PS3 and Xbox 360 ‘neck and neck’ in Europe
By Mike Ferro
Microsoft recently sent out a press release stating that the Xbox 360 has reached the 6 million mark in Europe. Europe is a major territory that has been a huge concern for Microsoft. Jeff Bell, head of marketing for Microsoft’s game business, said, “Europe for us is still the swing.”
Many analysts in the past have indicated that Sony has a larger presence in Europe than Microsoft. Thus, it would be much harder for Microsoft to penetrate that market. Some of this was evident in the recent GC 2008, where Microsoft’s presence was almost non-existent in Europe’s largest gaming convention.
SCEE boss David Reeves, revealed earlier this year that the PS3 outsold the Xbox 360 in Europe at around the 5 million mark. Considering that the PS3 launched 16 months after the Xbox 360, not many can argue this was quite a feat for Sony. According to gameindustry.biz, Microsoft is planning a huge advertisement campaign over in Europe to keep the momentum going.
Currently, almost three months away from the end of the year, the Xbox 360 has been ‘neck and neck’ with the PS3 in terms of sales in Europe. Since there is no equivalent for NPD in Europe, many have relied on manufacturer’s press releases.
At this time, a rough estimate from VGChartz indicate a very close race. By no means do we feel VGChartz give a 100% accurate unit count, however they have been very close in giving you a general picture. As you can see VGChartz has been spot on with the Xbox 360 sales count in Europe to date.
The chart indicates that the PS3 is roughly 300k ahead of the Xbox 360 in Europe currently. The PS3 is approximately two to three months ahead in monthly sales over in Europe, but one thing is for sure, the sales are very close. Also, the Wii has clearly dominated the two over in Europe, just like here in the US and in Japan.
We expect that Sony will send out a press release soon countering Microsoft’s statement and reveal the official PS3 sales count for Europe. We will keep you updated.
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Tips N4G
September 22nd, 2008
shouldnt you add in the Title??… “Wii kicking a$$… still”
September 23rd, 2008
Yeah Microsoft has always lie to themselves and its to all the costumers got. Xbox 360 this year has the over hype Gears of War but next year the list of must have so called exclusives is blank. Sony has so many exclusives for this yer next even for 2010.
September 23rd, 2008
Oh my…. i think i’m getting a clue….. oh yes, it’s a raging clue…..
September 23rd, 2008
Sony just having nothing. That’s why they talk about games to be released in 2010 and the awesome “potential” of the Pray Station 3.
September 23rd, 2008
Aww bless, he’s all blustered. Ivan_PSP, where does this vitriol for the xbox360 come from? did it push you too hard in the play ground, or spit in your lunch at some point?
Are you angry that Sony dropped the ball on the PS3 and now have to share the top spot with 2 other consoles? Then you really need to become more imaginative in your muck slinging. How about these for some ideas:
1) totally baseless lies: the 360 tortures small animals - Peta up in arms
2) extreme & outdated exagerations: the 360 processor runs so hot, it actually distorts space & time by creating small black holes
3) Microsoft conspiracies: MS are actually using the 360 to infiltrate every home and take control of all their electronic devices, in a bid for world domination
That should be enough to get you started. I mean if you are going to spew your usual nonsense, at least make it more entertaining for others to read.
Keep up the good work in undermining PS3’s credability.
September 23rd, 2008
Rimmer, is your brain the size of a peanut? I have a ps3 & xbox 360 and tbh if you own a 360 there is no point getting a ps3! it offers nothing more in gaming ways.. ps3 games are lame! MGS what a bore, RFOM? lmao at that game! best games i have played on ps3 are COD4, rsv2, grid..
September 23rd, 2008
madefade, you seem to have missed the point of my comment. I was mocking Ivan-PSP’s personal crusade to trash the 360 at every turn.
As for multiple ownership, considering you can pick a HDD-less arcade for the cost of 3 new games, it seems a no brainer to pick up a 360, even if you own the PS3, so that you can play the exclusive titles on the 360.
September 23rd, 2008
Pretty embarrassing for Microsoft, that 18month lead has totally evaporated in Europe.
Clearly Europeans have more cash, and can identify a quality product more than their trailer-park American cousins..
September 23rd, 2008
Why is that embarrassing for Microsoft? They managed to errode Sony’s previous vast lead with the PS2 down to parity in sales. Pretty remarkable if you ask me. Personally I didn’t expect them to get anywhere near PS3 sales, let alone be able to surpass them. Clearly our american cousins are better at spotting good value.
September 23rd, 2008
Mark, the only thing I can clearly identify is the biggest horses ass on the internet. What does the PS3 have?
1) A blu Ray player (format will be extinct in a couple of years)
2) In game Graphics (can’t keep up with a machine released a 18 months before)
3) Internet (a service that is worth what you pay for it - nothing).
4) price (you get to pay more for a machine that does what better exactly . . . ?
Boy, you Europeans sure are Smart.
September 23rd, 2008
Ivan paid way too much for his PS3 and is now feeling a little silly.
September 23rd, 2008
LOL Us wii guys really enjoy reading the bickering going back and forth between you PS3 and 360 guys/gals.
It’s very funny.
September 23rd, 2008
Listen to Vince, a true American. Well i guess you’re American as you think you’re right about everything and seem to defend M$ as if you’re engaged to Bill Gates. Enjoy you’re 360, people like you deserve them.
September 23rd, 2008
Dan,
Way to make a sweeping generalization about Americans. We should just become a nation of flagellants and be done with it, go from city to city in Europe beating ourselves with a cat of nine tales, would that appease you?
September 23rd, 2008
@Vince
You should not have incited Dan to retaliate, you started that with your sarcasm.
September 23rd, 2008
Confirmed: Xbox is a poorly made, over priced piece o’ crap. And don’t even get me started on the Wii…. It’s Wii-tarted.
September 23rd, 2008
Grey Fox: we can argue about the poorly made, I think the problem is more to do with poor thermal design, but how can you call £169 overpriced? Constantly repeating nonsense does not make it anymore true.
September 23rd, 2008
Maylon, It’s all in good fun.
Cheers!
September 23rd, 2008
@Vince
Yeah, I forgot this is the internet, got carried away.
September 23rd, 2008
By the way, all apologies Vince.
September 23rd, 2008
vgchartz getting anything right isn’t by its own doing. it merely uses existing data and stakes a claim to it. poor site with highly unreliable software numbers outside of the top ten and shot-in-the-dark projections that are changed far too often to be useful to us.
September 23rd, 2008
Norm,
Oddly enough, the one thing most 360 or PS3 fanboys agree on is how terrible the Wii is at being a gaming console. Fortunately for Nintendo, it’s amazing at being a cheap toy.
-Arvis
September 23rd, 2008
fanboys make me sick, ps3 4ever
September 23rd, 2008
@Rimmer
£169 is overpriced, if
a) you have to buy £130 HDD to make it work with many titles.
b) you have to pay £50 a year to play online
c) you have to send it away every 4 months to get fixed.
d) you need ear defenders to use it.
e) You have to play it in the dark so nobody notices you were dumb enough to buy a 360, rather than the more fun Wii, and better PS3.
September 23rd, 2008
@Mark
a) you don’t have to buy a HDD. All Xbox games are required to work without one. PS3 on the other hand seems to be averaging 5GB per game in HDD space because of the slow blu-ray.
b) I got my Xbox Live Gold from Amazon for $2.99 a month. I spend more on soda in a day!
c) I have never had to send my Xbox in for repairs, but it’s good to know I have a 3 year warranty on it. Only 1 year for PS3.
d) If you have a decent stereo system, and your Mom lets you turn it up, the noise is a non-issue.
e) I like my Xbox 360. Every update adds more value to it (Netflix coming at the end of October!). Someday the PS3 interface may catch up, and when it’s affordable I’ll get one for the exclusives.
I did borrow one for a couple of weeks. Once I played through Ratchet & Clank, and got pwned in Warhawk (terrible matchmaking), I watched a couple of blu-rays on it. I don’t hate the PS3, but I just see more value currently in the Xbox 360.
September 23rd, 2008
Xbox 360 is pretty much dead.
September 23rd, 2008
If it’s dead, how come it’s beating the PS3? I shudder to think of the flogging that it’s going to hand out when this month’s NPD data comes in.
September 23rd, 2008
one month sony has been out selling xbox every month. fanboy xbox is dying sony is catching to the xbox unit sold faster than microsoft thought.
September 23rd, 2008
umm……360 and PS3 ARENT NECK TO NECK IN EUROPE!…..its another fucking lie from M$….my friend says 360 is STILL DOING BAD….why dont you get actual facts from actual people that actually live in European countries that are actually mature to tell the truth instead of a stupid no life that keeps dreaming…….you think Japan doesnt like M$, well the UK HATES M$
September 23rd, 2008
Matt, well if your friend says so then who are we to argue. Your friend probably has much better access to sales data than Microsoft or Sony. My friend says you’re an idiot.
Ivan, MS won at least 3 months this year (maybe 4, i am not really keeping score). So that’s 3 from 8, at the end of this month it will be 4 from 9. October signals the start of the christmas period, and with no price drop for PS3, I can see 360 willing October, November and December also. So that would make MS winning 7 from 12.
September 23rd, 2008
Has anybody taken into consideration that Sony count the whole of Africa, Russia and if I remember right, the middle east as being a part of Europe? Where as MS only count Europe as well…Europe?
Why do people get so upset about which console they bought? Do you all defend your fridges or microwaves so fiercely?
I’d be happiest if each console ended this generation with 33% of the market. Its better for us consumers and will lead to better products next generation.
September 24th, 2008
i live in europe (netherlands)and the 360 is really doing better Ik know 23 people with a 360 and only 5 with the playstation
I’ve seen the dutch sale numbers the wii kickes asses but the 360 isn’t doing bad at all. and the ps3 is eating shit!
September 24th, 2008
@Ned:
a) you do have to buy a HDD. There are several games that need one, just to play, and many more that need one to play online and/or download DLC.
b) We are talking Europe, it’s £50 a year for Xbox Live in the UK. That’s the price of 1 1/2 PS3 games EVERY SINGLE YEAR. The PS3 offers the exact same service for free.
c) Lucky you. However it’s only a matter of time. Microsoft have admitted all 360 are defective, and if yours has yet to fail, then it’s living on borrowed time. The PS3 and Wii only need 1yr warranties because they are very reliable. Give me reliable hardware with 1yr warranty over unreliable junk with a limited 3yr warranty any day of the week.
d) LOL, noisy console, turn the stereo up… Explain how that works for movies…
e)That’s nice, however i’m pretty sure most people will admit, the PS3 updates add far more value. In the 18months since launch, they have caught up with 360’s features using firmware updates. In some areas they have even surpassed them (PS3 media streaming and media support, along with video chatting is far better on PS3).
September 24th, 2008
@Mark: The £169 I mentioned is for the 60gb version of the Xbox premium which is more than enough storage capacity. I think most people would argue that Sony get anywhere near the quality of online service that the paid for xbox offers. Plus bear in mind that you only need the paid for account to play games online. Everything else can be freely accessed. As for the price, it is more like £35 a year (play.com, argos to name but a few), so less than 1 new PS3 (or 360) game release. The failure rate is largely a thing of the past, especially with the new processors, and MS have been man enough to stand by their problems and offer an unprecedented 3year warranty. As for the PS3 firmware updates, what you are basically saying is that it has taken nearly 2 years for the console to actually reach the 360 standard - wow, what progress! This seems to explain why every argument for the PS3 seems to always refer to some future event. I’d rather have the 360 and the Wii, which work NOW instead of the PS3 which may dork SOON.
@Noddy - I’m with you on that. A even market share would keep everyone more honest.
@Matt: where do you get the idea from that the UK hates the 360? I personally don’t even know anone who owns a PS3 here, but plenty who love their Wii and 360 (although that could be because my circle of friends is over the age of 21)
September 24th, 2008
@Rimmer:
You are sounding more and more like a paid Microsoft shill with every post.
1/ The CPU in the latest Xboxes are the same as they have always been: 90nm sames are the GPU. The PS3 is 65nm for both (hence less power consumption, much less noise, less heat). It’s also the reason even the latest units are failure prone. Anyone claiming otherwise is clearly on Microsofts wages..
2/ £35 a year is still alot, when PS3 offers exactly the same functionality, and in places more. Infact, you can’t actually do everything, if you want Netflix, you have to pay Netfix subs AND gold subs. The PS3 movie service of course is subscription free, so you only pay for what you download.
3/ 18months does not equal 2 years you dumbass. How can it be a bad thing, that in those short 18months, PS3 now matches and exceeds the 360’s functionality (for free), and has totally eroded the sales lead it had. I would be pretty ashamed if I were Microsoft to have lost so much in such a short time here is Europe.
September 24th, 2008
@ Mark: the 360 have been using 65nm CPU’s since the Fall of last year and should now be using a 65nm GPU too. This has quietened them down a little bit, but the main problem with the 360 vs the PS3 is that the 360’s heat management system was apparantly designed by 4 year olds. And the PS3 is hardly whisper quiete, so how about climbing back down off that high horse.
When it comes to £35 for the service, that can hardly be described as expensive - £3 a month? your console costs more in electricity costs than that.
As for 18 months - this applies to the european release only. The US & Japan release has been out for 23months, so I am fully aware that 18months equals 1.5 years. Either way, there is no need to use get personal. That the PS3 has shown so many improvements since launch is only down to pressure to equal the 360 in Software terms. Which to me shows that the 360 is the best thing that happened to the PS3. Otherwise there would be little incentive for Sony to improve.
September 24th, 2008
Rimmer,
How much does it cost to add bluetooth & wifi to an xbox? The 2 best features and the ones I use the most? And enjoy your warranty, I prefer to have my console in my home and usable at all times. Who wants to get a good new game and wait 1 - 2 months to play it while you wait for the broken xbox to come back? MS’s failure rate is simply unacceptable, not just for this but for any consumer electronics product. Would you buy a television when 1/3 of that model break? I wouldn’t give an F what the warranty on that is. And the arcade version of xbox? I’d rather have a Wii.
September 24th, 2008
@ Harry Sacks AND Rimmer …..umm my friend is 28 and he is a PHD student…..hes fucking smart….and he has no time to be immature with the 360 and Wii and lie all the time…..he knows by fact that UK loves Sony 100 times better…..i just owned both of you
September 24th, 2008
Matt:
Nice you definitely own those jealous little FANBOYS I’m selling my Gaybox 180 Xbots Crapbox 360……… Harry Sacks AND Rimmer are just jealous just ignored them like everyone else.
September 24th, 2008
Well now what do we have here….Caught in the act and no gold to pay your fine? I’m confiscating your stolen goods. Now it’s off to jail with ya!…………..Then pay with your blood!
You should’ve paid the fine….Remember the Emperor!!….You elves are all the same, all flesh and no fury…..What’s the matter, getting tired?…..
September 25th, 2008
Sorry Matt, I just asked my friend who’s a black belt at keeping it real, and he still thinks you’re an idiot.
September 25th, 2008
Matt, has it not dawned on you that your PHD friend might be winding you up? I mean think about it - someone who is smart enough to aquire a PHD has time to humour someone who has trouble stringing a simple sentance together without gramatical errors, there has got to be an alterior motiv at play here. And OWNED? with a response like that? You have to be kidding. If anything, it backfired on you.
Oh, and Ivan_PSP: please spend a little more time on wording your responses, that last one was utter gibberish.
Pfreak - I don’t see the need for Blutooth tbh. The wireless controllers on the 360 and Wii work just fine as they are. WIFI could be useful, but it is never as reliable as a wired connection. However, I agree, they should include WIFI as part of the Elite to warrant the extra cost. Being black and having 60gb more HDD space is not enough to ask for £50 more. As for reliability, Microsoft certainly F*** up big time with the initial release, essentially turning consumers into product testers. However from the little information that is available, this is pretty much a thing of the past, brininging them much closer to the 3% failiure rate of the Wii and the PS3. However they certainly deserve a loss of sales as a result of this, because it will stop them from penny pinching the next time. I hope the entire industry learns from this massive mistake.
September 25th, 2008
The only thing in my neck is sony’s penis.
September 25th, 2008
Another poser bitter Xbox 360 owner because Xbox 360 sucks lol PS3 is gonna kil u.
September 25th, 2008
hahahahahah u guys are retarded pretty much all of u man screw the ps3 screw the 360 screw the wii hardcore gamer 4 life baby i dont know why you guys get so overworked for a stupid sale wow guys most of u guys are imature and act like fukin 8yo cant u guys just chill out 4 one article ive been going in blorge for a while now and in most article all i see is xbox suks or ps3 suks or wii is wii-tarded seriously wtf guys cant u guys enjoy your system since when was it so important to worry about the plate you eating instead of the food wtf guys grow up im 17 and i cant beleive im the mature one here one thing im gonna say if u dont own all three system you will never experience true gaming experience
September 25th, 2008
hardcoregamer:
Go straight back to the cave you obviously crawled out from you are mentally retarded just shut the hell up. No one cares how young (minor) you are just to stop fantasizing about gaming little less… PS3 is all you need…
September 25th, 2008
I called someone mentally retarded! Back onto the short bus for me, packing my cocks in my lunch box as we speak!