Sony: PS3 Hitting Stride, Competitors "On Their Way Down"

Sony UK's managing director Ray Maguire has been a busy guy as of late, providing quote after quote for the industry journalists to print and for the readers to analyze. The latest batch of comments comes from a recent GamesIndustry.biz interview, where Maguire talks about the upswing of the PS3 and perceived downswing of the competition, and the trials and tribulations of creating something like PlayStation Home.

[crunchie101]

You can't deny how PS3 has progressed since launch, and how far their online service has come, but I wonder if even surpassing 360 in console sales, let alone software sales is even a viable target now.

It seems more and more like the PS3 will end up like the original Xbox - not a failure by any means, and will have an incredible selection of games by the end of the generation and, I'm sure, a much better online service, but also not able to become that mainstream, de-facto games machine that the PS2 was.

[himdeel]

...we're only into the second year of the PS3 and they've made some tremendous strides thanks to the competition from the Wii and 360. Likewise SONY has said several times they have a 10 year plan for the PS3 and also think that because of this focused plan the PS3 will NOT end up like the Xbox. The fact that the PS2 is still around and kicking is evidence enough of the long term planning on the part of SONY.

If you look at the history of SONY consoles they have flows and ebbs with respect to sales. The state of the global economy has to be factored into sales but the research proves people still buy games and still put money into entertainment regardless of the economy. There is so much more under the hood of the PS3 than there was with respect to the Xbox as well as support from developers that the two cannot be compared in quite the same way.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id...
http://www.npr.org/template...

[Mr_Potato_]

@crunchie : you must live under a rock. In real world, PS3 outsold 360 worldwide last year and this year too. The install base gap is slowly nearing zero in spite of a full year headstart.

Actually, the 360 is dead in Japan (it was outsold 6:1 last week in Japan by the PS3 and even under 1 million units there), and it's behind in install base in Europe now, the biggest gaming market. Its survival now depends only on the US.

If anything, the 360 looks more and more like the original Xbox because if you factor in the RROD and people who had to buy several consoles because of it, you have to admit that the 360 owners are more or less the same population as the original Xbox owners (mostly young male American teens). I mean they didn't widen their customer target, that was the main failure they try to fix right now with lips and in the movie, but it looks like too little too late.

For the avatars you already have the Wii, for Lips you already have Singstar on PS2/PS3, for Boku you already have LBP on PS3 and so on... At the end of the day, if you create nothing, why would people prefer YOUR product over the ones you copy. Zune failed against Ipod, and it will be the same in the gaming market. Sony was there before.

I wouldn't surprised if microsoft gives up on gaming much sooner than people think.

[ultimolu]

Strongly disagree as well.

The PS3 has done a LOT better this year. Last year, it was almost shameful to own a PS3 because of the constant delays and lack of games. But now, things are getting better and better.

I expect this to continue. Sony has made considerable progress with their system.

[NickIni]

About a year and a half ago, the PS3 was doing incredibly badly. In fact, a lot of people didn't even regard it as serious competition for the Xbox. But in the space of a year, the PS3 has closed the gap at a rapid pace. And is still ploughing on.

[PotNoodle]

The only place really the 360 is beating the ps3 in sales is NA, the ps3 is outselling the 360 in total sales in both europe, japan and a good few middle eastern countries.

If sony were not as big as they are, microsofts efforts would of killed the playstation long ago. Microsoft have done it many times before, taken huge hits, gone wayyyyy out of their way even when they know it will do nothing but loose them money just to make sure a company goes down, but sony technically is over twice the size of microsoft as a business. I think microsoft under estimated sony and they have probably lost alot due to their huge investments which have returned not half as much as they expected.

In turn though, i think sony may have under-estimated the xbox at the same time, hence their lack of effort at the start of this gen.

Sony have a huge place in the gaming industry, they are very well equiped for the console gaming business unlike microsoft. Microsoft are doing everything right to beat sony, but i don't think sony is better prepared, it'll take microsoft a while to build up the something that equals to what sony has to offer.

Sonys consoles have always started off slow, just the ps3 was a little slower, i don't think we should of ever discounted sony - to think sony lost it due to one console after the huge success they had in the recent past is silly.

Also, another thing - sony have not really seen competition like this before, they underestimated everyone and payed the price.

[theKiller]

u couldnt completely hide ur fanboyish feelings of being a 360 or MS lover, ps3 is outselling 360 for more than a year now on worldwide bases, u have to realize there is world bigger than just america u know?? the sales coming from europe and japan and the rest countries they make more than double of the sales in USA!

ps3 is miles ahead of 360, it already passed 360 in europe, and neck to neck with 360 in USA!

while 360 sales and wii only goes down!

so his is right in everything except socom, which they screwed it up at launch but now the game is running fine, and trophies is on the way!!

PSN games r far much better and innovative than 360 arcade/xbox live, home looks to be much better, blue ray is the next gen of DVDs, ps3 cost twice more than 360 and still outselling it, imagine soon after few months what will happened when sony ps3 goes 299??

so u saying ps3 will be like xbox which is a flop in hardware sales and software also is pure fanboyism.

open zone is that way --------------------->

[Death]

At the end of two years, the previous market leader is still in last place. Currently, the Xbox 360 is still more than 5 million consoles ahead of the PS3 World wide. At the rate the PS3 is selling, the Xbox 360 will be close to 5 years old when the PS3 catches up. Even if the PS3 catches up sooner, they have lost a very large share of the market. The last 2 generations Sony has held 75% of the market. Of the amlost 75 million next generation consoles, Sony has less than 17 million of them. This gives them a 22% share of the current market.

These are the numbers from last gen and this one as of September 30th.

PS2 - 140 million / PS3 16.84 million (2 years on market)

Xbox - 24 million / Xbox 360 - 22 million (3 years on market)

Gamecube - 22 million / Wii - 35 million (2 years on market)

The Wii has surpassed it's previius console base in less than 2 years. The Xbox 360 will sell more than it's previous base in just over 3 years. The PS2 had over 40 million units sold in the same time frame as the PS3 has been out. This means the PS3 is selling half as fast as the PS2 did. Spinning the facts can't be easy. I'm not sure how the rep from Sony painted the PS3 as a growing sucess and the competition as losing steam.

-Death

[Kratos Spartan]

please provide a link for 40 million PS2's sold in 2 years, cuz I want to see it

[Aclay]

@crunchie101

I seriously can't stand it when people say that the PS3 is like this generation's Original Xbox. I don't think that success of the PS3 can even be compared to the Xbox and here is why:

-The Playstation brand has a HUGE installbase, the Original Xbox had no fanbase at all because it was a new system.

- More people are familiar with Playstation than Xbox

- Sony has a long term plan for the PS3 unlike the Original Xbox

- Even though the Xbox 360 is at a low price, Microsoft has never had experience with capturing the casual audience like Sony has over the past 13+ years.

And I don't know why you don't think that the PS3 will never be able to become mainstream like the PS2 because as the PS3's price drops, it will become more mainstream, and the PS3 isn't going anywhere for the next 7 years at least, so I don't see how the PS3 can't become mainstream because it will.

Microsoft is going to need more than a low price and Gears and Halo to beat the PS3 this generation because once the PS3 hits $299, the gap between the PS3 and 360 will begin to close VERY rapidly.

With Final Fantasy XIII coming next year in Japan, White Knight Chronicles coming late this year, and FF Advent Children PS3 bundles coming March 2009 in Japan, PS3 sales in Japan are already poised to EXPLODE over there.

The PS3 is already outselling the Xbox 360 overrall in Europe, and Gran Turismo 5 is going to be a huge system seller over there next year.

Sony basically has Europe and Japan on lock, and the only thing they need to focus on now is North America.

Also, you have to realize that Sony has just touched just a FEW of thier main catalog games, while on the other hand Microsoft has pretty much already released their best and main catalog games already. Microsoft sure had better have some new IP's up their sleeves or something.

Sony still has plenty of their main catalog games that they haven't even got to yet with for the PS3 (Jak and Daxter, God of War 3, GT5 (full version), Dark Cloud 3, new Team ICO game etc...). This console war is far from over.

[Death]

http://www.megagames.com/ne...
http://www.ps3forums.com/ar...
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/har...

These are from September 2002. The PS2 launched at the end of October 2000.

-Death

[Kratos Spartan]

thanks I was too lazy to look for it myself

[ReBurn]

Death, as always you are the voice of reason and sanity. Not as if you need them, but bubbles for you all the same.

[witchking]

You guys are a riot. "X360 is dead in Japan." Like, duh. X360 was dead in Japan before it even launched. Anything the 360 gets in Japan is gravy, and of course PS3 outsold it last week 6:1 and will do so again this week. But on 11/20 The Last Remnant is coming out in Japan, exclusively -- for a short time -- to the 360, with an exclusive 360 bundle for the game. Gee, why isn't anyone buying the 360 in Japan the last couple of weeks? Because they're waiting for this to come out!!!

And in case you haven't noticed, there's this global economic meltdown occurring, with people taking their kids out of day care and layoffs left and right. So which console, do you think, people are going to buy more of this holiday season? The one that costs $200 or the one that costs $400? Early NPD results show that October in the US has the 360 outselling the PS3 by ~90k units. GoW2 is going to widen that margin in November, and frankly, until the economy turns around or Sony prices the PS3 more competitively, the 360 is going to stay ahead. They are up by more than 6 million units right now. The PS3, if they catch the 360, is going to take several years to do it.

[GrandTheftZamboni]

PS2 - 140 million / PS3 16.84 million (2 years on market)
16.84 million (2 years on market) = 8.42 Million / Year

Xbox - 24 million / Xbox 360 - 22 million (3 years on market)
22 million (3 years on market) = 7.33 Million / Year

So, PS3 DOES sell better than XBox360? There are still people claiming the XBox is selling better...

[himdeel]

...but whatever this was about the PS3 and following up to comments about PS3 being the next Xbox.

[Death]

The Wii is selling 17 million a year and the PS2 was averaging 20 million a year. The PS3 is selling about 1 million more units a year on average than Xbox 360 so far, but they are selling 12 million a year less than they did last generation. This is why people see Sony as doing less favorably. Sure, they are on par or doing slightly better than the Xbox 360, but when you compare each company to it's previous marketshare the PS3 is doing very poorly.

To be fair, we don't know what Sony actually expected to sell at the price point they launched. I believe the PS3 was fighting 2 battles at launch. They won the next gen format war against HD-DVD, but they are losing marketshare in the gaming division pretty rapidly. At the same time Sony is selling more HDTV's which I am sure is a result of the Blu-Ray victory and PS3 sales. I am sure the investors wanted the PS3 to dominate in sales like it did the last two generations, but at the price point the PS3 launched they had to know this wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Only time will tell if Ken Kutaragi was a genius or a lunatic.

I personally believe the PS3 should have shipped before the Xbox 360 and without Blu-Ray. This would have given them a time advantage and a much lower retail price at launch. This would have also made the system easier and cheaper to program for which would have given them more third party support. It is without question that a larger storage format will be needed as technology advances, but the way it is looking the PS3 is taking the lumps while the next generation which isn't that far away will benefit from it. From a technological standpoint the PS3 will still be very relevant when the next generation rolls out, but I am not so sure it will still be marketable. With the way sales are going, the PS4 will come out sooner rather than later and will have minor upgrades from the PS3. I suspect it will be very similar on the inside but with more system memory and full backward compatibility with the PS3. I would expect it to launch for a very aggressive $299.

-Death

[Marceles]

I think they planned to ship PS3 before the 360 before the whole Blu-Ray laser issue, but I don't know what they would've done if they shipped it without. I don't think they would've liked or ever would plan to make a Blu-ray addon. Also with Blu-ray, the adoption is slowly coming along...I think the jump from VCR to DVD was bigger than DVD to Blu-ray, so there's also people that are still happy with DVD quality. I guess they could've gone the way PS2 did at the beginning: putting games on CD and later on DVD, but I really don't think it would've been wise to ship it without Blu-ray since that's been a big factor on why people are buying it.

Also with the marketing, I agree that it's not there also...the difference between PS2 and PS3's marketing is huge. I think I still see more PS2 and PSP marketing now than PS3. Average people also have it in their heads that PS3 games are still the same games that were out during launch time. Sony is down by their standards, but they aren't down as bad as MS and Nintendo was during last gen. Marketing, a couple of big moves, a few without-a-doubt epic games, and some freakin help from the media that's been hating Sony since launch and they'll start climbing at a fast rate.

[himdeel]

...particularly at the $299 price point it would place SONY in a very unique and interesting position. One the developers will be very familiar with the system architecture, two there will be plenty of games, and three this would allow people a next gen system with lots of variability with the PS3 and at a lower price point.

[Merritt]

@Krakdoll

Please post a link to the supposed ages of who buys what system. I know many many people my age that have a 360, 34. From the looks of the comments on here between the two systems, the PS3 seems to retain the teenage boy factor quite well.

The Wii isn't even a question...

[elorm9]

Especially if they add an upgraded cell processor like rumors suggest. It'll make PS3 BC easier on the PS4 and since developers will be familiar with the tech, we'll even see titles bigger than ever before.

[SonyOwnsNextYear]

hmmmm............i see a more expensive hd console outselling a cheaper console.

there is no stopping the events in motion. less than a year....

[eagle21]

Sony understands the game market better than anyone. In the end, they always win. I don't even have to explain why at this point. Just pay close attention to the next four years.

[The Matrix]

I'm a Sony fan and I'm about to buy a 360 for gears 2. If a Sony-almost-fanboy will buy a 360 then I'm surprised Gears 2 isn't being a big system seller.

[she00win99]

the xbots is going to hate this article...

[ultimolu]

...I know.
*drags you away from the incoming stampede*

[CliffyBee]

The PS3 is the future.

The XBOX2 is a flop flop flop.

GeOW2 - Flop
Halo 3 - Flop

FLOP FLOP FLOP

PS3 and SONY FOREVER. DOWN WITH MICROTURD!

[sephy 9 2 5]

I'm not so sure the gap is closing in on zero. Despite how well the PS3 has sold this year in the PAL/US, the 360 has performed slightly better (YoY) in these regions also. Based off of NPD there wasn't any real separation between PS3 sales and 360 sales month to month in the US except MGS4 month and it will be close by the end of the holiday season due to GoW2/price cut.

In addition, you have Japan where the PS3 is doing worse than last year. (Ahead of the 360 despite this) So the lead hasn't really changed much. Its still 5-6 million.

[Jager]

Except for the fact that when the PS3 launched, the 360 already had 10 million consoles sold. the numbers now stand at 22mil for the 360, and 17 mill for the PS3, so that 10 million gap has been closed down to 5 million. And with Killzone 2, GT5, GoW3, and MAG all coming out next year, i wouldnt be surprised if the gap closes more... or even comes to where the PS3 gets ahead.

[SL1M DADDY]

The amazing aspect of this all as well is how the PS3 is twice the price of the 360 and it is still shortening the gap between the two in total hardware sold. Crazy stuff but so many underestimated the power of brand recognition. Heck, most of the folks in Japan don't even know what the Xbox is and some have said they thought it was something to do with Windows.

[bigmoney617]

that becauses the ps3 doubles as a bluray player...

i bet you at least 4 million of those sales are used for justhome theater, and i cant say the same for the xbox 360

[SL1M DADDY]

I don't doubt that at all although I would say that despite that there are two factors to think about. One, companies like EA and Ubisoft, two of the largest game companies report that the biggest sales for their titles happen to come from the PS3 sales so it says something about the gamers that buy the PS3 and the near 6 to 1 tie in ratio the console has. Second, even if it is being bought for the sole purpose of playing movies... It's still a sale and a potential source for money in game purchases. Better that a consumer have one and become a potential game buyer than for a consumer to just buy a stand alone BD player and never plan to buy a game.

[Captain_Sony]

EA makes more money on 360. You're going off a chart that didnt inlcude total 360 sales. Go look at the most recent and you'll see that EA makes more on 360. THQ makes more on Wii and DS then all Sony platforms combined. Fact is that all the articles coming out saying PS3 is doing good in sales are also spinning their information to get those results. IN fact the last article to do so presented japans sales only as world wide sales. I know there will be many disagrees but not one bit of proof can be shown that I am wrong.PS3 has 3/4 the install base of 360 yet every month can only manage 40-50% of the software sales of 360.

[Death]

You need to think about your statement about the Xbox 360 costing half and the PS3 still gaining sales. First off, the price cut for the 360 is still relatively new. Since the cut, the PS3 has not been "gaining". Second, the Xbox 360 Elite costs the same as the PS3. The Xbox 360 Pro is $100 less and the Xbox 360 Arcade costs half as much as the PS3. Neither you nor I know what the percentage of sales each SKU has, but if you average them out the Xbox 360 costs 25% less than the PS3. What is more impressive is Nintendo and Microsoft each held roughly 12% of the market coming into this generation and both are ahead of Sony half way through this generation.

-Death

[eagle21]

Goodbye Microsoft, thanks for bench warming. ;)

[AngryHippo]

....screw the games....its all about the console sales this generation. If my console has more sales, i will like it so much more, only then will i be happy with my purchase. Until that happens, i will hate on the competition and all its successful games. Screw competition, i will only be happy when one console survives, and its the one i own. This will make me a happy loser fanboy. The End. =0)

[CHEF]

That is funny stuff.............yet so true with alot of posters on this site.

[elorm9]

Because more and better games = more console sales.

Same reason why I didn't buy a PS3 until July. I wanted to be prepped for the holiday season and next year since all the big titles were coming :)

[Tsalagi]

You just described what 99% of the N4G user base thinks.

[Fishy Fingers]

I love the headline cuts. Completely miss that he said "I could argue that some other competing formats are...". I'm sure MS "could argue" that Sony are on their way down, their fans manage to do it all day, everyday, on forums (same as sony fans).

You can argue anything.

[kevnb]

but I thought the wii would be failing by now... I'm going to shut my mouth now.

[TheMART]

Ah right...

Thats why Gears of War 2 is 9.3 out of 10
And Resistance 2 is 8.8 out of 10

360 again wins this Christmas.

BTW:

ultimolu = Juuken

She had what 5 bubbles back then and changed name to be able to go undercover. That's just lame girl. How's the Wiifit doing, still working?

[Sony Rep]

Fable 2's aggregate review average is 88.6% at metacritic and 89% at Gamerankings. Another review around 80% and the average will drop further to 88%...

[TheMART]

Uh yes and which RPG does the PS3 have this Christmas on 8.9 out of 10 or close to counteract that great game?

[ReTarDedFisHy]

That's pretty dumb.
"Wins again this Christmas"?
WTF? And you're basing it on scores, so I guess LBP wins this YEAR.

[heyheyhey]

because the outcome of the console wars depends SOLELY on the outcome of the metacritic battle between Gears and Resistance...

both consoles have alot going for them this holiday.... it's hard to say who will win the holiday battle

but what is certain is that the PS3 is going to fvcking pwn next year with KZ2, GT5, GOW3 and another price cut

[ThatCanadianGuy]

LMFAO!! i love how fanatical the xbots are over gears 2.

It's the first AAA game they've gotten allll year.
And they act like it sh!ts all over PS3.

Forgot about MGS4 and LBP?

Gears2-93 http://www.metacritic.com/g...

LBP-95 http://www.metacritic.com/g...

MGS4-94 http://www.metacritic.com/g...

[PopEmUp]

Valkryia better any rpg on the 360, Mart what a looser

[Stryfeno2]

Sony: All our games will be 1080p, 4D, and 120fps...Everyone will run and buy a PS3 on launch day. Those who can't will get a second job to do so.

Sony, you said the dumbest things to keep hope alive for your fanbase.

Hhahahaahahaaa nuff said!!!

[Xbox Street Gang]

It's true..MS is in a spiraling death cycle. Sales go up, go down, go up, go down....etc

Sony just needs a price cut and any idiot(360 fanboy) can see the PS3 outselling the 360 3:1 Blu-Ray is going to be huge next year with the boom in HDTV's coming up, the games next year are better than this year's crop of games by a 100, and Sony will drop the price of the PS3 with the upcoming 45nm cell going into production, early next year.

Only the fanboys would still defend M$, the same 10 million fanboys who re-bought their 360 after they got RROD. The general consumer will take notice of the value you get with a PS3, as opposed to the POS 360.

Anyways, what do I care..back to Tenchu Z...

[Sony Rep]

I can only agree...

If you look at current sales data and past sales data, you will see that the PS3 is expected to have the most growth between the two consoles, as consumers are finally ready to make that shift towards a next generation console, you will see that paradigm shift.

The 360 will consequently be left on the back burner.

Note: No pun intended...^

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Yes, just you wait! 2007 is the year of the PS3, oh wait that's 2008 oh just you wait it's 2009!

But what do I care, I'm off to go play Lair!

[heyheyhey]

but... 2008 was the year of the PS3

much higher YTD sales, more games rated above 80.... how the fvck was 2008 the year of the 360???? explain...

EDIT: so why the fvck don't you go and defend the Wii all day??

the point here is that PS3 > 360, and if your idea of disputing that idea is pointing to Wii sales then YOUR the joke here...

yes the PS3 has had more 80+ rated game this year... im not a rock-solid review fanatic, but since you 360 fanboys love reviews so much- the simple fact is plain and clear

PS3 exclusives in 2008 rating 80 or above on metacritic (retail games only) so far:

-MGS4
-GT5:P
-Valkyria Chronicles
-LBP
-Motorstorm 2
-Naruto: UNS
-Siren : Blood Curse
-Resistance 2
-SingStar Vol.2
-Buzz! Quiz TV
-MLB 08: The Show
-Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds
close runners:

-Disgaea 3 (78)
-R&C: QFB (78)
-SOCOM: C (60- negative reviews based on technical problems which have been patched)

360:

-Fable 2
-Gears 2
-Viva Pinata: TIP
-Banjo
-ToV
-Lost Odyssey

close runners:

none

total (including close runners):

PS3- 14
360- 6

NOW WHAT!?!?!

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Heyheyhey - It's the year of the Wii unfortunately.

Did you just say more 80+ scoring games!! LOL!!! You are a joke son.

[heyheyhey]

oops, slight oversight... Naruto: UNS just falls short of 80 with a meta score of 79... a close runner then, score could still rise you never know...

EDIT: another slight oversight... SingStar Vol.2 is actually rated 76 and it's just a sing expansion really.. you can remove it

new totals:

PS3- 13
360- 6

EDIT2: yeah that shut you up didn't it?

[tehReaper]

@heyheyhey

GT5:P counts? It's not even a full game..come on. Siren is a good game, but it's a PSN episodic content game. It's currently sitting at 78 on metacritic.

You left out Ninja Gaiden 2 and Bully: Scholarship Edition for 360. Also we still haven't received reviews for Left4Dead, so don't count that out.

I'm sure there's more to each console, but that's all I could pick up on. Just face it, both consoles did amazing this year.

[LethalToxins]

I think the PR reps should leave statements like this to their fanboys and just keep it shut. What are they really trying to accomplish with this?

[Radiodread]

is I'm glad I switched consoles from 360 to ps3. I see what ps3 fanboys mean when it has so much potential. Hell is uncharted only uses 25-30% of ps3's power and K2 only uses 70% imagine what 100 percent will be like. I hope sony is telling the truth when they say they plan to keep the ps3 for 10 yrs. Cuz I hate having to buy a newer better version of a console or a new next gen console every 3-4 yrs like xbox. Thats the main reason I bought a ps3. So much potential.

[Captain_Sony]

Potential you will never see according to Sony..

[Nathaniel_Drake]

The potential has turned to kinetic, the potential they are talking about now is jumping the competition a full level, they already matched and beat the potential put out by the competition,

The potential talked about now is Killzone 2, I have the beta and it is a different beast then any other console game, I'm not a fanboy but this game jumps the competition in graphics and realistic gameplay its just that damn good

[Anon1974]

Wouldn't Blu-Ray sales be higher? I hear people come back to this all the time but when you look at Blu-Ray sales it doesn't seem to support this theory. In 2007, worldwide 10 million Blu-Ray disks were sold (and not all to PS3 owners) vs over 50 million PS3 games. That, to me, would strongly point to the PS3 being used primarily for games. I don't know for sure but I suspect that 2008's PS3 game sales will also eclipse Blu-Ray sales. Personally, I'm about equal in the amount of Blu-Ray disks I own vs PS3 games.

[Captain_Sony]

I do not recall anyone ever saying that ALL PS3 owners use it for Blu Ray only or that a majority of them did. I remember seeing something about good bit of them doing that. If you cannot understand that some are I feel bad for you. PS3 represents 97% of Blu Ray player sales. Meaning if that 10million blu rays sold you said is accurate, around 9 million went to PS3 owners in one year. Also you are looking at the wrong information. What you need to look at is the fact that with an install base at 3/4 of the 360, PS3 only around 50% of the same software as 360. That alone tells me there are 4-7 million people who do not use their PS3's for games.

[Cajun Chicken]

I don't use Blu-Ray on my PS3, but I *mean* to.

[TOO PAWNED]

Same here. I am not "movie" guy, could not care less about Blue Ray when it comes to movies but i see its benefits when it comes to gaming, this is where i appreciate it.

[Nathaniel_Drake]

It's funny how some people put down the PS3 for giving gamers a gateway to HD videos, everybody just dismisses the fact that a trojan horse is set up to where even moviephiles who only use the PS3 as a blu-ray player have a gateway to HD gaming, they need no new gaming hardware, and we are assuming these are casual gaming people, so enter LBP

I know for some people it is hard to grasp this concept, and again I'm going to say when you have a game at least one game that a moviephile buys like LBP Sony has just advertised their gaming machine to them without any television ads

[pp]

Sony enough of your bull sh*t you've been saying all this and yet your still dragging your saggy ass from third place no one is interested in ps3 come this holiday season.

[Poster Boy]

Yeah yeah..and the PS3 wouldn't outsell the 360 during last year's holiday season- not with the 360's biggest game launching that same year and the PS3 being O-M-G $600.00...oh wait..

/Facepalm

[cmrbe]

will never be GOTY 08. That honor will go to either LBP, GTA 4, MGS4. Fallout 3 has an outside chance as well but Gear 2?. Nah.

[TOO PAWNED]

Early next year before KZ2 is released you will see 100USD price cut for NA and 100Euro price cut for EU, this new 299USD/299EURO SKU with combination of KZ2(which BTW is AWESOME if you are in BETA and makes ANY FPS look average, it looks better than Crisis to be honest and i have it on my PC), MAG(denay it all you want people love online shooters and this one seems to be epic), GOW3, Infamous, Uncharted 2, new Ratchet, WKS,etc (and who know what games that are yet to be revealed!?) is going to be massive in sales.
ALso lets ot forget Blue Ray is becoming bigger by the day as are HDTV selling like crazy due to much cheaper price this year.
I mean just use common sense and you can see how big PS3 is yet to become.
Lets not forget most important factor. Like it or not PLAYSTATION is well know name, a brand, just like GameBoy is to handheld devices, PLAystation is to consoles. You dont sell 105 million PS1 and 140 million PS2 and just over night forget how to do business.
"Time is best teacher" as that saying goes. Just wathc and learn.

[elorm9]

But we still don't know the game that BBC reporter was teasing about months ago. I'm really curios, hopefully it'll be announced sometime soon. If I had to guess, it's probably that Team ICO game

[DiabloRising]

It would be foolish for Sony to ignore and discount the competition. still, I don't see any of the 3 consoles dying off, but Sony needs to continue the strides they have made, improve their advertising, improve the PSN, and get more titles available only on their system.

[cmrbe]

The x360 is at its last good patch. After this year its going to go downhill for them.

Do you guys remember how things changed for the x360 from 2007-2008?. Well its going to continue in 2009 and will be alot worse for MS. People must remember that the only reason why the x360 did well initially was because the PS3 was at its weakest early in this console war in 06-07. In 2008 the PS3 started to gear up and by late 2009 the PS3 will be in full swing. There is nothing the x360 will be able to do to stop its momentum.MS at best only have untested IP's.

The x360 is on its last leg. Sale's are declining from year to year and games will not progress much as proven by Gears 2. MS can't really do any more price cuts unlike Sony. MGS4 is the only real exclusive heavy hitter that has arrive. Sony still have GT5,GOW ICO2 and other new IP's like Infamous at their disposal. KZ2 is looking like its going to be a mega hit as well.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

haha $ony fortune tellers once again talking straight out of their anus.

Who was it saying that $ony doesn't talk sh*t? haha

Exhibit A!

[witchking]

Hitting its stride! On their way down!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Well, he certainly doesn't lack optimism.

[robotnik]

I couldn't care less about sales, in the long run the PS3 will have better games and exclusives, and the console has been shining since its launch. I would say that the bump that the PS3 needed was one year ago with the release of uncharted and assassin's creed.

The PlayStation 3 only gets better and better, same happened with the PS2 sometime ago, when I was a young lad.

[Danja]

What i find wierd is as if ppl forgot how dry the 1st year of the PS2 was also..and it didn't ..

Had the 360 launched along the PS3 it would have been a totally different story than it is now...either way the PS3 has hit it'sa stride and it can oly get better from here...so im not complaining...

[The Lazy One]

The PS2 also had no competition, and by the time it did it was the cheapest console with the most games.

They are not comparable except to prove the point that you have run out of legitimate straws to grasp onto.

[witchking]

You know, the PS3 has been out for 2 years now, and all we've been hearing about is "Just Wait until next year" and all this untapped potential and blah blah blah. That's great. I like to play games NOW. Stop spouting all the crap that still isn't here yet and talk about what you do have: a couple of stellar games, a lot of solid games, too many crappy ports and a lack of exclusives because Sony didn't jump on them like they did in the last gen. Cry all you want, but MSFT got aggressive in this gen about trying to lead with games and made some clear offers to third parties to get that lead. Will it work throughout the lifespan of the console? Probably not, but three years in the 360 is still ahead of the PS3 and likely to gain with GoW2/price cut this holiday season (especially due to the economy).

[RememberThe357]

Do you even own a PS3? Cause right NOW I'm enjoying Valkyria Chronicles and Resistance 2 a lot.

[sonyfanonly]

they had their shot but in other countries they know the ps3 is the best - M$ cannot win the console war with AMERICA only and they have ignored this fact so they should become like the sega of past generations and dissapear and please nintendo give it up same old SH^T every generation and the sad thing is it sells like hotcakes dont understand why oh well back to playing RESISTANCE 2

[1_angry_Xbot]

i had to replace my Xbox 4 times , M$ better not lose this fight >_<

[nrXic]

With the recent price drop of the 360, all indications are that sales will go up for that console. Wii is still selling like crazy. In light of these things, it's an odd comment for him to make.

Comments like these don't give me any more faith in the PS3. It's the commitment to creating great 1st party games and improving their console's firmware to match the 360's capabilities. Which, during the year of 2008, they've been doing. This year's PS3 firmware updates have been excellent, and this year's lineup has been stellar.

Focus on that...any comments regarding the competition being "on the way down" doesn't make people buy the PS3. Games and console capabilities are what make people buy the PS3.

[himdeel]

comment

[THE_BATTLERAGER]

They won't do as well as last gen. Last generation the competitors were the vastly inferior gamecube, and the Xbox, which was microsofts entry into the market. Basically no competition. This gen, their sales are being hurt by the now widely known 360, and the phenomally successful wii. Sony simply won't be able to enjoy their past dominance. In fact if the Wii had slightly better graphics and the xbox had no RROD, Sony would be in trouble.

Thing is they have gone for quality, and while this is no bad thing, this doesn't win console wars. Most parents will buy their kids the cheapest thing, rather than fork out for better graphics, which most non gaming parents will feel, is unnecessary.

[The Lazy One]

Both systems (aside from gamecube not having DVD) were superior to the PS2. They were just beat out by aggressive pricing, and a decent game library, that only got larger as the lead increased. The PS2 as a system was less powerful, less reliable, and harder to develop for. It just had a userbase so large you couldn't leave it out of the equation.

It's kind of ironic how sony has neither of the things that made them successful last generation. If microsoft hadn't screwed the pooch with hardware reliability, I think Sony would be pretty boned right now.

[I_LOVE_MYSELF]

Silly me... was supposed to be reply to post 3.3

[ActionBastard]

Play Killzone 2 and you'll understand his "on their way down" comment.

[Draconis]

Only the wii is giving a profit when selling. The 360 and the Ps3 are both consoles on which they lose money. Its the games that give them profit. Ps 3 has its blue ray player and top notch graphics. 360 has its low price ( and will always be cheaper than the PS3) and good graphics. Wii will die down cause its a hype. 360 and ps3 will keep on fighting for the rest. I hope they both finish second or first, because it benefits us gamers.

[tatsujin]

LBP or R2. Tyvm.

Blu-ray + CELL = PS3.

[baodeus]

Prop to Death, (GOOD JOB FOR USING ACTUAL DATA AND FACT to back up his claim), unlike many on here using prediction, corporate propaganda, self experience (LOL do you guys really think your opinion matters, and what worst, you are speaking as a fan, not with business in mind.)

Wii has taken the huge market share from the casual gamers (i don't think xbox or PS3 can get that back). I guess High Definition does not determine the FUN FACTOR for those casual gamers, unlike many people here on N4G.

RROD does really put fear into people who buying the console (if that didn't happen, seriously, PS3 would be in trouble) Prop to them though for trying hard.

Untap potential of PS3 (aren't there better technology than PS3 available already)...how can it last 10 years? Technology is a bit%^%^ now a day. It changes so quickly. Asking PS3 to last 10 years is probably a little too much. 10 years is what Sony "plans" to do, will it remain that way, we don't know. There are many factors going into that depend on if it is still profitable for them to do so. Plan "change".

Don't buy the best one, buy one that you can afford that serve its purpose, cause you never know when things will change.

As the spanish proverb says "A wise man changes his mind, a fool never will."

[hfaze]

"Untap potential of PS3 (aren't there better technology than PS3 available already)...how can it last 10 years? Technology is a bit%^%^ now a day. It changes so quickly. Asking PS3 to last 10 years is probably a little too much."

Once again.... Sony will release another console before the 10 year lifespan of the PS3 is up. Four to five years from now the PS3 will be in the same position that the PS2 is in currently. There will be a PS4 for the high-end, with the PS3 filling in for the more budget minded consumers.

What Sony means by a 10 year lifespan is the same thing they meant when talking about the PS1 and PS2. The PS2 is eight years into its lifespan, but there are STILL new games coming out for it. The PS3 will also see new games coming out well into 2014 - 2016.

"Don't buy the best one, buy one that you can afford that serve its purpose, cause you never know when things will change."

What? People are always going to buy the one they can afford (thus why the 3DO, CDi, and NeoGeo MVS flopped back in the day). People will go with the choice that gives them the most value for their money.

"cuase you never know when things will change."

Well, that's one reason I'm glad I picked up my PS3 back in December of '06. I still had a pretty killer paying job. I'm glad I got my HDTV and PS3 back then, because I would not have been able to afford them now.

[Blu Ray3]

LOL

[baodeus]

@hfaze

Well PS3 situation isn't the same as PS1 or PS2.

"People will go with the choice that gives them the most value for their money."

So are you saying the other console doesn't have value? All three consoles have their values, so it is really down to what you really want and what you can AFFORD. The PS2 has it values (Large Game selection) at a cheap price therefor it sells really well. The Wii cater to Casual gamers with cheaper price and innovative controls, so it also has values (hence it is selling phenomenally well). So if there is something coming out within a year or so, with higher tech, better graphics, more values but it cost more, do you think people would jump onto that instead or PS3 would still be sufficient for their need at a cheaper price? Hence, don't buy the best one or i mean top of the line one, buy one that you can afford that serve it purpose.

I agree that people want the most value for their money....but let highlight that "money".