Can We Officially Say That PlayStation is Back On Top?

The PS2 dominated the gaming world, the PS3 slipped, and now it seems the PS4 has reclaimed the top spot in the ongoing console race.

[Mikey32230]

I dont really understand when people say the PS3 "Slipped" etc.

The PS3 outsold the 360 world wide, and was release an entire year later. Yes perhaps the only mistake that was made with the PS3 was that it was sold a year and at such a high price $600, but i wouldnt say it was ever on bottom.

I just want the damn DLNA/Media center features back and suspend/resume support. Then i will be a happy camper this gen.

[randomass171]

Probably because it did not sell the most hardware among the three. Doesn't matter to me though, it still had the best library of games IMO.

[amiga-man]

To be fair Sony packed a lot into the PS3 The CELL, Blu Ray, Hdmi, blu tooth as a piece of tech it was right up there, unfortunately all this came at a price but for what it offered it was a fair one.

unfortunately it was launching a year later than it's competiton and right at a time when the world was hit by a major recession, in some ways it was the perfect storm that Sony and the PS3 did well to ride out, for the PS3 to outsell the xbox in the end was one hell of an achievement.

With the PS4 Sony have taken a much safer route, but as consoles go they seem to have the balance just right and it is quite rightly dominating sales

[chrismichaels04]

I dont understand the whole "PS3 slipped" debate either. As far as overall worldwide sales are concerned, the PS3 still came out on top, selling just as many units as the Xbox 360 with one year less on the market. That made the PS3 the fastest selling HD console last gen. The PS3 only lost market share to the 360 in the US, but thats its. Some people act as if the entire console race is only won by one specific market.

[UltraNova]

Ok last Gen sales-wise the Wii trounced everything. The ps3 came in second and the 360 3rd (embarrassingly so I might add considering it had a year head start, was cheaper the entire gen and had multiple units sold to the same customer courtesy of the RRoD.

BUT if I were to say who really won last gen in terms of game library, support, hardware reliability + capabilities and free services it would be PS3 1st (by a large margin), 360 2nd and Wii 3rd.

[levian]

Can we just stop caring which one is "winning"? I honestly haven't cared, at all after I found out everything I needed to know about Xbone and PS4. Got a PS4 now, will be getting Xbone a year or so later.

Let's drop this console war, I'm not sure anybody really gives a crap who is "winning". It's not like Sony and Microsoft are your favourite sports team or something.

[UnHoly_One]

Agreed Levian.

Before the days of the internet supplying us with more information that anyone actually needs, nobody knew or cared about sales figures.

And we all played games and had fun anyway. :)

[Strange_Evil]

Along with not selling as much as the PS1/2, probably the biggest issue was the controversies - some created by Sony (get a second job), many created by the journalists (the doom gloom crap) to few genuine missteps such as the PSN debacle or the price at launch or the network not being as mature as the XBL initially.

Overall PS3 was Sony's weakest generation in terms of looking confident. During the PS1/2 era and arguably even now they seem confident but during the PS3 era they seemed like what MS seems currently - Making cocky statements initially and then backtracking on many things.

It's a good thing Sony has learnt a lot from their previous mistakes and I hope they don't become complacent (I'm looking forward to important system updates that add in tons of features as opposed to generic security patches and more first-party games).

[LOGICWINS]

The PS3 performed worse than the PS2 did despite being my console of choice last gen. Sony released the PS3 intending for it to do BETTER than the PS2. It didn't. In that respect, it slipped up. When console sales don't reach company projections...you slipped up. You can't sugarcoat that. Thats just reality.

The PS4 on the other hand has exceeded Sony's expectations...doing what the PS3 should have done.

[Kane22]

last time i checked. ps3 was better than ps2. the problem is it was terribly hard to code for awhile. the price and Sony's PR stupidity. and in some ways the gaming "journalists" also kinda hurt the ps3 for a bit with awful lies about it.

[Picnic]

Don't mistake confidence in the new product for Sony genuinely thinking that the PS3 would ever sell more than the PS2.

The PS2 sold 155 million. That remains an unsurpassed number for a non-handheld console. The original Wii 'only' managed to sell two thirds of that.

I'm sure that the aim at Sony will have been to try to cling on to a large number of PS2 owners and attract anyone else interested in cutting edge tech. Not necessarily to surpass the practically unsurpassable. The Dreamcast shows that it just isn't easy to do no matter how good your tech at the time. The PS3's great range of games means that it achieved about as well as it could have in that sometimes casual-heavy generation.

[BattleAxe]

Microsoft was a huge factor during the PS3 generation, since by this time they were more established and had some huge exclusive games that they sunk massive marketing dollars into. The PS2 never had to contend with that kind of competition. Microsoft was just starting out with the Xbox, and Nintendo's GameCube was not a very big hit.

The dynamics were completely different during the PS3 generation, especially with the Wii being a smash success with the casual audience. When you look at the kind of competition that the PS3 went against, it performed wonderfully. Because of Sony's success during last generation, the PS3 is really the only last gen console still pushing it's weight today.

The PS4 is in a similar situation to the PS2, where Nintendo is almost a non-factor like the GameCube was at that time, but while Microsoft has stumbled out of the gate, I think they will be a solid competitor over the next few years, especially once Halo 5 and the next Gears game come out. If Titanfall stays exclusive to Xbox and PC, then I think that will help to propel the Xbox One into a position where they will be a serious contender for market share against the PS4.

[JackBNimble]

People seem to forget that the ps2 was on the market for over 10 years as well.

[MrSwankSinatra]

The PS3 was Sony's attempt to monopolize the gaming industry. The whole point of the Cell Processor was for it to be hard to develop for thus forcing developers to only develop for the PS3 platform and with that developers went to easy to develop for 360 and the PS3 ended up with inferior multiplats and lost a lot of games that were once exclusive to PS3. The PS3 also wasn't the best selling console of it's generation like the original playstation and PS2 were. The PS3 also didn't have the online infrastructure that the 360 had, at that time no one knew that online gaming was going to explode like it did. I could go on about the list of mistakes that Sony made with the PS3, while it was a good console the PS4 is what the PS3 should have been.

[GribbleGrunger]

I find it difficult to disagree with you, but then again I tend to give posts a little thought before I hit a button. I'd have to agree, these are a feasible counterbalance to the rosier alternatives. I'm not saying I completely agree with the points you've made, I'm just saying they're food for thought.

[Picnic]

Online gaming had been made a key selling point by Microsoft with the original Xbox. Sony will have had an idea that it would be popular. They just didn't see the need to bust their gut trying to get it just like the Xbox360s'. Not when it would take developers a few years to get to grips with the Cell in any case.

The upshot was we got free online from Sony for a whole generation. It was a balance that has done Sony great favours in terms of popularity in the long run.

[rainslacker]

CELL wasn't designed to be difficult to develop for so it would hinder multi-plats. That's just silly. It was difficult to develop for because no one really knew how to do it, as at the time, SPE programming was new. Nowadays, modern processors use many things that the CELL implemented, so programmers learned to do it.

CELL was designed to be able to perform operations that games would be using(based on current trends in game design at the time) at blazingly fast speeds. Despite what some people think, PS3 was designed to push game graphics and physics calculations to a new level, and it did it that very well as evidenced by some of it's exclusives.

Sony did gimp the system with it's memory architecture, but if programmers used the architecture the way Sony imagined it, they could have had the superior multi-plats, and more advanced games overall.

However, the fact that MS did not go the same route, and that PC didn't do anything like it either, means that most devs didn't bother to really take advantage of those features.

So to dispute your argument, publishers and developers gimped their games overall in order to maintain parity across systems.

[BullyMangler]

Since when do saLes determine somethings glory?

Jstin Bieber, with more sales than Big Pun. does this mean justin has more skills more talent than Pun? lol

PS4 with more sales than wiiU . does this mean ps4 has higher quality, more challenging games than wiiU? heh .

Sony king of consoLe sales

Nintendo, KING OF G A M I N G < fact

good night (;

[Ripsta7th]

Who the hell is big pun?!

[Ocsta]

Did this @$$hole just compare the PS4 to JUSTIN BIEBER??!

[Master-H]

As a Wii U owner, you're probably too young to be listening to Big Pun, does mom know about this ??

[MysticStrummer]

"Nintendo, KING OF G A M I N G < fact"

Yup, that is less than a fact for sure.

[solidjun5]

"Nintendo, KING OF G A M I N G < fact

good night (;"

Yea, good night. I'm glad your ability to comment is limited to one per story.

[Bubbamilk]

I figured you would get a lot of hate for that. But in a very vague way I agree.

My 7 year old nephew loves and understands bf4 cod and nba 2k14 better than I do. But he quit dk tropical freeze not because he didn't like it but because he couldn't even finish a level.

It is a fact that whats popular isn't always best. And technically despite what the haters say Nintendo makes game systems not multi media players. And have been in the game for longer so I have a problem disagreeing with u. How u worded it was just asking for it but I somehow completely agree.

So I will take some f those disagrees with u pal. Nintendo is the grandad king of gaming. I respect Sony and have owned every console they have released since the beginning. But I'm a man of respect and I respect the king and his place. Anyone who doesn't isn't a gamer or is too young to know who the real daddy is.

Hype goes a long way in the Internet age and Nintendo has always been quiet about their next moves. I heard someone refer to the ps3 issues as the perfect storm with the recession and stuff. I'd say the same could be said for he wii u.

Goodnight, now I'm off to play GAMES!!!! On whatever console I freaking want to

[ShadowWolf712]

@Bubba

By your logic, the "daddy" would be the Pong Machines. Or the Odyssey and Atari.

All Nintendo did was step into a weak market and happen to dominate. Had they not, Atari may have sprung back, Sega may have still developed their Master System, someone else would have. Nintendo just got lucky with timing.

I'm not saying they didn't make some damn good games during that time, but to act like anyone owes them is a bit... foolish.

[SpinalRemains138]

Why are you equating more sales as meaning a better console?

No one has ever said that. What most are saying is that this generation, the best console happens to be selling the most.

[rainslacker]

@Shadow

They did a bit more than that. Timing certainly helped them though. They had been developing their system before the industry crash, but released it after due to happenstance. Something they couldn't have foreseen, or maybe they did but couldn't do anything about it at the time.

Anyhow, Nintendo did implement new ways of licensing games for the system, and secured ways to prevent piracy and cheap knock offs from appearing on the system, which was a problem that devalued other publishers games. They also implemented quality standards which were woefully lacking and was one of the reasons for the industry crash.

Overall, to shorten this post, Nintendo before the release of their console, and seeing how the industry crashed, analyzed what happened, and developed polices which would prevent it from happening again(at least for the same reasons). Much of what they did is still being used today by all the console makers, and they can be credited for the current publication model that has been used for almost 30 years now.

Sega copied their licensing model 100% with the SMS. They changed the licensing model to benefit publishers more on the Genesis release, which helped make them a much bigger competitor as they got publishers away from Nintendo...EA being the biggest.

[spacedelete]

Sony lost half of its market share to MS.
PS2 = 160 million PS3 = 80 million
Xbox =24 million Xbox 360 = 80 million

[strangeaeon]

Actually both the 360 and Ps3 are around 83 million sold through.

[KAEM7]

I don't know if your numbers are wrong or whatever, but otherwise the disagrees are sort of bullshit. Generally speaking you are right. Some people just don't seem to get basic economics.

[Picture_Dancer]

Worst selling Sony console have outsold best selling M$ console which had launched a year ealier :D

[dragon82]

Actually, you could say that it lost 1/4 to Microsoft and 1/4 to Nintendo.

Game Cube = 22 million Wii = 100 million = +78 million
PS2 = 160 million PS3 = 80 million = -80 million
Xbox = 24 million 360 = 80 million = +56 million

Unless you think 78 million Wii owners just popped up out of thin air?

[rainslacker]

Ah, yet another poster who doesn't understand market share.

The PS2 sold 88 million in the same time that the PS3 had it's last official sales number released(which was 80 million).

Sony lost 10% of it's console sales in the same time frame, but that isn't a measure of it's market share.

Here's another way to look at it if you look at what is actual market share.

For the same time period(roughly since all three systems released at different times.

The market almost tripled in size for last gen. Yet MS share of that market didn't really increase comparatively. Sony's would have decreased by 33%, and Nintendo's went up over 300%. All roughly speaking. Not going to break it down as you won't care because it doesn't suit your argument.

In 6 years, when Sony finally hits 140+ million PS3 units, this "market share" argument can die, as it doesn't suit this purpose anymore, and the PS4 is poised to sell better than the Wii did.

@dragon
Arguably Wii owners did pop out of thin air. Nintendo created a new market that existed within last gen. :)

[BiggerBoss]

Considering how much the Ps1 and Ps2 dominated, the PS3 definitely "slipped up" a little bit (it was still the best console last gen in my opinion). However, there's no denying Ps4 is dominating right now and will likely continue to dominate. 2015 will be a great year for PS gamers, and all gamers

[rainslacker]

I think a better way to look at it is that Sony didn't make any headway. It slipped in sales a bit compared to the PS2, but didn't achieve any momentum in increasing it's market share comparatively to the increase in the actual market during last gen.

Most of that was due to it's initial release, which actually held it back despite outselling it's closest competitor, and the fact that it's closest competitor had a compelling system at a cheaper price. After the first price drop, it actually performed similarly and occasionally better than the PS2 did in the same time frames.

I'm sure it's not what Sony was hoping, but it's not as dire as too many people seem to want to make it out to be.

Sony's only real "failure" or "slipping up" comparative to prior gens is that it just didn't dominate everything. It may be a good thing though, because it certainly helped forge what Sony became later in the gen, and so far this gen...and I think many will agree that that is an excellent thing.

It'd be hard to say that Sony isn't making up for lost ground right now though. It doesn't have that Wii craze going for it, yet it is selling better than the Wii did, so obviously it is poised to "win" this gen. Good thing for Sony is that their systems have legs though, so sales won't likely stagnate like they did with the Wii when the hype died after a few years.

[harrisk954]

The only places it "slipped" in the PS3 generation would have been the U.S., and to a lesser degree, the U.K.

That being said, worldwide, It kicked the living heck out of the XB360. To launch a year late and still sell more worldwide is an amazing accomplishment and it shows that the PS3 sold many more year-over-year than the XB360.

This generation is starting off completely different and there is no way that the XB1 is going to ever compete with the PS4. It may be closer in the U.S. than in other parts of the world, but the launching of the XB1 in all of these other countries where MS has never been able to get much of a foothold is not going to suddenly and magically catch the XB1 up to the PS4. Just a'int gonna happen.

[doolin_dalton]

Declaring victory after nine months is quite dangerous.

There were many people said "PS3 will NEVER catch Xbox 360" last generation. How foolish do those people look now?

MS doesn't need to outsell Sony in other parts of the world. But, as of right now, Sony is selling hundreds of thousands of PS4's in 60+ countries while MS is selling ZERO in those same countries. ANY sales for MS will help close the gap, even if those total sales are less than PS4. It's simple math.

MS has proven it can keep pace, and even outsell Sony worldwide. Despite Sony EVENTUALLY catching up, there were still several head to head years in which 360 outsold PS3 globally.

The U.S. and U.K. are the centers of the gaming world, like it or not. The rest of the world combined barely equals those two.

[harrisk954]

@doolin_dalton

I agree that generally "declaring victory is dangerous" after only 9 months into this console generation, it is pretty clear that the PS4 has an insurmountable lead over the XB1. You cannot compare the PS3/XB360 race of last generation as it is apples to oranges. First, the XB360 had a year-long head start and the only 2 countries that it kept its lead over the PS4 was the U.S. and the U.K. Other than that, PS3 handily beat the 360 in all other territories because FROM LAUNCH, the PS3 consistently outsold the 360 (except in the U.S. and U.K.). The fact of the matter is that a new console sells its greatest number in terms of short-term percentage, at launch. The PS4 is currently outselling the XB1 by a margin of 3 to 1 based upon Sony and MS's own disclosures this past month. PS4 has more than a 500,000 console lead in the U.S., if not closer to 750,000. The launch of Titanfall didn't help. The unbundling of Kinect didn't help. To make up a 500,000 to 1 million unit deficit over your closest competitor when you can't get any meaningful traction against that competitor is a tough, tough thing to do.

The reason that Sony caught up to and surpassed MS worldwide last gen was due to the first-party studios exclusives that Sony had. MS is still relying upon 3rd parties, even this gen, not having learned a valuable lesson. EA, Ubisoft, Activision -- these companies are in it for the money. MS tied up some temporary exclusives (Titanfall) before this gen started and before EA could see that the PS4 was going to be so dominant out of the gates. Going forward, these deals will be fewer, if they exist at all. Sony doesn't have to rely upon these deals because of the sheer number of studios they have.

Plus, Sony has brand loyalty all over the world, other than in the U.S., but even here, former 360 loyalists have moved to the PS4 this gen. Sony has not lost many gamers from the PS3 to PS4, but MS sure has with many 360 owners going PS4 this time around.

[ShadowWolf712]

@doolin_dalton

Actually, it doesn't help them close the gap. When you're far behind, the only way you can close a gap is if you begin outselling the competition.

Say, for example, in a game. If you have 100 points and I have only 33, but then I scored 20 and you only scored 15, THEN I closed the gap. By 5 points. But if I score 20 and you score 30, then that gap did not close. It widened. Because now I'm behind not by 67, but by 77.

So unless the Xbone begins outselling the PS4, they are not closing the gap. THAT's simple math.

[MysticStrummer]

"I dont really understand when people say the PS3 "Slipped" etc."

Yeah it's like when people say MS took Sony's market share, when in fact Nintendo outdid them both. Last generation the casual market threw off all the numbers by going insane for the Wii, and 360 launched first so it was bound to do well with no competition out of the gate. After launch, add in the unknown number of RRoD related purchases and the "My friend has it so I need one" factor. Meanwhile, Sony released the most expensive console in a bad economy and was arrogant about it (sounds familiar). PS3 didn't equal PS2's sales, but there were many factors.

[NeoTribe]

Xbox won in the united states, so in alot of peoples mind it means they won worldwide.

[Blaze929]

it hasn't even been a year yet...desperate much?

[rainslacker]

For the first time in gaming ever there were three major competitors on the market actually all being successful at the same time.

It was actually quite nice if you step back and actually appreciate the industry and those that provide gaming outlets for us.:)

PS "slipped" because it didn't dominate like it did the prior two generations. It did well though, and it's sales numbers were only down 10% over the same period of time. As far as sales go, PS3 will likely get close to selling as much as the PS2 did if it stays on the market another 6 years. However, given the already low cost of the PS4, it may be retired earlier since the cost to manufacture will be higher longer due to the CELL.

OT to article:
You can say whatever you like. People will argue with you either way.

[Bigpappy]

Ok: PS4 is back on top. Now what?

[LOGICWINS]

All we can do now is hope that Sony stays hungry and continues to support the PS4 with great games across a variety of genres.

I want to hear more about PS4 JRPGs. Sony did a great job on that front on the PS3.

[indyman7777]

unfortunately JRPG's take the longest to develop. Especially turn based JRPG's they take forever. But JRPG's is what I'm waiting for too!

[MRMagoo123]

proper big arsed ones too like 100 plus hours at least imo and I will be happy this gen.

[Godmars290]

No. Not until a year or two, with diversity in game development, rather than PR hype, is a thing again.

[Zodiac]

It has been outsold by the Wii U, Vita, 3DS, and Ps3 for months in Japan. It also ends below the 3DS in the world wide weekly charts.

It's doing great, but lets wait and see before making any hasty claims.

[DeadlyOreo]

Oh come on, firstly what you're saying is only for Japan, PS4 is absolutely dominating in every other country. Secondly, it'll no doubt pick up in Japan as soon as there is a decent amount of appealing software for it (hardly nothing out appealing to Japanese market). Thirdly, 3DS is a handheld not a home console and there's no stopping that thing.

[BiggerBoss]

Japan is a tiny market in the grand scheme of things, especially with Ps4 doing extremely well in USA and Europe, and pretty much everywhere else

[MasterCornholio]

I never thought I would say this but I guess there's a first time for everything.

Japan =\= The World

[MaxKingoftheWild]

You realize the 3ds only shipped about 800k last quarter... Right? And ps4 shipped about 2.5m... Any sales tracking that's putting 3ds above ps4 globally is completely off.

[nitus10]

I think it is rather pointless comparing handhelds against consoles since it is like comparing apple to oranges.

Now if you wish to compare the 3DS to the PSVita and the reasons why the 3DS is leading then that would be different debate.

[MaximusPrime_]

The way I see it, without that infamous year head start by xb360, playstation has always been on top.

[ARESWARLORD]

Click bait. But yes they are winning but I love my wii u and the bone anyway. To each their own

[Locknuts]

Sales wise: Yep.

Games wise: Not yet. Not by a long shot. Might happen next year though.

[Hanso]

it will happen next year when Bloodborne releases

[Locknuts]

Not my cup of tea, but Uncharted will rock.

[nitus10]

"it will happen next year when Bloodborne releases"

At the moment I don't have a PS4 since it is not backwards compatible and I still have allot of PS3 games I want to play. In addition the games that are available for it are not IMHO compelling enough for me to purchase it.

Now if "Bloodborne" is the spiritual successor to the "Souls" franchise or even if they port Dark Souls II to the PS4 then I will definitely get one.

[chazjamie]

no, as long as its lacking in the most basic of features. the ps 4 is far from being the on top. the only reason, and i mean the ONLY reason why the ps4 is such a great success, is because the competition fucked up so badly.

now before i get pm's about how i dont own a ps 4. i own it, i am far from impressed.the fact that it loses every time you compare it the features of a ps3, just screams disappointment. the only thing that blew me away was the destiny beta.

[DeadlyOreo]

No just no. If you really do have a PS4 please do us all a favour and sell it. Thanks.

[chazjamie]

no son. like i have explained before. I own the pos, meaning i can be critical. I am not going to give it a pass, or be grateful that sony decided to throw me a bone every now and then. i am not going to blindly condone a practice that serves no purpose but to boost sony's ego. So after spending a lot of time with it, i can honestly say i am disappointed with it.

[ScorpiusX]

Still not worth it , besides am a happy .

[ScorpiusX]

Wow , honestly it's not worth it at this point in time maybe later on when their core franchise release. As of now no.

[Spotie]

But you think the less valuable XB1 is worth it. And for some reason, we should listen to your opinion on the PS4?

Might as well be listening to white noise.

[ScorpiusX]

@Spot was not giving my opinion was simply stating what I thought. Now if people are stupid enough to heed what one state's as opinion then their idiots. As for the Xbox you just assumed all that.

[Paprika]

Its been on top for a good few years now, for consoles! And Xbox after their initial rule from the 360's release till around 07/08, they have been in decline. Nintendo are more exciting than Xbox these days IMO.

But ps4 still has a very long way to go, ps3 is fine tuned. Ps4 still needs many features added, it is not currently the best console... only the most promising... IMO! I have faith in Sony, I just don't on Microsoft! I have owned all xbox's too btw, do I'm not a fanboy... just a gamer! I love Sony PlayStation and Nintendo for its core values experience... Microsoft have declined from the awesome 360 launch.... its too.... corperate and purely business for them now.

[worldwidegaming]

waiting for games since launch.

[MysticStrummer]

You should probably broaden your gaming horizons then, because PS4 has lots of games.

[Locknuts]

I think he meant good ones.

[Dannycr]

My question is: Why would anyone need to say any console is "on top"?

That is a really childish attitude. Wanting your console/phone/laptop/videocard /etc of choice to be the best just to grow someone's self esteem is ridiculous and this question is just that.

[GW212]

I agree with you on some level. That said, there is a benefit to having your console of choice "on top."

All else equal, the best selling console SHOULD have the best support from developers and the industry at large. I know it doesn't always work that way but that's the rule and not the exception.

When it becomes a pissing match and some weird self-esteem builder (lots of them on this site), then yes I think an attitude adjustment is needed.

[DragoonsScaleLegends]

If sony starts adding a lot of cool features and announce some better games I would say yes.

[Rimeskeem]

For now according to sales yes they are. However in the future it can always change.

[Obamanationn]

the best the thing that can happen to xbone is Red Ring of Death , sales will double over night

[Gore-Content]

YES, YES, and f***ing YES!!! :D

[LightDiego]

We can say that, for now, but yes, we can.

[gamer7804]

of course its selling the best, why do we need another article about it. But whether its the best console for someone depends on what games you want, os features, controller types, and where your friends are at.

[quenomamen]

We don't have to the consumers have already spoken.

[BillmadeAGate]

Lmao!! Since when did gamers become so excited about sale record's... I thought we were in it for the games!!!!! Which unfortunately no next gen system has enough of atm.. Wish they'd stop posting useless flambait =/

[rainslacker]

You must be new around these parts.

It started last gen when a console absolutely had to outsell the other in order to prove it was the best.

Wasn't a good trend then. It's still annoying now.

[kasser]

While sure the PS2 did win the last gen nobody disagrees with that but however put into consideration how pirated the PS2 was. Sure in the US you probably won't see console piracy such a big deal but countries like where I live in (Saudi Arabia and the middle east) both of the PS1 and PS2 were heavily pirated consoles. I seen people having their PS2 broken and since piracy voids the warranty, they go and buy another ps2. After all, it is not a big price to pay since all games were pirated and cheap. I believe this is also the case with some countries in South America, East Asia and probably Russia.

Now the PS3 wasn't that easy to pirate and it took too long and was too inconvenient. Add to that, playing online games required you to have a non-pirated hardware and we all seen how MS banned so many people because of this.

So yeah piracy do benefit the hardware maker a little bit but harms the software makers.

[lfc_4eva]

If it helps you to sleep better at night, then yeah, you can officially say PS4 is back on top.

[TheRedButterfly]

Depends on your definition of "on top." IMO? No. But that's because my opinion/definition of "on top" is different from almost everyone on N4G.

[MRMagoo123]

I am guessing by the look of your avatar, your definition of "on top" is probably different from almost everyone in the world not just N4G.

[TheRedButterfly]

Stay classy stereotypical faceless N4G commenter.

[Predaking77]

Well, if we take reality into account then yes, it is on top.

[MonkeyOne]

It's not about Playstation

Playstation is not a company

SONY is the company and they are doing terribly, hemorrhaging billions of dollars year-after-year in unprofitable ventures.

[GW212]

Go check out their latest earnings release and get back to me. They posted a profit for the quarter. Sentiment from analysts has turned positive and it's possible they have turned a corner. Not out of the woods, but the results were very positive.

Further, yes it is about Playstation. The brand itself will continue on regardless of what company owns it. Sony isn't going anywhere in my very educated opinion but, if they did decide to fold up, they'd divest the Playstation asset because it's profitable and will have plenty of buyer interest. The PS division, due to its success and profitability, will be able to continue to call its own shots regardless of who owns it.

[MonkeyOne]

You're clueless

Do you have any idea how much Sony has lost since the PS2 era of gaming ended?

It's staggering. It's like more than 5 Billion dollars. And they will never recuperate those losses. NEVER. It's IMPOSSIBLE.

The difference is that Microsoft's Xbox division is a side-project while their core business has godly revenue streams and is sitting on 80 billion in cash.

Microsoft has lost billions too so don't worry there's plenty of bad business to go around.

Remember that the PS1 and PS2 were profitable and successful because the hardware was priced properly.

Stuffing $600 worth of hardware into a box and selling it for $400 or $500 DOESN'T WORK

[rainslacker]

There's this thing called context. Context allows you to understand metaphors and what they mean in reference to what they are representing.

[Artemidorus]

It's not even been a year and N4GSony website has already allowed this rubbish to appear. Sales shouldn't matter for anybody.

If you have shares in Sony then you are very brave because they are in a debt ridden country and also Sony is in debt.

[jnemesh]

Sorry Xbots, but the PS4 has already won this gen. They are being outsold up to FOUR to ONE in some European markets, and are almost at 2:1 overall, globally.

Don't give me that crap that its because the Xbox isn't in some markets...those "Tier 2" markets made up less than 10% of the 360s lifetime sales, they are a drop in the bucket. (And don't think a region locked, crippled Xbox One is going to sell in China...it wont)

Don't tell me that "Halo" is going to save the box...look at sales figures for the other Halo games, and you will see a DECLINE in sales, and certainly it's not going to be enough to overcome the HUGE deficit that they have right now...even IF Halo 5 were coming out this year, and not just a remake of the old games!

Don't tell me that the PS3 came up from behind, either. It's a different game this time...and the PS3 had several advantages over the 360, including the Blu-Ray drive. The Xbone has NO ADVANTAGES over the PS4 this time around...in fact, it's hardware is inferior. If you expect an inferior console, WITH LESS GAMES to come up from behind, you are deluded!

It's all over but the crying (and gnashing of teeth from the Xbots)...the BEST thing MS could do at this point is kill off the console so they can focus on their core business.

[Harmy666]

I don't think the inferior hardware has anything to do with sales tbh. Last gen, the Xbox 360 was the inferior console, the gen before that the PS2 was the inferior console.

I'm pretty sure the vast majority of console owners don't know the difference between the two consoles.

Sony's PR was a hell of a lot better this gen. PR sells consoles, not figures.

[Flames76]

No they still have along way to go.Plus ps4 is in 57 countrys while the X1 is in 13 countrys.So lets wait till the X1 ships in 42 other countrys this september then wait till december 31 2015 see whos is still bringing in the most profit.Xbox division this past quarter ending june profits was up again.The X1 has been making profit since day one and xbox division since september 2007.Playstation division has lost over 6.8 billion since 2006.This past quarter they finally turned a profit again.Doesnt matter who sells more but i can tell you this its not gonn abe a big game between the 2 systems at the end of the cycle.I say in 7 years ps4 will be at 80 million and the X1 at 70 million worldwide

[Sadist3]

No. The PS4 won't be back on top until it can perform more tasks than what my PS3 does, which right now it doesn't. It's a shame my PS3 has more features than my PS4 does. And I don't want to hear the "the features are coming" reply, they should've been here when the system was released. The PS4 is the only device in the world that released with less features than it's predecessor. It's like I have a Genesis all over again, all my PS4 does is just play games and nothing else.

[PrinceOfAllSaiyans]

Notice how undercover Xbox fanboys try to pretend like they own a PS4 so they can justify themselves saying "PS4 has no games" but me someone who actually owns both can tell you that the PS4 stomps the Xbox One when it comes to games. Just because every game doesn't involve shooting people doesn't mean it has no games. I know you guys aren't still playing Dead rising 3 and Ryse still that's like half of the Xbox Ones exclusives.

[PS3and4_HAS_GAMES]

Ummmm PlayStation has always been on top. Yes nintendo sold more last gen but quality wise the PlayStation was on top and this time its on top quality and sales wise.

[spoonard]

The PlayStation brand has ALWAYS been stronger than Nintendo or Xbox regardless of our localized perceptions here in the USA. Sony has had a larger presence in gaming since it joined the gaming scene with the PS1 than Sega, Nintendo, or Microsoft. The PS1 defined Sony as the new sales leader in video games. The PS2 put Sega out of the hardware business for good, and is STILL the highest selling console in history. The PS3 had better exclusive content than either Nintendo or Microsoft and put Blu-Ray on the map, and now the PS4 is CRUSHING WiiU and Xbox ONE in sales. Every generation Sony has done something significant with the PlayStation brand.

[JusticeSoulTuna]

Too soon to call. This gen kinda just started.