Does It Matter if the PS3 Overtakes the Xbox 360?

Push Square: "According to sales estimates released by the International Data Corporation earlier this week, the PlayStation 3 is now the second-best selling console of the generation. The research firm predicts that Sony surpassed the Xbox 360 in global shipment figures this December, putting the platform ahead of Microsoft’s machine for the first time since its release. But while the report has provided the fuel for a range of heated forum debates, does it really matter which system finishes on top?"

[NukaCola]

Nope. The only thing that is important is the PS3 sells. The PS3 has some of the most amazing exclusives and even with next generation coming, Sony is releasing so many new fresh games that continue to innovate and blow minds. Microsoft can sell all the 360s they want. I want the company that makes the best games to be successful so we don't lose those amazing IPs. And I am glad to see Sony still after all these years, doing wonders.

[Abash]

Its really funny how there are so many "Does it matter" articles, I mean that alone shows what a big deal the news is.

And yes, it matters for next gen and is a victory for Sony with all they did to overcome the PS3's launch woes. PS3 beating 360 shows they turned what would have been a flop if it were anything but PlayStation into a success.

Launching a year later, less advertised, and *still* sold at a higher price yet it beat out the 360 that had so many advantages over it

[StrongMan]

Haha, I knew this would happen. For the past six years it's been nothing but sales matters but now that the PS3 has beaten the Xbox NOW the media says it don't matter. Funny that.

The Playstation brand is an unstoppable juggernaut. A $600 price tag couldn't stop it, "no games" couldn't stop it, bad 3rd party ports couldn't stop it, "no cross game chat" couldn't stop it, "PS3 exclusives don't sell" couldn't stop it, "bad controller" couldn't stop it, doom articles couldn't stop it, lack of 3rd party support couldn't stop it,

Beware my PS3 brethren, the media will push the "sales don't matter" articles hard now. They saw this coming long ago and that's why they started pushing NPD numbers hard all of a sudden. They want you to believe that NPD is worldwide numbers.

Just watch the media and fans of the competition flip flop now.

[Root]

@StrongMan

"For the past six years it's been nothing but sales matters but now that the PS3 has beaten the Xbox NOW the media says it don't matter. Funny that."

They've done this for ages, look back when the PS3 first was released...first it was

"PS3 has no games"

When it did have games at launch but even now Sony give us more exclusives

The it was...

"Sony doesn't support gamers like Microsoft does"

Even though the PSN is free and Sony seem to be the only company left to still give a crap about core gamers.

Then it was...

"Sony's blu ray will die off...blu ray is going to be irrelevant in the future"

Now look at it, the crappy DVD system that MS uses holds some multiplatform games back, and no I don't mean performance wise I mean content wise, it's probably the reason we have so much DLC cut.

Next it was...

"The 360s graphics will get better and better...Sonys graphics at the minute are crap and won't be better"

<looks at Uncharted 2, Heavy Rain, God of War 3 and the last of Us> .....nope that hasn't happened

and so on

Point is every time Sony overcame the things MS fans bashed Sony for they changed the rules and made it into things which Sony hadn't done better it or achieved yet...

Sales
Money the company has and makes
Advertising
Stock market value

but I mean look at it...non of those things mean anything to gamers...no, sorry THEY SHOULDN'T mean anything to gamers yet because die hard MS fans like to keep changing the rules when Sony does one over them this is what it's turned into

Now that Sony has overtaken the 360, they are trying to say it doesn't matter.

See how this all works.

[raytraceme]

It definitely does matter as sony still supports the ps3. The 360 has really lost all 1st party core support which I guess is going towards next gen. But honestly even next gen i dont see new ips from microsoft as i do from 3rd party and sonys 1st party. For fps and graphics whoring i have a pc. For exclusives i have a ps3 so as long as sony supports their platforms with AAA ips they will have my support. And this can only happen if people buy into the ps ecosystem.

[GribbleGrunger]

I can't help but wonder why it was that 360 owners and the media kept telling us the PS3 would never catch up when it actually didn't matter. I'm never seen so much flip flopping in all my life lol. Clearly, as you've rightly pointed out, the level of this sudden switch and the growing army of those that wish to shout 'unimportant' at every opportunity, are hurting for some very odd reason. It's not as if suddenly the 360 isn't relevant ... or is that how they see it? Perhaps the combination of all those delicious PS3 exclusives and now this has somehow made them question the validity of their argument over the years, and now they're suddenly realising that it wasn't blind Sony fanboys that predicted this but reasonably minded Sony fans who just followed the facts, and looked beyond the NPD wall surrounding America.

Of course the question now becomes: By how many consoles will Sony outsell the 360 when this generation ends? That's a question we've waited a long time to ask. I'd say 25 - 30 million when all is said and done. Oh, people will disagree ... say it won't happen, and then when it does: well you know the drill. And do you know what? I reckon when the 12 years is up, it could well be sitting above the Wii too.

[pixelsword]

It matters only because it mattered every month before when these same "journalists" would post the sales and make articles on how the Playstation 3 is being creamed.

P.S.

This is the media bias PS3 fans have been talking about...

[slimpickens]

It's feels like a dang kkk gathering in here. Why is it 6 to 7 years in and we still have people trying to prove a point that obviously no body other than the few on these sites care about? I mean grown grown freaking men in here gloating over there ps3 lol.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

And now it doesn't matter anymore... when it shouldn't have mattered in the first place. Sales shouldn't matter to gamers, but that hasn't stopped gamers from calling the PS3 a failure because it went from 1st to 3rd sales wise. Hasn't stopped gamers from saying "Oh how the mighty have fallen" which is not referring to Sony failing to deliver a quality gaming experience this gen because it has been the opposite of that, but is referring to sales.

This is obviously reminiscent of the "PS3 has no games" label early on in the life cycle. All of sudden it became "Exclusives don't matter" "Being exclusive doesn't mean it's a good game" "Mutiplats are still available on the console" "Multiplats are better than a majority of the exclusives anyway" "Most of the games that interest me are multiplats" etc, etc, etc, etc, etc...

What is even more amazing is how people are trying to down play it. Yes the PS3 was expected to dominate sales wise before it's release, but what was the expectation for it after its first year of release? I don't need to tell you the answer to that.

Just because all three companies were prosperous this gen does not mean Sony failed. When it is looking like you may push 90-100 million+ consoles when it's all said and done how can you say that's a failure? It's failure just because MS and Nintendo are looking to push 90-100 million as well when it's over? Lets be real here.

[ChrisW]

@StrongMan,

The Playstation brand is a juggernaut... But if all of those things you mentioned were handled better, the PS3 would've surpassed the 360 much earlier.

And because of such hard lessons learned, I'm interested in seeing the initial outcome of the next generation.

[Gazondaily]

For those rejoicing on Sony coming second this generation or finally beating Microsoft for third place, put your minds back to one generation before this and the advent of this generation.

Honestly ask yourselves, did any of you anticipate Sony to be relegated to third place for so long? Did any of you imagine the 360 to put up such fierce competition?

For those many members on here that appear to have been embryos 6 years ago, let's recap: Sony had a huge monopoly on the industry. With the monumental sales of the PS1 and PS2, it was a behemoth that had the mighty Nintendo on the back foot. Microsoft's first entry did really well but it appeared to be clinging on the market and were it not for Halo CE, there might not even have been a 360.

Now I distinctly remember how, when the 360 came out, how everyone, including some staff at 360 magazine were discussing how the PS3 would completely obliterate the competition once it was released. The rest is history and here we are, on the cusp of the next generation where Sony has finally, supposedly, surpassed Microsoft.

So in defence of the author, it is a relevant question to be asked, simply by virtue of how late in the game this overtake has happened.

In my opinion, of course it still matters and Sony do deserve the success they have achieved by making good for their mistakes earlier this generation. But comparatively, this is a far cry from Sony's previous reigns contrary to what a lot of people on here are saying.

[insomnium2]

My god I'm almost crying here. So there ARE other people out there who went through the same s*itstorm as I did hailing for PS3 back in the day..... hold on I need a minute here....

Okay there. Here we go..

@ septic
Here are some truthfull answer to you from my perspective

"Honestly ask yourselves, did any of you anticipate Sony to be relegated to third place for so long?"

No I didn't. I didn't even care until the x360 camp started BSing about PS3 failing but honestly I didn't think it would take this long. It seems the financial downturn has played some part in it though.

"Did any of you imagine the 360 to put up such fierce competition? "

No. I didn't think that after the hc-bombardment and public chest beating MS would make a 180 turn and go for casuals. From a business standpoint it's been a huge success. I don't see why hc-fans should rejoice for it though.

"how the PS3 would completely obliterate the competition once it was released"

There were articles like this? All I saw was "PS3 is doomed" cause of the pricetag. It had all the "bells and whistles" nobody wanted supposedly and BD was dead on arrival. You must not have been on N4G if you saw any pro ps3-articles in 2005-2007.

" this is a far cry from Sony's previous reigns contrary to what a lot of people on here are saying"

Who is saying? There will never ever be such a situation like it was with PS2. Do you know why? Because other manufacturers have stepped up their game. And all the while when x360 fans rejoice for "teh doomz" of PS3 due to the friggen lost marketshare Sony walks laughing all the way to the bank knowing they have sold over 100 million consoles 3rd time in a row in a few years.

Man I can't get over the comments of Strongman and Gribble and Nuka and Root etc. Some people on this site has been SO vocal about the things you guys said to be untrue I almost lost all hope in mankind. Where are you vega, maniacmayhem and buddies. Oh and Nukeitall and my favourite ben grimm. Where art though....? How crazy am I now? MMUAHAHAHAHAH!! cough! errr... sorry for that....XD

[AsimLeonheart]

I agree with you. The media has been very biased towards PS3 this gen. They have been highlighting even the most minor of its failures and downplaying even the biggest of its achievements. For years XBOX fans and media were bragging about XBOX sales lead and now that PS3 has wiped that lead even after launching one year late, it suddenly does not matters. Talk about hypocrisy. Microsoft talks about NPD numbers like US is the only country in the world. I think they should talk about Japanese sales numbers. Those should be some interesting figures to boast...

[Rhythmattic]

Septic

I just couldn't be bothered replying to each paragraph you wrote with bullet points, and nulling each with my opinion....

So i disagreed instead.

BTW, PS3 doesn't have CGC... Leverage when you need it.

[Irishguy95]

Sorry but this gen is a HORRIBLE loss for sony. Sony lost over half their user base to Nintendo and Microsoft

Edit---oh and before people try to BS about Nintendo appealing to Casual this gen, Sony also did that last gen. Ps2 was 'the thing' to get. Like the Wii became.

[Gazondaily]

@Rythmatic

Ah yeah that's a proper mature response right there.

Pretty much sums up the attitude and mentality of most people on this comments page.

The pure fanboy drivel on here is plain embarrassing. Some of these posts talking about 'Sony brethren' etc would make you think you came across some sort of cult.

[pablo-b]

lol "my ps3 brethren" dear oh dear.

really who gives a f*"k except for the usual zealots on here.

"Perhaps the combination of all those delicious PS3 exclusives and now this has somehow made them question the validity of their argument over the years, and now they're suddenly realising that it wasn't blind Sony fanboys that predicted this but reasonably minded Sony fans who just followed the facts, and looked beyond the NPD wall surrounding America"

i cant even believe that i am replying to this nonsense. just reading the first 10 comments is enough to make you shake your head in disbelief at the menatality and pathetic fanboyism that is displayed in the comments section day in day out.

no one from sony reads the posts on n4g, there is no chance that sony are going to hire you. you dont work for sony. you are not going to get any money from being part of the "ps3 brethren" (lmao how sad). you are going to get nothing...

so why the f*"k are you on talking rubbish and ready to die for a megacorp and its products???

[Eyeco]

Yeah I agree I mean when you look at it most of the PS2's best selling games was casual crap like , Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Fit, Mario Kart,Wii Sports resort, Just Dance etc

[nix]

i like the start of this thread... so many back to back "Well said" comments.

congrats sony and thanks a lot for the exclusives.

[Kurylo3d]

Truthfully I think it doesnt matter at this point.

Common sense dictates either way this generation was technically a loss for sony. They went from behing the uncontested console with orginal xbox being nothing. Now they split their market share with another company. Thats bad news anyway you think of it.. even if they are doing good, they should be doing twice as good. Therefore anyway you look like it its been a victory for microsoft. They took half the market from sony.

[BattleAxe]

When the 360 had more sales, then it mattered to the gaming media, but now that the PS3 has sold more units it doesn't matter to the media. The hypocrisy shown by the gaming media is pathetic. If the gaming media were truly objective, then we would see articles titled "PS3 The Comeback Kid" or "Sony Shows the Power of the Playstation Brand", but instead what we get is "Does It Matter if the PS3 Overtakes the Xbox 360?"

[Sarcasm]

Of course it doesn't matter, because of the launch dates.

Xbox 360 Launch in Japan/U.S. - Nov 20/21 2005
Xbox 360 Launch in Eu - Dec 2 2005

PS3 Launch in Japan/U.S. - Nov. 10/17 2006
PS3 Launch in Eu - Mar 23 2007

So that puts a 1 Year head start in Japan/U.S. for the 360, and a 1 year 4 month head start in Eu.

Any questions?

[Kurylo3d]

@Sarcasm

I never knew it was a race. There isnt a finish line... there is the customers and the bottom dollar.

Anyway you look at it, Sony as much as i prefer them... they got cocky this generation and let go of half of their fan base to their competitor. Microsofts customers should be sonys. Microsoft was well played this generation in terms of taking over.

Sonys arrogance put my on microsofts boat before i got a ps3 later down the road. Regaurdless of who came out first.. that really means nothing... like literally what does that matter, the years dont equal extra revenue do they? lol. There both probably going to come out with their next console around the same time. Is that the start of a new race for you? lol

This isnt a race to the top, its how much market share you can take. Microsoft gained a huge market share. Sony lost a lot of its market share.

[horndog]

Silly kid if you gamed last gen and ownef a ps2 you would know that it was sony coming into this gen with so much advantage over its competitors. MS was the underdog but sony fked things up so bad it made it look like MS had the advantage

[omi25p]

The PS3's out sold the 360?.

Huh, don't remember reading any official statements.

I guess what ever anyone says goes.

So while you're all arguing and saying you're sob story's of how hard this generation has been and how Sony the multibillion dollar corporation was bullied by everyone.
Il be sat here with both my PS3 and My 360 Laughing.

[SilentNegotiator]

A more mature audience took over from the "PStree third place!" group, that's why. PS3 fans didn't care about sales as they played amazing original games (plus the multiplats) then and they don't care now. Fans including myself are happy to see that in the end, the system with exclusives, free online, a better disc format, open HDD format, etc sold more pieces of hardware....it's a matter of principle, but much less people are rubbing it in from the PS3 fanbase than did the 360 fanbase.

@Omi
So what? If the PS3 is still behind a million, it still has more working systems and still sold at a much faster rate.

[BlindGuardian]

@Septic

the fact that the PS3 outshipped 360 means that the PS3 was NEVER in second place, it always outsold the 360, the only thing that changed now is that PS3 caught up with 360 in total sales after launching a year later

[Dee_91]

haha first exclusives dont matter
now the ps3 overtaking 360 dont matter
LOL

[miyamoto]

A Three Feat Back to Back Grand Slam

That is why it matters.

Its not winning the game but how you played the game.

Sony has stayed true & steadfast despite all the negative stuff thrown at it.

I am sure that matters to a giant like Microsoft... a lot!
What matters more to M$ is losing two generations straight despite having more money.

It matters for the launch of the next PlayStation & the next Xbox.

This proves to the investors to bet and renew their faith on Sony.
This proves that Japan can withstand the pressure from the
Americans.

This proves that they by doing it themselves out of great responsibility, they had a winning strategy by planting new game IPs and ideas themselves to fill the gaming industry with variety and diversity; games of all types for everybody.

Thank you for all the negativity thrown at PlayStation because it woke people up to voice their opinions about the truth about the PS3 and 360.

It was a blessing in disguise for PlayStation. And it actually helped Sony by the overwhelming support of opinionated gamers rallying to support Sony worldwide. Gamers learned how to dig up the truth, facts and fight for the truth and their opinions.

I supposed M$ has learned its lessons not to buy out the media never again because it backfired on them.

But knowing M$, I expect a massive retaliation from their camp to jack up their numbers & so he vicious cycle continues.

[wishingW3L]

Wii is still ahead by around 20 million consoles you know....

[Hellsvacancy]

So what, the Wii isnt even regarded as a "next gen" console like the PS3 and 360, the Wii U is, the Wii U plays next gen games, like COD and Assassins Creed etc

So the "fight" is between Sony and MS

[Zool 08]

As Sony said this is a marathon, not a sprint seems to ring true:-)

[Consoldtobots]

im curious as to why people expect anything more from a bunch that has taken cheapshots, outright lied, ridiculed those of us who wanted a fair and balanced discussion of the industry, intentionally downrated and misrepresented the quality of early playstation title and still do to this day.

if anything being sore losers falls right in line with their behavior. I think what is lost on the more kind spirited and somewhat naive of our playstation brethren is that this was never a friendly competition for the good of the industry. This was an outright declaration of war where they intended to take no prisoners. For the good of gaming as a whole they are now on the losing side and soon to be on the trash heap of wannabe's of gaming history.

[N4g_null]

Please stop turning gaming into some thing it is not. These are platforms of tech used to make games that you are suppose to use all of that drama on.

There seems to be more drama queens in gaming than gamers now. Hardcore use to mean skilled gamer now it is just brand loyalty.

The only reason why I can see this finally mattering is because you didn't want to be wrong.

The truth is the ps3 is at $250ish now it's going to sell a lot better. It's games from the past 6 years are $19! It is finally going to sell really good now. Many said it was a mistake to use the cell as a gpu. Luckily they fixed that with the rsx. We needed a price at or around ps2 launch. Not the price of laser disk that no one asked for hardly. Ps2 had a monopoly because they made a key componet of making a game cheap, disk price.

Then we had the cell problem. Every one had a ps3 game delayed while gears of war was coming out. Oh and the unreal engine, you know the engine that a lot of modders grew up using doesn't work on it to well. We saw a year and a half delay. Ps3 fans where put in a bad place then. So much was promised so much was not even dilivered. So many where told that yes the ps3 was way more powerful but programmers are lazy. Six years later we have games running at 15-20 fps that are harold as the great ps3 games. All except killzone where slow paced pick your own adventure games and killzone was even merged for a while so it moved slow.

The best game on ps3 was star hawk or some thing lol. I can not even remember it now. It was an actual game though which took skill. What was most annoying was story gamers where not really gamers otherwise they had a xbox360 for online play... Which arguably is the only real form of gaming in gaming now. If the cod franchise would have skipped the system it would have been neo geo status.

Looking back Sony just put to much hype out there. Kaz is right they did not have a focus. Monopolies tend to do this to companies. Sony silver bullet has always been their media formats. They also excelled in a few chips yet have very forward r&d. Just look at their full vr head set. What about their auto 3d round tv? Will cloud gaming give them an edge when they have to go up against nvidia?

This matters simply because we need to see the old Sony that gave us formats we all loved gamers and publishers.

Gamers where addicted to playing the games back then. Now they are addicted to social memes as if this was a spectator sport. Alot of what the naysayers was right and Sony should build a real plan to make all gamers happy not just their first party fans that mostly like story gaming. Pc gamers need to be in there along with arcade gamers. Skill is addictive. Not hype, that is more like a myth.

I think Sony has learned its lesson and I also think they should wait till they have another media win again. To the fans remember to learn from the lie. N64 fans did, rrod fans did. Just find your fun but it may not be everyone cup of tea. Thus it will not always be wildly successful.

These are all opinions though. The best way to test them is to invest in them!

[miyamoto]

This is why I support the PS3.

Sony has done a terrific job at keeping the pirates at bay. Its a legitimate success driven by legitimate software & legitimate gamers unlike any other video game system before it like the Xbox 360. A first in video game innovation history marred by piracy.

It was not a flawless victory though and it is still a hard fought battle along with keeping up with M$, Nintendo and the global recession & some USB dongling out there. It caused Sony so much time, money & effort investing in Blu-ray, PS3 & PSN security measures, constant software & hardware updates & adjustments stripping the PS3 to the bare essentials.

But ultimately Sony has achieved their goal!

Sony has kept the whole PlayStation ecosystem in control. They reformed many pirates and frustrated many hackers. They gave hope to many publishers, developers & retailers that a decent anti-piracy in gaming can be done. Compelling EA & Ubisoft to make exclusive deals. They even made Gabe Newell eat his words and jump on the PS3 bandwagon with Steam along with Epic Games, Crytek and other PC developers.

With this legitimate success Sony has also laid the anti-piracy ground work for the next PlayStation console. Talk about long term planning.

Yet Sony & PS3 is still being ignorantly criticized in terms of sales figures without considering this important factor.

PS3 might not sell as fast or as many as the PS2 but this time its sales figures, its profit, its attach rate & its success is truly legitimate.

I lived in Third World South East Asia where in many generations, many gamers like me pirate games since the Family Computer, Mega Drive, Super Famicom, PSONe, PS2, GameCube, Xbox 360 to Wii.

But the arrival of PS3 changed all that.

All though we are a poor country but many gamers here actually bought legit games for PS3 & - the reason why PS3 has done so very well overall worldwide.

When it comes to quality and quantity of hardware & software and anti-piracy the PS3 is the true victor in every sense of the word.

PS @ DK2

huh? try to read my post again....

[Thatguy-310]

Exactly. I mean it's good that they didn't die out this Gen because of all the obstacles in the beginning and I solute Sony for handling it well but I'm just happy for the games I receive from the system. The exclusives is what matters to me and in the end I'm truly satisfied with my ps3 whether it's the most or least sold console.

[N4g_null]

Right there is a gamer!

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

@NukaCola
Can't wait for e3!!!

Sony has the best console 3 gens in a row! Not bad!

I think ps4 will be huge mainly because they know it has to be.

[NateCole]

exactly. At this stage i am still excited about upcomming PS3 games like i was back in 2007. Sony just keeps giving and make hardcore gamers happy and to me that is what matters.

As for PS3 overtaking x360. Take that you Sony haters lol!

[Awesome_Gamer]

@Root
@StrongMan
100% agree with you guys.

[lfclee]

The only thing that should really matter is getting them trophy's!

[xtremeimport]

Yes, I think it matters.
If for nothing more than to show SONY that, while they took risks trying to innovate and be different, it ended up paying off. Even when things seemed pretty dark for them. Now just imagine, if it launched at a lower price, had better advertising for not only the system, but its top exclusives. I hope they learnt a lot this gen and apply at least some of it to their next system.

But, it also just matters that it sells. In an industry thats all about making money, that obviously has to happen. Its refreshing to see a big company take a risk and actually lose money in order to be original.

[kenshiro100]

Wow...this is funny. The media has been bashing Sony to death for a good few years and when the tide starts to turn, they're saying 'does it matter if the PS3 overtakes the 360'? Really?

I'm sure it would have mattered if it was the other way around, right?

Hypocrisy at its finest.

And for the people saying that the Wii is the real winner, no one denied that. But in terms of second place, Sony won the fight.

[Tales RPG addict]

I agree both PS3 & 360 are great. All I care about is GAMES more than anything overall.

[smashcrashbash]

Stop the does it matter articles please. It mattered to everyone when the 360 was ahead so why does it suddenly not matter the moment the PS3 slips ahead? And it never seemed to matter either that the PS3 many times was ahead worldwide and it only seemed to matter that the 360 was ahead in NA.You guys remind me of children who suddenly don't want to play anymore once it looks like they might be losing.And also stop trying to make it seem that the Xbox 360 has somehow surpassed everyone else. They didn't.They haven outsold either the PS2, PS1,Wii and now the PS3.So just stop. If the 360 pulled ahead of everyone like the PS2 did I would be impressed and admit defeat but they couldn't catch the Wii or shake off the PS3 even with all the advantages they had. I done see how that is considered so great.The PS2 took more gamers away from Nintendo then the 360 has taken from Sony. And even worse it is going to be even more uneven next gen with the Wii U being a HD console.

[TheRealHeisenberg]

You feel better now? Can you sleep in comfort now that your beloved console is possibly on top? I play mostly on my PS3 now and I can tell you that I for one will sleep better than I ever have now that the "Champ" is here!

This applies to most of you; you know who you are too.

@ kellymiester

There will be none of that Wii stuff up here. Sony has to be on top. Alllllllllllllllllllllways!!!!

[CynicalKelly]

"2nd" People seem to forget the Wii is still number one.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

kellymiester, you reminded of the times when certain people reduced the whole 1st, 2nd, 3rd places to just Win and Lost, but somehow there were two winners and only one loser in that tier system lol. MS and Ninty were winners and Sony was the loser.

[pixelsword]

The Wii sold as much as it did because it started off at a cheap price.

You ain't selling one Wii if it started off at $600

[Eyeco]

In the UK when the wii launched it was around £170 that's dirt cheap for a new console the PS3 launched at £425 thats almost 3 times the price, you also have to take into consideration that without the Wiimote and it's obvious mass appeal to casuals you could argue that the wii would have flopped because realistically nintendo's I mean look at the Wii's best selling games for christ sake

[IAmTheBest35]

@eyeco
and look at the ps3's best selling games for christs sake. call of duty games. whats your point?

[kenshiro100]

Hey kelly, so now we're harping on the Wii being the winner?

Hilarious.

[Eyeco]

Thats the best you could come up with ? Its a fact that MOST of the Wii's best selling games is casual crap, I se allot of people calling COD a casual game, if that's so then what on earth do you call MOST wii games ? you can't compare the two,

I mean at least the people that play COD, go on to play other games or at the very least play cod daily, do you honestly think the 85 year old senior in the retirement home ever picked up a wii mote again ?

In fact look who plays on those games these people aren't gamers they never play these games again, theres a reason why despite the huge sales figures of those games and the Install base surprisingly the Wii has the lowest attach rate of any console this gen, in fact according to a Nielsen figure it's also the LEAST used console this gen. When you look at the main demographic(non gamers) on the console it comes to no surprise

[rainslacker]

While I'm a admitted Sony fan, I still think we should not dismiss the accomplishments MS has made this gen. They went from being a rather niche machine, to being a major player in the market. For that fact alone they deserve props.

They gave real competition to Sony this gen, something they haven't had in quite a while. It certainly affected PS3 sales, and that can't be denied. Sony stayed true to what they always have, and for that they are now being rewarded...so to speak.

[pixelsword]

I agree; this achievement (no pun intended) is not knocking Microsoft at all, I congratulate them for holding on to second for so long. I don't have an issue with them, and I don't have an issue with 360 fans as I am one of them. I only have an issue with a lot of game journalists and a number of gaming sites because they made the numbers an issue and now that the numbers are working against them, all of a sudden it's not an issue for whatever reason they want to attempt to give.

I don't know about this particular website or writer, as I am not familiar with them, but IGN is definitely one of them.

[Ezz2013]

achievement unlock "ps3 overtake xbox360"

i kid i kid
don't bubble me down lol

[N4g_null]

If ms never listened to epic then the xbox360 would have been a Zune monument. Unreal 3 was a normal mapping beast! Most people didn't even have the right gear at first to even make the games!

You have to give Sony props for the cell "idea". With out the cell faiiling along with the larrabee gpgpu systems would not be where they are. CPU hives never took off out side of system on chip designs ethier.

The Xbox was a matter of choosing the right specs for the price, releasing early enough for your price to fall when developers needed those 5 million copy sales. Pleasing the ps3 fanbased was a real gamble. We never got the super compiler from IBM but the tools did get better.

Now why would this matter? Sony already has gpgpu code ready technicly. Now they just have to choose the right price and platform for developers.

Also do you see a pattern forming. You win a few gens then you fall and you have to continue making games for an old following.

[MRMagoo123]

@EZZ2013

It would be a trophy tho not an achievement, why would MS get an achievement for losing there foot hold lol

[Seraphemz]

LOL!!! NOW it doesn't matter who is better, but before it was " how can SONY make a comeback" " What SONY needs to get back on TOP"....funny how things change.

[get2sammyb]

The article's not an attempt at undermining the PS3's success. It's just a discussion about whether it's really important that the PS3 takes the lead at this stage.

[Seraphemz]

Of course it is. As in anything, it doesnt matter what place you are in the begining, its where you finish.

All these years SONY has been bashed about being in last place, even though 360 had a year out before PS3. And now that its doing better than the 360 sites like IGN and this one want to make it seem like it doesn't matter what place its in....

just saw that you wrote it...

Also,there's something to be said about this site since its the same dumb site that wrote Sony should make LESS EXCLUSIVES...

Edit : Just saw that you actually wrote the article..

[rainslacker]

It was never important. That's the problem. For years the media has been making it important. It isn't something that has quieted down over the past year, just a few days before the initial prediction came in there were doom sales articles on this site. Now a few days later it isn't important.

I do think some people are taking it to extremes on the Sony side. But honestly I understand where they're coming from.

When next gen rolls around, this same kind of crap is going to happen all over again. Is this same media, and naysayers in forums, going to accept articles such as this one to prove that SALES DO NOT MATTER AND NEVER HAVE!

[5eriously]

YES! it is important that Sony takes the lead, better even I will end my telly only a year from now or when the eXbox360 stops shipping to be fair to Sony. Also we all know Sony will not stop the PS3 love yet, look at the PS2 only stopping now. So AGAIN YES! it's important for me personally for all the bashing I had to endure because I bought a PS3 and were convinced (rightly so) that it was a better console and on the end will be the outright winner in lifetime sales. I will support Sony when the PS4 arrives and will only ever consider a M$ box when they return to core gaming and proper AAA titles and decent support an NO! I do not think Hallow XXX will ever sway me.

I just hope one day we would know how many repeat sales were generated due to the RROD saga, that would change the estimate sales true numbers drastically.

[Majin-vegeta]

360 (fan girls logic)

2005-2008:It's all about the exclusives.
2008-2012:It's all about the sales
2013-...:Ummm we pay to play on shitty p2p servers so we automatically win.

And yes it does cuz year in year out you would hear the PS3 will never surpass the sexbox306 bla bla....

[Seraphemz]

I think in 2013 its more about " wait till the next xbox..."

[sandman224]

It only matters for fanboy bragging rites.

[PR_FROM_OHIO]

Just Imagine when the PS3 drops to $199!! There lead will grow even futher! Hell passing 100 million units seems likey now!!

[Pintheshadows]

I'd expect more due to Sony's tactic with the PS2 of releasing it for cheap in less obvious markets very late on. So when Sony used LBP as a tool to show how the Playstation brand was doing at E3 a few years back, they, in that presentation, announced the PS2 would be releasing properly in South America. This boosted the PS2 sales even more but people seem to ignore that clever piece of business.

The fact is the 360 exploded out of the gates this gen surprising evetyone but its stamina is finally beginning to dwindle. I think that is down to a fundamental shift of MS priorities leading to a disappointing lack of titles. Sure add all the multi media stuff but it is a game console. I rarely use it these days, unless I want to play L4D, and for a while it deserved its lead. It makes me laugh to remember the 'PS3 haz noes gamez' articles.

Another fact remains that a lot of 'gamers' involved in this fanboy nonsense are 12, 13 and 14 year olds, some of whom were still womb locked when the PS2 released which makes me feel ancient. They started with the 360 and the PS3, their underdeveloped brains deciding that they must take sides as they can't comprehend anything else. I doubt they've heard the phrase 'slow and steady wins the race'. I expect there are many on here on both sides. You can spot them easily enough.

2 last thoughts.
Hasn't China granted permission for PS3's to be sold there?

Bear in mind as well, there are still 4 years left on the PS3's cycle.

[pablo-b]

how much will you get from sony when they pass 100mil?

[Tales RPG addict]

I would doubt it when PS3 later drops to $149 in 2014. The PS3 sales rise above 140 million in 2016.

[Max-Zorin]

It only matter to the Sony employees.

[Godmars290]

And to the people insisting that 3rd place this gen was FAIL. That company of the system there should stop making console altogether. Nevermind how slight the difference 2nd and 3rd was.

[ElitaStorm]

fans are no employees lol

[YoungPlex]

It would of been a tremendous deal had it happened several years ago, but that fact of the matter is that these systems are on their way out, thus bringing life to a new generation of home consoles. Only people that actually care are lame fanboy's! The 360 has lead the HD console war for this entire generation, I really don't see how this is important in any way now that the generation is at a close. I'm more interested in what next-gen is going to be like and if Nintendo, Microsoft or Sony will be the ones leading the race. So far Nintendo is leading with the Wii U being the only system out. We'll see what happens once the other two join the mix...

[Rainstorm81]

Um.....you do know they stop counting when they stop manufacturing the console? Right?

[YoungPlex]

Umm yea! But tell me why it matters now? Nearly every game this generation was lead developed on the 360 not only cuz it was easier, but also because it had the higher install base. Most developers are now working on next-gen titles on both systems and I could bet you any money that whatever next-gen system has the strongest install base, third-party will lead develop on it too. Although it would be nice if the PS3 finally passes the 360, it's too late in the game for it to really matter. If you and however many Sony fans feel differently, that's perfectly fine, but to me this is the way I feel. (edit) Before you go thinking I'm a fanboy, take a look at my network I.D.'s in my profile!

[joeorc]

" But tell me why it matters now? "

you really, do not know?

" it's too late in the game for it to really matter. If you and however many Sony fans feel differently, that's perfectly fine, but to me this is the way I feel."

the fact that you stated Its too late in the game for it, really does show a problem that Microsoft has, and that is the way of how they look at the xbox as a platform. This is not to say that xbox is a poor platform at all, that is nothing of the sort. What im talking about, is when the next xbox comes out. will the console install base keep the xbox360 platform as a viable "core platform" for games that matter to the core gamer?

Or will the install base of core gamer's just Move over to the next big thing of Xbox? That's the problem.

The fact that you stated it's too late kinda put's it in perspective. Its not about who reaches the Most first it's about does your customer keep support for more than just one of your product's at a time.

This is not saying your or my family's xbox360 will be useless or anything of that sort when the next xbox gets released. Not anything of that Sort. What it is about is the install customer base for the xbox platform as a whole and a question from us to Microsoft. What will Microsoft's Answer be. If we do not care why would Microsoft?

Both Nintendo and Sony both have already A: that Question Multiple times, but microsoft has yet to Answer this very Question, And I think Microsoft is dreading the result's of that Question, by Microsoft's own install base!.

Does the Microsoft core xbox base, will they support two microsoft core machines at the same time on the Market.

I mean lets ask this question Halo is the largest 1st party developed iP for Microsoft, we know the new xbox will release in the next year or two, what happens will the next Halo be a spin off for the xbox360, while the next exclusive Halo go to the next Xbox? Or would they get the same one. for both platforms.

[MRMagoo123]

This is what the 360 fans have resorted to now huh that it doesnt matter cos its near the end of this gen ..........lmao you guys really take the cake it must make your arms tired moving all the goal posts around.

[YoungPlex]

I don't care if you agree or not and calling me a 360 fan has absolutely no validity! Look at my profile and see my network I.D.s! Tell me, what do you see? When I see the PS3 benefit from being second rather than third then I'll change my mind, but for now it isn't! What cracks me up are you diehard Sony fans that think that it really makes a difference! However, I do respect your opinion, I just don't see it mattering much at this stage...

[Deadpool616]

I can't play sales, I don't benefit from sales financially, and therefore I really haven't cared to think about sales. I never understood the console sales arguments in the forums/comment section, after the "HD-DVD vs Blu Ray" war of 2006-2008.

Man...that was a crazy format war.

[jessupj]

More sales equals more development support, which is a very big deal.

Also, more sales equals a bigger online community for online games which also greatly influences your experience.

So you should be caring about sales.

[Deadpool616]

If something does/doesn't sale, I really don't care. What am I going to do about it, besides get in a argument about it online?

[PopRocks359]

At that point you're asking who comes in first place, and in the end that doesn't really matter. Success comes before anything else in this industry. All three of the big names played several cards; some worked and some didn't but they all walked away with at least some success out of it in the long run.

[Mkai28]

That's the smartest thing I read on this site. All are winners and have "that piece of the pie" so to speak.

[mochachino]

No, they both tied this gen an sold around 70 mill each which is very impressive for any electronic device.

[PopRocks359]

You might want to do a double check on those sales figures.

[mochachino]

You'd have to be a complete pedant to say 30.2% and 29.5% market-share in the console industry isn't tied

But look at all the disagrees. The hivemind of N4G once again proves it's completely out of touch with reality.

[PopRocks359]

I wasn't talking market share, dude. I was talking about units purchased by customers of the general market.

[RuleofOne343]

A little humour for those fanatics out there . ha ha

https://www.facebook.com/ph...

[majiebeast]

"Xbox is beater and the Xbox people get the DLC first so yeah and everything and ps3 is largely a lot"

You 360 people so silly and salty.

[DigitalRaptor]

I loathe that sort of ignorance, and I'm very tempted to respond to these fools.

But I agree, the average opinion of Sony and PS3 from the general public this generation is such a major delusion due to the Microsoft marketing machine ("oooooh exclusive DLC!!!!" et cetera), that it really just blows my mind. It's like, do people really understand the implications of what they say, or do they just say it?

Thumbs up to Sony for smashing through that barrier, but there's still a lot of work to be done for bulls**t mainstream perception.

[TheRealHeisenberg]

Isn't that the truth. These 360 fools crack me up. The PS3 people are no where near as bad...oh wait.

I'm taking my PS3 to bed with me tonight baby! Playstation is back on top!

[Pintheshadows]

'delusion due to the Microsoft marketing machine'

It's a powerful tool made more so when the gaming media is on your side rubbernecking for you constantly.

I don't believe in the 'MS pays for reviews' conspiracy though (it's dumb). I do believe however that the gaming media has forgotten about the importance of being impartial. It saw how riled up the first drooling, vile, broken fanboys got and said 'we should take sides'.

And in their naivete people bought into it and now the gaming media is so far over the line they wouldn't look 'journalism' in the eye if it stood in front of them.

Sadly, this indicative of all forms of media over the last 10 years. It's dumbed down, vulturistic, fearmongering, designed to force the most violent opinion from you so they can create more stories.

Remember the Mass Effect 3 ending controversy? Of course you do. Some Mass Effect fans disliked the ending. The gaming media picked up on this and couldn't wait to stoke the fire. They handpicked comments from gamers and complained that we were 'entitled' despite the fact we were the consumer. This then led to more outrage directed at these sites. They must of been rubbing their hands together laughing at us.

[CynicalKelly]

Yes it matters. It's a huge boost to morale for Sony at least. They were so behind and now they have caught up. While It's not my preferred platform, it deserves this.

But the fanboys on both sides need to jump off a bridge. This doesn't harm the Xbox in any way so there is no need for fanboys to be here berating the Playstation.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

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

If you count making a profit on each console, and selling a financially successful product, then the PS3 is still at the starting gate.

And if you fall for Sony's fuzzy math of channel stuffing and combining PS2 and PS3 shipments, you're stupid and you deserve to be lied to.

[Reborn]

Does it matter?

The amount of articles on it suggest it does. As long as the quality of games keeps improving (which they are), I'm sure PS3 will continue to do well.

[i3eyond the Circle]

360 has halved Sonys last generation market share.

Trying to explain how Sony let the core slim naturally discontinue itself and overstock/ship the newer ps3 models.

Think about it.

There has been more bundle themed ps3's for the new super slim...then any ps3 model before it.

This new model actually turns a profit and saturating the market with them is key to going into the next generation with the ps3 able to become a profitable system.

I'm not expecting anyone to understand these facts....but if MSFT released a new slimmer model to take place of the S model...they'd overstock and then ANOTHER article would be made...pointless.

You guys enjoy these circles and happiness because companies are being companies. I'll go back to playing DMC

[rainslacker]

Sony's current market share is about 10-13 million behind where they were for the same time in the PS2's life cycle.

In Sony's 6th fiscal year they had sold 87 million consoles. Currently is said to have sold between 74-77 million consoles...thus 10 million behind. Sony still hasn't finished out their 6th fiscal year yet either, so that number may increase. That is not half the market share. It is 11-14% less than they had before.

Sony is still on track to sell over 100 million PS3 consoles, and will likely sell more than the PS2 throughout it's entire lifetime as they become cheaper. This is particularly true if the PS4 isn't as significant a leap as last gen was, which is pretty much what everyone is agreeing on will be the case.

[pixelsword]

@ i3eyond the Circle:

Liar! No one's Playing DMC!

Just kidding :)

[americanGTA]

YES! It creates competition

[Godmars290]

That's a false belief.

If competition was of any true value to gaming we would have seen more in the way of diversity and creativity. Instead we largely got COD clones, content being taken out of games and sold in addition, "given" away as incentive for day-one sales, and content exclusive to one platform. Meanwhile game features were being removed and genres were being dropped.

[Fatal-Aim]

Butthurt much?

So now all of a sudden these things are irrelevant when you are eating your words.

What happen to all the MASSIVE DAMAGE and giant crab jokes? Maybe you should be asking yourself did any of that matter once we fast forward a few years. lol

[WhatchaTalkinBout]

considering this >> in May 2006, Bill Gates announced that Microsoft would have a head start of 10 million units by the time Sony and Nintendo entered the market

which was actually 5.0 million + ..by the time ps3 was lauched.. so i have to give credit to sony they did come back from alot of negitive press, doom and gloom articles, psn went down and etc... so in hindsight i think it does matters , they achieved what many thought wasnt going to be possible.
being a owner of both consoles , i give sony 2 thumbs up... perhaps one day when then this gen of consoles comes to a closes maybe the ps3 will be siting on top of mountain with fellow brethren ps1 and ps2...

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

Once again no it dosent I own both that makes me the winner!

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Jesus H... PS3 got mud slung at it from the day before it went on sale. This site made a career of all it's failures at every opportunity. You come here to get news about upcoming games, but you have to endure the impenetrable hatred for a plastic box. All the drones loved to talk about how far PS3 was behind and that it would never catch up. Now, when it finally does the unthinkable, there is an explosion of so what's, does it matter, and what difference does it make. You cheerleaders are so damn predictable it hurts. When did it become so taboo to just enjoy what's on your TV and root for gaming?

[FarCryLover182]

Oh well, all console makers have made some good $$ from consoles, peripherals, etc. So they all win.

[Bellcross]

What gets me every time is that people seem to think the 360 stole most of Sony's market share never realizing that the market has grown way larger this gen. sure Sony has lost a few of it's market share but look at the numbers.

Wii = 90+ Mil
PS3 = 70+ Mil
X360 = 70+ Mil

total = 230 Mil+ combined sales in 7 years and still counting.

Now take a look at last gen

Ps2 = 155Mil in 12 years!!!
NGC = 22Mil in 5 years
Xbox = 25Mil in 5 years

combined = 202 Mil

Now here's a question I think you all know the answer to which of this gen's consoles do you think will still be around for another 5 or 6 years?

[joeorc]

Posted on Friday 21st Sep 2012 at 6:47 PM UTC

"Sony promises 'incredible PS3 lineup over next 2-3 years'
SCEA's John Koller assures of strong future for its home console.

Calls for next-gen hardware are getting louder, but Sony assures PS3 owners that their old faithful has plenty more life left in it.

http://www.computerandvideo...

now Microsoft

June 8, 2012

Microsoft exec: Xbox 360 has ‘a lot more than two years’ left

"Right now the Xbox 360 is really healthy and it's doing incredibly well," he concluded. "I think the 360 has a lot more than two years [left]. It has legs for a long time."

http://www.oxm.co.uk/42636/...

Now taking both PR which companies 1st party efforts are up for the task? will microsofts or Sony's 1st party effort for the xbox360 and the ps3 for exsclusives be for their old platform really be there even when a new system gets released?

Sony has answered this, microsoft has not, sure multi-plats are good thing an all but what about 1st party? for your older platforms?

[kickerz]

LOL im pretty sure im getting too old for this site. Has everyone here failed maths?..
What a normal person sees when looking at those numbers is:
Nintendo going from 22million - 90million
Xbox going from 25million - 70million
sony going from 155million - 70million
Dont get me wrong Sony has been very successful this gen, and has had awesome games. but if u just look at numbers xbox gained 45million, nintendo gained 68million and sony lost around 85million.All up its very even this gen which is good for everyone. looking forward to next gen :)

[Fatal-Aim]

Technically, the math would still be wrong. Y'see, what people are very eager to compare is a dated/ceased platform (12 yrs) with it's successor that is only HALF THE AGE (6 yrs) of it's predecessor in the very same way the 360 (7 years old) is almost double the age of the Xbox (4 years old).

Now, will the PS3 reach the sales of it's older brother before it ceases, which is 6 more years? Probably not.... But, it won't remain at 70+ million neither. Now that we've established, here comes the interesting question:

HOW MUCH MARKET SHARE IS SONY REALLY LOSING?

[Rageanitus]

Great job Sony.... They have brought me a lot of entertainment this gen .... Its funny how the Xbox fanboys realize that their ps3 helps Sony also sell movies which is a big money maker. Sony has a lot of influence in movies and I'm sure the movie industry is bigger than the console gaming market

[brew]

The media at large will be back on the sales wagon if the nxt Xbox releases first , or at the first sign of any PS4 adversity. (or both)

It will come back around full circle.

[GusBricker]

It should be, "What the hell took them so long."

I keep hearing about all these great ps3 exclusive and it's mind boggling that people are still buying other consoles other than it.

The problem is, simply enough, Sony. Their marketing department, for the most part, sucks.

[BrianC6234]

If you look at the 360 and PS3 the PS3 has a lot more first party games. The only problem with that is how do you market all of those games? Microsoft doesn't have to worry too much about that. They have a couple big games and put most marketing behind those games. Sony can't do that for all of their games. Maybe what they should do is market a bunch of their big games together though and show them together in a commercial.

[GusBricker]

If Sony isn't going to market their games, then they need to stop making them. Why spend all that money developing them if they aren't going to advertise them to sell. It's stupid.

If Sony had MS's marketing machine...game over.

[BrianC6234]

Sony doesn't make a bunch of software that is easy to make billions off of. They make a lot of electronics and it isn't as profitable. Once Microsoft makes a program or operating system all they have to pay for is making discs. It's a lot easier to have the money Microsoft has doing that. Sony is big but they don't have the money Microsoft has to spend on worldwide marketing. It would be dumb to stop making games though just because they can't spend $100 million marketing a game. That's probably what Microsoft spends marketing Halo games. Most gamers know about Sony's big games.

[BrianC6234]

It matters for the people who said the PS3 is garbage and isn't selling like the 360. It doesn't mean the 360 is in danger. Just like the PS3 was never in danger for being in last place. Both consoles have sold well enough to keep going. Time for all the Sony doom and gloom garbage to stop though.

[greenpowerz]

Fanboys actually believe that report about ps3 supposedly being ahead lmao

Some how PS3 magically gained and surpassed the almost 4 million console lead MSFT had just 9 months ago? LOL what! did the 360 pratical stop selling all year LMAO. As if this one firm now negates the whole lot of the rest of data firms.

The 360 has been selling close to either side of a million for the last few months and a half a million before the hoidays in NA alone. 360 had a temp drop in price a firm guessing ps3 passed the 360 due to thinking the super slim did well is almost comical.

Sony would have said something despite the ruse of being humble as an excuse to hide the real numbers like they do sometimes when they do better than expected after they started hiding their figures.

[MysticStrummer]

Not sure what alternate reality you're from, but It's been a lot longer than 9 months ago since 360 had a 4 million lead.

There's no mystery. PS3 hit 70 million a year faster than 360 did. Using what I like to call "math", that means PS3 sells more. Passing 360 was inevitable.

[BrianC6234]

What a bozo. The consoles sell all over the world. The PS3 has at least caught up in worldwide sales.

[kenshiro100]

Do you want fries with that salt?

[Ulf]

It matters, because its a fact, which a certain set of of folks now have the option to look at and say to themselves (and to others, with some courage) -- "wow, I was stupid. PS3 rocked the past 6 years after all the BS I regurgitated on teh interwebz".

Perhaps the world will be a better place, if a slap-to-the-face manages to cure a few fanboys of their mania. The less stupid people, the better, assuming they can crawl of their hole and move on, without trolling honest people again.

I like to believe a few of them... maybe one or two.. will smarten up, just a little. The REALLY.. erm.. devoted ones will poke their heads out, just one more time, to make themselves look extra dumb though.

[CC-Tron]

No it wouldn't matter, except PS3 didn't surpass Xbox 360. The 360 is still ahead.

[wiiulee]

no it doesnt because last generation is over with wii winning, xbox in 2nd and sony in third....once a new system is out and new systems are announced and coming out then that ends the previous generation.

[Pintheshadows]

Erm, no, no it doesn't.

[IRetrouk]

Once all the consoles from the previous gen stop selling or are discontinued then that gen is over if they still selling then the gen is still alive and kicking

[Just_The_Truth]

@wiiulee your name says it all.....the generation doesn't end because one console can't keep up.

[jessupj]

Well even if we went along with that logic, the Wii U is still current gen because it's using current gen tech.

I don't care what iteration it is, if it's current gen tech (or just slightly better) it's a current gen console. End of story.

[gustave154]

So wii is second to the PS2 and Wii U is currently last that is what you are saying?

[jessupj]

All I'm saying is next gen hasn't started yet.

We're not going to be seeing any huge leap in graphics on consoles until the other 2 consoles release.

[Jamaicangmr]

For years all you heard was the PS3 will never catch the Xbox360 however now that it has passed it the tone has changed to "Whatever" Damn hypocrites are hilarious.

Lol! Yeah it does matter as most suspected that the PS3 would only pass the Xbox360 after the launch of PS4 and Xbox720. This just shows that the media is biased and abit but hurt because they can no longer call the PS3 a failure without also calling the Xbox360 one.

That guy from Gametrailers must be really annoyed by this.

Good attempt as spinning though, well no it wasn't good at all.

[JAMurida]

Doesn't matter to me personally, but I still think it's impressive to see Sony go from what it was a few years back to what is it now. Quite the comeback if you ask me.

When it comes to consoles, only thing that matters is the next-gen ones.

[Fakdafakinfakerz]

The hypocrisy is strong here... of course it matters!
edit : karma is a b*tch.

[Ezz2013]

*karma is a b*tch.*
i hear that in N.Drake voice lol

[MYSTERIO360]

yes it does because it hows all the hypocritical people that Sony and PS3 still got it, and its a great console.

[Sarobi]

It mattered every other year besides this one.. so yes it matters.. kind of.

To say "who cares" now is just silly... we could of said that years ago.. but of course that wouldn't be fun for the fanboys now would it.

[Indo]

When a winner wins it aint news worthy. But when 360 reigned as long as it did, ppl gave them their 15 minutes of fame. I like how Sony is keeping their win to themselves tho. Its not important but then again im not so surprised.

[Funky_Homosapien]

This type of news is what keeps bill gates up at night.

[first1NFANTRY]

Where's that Aaron Greenturd fella or whatever his name was. He's been awfully quiet for a while now. Maybe he for-sore this happening lol.

[Platinum_k]

YES! and NO!

Yes, a great product should sell better for its quality and reliability. PS3 has an excellent library of games(exclusives) and it deserves 1st place as a "Hardcore" gaming Console.

No, because the resistance of the 360 has led Sony to focus more on the Playstation gamers, plus 360 put up a really good fight this whole time. Props to them!

[mayberry]

@platinum_k... you mentioned the ps3's reliability and I whole heartedly agree. My launch 60G ps3 is on at least 3-8 hours a day, every day of the year since I got it 6+ years ago, never any issues, never repaired for any reason. My fan goes into a higher speed in the summer now, but I plan on replacing the goo(sic), that is smeared on the processor to keep it cool soon. My 360's disc tray door broke 4 months after I got it, but no rrod yet. I have enjoyed so much entertainment from my ps3, the high initial price tag is an absolute non-issue! The web browser alone has allowed me to access streaming sites to see movies and tv shows I had missed that it has more than paid for itself.

[mmj]

PS3 outsold Xbox 360 a long time ago if you take repeat purchases due to shocking reliability into consideration.

Throughout the Xbox 360's life cycle I've owned 3 myself due to hardwares failures and I'd consider myself a casual gamer.

[TheKayle]

ps3 end third this gen..and theeres nothing that no one can do...this is the 200 time that im saying this....SONY dosnt made the same money of MS.....every xbox sold ..give more money to ms than a ps3 to sony....add the xbl price (40 millions of users)....add the kinect (18 millions pieces sold at half of the price of the ps3) add :

XBOX
Kinect Adventures 18 million[a]
Call of Duty: Black Ops 16.4 million[29]
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 13.7 million[31]
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 12.9 million
Halo 3 8.1 million[39]
Skyrim 5.9 million[40]
Gear of War 3 5.73m

PS3
Gran Turismo 5 (9.19 million)[132]
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (5.35 million)[
God of War III (5,197,632; 2,818,033 in North and Latin America, 1,961,733 in PAL regions, 417,866 in Japan and SCE Asia territories)[150]
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 4.8 3.531 million in the US,[33][34][36] 244,578 and 25,268 The Best in Japan,[151] at least 1 million in UK)[37]
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (3.8 million)[152]
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (3.8 million)[153]
MotorStorm (3.31 million)[154]
Call of Duty: Black Ops (3.269 million units approximately; 3.094 million in the US,[155] 175,813 in Japan[151])
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (3 million approximately;[156][157] 1.076 million in the US,[158] 706,461 in Japan,[151] 1 million in Europe,[159] 200,000 in UK)[101]
LittleBigPlanet (3 million)[160]

How the hell some ppl claim that they surpassed MS....losing money?...ok they did

before u disagree proof that what im saying isnt true

[GamerElite]

cool story bra. have any more

[Picnic]

TheKayle, assuming that all of your figures are right, I can't disagree with anything in it. I wonder how 24 people did? Did they assume that you were knocking Sony and the PS3 merely by saying that, thinking about all the variables, Sony may have made less profit than Microsoft this generation?

You're not knocking Sony from a creative viewpoint - or even saying that they could not possibly be the more profitable company next generation. And if that happens to be your view anyway it's not the point that you've made in this post so you shouldn't be criticised for what some people may have only thought you said.

How can 24 people disagree with what you put? After a slow start, Sony have practically been giving away the PS3 and some its services this generation and the more Wii-like Move did not attract popular attention as much as the Kinect.

Something to consider though is that some of the PS3s highest selling games, whilst not generally as high selling as the highest selling Xbox360 ones, are made by Sony owned studios. That could be a saving grace profit wise, as well as possibly reduced expenditure on advertising compared to Microsoft. And maybe more buy some DLC in some cases on the PS3.

Even so, I wouldn't be surprised if Sony made the least profit, even despite the Wii's apparently low number of games sold per console the Wii costs little to make.

[UnitSmiley]

All that list proves is that Sony has a lot more variety in their portfolio than Microsoft does. Take a look

Kinect Adventures - can you say casual?
Call of Duty: Black Ops - You know most real gamers hate this series right? (FPS)
Call of Duty: Modern Warefare 3 - (FPS)
Call of Duty: Modern Warefare 2 - (FPS)
Halo 3 - (FPS)
Skyrim - (RPG)
Gears of Ware - (FPS)

Only 2 games that aren't fps lol. And the top selling is a casual game. Now take a look at Sonys list

Gran Turismo 5 (Racing)
God of War III (Action)
Call of Duty: Modern Warefare (FPS)
Uncharted 3: (Adventure)
Uncharted 2: (Adventure)
MotorStorm: (Racing)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (FPS)
Metal Gear Solid 4: (Stealth)
LittleBigPlanet: (Create/Platformer)

Sony has more exclusives and less money to advertise them all meanwhile Microsoft can throw money at the few that they have to market it to the masses. By masses I mean people who aren't even really gamers but play CoD and Halo because they are popular and all their friends are doing it.

And no dude, this gen is not over just because Microsoft is losing it.

[Chicago8506]

Now normally I don't get involved with this "who's selling more" topics, but truthfully looking back, 360 fanboys & the media always have thrown (#'s) into the subject.

360 outsells PS3
PS3 will b Sony's last console
Multiplats r better on 360
Live is better than a Free PSN

Countless articles of 360 praise, n constant criticism for PS3.
I say it should matter just as much "now" as it did "then."
No need to ignore the topic now that there's a change in positon.

game on.

[ufo8mycat]

No it doesn't matter at all. It really doesn't mean anything. It is only used in fanboy wars thats it, but it truely is irrelevant, especially considering we are at the end of a generation. So in the end it matters very very little and fanboys know this, of course they will keep pretending it does.

What does matter?
GAMES - Lets me honest here, as far as game options, the PS3 blows the 360 out of the water. You have the EXCLUSIVES plus all those same multiplatform games.

I personally prefer playing my games on my 360, mainly due to the controller, and my PS3 obviously it's exclusives.

But if I look at it simply from a games perspective on options for single system, then PS3 wins.

Obviously can just easily buy both and just play on the one you prefer but yeah,, if can only buy 1 system - PS3 - you just miss out on too much exclusive titles if ya don't.

Now to another important factor - PROFITS. This is were Sony are REALLY in danger and hopefully hey recover next generation.

TH 2 important things are mentioned above. PS3 overtaking 360 in sales - is not.

[cleverusername]

To me? NO! To fanboys? CLEARLY! Why? NO IDEA!

[Drainage]

yes , it does matter. It shows investing in a more powerful machine was worth it in the end. None of this 2 disc bullshit and we all know many games were held back for the 360. The xbox360 held back this whole generation until a few devs said screw it and released multi disced games on the 360 or just went exclusive

[saimcheeda]

But its freaking funny comsidering the bad press ps3 used to get before!

[susanto1228]

I own 2 PS3's and 1 Xbox 360 I'm neither a Xbox or PS3 fanboy I like both consoles evenly and probably will buy both of their next gen devices so I'll in put my 2 Cents in here.

First WHO CARES ....I really could care less who is in first or second place as long as I can play the games that I want on both systems.

Can I play PS3 exclusives that are awesome...check
Can I play MSOFT exclusives that are awesome..check

that's all I really care about...

Some people brought it up but really MSOFT deserves some props here for sure...Sony dominated with the PS1 and PS2 and Xbox wasn't given much of a chance when it came out and it proved many people DEAD WRONG....

No other manufacturer in recent times has DICTATED and has practically forced Sony to change their strategy on how they run things. For instance Xbox Live and the release of new consoles. Do you guys think Sony would release a PS4 this year if MSOFT wasn't releasing one? I don't think so. But, we know what happens when Sony gets arrogant with the slogsn "next gen starts when we say it starts" WRONG WRONG WRONG sony it's that kind of thinking that hurts your company. Competition is great for SONY if it weren't for competition PSN store would be even crappier than it is right now. OR we wouldn't have a PS4 coming out this year. Before you guys sling MUD at Msoft you guys should be thanking them for giving Sony a run for it's money...that way we are not held hostage by SONY and let them do anything they want. We need this 3 err 4 horse race (steambox) it really brings out the best in ALL companies.

[Chicago8506]

Personally, it never mattered to me @ all.
I had both systems @ launch & on top of that, despite all the criticism and all the bs talk of 360 leading PS3, I truly felt PS3 was the better buy regardless of it's positionin sales.

360 was leading @ the time, so what?
Never stopped me from enjoying the killer games on PS3, if anything I felt slightly sorry for the PS3 haters that refused to get one.
That was my mindset on all the "360 leading PS3 talk."

What I'm saying is, it kinda feels good to c those same haters eat it now that there's a change...in hopes that all that "which console sells more wins this gen," ends now.

The same ones that was talking numbers have nothing or very little to say now.
Its all hilarious to me.

Game on.

[PS4isKing_82]

"Never underestimate the power of playstation"!
I think Sony needs to bring that slogan back for ps4 after this hard fought gen.

[extermin8or]

People say N4G is full of ps3 fanboys but I disagree, maybe the comments sections sometimes have more than normal-but who is it that uploads all these articles pushinhg hate at sony, and why is it like the in thing to hate on sony recently. This is pretty big news not just because of the odds that were stacked against the ps3 but because of the all the media that have tried to put the machine down since it's release. For every issue Sony fixed they'd find two more to moan about-can't people go hat on apple already? At least there products are actually overpriced for what you get in comparision to sony and microsoft. Also this proves something sony have been saying for years: It's a marathon not a sprint I just hope they can pull the same feat off for the vita although I think we can safely assume Nintendo will be the leader in the handheld space for many years to come :p but this is hopeful for the vita selling much better than it currently is. Hopefully this will also bring some of the people that see "most sales"=winner slightly less sales=loser into seeing it in a new light-as long as the product sells decently then it's won if it doesn't make a massive loss over it's lifetime on sale. On the note of the marketing people mention above I do agree sony really needs to do something about that for the sake of the vita and before the ps4 comes out... I'm pretty certain here in the UK GAME and amazon etc's own adverts are what tell people about the consoles sony makes unlike Microsoft which run their own adverts aswell as the retailer ones. I saw 3 vita adverts before xmas and 1 ps3 one and I was watching quite alot of tv....

[Optical_Matrix]

At this point in the generation I think it's rather irrelevant. Microsoft has done what they wanted to do this generation, and that's build up Marketshare in the domain Sony used to reign omnipotently. They have, which is evident in the fact this article is even being written in the first place.

The difference now is probably less than 2 million and with all eyes turned to see what 720/PS4 will deliver, I don't think it matters anymore. Both were good systems, with good games and services. Hell I think, PS3 will continue to sell over the years and even surpass the Wii, ending up in the No.1 position, but I don't Sony cares about install base as much as they do profits.

So to reiterate, I think that whether or not the PS3 is ahead of the 360 in sales or vice versa is pretty irrelevant when we're on the cusp of a new generation of consoles, and Microsoft has dealt all the damage to Sony they set out to do in 2005.

[CapsLocke]

Of course not. I don't care about either of them :)

[Jakeyboy3095]

Sony & Microsoft have been competing for the number #1 title in gaming (consoles) for years now so of course it matters, whats life without a little competition? Everyone picks there own company to support, all for different reason & all claiming there the best. I personally prefer Microsoft because there set up suits me better, I play a lot of online gaming with friends and love the party chat that PS3 doesn't have, if your more of a guy who loves playing online with friends then you will probably prefer the xbox as well, if you prefer to watch movies and just be a casual gamer then PS3 is right for you, the online is free so if you dont use it often it doesnt matter.

Wow thats a lot of words ^.^ this is why I dont bring up xbox and PS3 in the same sentence normally...

[MrAnderson]

Clearly it must do because YOU PEOPLE KEEP MAKING ARTICLES ABOUT IT.

[Malacath]

Both consoles have done well. That's all that matters.

It's better for gamers if both consoles do well as we no longer have to worry about most games only going on one platform which is what happened last generation.

Both consoles have their exclusives but most games are released on both consoles. In previous generations most games were only on one console which was bad for owners of the other consoles.

[SOULJER]

Did someone miss the memo it already happen. LOL. Push square get with the program.

[stone_cold]

you make me feel the ps3 is our enemy and xbox 360 should be better than ps3
no,i have the both consoles i see ps3 is the best in exclusives and graphics and ever thing else

[level 360]

Another feature that nobody really notices with the PS3 is that it's not just a great gaming console but a fantastic 3D/Blu Ray player which can properly read and output fantastic audio surround.

I own both an XBox 360 and PS3 but the PS3 has got more variety of use.

Swapping to a much larger sized HDD is also much easier and issue-free with the PS3.

[rapidturtle]

Sony is setting themselves up in a great position for their next gen launch. Microsoft only has Halo and Gears left. Sony has a lot more exclusives, and just needs to make Killzone multiplayer as good as Halo's. PSN has come a long way, and the fact that it is free vs Xbox Live, should help Sony out tremendously in the Next Gen....

[Yomiro]

It matters a lot for all the obvious reasons.

What I don't understand is why the media is so bias against the ps3?
i think is that may be many of this gaming journalists owned HDDVD players. Could that be the reason?

[Bladesfist]

This conspiracy again. If anything the media is biased against PC.

[wingman32x]

Sony's arrogance in 2005-2006 is what started it I think. Some of those remarks they have to be wishing they never said.

I love the Playstation 3. Before my 60GB died, I loved playing LBP and Infamous. So it really didn't have an effect on me.

However, I don't think I'll ever like Kaz Hirai after hearing his "Next gen doesn't start until we say it does" line. That was pretty much the first time a gaming story truly pissed me off.

I know I'll get downvoted, maybe even lose a bubble for saying this. But Yomiro, I think this is a part of the equation. I think their attitude in 05/06 rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

[remanutd55]

Time to focus on Psvita sony, make it the success the ps3 is now. Oh and i can't wait to pick up Motorstorm World Tour on ps4 launch date, thanks.

Btw when i say Success i mean it games library.

[joeorc]

is the many people that Q: if IDC is wrong with their number's may not know this, but who uses IDC services?

remember that IDC report that states Sony's PS3 passed the xbox360

well who uses IDC?

Microsoft-sponsored IDC report says there are currently 1.7 million open cloud positions just waiting to be filled.

http://www.informationweek....

@jdoggystyyle

"The only reason Sony are ahead (on shipments, mind you, not sales) is because of Japan and how utterly woeful Xbox 360 sales are over there. "

No..No..No and once again No, its because simple enough Sony ship's playstation platforms to regions where Microsoft does not ship xbox platforms to. That is the very reason. Even How well Sony is doing into japan sale's chain it's not the sole reason. the market shipping retail chain infrastructure is. Not just one region.

[jdoggystyyle]

The only reason Sony are ahead (on shipments, mind you, not sales) is because of Japan and how utterly woeful Xbox 360 sales are over there. In the US, the Xbox 360 has enjoyed 24 - and is currently enjoying what is likely to be its 25th - months as the best-selling console based on 30-day sales. The gap in the UK isn't as big, but Microsoft are well in front here, too.
I'd say that nothing will change, regardless of whether or not the PS3 ever overtakes the 360 in pure sales terms. The audiences are large enough on either console for developers to not worry about which brand is leading

[bunfighterii]

You cold conversely say the only reason Xbox did so well was because of America (but the PS3 isn't doing 'woeful' there). Americans refer Xbox 360 while everyone else wants PS3

[jdoggystyyle]

Not to mention software sales. 360 is killing the ps3

[wishingW3L]

only when it comes to shooters and certain western rpg's like Skyrim and Mass Effect,= but the PS3 always sells more when it comes to racing games, fighting games, etc. For the past 2 years the PS3 has sold the most software.

[yeahokchief]

yes. the ps3 is the best.

[thecurseddevil]

yes

[bunfighterii]

It does matter, because this whole generation the sales gap between the two has been referred to again and again in the gaming media to call Sony and the playstation brand doomed, and when it finally reaches the Xbox and surpasses it, all of the sudden it doesn't matter?

[Stoppokingme]

I think this is a trivial argument.

Yes the PS3 is outselling 360 now, but it took nearly an entire generation for that to happen, and now this gen is coming to an end.

But still it's great news for sony coming into next gen. It's a safe to say that M$ needs to pull something incredible out of their ass with the nextbox if it's to compete with PS4.

[Picnic]

In Sony's particular case, more than the competition, as each console costs more to make that it is sold for, then it is more profitable to sell as many consoles as possible to the 'hardcore', where hardcore in this case means people willing to spend money on new games at launch and on extra services including DLC such as extra costumes in games available through the console. And it probably means more people who might regard themselves as discerning who are willing to spend money on artsy games that are not so frequently on competitor's consoles.

By this reasoning it is more profitable for Sony to sell as FEW consoles as possible to the 'very casual' gamers where very casual means in this case buying a few used games, not buying any extra services (except maybe using free online) and then not playing the console for long stretches. Like a drain, they could stand to make a loss from each of these buyers.

Which means that buyers are very fotunate that the PS3, with all its provides, costs so relatively little to buy now. Buyers won't have had so much value for money since Gamecubes were being sold brand new for 40 pounds. If the PS3 ends up selling PS2s levels then it will not necessarily be any greater for Sony's bank balance than a lower number of sold consoles would. I fear that we face the PS4 being the real, pricy, cash cow.

[bigjclassic]

Because Gen 7, has ended and MS was in 2nd place. As a day 1 60GB PS3 owner, im glad they are able to survive due to all of the negative slam articles it has gotten since 06.

Looking forward to Gen 8 Sony and MS, to see which one will be 2nd place this time. (btw Wii won gen7, and WiiU will most likely win gen8)

[oldassgamer]

From a marketing standpoint, it is a huge win for Sony going into the next round. Sony can now say they have the more popular system (sans Nintendo) and the larger install base.

I think it also shows Sony's resolve and commitment to the platform. While MS appears to be letting the 360 die on the vine, Sony continues to deliver for the PS3.

For those of us who buy every system, the numbers don't matter, but we aren't the ones Sony and MS have to convince. Being able to say you're the more popular system is a huge marketing advantage.

[JonnyBigBoss]

Yes because MS fanboys were incredibly annoying for years. It's good to see snobs lose an argument.

[Enigma_2099]

Only to those who still have stake in the old "my console is better than yours" argument.

[jakmckratos]

Of course it fucking matters to the fans who had it shoved down their throat at E3 4 years ago that the Xbox WILL sell more playstations this generation . To prove to them that they sold second best of the real consoles this time around. To make assholes eat their words. The Wii's sales do not matter because grandmas and babies and fatties would buy the system for one or two games whereas it was clear what the two consoles were that people bought their core library on..and even at a steeper price-tag it's entire lifespan and a one year headstart on the Xbox's part didnt even matter in the end. Microsoft sold well considering how many systems the original console sold( I believe around 40 million). But how many of those were second or even third systems because of the hardware malfunctioning. Dont get me wrong I have had all 3 consoles this generation and the only one that made sense to keep playing up until this point is the ps3.

[finite]

Not really Only Sony fans would care... LOL

[neoMAXMLC]

Just like how only 360 fans cared about sales for the passed 6 years?
Now they're eating their words and are pretending it doesn't matter. LOL

[ACEMANWISE]

What matters to me is quality games and hardware, the support for the physical format, support for ownership in the digital realm, and an overall sense of control over the products I buy. I want the company who sells me products to not only value games but to also think like a gamer.

I'm really tired of the business-related facts that some websites use to justify/critique a topic. I'm tired of seeing sales and company performance used as a baseline for a products' success/failure. I understand that a great game should have been sold more and if company A marketed it better it would've seen more success. I understand that it matters to a degree if we ever want to see a sequel to the games we value. However, the core gamer has been around since the 1970's and that foundation (however unprofitable) will always exist.

What matters overall is what we value from the gamer's standpoint. Stop gauging the importance of your values through business performance. If the PS3 surpasses the 360 it is mostly due to business-related factors. It doesn't mean it has become more important or has better games. It just means more people are buying it.

If you want Sony to do better (or any company for that matter) start acting like a consumer and start focusing on demand. Demand what you value as a gamer and make sure your voice is heard...from Sony, not other gamers...and not other websites. That's how you improve a company. If we continue down this path of business related worship then all we become are investors.

[KontryBoy706]

What's funny to me is the PS3 would have BEEN overtook the 360 if it wasn't for people buying multiple 360s due to red light of death and E74 disc read errors.

[sdplisken]

i love the taste of xbots tears in the morning...... it tastes like victory

i had a bottle of champagne ready all gen for this moment and
damn it was good

xbox in 3rd place -where it belongs!

[Max-Zorin]

What's next? You're gonna throw a BBQ and pop illegal fireworks? It's really not that serious. At the end of the day Sony, MS, etc. is all in it for the money. They don't love us. You should know that by now.

[Clarence]

If it was the 360 that came from behind and overtook the PS3 then we would see articles about how this was an amazing come back from behind. Since its the PS3 the media and Xbox fans have to play it down as not being a big deal, but we all know it is.

Arron Greenberg
"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."

Greenberg, the media, and Xbox fans will continue to play it down. It's a sore spot for them. They can say its not but just look at the comments.

[IAmTheBest35]

the ps3 will more than likely overtake the sales of the 360 when its all said and done.. but that by no means makes it a success. the wii and the 360 were successful. the ps3.. just wasnt. and thats what really matters.

[neoMAXMLC]

Some logic you have there. The PS3 isn't a success by passing the 360 which is a success.
Such denial.

[Picnic]

However the Xbox360 had fewer 'easy to advertise' features. No Bluray, no free online, a previous install base of 25 million rather than 100 million. So, by that , the PS3 merely passing the number of Xbox360s sold will not be the measure of the PS3s success. It'll be more like whether the PS3 has more valuable customers. And since they don't even have to pay for online and people buy more games for the Xbox360 on average even that's open to debate. It seems to me that Sony has ended up being like Father Christmas this generation and for that I am grateful but Sony's pockets could be hurting. They need FEWER consoles sold to people willing to spend what the console actually costs to make - and then for those buyers to spend on extras. But I'm not complaining! This is a golden period for value for money Sony products.

[Sarobi]

I don't see how you could say PS3 isn't successful.. it took a ton of biased bashing for the past 6 years and people attempted to predict its downfall millions of times.. yet in the long run the system sells?.. yeah that isn't successful at all. You want to be biased, then go right ahead, but 360 and PS3 aren't even in the same league of Wii's success.

[ajax17]

I love these articles. It just proves which sites are in love with Microsoft.

[solidboss07]

Of course it matters (especially for those of us that purchased a PS3 at midnight launch), it matters because quality and innovation can bring success. Microsoft launched the 360 early using existing (common) technology and forced Sony to launch PS3 earlier than they wanted to. The 360 is good, but another year in development would have been great, and who knows, perhaps our PS3 would have had 2 Cell B.E's instead. Regardless of what-ifs, Sony's device was a fantastic console. Good games were sparse but Motorstorm played great and looked better than any console game when it shipped, and Resistance F.O.M was technically competent. The facts are 360 had more than 1yr headstart, was cheaper, easier to develope for and had media backing, and launched before the economic crash engulfed the world. PS3 over came all of these hurdles because of the core quality of the hardware and software (that fans of Sony owned studios knew would come), free online and Blu ray, - what 'Man' doesn't enjoy Great White sharks leaping from the water in slo-mo HD? At the time only possible on PS3, HD-DVD didn't have much in the way of BBC documentaries!! How many Computers could play a HD format without judders back then? I still think the PS2 era was better, I have kept 43 PS2 titles but only have 19 PS3 games in my collection. This might just be me not enjoying gaming as much, or else this gen has failed to match the last even with technology. Don't get me wrong, my first online gaming experience was COD Modern Warefare (1) and what an experience that was, but the novelty did wear of. I only ever bought MW2 after that. But, we still have the Team Ico game, Ground Zeroes (multi plat), GOW multiplayer ect to look forwards to this gen might finish well. I posted this reply on my PS3, does the X-Box 3shitty have a web browser?? only joking..........not. No, I am . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .>not<

[jimbobbeers]

No it doesn't matter. As long as all the consoles sell well its good for everybody. However anyone saying Sony have "won", you're clueless. They dominated the world market share. They are now 80 millions consoles shy of the PS2, admittedly the PS3 has not finished yet, but I can tell you for definite they will not hit those numbers. Sony will be content. Happy? No.

[Urbz7870]

It would of matter 6 years ago.

[PurpHerbison]

I wonder what would happen if the comment section got disabled for a little bit. Would you guys lose it? I mean when you are of such high expertise, I understand the need to flaunt it.

[Leviathan]

Yes it does. It matters.

[ItsTrue]

"Does It Matter if the PS3 Overtakes the Xbox 360?"

To Microsoft or Sony, yeah it probably does. To me though, it doesn't matter one bit.

[SDF Repellent]

Doesn't matter, in my mind, Microsoft accomplished what they wanted in their second attempt in the console business. If anyone would have told me that the X360 and PS3 would be selling neck and neck this late in the generation, I have to laugh at you because the PS2 sold like 140 millions to the original xboxs' 30 millions. Kudo Microsoft.

[5eriously]

Simply looking at the PS2 going for so long YES it matters! Now with the PS2 going out at long last what would the existing PS2 base turn to next? Obviously a cheaper now affordable console with the best games, GUESS which one! Microsoft does not seem to give their customers and console the love it deserves, where are all the new IP's or new games, it's just a revised repeat of the same old titles. No wonder the Software sales on the exBox360 looks so great, there are many game starved eXBox360 gamer's who would just lap up everything becoming available due to the lack of choice. On the PS3 we have so much choice that I do not know where next as I cannot own all the games at once. There is only so much time in a day and too many good titles on the PS3 (Thanks PS+). So hopefully the PS3 will now take over the PS2 space and draw in all those gamers and young lads, I see it already happening everyday around me. So there is a long stretch still to go for the PS3. Then there are now an existing 70 million PS3 gamer/owner base and growing that will surely move along to the next gen PS4 depending on whats to offer, how many of them are eyeing Microsoft seeing the lack of support their gamer's are receiving currently? IMHO Sony cemented a good base of core gamer's and the stage are set to retake the initiative and run with it. If Sony play this right and have the financial capability they can run away with the gaming market and reclaim their throne again in the next generation. All they have to do is keep on doing what they have done up to now and make sure the PS4 (Orbis) are equal or the best in technology and at the right price point and in good time then the stage is set for the rest to follow naturally. I myself have high hopes for the PS brand in future. Go Sony!

[BitbyDeath]

207 comments and counting.. i'll go out on a limb and say yes

[Convas]

You do realize where you are, right OP?

Asking if Sony/PS3 matter on N4G is bound to pull in a crowd.

[MadMen]

Had this happened before 2010, yes it would, after, its irrelevant.

Anytime next gen is 2 yrs or less away - it has no baring, also this needs to be broken up by region more than it does need to be a global talk, being that certain games and exclusives thrive in one area and die in another

[tiffac008]

Although I would welcome this good news from the industry. I would like to point out that this is not official and we should all wait for the quarterly reports of both companies.

[donman1]

YES... ITS CALLED BRAGGING RIGHTS... Its what Xbox360 owners have been bragging about for years.

[DFresh]

Nintendo and Xbox fan boys made a big deal over sales and now that PS3 has surpassed Xbox 360 in sales all of the sudden sales don't matter.
Bunch of hypocrites.
Anyway I'm just glad that now there's more ways to game then ever especially in the upcoming next generation of gaming.
ex.)
-Consoles:
Wii U, PS4, Xbox 720, Steam Box, Ouya.
-PC:
The best of the best gaming has to offer.
-Tablets/Mobile Devices:
iOS/Android
Also glad that there's a lot of games that are coming out before the next gen starts just so we can warm up to it.
While I'll be busy for awhile getting ready for the U.S Navy and all of that I'll try to make some time for gaming in my free time when I can.
Happy gaming!

[Donnywho]

I've skimmed over so many comments hating on Ps3 in the past 5-6 years. It's pretty funny that Ps3 pulls ahead at the end.

[ziggurcat]

hahaha this must've been written by an xbox fanboy. funny how sales were super important when xbox had been outselling the PS3, but now sales are suddenly not important?

[gustave154]

PS3 is gonna outsell the wii next and we will see who is laughing at the finish line...