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Are Gamestop Employees Pushing Xbox 360 Consoles Over The Playstation 3?

Torrence Davis of The Bitbag writes, "We've heard claims that Gamestop employees are pushing the Xbox 360 over the Playstation 3. If this is true, it's not only unfair to Sony, but also consumers who are looking for an open minded opinion on what game system to buy their teenagers this holiday. We called 5 Gamestop stores all over the country, including one in New Zealand, to find out if the claims were true."
tordavis - contributor
Published: 448 days 11 hours ago | Podcast | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | Wii
 
 

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sonarus - 448 days 11 hours ago
1 -
It depends on which store you go to. But its certainly not as bad as it was before. Most employees are pretty neutral now
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jwatt - 448 days 11 hours ago
1.1 -
Yea it depends on where your at, the gamestop I got my ps3 from they seemd cool about me getting a ps3. Then there was another gamestop where one guy was pro Sony.
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hiphopgamer - 448 days 11 hours ago
1.2 -
I feel you sonarus but truth be told there's a ton of fanboys working at these stores and even though that's not fair at the end of the day consumers are always gonna eventually get what they really want and looking at the sales lately it seems 360 and that affordable price is doing the trick
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MazzingerZ - 448 days 10 hours ago
1.3 -
Here in Sweden it's like that. at my local EB they have all this cases to pre-order Gears 2, Fable 2, etc on shelves that cover a whole wall while there's not a single one for Resistance 2, SOCOM, LittleBigPlanet, etc...the PS3 section is actually behind a big shelf holding used games for the Xbox and PS2, so when you pass by the only you see it's X360.

BUT I don't see any similar stuff for the Wii either...the thing is what many people don't realize is that Gamestop runs a businesss and like any other business, the product that is not selling as well as expected needs a little push.

PS3 is on the top 5 in the videogames sections at most of the largest retailers (check the links below), so the console doesn't need any help to sell, it sells itself thanks to the value you get for your buck, no HW reliabilty problems and great games coming this fall, both LBP and MSG4 will be Game of the year winners at different gaming sites.

http://www.webhallen.com/av...

http://www.discshop.se/shop...
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macalatus - 448 days 10 hours ago
1.4 -
I agree Sonarus. I myself have never personally met a pro-360 Gamestop employee even though I always see them everywhere, like school and at my work place. As a matter of fact, I have the hunch feeling that half of the Gamestop employees at my area seem to be pro-PS3 or even "closet" PS3 fanboys!
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uxo22 - 448 days 10 hours ago
1.5 - The missing ingredient
One of the things that was missing from their unscientific Gamestop survey was they never asked for these folks professional opinions. I only listened to the first 3 interviews but when they were asking the clerks, it appeared that they were asking their personal opinions and not their professional opinions.

I have dealt with a lot of sales people over the years and once a person feel comfortable with you they tend to give you their Personal opinions and personal preferences not their professional opinions. Not saying they the opinion that they are giving you are correct or not. If the person is a fanboy for either system, their "personal opinion" will be slanted to the system that they support.

I also don't thinks it's fair to Gamestop to ask their employees for a personal opinion and then report your findings as the ideology of the corporation.

Either way, if was interesting but I don't think the investigators truly found what they were looking for. Additionally at times I felt that to get the answers that they wanted, they sometime appeared to be leading the GS employee towards the answer.
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PimpHandStrong - 448 days 9 hours ago
1.6 - this is truth
i went to a gamespot b4 the launch of GTA and they had a group of ppl selling 360's!

I was sitting right next to a lady that had no clue and she was sold everything! Every extra that comes on the 360 was sold to this lady! I didnt say anything because i could care less. If the consumer has no clue then that consumer will be taken advantage of! Not just in buying a game system!

but its true for sure

i had a sales pitch put my way b4 i told the dude i have my own brain and i know what i want! That dude still works there and gives me a snear when i come in
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Bubble Buddy - 448 days 7 hours ago
1.7 -
From the way I see it, the employees are pushing, sometimes even lying, to whichever console people want to buy.
1.8 Megatron08 | 448 days 6 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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pumpkinpunker - 448 days 6 hours ago
1.9 - lol
whatever. i was at a gamestop a couple months ago and an employee was talking trash about the X360 to another employee. it's pretty obvious that from most of their articles and previews that bitbag is a sony fanboy site just coming up with more excuses for why more people want to buy an X360.
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solidt12 - 448 days 6 hours ago
1.10 - memories.......
remember when I first got my PS3 and would go into Gamestop to reserve a game and got funny looks when I reserved a game on PS3, they reserved me the 360 game at least three times and I had to correct them. Thing are better know though. PS3 360 Wii owner.
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mikeslemonade - 448 days 5 hours ago
1.11 -
360 is a more realistic purchase at it's price point and most employees can't even afford the PS3. The PS3 has more potential and by next year the 360 owners will be waiting for games and the PS3 owners will be playing many top anticipated exclusive games.
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shovelbum - 448 days 5 hours ago
1.12 -
I have noticed that if I buy a used PS3 game then they will ask if I already have it on the 360. I also hear them commenting on the xbox live services more often than the PSN. If a game is big on multiplayer such as COD4, they tend to push the 360. I only shop there when they do the 3 for 2 deals so I could be a little off base.
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mikeslemonade - 448 days 4 hours ago
1.13 -
Alright im done listening to this podcast episode. The questions you ask are geared towards the 360's strengths and the average person would know something more about there "son" who wants the system. And the proof is in the pudding when before the price drop the PS3 was outselling the 360 in America. So when people call in they are going to say "well i'm familiar with the PS2" and such. Everyone has a PS2 it has the largest install base everywhere. So when an average customer calls in they usually are familiar with games. The ones who don't know anything will buy the Wii because they seen it in the news and the games aren't mature rated.
1.14 Spydiggity | 447 days 21 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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CrazyMystical - 447 days 18 hours ago
1.15 - well here in NYc
everywhere i go i see these G SackS employees keep pushing the the 360 by degrading the PS3, im not much of a talker but i have to say something & the thing is ur going to be out #ed most the time, when they talk BS they always say the the 360 graphics are better, the games play better, the online is way better, & they have better games than the PlayStation. but the two worst ones i ever herd has to be when people start to show interest in the PS3 the dude said "for what? all the games only on the PS3 will come to the 360 & blu-ray will come xbox 360 in time for X-mas 08"

F.Y.E, BEST BUY, CC, K-Mart, ToysR'US, & other game retailers "FOR THE WIN" excluding EB
1.16 godofthunder10 | 447 days 17 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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KobeT24 - 448 days 11 hours ago
2 -
Well of course. As of right now the Xbox 360 is the best console. Better online and more library of games, cheaper, more users, you name it.

PS3 will become the king of gaming but not until 09, when god of war 3, killzone 2, infamous, and other games are released. So of course gamestop employees will push the 360, because right now its the hottest console. call back in 09 when the ps3's big guns are released and the online is at par with xbox live.
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pumpkinpunker - 448 days 6 hours ago
2.1 - if that ever happens
don't hold your breathe. the 360 has a bunch of potential AAA titles coming out in 2009 also (Huxley, Mass Effect 2, Halo Wars, Bungie's Halo project, Alan Wake, etc)

Both of the companies have "big guns" coming out next year. we'll just have to wait and see which guns are bigger.
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poet215 - 448 days 6 hours ago
2.2 - I reluctantly admit the sad truth....
I've owned a 60 gig PS3 since launch day. I had an 360 Core on it's launch day, I sold the core later that same day. I still enjoy Xbox 1 & PS2, but I'm willing to say that I'm definitely pro playstation. But, recently after walking into a gamestop.....I realized that 360 got this round. There are just so many more games available for the 360. I mean, PS3 has games, but no where near the amount of 360. For 360 only to have a 1 year head start, the disparity is just way too big. That's what makes me wonder, is there some sort of conspiracy or something? Why would developers [who've made millions off of playstation's brand over the last 13 years] just scale back their support & make microsoft priority #1? Why does it seem that the powers that be are forcing 360 into that #1 slot? I'm not mad at microsoft for striving to be the leader, but I am upset at Sony for [in my opinion] being too arrogant over their position as industry leader. Hardware issues and all, Sony must not let another new microsoft machine hit store shelves a year ahead of their own.
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BiggDaddy311 - 448 days 2 hours ago
2.3 -
As a PS3 owner I have to admit that when I go into a Gamestop, The 360 section of games is twice as big currently. But looking at the release dates PS3 is getting 60+ games by Christmas so something tells me that wall will be gettin much bigger after the holiday.

But developers are now pretty even on lead development platforms, I mean you have PoP, Ghostbusters, Mirror's Edge, and earlier we saw Burnout paradise. So we are seeing a shift there exept where they are using the Unreal engine or classic PC developers like Valve and the Far Cry 2 team.
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SickNick85 - 448 days 11 hours ago
3 -
in italy it's true...every gamestop say that the x360 has all the exclusive...
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pumpkinpunker - 448 days 6 hours ago
3.1 - so what
maybe it's true. If I go to Best Buy and ask who makes the best bluray player they will probably tell me Sony. this stuff happens all the time at different stores and it's perfectly ethical and fair.

Sony Defense Force should cry more crocodile tears.
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Omega4 - 448 days 11 hours ago
4 -
Well im guessing its a lot easier to sell a 360

All they need to say is its cheap and has Halo and Gears, and since both those games are widely known by the general public its an easy sell

The PS3 on the other hand doesnt have any well known games on it and its expensive
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cmrbe - 448 days 11 hours ago
4.1 - MGS4
a 08 GOTY contender and most likely winner is exclusive on the PS3. COD4 is also on the PS3 as well as most other well know multiplat.

Edit: Omega. Fable 1 sold about 1.2 million with a rating of 85 on metacritic and you say its more well know than MGS?. I am sorry to say this but you are either a kid or a retard. Know your sh*t before you post.
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Omega4 - 448 days 11 hours ago
4.2 -
But MGS4 isnt widely known by the general public like Halo and Gears are, infact i think even Fable is more well known than metal gear and they are ALL exclusive and NOT multiplatform like COD4
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Jinxstar - 448 days 11 hours ago
4.3 -
It may be easier to sell but they don't work off commision for consoles so what does that matter?

Edit: Look Omega I don't post here often but I see your one sided views a lot browsing so I know it's pretty useless arguing with you. however you need to sell to each person. If a father walks in and says I want to know about your consoles. I would talk about online experience and how many think it's better on XBL. I would talk about pricing and Pay to play at the same time. I would talk about bluRay and how a PS3 might be more fun for a father if he has an HD TV. I would talk about Exclusives for each console and explain what they are about. When I walked into gamestop to get my PS3 about a year and a half ago the guy looked at me all funny and said "Why are you getting this 600$ hunk of junk" I said cause my brother has one and I want to play with him online. That was my main reason. This year when MGS4 came out I saw the same employee waiting at the front of the line for his new 80gig... Really it's all in each person to see what value every system has.

So after things like that I do think that many are biased. However once you let them know your knowledgable they tend to shut up a lot more.
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juuken - 448 days 11 hours ago
4.4 -
...Are you serious? *blinks*
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Cellypower - 448 days 11 hours ago
4.5 -
Fable more known then medal gear? U gots to be joking Omega.
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FaSeCeX - 448 days 10 hours ago
4.6 - haha...
plz gimme some of that stuff u smoking omega...i wanna be just as retarded!! :)
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bouncybullet - 448 days 7 hours ago
4.7 -
MGS4 is only well know by gamers.

If you guys think every PS3 has a copy of MGS4 next to it you are insanely delusional.

When Mary Lane walks into GS to buy little John a new videogame machine for xmas, she won't be walking out with a $400 Ps3 w/MGS4.

She'll walk out with a $200 xbox and a copy of Fable 2 and banjo.

It's $460. (ps3 w/1 game)

against $300. (xbox w/2 games.)

More games. better price.

And when she asks if the more expensive machine means better games..
the saleperson will say: "Same graphics."

Little John doesn't need a blu-ray player.

LBP will not sell Mary on ps3 either.
She'll see beanie babies and pass right away.
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theEnemy - 448 days 6 hours ago
4.8 - bouncybullet
Little John and Mary Lane might not be interested on a PS3, but Daddy Jorge does, You know, the one that is giving money to Mary Lane. And he's a huge fan of MGS.

And he's thinking of only giving 50% of what he is giving to Mary Lane this month just to buy a PS3 and it's games.
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Nintendo Rep - 448 days 6 hours ago
4.9 - theEnemy
Little John and Mary Lane might not be interested on a PS3, but Daddy Jorge doesn't want a 360 either. What Daddy Jorge wants is to keep his money to satisfy his chronic cocaine addiction. When Mary Lane asks the money for the 360, Daddy Jorge will raise his hand and smack her in the jaw and cuss her out for uttering such words.
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ajeben809 - 447 days 22 hours ago
4.10 - lol @ the 3 posts above
watthehell haha
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BiggDaddy311 - 447 days 14 hours ago
4.11 -
Yes little johnny can have is 360 for his bedroom but Daddy wants the PS3 for his 60 inch HDTV. After he went to every store in the country that sells tvs, then notices the blu-ray demo running, even in his local blockbuster, he says yeah that is what I want. Doesn't that 360 break all the time?
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juuken - 448 days 11 hours ago
5 -
...I wouldn't be surprised.
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Nintendo Rep - 448 days 6 hours ago
5.1 -
I'd wouldn't be surprised either cause their either pushing the 360 or the Wii seeing how the PS3 is so hard to sell it's not worth the effort. I mean, aside from the hardware failures the 360 is a solid machine. The Wii is for casual crowd, and the 360 is for the hardcore, what does that leave for the PS3? It leaves N4G members vying for a good enough game to sweep them away from posting on the internet and take up most of their time.

The price tag on the PS3 is the biggest thing holding the PS3 back. The 80GB PS3 = $399.99
There are still 20GB 360s on shelves selling at $199, add in say Halo 3 ($39,99), Gears of War ($34,99), and 13 months of Live ($49,99) = $323.97

If you ask me, that's a hella good bargain in contrast in prices. Disagree if you want but looking at my wallet, the less the better and both systems are practically the same.

I won't mention the Wii here because the topic is about 360 and PS3, Wii is selling well without anyone pushing it. NPD shows.
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cmrbe - 448 days 11 hours ago
6 - Why did these guys call
Gamestop to ask. Its not like not like Gamestop would say they are biased lol!
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Jinxstar - 448 days 11 hours ago
7 -
Are Gamestop Employees Pushing Xbox 360 Consoles Over The Playstation 3?

Bottomline

Yes.
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uxo22 - 448 days 8 hours ago
7.1 - @jinxstar
Honestly, did you draw that conclusion from the audio on this post or is this just your personal opinion. Because I didn't get that from listening to the audio.

I also think you're wrong about gamestop employees pushing the 360 over the PS3. I really think it depends on who you ask. If you ask a PS3 fan he'll push you toward the PS3. And vice versa for the 360.
I honestly believe that if "YOU" worked at gamestop you would push customers toward the PS3 over the 360. Because I believe that's the system you like so why do you expect them to be any different. do you really expect a bunch of 18-21 year olds to maintain a perfessional opinion (And show no bias) when dealing with clueless customers in a video game store?

If you do, I have some swamp land in the trunk of my car I'd like to sell you.

@newschool below:

What's wrong with telling the "True" pros and cons of each system and letting the customer decide for themselves. Don't PUSH anything, just truthfully answer their questions and "ONLY" give your personal opinion when they ask you of your personal opinion. Also let them know if you personally favor one system over another. This way they can judge your character and determine if they want to follow your recommendation.
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Jinxstar - 448 days 8 hours ago
7.2 -
To be 100% honest I would really try to make them happy. Say someone came in and said "My kid wants to play games with his friends" I would say "Well what system do his friends have?" and that would be the biggest factor. I however would never push the Arcade model as I feel it really is a waste.

I owned a 360 bro. I had an elite and realized a little while ago that everything I want to play is on PC and PS3 so I sold it and now have a sweet rig and I'm happy... I have no ill will or anything but really if it were me I would always try to sell to a "Family" as opposed to an "Individual" if possible. I feel people need to get the most with their money and on a personal level I believe the PS3 does offer the better family experience mainly due to Blu... However if all that was trivial I would never trash talk the 360 if someone was dead set on it. I might advise them if they were thinking about the Arcade before they bought it because I feel it is just a way for MS to nickle and dime people after they are already invested... So yeah I am opinionated and honestly it's not because I dislike the 360 I really don't care bro. If people like it then rock on but really I see no reason to own it. Left 4 dead is coming to PC, Gears 2 will eventually with added content... Fable who knows but I'm sure it will too and I am in no rush and if I miss out on that one game I really still feel my investment in a better PC was a much better choice for my personal desires in gaming... I also really don't feel the 360 is future proof enough at all... Just from my views and experience in computers and everything else... I feel we will probably be nearing the end of the 720's life cycle before the PS3 is over... however that is my opinion and I could be dead wrong... I would share that with people but would never put it in a way like "The 360 will be obsolete in a year" I would never say that but I would say "As a 25 year gaming vet I feel the 360 isn't future proof but I have been wrong before"

Truth is I don't think anyone can be 100% unbiased all the time but I really would try to get a gamer the best rig for their needs. A college kid who wants to play halo 3 andmaybe gears 2 and thats it. Arcade all the way. anything more a better version of the 360... A dad who might be interested in having HD Dark Knight for his nice flat screen as well as a sweet Xmas gift for his kid he can hijack. PS3...
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uxo22 - 448 days 5 hours ago
7.3 - @jinx
Thanks Jinx, I here ya bro.
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NewSchoolGamer - 448 days 11 hours ago
8 - Omega4
It shouldn't be hard for Gamestop employees to sell a Ps3 to a customer telling from the fact that the Ps3 has outsold the xbox360 for a large amount of time this year.

Not to mention they can still push multiplatform games and LittleBigPlanet.
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joeynox - 448 days 11 hours ago
9 -
if they are its probably a sales # thing.Since its cheaper its easier to sell.Thats why my pops bought 1 for my nephew, because it was aroun 200 " arcade"
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LightningPS3 - 448 days 11 hours ago
9.1 - no sh*t??!!
DUHHHHHHH, Like I have said 1 million times and will keep saying 1 million more.

PS3 needs a price cut or they will be in trouble. 360 is getting huge boosts since the price cuts, sales have probably doubled if not more.

This is a price war, I

don't understand why the PS3 fans deny it.
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NipGrip - 448 days 8 hours ago
9.2 - Lightning..
Because price is not the only factor, despite you claiming it 1 million times. Quality is also a factor and having Gears and Halo (both games featuring big buys with big guns) as your only BIG exclusives and a serious hardware failure rate goes very much against the 360 in the light of the PS3 with no major failures, Bluray, built in Wireless, FREE online, and more TRUE exclusives you have to own a PS3 to play. Spin it however pleases you, you can say cost means something 2 billion times, but cost didn't help the GameCube. Know why? The GameCube didn't have anything on the PS2 in terms of features and quality games.
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LightningPS3 - 448 days 11 hours ago
10 - Well...
The bottom line is, so far the vibe is they both have about the same games and PS3 costs more. That makes the common person a fan of XBOX 360.

It's common people that just find 360 the smarter buy and that includes gamestop employees who know more about games than say... Walmart employees.

I don't blame Gamestop employees, I blame Sony.

Gamestop employees aren't some cult or anything guys, just regular people and some of them gamers themselves.

PS3 has to win them over fairly. You can't be making excuses and crying about evil gamestop employees.

****They turned evil for some unknown reason, it must be something in the air or something.
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cmrbe - 448 days 10 hours ago
10.1 - So are you suggesting
that they should push the consoles that common people see as the better value?. What if a gamer dosen't like most exclusive games on the x360?.
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DaDarkKnight - 448 days 9 hours ago
10.2 -
I don't know why everyone here is complaining about ps3 sells and how they need to drop the price. If sony was worried they would do it but the thing is they are making money from all there different divisions to help them out lol You remember a couple of years ago it was the ps2 that bailed out their TV electronics division when it was not doing that good. Then when the ps3 was released it was the spider-man 3 movie that helped them. Now this year from the looks of it their psp is really taking off especially in Japan and don't forget the system that all you people keep saying they need to quit on is still selling lol. The ps3 is a 10 year system thats the reason they crammed all that stuff into it because soon the xbox will need to upgrade their system to the new formats believe it or not not and guess who will have the cheapest and largest install base out of the xbox and sony then.

I don't think sony was really ready to released the system in 06 anyway, If you look at the games that were released the when the system launched they were nothing but demos. Lol you remember the system did not even have wallpapers or any of the cool options we have now lol. The system is evolving. The damn thing was playing second generation xbox games in its first year. If you look at metal gear, Uncharted, heavy rain, Lbp, Killzone 2, MAg, Wipeout sony is now starting to get a handle on the hardware and we are going to see changes. Now we are going to get less of those game that people say that could be made on the xbox becasue to me those earlier games were made to be played on the xbox, that is why they had all the framerate issues and bugs because they were use to designing on the box.

To me the only reason they released it was because of the disc format war. If they did not release it when they did we all would be watching hd-dvd instead of blu-ray and that was their main concern. Now they are going to make money from that this year because the disc format war is over and man thoughs movies look good in high-def lol
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Karum - 448 days 9 hours ago
10.3 - @ Lightning
360 is the smarter buy if it caters more to what you're looking for with LIVE and a huge library of games.

If the features of the PS3 along with it's games and free online play cater more to your liking then getting a 360 would be fairly retarded and buying a PS3 would be the smart buy in that case

It all depends on the person and it differs from person to person.

Finally, of course Sony will greatly benefit when a price cut does eventually come around nobody could disagree there but I mean look at it from a business point of view so far this year. The PS3 (Sony) will see it's main competition as the 360, which it's been outselling for the vast majority of this year in the US (I say the US since so many people seem to think US = the world so we'll humour that theme for now). The sales figures aren't telling Sony that the console NEEDS a price cut so it won't come just yet.

When the sales figures start to go below Sony's own expectations and as the console becomes cheaper to manufacture then that is when they will cut the price. Just because you think the PS3 is much too expensive doesn't mean the console needs a price cut. I mean of course it would be nice as undoubtedly the user base would grow a bit more but the user base is steadily growing as it is at the current price point.
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