Sony: PS3 to overtake Xbox 360 in PAL region by late summer

PS3 installed base in PAL territories will eclipse Microsoft's Xbox 360 by the end of the summer, Sony has claimed.

Speaking to trade magazine MCV David Reeves, President and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, has commented on when the team believes the PlayStation 3 will overtake the Xbox 360 in Europe and other PAL territories.

Words by: VideoGamer.com, Tom Orry - 24/01/2008

[Shadow Flare]

Europe couldn't give a rat's ass about the ex-box 360. We all know ps3 is king

Thats a pretty powerful statement to make though. Which leads me to thinking, if he's so confident about the ps3 overtaking the radiator, then maybe something like a price-cut is heading this way soon. And if so, then yeah, the halobox is a mere fossil in europe. Im pretty sure sony will drop the price of the ps3 around the release of gta iv, because microsoft will probably be doing the same thing with the brick. But that also leads me to think that we'll recieve a good amount of the 2008 AAA titles before summer. The only one's i can think of at the mo are MGS4 and GT5: Prologue. I tell you what though, PS3 may kill the hairdryer in the summer but by the end of this year xbots brains will be red-ringing because they simply cannot take how much ownage the ps3 is handing to bookend.

[SuicidalTendencies]

It's easy to see why 52 people have you on ignore.

@Maddens: Says the guy with 62 ignores. Know why you two have so many ignores? It's because you spew nothing but sh!t on this site that nobody wants to read except for other fanboys. Maybe if you two actually discussed things without being fanboys people might not put you on ignore. As for your comment...I wouldn't expect anything less from a raiders fan.

[Maddens Raiders]

2.1. Instead, you should live up to your namesake.

[harpua]

"Instead, you should live up to your namesake."

hahaha............zing

[CRIMS0N_W0LF]

Maddens 2.1 name is just a retarded american punk band which ain't punk.

[Shadow Flare]

geheez what's your beef? Ever heard of humour? I don't suppose you find abuse directed at the 360 that funny....probably because you have a 360. Im just messin, chill. Btw, id shut up if i were you, cos you know, you have like 7 ignores and 0 tracks, so...shows how much people care for your comments. At least 9 people track my comments. And fyi, most of my comments are sensible but occasionally i like to go off on one and say whatever the hell i want.

Lighten up you lunatic

[SuicidalTendencies]

ST's earlier music was punk, hardcore punk. They mixed a lot of metal and funk later in their careers and I'm not really sure about their newer stuff. I would have to listen to it.

@Shadow: Every time you mentioned the 360 you would call it a different name. "Halobox", "hairdryer", "brick", etc. That was the only thing I had against your comment. There was no reason to keep calling it names like a fanboy. It made your comment seem very childish. Then again, that seems to be the problem with this site. As for people ignoring me or tracking me I really could care less. I don't live on this site and comment everyday. I usually just visit to check on the gaming news submitted by the good people who use their time to look it up.

[Shadow Flare]

"@Shadow: Every time you mentioned the 360 you would call it a different name. "Halobox", "hairdryer", "brick", etc. It made your comment seem very childish". You're chatting to me as if i actually care what some guy who loves an 80's band says. Um, i say those things cos i find it funny, i do it for a laugh, don't really care if anyone really hates it and its better then then the scripted comments we get day in day out. I barely comment here these days anyway, i just read the news. Take your beef somewhere else to someone who actually gives a damn and enjoy your day sir. Ta

[liquidsnake]

Shadow Flare do have right thou. Ps3 is far more appreciated than xbox in EU.

[SuicidalTendencies]

If you didn't care then why the hell did you ask me "what's my beef?". It's pretty sad that you find what you write amusing. Isn't that for other people to decide?

[The Brave 1]

Ps3 has not been out for a year in europe and its already about to takeover the 360.

[Kain81]

in EU

[zambrota]

According to Reeves Sony expects "to overtake installed base of Xbox 360 across PAL territories in late summer." To add some weight to Sony's belief, Reeves added that "last week we outsold Xbox 360 in PAL territories by a ratio of 3:1."

Vg fix your numbers please

[vloeistof]

jep

[mighty_douche]

i can see where this thread is going....

bye...

[BloodySinner]

Then why post at all?

[Meus Renaissance]

3: 1 ratio? Did he say they're outselling Microsoft 3:1 in Europe? Is that sold to consumer or sold to retailer?

[Genuine]

VGchartz reported a couple weeks ago that MS and sony both use "sold to retailer" numbers.

[zambrota]

he actually meant ps3 outselling xbx 3:1 in the PAL region .

PAL region includes Middle East and Europe.

In the middle east not a single person would buy xbx 360 since it is an american product. However Vgchartz fantasy numbers put xbox over ps3 there????

in europe xbox is nonexistent except on VGCHARTZ

in Germany for instance there are just ps3 and xbox 360. However VG shows ps3 and xbxo sales to be neck and neck which is BS

www.amazon.de

ps3 in top 10. xbox nonexistent

[sajj316]

not official (from VG Chartz)

I think the 360 is at about 4.327 million and the PS3 at 3.426 million. It's very possible.

[zambrota]

Did you see Vg's last week ps3 and xbx numbers. They were actually quite close

but in reality

"last week we outsold Xbox 360 in PAL territories by a ratio of 3:1."

so Vg has been overeporting xbox numbers

[Lord Cheese]

wow - i opened this article up and most of the top screen of comments are on my ignore list.....

update: umm...not one to normally comment on disgrees, but how can anyone disagree with that? You looking at my ignore list? That pretty much sums up how people are abusing the agree/disagree system to be honest.

[You bought an Xbox]

Because i'm the DISAGREE BANDIT and you lord pecker cheese will always get DISAGREE'S cause you SUCK

[AceLuby]

I like the disagree bandit...

[JeepGamer]

I have little doubt that given time the PS3 will overtake the 360 but I doubt it will be by the middle of this year.

And it won't even have to include thousands and thousands of 'sales' that were actually just 'replacements for broken consoles'.

[dale1]

vg charts want to drop there 360 figures big time with 1.2 million ps3 sold in the eu in the holiday period and 3 to 1 ratio starting the new year its no wonder ps3 software is higher at amazon in all eu areas.
360 sucks over here and japan its going to get worse with bluray killing hd dvd just check out the best sellers list at amazon in germany etc, hd dvd hasn,t got a title in the top one hundred there
blu ray as over twenty
ps3 no doubt the cheapest all in nex gen console out there no bullsh*t add ons this add on that etc,its as cheap as chips

[LaChance]

Just look at how unpredictable 2007 was , like who would have believed that the PS3 would not have died in the USA in 2007 , but sony did what they had to do to stay in the game.I dont think sony is more intelligent than Micro , even teh fanboys couldnt predict somethong close to wat happend in the last 4tr of 2007.If Microsft pull off a "end 2007 Sony" kinda performance they will be more than ok worlwide.
Anuways sony has the reputation of being arrogant ; snd just look at the results ...The industry is completely unpredicatable ...just look at how the roles have been turned upside down ...

[Anego Montoya FTMFW]

i just don`t think people fully understand, the difference between how MS and SONY do business.

i don`t really care to explain.

Sony is NOT arrogant, they ARE confident.

they have to be.
they have the right to be.

if people take that as arrogant, thats their own fault.

[kevin1122]

i think that applies to all business's, they arent arrogant but confident.

[camelio]

Throwing money around cause you have lots of it on an incompetent and unreliable machine, that is arrogant. Having years of experience with an elegant, reliable futuristic machine, that is confidence.

[Mr PS3]

I can't say i'm surprised and this time next year the mighty PS3 will be the number one console and will easliy be out selling the xbox everywere

[monks]

i personally think by summer might be a challange but it depends on some of the big hitters being as good as expected and ontime

in pal i am very sure they will be in 2nd before the end of 2008 but once again i think they have to keep the good run going

japan i think we all know this will be ps3 land

but usa is a diffrent matter i think they will have todo alot to get 2nd they this year

[heyheyhey]

europe and certainly Japan are in the bag

NA will be a touch more difficult, but im sure that MGS4, GOW3, Killzone 2, R2 and others will secure the ps3's win in NA too

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Well at least this prediction is based in reality, nice change from previous "idiotic" prediction's.

[kevin1122]

lol, I can understand being annoyed by the articles lately. But you dont have to read them.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Disagree wasn't me

[THAMMER1]

When I buy a console I could care less who is counting. Products from the USA are always eclipsed buy Japanese products in PAL territories. What those people eat do not make me $#!T. So if you live in the USA and are running around trumpeting that the PS3 is king over seas you look pretty silly.

If you would like to think about things think about this. The USA is about 2/3's of the over all video games market. Until the PS3 out sells the 360 here SONY still will be facing 3rd place.

The 360 and PS3 are both great consoles personally I have not bought a PS3 yet but I do plan too when the product is what I want. Rumble out of the box, HDMI out of the box, Blu Ray must be with out any doubt the winner, the 1st party games need to stat living up to the hype.

[Anego Montoya FTMFW]

"What those people eat do not make me $#!T. So if you live in the USA and are running around trumpeting that the PS3 is king over seas you look pretty silly."

Easily the WIERDEST thing you`ve EVER said.

"If you would like to think about things think about this. The USA is about 2/3's of the over all video games market. Until the PS3 out sells the 360 here SONY still will be facing 3rd place."

which you know as well as I, sony will (like w/ ps2) all of a sudden put all their FOCUS on US.

"The 360 and PS3 are both great consoles personally I have not bought a PS3 yet but I do plan too when the product is what I want. Rumble out of the box, HDMI out of the box, Blu Ray must be with out any doubt the winner, the 1st party games need to stat living up to the hype"

i agree, if the 360 didn`t BREAK so much.

what game has LIVED up to the HYPE?

Not HALO3.

[DJ]

Since they're only a million units behind Microsoft over in Europe. I'm guessing they'll overtake MS by Fall 08 in that region, and Spring 09 in North America. Then again, North America's desire for the PS3 has jumped considerably with the release of some great games, so I'm sure MGS4 and Killzone are going to do wonders.

[KDash]

and will overtake the X360 soon. Nobody doubts this over here. Europe is Sonys most important market. Most PSOne/PS2-consoles were sould in Europe. Not in NA or Japan...

[DJ]

North America is the largest videogame market, which is pretty funny. Simple mistake though.

[Ridrick]

Because We, Europeans, don't buying cheap sh!te.

We considering only quality hardware, even if that means spending more money.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Stupid and untrue but very funny

[EasilyTheBest]

It just has to be true...
Come on guys, its the 360 thats going to get the big price drop.
Microsoft has only dropped the price once. They have held out this long just for 2008.
Expect a price small price drop every time Sony has something big to deliver. Come October this year the entry level 360 will be cheaper than the Wii probably around £129 the Premium about £159 and the Elite £199...
I love how its just a given that the PS3 will win in 2008. Isnt that what we all thought when the PS3 was 1st released.
Microsoft are in a formiddable position, they have a few tricks yet. I would even go so far as to say, despite Sony having some great releases this year I still think Microsoft will sell more worldwide by 2009.

[DJ]

Fixing faulty hardware. Not saying it's impossible, but it's simply harder for Microsoft to do a price cut. On top of that, there's the 6 Billion Dollars of debt that their Entertainment Division is still trying to pay off.

[aggh im on fire]

Probably likely in the EU this year. Generally seems to be selling better in europe than the 360 apart from the UK where its getting hammered.
I think Sony will still find it hard in the US , especially as it looks as though the 360 will be the first to the sweet spot price.
Wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being 50/50 this generation between those two.

[monks]

just to point out i am UK and the retailers are starting to move the ps3 stuff and making it bigger recently so i think things are starting to improve in the UK slowly

[LaChance]

Pure nonsense ; whers your proof ? Do you work for Microsoft ?By the way everyone knows that Sony have lost ALOT of money this year with the counter performance of the PS3 though a good end year.Crosft actually got outa the red zone with the gaming division then had to pay for the RROD , in 2008 if they dont RROD like they did this year their business will be profitable.It will take mote than a year for the PS3 to be profitable , and its not the 1million uncharted sold that will do that.They need a Halo kinfa og game , and thats not MGS4 I think thatsmore like FF13

[AceLuby]

Sony's gaming division is FAR more profitable than M$'s. In fact, M$ has yet to have a single year where they made ANY money from that division. Go look it up. On the other hand, for every PS3 sold this year there was a PS2 that was also sold, which more than makes up for selling the PS3 at a loss (which is no longer happening due to costs lowering for the blu lense). Production of the PS3 is currently out of the red. And that's just hardware. Get into software side of things and the 3-4x more 1st party studios than M$ and Nintendo and you see why $ony consistently makes money from their gaming division.

W/ 3rd party support mostly going multiplatform or companies having to pay off for exclusive 3rd party games 1st party support is going to be more and more important. Sony has more 1st party studios than M$ and Nintendo combined guaranteeing themselves great exclusives.

On topic, I don't see how $ony could not overtake the 360 in this region by the fall of this year, just on exclusives released this year alone, not to mention the great games already out.

[aggh im on fire]

Didn't MS actually make like 3 or 4 times as much money off software than Sony last year...im sure they can afford aprice cut. More consoles sold means more games sold and more cash coming in.

[AceLuby]

No, where did you even come up with that. Oh that's right, 62% of all statistics are made up on the spot...

[InYourMom]

And MS is just going to roll over and allow that to happen without taking any counter-measures. The arrogance is strong with this one.

Wake me up when it actually happens Fony..

[cmrbe]

is saying MS will just roll over this year no. They will do their best but it will not be good enough to counter what Sony has going for them this year. There is really nothing that MS can do to counter MGS4 and GT5 this year.

[cmrbe]

no secret that the PS3 will eventually overtake the x360 this year in Europe. NA however is a different story. My prediction is PS3 will overtake the x360 in NA by mid or end of 2009 depending on when GOW or FF is released.

[HCS]

and so is SONY just needed to be said. All ps3 needs is 1.5 million more.

and it's not like Xbox 360 is not going sell at all. Wordwide i believe MS will still have a 7 million lead throughout the whole year.

Sony is lucky to sell 60,000 more a month which equals 720,000 more then xb360 if the whole year stays consistent. They still have alot of catching up to do.

Yeah they got some big hitters coming this fall. But im sure Nintendo and Microsoft do too and it's more then likely GRAND THEFT AUTO IV will work in microsoft's favor.

[cmrbe]

but end of year is a definite. Heres why. 1. Sony PS brand is huge in Europe. 2. The exclusive games that are coming out of the PS3 which i dare say the majority of PS2 owners have been waiting for like MGS4 and GT5. GT5 is extremely huge in Europe. While i do agree that the x360 also has big exclusives comming out. I can only think of NG2 and Fable that will appeal to the European market and even those games are not that big in Europe.

[LaChance]

are you a fortune teller ? how can you see into the future ?"They will do their best but it will not be good enough to counter what Sony has going for them this year"

[cmrbe]

I am not a fortune teller. But i am basing my comments on from what happened before and logic

[HCS]

microsoft havent showed off it's plans in 08. but once they do watch everybody kiss their ass.

these guys should lose money for having their head up their ass.

[LaChance]

did the ps2 owners actually tell you that they were waiting for those games ? did you do a survey or what ?
Poeple cant just claim stuff like that.Just look at the actual state of the market . who would have believed in 2005 -before 360 came out) that the marety would be like this.No one was expecting yhe 360to do so good in USA , noone was expecting Nintendo to comeback , and do,think anyone was expecting europeens to buy a 600 dollar console till almost soldout.

[cmrbe]

as you guys claiming that MS has some secret plan for 2008 that they haven't showed yet however what i am claiming is from fact that Sony said they will release MGS4 and GT5 this year which is also fact that they are much bigger than Fable and NG2 which MS said they will release this year .As for my claim about the PS2 crowd waiting. I am basing my OPINION on history. Last gen the majority of the mainstream PS1 crowd waited for the price drops and heavy hitters like MGS and FF to arrive before they migrated which saw the PS2 have a slow start in its first year and a big second year. Its only logic that the PS2 crowd are waiting. The PS2 crowd is about 40+ million strong in Europe if i recall. If you look at current gen installs in Europe. I think it is less than 15 million. The x360 has been out 2 years already but only managed 6 million despite the fact it has Halo 3 and is cheaper than the PS3.I can only deduce from this that the PS2 crowd are waiting for Sony to drop the price to mainstream(affordable,reasonab le) price as well as for FF,MGS and GT before they start migrating. As currently. I cannot think of anything that MS can do to counter the PS3 this year with the current plans they have. :)

[NanoGeekTech]

like the the rage virus-first in England and then the world before you know it..........28 weeks later and the PS3 will infect all no believers......

[PSWe60]

Yeah I can see that happening, the 360 has never proven to be much of a competitor, X-bots just have their heads up their @ss and can't see much outside this country.

[camelio]

Throwing money around cause you have lots of it on an incompetent and unreliable machine, that is arrogant. Having years of experience with an elegant, reliable futuristic machine, that is confidence.

[mintaro]

there's no question that the PS3 will overtake the 360 in PAL territories, but i just dont think it's going to happen this soon, quite possibly over the span of october through the holidays, but not just yet.
kudos to the PS3, you're nearing the top of your climb

[Super_Sharp Sharpee]

PS3 is supposed to take over the 360? how the F*CK can i it do that when it cant even sell games? pfft the PS3 is just a $699 garbage can