C0SM0NECR0

• 11:06am GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 1

 Duh.  Lower the price.  In these times of economic struggles (I know because I'm laid off) there's probably going to be a higher percentage of people that are more attracted to buy a next gen console at a lower price than other higher priced consoles.  Sony needs to do something to make their system stand out more and I don't know if Home is the answer to that.  It's a great community tool but I don't think that it's "console defining".  Granted, it's free so I can't complain.  This system is supposed to be twice as powerful as the XBOX 360 but very few games yet are showcasing that with the exception of MGS4 and LBP.  Maybe it's not that easy for Sony to do that but they need to do something..........SOON.

gingo | gingo

• 11:08am GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 2

psn id: gingo... the only surprising thing about this is that its only a million combined over 5 countries, i thought a console with a years start would have a much bigger lead, this is only good news for sony because they will catch that up easily in the new year

NYFAN | gingo

• 11:13am GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 3

What Killer Exclusive's???? All I keep hearing about is the DL content for GTAIV and the expansion pack for Gears... Not much else... At least I haven't heard anything and my brother in law is all about 360 and he is jealouse of the game's SONY's got coming out...

Fiddlesworth

• 11:15am GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 4

Duh, there's more than 5 countries in Europe.

benstevens

• 11:16am GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 5

i agree gingo!!!!  that was my thoughts too.  I was expecting it to be much bigger.

Next year sony price cut will easily make these numbers up and PS3 will be booming over the next few years while the others start to die off.  Even microsoft has acknowledged next yr is gonna be a tough one for them as sales will drop hugely.

TheRealCarbonfibre | Carbonfibre

• 11:20am GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 6

@NYFAN

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell is talking about sony's exclusives and even with said exclusives they should still reduce the price.

OH YEAH PRETZEL HUT, what?

dirigiblebill

• 11:21am GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 7

Where exactly did you get that axe you're grinding, Fiddlesworth?

Fiddlesworth

• 11:29am GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 8

So we should all gloss over the 18-month headstart and that a majority of that 1 million lead is in the UK.

markwesker

• 11:32am GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 9

Im not surprised now 360`s are £99 now.microsoft just keep lowering the price....how low can you go!!!  ps3 just needs a massive price cut now n its well over due n no price cut for chrimbo is just being tight.can`t say im shocked at the numbers.

Spurvugle

• 11:32am GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 10

F@ck xbox!

bilbo_bobbins | bilbo_bobbins

• 11:42am GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 11

 This is good news really for SOny, after being out a WHOLE year before the Xbox only has a million more sales in 5 countries without any competition?  That sounds like bad advertising on Microsoft part there.   I agree though that Sony should reduce the price, it's too expensive in this bad economic crisis around the world and is handing business on a plate to Microsoft.

benstevens

• 11:50am GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 12

it was only last week Sony said that they were 300k ahead in the PAL regions which i can believe now looking at a 1 million gap in just 5 countries. 

marronthered | MarrontheRed

• 11:58am GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 13

yeah spurvugle!!!!!

keep on fighting teh conzole w@rzzz!!!!

Merovingian

• 11:59am GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 14

I own a PS3 and ONLY a PS3 (Take a look at my collection), I'm saying this because I dont want to be called a Xcrappy360 fanboy, but guys, let's just face it, PS3 lost the "console war". Better than that, SONY lost the console war. Let's point some facts,  Sony has the most reliable hardware, the higher disc capacity, a larger experience in gaming market, had the greater install base ever reached (Ps2, which may be surpassed now by WII) and she eventhough managed to FU*CK THAT UP. Don't blame Microsoft (I'm not their fan, but anyway), it's not thier fault, its SONY's fault. Even with a ridiculously HUGE advantage over Microsoft, screwed all up. Horrendous Marketing(read adds), lost of important exclusives, lack of investiment for other new exclusives, terrible development/programing tools, lack of price cuts, COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME WITH HOME and many other stupid actions (and lack of them as well) led us to this point.

Ok "we" lost, but now what? How does this affect us?

Well, in my opinion it won't affect that much, not for now. What we should expect is more 3rd party non-aaa tittles going x360 exclusive, less DLCs and multiplat lower quality on PS3 (take a good look at Fallout3).

We don't need to rush e-bay selling our PS3's willing to buy a x360.... We'll still get tittles, but as I said, less quality and less 3rd party non-aaa games.

Unfortunately, Sony was just stupid.

Righteous

• 12:00pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 15

only a mil? MS should be worried, they have no more leverage now, the price cut is their last straw, the PS3 on the other hand still have an ace, just think about when the PS3 does have a price cut, those numbers will shift drastically...it's only a matter of time, be afraid MS be very afraid.

grimmz357x

• 12:12pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 16

i paid $600 USD. for my ps3 and im on a tight budget i saved up but look what 360 did to get its lead put out a console with known disk damaging and hardware failures and had a choice to fix them but thought it would be more cost effective not to i dont want to be a customer of a company that doesnt put quality b4 price so that justifies my purchase of a ps3 i have not been dissapointed with it and it keeps getting better 

tadpole3159 | faulkner8991

• 12:53pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 17

25 quid (50 dollars) off is all the ps3 needs to get back into the game, an after christmas price cut to co with the after crimbo sales would work perfectly

although tbh ps3 is doing brilliantly in EU with 8 million sold as compared to the 9 million of the xbox we sould see an overtake in a few months

www.vgcharts.com < they have charts

Chiem

• 1:07pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 18

Its obvious Sony lost this round.

Its not only the price, its the lack of awesome games as well. And time isnt on Sony`s side. It wont take much longer before MS launches its next console. And what about Nintendo, i bet they cant wait to launch the Wii-HD or whatever its going to be called. Are these two gonna be launched in 2010 or 2011? Either way time is running out for Sony, they need to act now!

bilbo_bobbins | bilbo_bobbins

• 1:09pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 19

 @14 

Thats complete and utter rubbish. The PS3 has only just begun really and is still beating the Xbox. I agree they have wasted to much time/money on Home, that is never going to catch on.

mikeghtmare | mikeghtmare

• 1:16pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 20

@Merogivian
What are you talking about, it's been out what, 2 years or 3 years?  I'm not even sure if it's 2 or 3, but you think that's it?  I don't see the Xbox720 and PS4 coming out, or the Wii2, how can the "console war" be over?  it's barely getting started.

Staticneuron | Staticneuron

• 1:28pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 21

5 territories?!?!

 

No, that doesn't sound like suspicious data selection at all.

grimmz357x

• 1:31pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 22

@ 18... no good games what about -Little Big Planet -Resistance 1 & 2 -Uncharted: Drake's Fortune -Warhawk -God of War 3 -Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction -killzone 2 -Metal Gear Solid 4 -super stardust hd plus future projects like MAG come on be serious not to mention the same multiplatform games
 

yippeekiya | yippeekyay

• 1:35pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 23

@21

that's exactly my thoughts

what happened to the whole region?

xxIvErx

• 1:41pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 24

@14 You need to understand this console war isn't over yet. Why does eveyone keep on saying that its over, its only been 2 years since the Wii and PS3 came out. think. I believe were just getting started in this generation and the PS3 hasn't caught on yet, and trust me it will. When people get bored with their Wiis and gamers not seeing true next gen games on their 360s, as oppose to games like MGS4, Killzone 2, GOW3, GT5, Uncharted 2 only possible on the PS3, they'll turn to the PS3

bracomadar | bracomadar

• 1:42pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 25

@14, I wouldn't call it over, but I agree that Sony has made some huge mistakes.  I mean, if they want to blame this on a bad economy, fine, but the PS3 is more reliable and CHEAPER than a 360!  If a you bought an X-Box 360, with the HD-DVD player you had to install yourself, and paid for Live to play on the internet for a few years, you'd be paying more than a PS3...and with the HD-DVD player, good lucky getting new movies for that.  Not to mention all the other features PS3 has that X-Box doesn't have.  I mean, Sony should have hounded this in their ads, not just put up a bunch of scenes out of their games projected onto people walking down a street.  All that says is "we make video games".  Guess what?  360 makes video games too.  Instead of wasting all this money on ads, maybe they should have spent it keeping exclusives theirs and buying exclusives.  Greed is good.  I had 3 friends buy a PS3 this year just for Metal Gear Solid 4.  Two of them had 360's already.  Now if Metal Gear Solid 4 had come out on the 360, they probably never would have bothered buying a PS3.  Exclusives sell consoles!  That's why sales are doing better than what they have been doing. 

sefiroh

• 1:44pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 26

i believe the reason why sony will/has lost this round is due to the loss of key franchises and/or exclusive games. think about it. DMC, GTA, FF, TEKKEN, (i believe AC was a sony exclusive at first) , RE. software was what won sony the last round and it is whats losin them this round. you take the fact that PS3 is more expensive and you can get the same games on xbox, that one year lead really does make a big difference. those franchises are what made sony the beast they are. the only way for them to win is to make more ground breaking games that become system sellers. they have the superior hardware but losing those games are killing them. also, a point that is understated is that how can you tout your superior hardware with not seeing the difference in any of the games? with KZ2 R2 and UNCHARTED sony really needs to blow people away so they can start to see what the machine can really do in terms of game graphics and performance.  i have noticed lately that sony is not promoting the system like they should. i see xbox ads everywhere and the sony ads are always towards the back or seem like an afterthought. JMO.

stovich | TasteLikeBurning

• 1:46pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 27

1 million in 5 countries, but outsold in the region as a whole. Spin much?

C0SM0NECR0

• 2:08pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 28

 I agree sefiroh.  Those games you mentioned used to be big desirable titles that past console owners have envied ps owners for having.  And granted, yes Uncharted 2 and Killzone 2 are coming out and they look great and all, but they seem to lack creative/innovative standards like LBP that PS3 really needs.  They need to take more risks with their investments (with the exception of Home) and come out with console-defining, game-play refreshing hits.  I think that they could and should utilize the PS3 eye and start developing DEEP virtual and interactive games that would hopefully re-revolutionize the gaming industry like the WII did with it's technology.  But in a different more interactive way.

Arimax

• 2:12pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 29

 Personally one of the biggest problems this gen is the game prices. Everytime I look at the 360 or Ps3 game prices I cringe at it. 

I'll try to put it in a better example I'm someone use to buying a bunch of games at $20-$30 most of the year, and I might be lucky to get a $49.99 game sometimes. Still these $59.99 games most aren't that great to have the price tag they do. Don't give me that "well the developers put so much into these games crap either". 

Merovingian

• 2:13pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 30

Ok, I'll go a little bit deeper into my "analysis". What lead us to buy a PS3 instead of a xbox360? I believe that most of you guys had a PS2 and even a PSOne, are economic independant and are real gamers. When I say real gamer, I mean read reviews, are up to date with every trailer, research news and etc. Unfortunately nowadays, console market are far from beeing only made of "Real Gamers", if that was the case, I'd place all my bets that PS3 would be ahead of Xbox360 and even Wii. Today, console market is made of  "real gamers", casual gamers (read wii crazy fans) and kids/teenagers who says "mommy I want a video game?". Back then when PS2 ruled the world, there was ONLY the PS2, much of its games were exclusive and very famous, so those kids ASKED for a PS2.

What happends when their mommy went to Bestbuy to buy a console? They ask "I want a video game to my 13 year old kid" and they got "ok, we have this one that costs US$ 399 and this one that costs US$ 199" their mommy asks "What's the difference" and the answer is "Only a few tittles, but they're equally good".

 

Sony placed her bets that some new (which are indeed just a few) tittles would raise their sells, but it has proven not to be enough and believe, Sony can launch 5 excelente exclusive tittles per year and it wouldn't be enough to win this battle. This year, sony released MGS4, Resistance 2, LittleBigPlanet and Valkyria Chronicles, in exception of MGS4 none of them sold what they'd expected. They can release GODIII, KZ2, Uncharted2, a new R & C, Resistance 3 or whatever, that won't change the fact that Sony is not targeting what they need to target to raise their sells, which happens to be "the mommys". Even if Sony cut 50 bucks of their price, it would still be US$ 100 more expensive than x360.

 

That also explains why Home is so questioned by critics. PS3 major public are "real gamers" and that's not what WE want, it is what Sony want us to want.

 

Ok, you say that it's not over and you guys may be right, you say that it's only 2 years since it's launch, but think of that way, PS3 sells has DECREASED compairing with november last year... Ps3 is already too expensive to manufacture, imagine what is going to happen if it remains losing space to XBOX360?

 

I know it's only been 2 years but in my opinion Sony has lost its track some how that I believe to be almost irreversible. That's why I say it's lost, I may be wrong, but I'm afraid I'm not, unfortunately.

rexdeath | rexdeath

• 2:22pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 31

There's guaranteed to be a price cut next year for the PS3 and that will put the PS3 back on top for those countries.

Kurupt-The-Don

• 2:42pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 32

off corse..at that price..even the ps2 is more expensive..lol

DarkNemesis

• 2:48pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 33

@NYFAN - Your absolutely right.All I hear about is DLC too and people still begging for MGS4.

Abe804

• 3:12pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 34

Its sad reading some your comments. I understand your "Fanboism" but why wouldn't you except Sony has without a doubt lost this generation. A more powerful system with better looking games doesn't mean victory. Just look at how the PS2 Crushed the first XBox in sales. The PS2 had far less power and no type of real online gaming service but had way more games and was priced to be affordable for many just as the 360 is mangaed to become. Both consoles have big exclusives, Halo 3 alone has sold more copies than MGS4, LBP and R2 combined. System power is important but the entertainment and game choices at affordabe prices are everything and that my deer friends is why Sony has lost this race.

just8

• 3:52pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 35

 merovingian and abe804 - i would be so sure, sony have undoubtably made some aweful mistakes, but they catching up, and bracomadar made a very good point, the ps3 may be more expensive and put mothers of buying them for their kids, but im sure theyd be more put off by their bank account being debited every month for xbox live.

Oh abe804 - how can you use Halo as a comparrison, when its been out for nearly a year longer than the ps3 exclusives, and everyone knows all xbox owners buy halo games even if they hate them!  Resistance 2 + LBP have only been out for one month in europe! get a grip before you make such stupid statements

Chiem

• 3:53pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 36

Yeah Abe804 is so right. Gears of War 2 sold over 2M copies during its first [b]weekend[/b] thats twice as much LBP sold since it launched! Go figure...

Ps3Outlaw1 | captaincairo2

• 3:56pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 37

 Ps3 will rock 2009... Killzone 2, God of War 3, Uncharted 2 and Playstation Home will keep on growing, what does Xbox 360 have besides Gears of War and some cheap rip off of the Wii. 2009 will be the year Ps3 takes over!!

grimmz357x

• 3:56pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 38

look its early you saw how games 5 years into the life of the ps2 started looking 100% better than the games in the first 2 years all im saying incredible potential is there and sony isnt going anywhere like they are going to scrap an investment this big because xbox sold a million more units in EU if anything they will work harder to be successfull they even said they arent competing with 360 or wii they think they attract gamers that may eventualy consider a ps3 and it grows the gaming community as long as i get to game im satisfied enough with the whose winning in sales in what region let enjoy this "next generation" no matter what you play im tired of bickering

dukelord | KillZone3000

• 4:24pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 39

In my perspective a X360 is really worth it bcz it as lower prices and very solid games.

i just have a PS3 insted of a Xbox bcz i wanted to play the sequels of  the great games that were on PSX and PS2.

But the real problem of the PS3 is bcz it hasnt much solid games and of course the price.

Free_Agent

• 4:25pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 40

 @30

Yeah, I definitely understand what your getting at, and I agree. Obviously a price cut is in store, and would help boost sales, and Sony needs to get that done. Even though by the time they get around to doing so it won't have as much of an impact as it could if they do it when it's most critical(typical sony). The big factor on its embarassing sales are it's perceived value. With Microsoft offering a console for $199, that is fully backwards compatible and offers everything required to play games, it's cheaper than a wii, and when you look at the games available its a great bargain. Even their more expensive models are much cheaper than the PS3. Sure you could argue that PS3 is cheaper if you equip the 360 with extra goodies to rival the PS3, but that doesn't seem to matter much to the majority of gamers as sales have proven. I love the blu-ray drive in the PS3(one of my favorite features) but again, I think the numbers have spoken, and people that buy gaming consoles want games. The stronger games library, and cheaper price point have proven to be more important to a majority of gamers than having a blu-ray drive. This is what I mean by perceived value. Even with the horrible reliability of the 360, it still isn't shying people away from buying one. People seem to feel they are getting more of an experience for their money on the 360, and in many ways they are. Multi-platforms are almost always better on 360, and it's online experience offers much more speed and functionality(more games, more movies, netfilx etc...) I have both consoles, and I go in phases. Some weeks I play nothing but my PS3, and sometimes it won't get turned on for a month, it just depends on what games I've bought. Also, all my friends have 360's, so If I want to play online with them I play the 360. I'm not interested in logging into home (which is horrible) and walk around playing with bubble machines and dancing with people trying to make friends when I can just play online with actual friends/family. In my eyes if Sony want's to stay competitive they need to offer developers more incentive to develop on their system with better development tools, they need to drop the price for consumers, and they need to make sure that they step up their lineup of first party exclusives since they have already lost every worthwhile exclusive worth mentioning already(with the exception of GT5). It's a tall order for them, but if they can pull it off( price cut is a huge one, and easily possible) then it will definitely worth their while.

englishgolfer

• 4:27pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 41

spin spin spin i'm spinning spin spin spin spin spin i'm spinning spin ... boy i feel sick from all this spinning ... spin spin spin spin....

whitegamer009

• 4:31pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 42

I expect Sony to start to make a come back in 2009!  That is of course if they do a  price cut of $50-$75 on their console!  They have a h e l l of a chance of doing so with the help of a great line of exclusives but the economy may have a hand in holding them back : (

DarkNemesis

• 4:35pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 43

Sales don't have anything to do with quality people.If we go by sales then the Wii is the best console ,which we all know is false.The PS2 was great because of quality.Even if it did not dominate,the PS2  would still have been the best system.The Dreamcast died and it was still better than the xbox and gamecube which both had longer life spans.As for the sales,Sony has been more successful, easily.Selling nearly 20 million consoles in 2 years where as it took the 360 3 years to reach 20 million at a cheaper price.It's dumb to compare a $400 console sales to a $200 consoles sales anyway.As gamers our only concern should be on the games and quality of the console.Both of which Sony excels at.Nobody is losing anything,because all 3 companies are no going anywhere regardless of what their current consoles sell.I bought the best console on the market and I don't give a damn what anyone esle bought,that's their right.

Solidus_Snake223 | Solidus_Snake223

• 4:39pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 44

For all thos people who say we dont have showstopper games like HALO or GEARS, you need to understand somthing.  Playstations gamers are far more diverse then XBOX.  the first Xbox had crappy games, when HALO came out they were so excited to have a game that was kinda fun that they worshiped it.  I have played all the HALO games since my friend is huge XBOX fanboy.  They are all the same.  Xbox fans will buy any game as long as its exclusive.  But thats why sales figures are wayyy diff on PS3 we have people who like tactical shoots (SOCOM) we have rpg maniacs.  MGS fanboys, adventure platformers.  Thats why we dont have that one defining title that sells on every PS3.  and anyways Xbox fans just liek to have a game we dont.  Look at bioshock, when it was exclusive every website or forum all the xbox ppl were like its amazing another loss for ps3 hahah. when it was annouced toc ome to PS3 I was amazed when the forums were all filled with PPl saying its not that good anyways dont worry about it.  or telling PS3 ppl not to buy it it sucks.  What changed?

DarkNemesis

• 4:55pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 45

@ 44

 

Sony actuually leads in software sales overrall and makes the most revenue for EA,Ubisoft and Konami amongst others.Gears and Halo should sell alot as you said.There is nothing else on the 360 that appeals their fanbase.Blue Dragon,LO,Too Human,IU,Banjo,TOV and even Bioshock all flopped on the 360.So it's dumb for people to compare LBP sales (a new franchise to Gears).Why not compare Gears to MGS4? See,MGS has sold more than Gears and was 2 million in it's first week,but that is ignored when these fools talk about sales.How about how Gran Turismo destroys Halo in sales? HAHAHA@ GT5P selling more than most of the 30 exclusives this year combined.

Chiem

• 5:01pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 46

@ 45

Get your facts straight!

Gears of War 1 sold over 5.6 million copies

Gears of War 2 sold over 3.5 million

GTA4 on 360 sold over 6.3 million

GTA on PS3 sold just over 5 million

 

And Halo 3 sold nearly 9 million copies.....stunning!

MagnumL7

• 5:03pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 47

those 5 countries make up 80% of Europe

DarkNemesis

• 5:12pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 48

@46

Get out of here xbot and Gears 1 sold that much combined on the 360 and PC,not the 360 alone.MGS4 is over 5 million now so like I said,Gears has not sold more than MGS4 and Halo is not over 9 million.Where are your sources since my facts are wrong? Still,how come only those 2 franchises are platnum and not the rest? Motorstorm,MGS,Uncharted,Heavenly Sword,Ratchet,Gran Turismo & Resistance are all platinum frachises and Singstar has been a platinum franchise before as well as Socom and Killzone and GOW.How come Lips and Seen it flopped? Why have all the rpgs on the 360 flopped.Hey,how come Too Human didn't go plat? Even Lair went gold,hahaha.

supamariobrotha | supamariobrotha

• 5:12pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 49

i just can't believe people would pay for a console thats eventually gonna break!?!? its confusing

BlueDragoon0 | Lionheart0

• 5:48pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
• 50

They'd be wise to the lower price, but no Sony doing horrible marketing plans AGAIN.