March NPD hardware sales – Xbox 360 up, PS3 and Wii down
It’s been believed up to now that the video games industry is solid-gold recession-proof. But maybe not. Certainly the NPD hardware sales figures for March 2009 show a year-on-year decline. The PS3 and Wii both dropped in that time but the brave old soldier that is the Xbox 360 actually gained in the same period.
In terms of month-to-month sales, all consoles were down on February. Despite this, Nintendo still managed to sell over 1 million consoles between the Wii and DS – quite an achievement slap bang in the middle of a global economic downturn. In terms of position, nothing changed from last month to this. Nintendo still dominate, Sony is struggling with all three of its machines, and Microsoft stayed in a comfortable second.
NPD U.S. Hardware Sales Chart – March 2009 – Courtesy of Kotaku
Nintendo Wii – 601,000
Nintendo DS – 563,000
Microsoft Xbox 360 – 330,000
Sony PS3 – 218,000
Sony PSP – 168,000
Sony PS2 – 112,000
Nintendo
As previously mentioned, Nintendo managed to top the one million mark again last month. Both the Wii and DS continue to sell in astounding quantities although the Wii, in particular, dropped by a huge margin (753,000 to 601,000). Maybe my prediction that demand for the Wii is finally slowing isn’t just wishful thinking after all.
Microsoft
Monthly sales were down but the fact remains that while those around it saw significant drops between March 2008 and March 2009, the Xbox 360 actually rose in that period (from 262,000 to 330,000). Earlier this week, Microsoft claimed that the race for second place was over in the U.S. Maybe that’s right, certainly Sony don’t seem to be making any headway.
Sony
Another month, another bottom three places for Sony. Which has to be depressing reading for executives at the Japanese company. The PS3 just doesn’t seem to be able to build any momentum, no matter how many exclusive titles get thrown at the console. The fact it sold less than double what the 9-year-old PS2 managed says a lot.
Conclusions
Overall, revenue dropped 17 percent between last March and this March. There are some factors at work (late Easter etc) that could explain this drop but I think the recession is finally hitting home. With that in mind, it’s hard to see any real patterns emerging. It really just seems to be steady as she goes for all three console manufacturers.
Related Posts:
51 Responses to “March NPD hardware sales – Xbox 360 up, PS3 and Wii down”
Leave a Reply:
You must be logged in to post a comment. Don't have an account? Register today!
April 17th, 2009
PS3rd
April 17th, 2009
Killzone 2 will bring them out of this slump very by driving hardware sales throughout the year… at least that is what Sony says.
April 17th, 2009
Xbox is the only one to genuinelt ‘grow’ sales.
In this economic climate that is both very surprising and very impressive.
April 17th, 2009
“Maybe my prediction that demand for the Wii is finally slowing isn’t just wishful thinking after all.”
Well back peddle all you like Dave but that’s not really what you were implying.
Everyone knew that the incredible early peak demand was always going to be satisfied at some point in it’s life (the wonder is it went on so long) and a more normal sales situation take it’s place.
Not that any of that altered the Wii’s continuing and strong number 1 spot one bit.
And we said so.
You on the otherhand were trying to tell us that it was all about to be over, the bubble burst kind of thing.
Do I take it that this is an admission you were grossly over-egging things?
April 17th, 2009
I’d love to be working at Nintendo right now. I bet its all hookers, blow, and shampagne baths (all at the same time, of course).
So, Mr Iwata, stop buying the coke & champagne (keep the ladies) and invest that $$$ into making an awesome console next gen. to crush everyone. Rawr. Ahhh it tis all but a dream…
April 18th, 2009
no they are seeing what power is doing… look at the ps3(death of superman)
so nintendo will milk the casual market milk it baby
April 18th, 2009
No way, you’ve got to keep the blow, it takes the edge off.
April 18th, 2009
“Xbox is the only one to genuinelt ‘grow’ sales.
In this economic climate that is both very surprising and very impressive.”
HH, still only sold half of what nintendo did. Very impressive indeed.
April 18th, 2009
Spideydog
Ppppppffffhhhhh.
That’s such a feeble come-back.
Growing sales in the face of an economic slump is pretty tough to do.
…..your PS3 heros couldn’t manage it, hmmmm?
Did anyone expect Xbox to pass the Wii in sales here
(or any time, realistically?)
There’s usually a drop month on month between Feb & Mar (and there was with all of them, plus Easter this year was in Mar which affects the gift-buying element of the sales) but the year on year stats make interesting reading.
You’ll also find that the Xbox 360 took 4 of the top 10 games in the NPD stats too
(Wii & PS3 took 3, the DS was the other).
h**p://www.examiner.com/x-6894-SF-Console-Game-Examiner~y2009m4d16-NPD-sales-data-for-video-games-in-March-2009
Here’s one to indicate where the money is going – XBL sales rose 128% over the year.
Game devs will be taking serious note of that one, you can bet on that.
I very much doubt the Wii is passable now (not just in total sales but in monthly sales).
But the gap has indeed closed a little.
All of which leaves the PS3 looking the very poor relation.
I just see nothing but problems with it for Sony.
Even their idea that some day, one day, who knows when day, all those PS2 owners are going to migrate to the PS3 is no comfort because at the rate this is (not) happening the margin on the PS3 will be so low (when the price cuts eventually do come and sales begin to respond) that they will not make much money out of them anyways.
Steve Jobs was right, it’s been nothing but a ‘bag of hurt’ for them.
I doubt they will ever see any of the vast fortune spent on the R&D of both PS3 & their share of the Blu-ray R&D.
April 18th, 2009
I can’t wait to get the KILLZONE 2 maps on April 30th. Oh and inFAMOUS i want that game so bad it comes out the 26th of May exclusively on PLAYSTATION 3. Also i love playing Resistance: Retribution for PSP especially with hate PSP controller is awesome a must have. I love playing and buying PS2 games new they are so cheap in prices and hot exclusives. SOCOM II: U.S. NAVY SEALs is so additive try it you will love it.
My PLAYSTATION Network ID: Ivan-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killzone_2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InFamous
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistance:_Retribution
April 18th, 2009
I’m loving how this post has been here 2 days with only 9 comments.
If the figures had of been in favour of the ps3rd this would be a 50 plus easily with all the fanboys proclaiming death to the shitbox!
Nothing to say fanboys?
April 18th, 2009
HH,
I didn’t say anything about ps3 nor am I the one pruking about how good “my machine” is doing. You are …… I am giving you a dose of reality.
Why do you have so much hate …. I mention sales of the 360 in comparison to the wii and you go on the attack about the ps3 …… when there was no mention of the ps3. You spent about 6 paragraphs on how bad the ps3 is and there was never any mention of the ps3 in this argument. 6 paragraphs of useless dribble that no one was interested in or discussing ???
I would argue it is you that has the “feeble comeback” and tad bit insecure ??
CON – 360 sales weren’t all that flash either m8, granted better than ps3rd, but still not great.
April 19th, 2009
Actually Spidey, I think CON has a point, especially considering how 2008 was hyped here as being the year of the PS3 and 360 was the only one of three to have year on year increase vice decline as with the other two. So not only better than PS3, but also better than it’s own previous years performance, which is actually pretty great. I’m sure nobody at Nintendo or Sony is congratulating themselves on the decline and nobody at Microsoft is kicking themselves for the increase vice a decline.
April 19th, 2009
Con just go buy a ps3 u know u want killzone
April 19th, 2009
well then now u know that this site runs when we say it does(ps3)
April 19th, 2009
Why do you guys always relate 360 back to ps3……no one else here has made the comparison except you guys……
You guys are worse than the ms executives playing spin doctors with figures. At the end of the day, 360 STILL got it ass handed to it (2:1 ratio) by the crappiest console ever …. the wii
Both xbox and ps3 should be ashamed that they BOTH are getting trounced by a casual console that everyone is buying only to gather dust after the initial WOW factor has gone.
April 19th, 2009
Yeah, I’m sure they’re all just commiting suicide at Nintendo right now. Pesky 1+ million units (including DS) of sales a month.
Still, at least samurai swords are flying off the shelves…
To me, it looks as if March was up because of Resident Evil 5. Which of course, if you’re going to be buying a new console for the game, you’re probably going to go out and buy one of those nice Red 360’s.
Lets wait until April’s sales figures to see if they post an increase again and see if the PS3 manages to drop below the PSP or PS2…
April 19th, 2009
@kevo
Actually owned killzone for the ps2, was a solid game and intended to trade my 360 in after a year or so for the ps3. But the games never came. Now that they’re here I just have no interest anymore although an exclusive like Modern Warfare might change my mind
April 19th, 2009
“Why do you guys always relate 360 back to ps3……no one else here has made the comparison except you guys……”
Spidey, I was just using the comparison you stated yourself, “better than PS3rd” and adding what I considered a more important factor, that being the 360 is doing better than 360 did last year. And nobody is denying 360 and PS3 are both getting trounced by Wii here in overall sales, but nobody here really seems to want to play one either. As I was saying, compared to Microsofts past performance (last year), the 360 is doing well in this economy, and still managed to sell almost 10 million more than XBox in the same amount of time, and five million more over the XBox’s entire lifetime sales (short as it was due to NVIDIA). The XBox was never able to compete with it’s direct competitor, PS2, last gen, and now the 360 is beating PS3 by a good 8 million in sales, which (regardless of whether or not they came out a year early) has turned the table around on Sony’s present gen offering. Sony still has PS2 and PSP sales to fall back on, and I’m sure their sales will pick up significantly when the price drop occurs before this holiday season, let alone when PS2 is discontinued next year (for all intents and purposes, the end of it’s “ten years”… then again, maybe they will come out with a PStwo, who knows) and full bc is put back in PS3. So everybody is doing fine, each of the big 3 has sold over 20 million consoles, and nobody is going away anytime soon.
April 19th, 2009
is it possible to get a break down for the 360 numbers which r the 20/80/120gb models?
April 19th, 2009
Spideydog
The wounded innocence some of you PS3 fans wheel out when you get a taste of your own medicine is hilarious.
You must be laughably deranged to imagine anyone could feel so strongly about a game console as to genuinely have “hate” for one.
But I guess that does sum up where your typical PS3 fanboy is coming from.
Sad.
April 19th, 2009
bigmickyd
I’d bet there are few 20gb Xboxes being sold now (just the last stocks being cleared).
My own bet would be that most will be 60gb versions followed by the HDD-free Arcades and then the 120gb Elite.
The talk is that (in this tanking economy, possibly set to continue for 2 or 3yrs) the RE5 Elite is pointing the way ahead for that SKU = limited edition themed releases only.
The 60gb SKU and the Arcade will continue as before and receive all the attention in future & price cuts.
April 19th, 2009
HH,
You really are a fool. I own both formats and are a fan of both. It is laughable that you label me a ps3 fanboy, when I have simply pointed out the 360 is getting trounced by the wii. Now that is sad.
It really was a lovely spiel though HH. I hope it made you feel better and didn’t hurt your fingers bashing your keys to tell us, we’re all fanboys because we don’t agree with your opinion.
Count to 10 and relax m8.
April 19th, 2009
What happened to Killzone bringing up the sales for the ps3rd?
And MGS……and little big planet……and home……and haze…….and ……am I missing any more big titles?
April 19th, 2009
Personally I’m glad the 360 or PS3 hasn’t succeeded more than Wii Spidey, because in order to do that (this gen in this economic climate) by this point, they would have had to have been much more underpowered and cheaper from the start, and have hardly any adult-themed games.
April 19th, 2009
@CarlB
And that is the scarey part about the Wii.
I admit to participating in its domination of the PS3/360, but I REALLY hope that Sony/MS don’t just start slamming out ‘casual’ crap and using ‘underpowered’ machines.
I guess if it all goes tits up, I still have my PC.
April 19th, 2009
Actually CON, Killzone 2, MGS, Motorstorm, Resistance 1&2, Uncharted, Heavenly Sword, GT5 Prologue, Ratchet and Clank, and Little Big Planet are all over a million in sales.
Unfortunately their combined sales equal less than half of the multiplatform sales (those titles that have sold over a million).
Other PS3 games and content that Sony invested money in (themselves or paid for exclusivity) has not paid off (not over a million in sales): Home, Haze, Singstar (1&2), SOCOM, Hotshots, Buzz, MLB07-9, MotorstormPR, Singstar ABBA, Warhawk, Yakuza, Valkyria Chronicles, White Knight Chronicles, Lair, Eye of Judgment, Ratchet and Clank Quest for Booty, Formula 1 CE, Disgaea 3, NBA 07, Folklore, Genji, Untold Legends, Demon Souls, Siren, NBA08/09, etc.
Microsoft is probably wise in letting third parties take the majority of risk in titles instead of buying a ton of it’s own studios like Sony. Because if Sony serves as an example, for every title that sells over a million from it’s own studios, there are at least 3 that have tanked.
April 19th, 2009
@SW,
I think one way around this (that has already seemed to work for Sony, to a degree) is to have the last gen console take up the majority of those types of games, while still releasing a few truly good titles.
April 19th, 2009
Spideydog
Actually my friend you’re the one on here who ends up typing the idiotic & abusive BS.
Contrary to your (rather obvious) day-dreams I
1) don’t beleive everything I’m told by someone in a message board on the net and
2) I do not get roused to genuine emotion over something so trivial.
Wake up.
April 19th, 2009
Happyhockum how can you say you don’t believe everything you read in message board posts? im fucking Roger Rabbit and i live on the moon with my very own purple monkey dishwasher… if you don’t believe me… well… i guess your only kidding yourself there honey
April 19th, 2009
Is that right HH…… re-read your last reply and tell me that your the one not getting emotional ?? Your the one that got upset when I dared to mention that 360 was getting smashed by the wii and you then went off on a tirade about the ps3 when no-one had even mentioned the ps3.
And where the hell did you get that crap about believing everything on a message board …… drugs are bad …OK
April 19th, 2009
Spideydog
“emotion”? You wish (and are clearly projecting).
My responce was not in any way “upset” it was mere rebuttal.
I also threw in the PS3 because IIRC you are one the merry band around here who love to tell us all how great it is vis the Xbox.
My point about the truth of comments on the net was responding to your claims about owning various consoles.
I neither know nor care but I wouldn’t take it as Gospel just on your say so.
(No offence intended.)
April 19th, 2009
Best you talk to a couple of your xbox m8’s here (Harry for starters). I am actually friends with them on LIVE. If you didn’t care about it, why make a point of it.
Now cut and paste a comment I have ever made that states how good the ps3 is and how bad the 360 is (that wasn’t said in jest).
Or even better, how bout you let it go ….. and stop stressing about someone saying something negative about 360 (that was also negative about the ps3, but I’m a fanboy remember)
April 19th, 2009
“Spideydog:
March 4th, 2009
PS3 PPAAAWWNNNSSS 360″
i was both shocked and disheartened by that remark spidey
April 19th, 2009
I aim to please ??!!
April 20th, 2009
you’ve more then done that
April 20th, 2009
Who wants to watch me take my pants off? 20 bucks.
April 20th, 2009
Good god, Grumpy, you do love the sound of your own voice, don’t you? Or, the sight of your own text, as it were.
Hey, guess what, I think the 360 SUCKS. Are you personally offended by that? My guess is yes. Get over it.
-Arvis
April 21st, 2009
Arvis, Ivan does a better job. My launch day 360 is doing great and 360 (let alone 360 software) is selling more than PS3, regardless of what you think. Get over it.
April 21st, 2009
Anybody?
April 21st, 2009
Your pants are terminated.
April 21st, 2009
A sign of the economic times… harry is the dirk diggler of blorge.
April 21st, 2009
Arvis
The guy was talking to me, not you. Butt out. Fanboy.
April 21st, 2009
Carl,
I fail to see how either of those things makes the 360 suck less, in my eyes. It has a great line up of top quality games, no one (reasonable) can argue with that. But the console itself is an awful mess, easily one of the worst pieces of consumer electronics ever sold. Sales numbers don’t (can’t) disprove this (my perception). Millions of people watch reality television and I think it is all vomit-inducing garbage. I feel this way because I perceive zero quality in reality television. It has no merit, to me. Much like the Xbox 360. Faulty hardware and zero improvement over it’s last-gen brother, I see it as a colossal failure to give gamers something worthwhile, a true improvement to the industry. The lifespan of your personal console has no bearing on my perception, so what, pray, am I to “get over,” again?
I stress, though, that if you perceive this issue differently, you are not wrong at all. We simply see it differently. The only reason I spoke up at all was because I found myself rather irked by GrumpyHockum’s complete inability to see past the end of his own nose. That level of egocentrism, however, would take years of therapy to work through, so I don’t know why I bothered to say anything. I’ll try to restrain myself next time.
-Arvis
April 21st, 2009
“zero improvement over it’s last-gen brother”
Arvis, this is the equivalent of one saying the PS3 has shown zero improvement over PS2. Ridiculous. That the PS3 has borrowed several aspects from 360 while dropping two aspects that it’s last-gen (full bc and a competitive price point) iteration had shows even worse. But even I can admit it is an improvement over PS2.
By and large any hardware faults in the 360 have been in the minority of consoles and at this point, especially with E74, the problems are being overblown. The problem existed and is being improved upon, but saying “the console itself is an awful mess, easily one of the worst pieces of consumer electronics ever sold” is going over the top and into fanboydom.
“It has a great line up of top quality games, no one (reasonable) can argue with that.” I agree, and I believe the PS3 has the same. I would also say that both the PS3 and 360 are getting better over time, and that if you have one and do not really care about a few exclusives that are on the other, you really do not need to invest another $200 (360) – $400 (PS3) for what is for gaming purposes, practically the same in almost all aspects.
April 21st, 2009
Carl,
Out of the box, what does the 360 do that the Xbox didn’t? Answer: nothing you don’t have to pay extra for. No HDMI, no wi-fi, no HD movie playback, no motion-control (not that I mind), no standard hard drive (a downgrade from the original Xbox). They just took a regular Xbox and crammed a tri-core processor into it. Inefficiently, might I add.
Now, that’s not to say that you don’t have a much improved gaming experience with the 360, but this is almost entirely due to the leaps Live made during the transition. Live has become a simply phenomenal vessel for entertainment and is easily worth the price of admission. But this is not an improvement to the console itself.
“The problem existed and is being improved upon, but saying ‘the console itself is an awful mess, easily one of the worst pieces of consumer electronics ever sold’ is going over the top and into fanboydom.”
Fair enough, and I’m open to changing my perspective on that. However, not to play The Name Game, but name me one other piece of consumer electronics (that did not have a mass recall) more widely known for it’s hardware failures and I’ll never mention the 360s flaws again.
-Arvis
April 21st, 2009
Arvis,
“Out of the box, what does the 360 do that the Xbox didn’t?”
“No HDMI.” False. Every 360 now has HDMI standard. My launch did not, but existing component or VGA work fine for 1080p output. I use VGA.
“No Wi-fi.” I don’t need it. If I ever do I can use the existing linksys I already have. I doubt I will ever need this feature.
“No HD movie playback.” False. 1080p playback is commonplace through XBL. Upgraded DVD and Netflix also have good enough picture quality for me. If I ever want a blu-ray player I can get one and a new arcade for less than a base PS3.
“No motion control”. Who cares? Sixaxis was supposed to be “the thing” and what wound up being more important and widely incorporated? Rumble.
“No standard hard drive”. You do not need one to play games or have game saves. Every arcade now has sufficient memory for game saves in order to play the game. Or you can get a Pro for a hundred dollars less than a base PS3. Or you can get a used 20 for around $30. My launch came with 20gb and the only reason I upgraded was because I had some spare cash and could afford the minor convenience of not having to delete stuff (which could always be redownloaded for free in minutes) every couple of months. Again, the choice is given to the consumer, not forced upon him/her.
“Live has become a simply phenomenal vessel for entertainment and is easily worth the price of admission. But this is not an improvement to the console itself.” It is now specifically inherent to the 360 and gives you many more options than you would have with only a last gen XBox. Live itself last gen was nowhere near the capabilities that exist now.
“name me one other piece of consumer electronics (that did not have a mass recall) more widely known for it’s hardware failures”
“SquareTrade puts the defect rate of the Xbox 360 at 16.4 percent… these numbers aren’t surprising in the world of consumer electronics… as an industry, consumer electronic failure rates over 3 years commonly exceed 15 percent… Repair rates for 3-4 year old products: 43% for laptops, 31% for desktops, 15% for all consumer electronics…”
arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2008/02/xbox-360-failure-rates-worse-than-most-consumer-electornics.ars
“Abernethy went on to note that while the company didn’t track the different variations of the 360, he “would estimate most if not all were the original motherboard.”
“the possibility exists that the randomness factor could be skewed, leaning towards heavy system users who are more likely to overheat their 360s.”
1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3166259
April 22nd, 2009
Arvis, Well said.
Carl you are seriously not trying to say the arcade is a great machine…..it is worse than a wii. When I bought my 360 I didn’t even consider a arcade because it is a absolute waste of money. Straight out of the box you have to spend more money to upgrade to get a worth while machine. Nothing below a “pro” is even worth considering. You don’t have an arcade console ?? Even 20gigs is better than nothing.
Secondly, it is widely known and accepted (except 360 fanboys) that 360 failure rate got as high as 33%. I just hope that my 360 is not in that group. You can throw as many figures up here as you want, but it’s failure rate is atrocious that required significant intervention by raising the warranty specifically for that fault. (after 12months of denial by MS).
sixaxis…. Yeah I won’t argue there, it is a waste of time and I never use it.
Component is not the same as HDMI or DVI. You are kidding yourself if you try and pass them off as the same quality. I originally had component for both the ps3 and 360 before changing to hdmi (DVI in my case). HDMI/DVI gives a refined crystal clear picture. Component gave a hazed picture.
I am none to pleased that 360 does not have wifi. To get mine online I had to plug it into my laptop just to get it on the network. I didn’t have a cable long enough to reach the router. The 360 is the only piece of equipment in my household without wifi – pretty poor and a inconvenience. (even my wii hooks up wirelessly – thats embarrassing)
April 22nd, 2009
My launch 360 is a “great machine” going into it’s fourth year of service, and I’m sure if I ever wind up getting a PS3 or Wii they will be great too, Spidey. I do not have an arcade, but one could get one (with 2-7 games, HDMI, included) and be playing games (i.e. what a game console’s main purpose is) for a very good price, “straight out of the box” with the included memory card. If you have to keep all your game saves instead of switching them out over time you can pick up a 20g for about $30.
“it is widely known and accepted (except 360 fanboys) that 360 failure rate got as high as 33%” Really? The only real report I could find said 16.4%, but if you can find another, more accurate report, go for it. Looks like your 360 is not in that group so far, but if it is, you are covered for three years, so good for you.
You are right about component having a hazed picture, which is why I use VGA. Regardless, all 360’s now come with HDMI built in.
I am very pleased I was given the option to add wi-fi later (an option I will not use – though I do have wi-fi in my house and can set it up with equipment I already own) and paid less for my console because of this, instead of being forced to pay for it up front. If you are so embarrassed and it is such a huge issue for you, you can pick up a router for $20-40 and hook it up, or even use the original wi-fi adapter for XBox for cheaper than the new wi-fi adapter.
April 23rd, 2009
I wasn’t forced to pay for it Carl…. I made the choice to pay for it and are very happy with it. Alot of people don’t want to have buy 3-4-5 extra adaptors to get the full experience Carl. If you do, well then ms has catered to you. Me, I wanted the full package – nothing more to get.
The 360 pro I got is pretty close, but just requires a couple of things to make it “full” if you know what I mean …….
I still stand by my point that the arcade is useless. I believe that people buy it purely for the low price and then realise later that they need addons or are limited compared to the pro, elite. (This is the reason why I put off the “core” system originally)
Embarrassment was a figure of speech my friend, but thanks for putting words in my mouth
April 24th, 2009
“Alot of people don’t want to have buy 3-4-5 extra adaptors to get the full experience”
Exactly Spidey. A significant population of gamers do not have or need wireless (1 adapter or router and cable that you already own). I am one of many, and it has not limited my experience in any way (except the experience of paying $150 more for something I don’t need or want).
“I wanted the full package – nothing more to get.”
Yes, I wanted backwards compatibility with the preceding last gen console, can’t get it with PS3 because they took it out. Fortunately 360 has all the features I really cared about as a gamer, many which the PS3 has copied or is in the process of copying (achievements, chat, Live, XBLA, etc.). Maybe the copying will be complete in a couple of years and it will have the features it originally launched with along with the features it copied from 360 someday at a reasonable price, maybe not.
“I still stand by my point that the arcade is useless”.
Right, the most affordable game console that just happens to have the ability to play all the games in that console’s library is useless. Are you so sold into Sony’s Blu-Ray agenda that you actually believe this? Please. Meanwhile, gamers that don’t have the extra $150 can get into gaming, and if they want non-gaming essential features later on they can pay for the added convenience, and still wind up paying less than they would for a PS3.
Here is our common ground Spidey, the 360 and PS3 are both good gaming consoles with great game libraries. Each one has features or come in packages that might appeal to different gamers with different budgets. The PS3 has added features that are not essential to gaming, but “nice to haves” which you pay $150 extra for from the moment you buy it. The 360 has a bare bones edition that does not have those features, but you can upgrade it with peripheral components (which one may already have – i.e. router/blu-ray) later if you so desire.