You know, in an industry where media attention can shift on a dime, it's amazing how a situation can become branded in everyone's mind for…well, for an eternity, apparently.
I distinctly recall all the doom and gloom of late 2006 and throughout the first part of 2007, and although most analysts didn't agree with it, the negative articles never stopped. The number of "PlayStation 3 is Doomed!" headlines reminded me very much of 2000 and 2001, when the very same articles – almost word for word – were produced regarding the PS2. I suppose I could focus on this obvious comparison and how the PS2 turned out, but I've already done that, and this is more of a media observation: for whatever reason, despite what happened in 2008 (ship numbers for the PS3 and 360 were basically identical), we apparently view the scenario as if it were still 2007. We still see headlines like, "Can Such-and-Such Save the PS3?" and "Can the PS3 Catch Up?" …what? What year is this?! Why are we asking questions that no longer have any bearing on the current picture?
The PS3 and 360 are currently almost neck-and-neck. The two systems were throughout most of 2008, and while I won't predict what will happen in 2009, most everyone will agree that the PS3's exclusive lineup is stronger. The overall numbers put the 360 at about 28 million sold and the PS3 at a little over 21 million sold. In terms of new owners in 2008, I still hold to the theory that several million of those 360 owners aren't "new;" they're simply buying another 360 after their console died. Nobody is going to deny the 360's horrendous reliability so wouldn't this be a logical assessment? And anyway, when PS3 sales were struggling along at only a few million in 2007 and the 360 had a year head-start with massive titles like Halo 3 and Gears of War on the way, that was – DUH – a very, very different situation. I'm not bringing up the Wii because it's not competition, as both Sony and Microsoft have already stated. Besides, after Nintendo's 33% decrease that was just reported, what I told everyone would happen is starting to happen: you don't sell hardware with no software.
And yet, despite it all, I'm still seeing articles like "Will Killzone 2 Save the PS3?" I've got a newsflash for you- this is 2009. It's not 2007 and the PS3 didn't die two years ago. The PS3 doesn't need saving . It's locked in a battle with the 360 as every normal human with a functioning brain predicted, and there's no telling how things will end up. I'm not making rash predictions and this isn't a commentary on either system's quality; it's a commentary on how the media and mainstream consumers view the PS3. It holds the taint of a bad late 2006 launch and horrendously negative media attention at the start of 2007. At this rate, when the PS3 and 360 have basically identical userbases (which will happen at some point), we'll still be seeing irrational articles about how the PS3 is somehow still mired in 2007. It's like the thing stepped into the DeLorean, went back in time, and doesn't have the plutonium to return. Seriously.
You're quite the One Website Army here, Ben. Face it, the media at large doesn't WANT to like the PS3.
Still, keep fighting. We're all behind you.
-Arvis
yeah I agree, it seems all type of media is involve in the game industry. Some journalist don't even own a console, but if the media here something about sony struggling they blow it out of proportion for instant when sony lost 2.9 billions that spread like wild fire, and the thing alot of gamers was asking which was getting annoying, is sony going out of business and alot of other gamers had to make stand and tell them no. I get tired of the media sometimes. I don't trust alot of gaming journalists rating system because half time they don't know what they are talking. I do trust psxextreme, psu, opm, and ign is ok sometimes better then gamespot.
kick their asses!
yea,actually media from usa.im an american,but i know what is good and what is not.
i got a mustang and i dint own it because im an american;i got it because is a good car.
they should look more like "ps3 gaining ground, will [INSERT CHEAP EXCLUSIVE HERE] save the 360??" theres a quote that you should start to see late 09 early 010(yes, oh ten… its how i say it)
I'm behind you on this one Ben, people need to wake up and check the date.
yeah keep fighting !!!!^_^
You nice article, that needed addressing. "Can MGS save PS3" "Will Sonys exclusives help the dying console" there are STILL sites saying "Whats success for Killzone" There are so many Journalists with lack of knowledge/doubt or serious PS3 hating. Cant they accept its already won?
Hey ben, you promised that joshua the a**hole would be banned….lets see how honest you really are
Did you just read the KZ2 review @ "Total Video Games"?
Yeah, it's amazing to see all those silly comments, and even amazing to see people who truly believes them.
Good work in here.
Joshua your little addressing is pointless compare both console stats not how many it has sold and 'attach rate'. This year Sony has already proved the Graphics are Better, there are more exclusives and Blu-Ray is a help. The 360 has done NOTHING wow lets buy FF13 or Tekken, they even had to revamp live it was getting too stale!
Here we go with the console wars…..again. Man!, every freakin day.
josh in terms of grpahics the ps3 exclusives have the best graphics out just look at uncharted, killzone and mgs4!
I'm behind you to Ben but hey if they wanna hate let em hate
PSN ID Biggest_GMoney
Bottomline…people across America hate to acknowledge this….
Ps3 (2yrs in the market)=21M sold
360 (3yrs in the market)= 28M sold
This is with "no games" and at double the price.
Who needs saving now? PWNED
Last edited by Itdoesntmatter on 2/3/2009 1:17:57 PM
very well said
Yep. A seven million gap with one less year under its belt isn't bad.
But the media will always put a negative spin on those numbers because for some reason the PS3 has become the whipping boy of this gen.
It is cool to hate on the PS3, whereas it was cool to own a PS2 last gen. Go figure!
Yo joshua, go play with you and your buddies miis
docpain nice comeback miis, M$ need to learn how to create there own first party games and stop buying third party titles. E3 will be interesting this year. I cant wait.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7386879.stm
the link takes you to a thing saying that the PS3 has been outseling the xbox since Oct 07
'He said PlayStation 3 had been outselling the Xbox 360 since October last year.
"We have sold more PlayStation 3s throughout Europe than Xbox 360 even though they launched 16 months before us."
Mr Reeves, head of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, also said 48 million PlayStation 2s had been sold in Europe.
Despite Sony's overhauling of Microsoft in Europe, both firms' sales are a long way behind the Nintendo Wii.
This hate is more prevalent in the american media.
That is true mostly because I think the whole damn country is going on this "keep america american" tangent and hating anything from a foreign company but if the country would stop and look at it from a bigger picture the 360 is made from parts all composed outside of US soil.
ya especially with M$ advertising the hell out of the 360 arcade. and sony advertising basically nothing at all
Hrm…didn't you do one of these articles about 28 days ago Ben?
Something you not telling us?
Seriously, tho. the PS3 is doing extremely well outside of the US. Inside the US? Not so great. With the highest base price point by $150, plus the fact that multi-plats almost consistently sell better on the 360 (like World at War for the latest example) makes it appear that the PS3 is a lot worse off than it is.
It has a strong following in other areas, it does provide the most bang for your buck as well. However, many people don't see the VG industry as recession proof — particularly when it comes to the hardware.
@JoshuaAdam360 Quit the fanboy-ing. The 360 isn't doing so well in japan and europe if you look at the numbers. Plus having the highest attach rate isn't neccessarily a good thing, if you listen to the analysts.
@Kingharris You knock it off too. PSN has had way more major revamps than XBL so far, is free, and still has less Active Unique User IDs than XBL. There is nothing wrong with adding features. Yes, Avatars are a bad knockoff of Miis. But how about the PS Store? Trophies? Sixaxis? Reintroducing Rumble? Nuff said.
No, the 360 is behind….thats why they use Dvd format, need batteries for controllers, some controllers wired, some systems no hdmi, rrod every 5 minutes, overheating every 30 seconds, louder than a plane, outdated memory card slots…
Can you think 5 minutes in front of your face? Can you honeslty say you think 360 will be in a favorable position 2 yrs from now?
wait, the ps3 controller doesn't use batteries?
that has to be the STUPIDEST thing I have heard on this site yet.
By batteries he meant like double a's, not ones you dont have to replace.
Yeah.
I've been calling him out from day one!
My favorite post of Josh's was when he realized he had one foot out the door already and Ben's boot was on his posterior and he plays the sympathy card about how his parents died and his girlfriend had a miscarriage.
The Josh hate died down for a time after that.
Now, I don't know if any of that was true; but knowing his TYPE, I wouldn't put it past him to fabricate something like that just to save his own skin.
Yeah he really is ruining the atmosphere here. I am all for someone who has differing opinions but this is ridiculous. He is an anthem for hate here.
docpain is right!! Ben, you got to do something. See my post 3rd down also.
I was here on day 1 when you showed up Josh, you came to start flaming, saw that we had a mature atmosphere here, and then tried to act normal and apologized so that you could try to stow away and mess things up from the inside.
Well said, It seems nearly every article I read, especially ones saying positive things about the PS3, turn into a fanboy battle caused by josh dragging up every little piece of ammo he can find to shoot down the PS3. It seems to me that he never plays is 360 since he is ALWAYS on here with his fanboy BS. I think the psychology of this behaviour would suggest jealosy. He knows that the PS3 is a now a better machine but doesnt want to admit it so tries everything to put it down.
STOP BEING A FANBOY AND BE A GAMER!
neither is happening, has everyone forgot the figures, the ps3 n x360 both sold the same units during 2008, which means the ps3 is not dying and is doing just as good as the xbox, and this is at twice the price. now the 360 wont have any more price drops, the arcade def wont and i doubt the normal one will either tho the elite one might do, but the ps3 will have price drops this yr, and everyone knows price drops sells systems, the ps3 WAS catching up with the xbox in the first half of the yr when MGS4 dropped, 360 caught back up with the price cut. NO one bought a 360 because of gears 2, ppl only bought it who already had an xbox360, Killzone 2 will help shift systems but not by that much… they will be neck n neck until the late summer when the price drop hits, but until then, they are both doing well, we have a sega megadrive (genesis) super nintendo situation here, where both systems will do well and neither will fail, who sells most will be inmaterial, so long as neither bomb out like the dreamcast did then both companies will be fine and keep bringin out new systems. so stop argueing!.
Yeah josh, by your logic… Camry is better than a Murcielago cuz it outsells it…
DOUBLE THE PRICE…get a grasp of that for a second….ps3 sells at DOUBLE THE PRICE
Joshua, tell me…does the PS3 has as high of a failure rate as the 360? The funniest thing is, no one knows the failure rate of the 360.
Lucky you that your 360 survived. Not so lucky for others…
3-5% versus 30%
Those are real failure rates right there buddy.
How about leaving things alone that you don't understand
That 30% was just for a time.
It's lower now.
Still too high of a failure rate.
And how many of those 28 million sold are replacements?
Ben…..I second the motion to vote the token Xbox guy off of the site. (Agree with coverton).
This Xbox crap is why I left other sites to come here for information about PLAYSTATION and Sony. Not to hear mindless, flaming, junk from someone that doesn't belong here.
Cmon!!
@JoshuaAdams360 open your Xbox and tell me what you see? Your supporting china more than MS! Just like the people who buy a GM or Ford and think their buying a US product.A lot of GM parts are made in Mexico, so your supporting company's to take jobs over seas. Everything you buy supports a different country. So drop the false I support US products pride.
Last edited by Evil Incarnate on 2/3/2009 1:43:51 PM
It's call "globalization" 😉
Josh this article in no way shape or form bashed the 360, nor have any of the others in the past. Now you come to a playstation site where there are tons of playstation supporters and where there will be some fanboys that say stupid things sometimes. The same exact thing happens all the time and many times worse on xbox sites or even multiplatform sites with bias towards the 360. This is a great community of mostly mature gamers and oustanding writers and we want to keep it that way. You do not see the people from here going over to your xbox sites and start console wars. So why dont you get a life, or go on xbox arcade and play with your imaginary friends and leave us the hell alone!!!! I can't believe some of you on here actually believe this dude rented a PS3.
I also hate to say it, but Japanese products and "hands down" cars tend to be better quality. Same with the playstation vs Xbox quality issue.
Yes, Toyota is a good product and till GM and Ford can build products of that quality I don't care.
Last edited by Evil Incarnate on 2/3/2009 2:04:26 PM
Hey they're just gaining attention like Joshua just ignore it.
But yeah these articles are stupid and worthless reads with no knowledge of shit
It's funny you say that, most of chips in the PS3's motherboard(including the Cell) are fabricated here in the United States. Hell even 7 of the processor on the motherboard of the PS3 are made in Oregon. When you buy a PS3 you are actually helping out American workers.
Microsoft has time and time again been caught out sourcing and continue to do so when the only way this economy to get out of the resession is to have jobs here in America so we can start buying again. Hell even microsoft out source their customer support. We are a consuming nation, how you think China rose to power?. It don't matter, we are in the toilet and the rest of the world will be flushed right down with us. There is your REAL DOOM and GLOOM article.
Last edited by LCF on 2/3/2009 4:23:27 PM
Josh , why are yo doing this man ? Nowhere in the article was the 360 bashed . Ben was just pointing out that you don't necessarily have to be at the top to be a great competitor .
Ben, please get rid of Joshua. You have warned him once and he's not listened. Serve some red hot justice 🙂
Yeah….you did warn him and now he's spewing more than ever.
I agree, though its like he has a split personality or something. poor kid
OH Snap, WorldEndsWithMe crunched the numbers and 33% of 28 Million is over 9 million bricked systems, putting PS3 ahead with just a 2% fail rate. Teh numbers work if each of those bricks is only one RROD and most have had 2-3 before the warranty ran out or M$ refused to fix it again. So what do you think about that?