The Wii and the 360 are holding the first and second sales spots this season while the pricey PS3 is now number three with a sales decrease of 19% from the same month last year. Sales on the Wii doubled while the 360 rose 8%.
Why is the PS3 doing so poorly? The WSJ believes it’s the price, $399 for the base model, that’s keeping consumers away. I’d say it’s the dearth of compelling titles on the console as well as the perception that it’s more of expensive Blu-Ray player than a real game console. While I will note that the graphics are amazing and the gameplay exciting, there is nothing like the viral XBox Live and Halo to encourage friend-vs-friend combat online, one of the main draws on the 360. Wii, on the other hand, has family gaming sewn up. This, as we see, leaves Sony in the dust. We confirmed this last week with the initial report.
Wii sold 35 million unit since launch while 360 sold 22 million units. Sony sold 17 million, most of those on launch.
“dearth of compelling titles on the console”
Hell no… this year PS3 has better games then both Wii and XBOX 360 in terms of most highly rated games from critics… IGN also rated the PS3 as the best console for this year overall. It’s all because of PRICE! Hell I bet if Sony made a cheap PS3 for $200 like Microsoft, no doubt PS3 would be outselling the 360 just like it did before the price dropS of the 360… I mean, Microsoft drop the XBOX 360 twice in one month, the first time the PS3 was still outselling the 360, then only the second time it finally outsold the PS3.
The price certainly is a big factor. I’d agree there are plenty of compelling games on the console or coming out soon; I’d give my arm to play Valkyria Chronicles right now. And of course FFXIII is down the road…
OK Steve… put down the crack pipe and back away slowly…
Go to Metacritic.com and check the review scores for the PS3 and Xbox 360.
The 360 has 17 titles scoring 90% or higher.
The PS3 has 9.
Of those 9 only TWO are exclusive (Little Big Planet, Metal Gear Solid 4), the other 7 being either multiplatform (Rock Band, Fallout 3) or ports of 360 games (Bioshock, Oblivion.)
Jordan… I said this YEAR! More PS3 games scored higher then 360 games… yes overall there are more 360 games that scored higher but in terms of 2008, more PS3 games scored higher.
Microsoft had a year head start and the ps3 is sinking, does anyone know math?
PS3 did not lose in stickiness, those sales of the wii and 360 reflect firesale and closeout pricing for the units, so volume sure longevity both those units had to push this season because they are on the exit side of their cycle and they know it.
In other words PS3 price point in the middle of its prime and a peak arc the two other systems past prime and on a closeout arc so the stickiness is the real measure not volume sales.
For one last history lesson, the dreamscape had the same arc as wii and xbox 360 and look where that unit is compared to the PS line(1, 2)
I was going to purchase a $200 Blue-ray player and a 360 for $199 before I opted to buy a PS3 instead, which condensed all of my needs into one machine. I looked at the PS3’s price tag this way: It’s $200 for the Blue-ray player, and $199 for the video game console, the same exact price as the cheapo Blue-ray player I was going to buy plus the Xbox 360…but only minus the worries about red rings of death, etc.
The PS3 will bounce back. It won’t dominate this generation like the PS2 did with the last, but it will more than hold its own when all is said and done.
I pushed off buying the PS3 for like 1.5 years and considering that I am a gamer – that’s a huge amount of time. My main issue was the price. Now that I have one, I can say that the PS3 has got plenty of steam to go. Case in point, I played Fracture (regrettably) on both systems – though both versions appeared identical – the PS3’s frame rate seemed much higher. Plus live features are free.
The Wii is clearly aimed at non gamers – this is not to say that there are not some gaming gems – zelda, metroid, mario kart (to name a few) – but the vast majority of others are just toned down versions from real gaming platforms or just utter garbage.
The Xbox 360 – though a staple in the gaming community is long in the tooth. It is about time for an overhaul – fix the damn production quality already. CPU and GFX board upgrades are needed. Xbox Live should be free – better customer support is needed.