Moving the Goal Post

Another month, another NDP numbers release. Another year, another 'Reason #90210 why the PS3 is failing' assertion. So I've been asking this question to known fanatically 360 supporters or PS3/Sony nay sayers; how is the PS3 failing? And why is this goal post constantly moving?

"Oh it only sold 215K units vs 360K units for the 360". Yes it did, but it's still selling. Via that logic the Wii's ~615K units would mean the 360 is in serious trouble. I don't think Sony really has huge monthly quotas on sales as people like to believe they do. They met that 11 million goal years past and even the lamest made charts will track the progress of the PS3 and the 360 at the same rate.

"Killzone 2 didn't do so well, ‘wait for March!’" Yes we did wait for march and in that time 1 million units were sold in approximately 45 days, 1/3 of the sales happening in the two days of February. That aside, I don't think anyone in the company put a demand on sales counts in the first place, and it seems that the sales rates are satisfying SCEE and Guerrilla Games. As an antic dote I was in EB the other day and 3 used copies of Killzone 2 were on the shelf as compared to the full rack greeting me with used copies of Gears of War 2 and Fable 2 + whatever was on the shelves.

Lets be logistically honest; at what line is the PS3 failing? From what I can tell; games are still selling and the system is still selling. Another aspect to look at which nay sayers are willing to dismiss is that Sony is also selling the PSP and PS2. "Irrelevant!" they cry, however ignorant that is. Fact is that they are selling two consoles and a hand held. Sure not in great numbers, but every PS2 is profit and I don't think the PSP is costing much.

To add insult to injury, over all in the JP and EU markets sales are going. Typically I've only seen the PS3's weekly sales and it roughly manages 18K a week for a monthly total of about ~72K a month. It’s noting stellar, but still selling. Personally I believe Japan is going through a bit of console fatigue unlike US consumers. The Wii has pulled a lot of people's money and the PS2 is still widely used and the DSL/DSi and PSP are pulling spending in different directions. Only a solid PS3 with PS2 capacity will finish the PS2 sales.

If you want my opinion on the state of things with the PS3 vs 360 sales arguments, it's possible that the 360 is up due to replacements only verifiable via people reporting that or possible upgrades. But still, until the PS3 stops selling period, then it's not dying. You want to see a console die, look to the Dreamcast. Until then, game on irregardless of your console of choice.

One other observation I have which applies to all aspects of gaming; the hype train. My observation on hype trains is that they always derail at some point. I don't think you can look back at a hype train and not say that it didn't derail. It's just a fact of the hype train; strong and might, yet quickest to be self defeating. That's it and take care.

[Coolrah]

Plus people have to factor in the fact that the ps3 cost more than the 360 so that fact that its selling over 200k units in a country in a recession in it self is doing very well....Way I look at it....360 is dead in japan and it shows....While ps3 is dominating in japan and winning abit in EU while 360 is only winning in the USA way I see it Ps3 is slowly winning.

[lh_swe]

If both consoles are selling and lots of people are playing games on their respective consoles then the company has succeded.

[socomnick]

Winning in Japan means nothing. They are such a small market now that they will have almost no impact in the big picture.

[lh_swe]

I think Japan has more than 1.3 million ps3 sold which is a HUGE! number in comparison to the size of the country + there is basically no shipping costs since Japan is so small. Additionally the more Japanese consumers that arise the more credability it has in Asian territories which will have an affect on that market.

[TFalcon9494]

obviously the ps3 is going to have a huge fanbase in Japan because DEET DEE DEE its manufactured there. If we just based the pole on US sales I think there would be a clear winner, not to mention the name of the winner --- 360 ---.

F*CK THE PS3, AMEN

[iceice123]

Not worth a read, very boring and uninformative.

[heyheyhey]

the console that's winning in my eyes is the console that has the best line-up of games and features, that can provide the consumer with the best hassle-free experience

to me that's the PS3... and for the ostensibly most expensive console, with the least advertising... it's selling just fine

take March for example... 360 got 100k lead on the PS3 in the US

now take away the numbers the PS3 gained in Japan during that month, and that 100k becomes something like 50k

in Europe, there are no available figures... but the 360 typically wins in the UK, while the PS3 takes over the rest of Europe... which typically results in a slight victory for the PS3.. pushing that 50k gap even further down

conclusion: 360 isn't "killing" anything, and the price cut card is in Sony's hands atm

[Chubear]

way better and more interesting than most articles posted from any gaming site on this site.

[Spike47]

I heard from somebody that you were a wii fan. LOL, you don't see them everyday.

[xabmol]

...from playing too many great EXCLUSIVE games. xD

[TheColbertinator]

When EA and Activision announce they are cutting off support for the PS3,then I'll consider it truly dying.Until then,everything will go as planned.

[DeviateFish]

Been watching a certain show lately?

[Catdeerduck]

your such a droid