I Asked Sony: ‘Why Did You Wind Up In Third Place?’

Stephen T of Kotaku writes " I spent most of my interview at E3 with Sony's head of hardware marketing, John Koller, talking about the PlayStation Vita and what in the world is going on with Sony's lovely handheld. But today I'm going to tell you about how he responded to a question about the PlayStation 3, a most basic question that seems appropriate to ask 5 1/2 years after the launch of the PlayStation 3. "

[Lord_Sloth]

Ehhhhh...Honestly they don't seem to be in 3rd place. In terms of sales they're pretty neck and neck.

[GamingPerson]

It's sad that the console with 1st place games is considered 3rd place.

I guess it's because xbox is selling like crazy in japan /s

But really this whole console war doesn't matter.

Playstation players just have more to play.

But I do feel sad because I will miss out not being able to learn ushers dance moves & shooting at rainbow colored tin men. sigh.

[svoulis]

It is sad. Honestly I love my 360 for paticular reasons especially games with friends. But I cant get the same experience with a 360 that I do a PS3.

The games they make are awesome and they are a true gamers games. Not just some COD rehash. That is what "gamers" are all about today. Its all about what plays COD better..lol sad but true.

I am a proud owner of both systems of this gen. I am happy with how long both have held out. I just feel that while Microsoft is on its last leg and losing steam fast, Sonys PS3 is still pushing and wowing us with each new exclusive they show.

So thats what counts to me. What wows gamers the most, and as it stands PS3 has done it for me.

[b163o1]

I've said it plenty of times, Exclusives make the world spin and Sony's got them. Hopefully M$ will start seeing there faults.....

[SuperLupe]

I'm happy to see that outside of N4G your opinion is completely meaningless, and Sony's last place after 5/6 years proves it.

[pixelsword]

Sony is in 3rd, I can easily deal with it because the numbers don't mean much in terms of affecting the release of the PS4 as far as I know. Sony just needs to up it's game next gen and actually advertise and allow developers to finish their danggum games before they release them (Resistance: Burning Skies needed to be in the oven for a few more weeks, to be honest)

Sony is 1st when it comes to games, and for now that's all I ask of my Playstation.

[WrAiTh Sp3cTr3]

If you just started gaming this gen then I guess they wouldn't be in 3rd place? But if you look at their history, as the article pointed out, then imo they're in 3rd place. Idk, lol, it seems the first two comments have created a spin-spin situation though...

[SilentNegotiator]

I think he means "second", since Ps3 has outpaced the 360. Why are people still pretending like a 1-1.5 year gap doesn't exist?

[Aloren]

Well, you know the tortoise and the hare ? it's kinda the same here. The PS3 was released after the 360 and sold a little faster, but so far, it's still behind.

[noctrnl13]

The xbox sells horridly in Japan.

[kikizoo]

Kotaku : LOL

seriously, except ultimate xfanboyz, who is listening kotaku's craps in 2012 after years of lies and stupid articles on this blog ?

[jaysquared]

Lol@Sony fans... I remember back in 2005-2007 all you hear were the 150 million PS2 sold and the 150 million Sony fans that haven't upgraded to the PS3.. Fast forward 5 years later and their still 3rd.. Now its all about the games! Fact PS2 Sold 150 Million Xbox 25 Million, GC 20 million! The PS2 outsold its competition 3x combined and now their in 3rd! Of course Sony and its fans will try to put a positive spin on it but we all know that Sony has struggled this gen so much that it has brought the whole company done.. Imagined if the PS3 was selling like the PS2?? I doubt we hear how Sony is struggling as a company..

[badz149]

3rd place this gen is not THAT bad considering they sold more than 60mil already and 360 is not THAT far away ahead. Wii is a different story but this is nothing like last gen's 2nd and 3rd! last gen XBOX was 2nd with 25mil lifetime while the PS2 still going strong with 150mil+!

you guys are seriously in need for a surgery in the head if thinking that 3rd place is dooming Sony in any way! guess what, their gaming division is making money and proof? exclusive games keep coming! that's how you know that the PS brand is still going strong.

[MaxXAttaxX]

* Because PS3 launched at least a year after the Xbox 360.

* However, the PS3 has sold faster, cutting the 8 million gap down to only 2.

* This means the PS3 is practically in 2nd place ahead of the 360 judging from the sales rate, along with the higher percentage of people re-buying 360s than PS3s for specific reasons.
Had both systems launched simultaneously, the PS3 would obviously be ahead by about 6mil.
Do the math.
___

Back in the PS2/GC/Xbox era, I wasn't even aware of the sales. I only knew PS2 won (in most people's hearts) because of the games.
And like many people have already stated, the games on PS3 have also determined the same. Although, that's still a subjective matter.

[Boody-Bandit]

I feel bad for Kotaku. E3 just passed and this is what they write about. It's sad to see a site so full of hate and desperate for attention. This hurts the industry. Anyone that doesn't have a problem with this article is part of the problem and the reason trash like this exist.

[jaysquared]

Spin it however you guys like.. I'm sure Sony likes how they went from the undisputed King of Console sales to 3rd.. 150 million to 63 million! Yeah any company would rather have the quality of games rather than the console sales.. And your right about the 1 year head start.. I mean if the PS2 had lauched the same year as the Dreamcast then the PS2 would've sold more.. /sarcasm... lol

[Oh_Yeah]

i have god of war, uncharted, and last of us that i think are decent or looking forward to on my ps3...that doesnt seem like a lot to me while they are good titles but i enjoyed dantes inferno more than god of war (bash me) and the new tomb raider looks to be better imo than the uncharted series. for xbox theres halo, gears, alan wake, fable, the witcher 2, and mass effect at one point... that i like. for me those 6 franchises beat those 3. but hey i like my ps3 because its free to play online so theyre pretty equal.

[Peppino7]

If you subtract the amount of rrod consoles that owners had to repurchase then Sony is in 2nd place and that's how I've always seen it. Oh yeah how about you add a year head start on top of that for the competition.

[miyamoto]

Hep hep hooray! Ps3 & ps vita & psp are all in third place!

[thereapersson]

I've been busy playing so many games on my PS3, and so many great exclusive games at that, that I didn't stop to notice.

Tretton even had the brass balls to come out on the E3 stage and say flat out that they are happy with where they've been because they know they can continue to provide so many incredible gaming experiences to their fans. Sony gets the games, and that's all I care about.

[Maxned]

"It's sad that the console with 1st place games is considered 3rd place"

<citation needed>

[mewhy32]

Wow...Now that's real trolling on display there. I mean wow. :-)
You're very entertaining.

[Nexgensensation]

and the 1year headstart! I dont think they forget that.... I mean if the situation was reversed would the 360 sell as fast as the ps3?

lets be real!

[dcbronco]

@b163o1

Exclusives that get bought make the world spin. Twisted Metal and Skyhawk are just lying there.

@Peppino7

If you subtract the RRoD consoles from Microsoft's total Sony would be in second place. But it also would mean 360 owners buy a lot more games. And are the real hardcore gamers. Because all of the major hardcore titles sell a lot more on the 360.

[Dread]

Dude, in this article Sony just admitted that they are in third place. Did you read the article.

So are u saying that even Sony is wrong about their stance...wow

so I guess Sony is biased against Sony also, just like the gaming media, as claimed by all the sony extremesits. I guess also that Sony is also part of the global conspiracy against Sony?

wow, denial is such a strange condition.

[TekoIie]

Console war tends to revolve around sales so yes; based on sales they are in 3rd place. If you want to talk about games though that's more opinion than fact on who wins in that "competition".

[nukeitall]

Pekolie:

I agree with you whole heartedly and I like the fact that there is a differentiating factor between the PS3, Xbox 360 and even Wii. There are now options for everyone, not just the geeky hardcore gamer!

[slayorofgods]

It sure was a competitive generation. We didn't have much of a debate with the Xbox vs. PS2 vs. Dream-cast last generation. We all knew the PS2 won that one.

This generation has been interesting. In terms of sales the Wii has won by a landslide, but as we gear towards the end of the generation it is also the console that is on the decline the fastest, and overall the Wii sensation is a little harder to explain since it isn't targeting traditional gamers.

In second place is the xbox 360. But a lot of that is because MS had a really good launch and has been able to just glide on that. Sony had a horrible launch but really came out swinging midway through the generation and has arguably been the console the most on the rise as we end this generation.

As we begin the next generation. Ironically, Nintendo has the most to prove in that if it can reproduce the Wii fad. But, I will be watching MS and Sony very carefully in the upcoming year before I choose which console will be preferred.

[BlmThug]

Yep, 26 disagrees strengthen your point

[SuperLupe]

Yeah dude Sony is part of the anti Sony conspiracy. MS paid them to say that they're last duh.

[MysticStrummer]

Wow. Quick on the attack. He said they don't "seem" to be in 3rd, and he's right. Both sides have sold many consoles and the totals are very close. No reason for a rant about conspiracies and denial. Take a nap and lay off the caffeine.

OT - Speaking of denial, anyone who doesn't admit MS is still ahead because of that headstart is insane, given the sales numbers since PS3 launched. The price of the PS3 was a clear factor also, but even with that price the PS3 has outsold 360 pretty consistently since launch.

[papashango]

@Pekolie

Except this article isn't about games. Sales is the topic and so should be in the comments section.

[TheDivine]

Its not denial! If Sony had released two years earlier they may or may not be in the lead BUT THAT DOESNT MATTER because the ps3 is in second because if you subtract the millions of 360's sold in the year before the ps3 released minus the number of RROD 360's and compare it to the number of ps3's plus the number of ylod repairs you will see that sony is really in first. GOSH WHY CANT YOU SEE THIS!

ALSO...

Over half the people that bought wii's arent real gamers so their sales dont count (obviously) so the ps3 really outsold the wii also (sd shouldnt count anyways, not compared to the glorious HD that the cell produces).

So as you can see PS3 is the clear winner. It doesnt matter if the 360 and wii have both sold more. It doesnt matter that sony admits its sold the least of all 3. Facts dont matter duh!!!

[dcbronco]

@Dread,

Based on the number of disagrees you got for your excellent point, Sony fans disagree with Sony also.

[ABizzel1]

I agree the 360 and PS3 are neck and neck, but for now they're in 3rd place. Some of it was their fault, most of it was completely unjust.

1. Xbox launched the next-gen first: While this didn't hurt the PS3 at the time, it would later come back to. (MS competition)

2. PS3 cost $500 or $600 at launch with no killer franchises to justify the purchase. That price was far too high to sell to gamers, especially with no Gran Turismo, Grand Theft Auto, God of War, etc... Day 1. (Sony's fault)

3. Nintendo launched the Wii alongside the PS3, and with it's motion controller and an entry price of $250 compared to $500, the Wii stole much of Sony's thunder. (Nintendo competition)

4. The Xbox showed what next-gen truly looked like. Gears of War was the first game to show what these consoles would be able to achieve later in their life cycles, and it was only on Xbox 360. All those people that had waited for a PS3 slowly moved towards where next-gen was already being displayed. (MS competition)

5. MS stole 2007 from Sony. Mass Effect exclusive to Xbox 360, Bioshock at the time exclusive to Xbox 360, Halo 3 exclusive to Xbox 360, and with Gear of War just stealing the thunder from Sony that previous year of it's launch was enough to get people to jump on the 360 bandwagon and leave Sony behind. (MS competition)

6. The media. This was the final and largest nail in the coffin at the time for the PS3. You were hard pressed to find anything good about the PS3 between launch 2006 - and 2007. Everyday there was an article about how awful the PS3 was, developers bashing the console, how the 360 was the new king of gaming, how the PS3 had no game (which was a flat out lie), and so much other BS that the majority of the U.S. actually began believe it, even though the majority of the U.S. didn't have a PS3, never played a PS3, and didn't give the PS3 a chance. (Fault the Media & slightly Sony's for not having huge franchises Day 1)

Together all that caused the PS3 the huge struggle took to get where it is now, and now it's the best selling console worldwide on a weekly basis, and has another full 3 - 4+ years ahead of it, and may very well continue the success that its predecessor have established as long as events like the awful PSN hack don't continue to plague them.

[Veneno]

About your point #6. That would have been awesome if the Sony rep in the Kotaku interview said "another big reason we are in 3rd is because fanboy sites like Kotaku are unjustly bashing the PS3 every chance they get."

And it would be completely true. Yes the article is about a fact that the PS3 is in 3rd but its really Kotaku coming up with another excuse to bash Sony.

[Anon1974]

Remember when Kotaku was busted running faked videos of Gran Turismo "load issues" after a week of bashing GT at every turn, months before GT's launch? Good times.

There's a couple of things that we know about this situation. One, market research has shown that even thought the 360 sold more consoles overall, the PS3 has more active consoles in the wild.

Two, head 2 head since the PS3 launched it's handily outsold the 360 despite the much higher launch price. Consumers have spoken and their message is clear, they prefer the PS3, they just didn't have a choice at the start. At one point the 360 was ahead by over 8 million consoles. What's it at now?

[pandaboy]

@darkride66

they weren't actually kotaku's faked videos and they edited the article when they realised that it may have been tampered with. Anyway, I'm getting kinda scared by the passion and anger on n4g in articles like this one...

[Silly gameAr]

Bubble for Bizzel

[tordavis]

I really wish people would stop using the 1yr head start as an excuse. Dreamcast had a 1yr head start too and Sony demolished Sega. The 1yr head start has nothing to do with it.

[jayzablade]

Look at all you Sony fanboys go!!!
Lets face simple facts, it has sold less....doesn't matter how much of a head start the 360 had, it has still sold less!! The PS2 sold 150 mill so where are those customers now? If their fanbase was so loyal you would have expected at least half of them to have upgraded by now and enjoying such a 'glorious' console but no, Sony thought we'll put out a console at a ridiculous price and expect the fans to lap it up....were they ever wrong!!
They tried to rip of this gen and it didn't work, yeah it maybe selling now but for how long? Even after numerous price cuts it's still not selling all that well and yeah maybe it is top of the leader board in terms of current sales but only coz the Wii has it's user base installed and the 360 is slowing right down so theoretically it is only a 2 horse race.
As i recall every single person i knew had their PS2 chipped and was buying games for £2/3 and i knew of people buying the PS2 and going straight to a guys house to get it chipped and get some games....maybe that is why it sold so many consoles in comparison, where as the PS3, i don't know anyone who has theirs chipped so maybe that is a cause?
To sit there tho and blame everything under the sun for lack of sales, RROD, head start, Wii stealing the casual crowd....whatever, fact remains it has just not sold as well as was expected so dry your tears and deal with it!!!

[nukeitall]

The first shouldn't matter much, when you previously demolished all competition for two generations. Heck, the Sega Dreamcast died a horrible faith and had Sega exiting the console business... and that was with one year headstart as well. It is easy to point to success, but harder to realize the risk MS took.

MS was the industry's laughing stock while Sony was making all sorts of negative comments, and just five years later, who is laughing all the way to the bank now?

There is a reason why Sony's stock is on a 31-year low!

[insomnium2]

Mark my words PS3 will reach the 100 million sold mark in it's lifetime. I have never been more sure about anything and I've been saying it since 2006. I would really like to hear a comprehensive rebuttal to this claim if there is one.

My god how desperate jayzablade is for attention. Nobody reads your comments it seems. i read the first sentence and that's it. Try to be more suble with your trolling if you want to trick people into readyng your BS.

MS's risk was pretty much no risk since they have deeeeeep pockets unlike anyone else. Pretty much anyone else would've gone bankrupt with xbox. They buy themselfs into fame anytime they want cause they know USA will eat anything they feed them.

[NastyLeftHook0]

Honestly, the ps3 and 360 are like 2-3 million apart with over 50 million sold.

It would be different if the ps3 was at 22 million or something, but both in the 50 million range is neck and neck.

[kevnb]

ill tell you why, sony has focused on cinematic experiences all gen while microsoft just gives us games that you do cool shit in. Gamers want games, not interactive movies. That and the 360 has been cheaper, 99% of the games are the exactly the same on both platforms, with many versions being better on 360. Call of Duty is the series of the gen, and its better on 360 than ps3. People on here may not like it, but its true.

The one game that had really stood out this gen for me from sony was demons souls, but they went and screwed that up because they thought it was terrible. No cinematic experience every 5 seconds meant that it was worthless to them. They could of taken that series so far if they just made the game a bit easier for noobs to get into... oh well.

[Deafman420]

If Sony would just make a comfortable controller I'd jump onboard in a heart beat every generation. Their controller keeps me far far away from anything playstation (and no I'm not settling for a 3rd party controller).

[MetalProxy]

wtf?...wow dood so your trying to tell me games like uncharted (a cinematic game) are not games? How in the f*** is that not a game? And MS only gives you games to do cool things in? What games are thoses? I have a feeling they are on the PS3 too. I also didnt realize sony made demon souls ><
I remember a time when xbox guys seamed to say smart and insightfull things but that dont happen anymore.

[GrandTheftZamboni]

@Deafman420

You can always glue one 9v battery underneath the PS3 controller if that would make it more comfortable for you.

[Legion]

@GrandTheftZamboni

That still doesn't help you with the crappy thumb sticks and awful triggers, and the wings that stick into the palms of your hands like they are trying to make you let go of it.

The PS controller hasn't changed hardly at all since it first came out. Ad it shows to those that like an ergonomic controller for gaming and have tried something better. MS has went from great controller and improved it to what it is today. It just works.

[GrandTheftZamboni]

@Legion

"ergonomic controller"

From Wikipedia:

"Ergonomics is the study of designing equipment and devices that fit the human body,"

Notice "fit the human body". 360 controller battery pack gets in the way, so it is not ergonomic.

[fr0sty]

Yes, the $400 console that came out a year sooner was able to sell a couple million more consoles than the $600 console that came out a year later. In no way did 360 "outsell" PS3, it just slowed it down enough to where PS3 was not able to eliminate all of 360's several million unit head start. If you took 360 off the market for a year to make things even, PS3 would end up millions of units ahead.

[kevnb]

In the end, microsoft is making more money and selling more games. I don't like it since they milk us for xbox live, but that's reality.

[fr0sty]

They're not making more money, and they're not selling more games either. Case in point:

Xbox 1 lost well over 4 billion dollars. A number they have yet to recoup with 360. While 360 did break the "profitable" margin for itself, it never once broke profitablity for the Xbox brand as a whole when you factor in the losses from the original Xbox. As such, Xbox as a brand has yet to turn a single dime of profit.

(however, Sony did erase every bit of profit they made off of PS1 and Ps2 with the losses they suffered with Ps3)

While MS may sell 13 million copies of Halo, the fact of the matter is they only have a few games that sell well when it comes to exclusives (probably why they sell so well, you guys don't get much choice). Sony has many more exclusive titles, and while they do not sell as well they sell well enough to keep up with the sales of the fewer games MS puts out. That said, fewer games = fewer budgets to make back, so it is likely that MS makes more profit from their game sales than Sony does. As for third party games, while 360 usually sells a little more, it isn't enough to write home about.

[IHateYouFanboys]

@fr0sty:

Xbox 1 lost over 4 billion dollars - that's what happens when you start up an entir new division lol. Hundreds of people to employ + hundreds of millions of dollars (most probably 1 bil +) in R & D + 10s of millions budget for games....starting a console business is not cheap. The original Xbox was never expected to be profitable. Microsoft have said as much - they have a three step plan for the console business:

1. Xbox - get the foot in the proverbial door. Get some established franchises and get developers on board.
2. Xbox 360 - secure a good chunk of market share. Get the Xbox brand to be synonymous with gaming.
3. Xbox 3 - secure number 1 console position.

They're on track so far.

Sony on the other hand lost more on the PS3 alone than Microsoft have lost on their entire startup of their xbox division and subsequent consoles. Microsoft gained market share and increased profits, sony lost massive amounts of market share and even more money. As you said, they literally erased ALL of the money they made from their previous 2 consoles, which are the best selling consoles of all time. That should tell you something.

[GrandTheftZamboni]

Don't forget to add few billion that MS is likely to pay Motorola if they want to keep selling Xbox.

[Crystallis]

If not more so.

[IaussieGamer]

Take away the 1 and a half year head start the 360 had and the ps3 in reality is ahead of the 360.

[ginsunuva]

Especially when a more expensive console sells just about as many units as a cheaper one - it's not all about quantity.

Toyota is in first place in cars salez guys! Bugatti is last oh shame poor them they suck, right?

[J86blum]

Sorry but only 360FanBoys count sales numbers. Ps3 sorry isnt in 3rd place but in first place.

[Dee_91]

i dont know maybe because they came out 3rd

[joab777]

Yeah, its not over yet. Considering the late start, the high price point, the lack of halo and gears, the problems Japan and Sony have suffered, it is pretty remarkable and a testament to quality that the ps3 is so strong. I think the biggest mistake they made was in memory. And if there wasn't a surge in PC gaming, I believe that ps3 would win this Gen. Honestly, Nintendo has fallen off dramatically so that must be taken into account. If u look at where all 3 stand right now, its clear who is first for gamers. I so love my Xbox, but the quality of the ps3 is astounding.

Also, I don't agree that the ps3 is or was more expensive. They were both marketed different. Microsoft was brilliant in getting a machine in ur hands for cheaper. But, once I went wireless, upgraded hard drive and paid to play online, my ps3 was cheaper and had a blue ray.

[THESONYPS3]

Remember the PS3 was released a year after the 360 so technically we are infront

[BlackTar187]

we?

This article really brought out a bunch of fanboys.

I have purchased 3 xboxs 1 ps3

[Old McGroin]

@BlackTar187

You make a good point there - I wonder how many 360 sales were multiple purchases by people due to the Red Ring Of Death? A lot of people out there, especially older parents, would never of heard of the RROD and the extended warranty and as soon as their kids 360 died would have just bought another one. I had to get 3 replacement 360s myself since 2006 whereas my first PS3, bought in 2010, is still going strong.

[OmegaSlayer]

I'm a biased Sony fanboy, but looking at how the generation panned out I can't help but think that if some PS2ers didn't jump to XBOX360 and would have waited a bit, we would have had more fresh games experiences and less COD clones.
At the same time I reckon that MS give to a big audience what they want (Halo and Gears) and Sony couldn't release an IP able to front those games.
(Again, Uncharted is a totally different game from Gears, Killzone is awesome but "unrefined" in some aspects)
A big kudos to third party, since most of the better experiences come from their studios; it's strange that Sony has the best studios tech wise but no one pulled out an experience like Assassin's Creed or Mass Effect.
Finally, a big mid finger to Nintendo, whose casual oriented machine sucked up great franchises from more interesting machine (Monster Hunter, the best JRPGs)

[Tapioca Cold]

Yes, the are last. Why?

That's the real question. Why is that people still continue to game on the 360? It's unreliabe, less powerful, loud, needing proprietary products and contains an online pass of $60.oo a year.

I'm stumped.

Oh, and you pay for advertising too. How sad a society we live in when people actually pay for ads.

Enjoy!

[showtimefolks]

so a console that delivers unique experiences and a company that invests heavily into core gamers is treated like this(what is 3rd place or 1st place)

by those standards wii is the #1 system yet it didn't have a lot of great games besides N 1st party, had no 3rd party support and had no online community compare to ps3,xbox360

last of us a new IP
Heavy rain a new IP
Infamous a new IP
Uncharted a new IP
Beyond a new IP
invest int free to play MMO
MAG 250 players online in a match
Resistance a new IP
heavenly sword a new IP
3d dot hero a ps3 very under rated exclusive

so yeh 3rd place by few millions behind xbox360? which system has more exclusives?

which system offers free online? and psn:plus 12 free games this month?

if you are a core gamer ps3,xbox360 combined was the way to go but i have a feeling when ps4 comes out before next xbox360 and may have GT6,Infamous 3 and killzone 4 at launch maybe a different story next gen

I am glad MS is sucessful because that will push sony harder but MS has been happy that they are doing well and now what? kinect and smart glass?

call me a fanboy of sony or Nintendo but i rather have games that any apps or espn on my console

as a gamer games are what's important to me and with 15 1st party studios already in place and QD,Insomniac plus ready at dawn as 2nd party sony is in best place to have a core audience next gen too

ps4 will have cross game chat what else does xboxlive have over psn? one will be free with cross game chat while other will most likely be going up in price because MS think we care more about having youtube on our system than actual game

MS for all the good you did in 1st 3-4 years of xbox360 you killed Rare and fable sudios head also left you open your damn eyes

[MariaHelFutura]

What a pretentious headline.

[TBM]

Wow the interviewer sounds like a douche bag lol. why was he so adamant about the answer?

[Kos-Mos]

But all them exclusives.

[MaximusPrime]

bloody hell... again with this mysterious "3rd place"?

[etownthree]

What's so mysterious about being in last place?

Get over it already.

Geez, some of these Sony fans are truly pathetic and stuck in denial.

[Nes_Daze]

Maybe he doesn't care about a console war, as where you do because you need to justify your purchase? And you call others pathetic..lol.

[Hicken]

What's so mysterious about the PS3 selling faster than the 360 since launch?

Ever take a look at the average sales per year? I bet you haven't, since that would damage your little notion.

[Sanquine90]

Calling us pathetic ? I think the xbox fans are more pathetic. Ps3 is shitting out exclusives. All the mighty xbox has to offer is halo 4:D ROFL :D
The whole E3 show microsoft showed us three exclusives: Halo 4 , gears of war and fable journey.

Sony > God of war , beyond two souls and the last of us. Tell me which do you prefer:D God of war , halo 4 and gears of war > Been there

[chazjamie]

i know right. my word did you read the first few comments. these fanboys are retarded. i swear it was like a support group just to comfort their conscience.

[Godmars290]

It has to do with market placement actually representing something last gen. The gap between 1st and 2nd nothing but noticeable as it only grew, while the difference from 2nd and 3rd was negligible.

[Majin-vegeta]

Umm cuz they didn't abandon the hardcore players unlike*coughM$cough*.

[andibandit]

You are right, instead they gave away their credit card information, and took away their online for a month, kudos to Sony.

Sarcasm = off;

The reason Sony isn't #1 after the blazing success of the PS2 is a combination of reasons.

Pricing.
Poor Marketing.
Weak Launch Library.

are just some of the contributing factors that Sony could've affected.

Couple that with the fact that the competitors changed their strategies.

Nintendo went after a diffrent market and they succeded BIG time.
Microsoft having had their Xbox TRAMPLED by the PS2, went all guns blazing, marketing, launch games e.t.c., and they had moderate success, but they fared ALOT better than with the original xbox.

[NYC_Gamer]

I don't care about what place the machine is in long as it offers me games i'll enjoy

[LakerGamerEnthusiast]

It shouldn't matter to sony either imo, what matters is that your consumers get what they want and you make them happy because in the end, they are your only priority and they are what your top goal should be, and that's make them happy which I think Sony has done. if this gets taken care of, then the new fans shall come by themselves.

[stuna1]

That's the thing, it doesn't matter to Sony that their in 3rd place! Not in the same sense that it matters to us.

To clarify that statement, sure who wouldn't want other consumers to own their products? All of them would.
Who wouldn't want to make billions of dollars in the process of selling you said products? All of them would.

But in my opinion what has made Sony different than it's competitors is that they have stayed consistent through this whole generation.

Examples are even with the media bashing they stayed consistent!

Through the ps3 has no games vendetta, Sony stayed consistent!

Through the ps3 is just a glorified dvd player, Sony stayed consistent!

Through the Earthquake and nuclear reactor leak, Sony stayed consistent!

Hell! Even when the playstation network as well as Sony pictures were hacked they stayed consistent! Some were quick to turn their backs on Sony, place blame on them even when they had no control over the circumstances! But guess what they stayed consistent!

A quick question to us so called gamers!?! What company has had to overcome all the adversities and setbacks, but at the same time deliver what we as gamers wanted or want??? NONE!!!!

[N4g_null]

So sony's consumers are around 60 million. If that is the case what type of budget could they use to make the next gen console? I think this is why their placement even matters.

You don't race the competition you only race the debt you have acquired. If they had 5-20 million selling games on avg they could recoup.

This can be dangerous since MS is only in this to slow sony down much like how sony slowed nintendo down before. Ms has OS money to keep them afloat yet they are not spending it all on gaming are they? Doesn't seem like it.

Another problem is their movie games need core game play in them that is truly re-playable. That means their games need to teach some new skill and let the gamer get better.

Their biggest problem is their games lack a real challenge to come back to... the xbox has this problem also but MS simply let the paying customers offer up said challenge as a service LOL. Devious but smart... So sony has to wise up are get crushed by MS.

Once MS decided to go after the movie and high end tech crowd that will be SONY's last leg. SOny must grow another leg before it's too late.

[Deafman420]

And a very comfortable controller to enjoy those game with. (and I'm not talking about 3rd party controllers)

[JRobes]

^couldn't agree more Deafman420... the controller is one of the huge deciding factors with why I chose the 360. Literally after 10 minutes of playing on the PS3 controller my hand fatigued and after never having an issue with the "S" controller on the original xbox, it made my purchase decision very easy. I know this is opening up a whole 'nother can of worms so i'll end with what fits me doesn't necessarily fit everyone else.

[jessupj]

Personally, I can not STAND the stupid diagonal angle the joysticks are positioned at on the xbox controller.

[BlackTar187]

Kinda just shows that you guys are of the xbox generation.

[Kurt Russell]

Thanks god for ome sense, cheers NYC_Gamer.

[chukamachine]

exactly maximus.

Lets say, you started selling your apples in 2005.

I started selling my apples in 2006-7.

Nearly every year i outsell you.

But the first year you sold 6million apples when nobody else was around.

Hence you cannot judge who is 2nd,3rd.

Otherwise it's complete and utter bs.

Ring a bell

[GribbleGrunger]

i hope all the other countries give Britain a lap headstart in the Olympics! come now, it would be a legitimate win... what are you all complaining about?

[Merrill]

I can't comprehend how these 'journalists' do not understand the PS3 came out a full year after the 360.

Add an extra year of sales to the PS3's lifetime sales, based on average sales per year and it would be a head of the 360.

I can't stand this 1st, 2nd, 3rd bulls**t either.

[etownthree]

Seriously, you kids need to stop with the excuses.

The Wii came out a year later and is in first place.

The ps2 came out a year after the Dreamcast and put Sega out of the console business.

This gen Sony made a lot of mistakes, thus, the reason the console leader of previous two gens, is in LAST PLACE.

[Nes_Daze]

@Etwonthree, now that just gives the PS2 and Wii a lot more credit for "winning". But the head start is still there, too bad a Microsoft console hasn't done that yet.

[Reverent]

etownthree, you're also forgetting that the Wii launched at $250 versus the PS3's $600 launch price tag. But I'm sure a $350 difference played absolutely no factor in that. /s

[BubloZX]

Or take away any one year for the 360. Hell even taking away the year the 360 sold the least and ps3 wins. And if ps3 outsells the 360 by over a 2 million which Sony is on track to do its good night MS.

[ShaunCameron]

<I can't comprehend how these 'journalists' do not understand the PS3 came out a full year after the 360.>

Just like I can't comprehend how PS3 fanboys do not understand that the Wii came out just ONE WEEK AFTER the PS3 did and sold some 95 000 000 lifetime. If Wii managed to beat the 360 despite coming out a year late, what's the PS3's excuse?

[portal_2]

A gimmicky piece of plastic designed to entice non-gamers?

[Shadow Flare]

Also in Europe, ps3 launched 18 months after 360, not 12 months. And 360 is last in Europe.

[NastyLeftHook0]

Exactly, I could just say...

"Hey! the PS2 launched 5 years before the Wii and Xbox 360, WHY is the 360 and Third place!

You see...The 360 launched a full year after the ps3.

AT A CHEAPER COST.

But the most important thing?

GAMES!

But if you want to get technical...

THE PS3 is OUTSELLING the 360 Worldwide every year.

Fact.

[NastyLeftHook0]

You see...The 360 launched a full year "before" the ps3.

[Drekken]

You forgot to mention 52.8% of your apples the first couple of years had big, fat, ugly, poisonous worms in them, which made them inedible.

[dead_eye]

And big deal. Every apple that was replaced got added to the sales figures so win/win ;)

[chukamachine]

EPIC drekken lol, bubs+1

[Dms2012]

Again with this head start thing. There is no "starting gun" in business people.

[sjaakiejj]

Actually, a starting gun is exactly what there is in business. It doesn't reflect market position perhaps, but it does reflect the success the company had with selling their product, as the variable costs only come into play once the product reaches the market.
Market Position on the other hand is better measured by year-on-year sales, and that's the way it's generally done for market analysis.

Now could I suggest that Wii is in third place? Ps2 is in first place, and Ps1 is in second place. See how that works? ;)

Remember: There's no concept of "generations" in the market.

[LNDCalling]

In which case you cannot "win a gen", if there's no starting gun there's no finish line!

[Deafman420]

*smoking some kush* - I was saying...huh nevermind 😏

[N4g_null]

You would still loose... That is not an excuse since this is what apple did do LOL.

The PS3 luanch and struggled. Apple used the same buisness model minus having 1st party games and sold a tablet for $700 dollars after selling a iphone which had actual real value and use and crushed the PS3 numbers and never looked back and it cost more and came out way after the PS3 and was weaker LOL.

In business the facts are the facts and people get fired for not meeting goals that they where hired to meet. I don't think SONY would even try the cell if they knew they may not do huge numbers. It's called a business plan. Sony won with the PS 1 and 2 simply because they knew how to get the 3rd parties on their side.

The PS3 broke that business plan with the cell cpu and the idea that their games are superior to all others, a battle cry you hear against nintendo first party.

I love the one quote in the article though.

- Koller replied. "We've been pleased with overall sales. And also very pleased with just how well then consumers who have purchased PS3s have attached and buy software. We have a very profitable consumer.

Profitable consumer- fanboy that buys every thing they say... yet their debt was even bigger than that the fan's purchasing power. That is a problem they may continue to ignore. When this happens it is called a bubble.

[hkgamer]

the emotion engine cpu was also very hard to program for.

the dreamcast and xbox was much easier but still struggled.

[N4g_null]

The chip being hard to program for broke their business plan because part of their success during the ps2 days was having 3rd parties on bored. They provided their own barrier to an industry that was largely on their side and actually against MS at the time.

This then trickled down to the other problems that sony now faces.

You may not see these problems but I do and their only solution is a new system and great games.

Also like I said people get fired when they don't do their job and so went krazy Ken...

[CoolBeansRus]

I like your story, you should have told it when the Xbox first launched and all the Sony fanboys kept bragging about 100 mil. when they had no comp. Sony is not so great after all, if they were they wouldn't be in last.

[dragon82]

You do understand that second place is still just the first loser don't you??

The only "WINNER" this generation is NINTENDO. How about we all quit arguing over who is first and second losers and start enjoying the actual games.

[Honest_gamer]

ps3 might be outselling the 360 world wide but it is still in 3rd place, spin it all you want wii is 1st, xbox 360 is 2nd and ps3 is 3rd, however thats like saying a micra is better than a bugatti veyron, sales dont state what one is better, wii is the weakest, ps3 is the most powerful and 360 is right in the middle

[Shadow Flare]

Well if ps3 is outselling 360 worldwide every year, that in turn makes 360 the slowest selling console this generation.

[MrDead]

I said that yesterday and got 14 disagrees and about one agree

The 360 is the slowest selling console this gen and the only reason it’s not in third place is that it’s been out 1 year longer then the ps3 (18 months in some places)

For the PS3 to close the gap between it and the 360 the PS3 would have to outperform the 360 in sales.

[Shadow Flare]

MrDead, you spoke 100% truth. You got disagrees because some simply don't want to hear that truth

[solidjun5]

"You got disagrees because some simply don't want to hear that truth"

Exactly. However, they'll fall back on their "American is the biggest market. So there" argument.

[Sanquine90]

Agreed like a sir

[papashango]

alright the facts

ps3 has sold faster than the 360.
360 is the slowest selling console this gen.

1st. Wii
2nd. 360
3rd PS3

I mean you can say "But look at what ps3 did better" all you want. As of this moment.

1st Wii
2nd. 360
3rd PS3

I agree with everything you guys are saying btw. It's all true. But again

1st Wii
2nd 360
3rd PS3

[LNDCalling]

@papashango I will lol hard if Sony release their next gen console first and MS fan boys cry that its only leading because it released earlier!

Since 'generation' has no set period apart from respects to each manufacturer separately... how about we count all consoles sold to date, including handhelds. I wonder where MS would come in that calculation then?!?..

SONY
PlayStation - 100m
PlayStation 2 - 150m
PlayStation 3 - 64.8m
PlayStation Portable - 71m
PlayStation Vita - 2.2m

Total: 388,000,000 gaming consoles sold to date.

MICROSOFT
XBox - 24m
XBox 360 - 67m

Total: 91,000,000 gaming consoles sold to date.

Even if you discount what Sony have brought to us as gamers and even excluding the PlayStation's 100m, consoles sold to date (S-S) would be Sony - 288m vs. MS - 91m… this makes MS weak-sauce in my opinion!

[stephmhishot]

MS mastered the spin, they claim they are the best selling console this generation, while ignoring the Wii's existence.

[RevXM]

No in that case they would be ignoring the Ps3 wich sells faster and is slowly closing the gap in total sales being launched the year after the 360.

The Wii have outsold them both by a HUGE margin, but it is not a current gen system.
The only thing that seperates the Wii from the Gamecube, xbox and PS2 is default motion controller and when it came out, and arguably its Web browser.

In my opinion deciding system gens should be based on features and power/tech and wii fals pretty short in both these departments.

[yewles1]

Really? Why did this article put words in other people's mouths like that? Has the writer no shame than to stretch answers so far to make his own assumptions as fact? ON TOP OF NOT RESEARCHING PREVIOUS HISTORIES??????

VG Journalism IS dead...

[Jazz4108]

Sounds like this article brought out he butt hurt sony fans. I myself could care less what place my fav console is in as they are all doing well. I do enjoy my 360 the most for reasons I have stated before but in the end we are all winners.

[N4g_null]

Very true... who really cares who is winning. That is unless you work for these companies ouch!

NEC is still around and so is SNK and I loved their consoles! Neo geo had some great games but it sold horribly.

While SONY and their fans are ignoring this stuff with it's the fastest selling 3rd place console... why not just make the PS4 $3000 and get alienware to make the shell and put like 1600 of ram and a 17 inch monitor on it that detaches and is wireless with an i& in it, scratch laptop off and call it a PS4! I mean if you are going to go big go big and stop with this hype crap!

[CLOUD1983]

When ppl put their brains to work a little and realize that the only reason xbox & M$ is a little ahead of PS3 & SONY is because they launch 1 years earlier with a much-much lower price than PS3, PS3 launch price was 600$ & some ppl w8 1-2 years for price drop in order to buy one, and even though xbox launch 1 year earlier than PS3 & cost around 200$ less PS3 still reach them and they r very close now that's the most impressive thing game journalist must discuss not if xbox is a little ahead.

[Neko_Mega]

Plus lets not forget PS2 keeps doing well for some odd reason, I hate to see Sony's numbers for PS2 2012.

But the place they are in will change, seeing how Wii is slowly dyeing out and Wii U is coming soon.

[tigertron]

I don't care if I'm in the minority but I think the PS3 is better than the PS2, and the PS2 was the most dominant console last generation.

If being in last place gives us a wealth of AAA exclusives and a ton of first party support then I don't mind Sony coming last.

[MaximusPrime]

that's why i bought PS3 since it launched. better line-up of games. Sony did us proud the past couple of years.

[CLOUD1983]

PS3 was better than PS2 as long we talk for 1st party exclusives not 3rd party and the best example of that is the JRPG genre where PS3 sucks in comparison to PS2 where fans of the genre played some really amazing games where in PS3 almost all the JRPG released till now was mediocre, but the best console ever for JRPG fans was PS1 by far where I play & finish over 20 games & spent years & years playing countless hours everyday (I finish FFVII 24 times in 5 years so just from this 1 game I must spent over 2000 hours on PS1) I change 3 PS1 back then because the laser who read the disks die on me from all those hours I was playing :P

[M2-]

@tigertron

I'm sure Sega Dreamcast fans felt the same way...

[Imalwaysright]

If shooters, DLC, online passes and patches are your thing then PS3 is better console than PS2. I however enjoy variety with quality and quantity in my games and i have no doubt that in that regard the PS2 is the best console ever made. Overall, imo, this gen is by far the worst result of the greed of devs and publishers and next gen will be no different if gamers keep accepting all the crap they throw at us.

[glennco]

the PS2 was sony's RROD. their DVD drives got them class action law suits. it is funny PS fanboys don't acknowledge the PS2 as being a POS quality wise. the PS2 rode off the momentum of PS1 and had DVD at the right time, but it really wasn't that good.

the PS3 is infinitely better than the PS2 was, as was the original xbox and the 360 (but not for quality haha). just because the PS2 sold so much, doesnt mean it was a good console, it just had great game support from having very little competition. nintendo had lost their way and ms were just entering.

[Imalwaysright]

PS2 was no where near the same as 360 in terms of hardware quality, no way. At launch HALF of the 360 bricked on you and is the most unreliable product ever made. And it doesnt matter the reason why PS2 had so much support from 3rd parties. The fact is that it did and the games are there for anyone to play them. Variety with quality and quantity. PS3 has variety with quality but no quantity. For every PS3 AAA game i can probably name 5 AAA PS2 games and that is why PS2 is the most succesful console ever made.

[hkgamer]

It's pretty sad that PS3 has ended up 3rd, but I guess there was many reasons for this to happen.

But 3rd place doesn't really mean is a bad thing, this generation has pulled in many more new gamers. So console sales generally has been booming.

But honestly saying I think most gamers will agree that the wii was very disappointing. I mean the sales were good, but the control was a gimmick and every household got caught up with the whole hype. It is sad that the wii is 1st place on console sales chart.
I probably enjoyed more games on my Gamecube than I did for my wii.

[linkratos]

I agree that the Wii was not as complete a gaming console as the PS3 or 360. But it has the killer apps I can't resist and was still the console I enjoyed most this gen. but I won't argue that most hardcore gamers on the web have a point in that it can't supply that 1-new-game-a-week need.

[flightdown]

The main reason Xbox has beat Sony is in the pricing of the console and the fact that Microsoft advertise so much more than Sony. Microsoft have more money to do that sort of thing. Sony offer better games and quality but most people don't pay attention to specs.

Also i think the Wii U is definitely going to be in third place next generation as they pushed core players (not all) away with the novelty of the Wii and the Wii U offers little to the casual players either. I cannot see how it can compete in all honesty.

[dead_eye]

And it's most of a generation late

[PixL]

I asked Kotaku why they hire clowns. No reply...

[dead_eye]

Did I miss the article that said this generation is over??

When is the next xbox and ps coming out then.

I thought a race wasn't over till the end.

And even when Sony do release the next console the race isn't over as they will still support the ps3 for awhile after unlike some other companys.

[thebudgetgamer]

Stif competition, price, waiting for BluRay to be ready. No one thought the Wii was going to be as popular as it ended up being, Microsoft getting out of the gates early and stealing a lot of franchises that would have been PS2 exclusives.

At the end I think ending up in third place despite probably ending up at close too one hundred million units is no that bad, and great for us.

[capcock]

It's because PS3 sucked balls back in the day. It had horrible multiplats and no games, it didn't become good untill 2009 imo and on top of everything the xbox 360 had a over 1 year start.

BUT if you divide the sales/years u'll see that PS3 has sold better than the 360 so the 360 is the console in third place in a way BECAUSE if the PS3 and 360 were released at the same time the PS3 would have the bigger userbase.

[dubt72]

Worst math logic ever, because it didn't go down like that, and unless you have a time machine, it never will...

[Almir908]

My God seeing gamer's now are just sad compared to what they used to be. Why does it seem like gamer's care more about how much a certain console sells than the software line-up a console receives. It's a proven fact gamer's care more about sales than actual gaming. I swear I heard more people talk about sales than actual gaming. what the hell happened to you people? Is that the argument for everything now? A certain console is better because it sold more. A certain game is better because it sold more than others. <--- These statements are people's analogy of gaming. I seriously hate all of you, but for the people agreeing thank you for sharing my sympathy for the poor pathetic fools who think they work for microsoft, nintendo, and sony. And only like to brag about shares being sold and units being sold. R.I.P Gaming forever where the new generation of gamers overthrow the old generation. According to gamer's sales> actual gaming.

[Dms2012]

So lets make it fair and have MS stop selling the 360 for 1 year.

[dubt72]

Dumbest argument ever.

[Dms2012]

It wasn't obvious I was being sarcastic? I didnt think /s was really necessary, because everything about this amounts to a dumb argument as you stated.

[N4g_null]

They did stop selling it for one year, that is when they went casual. Yet some how they still came out on top???

Oh and the secret to the PS2s success was wait for it casual gamers LOL. Their silence in these forums speaks volumns to their power they hold LOL.

Maybe if sony made more story games that casuals like, like maybe twightlight (mouth puke) or even a true blood tie in?

[Silly gameAr]

Terrible comment. That's the thing we DON'T want to happen. Oh, and Playstation has always had a good balance between core and casual. That's one of the reasons the name is so popular imo.

Always had something for someone. Some people remember games like Crash Bandicoot or Rachet and Clank as their greatest gaming moments, and then you have the side that remembers Socom and God of War as fondly as the ones who loved Crash and R&C.

Like that one guy on here says, "Rated E for everyone", but, the only difference is, The PS2 (and PS1 and PS3 imo) had just as many mature games to balance it out.

[dubt72]

Three years ago it was, This is the year we catch up! Then 2 years ago same thing! Last year, no doubt about, we are catching the 360! Then the trend switched and now all the sad Sony fans have changed their tune. Oh, it doesn't matter what place PS3 is in. It's all about the games, or this generation is over, why you got bring up old ish? You can't have it both ways!

[Hicken]

How many consoles had the 360 sold by the time the PS3 was out everywhere?

That's the lead/advantage/head start the 360 had, which seems to have been 8-10 million units.

What's the difference now, smart guy? Is it still 8-10 million? Last I heard, it was more like 2-3 million. This November will mark the end of the sixth year that the PS3 has been on the market.

The largest potential gain(from a 10 million lead to a 2 million lead) would see Sony selling about 1.333 million units more per year. The smallest(from an 8 million lead to a 3 million lead) would indicate Sony's sold .833 million more each year.

You know what that means?

EVERY YEAR, THE PS3 HAS BEEN CATCHING UP.

Oh, except last year. Kudos to the 360 for that. Though now everyone wants to say that last year's sales coup suddenly equals the 360 always having sold better.

Man, if only there was some difference between selling MORE, and selling BETTER/FASTER....

[jetlian]

not last year and 360 was at 7 million when ps3 released. Its made some 4 million in 5 plus years!

What goes unannounced is ps3 is in more than 15+ countries than 360. 360 is also not getting any love in japan. So The fact its really only in 2 of 3 regions and 15+ less countries why hasnt ps3 caught up?!

If you wanna talk about games we can do that too.

[ceballos77mx]

The fanboys on this site (both sides) are always changing arguments, at first the xbox ones where all about the "exclusives" that the ps3 didnt have or the ones that ms stole, and then the "wii doesnt count cause its for the casuals" and now there are very few exclusives and ms is casual oriented, its the sales that matters, ignoring again that the wii kicked both consoles ass and worse that it sucked.

[TheFallenAngel]

I dont care what place they are in. They are still the best.

[Skateboard]

The sales argument is such a lazy argument, how bout comparing games, you know the thing that actually matters.

I'm sorry the Toyota Camry is not the hottest car in the world, get my point ? sales doesn't make one better then the other period.

[josephayal]

The PS3 is the best selling console WW

[Shadow Flare]

It actually is at the moment. I never thought about that. With Wii doing so poorly now, PS3 is actually the best selling console worldwide at the moment. Which makes the whole 3rd place thing all the more ludicrous. It's not going to finish in 3rd place, that's for sure.

[glennco]

so what if it did? who cares when all platforms sold enough to warrant sufficient support for a replacement.

what is ludicrous is the amount of dumbass comments on this site. if you judged humanity from just this website, you would think human beings were idiots. why do people lose the plot when arguing about their console of choice?

[HmongAmerican]

We're not stockholder, we are gamer. We pay them to make game for us.

[cr33ping_death]

well..... would you rather have a system you can show your friends and say " this system is in first,second or third place" or would you rather have a system you can show your friends that has some of the best looking games this gen??? i think id go with the latter.

[yewles1]

The reality is that nowadays, people would rather show a console that has more "features" than games...

[Sarobi]

"Your console doesn't sell well on the market. Therefore you should feel bad about your purchase and buy this other expensive piece of equipment to be apart of the winning team"
----------------------------- --

That is usually what I see when people argue about sales numbers.

[Silkside]

So the ps3 is only 2-3 million behind the 360 right? If we take into account that the 360 came out a year early and say.. 5% extra consoles due to the RROD? What will the figures then?

5% is being very generous as well for the RROD replacements,

Can you guys seriously unbiasly disagree with my observations above? If so please explain.

[ceedubya9]

Its really hard to say one way or another. The 360 had high failure rates, yes, but a buy is a buy. And there is no real way to determine how many of both consoles are repeat buys. Both have had revisions so far. I know I've upgraded my consoles when each released a slim model. I wouldn't be surprised if others did as well. Either way, Sony has done fine so far. It just looks bad because they were so dominant before.

[GameOn]

only problem is that although sales might be a bit bloated due to the rrod are we taking in account potential customers that were put of by the rrod.
Basicly lost sales due to the the popular knowledge that it wasn't a reliable console.

[jib]

i disagree but not because i think you're wrong. it's because there are no sources that proves it. it may be true but no one knows

you can't assume the 360s replaced by the warranty was counted towards a "sale." an anecdote about knowing friends who've paid for a replacement instead of using the warranty shouldn't be used as a stat either

[BubloZX]

Wanna know what we can prove? 1 million console bans when MW2 was about to release. Microsoft banned 1 million consoles. If even half that number rebought a 360 well....you get my point

http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed...

[AgreeFairy]

PS3 is only in third because of the rise of casual gamers. This is also why you see franchises becoming casualized & getting reboots a lot this gen.

[GameOn]

alot of the caual gamers were there last gen on the PS2, Sony just failed to attract them back.

[ceedubya9]

While they may be slightly behind in this current console race in overall numbers, Sony isn't doing "bad" by any means. Yes, Sony was a little arrogant in the beginning and made some head scratching decisions, but you really can't blame them for thinking they were hot stuff. For 2 generations they dominated the gaming industry. Nearly everyone expected them to do so again. If anything, this generation isn't so much about how bad Sony did, but instead about how well Microsoft and Nintendo have done in making this generation a respectable fight. Sony didn't really get worse, the other two just got better.

Sony isn't without faults, but I doubt anyone that owns a PS3 will have much to complain about, regardless of what position the company is in.

[ceballos77mx]

Thats what i think too, they were so arrogant and assumed everyone would buy one just because they had the ps2, it will be interesting to see how they handle the next consoles launch, and also i feel like nintendo is making the same mistake that sokny did.

[joeorc]

I do not think Sony expected to be anywhere near first place this generation. The reason being by the time the R&D was done they knew well in advance there was no way they were going to be anywhere near that. An to think other wise is pretty much unrealistic.The reason being you just cannot change the R&D development spending and finished production templates and expect to start over after you already done everything else upto that point and not have to wait another 2 year's until you could release.Sony did not want to release a game console @ that cost of $500.00 on up they had not choice in the manner; and you cannot expect other companies to exploit that.

which they did.

Microsoft and Nintendo both Knew this..but Microsoft also paid dearly for it more so than they would like. and as this generation goes further slow and steady is better than front loading your sales and dropping your system down where diminishing returns are going to effect your bottom line, Microsoft needed a way to bounce their price back up. That's why Kinect was such a good way to do it.

when Microsoft paid for it..i mean :

in 2007

Verdict: All 11.6 million units of XBox 360 faulty

http://www.techrepublic.com...

people who already bought software for their xbox360's was not about to start over. the Price of the xbox360 than was more than it was now.

Many consumer's did not buy more than one living room console. It hurt PR. more than anything.

though the 1.2 billion was nothing to sneeze at. for any company to soak.

the point is many thing's happened this generation to change the market. and with smartphones and tablets and smart TV's next generation may also not be so clear cut how thing's are going to turn out for any one company.

[ceedubya9]

I don't see how Sony didn't think they would be number 1 this generation. Microsoft and Nintendo barely made any noise in the last generation. Sony was arrogant early on, and they probably thought they had this in the bag. If they didn't think they would have been first place, then they were probably the only ones who didn't. They took a gamble, and I doubt they expected the competition to perform so strongly. I mean, out of all of the outcomes, who would have thought that the Wii would have been leading the pack after so-so outings with the n64 and gamecube?

[dcbronco]

What a joke. Sony fully expected to be in first place. They were arrogant and stupid. And let Ken Kutaragi have too much rope. They thought the Cell could do it all and had to add the RSX later.

And who raises their price later in the cycle. The 360 is less than $200 dollars to make. Even the Arcade makes a small profit on each console sols. You make more money by price reductions, not raising the price of the product. Die shrinks are best. MS did that and went the extra step of putting the CPU and GPU on the same die to cut cost almost in half.

[BIGBOSS08]

if sony are still 3rd place by the end of this gen, i will eat my cat! im pretty sure in the end ps3 will be close to number 1 in sales. probably only like 10 million away from the wii. x360 aint even in the race at all, it had a massive headstart on both yet microsoft are gonna end last.

[ceedubya9]

We're pretty much reaching the point now that It won't/doesn't even matter. This generation is mostly over already. One more holiday season and we're looking towards the next generation.

[smashcrashbash]

You know what? I don't mind people talking about Sony not being ahead like they used too but I what I find funny is that Nintendo, once the leader of gaming a while back got side swiped by Sony, lost just about every developer, their market share and most of their gamers to them and people never bother them as much as they do Sony this gen. Nintendo made TWO failed consoles and the only console Sony ever made that ever really failed was the PSP Go.

And yet people constantly badger them about it forgetting that it wasn't that long ago the Microsoft and Nintendo were eating Sony's dust. And people just harp on about it as if they are happy that Sony finally was brought down lower. And the PS3 is STILL selling well and not even behind by that much. Sony's consoles were ahead by a landslide and people harp on because Sony's PS3 is behind by a a few tens of millions.How come we never ask the so called once might king of games how they have stooped to underpowered consoles that only survive on gimmicks and over milked games? You are starting to sound like the people who keep saying PASBR is like SSB. We heard you the first fifty times. Everyone has a article about Sony not being ahead anymore. You are too late. We have heard it all before.Kotaku is always doing some anti Sony crap.No one listens to you guys after all the lies you tried to use against GT5.

[StreetsofRage]

Sony admitted that they're in third place and with only about a year left in this gen, looks like the ps3 will stay in last place. With the playstation 1 and 2 completely dominating, this has to be a failure in the eyes of Sony.

Give credit where credit is due, Nintendo and Microsoft had a much better master plan than Sony.

I love my ps3 but I game on my 360 a lot more. This seems to be the way it is for this gen.

[Skateboard]

Not everyone is you.

[Seraphemz]

He also stated that they are very profitable.. which is the #1 thing. Not really being #1 in your eyes...

[Jag-T1000]

If you don't believe the PS3 is in third place wait till Halo 4 is released. It'll probably end up in 4th place LOL :)

[Mastarace]

considering how halo is dead now thanks to 343,i don't think Sony has to worry about that.

[Seraphemz]

Sucks you have to wait for a game to come out that long so that you can brag...LOL!

[Jag-T1000]

You can say what you want, but you know it's gonna sell like crazy. Oh, then PS3 will get hit hard again when Gears of war is released. Then finally its TKO for the PS3 when the 720 is released.

[trouble_bubble]

@JagT1000
pfft, COD and BF killed Halo this gen'. Multiplat COD kills Halo's numbers every year, on every console. 15 million PS3 players will just play COD instead this November like they do every year. Halo is a dinosaur, past its no ADS, cone back gremlin prime.

"with only about a year left in this gen..."

Prrrrretty sure the PS4 and NextBox don't come out next year.

Considering Sony started a year AFTER the 360, I don't know where all this Sony stat trolling is coming from. XBox1 only sold like 24 million, same with Gamecube. But no, lets ignore the pink elephants from MS and Nintendo and just pretend this is the 1st gen' of videogames ever. Where were Kotaku writers 6 years ago, lol? Still in junior high I guess, writing on bathroom walls.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

Sony might have been in "third" place, but there games and gamers certainly aren't.

[cstyle]

What do you mean "might have been"...lol

[AngelicIceDiamond]

Fine, there in 3rd place, but the last I checked there still delivering AAA title games on the PlayStation and best of all The PlayStation still turns on, what really? I see allot of Xbox fans boys trolling this, I don't like neither fanboy Sony or MS they both aggravate me. Overall lets move on and keep gaming.

This all coming from a single console owner.

The Xbox 360.

[TenkoTAiLS]

I couldn't care less who's winning or losing an invisible war. I buy a console to play games I like and have fun playing. I don't devote myself to one company and deprive myself of all the potential fun another offers. If I cared about who was first I wouldn't have brought a Dreamcast and loved every minute of playing all the awesome exclusives it had.

Damnit...thinking about that makes me want Sega back in the console market again, more competition is always good for us consumers. Plus they made some awesome original games!

[Mikefizzled]

I think they consider it being 3rd place after outselling Xbox and Gamecube but a huge figure last gen compared to being outsold by the 360 and Wii this gen

[shinrock]

all these broken records! 3RD!

[Rockstar]

"Koller doesn't say it flat-out, but it seemed to me that the PS3's exceptionally high launch price, combined with its one-year lag behind the release of the Xbox 360 were two culprits for Sony's position this generation."

Derp

[user9841288]

this gen has been about gimmicks and milking people with dlc. Thank god for third party devs.

[BitbyDeath]

Aren't they in second place now or did MS lie about being in first?

[SecretPsycho]

All i will say is this...there are more casuals then hardcore gamers out there.

[XboxInnovation]

Here is why.

They've lost direction and made some very bad decisions. And in return lost a lot of their fanbase.

Nintendo pulled Sony on a string with the whole motion control thing, all while Nintendo was creating something new with the Wii U because they knew motion controls were a fad, something Sony did not foresee.

[IQUITN4G]

It's all very well some people here saying that if Sony had released a year earlier alongside ms then it would have been all over, but Sony didn't. And thanks to ms's smart decision to launch earlier, it made things very difficult for them. ms made a good business decision is and how else could they realistically take down a titon like Sony. What came next from Sony was pretty much forced despite the Sony line stating it started when they decided

You could apply the same stupid arguments to anything and come to different conclusions but then it's not the reality of what actually happens. Microsoft forced Sony to release early because they really hadno choice at that point. This was a nightmare for them because games were not ready and the price at that point had to be high. In that sense you have to give ms credit here

People forget just how unstoppable Sony's Playstation was and it astonishes me xbox is still in the game let alone ahead of PS3- regardless of the headstart. Some people don't seem to look at reality of all this

[InTheLab]

Same dude said the PSN hack was the biggest thing for Sony to address at last year's E3. Forget the games, services, whatever. He wanted Trenton to go into an hour long speech about while Sony failed and was actually cut off by Jeff Keighley who didn't want the show derailed with BS.

This dude is the head douche at Kotaku. It's not surprising he'd ask a silly question that really has no answer. Being 3 million behind the industry's darling is no easy task....

[leogets]

end of the day sony have the better console. more mind blowing exclusives,free to play online and blue ray. i cant see for the life of me why people went for xbox. i really cant. even the controller has lun paralell thumb sticks ffs. in terms of sales these facts may be right but the facts arnt justified on the better console. otherwise the wii wouldnt even be in the list. bought an xbox with kinect. took it back and got refund. the slowest most hardest dashbord ever created. sony xmb is full of win.

[BabyTownFrolics]

god I hate n4g, you people still arguing about this, coming here must be like when those japanese soldiers were found in the jungle and they still thought world war 2 was going on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

[Seraphemz]

Give me games !!! I dont care what "position" you are in, as long as I continue to get my games !!

I dont care what place BMW is in, but I rather drive my BMW than a Ford...

[AceofStaves]

This gen has been fascinating. Every company has had its ups and downs. Nintendo regained a dominant position in the gaming marketplace. Microsoft established itself as a viable console gaming company and created a great online service. Sony overcame a horrendous launch and has provided its customers with strong exclusive content.

Each company offers unique experiences, so it's never been easier for gamers to find a console that best suits their gaming preferences.

[cliffyboy21]

they might be in 3rd place as far as consoles sold but when it comes to with console sales sonys leading nintendos sales slowed down alot

[jacksons98]

Well it doesn't help that sites like Kotaku can be bought.
The week PS3 launched "Kotaku" reported a sale price at one of the stores in Japan as Sony slashing prices on PS3 trying to imply lack of interest.
Then they would go around to stores taking pictures of no lines in the middle of nowhere acting like people in Japan had no interest.
They have been heavily biased against the PS3 even flat out lying

[nolson10]

FACT: If ps3 and 360 launched at the same time. 360 would be in last place. And btw if ps3 keeps closing the gap 360 may well end up in last place when it's all said and done. Based on their conference 360 is winding down while ps3 showed off some nice exclusives.

[BlazerManZQ8]

I think John Koller came up with a great rebuttal here: "I think, if you look back again on history we've never been first, we've never been cheapest. It's about being the best. And I think if you can build a better machine and it's going to come out a little bit later, that's better than rushing something to market that's going to run out of gas for the long term. I think, ideally, in a perfect world, you want the best machine that ships first, that's cheapest. But the number one goal is to be the best machine, and that's what we're always focused on."

Plus I like the jab he took at Microsoft. lol

[Raoh]

"you know you could have sold it cheaper and sold faster"

dumb azz...

The ps3 was already taking a $300 hit. It cost roughly $900 to make and they were selling it at $600/$500 at launch.

Does he expect a company to take a $500+ hit at manufacturing?

The wii sold at a profit at $250 but it was a gamecube with an extra calculator built in.

THe 360 was $400 but had no hdmi, no high def media player, no memory slots, no wifi, no linux and a proprietary hard drive, cheap plastic, a rushed design that came with a free RROD for everyone.

What is wrong with people? Why do they assume they understand business and adult thinking?

You know, those porches and aston martins would sell a lot faster if they priced them along side a toyota camry.

[archemides518]

release ps4 first and you will be back in first!!!! DO IT NAOW!!!

[Frankfurt]

Because they have the worst version of 90% of PS360 multiplatforms.

Because their first-party titles don't sell.

Because the PS3 doesn't have enough RAM to do party-chat or handle any real game (RDR, Skyrim, Fallout, etc).

Their biggest 1st party sells 700K in the first month, while the Killzones, Resistances, Socoms and so on are complete flops.

http://gamingeverything.com...

[trouble_bubble]

Omfg, you posted a link to say Uncharted 3 only sold 700k in the US month one NPD?! That's everything that's wrong with MS' fanbase right there.

Uncharted 3 has sold over 4 million http://www.vgchartz.com/gam... .

FFS, Yakuza 3 sold more than Crackdown 2. KZ3 sold more than Forza 4, so don't even shake that branch.

[first1NFANTRY]

I can't play sales

[Flewid638]

I don't understand. The 360 only has like a 3 million unit lead over PS3 globally.

Clearly both platforms are in high demand by consumers, and both platforms are highly profitable avenues for developers.

Pros and cons on both systems aside, I don't think anybody "lost" this console generation....and that's a good thing.

If you look at just about every gen of consoles starting with NES and Master System, there were ClEARLY defined winners and losers.

This is the first gen in 30 years where all 3 big players made out awesomely......regardless of the order.

So seriously...if you like the fragfest/brofest, then so what? There's a 360 for that. If you like the deep, cinematic experiences, then so what? There's a PS3 for that. If you like playing casual games with friends and family then so what? There's a Wii for that. And you know what? All 3 consoles still provide all of those things respectively.

Everybody won this gen.

[P_Bomb]

True.

There's never, ever been a console that sold 60+million, to be trolled so hard, so many years after launch. Kinda brings everyone down, retroactively.

Here's a quick wiki of the numbers on the systems I've been playing in my lifetime, and why I can't help but roll my eyes at the fact this dead horse of doom is still being beaten.

SonyPlayStation 2 2000
154.2 million

Nintendo DS 2004
151.52 million

NintendoGame Boy and Game Boy Color1989 and 1998
118.69 million

SonyPlayStation 1994
102.49 million

NintendoWii 2006
95.85 million

NintendoGame Boy Advance 2001
81.51 million

SonyPlayStation Portable 2004
73.9 million

MicrosoftXbox 360 2005
67.2 million

SonyPlayStation 3 2006
63.9 million

Nintendo Entertainment System 1983
61.91million

Super Nintendo Entertainment System 1990
49.10 million

SegaGenesis 1988
39 million

Nintendo 64 1996
32.93 million

Atari 2600 1977
30 million

MicrosoftXbox2001
24 million

Nintendo GameCube2001
21.74 million

Nintendo 3DS 2011
17.13 million

SegaSG-1000/Master System 1983
10–13 million

SegaGame Gear1990
11 million

SegaDreamcast 1998
10.6 million

NEC TurboGrafx-16 1987
10 million

Kinda speaks for itself, I think. People are killing eachother on here over decimal points.

[DavidBanner]

Guys Guys First of all the original article stated the following "..Correction: This article initially mis-identified North American sales figures for Wii and PS3 as worldwide sales. I've swapped in global sales. Sorry about the confusion. And thanks to reader Chris Leonardi for pointing that out."Kotaku
The article sounds great but fail to clearly state if the interview was about 3place USA market or worldwide market hummmmmmmm..

[NeoTribe]

Third place is the new first place.

[mochachino]

There's a 1% difference in market share, seriously, who cares. If people want to be this excessively pedantic, there are more working PS3s than 360 so PS3 has a larger user base.

PS3 and 360 tied this gen, which when you think of PS2s success demonstrates MSs business acumen but to say one beat the other is just fuel for a pathetic fanboy war.

[KurdGamer]

Didn't read the article. But is any of this console war sales and and stuff really relevant? Like as a gamer I enjoy the games not the NDP figures. I swear I see more arguing than gaming these days.

[jdklaffke]

I think the PS3 will continue to into the next generation for at least a year or two. The 360 and Wii likely won't sell much after their successors' release. Sony makes sure their systems have a longer life cycle than their competitors.

[OooHJohnny]

Kotaku is biased.

[omarzy]

does it really matter if sony is in third place? playstation would probably have the same games no matter if it was in 2nd, or first. these gaming sites are the biggest problem in the already very immature "console waars" debate that gets started on gaming sites daily

[Novistador]

Wow, Sony fans get really upset over this. Look the Ps3 had an awful launch. Sony dropped the ball this gen, Nintendo and MS offered more with their systems. I currently own all 3 systems, but rarely touch my ps3. "Microsoft started earlier that's why it did better" nah, the Wii came out after and topped the charts, say what you want about casual gaming but it sells. The Sony library doesn't really differ to much from MS, Nintendo really is the king of exclusive games.

[spinbot_lv1]

this article is made only for attention.In the gaming market is not important just selling hardware. What creates profit is the sale of software and accessories. this is the reason why the hardware can be sold at a loss, because with two games purchased along with the console they already are in profit.And this is the reason why Nintendo has dropped the wii.Nintendo is the first in the console race, but is the last in sofware profit because the casual gamers who bought the wii, play only wii sports and mario.

[hadouken007]

They say were in 3rd ,but I got new games on my system now and coming, u can't get anywhere else,plus some of the games there playing.

[HalfNerdHalfAmazing]

Ima start supporting Sony when they stop taking ideas from Nintendo

[nik666uk]

Microsoft releasing the 360 unfinished to get their next gen console out 1st(how many of u who defend them got rrod and had to buy another?) Nintendo tapped into the casual market targeting parents who were sick of their kids being wholed up in their room and never getting any exercise had a lot to do with it, Sony made the mistake of thinking everyone would wait for them to release PS3 and make do with playing PS2 in the meantime(although I waited)

[Tainted Gene]

unrelated but,

I just got the YLOD on my 80g MGS4 (backwards compatible) PS3 yesterday. It was a good 6 year (in 4 days) run.

I loss almost all of 320g worth of data, backed up some important saves but others,like Dead Souls saves, are copyrighted so they are gone for good.

'Sighs'

Now going to try to look for a 'red slim 320 gig'
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/...
or wait until it comes out here in the USA.

MY POINT: it seems that while Xbox had a overall flawed console at launch in terms of hardware, it seem the PS3 is not invinicble neither. I know its not the majority for most PS3 owners, but when it actually happens to you (YLOD) like it did me it makes you pause and think "wow is anything meant to last anymore".

[Dape]

You can fix it with some thermal paste and heat gun and then pass all the data you "lost" to your new Ps3, by connecting both Ps3 with an ethernet cable... Happened to me as well :(
Just thought I should let you know

[Tainted Gene]

its way pass warranty so it could not hurt to try. Thanks for the tip.

Will definitely be getting intimate with the insides of my ps3 before giving up on it.

[Dape]

Last time I checked gamers cared about games...
So why all the discussions about which console has sold more?
Did all the gamers these days become business man or what?
Looks like most of you work for one of this companies or something similar.
I love this website but I still dont know why these articles keep getting approved,since the site its called new for gamers and not news for sales representatives -_-

[Neo-Axl]

Third place? Let the games do the talking buddy.

[SpecialK]

Personally I hope that Sony doesnt change their formula too much next gen. Theres definitely a lot to learn from Microsoft on the software side with the dashboard and integration with other services, but their core value has always been premium quality, premium price.

And weve seen it throughout the generation. Whilst Microsoft has brought out some brilliant games this generation theres not been a lot of boundary pushing going on. Halo has stayed the same, as has gears. Forza had some great features but theres not been a lot of new ips or experimenting going on.

Then you look at sony pushing online player numbers with resistance and MAG, pushing storytelling with uncharted and the last of us, pushing game mechanics that are way out of the mainstream such as beyond and making them something mass market.

Games like the last of us and beyond have gotten people i know talking of buying a ps3 just for those games, whilst while we all know halo 4 will be brilliant, we also know that it wont be much different from halo reach and I'll be questioning weather it will be worth buying, or just sticking to reach

[Captain Tuttle]

Desperate Sony is great Sony. Let's face it, they've had an excellent last 4 years or so. After the hubris demonstrated at the beginning of this gen ($599 and the statement that they could sell 10 million consoles with no games, what are the fans, sheep?) I shudder to think what this gen would be like if the PS3 sold PS2 numbers. Sony's had a great gen BECAUSE of their earlier failures, not in spite of them.

[gnothe1]

i think the whole PS3 has BETTER games is debatable..i have a vita,2 Wii's 3 PS3 an 3 xbox 360's in my house an neither Wii has been on in over a year..the PS3's are mainly used for watching 3D blu rays(2 of them) an the 3rd PS3 my daugther loves LBP...the 360's get 90 of all GAMING in our house hold..i've bought all 3 uncharteds never finished either,i've bought killzone..its rubbish. i got infamouse for free when the PS3 network went down...those game just dont appeal to me..that also goes to state I HATE HALO...so this whole thing that the PS3 has the best games is simple a matter of opinion..if the PS3 exclusive games were truly better..they would show in game sales...so for me..3rd party games had given me the most fun...

[the new king 74]

Arrogance put sony in 3rd place. They said $600 wasnt enough for the ps3. Didn't advertise exclusives the way they did in the Ps2 era.They took Microsoft very lightly and didnt invest in the online component properly.

[mastershredder]

When game journalists become fixated on who "wins" E3 and who is 1st, 2nd, 3rd or what ever...they cease being journalists and represent only themselves and the opinionated and misdirected gaming brand fanatics.

[LNDCalling]

When gamers become fixated on who "wins" this gen, next gen and who is 1st, 2nd, 3rd or what ever...they cease being gamers and represent only themselves and the opinionated and misdirected gaming brand fanatics.

(c) @mastershredder 2012

Cumulatively MS haven't sold in two generations what Sony sold in their first generation (which wasn't even their most successful). So why don’t we all stop playing figures and start playing games, after all isn't that the reason we all started coming to sites like this, to find out about existing and upcoming GAMES.. not to argue about sales??

[givemeshelter]

This site gets excited about Sales. It starts fanboy wars.

[alb1899]

No matter what you say......SONY needs money so they need to sell they want it very hard but the competition is more difficult than they thought so sells matters.........when SONY was in 1 place last gen all articles you saw was about sales and how how great SONY did in that department and now SONY is in 3er place........now sales don't matter anymore.

[dubal-e]

Man there's more denial in these comments then an OJ Simpson murder trial lol

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

So whats gonna happen tp PSvita?

[MadMen]

Too Cocky
Bad Launch
Over Priced
Hardware was to proprietary
Late to the Online Market Place w\ features

Lessons Learned and should not be repeated with the PS4

[GROTSTOMPA]

There always has to be someone in 3rd place guys, who gives a shit? No one that has an open mind of their own.

Time to be Real-Gamers and push towards there being one system aside from PC-(in it's own world). Tired of Exclusives, tired of money grubbing morons like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo etc. etc. etc. (I can go on) Time to evolve into something far superior in efficiency and work together as companies/people/gamers` to something that everyone can play, instead of segregating what's meant to be played by all who loves gaming.

With all of the fanboy mentalities and morons` (same thing) who actually think exclusives are better/best way to go, things will never improve. If you're a REAL gamer, you will completely understand my mentality of wanting to play a game I want without buying 6+ different gaming devices. In our history of events in the entire world, the most insanely amazing, innovative, and WAR ENDING idea's (some good some bad) came about because we worked together as a community, & some as nations.. grow up and get with the times of CHANGE - no that's NOT an Obama quote either.

Good Game.

[rataranian]

It's a very easy formula. Show me something I want to play and I'll buy it. Me. Not what some kids want. Not what some casual cod players want. Not what fanboys want. Not what websites and youtubers want. I own ps3 and xbox360. I own more ps3 games because I'm an rpg player. You can't argue facts.

[Daiskie]

I read the whole articular and read almost all the post about this. Unfortunately I can not find data need to validate this comment fully but if Xbox 360 is only ahead by a few million units...the big question is how many of the units sold are replacement xbox's i myself have gone threw 8 xboxes and im still on my original launch PS3, as well side note my launch wii hasn't been touched in about 3 years(was a complete waste of money). I would love if they would of shown those stats cause if they subtracted those numbers how would they really compare to the sales of PS3 to xbox 360s. Cause im sure since i have worked in video game retail for 13 years now. I have sold tons of xboxes to the same people and only a handful of new ps3 to the same person. xbox360 first couple of batches were garbage and the new one is even failing left and right. while ps3 are still running...answer me that!

[turnerdc]

...meh.

*Goes back to playing OnLive*

[ChunkyLover53]

Wow, this article is so full of angry fanboys. Who really cares if your console is in last place? Play what you like to play and leave the numbers to the accountants and businessmen that actually run these companies.

The PS3 is in last place because Sony got cocky after the success they had with the PS1 and PS2. They thought people would buy a PS3 no matter the cost.

They launched the PS3 with a lackluster lineup and didn't really seem to get the whole online gaming aspect as much as Microsoft did. Its pretty clear that Sony didn't plan on the PS3 having many social settings where its online is concerned.

Sony also made a console that was hard to develop for, which means they got the ports of most third party games and in the end a lot of those games turned out worse on the PS3.

Sony forgot why the PS1 and PS2 were so good, affordability, quality third party support and decent exclusives to start a generation.

Hopefully they learned their lesson.

[givemeshelter]

Overall they sold about the same.
Which is FANTASTIC for consumers. Competition is needed.
Now the reality is, Sony has lost large amounts of Market-Share this generation and sold less units than the last generations. That's the real issue at hand.
Not so much that they are third or that they are almost at the same sales level for units as the Xbox360.
All that is pointless for Sony shareholders.
They see 60+ million consoles sold vs. 100+ million consoles sold last generation.
That's a HUGE decrease in market-share.

[sjaakiejj]

I think Sony shareholders are plenty happy. Sony doesn't make a lot of money off their consoles - it's the royalties that earns them their cash, and with titles like Call of Duty there's plenty of royalties to be received. Console sales may be lower, but game sales are higher than they were last generation, something which is sure to please their shareholders ;)

[givemeshelter]

Sony Shareholders are not happy. Have you seen some of the remarks many of them made about how Sony is performing overall...not just in console sales but EVERYTHING?
They are in financial restructure for the 5th or 6th time since the 1990's.
They had more than 70% of the market-share for console gaming the last two generations. Now they are last in that area. They collectively lost almost 30%-40% in market-share alone this generation. What shareholder would be "Happy" with that?
Shareholders are not too happy. Just read around the web:

http://www.huffingtonpost.c...

http://www.nowgamer.com/new...

"Despite $23 billion in revenue, Sony's overall loss for the quarter was $2.03 billion, $1.09 billion of which was made by the Consumer Products and Services division - which houses PlayStation.

The games division itself only turned over 9.7 per cent less revenue ($3.7 billion) than during the same period in 2010, while other divisions dropped by 42.9 per cent (TVs) and 36.2 per cent (digital imaging) year-on-year."

http://www.theregister.co.u...

http://www.theregister.co.u...

http://www.bloomberg.com/ne...

Shareholders for Sony are not happy even when their game division is losing money.

BTW. Most of those royalties for Call of Duty go to Activations. Not Sony...Like all 3rd party titles.

[sjaakiejj]

I'm talking about the royalties that Activision pays Sony to publish it on their platform. That's where the money comes from. You seem a bit confused about what the term royalties means though, as Activision collects no royalties on CoD at all, because it's their own product. Royalties are expenses paid to use a license, e.g. a license to publish a game on the Playstation 3. Some percentage of the revenue generated by that title is paid to Sony.

As for shareholders, they're not happy about Sony's TV division in particular. But they're plenty happy about Sony's game division, which is what we're discussing here, no? Note that shareholders are only concerned with revenue, not with how much of the market share the company owns. If they're able to generate higher revenue with a lower market share (which they currently are), there's no reason for the shareholder to be unhappy ;)

You also misread your own link. The Consumer Products and Services division includes the TV, Digital Imaging and Gaming Division. The major loss makers are Digital Imaging and TVs, where as the Game Division is profitable.

[EffectO]

I think they vastly overestimated Sony fanboys.

That is Sony biggest mistake and they should stop reading places like n4g,neogaf,gt...not good for company health

[Emilio_Estevez]

That was really good read