Ben-DutkaAs we all know by now, the Xbox One beat out the PlayStation 4 in the November NPD results .
Microsoft's console won both the US and UK regions by relatively significant amounts, and while many point toward the Xbox One price cut and multiple bundle deals as the reason, it begs the question:
Is this really temporary or is this the reversal Sony fans have been fearing all year?
The Xbox 360 owned the North American market for a long time. This has proven to be a Microsoft-driven market and many experts still believe Xbox One will end up holding sway in North America. While PlayStation 4 holds a sizable global advantage, seeing it fall in the UK, and considering the lack of top-tier exclusives, it makes one wonder: What are we really seeing here? I've always said that once the exclusive software starts to flow (as it does every generation for the PlayStation brand), Sony will be golden. But what if they can't reach that point? What if Xbox One is too firmly entrenched by that time?
The closest PS4 exclusive is Bloodborne and forgive me Dark Souls fans, but that may not be big enough to vault PS4 to a new high watermark in terms of hardware sales. What we really need is Uncharted 4: A Thief's End but chances are, that won't land until the end of 2015. And the absence of major IPs like Gran Turismo and God of War at the PlayStation Experience means we could be waiting even longer for all these killer exclusive apps. In the meantime, Xbox One will continue to be cheaper and really, the supposed extra power in the PS4 isn't doing us much good right now.
Therefore, if both consoles are perceived to be mostly equal in the eyes of consumers, especially in the US region, it seems inevitable that most mainstream consumers will pick Xbox One. So, to me, I'm concerned that what we saw in November will continue for quite some time and that it isn't the one-hit wonder PlayStation fans are saying it is.
No one should be fearing anything because it took 200$ price drop and free games of AC Unity and blackflag. It was a good deal. People ate it up. GTAV – PS4 was the most sold game during november followed by LBP3. The xbox one finally sold some consoles. Don't start shaking in your booties yet Ben.
Last year at this time I could look anyone in the eye and tell them that a $500 XO was going to get beat in every territory by Sony. That's exactly what happened for about a year.
Right now with the XO at $350 and bundled with the biggest games I have no idea how things are going to play out.
It's a shocker that MS took the UK to me.
I feel like if MS can drop big cash to buy up all the hottest franchises for holiday bundles it may be an uphill battle for Sony.
Sony is still far, far ahead of the XO though, sales total wise. It'll take a good long while of straight wins for MS to overtake Sony in any territory at this point.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 12/12/2014 10:56:45 PM
I suppose Sony bought up SFV. That's something. But it's not enough.
and btw, I did find a report where a Capcom exec did state, this was June this year, that SFV was being developed and it was planned for PS4 and XBox One.
This was sourced to a Japanese game site who preformed the comment session with Capcom.
Various outlets including Shoryuken, Giant Bomb and more posted stories at the time about this.
Also. When Ono stated they didn't have a budget for SFV it was during last year while they were still working on Ultra SFIV. Since that time, Capcom obviously made a budget for it during the following year.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 12/12/2014 11:16:13 PM
well the way i look at it both consoles are a year old P{S4 has been dominating for a year everyone who wants/wanted a ps4 has it already so it makes sense the not so popular system is now catching up
I'm not worried once they go back to 399 things should become even or the PS4 jumping back ahead. The aces in the hole for the PS4 are still exclusives.
and what exclusives are those on the immediate horizon?
Order 1886 is already being panned by some critics, going as far as making lists why you shouldn't even pre-order it. I get the feeling it's the next Sony exclusive to be slaughtered by many critics.
i wouldnt put much stock on those "critics" youre talking about. most of those "critics" are really out of touch lately. the most they could do play a demo of the game and bash it based on that when a game still have months to go before release. clearly they already dont know what a demo months before release is. i was at the playstation experience and played their 40 minute demo. from what i saw, the game looked and played great. then again this is from a demo i played and im not one of those "critics". as for me, knowing that it still has a couple of months in development, im excited to buy this game day one. my one complaint was i wish there were arrows to tell me where i needed to go because i got lost a couple of times. lots of doors in that one area, didnt know which to open. had to stealth kill enemy then look for the right door. there couldve been markers but myself enjoying the game was too big of a distraction.
yea, john, it just seems to me games that focus heavily on realism and immersion get hammered as of late. It's as if all of those qualities get tossed right out the window and they just analyze the game mechanics alone. I feel like by stripping away the illusion of the world you're tossing out a ton of what the game is wanting you to feel.
I don't doubt Order will be something great in my hands.
Im having a hard time understanding why people are skeptical of The Order. From the footage I've seen it looks rather fun and gorgeous taboot. Playstation Lifestyle . Net posted a 14 minute long off screen gameplay video. Even for being filmed off screen it looks great.
Negative news of Sony network accounts keep getting targeted by hackers has worried consumers about their privacy to turn away to Xbone. Sony really have to beef up their network security or they may lose confidence for more potential buyers.
That's not the issue. It's only an issue – although relatively small – for current owners who have information stored. For anyone else storing any information is optional anyways. So that's not Something that should be a legitimate excuse.
I'm not sure why it matters anymore. In fact I'm pleasantly surprised to find that most people I run into don't care about the console war. It's mainly being fueled my the media right now as far as I can tell.
Anyways, let's not forget the amazing XBONE deals this holiday season. That pretty much sums it up right there.
This ^^^ all the way. Why does the even matter for real? Just play what you'll play and be happy with the games you get.
Since the arrival of this "new" generation of consoles this site has had way too many articles focusing on the PS4 and its lead over the competition. Now this article. Nothing is wrong with this article at all, but I remember during the PS3 days, this site never focused on the numbers as much referring to them as unimportant in the bigger scheme of things. Now the PS4 is selling like hot cakes and software runs better.
And now we are here questioning Xbox One sales…???
Like bigtrailer said…it doesn't matter anymore. PSX went from being one of the most objective sites (which is still is based on the "Awaiting Greatness" article) to sometimes feeling like a fanboy website. I understand PS pride because I only game on the PS, but I find articles like this ignite console wars. 😉
Enjoyable read, but well you know….
umm.. it is noteworthy, this is the first time xbox outsold the ps4 since launch. given that xbox held the us is sales last gen and now theyre struggling to keep up. the article is asking whether this is just an anomaly due to the temporary price cut or will the trend continue even after xbox returns to its original price point.
the ps4 lead/sales are also noteworthy because of how completely different it is from ps3 launch. ps3 struggled at launch and ps4s are selling quickly… although my ps3 can do alot more stuff than ps4. if you think about why something is brought up then it will make sense.
christ, people should read the article AND think about it first before posting something. need to do both.
huh, i guess the edit option doesnt show up on vita. if you dont like the articles, then maybe you should tell david jaffe about it. i bet he'll have sound advice for people who dont like things that others made.
Whoa, calm down my man. I read this article and the many other articles that led up to my comment. I completely understand the purpose and intent of this article. Doesn't change my opinion which I am entitled too.
I understand the present and future question the article is asking its audience. Yes the X1 sold better because of the price cut, but I don't know about future business.
But the article also makes it seem like this "lead" is important and in jeopardy as referenced in previous comments. I understand the PS3 struggled initially and mid cycle while the PS4 is the opposite so far. I understand sales power the gaming world like any business and it is relatively interesting to compare one business to another…
But when we start questioning why one company has turned the tables, reactions and responses get away from the gaming aspect. We aren't part of Sony's business meetings or the investors, we're just Gamers who I believe shouldn't care who's beating who.
I understand why people like to debate about things like this (trust me I do), but again, we shouldn't care because in the end an objective opinion is still a subjective opinion. My opinion is..let's game and not worry ourselves with the numbers.
See what I did there without insulting you or making assumptions!
That's a question of how dedicated Sony is to battle out the numbers war. Remember when the PS3 sales were down? Sony did just about anything it could to pull ahead. Anything within reason, that is. There's no reasoning with Microsoft. All they care about is statistics. That's their gimmicky marketing.
So long as Sony remains on top of their agenda and continues to drive sales with software and perms, there's nothing Xbox can offer to trump it.
Ball is in Sony's court. I'd have to say that the Playstation experience set quite a successful tone for it. Now it's all a matter of following up by delivering products that won't get shredded to pieces by critics for reasons they shouldn't have handed to them to begin with.
Maybe december will also be better for the xboxone,then it's 11-2,so ?
Also with all these great xboxdeals and stil in europe, only in the uk xboxone sold more.
So the only territory where xbox COULD win is the usa,and worldwide this will bring the xboxone not on number one.
So i guess the best games/dlc wil come to the ps4,because that's where the most customers are[of course with exception of the games MS will buy like tomb raider].
And ps4 has Uncharted4/Bloodborne/the order [many customers don't care what critics say and wil buy it, like me hehehe] AND No man's sky in 2015.
[Imo] the best games will come to ps4 in 2015,and that's what matters.
Last edited by slow and smart on 12/13/2014 3:40:06 AM
AND the vanishing of Ethan Carter
In a month Sony is supposed or expected to lose, there's little to think about. I'll wait til the next two months to even have a thought about this.
I bet it's only a fluke. Wait until PS4 is restocked in all of the stores. 😀
reason why xbox one outsold the ps4 is simple, its the only console with holiday releases worth purchasing.
forza horizon 2 is such a amazing game and so much fun, up against that Facebook bug riddled crap drive club!
sunset overdrive is a perfect example of why i love insomniac, they have such a great sense of hunor and ALWAYS put FUN and craziness at the fore front of their games.
FAR too many games these days are ooooooo no you can't do that its far too unrealistic, oh no you can't do that no one else does.
insomniac is a hot lead anema to todays industry, and says f*ck it do whatever you want let your hair down and have some FUN!
we so need more developers like them!
playstation really does not have a SINGLE title worth picking up this holiday season!
and thats pretty pathetic, especially considering this from the company who has THE largest first party studio in the industry by a long, long way!
and i fear its going to stay that way for a long, long time.
whats the next big playstation exclusive to make us really go wow?
the order really screams meh to me, and even the latest previews from PSX really haven't been gushing with praise and excitement for it.
do we really have to wait till the end of next year, when uncharted 4 finally releases, to FINALLY receive greatness?
and just one game, one piece of greatness, after awaiting 24 freaking months!?
I'm starting to think were not going to see allot of big playstation franchises like GOW, GT, QD, MM, sony bend, whatever the big guys are working on till freaking 2016 at the earliest!
greatness truly does await, that is if your willing to wait 4 freaking years after the systems launch to receive it!!!!!!!!
More like a $200 price cut. They both have good games, microsoft is just desperate enough to lose out big money by price slashing. Sony was confident enough to release a bundle without slashing the price.
yeah idk the good games i still think is really a personal things cos i reckon i'm gunna enjoy next year is gunna be my type games. but yeah i guess i depends but idk maybe it would be till the year after but i think 2015 is gunna be a good year, but hey thats just me
happy gaming
I still think that PS4 will win globally and even if Sony loses in North America it won't be by a huge margin. Say what you will about Microsoft, they've gotten a lot smarter in marketing and business plan execution since Phil Spencer took the reins. Suddenly it's a horse race and that can only be a good thing for us the gamers. Neither player can take anything or anyone for granted and they'll have to work hard to please us.
This was easy to predict months ago as Microsoft was really gearing up for this holiday was great exclusives: Sunset Overdrive, Halo: MC and Forza Horizon 2. Combined with the $50 pay cut and that PS4 does not have have any real major exclusives yet for this holiday; this was going to be the result all along. The Xbox One bundles are a pretty sweet deal. Bottom line.
For anyone wanting Madden, CoD AW, Sunset Overdrive, AC Unity, Forza is probably in there too, the Xbox One has been effectively $290.00 for everyone.
This doesn't even include the instant gift cards we saw for Black Friday and similar retail sales that have been ongoing.
Regular "walk in the store" deals for PS4 are $400 + $60 game.
It's $350 vs $460.
$100+ leads usually mean big things for two consoles that are more or less seen as equal.
We're looking at a huge price and value advantage for XO.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 12/13/2014 12:53:51 PM
And here in Canada, you can add another 50 to that.
Getting sick of these posts….Sony wins 10 straight then finishes second in one despite strong sales which results in every man and his dog asking the question if this is the end….
Waste of time thread tbh
Even if this is the reversal – and I personally don't think so – is it really "dreaded"? I mean, what is there to lose? The PS4 is firmly established in the market and proven it's place in the market for the rest of the generation already, technically it's already proven itself as well, there simply are no "but" in the horizons here, *even* if the Xbone catches up and surpass the PS4.
That part of the "competition" is simply over.
This is not a sign of a reversal since Xbox traditionally sells incredibly well in holiday seasons. Also, we witnessed one of the biggest devaluing we've seen. The AC X1 bundle costed $349 with Unity and Black Flag. The combined value of those two games equals about $100, so you're basically get an X1 for $249. That's half of the price of an X1 + Kinect and 5/8 of the price of the standalone console! And, jeebus, on BF, you could get this bundle at Target with $50 of game credit for free. That's incredible value!
However, this strategy is not sustainable. Even for a very profitable company like Microsoft, this strategy definitely costed them several millions of dollars. Some people say that MS will make the price cut permanent and I understand that since MS cannot afford to lose any more marketshare. But the question is, is this strategy really sustainable?
The other problem the X1 has is that it has a very dry exclusives lineup for much of 2015. Other than Ori of the Blind Forest, Screamride, and State of Decay, there's nothing else until next holiday season. Meanwhile, the PS4 will be getting Grim Fandango Remastered, The Order: 1886, Bloodborne, MLB 15: The Show, Omega Quintet, FFX/X-2 HD, and even more. And of course, the multiplats move more PS4 hardware than X1 hardware unless MS has exclusive bundling and advertising rights to that game a la AC: Unity.
What we're most likely going to see is that the PS4 outsells the X1 from January to October and the X1 outsells the PS4 in November and December. The question is that can the X1 outsell more in those two months than the PS4 in 10 months? While the X1 made up a lot of ground last month, it still faces a 700K gap. So the answer is no. And this doesn't even put into consideration a potential $100 price cut on the PS4 next year!
It's over for Sony.
its hard to say wether this is temparary or the xb1 is really on the up turn in its two markets the US and the UK its really hard to say where the numbers are going to go for the ps4 and xb1 respectively
happy gaming