This is hardly shocking news, but according to the Wall Street Journal, both Nintendo’s Wii and the Xbox 360 clobbered the PS3 in holiday sales. U.S. sales fell nine percent from this month last year. During the same period, sales doubled for the Wii and were up eight percent for the Xbox 360.
That’s what happens when you fail to cut prices on your system, and the lack of exclusive game titles didn’t help either. Not to mention a bunch of inexpensive Blu-ray players. The end result is that the PS3 was the least attractive option for buyers. Apparently, it’s not even fit to roast a decent weiner.
Looks like Sony won’t be able boast about the console to prop up their electronics division, who by the way, will be cutting thousands of jobs to boost profitability into 2009. To be honest, there are no PS3 titles that I have to have right now. How about you? Are you opting for a Wii, Xbox 360 or PS3?
[WSJ]
TAGS:
Holiday, Nintendo, PS3, sales, season, Sony, Wii, xbox 360
I have all three systems, and out of the two (since the wii is too gimicky for me to really consider), i personally like my ps3. And honestly, i would like my 360 probably better, if i hadnt gone through 4 of them in the last two years. Im always nervous when i turn the dang thing on. Yea, i know microsoft extended its warrenty and all that jazz, but still have to wait two to three weeks to get it fixed and back, and thats if its working too. Might not have as many exclusives as i would like, but at least its reliable.
Xbox 360 without a doubt. I have waited and waited for Sony’s Home to be realeased and all they can offer me is a beta. They talk shit, they deliver shit. Screw Sony and their high-performance grilling machine. The Xbox 360 is the only bonafide console on the market at the moment (not forgetting the genius of the Wii. I hate the specs but hey, it’s revolutionised gaming!) and I think Microsoft has done an excellent job by carving such a large install/fan base due to their reputation as a SOFTWARE company. The one thing I can rely on them for is learning from their mistakes. The next iteration of Xbox will not RedRing… I hope. For now, I’ll cross my fingers and hope for a Jasper.
honestjohn
you can identify a jasper 360 by looking at the power usage info through the hole in the box. iirc jasper uses less power than the older 360s. 14.2 amps is a falcon, 12.1 amps is a jasper. and they do show up on all types of 360s, the example teardown i saw was for an arcade machine.
- echo
snoooz,not even the wittiest smackes at WII & 360 can save 10 pound monstrosity now.
I do think the PS3 is in trouble, but they are only 5 million consoles behind and they do have an install base of 17 million. 17 million units sold his hardly inconsequential. I used to think the PS3 was doomed over the last few years as sony kept saying it was in good shape. Now that everyone is saying doom and gloom for PS3 I think for some reason that they are in a position to really take off. They could have never anticipated the shit economy and I think that is what hurt them. HD TV adoption is on the rise, and as people can afford second sets, their old sets will go in the kids room, where guess what, the kid will want the blue ray capability of the PS3. I think this next year will also see many sony games that will make owning one a well worth it. I love the 360 and own one, but I think the sony is still in position to do a ton of sales with the ps3
something tells me sony will win. i am planning to buy a ps3 when i can afford
The wii already won! I like the 360 myself. Microsoft could make system out of playdoh as long as they have xbox live ill pay the m$.
Personally if i could make love to my ps3 i would, the ps2 started off slow and so did the 360 when it first came out. The 360 rushed production dished out a system along with a crap load of games…that out of most of them only a few are good. The ps3 took their time, built there system to last and are releasing a load of good games. The ps3 can put out better graphics, and it doesn’t burst into flames when you play it for over 10 hours! The xbox might be fixing it for free but it doesn’t help the fact that they suck brick.
The Wii is fun, instead of worrying about graphics the wii worked on game play. Yeah graphics can look good and all but if you don’t srtike up the game play it just the same boring shit with a sugar coating of graphics. the wii is also popular becuse it was made for kids, want to know why the xbox and ps are trailing behind…becuase it’s for adult and hardcore gamers….sony and microsoft are to buisy trying to make more money and compete, while nintendo is breaking new ground and just trying to have fun…o.O
I was going to purchase a $200 Blue-ray player and a 360 for $199 before I opted to buy a PS3 instead, which condensed all of my needs into one machine. I looked at the PS3’s price tag this way: It’s $200 for the Blue-ray player, and $199 for the video game console, the same exact price as the cheapo Blue-ray player I was going to buy plus the Xbox 360…but only minus the worries about red rings of death, etc.
The PS3 will bounce back. It won’t dominate this generation like the PS2 did with the last, but it will more than hold its own when all is said and done.
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is awesome on the PS3! I was able to get my PS3 for $299, so at that price point it is a real good gaming console, in my opinion.
I have a PS3 and I LOVE it. It is not only a gaming console, it is my Blue Ray player, music player, movie player (DVD’s ripped onto my computer), netflix player (play on app on pc networked to PS3), picture player, telephone (voip, chat) and more. How could you not like it… Seriously, if not just for the blue ray player, PS3 is worth it! Besides, I leave it on for days at a time, no overheating issues. Not once have I had a problem.
PS3 - Gaming console, Media Server, in essence an entertainment powerhouse!
Sony has lost it base for one reason “PRICE.” Attaching a Blue-Ray Player cost them this time. That marketing worked 2 times before. First the PS1 having a CD Player & PS2 with a DVD Player. Sony listen to the Media vs the true buyers, and All buyers want is best “Video Game System.” Xbox is in second place only because it clean up on Sega and Nintendo past mistakes giving birth the Playstation Brand. Xbox built a bit for bit graphic gaming system for less the price with the same game play offer on playstation 3. As start buyer - Who would you choose? Nintendo wii is not just built for children, it was built for any gamer who has been player the same type of game with no game change in game play for the last 15 years. Remember Nintendo is the only True Gaming company left making systems and it a reason for that… because they are not afraid of taking risk.
Ask anyone who actually owns a ps3 if they’re happy with the system and I bet there’d be an extremely high satisfaction rate. Yes, it’s expensive and yes, the 360 exclusives are selling better than the ps3 ones but in one year from now, we’ll see if it’s failing as bad as everyone’s predicting (bad news is better reading than good news). Personally, my ps3 is the best system (out of a loooong line of systems) I’ve owned and I couldn’t be happier with it. To all the doomsayers all I have to say is, “meh”.
i own a ps3, NEVER PLAY it, hardly any games (that i personally would play)
i do use the BluRay tho, which is great, i got the original 600$ version, and i’m still waiting for FF13 to come out…oh wait, dont need ps3 for that from what i hear now…going to be on 360 as well??? if that doesn’t tell you that things aren’t looking up for sony, i dont know what will…i remember saving up for the original ps when i heard about ff7 coming out…….for non-rpg fans i think the system would probably be better, but right now more ps2 and 360 rpg’s to play than on ps3…they really dropped the ball on having games for this bad boy…i mean, i think 20-30% of the games on it came out on 360 FIRST!!!
PS3. People can hate all they want on it. It may not sell but that is simply a price issue nothing more. In the end Sony knew that they were going to make more money off of Blu-Ray than off a console that is 5 years ahead of everyone else. They probably knew that all along. It will take another X-Box machine to catch up technologically and at least 2 for Nintendo. Once they come to the market Sony will have a few years ahead of them in the market. In then end Sony could have made something along the lines of the 360 and probably have sold more consoles. But then they would have had to start working on a new console for the next round of console wars. They knew THIS machine would give them at least 10 years. The PS2 has been around more than 10 years and is still selling. I am sure the PS3 will still be around after the PS4 is out and MS will be on their 4th or 5th machine.
I bet one of the underlings at Sony probably said “We need to drop prices to be competitive” was laughed at, then fired. Now he’s waiting for the news that the price has dropped but Sony won’t do it because a certain A$$HOLE former boss could care less about profits and more about being right, even when it’s clearly wrong.
I personally own a PS3 and I really enjoy it. I own most of the exclusives worth having, and if given the option to have it or a Xbox 360 and a Wii, I would still choose the PS3. In my opinion, the Wii is a great system for who it targets; Non-gamers. You can count the number of games for the Wii that primarily appeal to the gamer audience on one hand. This is mainly due to the fact that Nintendo makes excellent first-party titles. When it comes to the 360, I see a few issues as a whole with the Mircosoft console line overall. If we take into account that the Xbox was released last out of all the consoles of its generation and the Xbox 360 released around a year ahead of all the competition, it it clear that the turnover time between consoles was short. Now the million dollar question is, will this continue in the same manner? If so, I would like to throw out a great example of how a company can kill their customer loyalty, releasing new systems too soon. Look at SEGA. They released the Genesis, it was a hit. It was the soul competitor with Nintendo in the console wars. They then released newer systems too fast and killed their fan-base. Now if Sony continues as it has in the past, they arn’t going to release another console in at least 5 more years. In addition to that, ps3 games will most likely continue strong for 3 years after that. When the Xbox 360 was merely announced that it was in development, game development for the xbox began to slow right then and there. If the trend continues the way it had, Microsoft could very well meet the same demise as sega within the next 10 years. Will it affect the 360? Highly doubtful. Will it affect the future fanbase of microsoft consoles? I would assume so, grated that they continue the trend they have started.
Alas, the night it young for this generation of consoles, being only 3 years into the race. Who knows what will happen for sure.
tldr; Wii targets non-gamers, PS3 has long life span, Mircosoft consoles could end in the same way Sega did.
haha. they’ve always reminded me of a griller too. Actually, some cool titles are coming this new year for ps3. There was a whole new article somewhere in the news a few days ago. Altough I’m a sony guy I admit x360 has done well. As for wii, people tend to buy cheap stuff. Haven’t seen nice games for wii other than manhunt and this other game where the main character has a lightsaber. So I’d agree with that article I read that the new year would bring nice games for ps3. I think god of war 3 would be the ‘king’
I think one very important point people are overlooking is the fact that Sony locked down the PS3 so tight there is no mod chip available. Its a known fact that piracy can actually help a product succeed (Microsoft has acknowledged this). The Wii was cracked within a month or two of it being released and what do you know, its the number one console right now. Xbox 360 started off slow, but once the mods were developed it took off. People like knowing that they can mod their systems, and most people with mod chips still buy games. Facts are facts, if Sony would leak info on how to mod their system and a chip was developed, sales on both the hardware and software would jump significantly.
I purchased it more for the media capabilities than for the gaming aspect. Any technical person that does their research will no doubt conclude that the machine is far superior. If you are a hard core gamer, that doesn’t mean anything if titles don’t exist to capitalize on the power. If you’re like me, the streaming media (I have a Terastation that streams 4 terabytes of media flawlessly), BluRay, PlayStation Store, and gaming power make it a must have device. When I purchased it, it was still the cheapest BluRay player on the market and happened to be a gaming machine as well. Once Sony realizes that their target audience is the “30 somethings” that have played games since the beginning of gaming (and are quite frankly bored of it) and start MARKETING the media aspects of the device, sales WILL pick up.
I won my PS3 in a raffle at s strip club. So the choice was easy for me. Haaaaaaaa.
i kove my ps3 bithes
I love m PS3. Originally I bought it for one reason. It’s the best BlueRay player on the market for the money. It’s also a great up-scaling DVD player. The output over HDMI to my plasma TV is phenomenal. The optical output Dolby to my surround system sounds great.
And unlike every other piece of low quality, poorly engineered hardware (or software for that matter) it’s a high quality, reliable, and good looking piece of equipment. I never turn it off. It’s been running for nearly a year non-stop. When I’m not watching movies, or playing the occasional game, it’s curing cancer by running the Folding@Home application. Aside from the far superior hardware in the PS3, it also has superior software. Microsoft can’t get over themselves and has to stick some hacked up version of Windows on every damn thing they sell. Despite the fact that it’s already an inferior general purpose OS, it becomes especially useless when pushed to be a specific duty embedded OS.
Now add the fact that the Microsoft morons didn’t include a standard hard drive on the XBox and you now have an inferior baseline system that will be what developers develop for. Because all PS3’s have HD’s, it means the bar is already higher for what capabilities are available to developers.
So here’s the hard facts. Microsoft screwed up by making an inferior baseline product. And you can’t change or upgrade the console itself later. The baseline is always there to lower your developer standards.
They’re always stuck with that until the next Xbox.
Sony on the other hand has made the best hardware, with the best, most stable minimum specs and quality. Now add to that it’s a great BlueRay player and the 360 really starts to look like the junk it is. Especially when yours catches fire and burns your house down.
Sony’s only behind in titles and online support. And this they can fix. They were right to wait and get the hardware right. Now they have the best platform to build on. If they now spend money buying good titles, and improve the online functions, they’ll have it all over Microsoft. It’s already happening. Look at the improvements in the quality and amount of PS3 titles in the last year. Plus now that Microsoft backed the wrong horse in HD-DVD and BlueRay titles are growing exponentially the dual use of the PS3 really makes it look good over the 360 which now has no HD movie capability. It’s only a toy now, not a consumer appliance as well.
All Sony has to do now to put the nails in the coffin is push out a lot of good titles, and improve their online play.
Tachyon
I own a ps3. However its not because it necessarily wins as the best games console. My brother already owns a 360 - tho he doesnt live with me it just didnt feel right to buy one as well… tho I sorely miss halo 3: I do have our old xbox in the lounge room. I got the ps3 for blu-ray and its future potential. No theres not many “must have” games now - but it is the undisputed performance king of consoles. developers are slowly learning to program this behemoth and tap its potential: which does excite me.
I would buy an xbox…but i must have FFvsXIII, and Iwont be able to play it on xbox. it’s ps3 exclussive