PS3 sales on par with 360, launches aligned

by Andrew Yoon { Oct 19th 2007 at 11:10PM }

Is the PS3 really suffering as badly as it seems? Admittedly, it's getting to a slow start, but many forget that the Xbox 360 faced similar challenges during its launch. In fact, when the launches are aligned, the Xbox 360 and PS3 appear to be selling at an equivalent rate. Of course, with the immense amount of negativity surrounding the PS3 from the gaming media, will sales be hurt during this crucial holiday season? The price drop and release of games, such as Ratchet & Clank, will help Sony hopefully keep pace with its major rival.

[Via Digg]

Tags: ps3, sales, xbox-360

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Kspraydad @ Oct 19th 2007 11:22PM

...This will likely be a double post...

I posted this same 'news' back in May too...I hope the tune changes soon..

http://www.sonyprotectiongroup.com/?/content/view/56/9/

ruibing @ Oct 19th 2007 11:23PM

The biggest problem is that the 360 has currently double the PS3 fan base, so everywhere you go, even this fan site, you hear 360 fans saying just about the same exact thing over and over again. Though some are sensible, so many others spews FUD as if they took a course in it. You see it a lot in 1up, evilavatar, n4g, and joystiq, but it improves for a less U.S. based site like kotaku. I think there just needs to be more PS3 owners and we need to be a lil more vocal without stooping down to their level.

I would REALLY like to get a demographic poll for the user base between the consoles. I'm sure if its all the swearing, unsupported FTW assertions, or numerous other things about 360 owners, but it always seems to me they tend to be younger than PS3 owners. Who knows, it might just me all PS3 owners up until now needed some more money than 360 owners to get a console in the first place.

JKPierce @ Oct 19th 2007 11:27PM

As I've been saying for months, it's odd that the Xbox 360 can only par sales of the PlayStation 3 its first year despite having been the only next-generation console on the market.

The bias is still strangely in force despite this, with the red-ring fiasco (though the PlayStation 2 got endless flak for having half the failure rate), a harddrive-less SKU that limits developers, and sales that only meet half the last generation's adoption rate. One would think with a division doing nothing but hemorrhage money since its inception, people would start saying, "Hey, wait a sec..."

phattie @ Oct 19th 2007 11:30PM

They did an OS poll on engadget a while back... turns out that close to 50% of the posters are Apple users, which is 10x their representation in real life. You cant really get anywhere supporting a Sony or MS product on that site... you're always be voted down, its really a popularity contest.

viewtiful.jim @ Oct 19th 2007 11:38PM

I think things are starting to come around to the PS3 a little. I mean when I read this months Game Informer I was kind of surprised at the amount of PS3 praise I was seeing. Even an article about PSN taking a different, more artistic direction with upcoming titles like Flower and Echochrome.

With Eye of Judgment and Ratchet and Clank around the corner I think the tide is ready to change.

Jason @ Oct 19th 2007 11:51PM

The problem is, "the same rate" isn't good enough. If the PS3 maintains the same sales rate as the 360 T-minus one year, it will by mathematical definition always be a year behind in sales. It will always be #2.

In order for the PS3 to catch up to the 360 by the end of next year, it needs to sell more than double the 360 every month. It's doing the opposite, and that's not good for Sony.

Hey-Joe @ Oct 19th 2007 11:55PM

I would be interesting to map all the 360's that were counted as sold, but were actually used as replacements for broken machines onto this graph.

P @ Oct 20th 2007 12:13AM

Considering the PS3 has matched the X360, a product which effectively had the next-gen marketplace to itself while the PS3 had that time in the shaddow of an established machine just starting to see the first wave of decent titles coming through, and all of this while the PS3 is supposedly over-priced to many people i think its pretty impressive.

Theres some belting exclusive titles on the horizon, a price drop at the perfect time, things are on the up and up.

P @ Oct 20th 2007 12:14AM

MacBandit @ Oct 20th 2007 12:38PM

I don't think these numbers are correct. Where's the spike that happened when Sony dropped the price $100 on the 60GB? I know there was one.

Frank @ Oct 20th 2007 12:41AM

I'm glad to see ps3 doing as well as 360, but wasn't the 360 in severe shortages until like march?

MYPS3KilledMy360 @ Oct 20th 2007 12:53AM

@jason the problem was never really being behind but people constantly pointing the lowers sales as the end of the console war. OOOO halo 3 sells 3.3 million moves only half a million consoles! MS from the gate was all about hype and you can see there user adopting the same trait. PS3 has constantly proved it self as being the best without an real killer apps it is selling nicely. MS has done nothing but gone over there mistakes and now i hear a new HD-DVD 360 coming out...:| So MS was wrong about disc space, wrong about HDMI, wrong about having a HDD, wrong about pushing there format HD DVD, Failure rate which seems to be getting cleaned up but faulty units with multiple(over heating, dead drive, power) types of failure are sill out there. systems with HDMI/without, Falcon chip/without, ben q drive/without, some may have 2 parts and not the other. to top it off this problem is spread over several models the core, premium, elite, and pretty soon arcade. Almost no 360 game will be exclusive with almost everything xbox related thing going to the PC even LIVE ARCADE. i really dont know where MS is going with this but with all there problems STILL FANBOYS STAND PROUD BAOSITNG ABOUT GAMES THAT ARE NOT EXCLUSIVE.

animekid3515 @ Oct 20th 2007 1:53AM

alijah green is exactly the type of person that "myps3killedmy360" is talking about, spreading rumors and standing strong for M$'s consoles. even though the xbox was killed completely by ps2, they still call it the king.

Bert @ Oct 20th 2007 10:37AM

The PS3 has the benefit of crossplatform games and a console that came before it to take the public's 'higher priced consoles are viable' virginity.

If it was by itself, there'd be even fewer games available, so this comparison doesn't really work.

Andir3.0 @ Oct 20th 2007 2:59AM

"I don't think these numbers are correct. Where's the spike that happened when Sony dropped the price $100 on the 60GB? I know there was one."

VGChartz is like the other sales sites. They use estimates and correct their numbers based on the moans and groans of the user base and the NPD numbers. Your likely not going to see spikes as the average the numbers out over a few weeks/months time.

iroc @ Oct 20th 2007 3:08AM

um,, i am an xbot i freelly admit that, but it took me 5 months to get a 360, because of the masive shortages they had when it released, and the numbers are going to be skewed because of that.

Deviation @ Oct 20th 2007 3:38AM

Uh, dude? There's half a year of sales data matched with the PS3 there beyond any point where the 360 was supply constrained.

If for some insane reason you think that still matters, I should point out that the PS3 didn't launch in Europe at the same time and thus they're missing out on three + months of sales. Feel better now?

popozao @ Oct 20th 2007 4:03AM

You know, I don't think we really NEED to be #1 this cycle. This business has grown so big that even # 3 can make healthy profits and have amazing experiences. Case in point: Gamecube. It almost seems as if the Xbox losers are high off the idea that Microsoft is ascendant; this is a new sensation for them, where as Sony fans are used to the idea of being king. This last point reminds me of something Ken Kutaragi said, that Microsoft is not trying to beat Playstation 3, they're still mentally trying to beat Playstation 2.

ck @ Oct 20th 2007 4:31AM

I've been pointing this out for a while. Even the graph says it's been like this for ages. How is this news?

Droid @ Oct 21st 2007 6:20AM

Notice however that this 'on par' situation has been only achieved by cumulative price drops. And that current XBox worldwide sales are 50% higher.
I think that the XBox sales are just a kind of benchmark for the Sony analysts like a zero-point. Once sales dip under they will take action in forms like pricedrops and bundling games.

But since the original plan was to sell like 6 million of them in march you can guess that sales are bad. And since production has not been lowered they still have 11 million of them to reach by march 08.

TCampbell76 @ Oct 20th 2007 7:14AM

If Unreal Tournament III gets delayed then Sony's holiday is pretty much gone. The problem with the holiday lineup for PS3 is there is none. 360 a year later got Gears of War and PS3 a year later has... R&C and maybe UT III if it isn't delayed?! I'd sooner think Unreal Tournament III would be a game to look for but the delay rumors are spreading thick. R&C in no way, despite how fun it is, doesn't have the incredible clout that GoW pulled in. I don't think PS3's sales will show something noticable until MGS4, FF XIII, and maybe Little Big Planet comes around. Honesty hurts, but what PS3 needs right now is more games and less delays.

Valhura @ Oct 22nd 2007 4:27PM

why so many anti M$ fanboys posting here?

I have had a 360 since launch and I have had a blast with it there have been many great games to enjoy and many more just around the corner.

Why do people tlak about a war? Unless you own stock in either M$ or $ony why do you care who wins as long as the console you bought has great games.

I will pick up a PS3 when the non gimped version comes down in price to what the 40gig is now and there is more than 1 or 2 good games to play on it.

Why not just enjoy the games and let M$ and $noy fight this so called war.

Hyams @ Oct 20th 2007 7:58AM

@ 20: Before Christmas, it's not just R&C being released. There's also Uncharted and Haze, not to mention the massive list of cross-platform games, including Assassin's Creed and Devil May Cry.

And with the recent price cut, I'd imagine the PS3 will do pretty well this holiday.

Emrah @ Oct 20th 2007 8:26AM

@Jason
"The problem is, "the same rate" isn't good enough. If the PS3 maintains the same sales rate as the 360 T-minus one year, it will by mathematical definition always be a year behind in sales. It will always be #2."

If we are to take mathematics into account, even if the trend goes like this, each year, the difference between xbox360's sold and PS3's sold will be minimized in terms of percentage. When one console will have sold 30million, the other will have sold 25million. The difference in percentage will be a mere 20%, but currently, there's double the xbox360 users and it is an important advantage, so, a big NO, the current sales rate is NOT a problem, if it were to follow the footsteps of Xbox360.

Starfire @ Oct 20th 2007 9:09AM

This price cut is the PS3's Halo- it's biggest chance yet. We will find out how many people there really are out there who have held back for that reason. 'Killer Apps' seem to be due next year. It's too bad there is nothing headline-grabbing (R and C isn't that kind of thing) ready for the holidays.

oldestr gamer @ Oct 20th 2007 10:36AM

I extremely doubt the 360 install base is twice that of the the PS3. How many times I've read 360 owners buying 2, 3, even 4 consoles while all PS3 owners own 1. So the actual install base of 360s cannot be the same size as it's user base. Maybe the 360 has a 7-8 million user base compared with 5-6 million on the PS3. The numbers are probably closer.

5ive @ Oct 20th 2007 11:38AM

And in the U.S., the PS3's rate is way behind...

http://www.vgchartz.com/hwcomps.php?cons1=Wii®1=America&cons2=PS3®2=America&cons3=X360®3=America&align=1

MORGiON @ Oct 20th 2007 11:54AM

@5ive

and your point is? not talking about the US here, remember there are markets outside of the US.

Phantom @ Oct 20th 2007 12:12PM

Truth be told, both Xbox 360 & PS3 are doing a piss poor job compareto PS1/2. I'd be worry if I am a 3rd party software developer. Evenwith the best selling Wii, the low attachement rate is going to be a huge problem as well. It would be interesting to see how things turn out in the end.

I am a PS3 owner. Should I be worry about my investment? Actually, no. With PS2, I only purchased 35 or so games since I brought the console around 6 months after initial release. Asfor PS3, unless of course developers decided to "cancel" R&C:TOD,MGS4, Uncharted, UT3, Haze, GT5:P/GT5, GTA4, Silent Hill 5, RE5, and so forth for PS3, I am sure my PS3 will worth every penny I spent for it. So freaking what if PS3 isn't number 1? Besides, PS3 outsold Xbox 360 in the gaming mecca, Japan. Do you guys really think developers will abandon PS3 completely and leave Japanese people in the cold? I think all of us just need to remember why we purchased PS3s for. Worst comes to worst, PS3 is a damn good blu-ray/DVD player for your HDTV.

XanthouS @ Oct 20th 2007 12:29PM

How the fugg isn't this posted on Joystiq?

Afsheen @ Oct 20th 2007 12:52PM

This data does not include European sales, so where exactly do these numbers come from?

And I think phantom makes a damn good point. In fact last night, as I was watching a movie, I looked at my PS3 sitting under the TV and got worried about it's future. "What if I've bought another Atari 5200?" I thought to myself, worried that the console would be abandoned quickly. Phantom reminded me why I should stop such lousy speculation.

steve sway @ Oct 20th 2007 12:59PM

If SONY wants to get more PS3's sold they really need to up the features for the end user. Some suggestions:

1. Divx/Xvid codec support: This is supposed to be a "multimedia" center and people want support for the codecs they use on the PC's. If I have to purchase a $300-500 box (ie: the TVIX) to watch movies on my TV I sure as hell am not spending another wad of money to play games. SONY needs to put this functionality on the PS3 to broaden their audience.

2. Skype support: Once again, this "multimedia" center needs to offer more functionality. SONY recently started the sale of the PS3 eye camera that can be used with one game (for now) and it is quite an impressive camera at that. That being said, are you going to pick this up to use with one or a few titles? Hardly.

SONY already has Skype available on their not so popular handheld, the Mylo. It wouldn't be a stretch for them to take the available Skype API and pump out a version for the PS3 (and PSP for that matter). This would open up a great number of possibilities. Think of the many families whose parents don't even have/use a computer that could use their child's PS3 to make calls over the internet (video enabled) even.

3. Video editing: Use those SPE's and Cell to their poential. This machine would be a video editing and encoding powerhouse! Many of your customers already own SONY (and non-SONY) DV cameras and are stuck having to do their editing on their PC/Mac's and it takes hours to render the video. You have the horsepower, adequate I/O (and potential for additional storage) and the development folks who could code this.

4. Mouse + Keyboard support in games (FPS): PC's gamers have grown up playing their first person shooters WASD style. To try and migrate them/us to the gamepad destroys the level of immersion and sacrilegious to us. That said, as the PS3 already supports USB keyboards and mice I think it should be strongly suggested by SONY to it's 1st and 3rd party developers to support these devices natively in, at least, their first person games. Epic is leading the charge here with UT3 and they will reap the rewards for this smart move. Hopefully then others will wake up, see the light and follow suit.

The above points shouldn't even have to be suggested by me. If someone within SONY isn't moving to get the above points implemented (at least a few of them), and possibly others I'm missing, then I will have no sympathy for them when/if the PS3 fails in the market.

Wake up SONY.

mccomber @ Oct 20th 2007 1:40PM

So, in a first year marred by terrible publicity, apparently no games and generally people shouting doom from the rooftops (or were those whistles? I can't remember what Microsoft paid them to do) it's still on par with the 360. This holiday season is going to be the first indicator of how well all three consoles will do long-term, but it won't be until '08 before we really have an idea of where they will all end up.
Will the Wii hold onto it's sales, get a few truly deep and exciting games, and prove that it isn't just the greatest fad gaming ever saw? Will the ps3 FINALLY deliver on it's promises and games, and will the price cuts make a big enough difference? Will the 360 have any other monumental titles that get people to buy systems, and will it's advantages in ease of development now as well as the head-start on the competition continue to be enough to hold it's own in the future?

Bluebrake @ Oct 20th 2007 1:44PM

MacBandit: the spike from the price drop is that little hump starting around week 36. It doubled sales for a few weeks, but it didn't significantly change total sales. You can see it here:
http://www.vgchartz.com/hwcomps.php?cons1=Wii®1=All&cons2=PS3®2=All&cons3=X360®3=All&weekly=1

Afsheen: the European numbers are included. The big jump between weeks 12-23 is the Euro launch of the PS3.

Jim @ Oct 20th 2007 3:46PM

Well, fun with statistic, but it's not entirely correct what the graph shows, you should only compare date from when the PS3 launched until now.

TxdoHawk @ Oct 20th 2007 3:54PM

Everybody laughed at the 360 when it was first cranking up, and look where it is now. It takes time to build a software library. I own both systems, Sony will eventually get over the hump. Not this holiday season, though.

Kenneth H. @ Oct 20th 2007 7:01PM

hey folks, I just wanted to add my two cents...I bought my PS3 back in June/July right before the 60GB price drop...I waited so long becasue I was initally concerned about PS3 being a fad...fortunately I bought 30 days before the price drop so Amazon was able to refund me the $100....I have to say that I'm pleased with my purchase...I use the damn thing everyday....at the very least as a media center..I'm so glad I'm able to get my music off my computer and into my living room surround sound with such ease....nevermind I play Warhawk like everyday...I also own R:FOM, Rainbow Six, Fight NIght....and I love that I can play PS2 games...(seeing as I came late to the party)....I haven't even experienced true HD yet (ie. no Blu-Ray)...I'm gettin a 52" HDTV this Xmas...can't wait. Suffice it to say that from I've experienced so far from the PS3, I'm excited about its future....obviously there is a lot to be done and Sony has had its missteps...but remember they've done very well these last two console generations...they have a proven track record...proven....I think they know what they're doing...and as the pricce comes down I believe it more so....from what I've seen and from what I hear Sony clearly trying to raise the bar and think ahead "beyond" if you will....(ie. Blu-Ray, Home, Little Big Planet, etc. etc.). They're taking risks and I like it...with "superior" hardware this gen Sony will blow our collective minds in the near future and beyond with the gaming experience they're going to be able to create. So long story short the Wii and the 360 are doing sum things VERY right...but in the end I think the PS3 will reign surpreme...what can I say I'm a fanboy.

KEH

PSN: kenny6774

Kenneth H. @ Oct 20th 2007 7:04PM

*I thought it would be a flop...

divi @ Oct 20th 2007 7:29PM

You guys need to quit whining about whose winning, it is seriously stupid. Do you just want to tell your friends you were right. It will make no difference who wins. I just care about the games. I own a 360 and a Ps3 and as of right now the PS3 sucks the 360's big ole johnson. There are not many great games on PS3 yet. So who is actually losing, not me or any other 360 owner. You sony fanboys are losing. Did you not buy the PS3 for the experience of a lifetime, I did. Well Sony isn't delivering so Im off to greener pastures. Im not in a postion to play games before they are on shelves but I can always play games before they come to PS3, oh and without all of the bugs. Also that big jump in xbox sales seems to have come after the PS3 was released. just face it the wii wins and the 360 is the best console. And I feel sorry for the idiots that payed for a new xbox, Microsoft fixes them and sends them back for free. And yes they have multiple SKUs but what is the 20,40,60,and yes don't let me forget the 80 gig version of the PS3, is that not the same thing. Plus a playstation without backwards compatibility is dumb. at least each sku on the 360 just adds something new not taking away something completely worthwhile. And as an American, I don't care who wins in Japan because we don't see half of the games they even make. Are you guys really relying on that 10 year cycle because by then ill have the new systems which will be outsold by the 100 dollar PS3. Are you guys gamers or movie buffs. If you are a gamer then do yourself a favor and buy an xbox. Im gonna go play some games on 360 while you guys twidle your thumbs and whine about what i just said. oh and by the way im 22 and i guess us kids just know whats more important for our consoles......Games

divi @ Oct 20th 2007 7:32PM

at #35 you havent played a 360 have you cause all you named Microsoft does better and more

JKPierce @ Oct 20th 2007 8:09PM

Articles like this are fun; where else can completely baseless hyperbole like divi's be found?

Starfire @ Oct 20th 2007 8:38PM

As for #30, I also think that not having divx cripples the media center aspect, but it seems that right now they are trying to focus on the games side and avoid too much confusion as to what a PS3 actually is. For me a convergence device is great news, but many people don't like the thought of paying for something they won't use (sadly, as they can always use it later), so that may be on the back burner for now. But still, I agree, it is a needed feature.

gerg @ Oct 21st 2007 2:23AM

why don't we try to get joystiq to post a poll, seeing how many readers on which consoles? i have all three and love each of them in a special way.

Melchezidek @ Oct 21st 2007 10:47AM

We get enough bullsh*t spin from Sony already, we don't need PS3 fanboy to post it too. The graph shown is WORLDWIDE, but what most of us are really interested in debating is what is happening in our own market. So, follow the link for the graph that shows the launch comparison for America. http://vgchartz.com/hwcomps.php?cons1=Wii®1=America&cons2=PS3®2=America&cons3=X360®3=America&align=1

I'm not a hater, nor a troll, but I just want the spin removed for readers of this to know.

Slaziman @ Oct 21st 2007 9:14AM

Two reasons:

1. There were no good games for the 360

People say very often that the PS3 doesn't have games, but that's because they don't count the great multiplatform games. The 360 didn't even have that for the most part.

2. People holding out for the PS3 didn't buy 360 until PS3 launch

If you follow the charts, you'll see a spike of 360 sales when the PS3 released, which I attribute to fencesitters finally getting a 360 after the flurry of bad PS3 PR.

Ithilis @ Oct 21st 2007 10:13AM

To Phantom -

Amen to that, man. I own all three consoles now, so I really don't care who 'wins'. I have posted on here several times that having a clear 'winner' in this market is bad for the market itself, because competition breeds innovation.

The clear winner this generation will be us, the gamers. I don't care which console wins, because I know I'll be playing games that I like on each one of them. Blind fanboyism and console loyalty is a thing of the past, and an altogether immature notion.

divi @ Oct 21st 2007 3:43PM

slaziman you are an idiot. What do you mean the 360 doesn't have good games? Dead Rising, Saints Row, Oblivion(because it came out first on 360), Gears of War, Bioshock, Blue Dragon, Call of Duty 2, Command and Conquer 3, Forza 2, PGRs, Guitar Hero 2, all 3 NBA 2k games, Test Drive, Prey, Rainbow Six Vegas(which came out earlier and better on 360), The Outfit, and of course Halo 3. I even skipped some of the games. And the multiplatform comment was stupid because most games that go multiplatform are buggy on the ps3, BUY A 360 idiots and have fun.

LaughingTarget @ Oct 21st 2007 8:20PM

Mathematically speaking, this doesn't mean that the PS3 is going to remain fairly constant behind. We have to consider current trends. The 360 is outselling the PS3 by a wide margin worldwide (relatively speaking, because the Wii is spanking them both combined) RIGHT NOW. If the PS3 only remains on-par with a year-ago 360 sales, the install base difference will only widen. If Sony increases by 1 and Microsoft by 2, that is still an extra 1 that Microsoft widened the lead by.

Also, competition does spark innovation, but not hardware competition. There is little fundamentally different between the 360 and the PS3 that actually impacts the quality of games we will be able to purchase in the future. If anything, not having a clear hardware winner will stifle innovation because developers will have to expent more resources just trying to reach the audienc (multiplatform) and no single console will have the install-base to warrant risky exclusives. Without the PS2 being the uncontested winner of Gen 6, we wouldn't have seen risky titles like Okami late in the cycle.

Competition comes from the software developers battling out with one another to see who can deliver the best product. The hardware doesn't do anything but sit there being useless without the software developers to put something on it.

Darko @ Oct 21st 2007 9:04PM

Is this all ps3fanboy.com has to offer... a place for fanboys to duke it out about which console is best? Get past it all of you. Its pathetic. I own all 3 I want all 3 to succeed. Unfortunately both my wii and ps3 collect dust. A lot does have to do with a one year lead by the competition. It will change, and Ill say this the ps3 and wii better get some good games soon, not to beat the competition but to offer me something the others do not. Thats why I own all 3.

Xbox fanboys - stop gloating
PS3 fanboys - wake up from your persistent state of denial the ps3 needs work
Wii fanboys - ... do they even post? I don't think they bother... eh oh well

Personally I think all 3 need to make changes
Xbox - come up with a cheaper gold service / arcade games, stop recycling broken 360s
PS3 - get some games, unlock the true power of the ps3 while in linux... what a pathetic waste and broken promise
Wii - get some games... now

Xbox/Ps3 - play divx files damnit.