More PS3 sell than Xbox 360 first five months of 2008 |
With Toshiba dropping support for the HD-DVD format, the PS3 is picking up sales steam as a Blu-ray player.
via Bloomberg:
The PlayStation 3 outsold the Xbox 360 in the U.S. in the first five months of 2008 after trailing Microsoft’s console in 2007. New exclusive games, such as “Metal Gear Solid 4,” and the rise of Sony’s Blu-ray as the dominant high-definition DVD player may enable PlayStation 3 to hold onto its lead.
One has to wonder just how much of an impact that has had on beating the Xbox 360 sales numbers at the start of 2008?
I’ve never seen the logic in purchasing a standalone Blu-ray player versus buying a PS3. The prices are about the same and with the ability to update firmware in the PS3 it’s a no brainer. What kind of ruthless salesperson tells an uninformed customer to buy a standalone Blu-ray player?
The PS3 improved sales are not all about Blu-ray of course, noticeable improvements have been made on the Sony gaming front. HOME still isn’t here, but several high quality games have been released plus PS3 customers received token achievement system support in the form of trophies with 2.41 for free last week. I still haven’t bagged any trophies yet, but hope to be able to change that soon.
Microsoft isn’t standing around completely flat-footed though, they are dumping the Xbox with 20GB hard drive at $299 and introducing a new standard 60GB version at $349. The Xbox Elite with 120GB sells for $449 and if you’ve got the dough, that’s the one to get. There hundreds of Xbox Arcade games, not to mention movies and TV shows; you’ll want the extra hard drive space. Sony’s Playstation Network still doesn’t hold up to Xbox Live. I realize it’s pay vs. free, which is a debate in itself, but why can’t I play great PS3 games like Super Stardust Co-op across the network with another player? When Sony answers this call, the real gamer competition will be on.
I wrote last year that I felt this coming holiday season would be the first time we’d have a true competition between the game systems. In speaking of who will be in second place that makes sense (I don’t see Microsoft or Sony unseating the Wii this coming holiday season). That comment assumed that the PS3 would have HOME which is due out (in beta, finally) this Fall. Microsoft will release their Fall update to the dashboard.
Meanwhile, the Nintendo Wii continues to kick both systems in the hiney sales-wise. Nintendo’s network is still a joke compared to Xbox Live and less so to the Playstation Store, but nobody seems to care. The Wii has catapulted Nintendo back into the game console manufacturer driver’s seat. So much for the one year lead Microsoft had with the Xbox 360. And I have yet to see Wii Fit in any store in stock locally. Step up the production already, Nintendo!
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I run price comparison and stock locator sites for both the PS3 and Xbox 360 in the UK. Although Xbox sales seem to have picked up recently, for the past 6 months I’ve seen PS3 sales beat Xbox 360 sales 2 to 1. The death of HD DVD and the rise of BluRay is really helping to boost PS3 sales.
The demise of HD DVD was a big blow for Microsoft. I’d expect them to come back with something special this Xmas, they’re not the type of company to go down without a fight.
Comment by Darren — July 16, 2008 @ 1:52 am PST
Ack. Too much technology, my brain cannot keep up! But now I know where to come to ask my questions. My son has a PSP and a PS2. He is saving up to buy a used PS3. I guess he plans to sell the PS2, but I am not certain he’ll get any money for it. I buy him games for his PC (most of which aren’t even compatible with his Vista….grrrrr) and for his PSP, but the PS2 is at his Nana’s house. He’s got a whole plan in place, bless his 9 y-o heart. I just want to make sure he’s making the right choice with the PS3!
Comment by UptakeInOH — July 21, 2008 @ 11:11 am PST
Microsoft should really of put a HD-DVD drive in the XBox as standard. Thing may have been much different now. Maybe price cutting is the only way now for MS to regain pace on Sony. The only problem with making the xbox too ‘cheap’ is that it may look inferior to consumers against a much more expensive PS3.
Comment by Mark Jones — September 9, 2008 @ 4:49 pm PST
But they still would of added a hd dvd player into the xbox 360 but now HD dvds are dead, its all about blue ray so more people know this and choose the ps3.
Comment by Elliott — June 10, 2009 @ 4:23 pm PST
I dont think you can compare the Xbox and PS3 to the Wii as it isnt aimed at the hardcore gamers out there.
The xbox 360, although less reliable, (we are on our second one) is considerably cheaper, has a great number of good games available and the paid xbox live service is relatively inexpensive. The PS3 looks better and the blu ray player is nothing less than what you’d expect from such a good looking machine but it still has a lot of catching up to do regarding available games.
Comment by Karen — June 11, 2009 @ 6:43 am PST