles after shameless articles, force feeding the fanbase the insults of being in '3rd place'. Just like an animal being cornered it will eventually FIGHT BACK & if people were not ready for that retaliation.

All i can say is 'Who do you think started this fiasco?'
Just like in all sports the fans are a relentless animal & the Playstation fans defended what they cared for just like any fan of any team would after being put through all the 'HELL' they went through this gen. Hearing this news justified all the dedication it took to bring back some sort of respectability.

[TongkatAli]

Yu Narukami is making plenty of sense. If it was any other company other Sony launching with a $600 HUNDRED dollar console it would be F dead period.

I say buy all and enjoy.

[TongkatAli]

*then

[Cueil]

it's pretty much dominated it in the US... and while the US is certainly not the world it is the largest market... with a strong base here I would think MS would start to expand it's influence out of the UK and into Euro markets...

[izumo_lee]

Yeah give credit where credit is due. I have no problem with that. Microsoft did very well for themselves, they took advantage of the (in my opinion) the biggest launch failure in history from the PS3 to control that market. I also believe that when the PS3 launched the US was going through a economical downturn & Sony pricing it at $599 turned off a lot of people, as well as Ken Kutaragi's remarks of 'you will want to have 2 jobs just to get a PS3' left many very angry at Sony.

However i will say this. Microsoft better be better prepared next gen cause i do not think the public will accept another hardware debacle again. It is not very hard for Microsoft to duplicate the troubles Sony had this gen & fall out of favor with the US market very quickly.

Sony learned the hard way the reactions of the US market & the uphill battle just to gain respect back with the people. Any faults that Microsoft may have next gen can easily have the same reaction so to all the Xbox fans don't get too cocky like how Sony was earlier it may turn around & bite you in the ASS.

[smashcrashbash]

Oh my God. That is the most sensible thing that has been said on this article that i have read. Thanks for that. It is always good to see a bit of common sense in a sea of stupidity.The point is and always was that despite everything that was said about the PS3 and every obstacle that it faced and every trick Microsoft played they STILL reached this point to pass them in sales. If Microsoft ran straight past them and ran side by side with Nintendo or surpassed them like the PS2 and PS1 did we would be more then happy to admit defeat. But to have Sony's PS3 be right there constantly with Nintendo running ahead out of reach.And now they are again behind in sales.They STILL haven't dominated like the PS2,PS1 or SNES did.They were still someone's b***h this gen. Last time it was Sony, then Nintendo and the only question is whose b***h will they be next gen Nintendo's or Sony's? And all we have been hearing about how many Xbox's ahead Microsoft is and the sales for years and suddenly 'It's not important' like people who knock the game pieces off a chess board as soon as you see the opponent get even the slightest advantage and say 'that was a dumb game anyway'. And the funniest part is that if this turns out not to be true for any reason Xbox fanboys will try to save face by saying things like 'I knew it all along and I never thought it was true'. But just like last time someone claimed the PS3 passed the 360 you jumped on board and started to deny everything in a panic.If you don't care then don't jump in here saying that you don't care. Because we can only assume that you do.

[kenshiro100]

Well said.

[maniacmayhem]

I’ll tell you what’s funny…

You talk as if Sony was the underdog the whole way and was never expected to win. They came off a dominating video game system of two generations with ps1 and ps2. They literally thought that they could pull off anything they wanted to the consumer with the ps3. Kaz even went on to make very snob/high and mighty comments against the competitors that you can find on the net. They thought they would have no problem selling a system with such a ridiculous high price.

Since then, they had to trim back more than half of their features that came with the original PS3 just to start competing with the Wii and 360 on a price level. Third party companies supported 360 because they saw a chance to bring their titles to a wider audience. And because the 360 had a year head start, they wanted their titles out on the market making money. There was no mutiney/defecting as you hinted or what many fanboys claimed in the past.

No one was expecting the 360 to overtake the ps3 and it was a surprise that not only did MS dethrone Sony but Nintendo dethroned Sony also with a machine that had no Bluray, no harddrive, no HD, none of the many bells and whistles the PS3 had. This went ignored for the longest and even now among the many fanboys as they continually only focused on media biased and the eventual over taking the 360 in terms of sales.

I'm sure MS knew they couldn't "bury" the PS3 which is why they did come out a year ahead. They knew they were up against a STRONG brand name that had very long legs in the industry. All they wanted was to be a major player in the home console market which they have successfully accomplished. Not only that but they also expanded what a home console can and should do with the added apps and other features which both Sony and Nintendo adopted and followed soon after.

"Bottom line is that IF the Xbox 360 was able to soundly beat the PS3 in term of sales like the PS2 did to its competition than none of this would be an issue."

B#LLSH&T and you know it, the many sony fans from past years who kept saying wait till next year, sales don't matter , shipped versus sold or my favorite, VGChartz undertracks, have already proven that statement completely wrong. Again you act like Sony and its fans that were the poor victims and no other company suffered media biased.

[typeN8]

Yeah. So what.
Not a fan boy but Sony sells international
MS is more of a US kinda thang and kinda europe ausi too

[joeorc]

"Yeah. So what."

Well to tell you what, Microsoft has done a Fantastic job in advancing the xbox as a platform. Not saying other wise, but this is not all a "every thing is all rose's" Kinda picture also.

The larger Problem for Microsoft is not so much Sony or Nintendo, it's going to be it's own fanbase.

This is not against the xbox360 fanbase as a negative, because my family owns one, what I am talking about, is what to expect from the fanbase moving forward with support of more than one xbox platform on the market at the very same time.

Now that does not mean that the xbox360 will not still be used, No what i am talking about, is when the next xbox 720 or what ever Microsoft call's it. what happens to Microsoft's xbox360 in the market in
North America?

Both Sony and Nintendo have already proven that they can support more than one playstation and more than one Nintendo console in the market at the same time, Microsoft has yet to prove such a daunting Task.

The fact that Microsoft will have it's new xbox on the market in a year or two, the Question to ask is what's Microsoft's attempt on support for the xbox360 will be when the next xbox get's released?

if Halo is the main stay , along with Forza, and Gear's, and other ip's, will Microsoft keep putting in a real effort for the xbox360 even though the nex xbox will be out, not just one year but multiple year's for the xbox360 or will microsoft Move on if the instal base move's to the next xbox "720" or what ever they are going to call it. would many xbox360 current user's look at the next Halo being only a "720" exclusive what about the xbox360 Halo "spin off than"?

will the install base keep the xbox360 as much as a viable option for Microsoft as much as they would for the next xbox?

truth be told, deep down, I do not think so. While Microsoft has great games, i just do not think the xbox fanbase will support TWO xbox platforms at the same time, and i think Microsoft know's this. So i think that Microsoft may regulate the xbox360 as the go "to" casual box for Microsoft, while the next xbox is for the core mainly. but the point is would the instal base of core xbox platform player's support this move. once again i doubt it.

that is a problem Microsoft has that Nintendo and Sony do not in my opinion.

[typeN8]

Well put lad

[OMGitzThatGuy]

And I find it funny when the 360 stomps the PS3 in the US is all "US =/= WW ps3 is winning WW" but when the ps3 unnoficially outships the 360 its like "What ever Xbots shipments = sales you lose we win"

[wishingW3L]

always double standards with the fanboys.

[bitboi]

well this new generation console race is about to get very interesting with all these android based consoles coming out as well as what Valve has got cookin

[Veneno]

I really REALLY think people are overlooking how huge it is that Valve is making basically a PC console. It will be in direct competition with Playstation and Xbox Next. And if Half Life 3 is indeed exclusive, look out.

[League_of_Draven]

IGN is mad.

[blackblades]

They saying sh1t about vita now watch it come back and bite them in the nuts.

[first1NFANTRY]

IGN where among some of the many American gaming journalists who labeled the ps3 a failure back at launch. They have been eating M$ hand fed sh!t since and they know they can't take it back now.

PS3 has already surpassed the 360 in world wide sales and that makes alot of people mad. Sony will continue to dominate with award winning exclusives and will reach another milestone of 100 million consoles sold it's third consecutive console cycle. History in the books that no one can dispute.

Death to the bots!!! lol jks

[Philaroni]

So let me get this right, when the Xbox out ships or sells the PS3 its a big deal and Sony is failing but then Sony does it mean's nothing? Now I understand we are on the tail tips end of this generation but come on; it is not too hard to ask the gaming media for once to have a thread of constancy. If you feel differently please do comment.

[Loki86]

Xbox is still up in total hardware sales, software sales, and highest selling series.

[Angels3785]

Are you insane? Did you not just watch that? NO they are NOT up in total hardware sales....neither company has SOLD numbers only shipped and shipped numbers no matter what you say is still more money in the company's pocket....once they ship...they don't care what happens to them....its already money in their pocket! Software sales...you sir are 100% correct no games on sony's end has sold as much in total (if we are talking about cumulative # of games sales sold on the consoles).......but highest selling series????? LOLOLOL Im assuming you are referring to the almighty HALO series? YEA.....no....halo as a series....is EASILY outsold by the Gran Turismo series and the Mario Series....both non microsoft brands. Man you fanboys will hold on to anything wont you....even if its no longer true anymore.........

[Loki86]

Look at who is talking, I am not a fanboy as I own both major consoles and my parents own a Wii. I am stating what I know and have heard from several sources.

[the new king 74]

"This IDC study forecasts demand for video game and interactive entertainment console hardware and disc-based game software worldwide through 2016. Specific platforms covered in significant depth include Microsoft's Xbox 360, Nintendo's Wii and Wii U, and Sony's PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2. Demand for next-generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony is also forecast based on a set of reasonable assumptions." This is from IDC's website. Numbers are a prediction

[DFresh]

Despite all negative odds towards PS3 that console still surpassed Xbox 360.
I don't know anyone but Sony can get away with selling a console for $600 and still be successful.
Sony is in a very good position for next gen with 4K, PS+ Service, Gaikai Cloud Support and lots of 1st party support.
Microsoft is in a so-so position next gen.
People will remember the hardware issues of Xbox 360 and lack of 1st party exclusives.
Microsoft really needs to address those issues if they want to put the pressure on Sony again in the future.
Nintendo is not even in competition with Sony/Microsoft.
(Hardware specs/innovations prove that.)
I'm really looking forward to the impact of Ouya/Steam Box next gen.
(Steam Box will force down prices of games/DLC content with Valve's Steam Service and Ouya will make future platforms more open by hopefully offering mod support.)
This upcoming generation of gaming with PS4/Xbox 720/Wii U/Ouya/Steam Box is going to be an interesting one.

[WeAreLegion]

The only problem is that Sony has nowhere near as much money as Microsoft.

Which doesn't make any sense. With all of Microsoft's money, they should be trouncing both Sony and Nintendo. The main division has bailed out the Xbox division many times, so it doesn't make sense for them not to just throw money at the Xbox division for some new studios.

Regardless, I am and will always be a Sony fan. I don't usually follow, but I do follow those I respect and I respect that company. This ship, no matter my place on it, is my Home. I will sail with her and I will sink with her.

[Veneno]

I think the reason why microsoft isnt anihilating Playstation is because they entered the console business as parasites, while sony and nintendo entered as innovators. Microsoft buys exclusive content while only owning less than a handful of studios. They only entered this business b3cause Sony made it huge. When people say that Xbox took a huge chunk of playstation gamers, welll, thats because Sony did all the work.

[Consoldtobots]

the problem at microsoft is an incompetent management structure that was instituted by ballmer. MS went from an organic place to grown learn and share knowledge to a cut-throat corporate hellhole where you are rewarded for undermining colleagues you are in competition with. Basically MS has been corporatized and has NO SENSE of itself or direction. This is why all their products are late to market and fail miserably. Too many chiefs and not enough indians.

[Donnywho]

My Wii outlived two Ps3's and two 360's. That's a statistic that mattered a lot to me in my daily life. I don't get a free console shipped to me every time it decides to kick the bucket.

[Veneno]

That's because you played Wii sports once, then put the thing away.

[Phil32]

The fact that blatant trolling of the Wii gets 9 agrees and 0 disagrees, and a comment saying that one of three consoles was actually built well gets disagrees says all that there needs to be said about N4G's culture. Nothing here but moronic fanboys and trolls. So sad. What an embarrassment most of you are to this hobby and industry. Seriously.

[Monkeycan8]

@phil its not that the Wii is built well its that there's barely anything inside for it to even break. The Wii is the bare minimum of what a gaming console could be this generation. Now saying that I love my Wii and believe its a pretty good console.

[Donnywho]

Even if that's all I did with my Wii, that would have still been enough to kill a launch 360.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

If you count only working consoles the PS3 passed the Xbox 360 a long time ago.

But the bigger story here is this whole PR bluff. (And lol, IGN is involved, the old reliable corporate lap dog.)

This is Sony's way of trying to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Sony combined PS2 and PS3 shipments in the past year, very sleazy and very desperate. They also pushed three distinctly different hardware revisions.

Meanwhile sales numbers across the globe prove the PS3 was down in 2012. And we haven't seen PS3, PSV or PSP NPD sales data in almost two years.

The real story here is the brilliant PR department at Sony, and how they spun this story after coming in dead last this holiday season. Everyone is talking about this and it just goes to show that Sony still has real muscle in the press. And the ability to spin almost any situation.

One last thing... Sony has lost billions on the PS3. That goes without saying. They'll never recoup those losses. All you have to do to see the real winner of this gen is look at the bottom line.

Until then, try and stay clear of PR fluff pieces, message boards and fanboy agendas.

[chukamachine]

MS lost billions on the 360. 4 to be exact.

But the goodie bags from ms go along way to get dlc early and try to get games exclusive to ps3.

They even hired phil Harrison, got to be desperate.

I wonder if there was a steaming pile of shit left by sony on the floor, ms would probably try to buy for scrape it up. just to check what it was.

I hope Microsoft fail hard. Had a monopoly for far to long, and I hope apple goes the same way.

mauahhahahahahhahahah

[Nexy]

Dude, are 10 years old or sth? Never read a more immature text on this site and that says a lot...

[joeorc]

o'l brother:

"This is Sony's way of trying to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Sony combined PS2 and PS3 shipments in the past year, very sleazy and very desperate. They also pushed three distinctly different hardware revisions. "

really...ok, you want to go there sparky , lets go there.

it's not sleazy, and very desperate. its called restructuring, So as to not take a bigger loss to the growing yen in strength, than they already are!

and the PS2's production has stopped and it was not for the past year, because sony's FY starts Apr 1 ends March 31 into the next year.

and you may want look at these shipment number before making a baseless claim.

Computer Entertainment System is PS3 and PS2 you know both living room console's.

while

Portable Entertainment System is the PSP and the PSVita you know both portable game system's.

http://www.scei.co.jp/corpo...

( * Fiscal Year ended March 31)

that my friend means Sony's new year start's in Apr. so no it was not all PAST year. because wait a min the 3rd Quarter for 2012 sales is not even listed yet. but by past 3rd Quarter sales Sony has shipped every year since 2009, over 6 Million+ PS3 system's, and since there is No PS2 production anymore what ever is freaking left in the chain is it.

So that mean's the PS3 is the only current "in production" Living room Playstation Game console, no deception, no trying to "snatch victory from the jaws of defeat" it's freaking common sense in europe the PS3 did not get released until 2007. by then Microsoft had a very sizeable lead over Sony before the PS3 even freaking shipped. but here we are as of the recent news at the end of sept sony has shipped 70.2 when a month before Microsoft stated they had shipped 70 million also. its not that Hard!

[whoyouwit04]

Man seriously what the hell is wrong with you Sony fans you are saying you are a head of Xbox when these are shipped numbers, OK so if Microsoft ups the production and they announce 86 mill shipped 360 to 84 ps3 next month don't say a word. cause we are counting shipped numbers as sold so there for we are the victor, seriously stop claiming a victory that
Sony hasn't even claimed, its been over 24 hours since that report and Sony hasn't made a sound now, don't you think that's funny?

[solidt12]

Shipped means sold to retailers which means Sony already got paid for it. So yes Sony is ahead because there is more demand for there product than Microsoft's

[Zichu]

I'm not bothered whose in 1st, 2nd or 3rd. As long as they are still in business for as long possible and developers are still producing great games, I'm happy.

I own all three consoles, my 360 gets the most action due to it being my multi platform console. My PS3 has a number of JRPG's I plan to play and some other exclusives I am looking forward to.
My Wii hasn't been played for over a year, I last played MHTri and played it a hell of a lot, but other games didn't really interest me. It probably will get another game I will be interested in and I will most likely get it.

Everyone has different opinions, but I don't like the fact people stick to one company and bash another console without even giving it a go.

[Neo-Axl]

For years Xbox 360 users have used the "But the Xbox 360 sells more" excuse to avoid a intelectual arguement about the two consoles, and now that this is not the case, they seem to be lashing out as if what they were saying so proudly never mattered in the first place.

Just an excuse not to own a Playstation 3, You fools are missing out on some of the greatest exclusive games that have ever graced consoles, My friends and family are now buying PS3's and have not went back to the Xbox 360 for a while.

Games like the Uncharted series, MGS4, Killzone, Gran Turismo 5, are making people question the Xbox 360's lack of bench setting exclusive games, .. Finally, all the insults from 2007 have been washed away, the Xbox 360 is awesome don't get me wrong, but you may wanna try the PS3 before the next generation arrives.

[Indo]

It doesn't matter how you start but how you finish. Congrats Sony's PS3, can't wait for whats next to come

[csreynolds]

This is hypocrisy at it's finest.

Xbox outsells PS3: every Xbox owner and their dog reports on it.
PS3 outsells Xbox: "I don't get it. What's the big deal?"

Y'know, the grown up thing to do would be for us all to just enjoy our consoles and refrain from starting or partaking in fanboy wars. Seriously.

[BillySpandex]

Also, spot how many times articles about this is being blocked and reported? If this was about xbox this place would be littered with how great xbox is.

[MYSTERIO360]

Fan hypocrisy

[UnitSmiley]

I wonder why the 360 sells so well in the US. Could it be that the most "gamers" in the US are people who don't actually care for, nor know anything about the hobby but will do anything their friends so to stay "cool"

Yup. Every 360 fan i've ever talked to doesn't know jack about the industry, most of them don't even know the difference between a multiplat and an exclusive game. They swear by the company they see the most advertisements for and completely shun anything that isn't on their system. They are complete sheep.

IF Sony fans are rubbing this in, it's only the result of years of mistreatment from 360 "gamers", especially in the US.

And yes, the media had a hard on for bashing Sony early this gen.

Microsofts success was due to ignorant people, not because of quality.

[CrustifiedDibbs]

What a pathetic comment. You are a fool. Didn't Sony win the USA last gen? Was your "theory" the same then? This kind of pure stupidity could only come from the militant ps3 fantard scumbags that populate this horrid community.

How are the ps3 fanboys on n4g not sheep? You people swarm articles typing the same bs over and over again. On top of that, you all seem to think with the same mind somehow lol.

[UnitSmiley]

Because gaming was less mainstream last gen than it was this gen. This gen brought a bunch of people into the industry and most of them aren't even actual gamers.

The 360 fans I have met (and yes I realize my experiences don't represent the whole) were extremely vicious at the beginning of the gen. They were far too quick to trash the other consoles despite them not knowing anything other than the 360 is popular so therefore it must be the best.

That was years ago, today however most of them shy away from console war topics because they know they will lose. It used to be "PS3" has no games". Now we have more exclusives. Then it was "PS3s online sucks" PS+ begs to differ, and have fun paying for features that should be free while eating a spoonful of ads. Then it was "well, well 360 is outselling the PS3!" Really? because PS3 has been outselling the 360 for years. Now all of a sudden most of them say "Can't we all just like a console without making it a competition?"

Perhaps we could have, if you weren't so aggressive at the start of the gen.

[jaredhart]

I was at a Target a few weeks ago and talked to an employee in the video game section about how much I like my PS Vita. I asked him if he had one or played one, his response:

"No, I can't. I'm an Xbox supporter."

[clrlite]

MS spends tons of money on "marketing" here in the US.

Playstation products sell very well here considering.

[SITH]

Definitely so what. Some ps3 gamers act like their ps3 is going magically transform just because of a shipment made it to its destination. Whoopty doo.

[TheKayle]

yes everyone can sell thing losing money..good job sony

[Rebo00]

PS3 is a more popular console than the 360 is all i'm seeing.
Does anyone know if the Shipped Figures count MS shipping replacement consoles for RRoD? And the same for Sony and the yellow HDD light of death?

[tiffac008]

Sadly, there is no solid data for both hardware failures only estimates. Of course, we do not expect MS or Sony to give any data for that matter. That would just be bad press. ^^

[TheRealHeisenberg]

Seems like competition is good for the industry and the consumer. It will keep the console makers on their toes and will humble their asses with a swiftness if they get too cocky; be it a steep launch price or paying for access to multiplayer.

So when does the Next Gen start?

[ahm]

this was destine to happen sooner or later. Cod time DLC alone can't sell a console, gamers need games.

[sprinterboy]

Well I think Sony PS3 will hit the 110 million mark by the time they stop production and I believe that will be enough to come in first place in front of the wii. Anyway regardless of sales they have all shown there is a market for three consoles to all reach the 100 million landmark, what these companies will want toachieve in nxt gen is too cut into there competitors sales figures. Imagine as an example Sony took 30 million sales off MS or Nintendo or MS took 30 million extra harware sales of Sony, thats a lot of extra money in hardware and software sales, something Sony will want desperatly in there current finacial situation, this is why a good price point and coming out before MSis vitsal for Sony imo.

[TronEOL]

This is hilarious. Almost anything Sony did well, or when they released a game that sold better than expected, the excuse Xbox fanboys ALWAYS used was "Well the Xbox still sells more consoles and that's all that matters!".

Now that Sony surpasses them, they're back with "Good job, it doesn't even matter anyways, everyone should be happy with what they have".

How about have that attitude years ago when Sony/fans NEEDED the positive attitude, not some aggressor poking at their console of choice. Claiming they made a bad purchase and the PS3 was going to fail (even tho it now surpassed the Xbox360, even with the year head start and all the bad media).

It's a lesson for the future fanboys (of all kinds).

Good job Sony, you deserve this. I'm sure it'll surpass the Wii before the PS3 is done.

[AD705]

LOL this is funny. So when the 360 was outselling the ps3 the sales mattered. Now that the ps3 is getting so close to outselling them or has already done so it's "sales do not matter anymore?"

It reminds of back then when the 360 had more exclusives than the ps3 and wii from 2007-2008. Then when the wii and ps3 started to outnumber the 360 in that department the 360 fanboys said "oh it's not about exclusives its about overall more games and 360 has more (even though it's mainly exclusive)" This is when you started to see 360 fanboys claim multiplats as exclusive. It's as if it only matters when its the 360 on top of the ps3. But when the cards change and the ps3 ends up on top of the 360 in a certain aspect it's "who cares?"

It must of obviously mattered since it was the 360 fanboys who brought it up in the first place. BEsides if you look at sales 2007 and 2008 were the only years the 360 outsold the ps3. While in 2009,2010,2011, and even in 2012 the ps3 has out sold the ps3 and ppl still say that the PS3 is doomed even though it's been outselling the 360 the most successful console? Also god knows how many 360s were rebuys due to RROD.

[horndog]

It really DOESN'T matter. MS and Nintendo have taken a big chunk of the ps market. Theyve pretty much himuliated the ps brand this gen. Taking market share means a win. Ps doesnt dominate the market like it used too. Thay right there tells ya that ms and nintendo kicked ass. So playstion is in second now? Great but at what did they gain? Yeah nothing, they just lostthe biggest gaming market in the world. North america. Lol. Biggest losers this gen if you asj me. Second doesnt mean squat when youve lost so much more

[trouble_bubble]

You namedrop Nintendo but do you even have a clue how many times Nintendo has been up and down? Last online, last to disc, last to HD. One gen' ago Nintendo lost America too, selling only 25 million GameCubes worldwide. Fast forward one gen and they're back at #1.

MS likewise hasn't "humiliated" anyone. They've yet to even win a console gen sales wise, and are en route for 3rd again, while the WiiU struggles to gain 3rd party support. Momentum shifts fast in this business.

[deceptiGOD]

Seriously how many of the US Xbox sales numbers are the RROD systems? Millions of them so I wonder what the actual real number is not the b.s. Microsoft number. Microsoft was so desperate to beat Sony that them made a defective console. I love my 360 Slim but thats what the 360 should of been in the first place.

[2pacalypsenow]

Im sure if MS came on top this would read something like (Sony should quit the hardware market )

[8bitHero]

lol ign. i bet if this was the other way around it would be like "xbox 360 outships ps3: why it matters". the "journalist" on that website are so biased

[ZBlacktt]

Again, not a surprise at all. We know the PS2 is the best selling console of all time. Then the PS1 is the second best selling console of all time.

As far as shipping and real numbers. How about the fact that MS bricked over 1 million XBox owners consoles because of hacked games? So more then likely everyone of those users went out and got another one to use for all the games they already had. So that only held MS in their numbers.

Then you had the years of RROD. Which I know many just went out and bought another system. While they sent in their broken console. So again, the XBox numbers all have issues that helped it greatly.

So when it comes to real numbers. It will always be hard to say. But given the ground the PS3 made up. Sony just is the video game king. Which again, is nothing new.

Recall, the PS3 came out in Japan and the US first. Then all of Europe didn't see it until 2007. Where the XBox was a worldwide launch day one. The console was $600 and had few games on Blu-ray. Yet, here it is today with the lead.

[CidFTW]

It is a big deal beacuse tons of people said the 360 always selling more then PS3 its better then 360. Don't get mad or cry or make a bull.... post saying SO WHAT.

The 360 will not have 4k gaming so once they drop the price on them tv the ps4 will out do the 720.

[joefrost00]

What im trying to figure out is why number shipped not sold is the criteria for winning.
I play both systems but playstation fans are pathetic first fighting the 360 cause yall lost this generation lets be honest if sony ever takes top sold from MS when that happen it wont. Matter cause next gen has started
Then its wii u not a next gen console lol.
Yall are like a bunch of insecure kids that are getting defensive. And fighting about every thing cause you're not on top right now

[MRMagoo123]

Because like ppl have already mentioned if you can read that is, shipped consoles are sold as far as the company is involved they get paid for them when they are shipped it doesnt take too much to understand this unless you are herping more than derping.

[BrianC6234]

This shows all the haters should shut up. All we ever see from the gaming media is Sony is in trouble. They should get out of the hardware business. The PS3 isn't selling. This generation there was enough room for all three consoles.

[DivineAssault]

The way i see it is that BOTH companies are doing well.. Nintendo wii outsold them both & look at the type of 3rd party games it got.. #s dont really mean jack, its about the content & value u receive from these systems.. I prefer PS over MS due to the amount of games i have to choose from & the incredible value ps plus provides but some people like MS because of the user friendly UI & certain multiplats running slightly better on it.. To each his/her own.. Nx gen however, i believe someone is going down.. Nintendo? MS? Sony? who knows but i doubt all 3 will continue moving forward after this nx gen war

[PirateThom]

It is rather amusing to me that the approach this gen has always been "it's only an advantage if Microsoft have it".

Exclusives? They don't matter any more.
Media centre rather than a gaming machine? Perfectly fine.
Sales? Don't matter... unless it's US, because that's the biggest market.

I really don't understand why people defend a company who only got into "gaming" to stop Linux capable devices being in so many living rooms.

[thatsBangin]

why is greg miller wearing a ring that he got out of a cracker

[MRMagoo123]

K now we all have this out of the way and there is no more excuses for xbox fans , lets all just talk about games and how fun they are. Im really enjoying far cry 3 at mo on pc and also wow which is on pc too, what games are you guys enjoying at mo ?

[Soldierone]

Xbox 360 has been outselling PS3, so what? Oh wait that actually matters for some stupid reason. Switch it around and suddenly its a bad thing.....

Ive been saying it for years..... WHO CARES! If you don't work for them, why are you so happy about sales? Honestly.

If its selling, its fine! If its not selling at all, then there is a need to worry. Beyond that, who cares who sold more. As long as we keep them all its all good. If Sony was really "losing billions" why do they keep pushing PlayStation? Why not cut it? Why make PlayStation lead every new gadget they release? They even erupted into the phone market and tablet market using PlayStation!

Sony has had its fair share of losses on new ideas and gadgets, they are not shy about it. When a gadget is losing out, they stop it and go elsewhere. They don't keep revamping it and pushing it....

[deafdani]

"If Sony was really "losing billions" why do they keep pushing PlayStation?"

Because their Playstation division is by far their healthiest one. By a wide margin. Remember that Sony is a megacorporation comprised of several smaller corporations, and out of all them, their gaming division is the one that gives them the most profit.

[Soldierone]

Thats my point. It ISNT losing money. If it was, that side of the company would have been shut off. Sony has seen failures in the MP3 market, camera market, etc... and they take the product away and find something new.

the only one they are rather stupid with is their TV market, but that market as a whole is a struggle right now with cheap arse Chinese made companies under cutting everyone with crap TV's, and Sony won't put their name on that crap for a reason.

[deafdani]

Why people take console sales number so seriously? Why do they debate endlessly about PS3 sales versus Xbox 360 sales? Do they have the (stupid) notion that, whatever console sells the most, it's the best console?

In that case, OMFG THE WII IS DA BEST, IT DESTROYED PS3 AND XBOX 360 LOLOLOL.

Amirite?

(Please note that the caps section was hugely sarcastic, despite me being a big Nintendo fan and having enjoyed the Wii greatly).

Sales numbers don't mean anything to US, the customers. They're only important for investors, otherwise, they don't prove jack shit.

So, dudes arguing over this: why are you arguing over this?

If you want to make a civilized discusion about this subject just out of amusement, that's fine, but to watch people talking about it like their son's lives depended on it is absurd.

My personal opinion? The PS3 has been closely following the Xbox 360 in terms of total sales... but people tend to forget that A LOT of people are on their 2nd, or 3rd, or even 4th Xbox 360, due to the RROD fiasco it had on its first years... and not everyone has used the warranty, in fact, a lot of people don't, especially outside the U.S.

[Urusernamesucks]

Thats right , So waht?

[SOULJER]

WOW im glad for sony on a side note HELP! I got no bubbles. Oh why the horror. The HORROR.

[Adolph Fitler]

MS & Xbox fanboys should be disgusted, as they got absolutely smashed by Nintendo. Sony, not so much. MS had the greatest oportunity to come in & dominate heavily for the 2 gens they've been involved in the business. Sony came in with PS1 & absolutely killed it with there first foray into the console manufacturing game, against the 2 only survivors & dominant forces in Sega & Nintendo.
Everybody in the games media laughed & thought Sony would be in & out quicker than all the companies before them that had tried, including Panasonic (even Apple had a go & failed hard).

And not only did Sony dominate sales of Nintendo & Sega's current (for that time) consoles, they also smashed former biggest seller ever, SNES at 60million, with over double the SNES's install base at around 120million+ consoles sold. In comparison, MS's 1st attempt was lucky to get just over 30million units sold (without Halo, that figure would be lucky to be halved), & Nintendo with N64 couldn't even get to 30million consoles sold, I believe (& if so, it was barely over 30million, which I'm damn sure it was under) & without Mario64 that number would have suffered immeasurably (& yes, that is taking Goldeneye into account).

Fact is, that Sony is an impressive force & are going nowhere soon. They have killed it with PS3, to release over a year after 360 & now equal there sales is unbelievable when you take into account the heavy negative press that started when Sony announced the price for PS3, & from there it was uneccessary, non-stop Sony PS3 bashing for 3-4yrs, (& it's all starting again now), then PS3 launched for it's highly justified price point, & everyone b1tched & moaned, until Sony were virtually forced to lower it, then they b!tched & moaned because Sony's production cost savings included cutting the b/c feature (& us Australians & Europeaners suffered & never got the choice of it, in fact, we were charged like the feature was still there)..........
The negative press continued with the "no games" BS, even though we got two awesome new franchises in MS & Resistance.....and Sony just kept copping that kind of crap. Yet, they are still going to prevail.

So suck it all naysyers & fanboy Sony haters.

[Max-Zorin]

Nothing funnier than watching people brag about sales when they're not seeing ANY of that money.