Ask your local pan-handling, barrel-wearing former CEO and he'll tell you: A million isn't what it used to be. But even though 1,000,000 with nearly any fiscal symbol in front of it is nowhere the fortune it was just 12 months ago, it still seems a pretty impressive figure when you're talking about console leads: A million is exactly how far Microsoft EMEA VP Chris Lewis says the 360 is ahead of the PS3 in Europe.
But it's not too late, European Sony fans. With the very idea of representative currency crumbling around you, there's never been a better time to go buy an extra PS3 (or a million) and turn this tide. Besides, think of your friends' envy when you can escape from the cacophony of post-financial-apocalypse neo-orphans crying for scurvy-fighting citrus fruits in your house ... made of PlayStations!
Reader Comments (158)
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 4:49PM Wickerman22 said
Haha, whatever. Just like Lair, and MGS4, and Little Big Planet will change everything. There's always some game that "will change everything" but never seems to.
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 4:50PM (Unverified) said
What like MGS4/Home/LittleBigPlanet/Resistance 2/Dual Shock 3/GT5:P was meant to change everything?
I'm just as big a PlayStation fan as the next person, but i can't see Killzone 2 making 1 million console hardware sales.
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I'm just as big a PlayStation fan as the next person, but i can't see Killzone 2 making 1 million console hardware sales.
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 4:51PM (Unverified) said
Matt you're comment was no better than rohan's. Shit works both ways in the fanboy world.
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 4:51PM Troy Powers said
Probably not, but it's gonna be an AWESOME game!
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 4:55PM (Unverified) said
No game will change everything, but a significant price drop might.
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:47PM (Unverified) said
yeah because MGS4 didnt give the ps3 a massive sales boost
/sarcasm
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/sarcasm
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 6:10PM Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell said
Duke,
Let's not only single him out for being a fanboy. There are a good 15 additional commenters that also need to be called out. Most importantly are Kobe & Snowblind.
Reply
Let's not only single him out for being a fanboy. There are a good 15 additional commenters that also need to be called out. Most importantly are Kobe & Snowblind.
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 6:27PM Solid Jackal said
lol i just posted this to see how many ppl will start a flame war, sum ppl are reasonable while others are out there
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Posted: Feb 17th 2009 3:22AM (Unverified) said
??? Are you people stupid? The 360 had a 18month headstart in Europe and the UK.
For the PS3 to be level with the 360 in mainland Europe sales, and only 1m behind in UK sales, is REALLY bad news for Microsoft, depsite how the spin it.
Do they have schools in America?
Reply
For the PS3 to be level with the 360 in mainland Europe sales, and only 1m behind in UK sales, is REALLY bad news for Microsoft, depsite how the spin it.
Do they have schools in America?
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 4:46PM (Unverified) said
Wow...most fanboy piece of news I've ever seen...
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 4:49PM (Unverified) said
Yeah, the last paragraph kind of killed it for me.
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:28PM gatorboi352 said
Man, Microsoft is really stretching for a piece of good news these days.
We may be third place! But dammit if we aint leadin' by a million in the Europes!!
Reply
We may be third place! But dammit if we aint leadin' by a million in the Europes!!
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 6:30PM Troy Powers said
Doesn't matter. A large percentage of Microsoft's 28 mil are replacements for units that red ringed. They're selling people crap and then bragging when they go out and replace it...with more of the same crap. :D
Hilarity!
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Hilarity!
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 7:05PM NutMan said
Wait a second. You HONESTLY believe that over half of Xbox 360s sold were replacements? What? That is so retarded. I've never seen such blatant fanboy stupidity here. One would possibly say that the majority were replacements if A. You have a three year warranty(and they extend your standard warranty by a year after each repair) and B. Every multi-platform game sells more on the 360. Period. If the majority are replacements then why do 360 games sell more than Ps3 games? Are the 14 million 360 owners buying multiple copies of each game?
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 7:37PM Troy Powers said
Yes. That's exactly what I said. I said that over half of the 360s sold were replacements. No, I didn't say "a larger percentage." I said over half. You get an A in reading and comprehension.
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 7:44PM Alphathon said
Over half? Not by a long shot (if it were over half then it would have to be from people who replaced thiers twice, which is just stupid), but did he actually say over half? No, just a large percentage. Is it likelly that the 360s entire lead is down to red ring replacements? No. Is it possible that their current lead in Europe is down to red ring replacements? Yes. I am not saying that is how it is, but it is certainly possible.
Why do games generally sell better on the 360? Well that depends a great deal on the game. A lot of it is down to its OVERALL lead (mainly down to North America, as in Europe it has been in third for most of the "war" so far. I'm not sure about Japan, but I think it is similar to Europe) so there are more people available to buy it. Another reason though is LIVE. A large amount of people who have both will choose the 360 version above the PS3 due to LIVE being undoubtedly better than the PSN (other than the fee). There is another factor though. Often multi-platform games are written for the 360 and then ported to the PS3, often not particularly well. For example any game based on the Unreal engine will look better on the 360 because the PS3 version of the engine is crippled (thanks Epic...at least the next unreal engine might actually be on playstation - it wont be on PC...but thats another topic entirelly). This seems to be a reversing trend whowever.
Regardless, this article seems rather too fanboyish to me...especially from someone who also posts PS3 news as well. Also, wheres the link to the source of this info? Oh well Google will have to do.
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Why do games generally sell better on the 360? Well that depends a great deal on the game. A lot of it is down to its OVERALL lead (mainly down to North America, as in Europe it has been in third for most of the "war" so far. I'm not sure about Japan, but I think it is similar to Europe) so there are more people available to buy it. Another reason though is LIVE. A large amount of people who have both will choose the 360 version above the PS3 due to LIVE being undoubtedly better than the PSN (other than the fee). There is another factor though. Often multi-platform games are written for the 360 and then ported to the PS3, often not particularly well. For example any game based on the Unreal engine will look better on the 360 because the PS3 version of the engine is crippled (thanks Epic...at least the next unreal engine might actually be on playstation - it wont be on PC...but thats another topic entirelly). This seems to be a reversing trend whowever.
Regardless, this article seems rather too fanboyish to me...especially from someone who also posts PS3 news as well. Also, wheres the link to the source of this info? Oh well Google will have to do.
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 4:48PM (Unverified) said
Even if it is true, should you brag about a 1m lead when you had a 16 month head start at a much cheaper price with more games?
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 4:59PM (Unverified) said
Someone here told me that you get horny every time you see a Killzone 2 video.
Is it true?
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Is it true?
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:09PM Dark Archon PSN Archonik XBL Dar said
If so, why don't you take a seat over there?
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:29PM (Unverified) said
Is it something to be bragging about when last gen your competitor had outsold 5:1 in Europe, and was expected to repeat? Considering the 360 has been written off in Europe by analysts and fans alike every year since the PS3 came out, maintaining a 1million unit lead is an accomplishment.
Every time Microsoft releases a brag stat like this everyone's down their throats, but once Sony releases something, good or bad, everyone's falling over themselves to rationalize how god this actually is for them.
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Every time Microsoft releases a brag stat like this everyone's down their throats, but once Sony releases something, good or bad, everyone's falling over themselves to rationalize how god this actually is for them.
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:29PM (Unverified) said
Well, PS3 had a massive userbase; superior hardware and a bunch of killer apps. Resistance 2,MGS4,LBP and Home each moved about bazzilion units each.
I'm pretty sure that balances out the 16-month headstart.
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I'm pretty sure that balances out the 16-month headstart.
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:54PM (Unverified) said
anyone that uses the word "bazillion" loses all credibility
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:57PM (Unverified) said
OH NOES! NOT MAH PRECIOUS CREDS!
CALL THE FBI! THIS IS SRS BUSNESS!
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CALL THE FBI! THIS IS SRS BUSNESS!
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 6:20PM Troy Powers said
No, the news here is, Microsoft sold millions of Europeans faulty hardware, then when it broke, it got those same millions of people to go back and buy the SAME piece of faulty hardware again!
Really, the RRoD was the best thing that ever happened to M$ and their sales figures.
Reply
Really, the RRoD was the best thing that ever happened to M$ and their sales figures.
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 7:12PM (Unverified) said
So no one in Europe has ever used their 3 year warranty? Failed logic failed
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 7:41PM Troy Powers said
And no one in Europe had their 360 break for one of the many reasons that weren't covered in the extended warranty. No one got fed up with Microsoft sending them refurbs that just broke again, so just said "screw it" and went out and bought a new arcade system. Nobody had their system break outside of the warranty and said, "Man, this sucks but I've already got this huge library, and all my xbox live friends. Might as well buy another one." No, THAT'S what never happened.
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Posted: Feb 17th 2009 11:16AM (Unverified) said
Everyone knows that there are suckers out there who bought another 360 when they had to send their original in for repairs (so they had something to play while waiting) but I hope that number is very low; certainly not more than half of all sold. Still, it sets a very bad precedent.
Either way, I would've thought with the head start they had, MS would be farther ahead in sales.
What's more significant is the recent marketing push by MS. It's all very textbook: they know they're getting close to saturating their own market (why we saw them trying to get some of Nintendo's casual market at last E3) so they want to give another big sales push while they can still call themselves king. That's why you see them all over lately. However, I still don't think the PS3 will surpass sales without a price drop to get it out of luxury goods market (which is a smaller market that sony is probably close to saturating as well): with their cheaper and efficient chips they plan to start using this year, that might happen.
It's pretty clear ps2 won the last gen sales crown and wii has this gen but I think it will be a while before we can know who's this gen's runner up.
I really hope you're all shareholders otherwise, you care way too much. Do you really want the top console? Look at the ps2 & wii: both inundated with shovelware. It's like the Twilight Zone episode with Jack Klugman where he becomes the best Pool Player to ever live, it got pretty tedious for him because he had to play some boring games.
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Either way, I would've thought with the head start they had, MS would be farther ahead in sales.
What's more significant is the recent marketing push by MS. It's all very textbook: they know they're getting close to saturating their own market (why we saw them trying to get some of Nintendo's casual market at last E3) so they want to give another big sales push while they can still call themselves king. That's why you see them all over lately. However, I still don't think the PS3 will surpass sales without a price drop to get it out of luxury goods market (which is a smaller market that sony is probably close to saturating as well): with their cheaper and efficient chips they plan to start using this year, that might happen.
It's pretty clear ps2 won the last gen sales crown and wii has this gen but I think it will be a while before we can know who's this gen's runner up.
I really hope you're all shareholders otherwise, you care way too much. Do you really want the top console? Look at the ps2 & wii: both inundated with shovelware. It's like the Twilight Zone episode with Jack Klugman where he becomes the best Pool Player to ever live, it got pretty tedious for him because he had to play some boring games.
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:35PM (Unverified) said
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 4:54PM (Unverified) said
You wonder - MS had about a 2-year period before the PS3 games started arriving, $200 cheaper and there was so much negative news about the PS3. If they can barely keep ahead of the PS3 despite this, how will they fare when the PS3 turns up with a much better lineup, as seems to be the case in 2009 at least, and if / when the PS3 cuts to an affordable 299$
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:34PM apokalipze2 said
The only good game ps3 has coming this year is god of war 3. See what I did there dumb ass :)
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Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:35PM Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell said
Snowblind -
It is very subjective but on paper the PS3 has the vastly superior lineup of exclusives when compared to the Wii & 360. I would even say that on paper the Wii has the second best lineup of exclusives in 2009. Since you yourself said "Both the 360 AND the Wii easily have an equally strong line up this year" how about you give me some examples in relation to the 360 specifically. Also, saying "Just because the PS3 finally had a decent lineup, doesn't instantly make it better than everything else" is a perfect example of over the top fanboy hyperbole and rhetoric. Implying that the PS3 didn't have a decent lineup until 2009 is just plain false even if it is subjective in nature.
The truth is that you got your feelings hurt and went all defensive because of what Samik said. I'm staying away from this thread for the most part because I can only imagine the festival of stupid that will ensue between PS3 & 360 owners. I'll just say that both systems have good games and end it at that.
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It is very subjective but on paper the PS3 has the vastly superior lineup of exclusives when compared to the Wii & 360. I would even say that on paper the Wii has the second best lineup of exclusives in 2009. Since you yourself said "Both the 360 AND the Wii easily have an equally strong line up this year" how about you give me some examples in relation to the 360 specifically. Also, saying "Just because the PS3 finally had a decent lineup, doesn't instantly make it better than everything else" is a perfect example of over the top fanboy hyperbole and rhetoric. Implying that the PS3 didn't have a decent lineup until 2009 is just plain false even if it is subjective in nature.
The truth is that you got your feelings hurt and went all defensive because of what Samik said. I'm staying away from this thread for the most part because I can only imagine the festival of stupid that will ensue between PS3 & 360 owners. I'll just say that both systems have good games and end it at that.
Posted: Feb 16th 2009 5:50PM (Unverified) said
"It is very subjective but on paper the PS3 has the vastly superior lineup of exclusives when compared to the Wii & 360"
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
I guess that the Wii & 360 don't have any exclusive games this year huh?
What the fuck are they gonna show at E3 if they don't have any exclusives?
Oh my god! Its over! The PS3 won the console war!
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LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
I guess that the Wii & 360 don't have any exclusive games this year huh?
What the fuck are they gonna show at E3 if they don't have any exclusives?
Oh my god! Its over! The PS3 won the console war!
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