Sony’s PS3 has outsold the Xbox 360 in the core market of the US this Christmas, a major coup for Sony as it tussles with Microsoft for the much coveted status of being the losers in second place.
The sales for 11/29/09 – 1/2/10, as reported by NPD:
PlayStation 3 – 1.36M
Xbox 360 – 1.31M
Nintendo DS – 3.31M
PSP – 654.7K
Wii – 3.81M
Not entirely surprisingly, Nintendo’s Wii easily manages to exceed the combined sales of both PS3 and Xbox 360, although looking at the top selling games for the Christmas period rather affirms the notion that the Wii is operating in a completely different market:
1. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii – Nintendo, Nov-09) 2.82m
2. Wii Fit Plus (Wii – Nintendo, Oct-09) 2.41m
3. Wii Sports Resort (Wii – Nintendo,Jul-09) 1.79m
4. Modern Warfare 2 (360- Blizzard, Nov-09) 1.63m
5. Modern Warfare 2 (PS3 – Blizzard, Nov-09) 1.12m
6. Wii Play (Wii – Nintendo – Feb-07) 1.01m
7. Mario Kart (Wii – Nintendo, Apr-08) 936.1k
8. Assassin’s Creed II (360 – Ubisoft, Nov-09) 783.1k
9. Left 4 Dead 2 (360 – EA, Nov-09) 728.5k
10. Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story (DS – Nintendo, Sep-09) 656.7k
Overall the US games industry is said to have experienced the most lucrative holiday period ever, up 4% on the previous year, though overall annual sales were down 8% on the previous year in spite of this.
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Um... Is that really it? So after all the big push from the Slim, now the 360 actually has that much still?
Actually, I don't think you can really call the 3rd place even 'losers' when it's all said and done. All three consoles have enjoyed what could be called a success.
Seriously, the only reason why the 'second place' or 'third place' seemed bad in the past was because Sega was known to fall off the face of the Earth whenever they started losing sales. That and many American game console companies disappearing altogether. I just don't see it happening with any of the big three any time soon.
Yeah, but that's just US, and the 360 is 200 bucks while PS3 is 300. If you count Japan, PS3 easily outsold 360 this year. Europe, they're about the same.
Because it bears the name "SONY". Enough said.
It's a sony!
That is true here in Europe I think that people rather buy PS3 than 360.
Yes for a blu-ray player not really for gaming . I've 6 friends with ps3 and 4 of them only watches movies on it or using built in browser to surf over internet :] .
I believe that. If microsoft put a web browser and a blue ray player in the xbox things would be different.
konata is my waifu.
nope, you're konata's bitch.
@Anon 21:45
If Xbox was my dad, things would be different around here.
The thing is, it seems people are pretty content with the Xbox being a gaming machine foremost, but it still has some pretty good multimedia functions. For one, streaming content from the PC is a bit easier on the 360 for example. And though the PS3 browser is nice, but most websites crash the PS3 because of the extremely low RAM the PS3 commits to it.
No console is perfect. Slim is much better than the ancient GIANT of a PS3, but it still has its faults. I just don't see how you can just write off either the 360 or the PS3 altogether.
@Anon 21:45
It would probably RRoD out of the box if it had those.
And if you want the 360 linked up with wi-fi, you pay $100 for the adapter. So then both PS3 and 360 are $300.
Real Gamers use wires.
LimaYankee out.
Only if your to stupid to figure out how to configure wireless.
More like if you are intelligent enough to know that a hardline beats wireless every time.
i thought xbox360 had higher failure rates, thus more are being bought per person
He speaketh the Truth!!
Beat me to the comment. 50% failure rate makes you wonder of those millions sold how many were people with expendable money and lack of patience to deal with MS just went out and bought a new system. :-T
Now if the Slim had BWC I could finally get rid of my old PS3... Come on Pure Software Emu... O:-)
You're right; they are
No because Ms Replaces it for free.
Forever?
most people bring this up like microsoft doesnt make money off of second purchases. by this logic micosoft is selling 2-3 consoles per every 1 ps3 sold.
I've actually purchased 3 Xbox 360's but have owned 5 in total. RROD go figure.
the Wii kicked all there asses combined!
Second place, is the first looser...
Loser spelled loser wrong by spelling loser, looser.
What a loser!
And that's with the super cheap Christmas prices for all the consoles... meaning that if money's not a problem, everybody will go for the PS3 over the Xbox 360!
1.3 million is nothing to sniff at either.. All three consoles have done very well. I don't think there's a need to really put so much emphasis on whether 2 consoles can exist or even 3.
Looks to me like all 3 are very viable systems. They would be each called upon as big success in any of the past generations, with the amount of total gaming populations they control.
business wise, there is a reason why the ps3 lowered its price. not just because christmas is comin up. its cuz of the titles being released for the system. right ps3 owns the exclusive market and i cant see xbox catchin up. sony knew they would lose money for each system being sold yet they lowered the price to introduce games like god of war, ninja gaiden, heavy rain ect. also bluray is gaining popularity as well. i have a feeling that this christmas victory is only the beginning for the ps3.
P.S. xbox live adds to the expences-_-
People know how to spend their money, you pay for a PS3 and you receive a BD player also, that's their advantage, for not only a console.
That idea seems logical about 2 years back. Today, that BD you are talking about is obsolete. Everything being compared to a commercial reader being sold on the shelve is way below specs. Sony is just playing smart by keeping production cost down.
blu-ray = obsolete? lol, maybe for movies but when it comes to games all the consoles should jump to BD. Blu-ray can hold up to five times the amount of space DVDs can hold. Think how much better games could become with that much expansion to the limitations.
Obsolete?! Have you been in the Blu-ray section @ Best Buy lately? It's huge and continually growing.
"compared to a commercial reader being sold on the shelve" - he implies the drive inside (data speed, error corrction capability) the PS3 is obsolete, and as it is part of a larger package wil not be upgraded. Not that BluRay as a format is obsolete.
Not surprised, it was only a matter of time anyway.
Just wait until GT5 comes out...
Since that's the last hope for PS3 anyway, there's no Metal Gear Solid so soon, and FFXIII sucks, so...Gran Turismo 5 is what's left for PS3 now.
uh..what about GoW3, Heavy rain, and The last guardian??
GT5 isnt the only "big" exclusive left for the PS3..
Yes boy there're people on this world that dont like this uber sonys exlusives .
u mad or u troll
What a surprise -.-
America continues to be a haven of casual gamers.
On the bright side, this reflects what people think other people want more than what people actually want.
WoW vs FFXI
No this reflect your first comment. People in America like casual gaming.
um...except those casual gamers aren't even gamers. They're just grandmas and soccer moms who want something to kill time. Wii was good before it got raped by 3rd party developers and was left to die.
Left to die. Yea, a increase in sales this year up to 3.8 million. Yep, that's dying. LOLZ!
Increased in sales of hardware, but not software. Look at the top selling games for the Wii this holiday season.
Mario Kart? Wii Play? Games over a year old. Most of those games being sold for the Wii are half a year old or more while all the top games bought for the 360 and the PS3 where only a month old.
Let me put it to you simply, your mom goes out to by a Wii because everyone says how fun it is. She desides to buy a few games (Wii Play and Mario Kart for example) for her new toy, and then never buys a new game for it again and lets it collect dust.
All the while most of us real gamers out there have had are 360s and PS3s for a while and are just happy to spend to are hearts content on brand new shiny games that keep popping out.
Why are people STILL buying Wiis...
Because they're dirt cheap and easy to give to a kid/older relative.
Kids will play pokemon and more pokemon, adults will play mario/zelda. Throw in the other franchises they've milked to death like metroid, and there you go.
Nintendo's had the same "market plan" for YEARS...
Their "market plan" owns both the 360 and the PS3...
theres a simple known natural order
ps3 for rpg lovers
xbox for online play
wii for party games
PS3 for RPGs?
lol
Let me Fix it PS3 not for RPG but:
PS3 For JRPG Lover!
No RPG has sold over 1 million copies on the PS3. The PS3 is for shooter fans. Sony has been pushing shooters with Resistance, Killzone 2, Uncharted 1&2, InFamous, and Ratchet & Clank.
Sony royally screwed all the fans of every other genre that made the PS2 a success. After Grand Theft Auto, most of the PS2's top selling games were RPG and racing games, not shooters. They've left gamers like me stranded.
Yeah, FFXIII didn't even come close to 1 million copies sold. It only sold 1.8 million copies.
ToV also sold more than 1 million copies. Pretty sure that if you actually look, there are other titles, too.
and that is only in japan alone compare it with LO in x360 that only sell around 800k,
also LO is sold far below S04, ToV, and Blue dragon in Japan!
IF you consider bullshit like final fantasy RPGs, that is...
LOL! Same reason anyone buys anything. Because they like it and it does what they want.