PS3 sales on par with Xbox 360 due to better lineup and price drop
The PS3 and the Xbox 360 has been battling it out in 2008 for the top spot. The results are in and it looks like both systems sold/shipped approximately 10.8 million for the entire year. The reason why both systems were in dead heat for 2008 is mainly due to two factors: better games and price drop.
The PS3 had a stellar year with arguably the best game lineup of 2008. This was the PS3’s saving grace, despite its recession-unfriendly price. Games like Metal Gear Solid 4 actually moved the PS3s last year. According to NPD, even in the US the month after the game was released the PS3 sold more than doubled the sales of the Xbox 360.
I have been a dual system owner since the launch of the PS3. However, I had some friends that were Xbox 360 only owners who purchased the PS3 when Metal Gear Solid 4 came out. I would have to say if the PS3 did not have a great lineup the console would have sold much less than the Xbox 360.
On the other hand, the Xbox 360 sold as many as the PS3 because of the massive price drop near the end of the year. The system did have some great games such as Gears of War 2, but the price drop ultimately closed the gap the PS3 created earlier in the year.
Not only did the Xbox 360 and PS3 sell the same amount, the best console exclusives games also sold around the same amount with MGS4 and Gears of War 2 mingling around the 5 million mark.
Will the PS3 and Xbox 360 sell around the same amount in 2009? I predict that the PS3 will start off strong with a solid middle while the Xbox 360 finishes up strong again. It will be an interesting year to see how things will play out.
Related Posts:
59 Responses to “PS3 sales on par with Xbox 360 due to better lineup and price drop”
Leave a Reply:
You must be logged in to post a comment. Don't have an account? Register today!
January 30th, 2009
Nice article. I thought it would be someting like that.
January 30th, 2009
The past 6 months or so has been an Xbox whitewash, and I can’t see that changing. But keep hoping Mike…
January 30th, 2009
yeah ps3 4 life bitches kinda like there free online haha!!!
January 30th, 2009
I think 2009 will be the year when Sony finally pulls ahead. Sony has an amazing exclusive lineup coupled with a priced drop. The price point has been the only thing keeping the 360 alive at this point and Halo Wars and Alan Wake look like utter shit.
January 30th, 2009
Unfortunately for Sony, they are still 8 million behind, so I don’t see them pulling ahead this year unless they do something very drastic (like put full BC back in, drop $100 from the PS3 MSRP, and discontinue PS2)… even then it is a stretch to say PS3 will pull ahead of 360 in total sales in less than a year… monthly/annual sales is more of a possibility.
January 30th, 2009
Yes but Gears was only dropped in November so there is plenty of room for growth Mike.
January 30th, 2009
Where do you get this crap from when it has been stated that Year over Year 360 did better then last year and the PS3 Year over Year sales were lower then last years. Was that only for the christmas season or the whole year?
January 30th, 2009
CAD where have you been?
360 now has an 8 million unit lead on the PS3 worldwide, with 28 million 360s and 20 million PS3s
360 – 3 years – 9.33 for each year
PS3 – 2 Years – 10 for each year
January 30th, 2009
i’m back….. couldn’t resist..
sony reported their ps3 sales are down by 10% from last year…..
i thought the gamers would “just wait”-ing for the ps3’s price drops….
sad ps3 fanboys… the farther into the generation they go, the less the ps3 sells….
wow…some great strategy there…. lmao…
January 30th, 2009
The killer point was made a littlw hile back.
Even if PS3 sales doubled (which is not going to happen) it would take until 2012 for the PS3 numbers to catch XBox 360.
Unfortunately for the PS3’s prospects the XBox pricecuts and XBox’s profitability mean that they can match or exceed every coming PS3 move.
There’s no way XBox sales numbers are going to fall behind PS3 sales now.
Simple as that.
January 30th, 2009
Kev, PS3 sales were down 10% only for Nov and Dec not the whole year. of 2008. There was a spike in 2007 with the price drop that year.
January 30th, 2009
People talk like 8 million is such a huge gap. last gen.
PS2= 140 Million
xbox= 24 million
GC= 21 million
Gamecube and xbox were out for five years with those numbers! The numbers the OVERPRICED PS3 got in 2 years.
So do you think Devs really care about 8 million unit diffrence? They made multi plaform games last gen didn’t they?
January 30th, 2009
The PS3 will surpass the 360’s 3 year mark of consoles sold. The PS3 has been consistently selling more units per year than the 360. The 360 is ahead, only due to the one year head start.
January 30th, 2009
Thank you juice for putting it into perspective.
Its the same old story with the xbots….
look we have more consoles sold…..yay
look we have more games…..yay
I guess a year head start with no competition can work wonders…*rolls eyes*
The much more expensive console is matching yours month to month.
January 30th, 2009
It is a good point phranctoast and Barnabe Jones. I guess there is at least two different perspectives, one being yours, and another which looks at it from a “race” perspective per say. That being if a race starts, and there are 3 competitors, 1 starts at the sound of the gun (360) while the other two are left standing, 1 of those two sprinted way ahead (Wii), while one is matching the pace of the one in second (360), but still behind by a significant margin. Even if it increases it’s pace, it still may not catch up. The kicker will be if they can all stay in for the “ten year” marathon. Sony has already stated they will, not sure about Microsoft, and Wii… well, it might not really matter to them at this point.
When looking at it from a gamer’s perspective however, one thing that should really matter is if one of these consoles will leave any time soon leaving you holding the baggage. I don’t see that happening with any one of them for at least a couple of years. The other thing that should matter is if you have enough games to keep you satisfied on your console of choice. In this aspect, PS3 and 360 both have more than enough games to keep a gamer busy at this point (though 360 may have almost twice as many, PS3 is releasing more and support doesn’t seem to be drying up completely just yet), and Wii… well, I guess that depends on if you like kids games (not exactly my cup of tea, though the VC is pretty cool).
Regardless, plenty of games for everybody this year. Bragging rights for top selling console strangely goes to the one with the least amount of good games (no thanks, but it still has quite a few), second and third is still a toss up for another few years at least.
January 30th, 2009
I’m not Anti MS but anyone who buys a 360 is retarded and probably goes to bed each night praying their xbox doesn’t die on them the next day.
I think when the PS3 price drops it will outsell the 360 by more then 2 times. The PS2 people are sitting on their cash waiting for a drop in price.
So it wont be 2012 before it catches the 360.
And Jones is right you Fanboys are in denial over the fact that the 360 has been on the market 1 year longer and the REAL comparison shows the PS3 ahead overall.
Also the US sales means nothing. They buy 360s and Wiis because most of them will be bankrupt this year. (Not that that’s a good thing because I like the US and wish them well.)
January 30th, 2009
ncaissie:
“anyone who buys a 360 is retarded and probably goes to bed each night praying their xbox doesn’t die on them the next day.”
Nope and nope.
Try and be sensible about this.
Those with a mk1 Xenon XBox were the ones to suffer most.
By now all those that were going to fail probably have failed.
Subsequent Falcon (there were 3 versions of the Falcon, the last made in 2008 is very reliable) and now the new Jasper XBox units have a much much lower fail rate.
Play guessing games and twiddle with numbers all you like, the facts are that PS3 is well and truly in 3rd and last place with absolutely no sign of that changing.
January 30th, 2009
“I’m not Anti MS but anyone who buys a 360 is retarded and probably goes to bed each night praying their xbox doesn’t die on them the next day.”
Okay… so it’s safe to say that you are anti-360.
Considering you have believed what Sony has said up to now, why would you disbelieve them when they emphatically deny dropping the price anytime soon?
“So it won’t be 2012 before it catches 360.”
seem to mean that it needs to “catch” 360… so how is anybody in denial about overall sales right now? The PS3 has definitely caught up to annual sales of the 360, and that’s great, but like you said, unless it increases sales even more (by 2 times as much as it is doing now – you really believe that will happen this year?) it will stay behind overall.
Also, I think worldwide sales is still pretty telling… but doesn’t really mean much as long as both still have enough to attract third party development and have good games for as long as it takes for the next gen to come out (and they both do). If that’s in two years I’m all for it, especially if the next gen has full bc.
January 30th, 2009
why…. WHYYYYYY!!!
why must it always be about sales??
if the PS3 NEVER catches the 360 in sales… would that be so awfull?? how much did the original xbox make?? exactly… they still had enough to make another one… I hope that Sony not making a billion in profits effects their next console or their in house devs… but as long as they come up with good games and a good console (whenever that is)…
Im fine with it… you guys can take that balance sheet and keep it… just gimme the games…
January 30th, 2009
The Wii – First place with no upcoming triple A titles in sight.
Sony – third (technically) – has a massive line up of triple A titles for 2009 and more down the road.
360 – Alan Wake & Halo Wars…. HAHAHAHAHA!
January 30th, 2009
darkwhitehair,
Agreed. Sales “doesn’t really mean much as long as both still have enough to attract third party development and have good games”.
January 30th, 2009
Man i wish they wouldn’t release sales numbers so we could all shut the fuck up and move on.
January 30th, 2009
Barnabe Jones,
Maybe it would be best to wait until they come out. Do you really despise the idea of these two games so much?
January 30th, 2009
CARLL!! you agree with me… THAT MEANS YOURE A PS3 FANBOY!!! I KNEW IT!!!
Barnabe… dont discount Halo… Halo wars and Halo recon will probably sell more than MGS 4… at this point… if Bungie sold shrink wrapped crap in a box… it will still sell millions… I hope bungie makes something for the PS3… that would be cool
also… Id say being in second to last place or last place is better for a company… look at Ninty from the SNES days… look at Sony from PS2… when you win… you get cocky.. when you lose… you work harder to get better…
give me my Sly cooper bitch…
January 30th, 2009
How the hell are PS3 sales meant to catch the XBox up when XBox sales accelerated from Sept 08 onwards and PS3 sales fell year on year.
dwh –
Hard lines.
It’s a thread about sales.
Go find another one more suited to you if you don;t like it.
January 30th, 2009
“I hope that Sony not making a billion in profits affects their next console or their in house devs… but as long as they come up with good games and a good console (whenever that is)…”
What the fuck?
How are Sony going to come up with the money to invest in games and consoles if they’re losing money?
January 30th, 2009
lock_down,
You do know it isn’t just sony losing money, infact Microsoft will almost certainly lose more money this year, their games division will be profitable, but the company as a whole will lose more money than sony meaning less investment for games.
January 30th, 2009
DWH: I want a sly game also.
Even if they put the old one on the PSN I wuold buy it.
January 30th, 2009
the same way microsoft did…
January 30th, 2009
ncaissie,
Same here very good games the Sly one’s are
January 30th, 2009
didnt sly cooper come out on the ps2 first???
January 30th, 2009
darkwhitehair
yea it did
January 30th, 2009
yep sly cooper came out on ps2 first
January 30th, 2009
lock_down
The difference here is that whilst Microsoft spent (invested? lost? whatever way you want to see it) about $5 billion on the entire XBox venture they make close to that (as a whole group) every 3 months.
In Sony’s case the entire group has just lost $1 billion + (the first entire group loss in 14yrs).
Previously people just talked about game division losses, that is not the case here.
Obviously Sony are not going to collapse right now but nevertheless they are in serious trouble.
People buying Sony TVs do not particularly tend to go out and buy a Sony PC or Sony anything and their losses across the board are showing this weakness.
It’s also a fair point to say that Blu-ray has lost Sony $ billions in R&D which it is extremely unlikely to ever recover.
The other fairly unreported problem they have (reposnsible for about 1/2 of their recent loss) is the relative strength of the Yen, it’s killing them (and this is in large part how come Nintendo even with it’s strong sales are reporting profits falling) .
It’ll be interesting to see where they all stand by the end of 2010.
January 30th, 2009
lock_down
If anything i feel the nintendo might actually lose the majority of their lead, mainly due to the fact that the only thing it offers is games and a substandard online service , whereas both sony (Blu-Ray) and microsoft(Movie/tv downloads) and their online services, which may just persuade the consumer to forget the wii.
I know some people will disagree but why buy a console that only does one thing when u can buy either of the other 2 and get value for money
January 30th, 2009
DWH – I had Sly as my avatar before you did. Yes – All three games were for the PS2. Sucker Punch is working on Infamous… I’m still undecided about how I feel about that game. I need to see more of it.
Carl – Halo wars – yes. Allan Wake – I’ve only seen a cut scene so I’m not sure just yet. Allan Wake looks like the guy from Alone in the Dark… I think it’s the denim jacket and dark features… I agree that the 5 hour halo game will probably sell more than MGS4… but then again, Wii fit is the best selling game of all time.
Happy – I’m glad to see someone finally pointing it out… the Yen is responsible for most of these company’s reported losses. Hopefully by 2010 the global economy will have evened itself out and start to rebound.
January 30th, 2009
Carl B – Did you see the new Final Fantasy XIII trailer? It gave me chills seeing the battle system in action! It looks like it’s essentially turn based but ultra stylized animations. I can’t link it, but you can catch it on PS3fanboy. com
January 30th, 2009
up yours barnabe… dont hate on Sly.. .he is cool…
January 30th, 2009
Off note, kinda… is anybody else stoked about $100 1TB HDD’s and $200 2TB HDD’s available right now? What is the max the PS3 can recognize right now?
January 30th, 2009
darkwhitehair,
I thought we were game fanboys… that transcends systems.
January 30th, 2009
DWH – What?!?! No I like Sly… seriously I had him as an avatar for a while. I actually would rather have a new Sly than Infamous.
Carl B – I think the PS3 has only been confirmed to work with up to a 500GB HD. I only have a 40gig (which is just about full)… I’m going to be upgrading soon. I found a “Western Digital 320GB Scorpio Blue SATAII 5400RPM 2.5IN 8MB Bulk/OEM Hard Drive” for really cheap. I might order it this weekend.
January 30th, 2009
Carlb : You can never have too much storage! I’ve got 2TB on my desktop right now. Its amazing how much space you can use with a cheap usenet account *grin* legal, of course………………………..
January 30th, 2009
I heard 500 GB carl… just check the PS official forums…
NO BARNABE!!! YOURE AN XBOT!!! You cant appreciate Sly for its awesomeness…
ummm… I only played Sly 3… and literally could not put it down… I tried to look for Sly 1 and 2… but didnt find any pirated copies…
I LUB YOU SLYYYYYYYY
January 30th, 2009
“Sony – third (technically) – has a massive line up of triple A titles for 2009 and more down the road.”
There is an old saying about counting chickens before they hatch. Remember Haze and Lair were touted as AAA games before they were released, and boy did they disappoint! And Too Human to an extent, however it did not stink as much as those other 2 games.
January 30th, 2009
true true harry. Alan wake may blow and who knows if halo wars will be able to convert fps junkies onto rts’s….
I have a bad feeling that Huxley won’t be a blockbuster…
January 30th, 2009
true harry… thats why I dont list games anymore… actually people who have been here for a while have learned not to list stuff.. anyways…
Id say Killzone is the one to watch out… watch out as in like hold our breath… we dont know how good or bad it is… whereas with infamous… the devs are good… I know it wont be shit… same as uncharted…
but I am surprised with Halo Wars… Halo is such a great example for a easy to pick up and play… and not many people like RTS… specially FPS junkies… and while Ensemble is on of the fathers of modern FPS… the biggest improvements in modern RTS has been done by Company of Heroes and World in conflict…
it will still sell a billion.. Im just hoping Halo doesnt go the way of Star Wars movies…
January 30th, 2009
You guys think Halo fans want to play an “RTS”.
RRRRRIGHT………..
January 30th, 2009
RTS fans want to play an RTS, Halo (universe fans, not solely FPS fans) fans will want to try it as well. Starcraft anyone?
January 31st, 2009
starcraft shouldnt even be in the same category as RTS… it should be in the “AVOID IF YOU ARE NOT ASIAN” category… youre gonna need fucking sixth sense to win in that game…
though I never played it… I played a lotta Age of Empires and Company of Heroes… and Ive seen a starcraft match gone down in minutes…
DAMN YOU ASIANS AND YOUR NATURAL ABILITY TO PLAY RTS!!!
January 31st, 2009
Starcraft isn’t that hard to win, especially if you are familiar with tactics and the races strengths/weaknesses. A few “Asians” and other people happen to spend a lot more time practicing and learning it, just like Halo and other international competition games, so they tend to be a lot better at it (this plus it has retained it’s popularity in Asian countries).
January 31st, 2009
sorry… I meant species, not races.
January 31st, 2009
okay… so maybe not Asian countries so much as just South Korea.
January 31st, 2009
dont be racist against the asians carl… jeez I thought you were a good guy…
January 31st, 2009
species! I meant species man… hey, wait a sec, quit trying to turn this around on me… you and your damning of Asians.
January 31st, 2009
oh great, now that makes me look like specist… a guy just can’t win.
January 31st, 2009
I am not going to be one of those millions buying Halo Wars, RTS games are really not what I like.
I don’t know much about Huxley, Ninja Blade or Alan Wake to get excited about, actually I know nothing about those games except that Alan Wake is being made by Remedy and I loved the Max PAyne games (the movie not so much).
January 31st, 2009
what next carl??? are you anti semetic too?? WHAT HAVE YOU KEPT SECRET FROM ME!!!
harry what about End War or Red Alert 3?? I suggest you try them out.. well company of heroes and world in conflict are better for someone who wants to get into RTS…
cmon.. peeps.. play some RTS…
January 31st, 2009
not that I’m aware of… but then again I did laugh at that jiujitsu poster (it was spelled differently on the poster though) and I do like an arabic branded juice out here called JOOS… ugh… I need to get back home.
February 2nd, 2009
I haven’t seen very much about Ninja Blade… but from what I’ve seen, I like. If I were a 360 owner, that’s the exclusive I would be most looking forward to.