Getting in a few jabs heading into E3, Sony's PlayStation Network boss Eric Lempel decided to call out Microsoft on their Xbox Live Arcade de-listing antics and making fun of the Xbox 360 for its use of an inferior user interface.
"We definitely want to make sure that [the PlayStation Store] offers quality titles and games that our consumers are going to enjoy" Lempel told GamesIndustry.biz, saying that "depending on what type of UI you have you can accommodate a lot of titles." Then, Lempel throws in a verbal left hook, saying that "over at the competitors' UI they may have some issues just displaying content, and scrolling up and down lists isn't the easiest way to find things." Ouch. We'll be the first to acknowledge the 360's XBLM may not incorporate the best way to navigate content, but the PSN isn't all peaches and creme either. Maybe Sony is just feeling the need to blow off some steam because, as we all know, releasing a 2.4 update can cause a lot of unwanted stress.
Going into this we'll be as upfront and honest as you can expect a fanboy to be. Overall, May's NPD numbers are not all that peachy for team Microsoft and the Xbox 360. No, they aren't horrible by any means, but they surely aren't anything to write home about.
So, let's get the icky news out of the way first. Just as the analysts predicted, console sales in general did not see any magical Grand Theft Auto IV effect. The Xbox 360 was only able to move about 186K units in May while Sony was able to do a bit better selling around 208K PS3s and the Wii just keeps on selling like crazy, moving an astonishing 675K units. And even though GTAIV didn't spur new hardware sales it did itself sell very, very well. Being one of the only pro-Xbox 360 highlights in this May NPD report is mention that the 360 version of GTAIV outsold the PS3 version nearly two to one, selling some 871K units compared to the PS3's 442K. And you are correct, we will take pride in that GTAIV sales fact.
Check the break for a complete breakdown of May's NPD report including the top ten video games and a list of all console sales. Also, we recommend putting on two layers of fanboy armor, because we have a hunch that you'll need double protection this month.
Update: This rumor is beginning to be more factual then not, with news that next month's EGM will also be revealing the PS3 version of BioShock. And it's reportedly scheduled to release around Christmas '08. Interesting ...
A warning to 360 fanboys who pride themselves on being selfish and protective over their 360 exclusive titles. We have rumor news that will not sit well with you.
CVG is reporting that next month's issue of UK PSM3 promises an in-depth look at (deep breath kids) BioShockfor the PS3. ZOMG! Shocker! According to early magazine reports, the PS3 version of BioShock is said to be superior to the currently Xbox 360 exclusive version, packed with all previously released DLC and improved visuals. While you wipe your selfish fanboys tears, take comfort that this news is still firmly planted in the rumor garden and know that even if it does turn out to be true, you being the 360 fanboy that you already experienced the world of Rapture last year. Now, buck up.
In the same interview that brought word of the 350MB XBLA restriction increase, Microsoft's David Edery wanted to make it known that the Xbox Live Arcade is where it's at and thinks that it will "leapfrog" the competition with the user-created XNA roll-out later this year.
Speaking about both Nintendo's WiiWare and Sony's PSN, Edery mentioned that XBLA's XNA component "from an innovation perspective it's going to help us leapfrog the competition, effectively until they find a way to duplicate it, assuming they ever do." Zing! Zing! Zing! But before we begin the mudslinging, we have a bunch of questions that need to be answered. Questions like: Can user-created XNA content releasing to the XBLA differentiate it from what Nintendo and Sony are doing? Will it be easy to use and navigate? Will the XNA integration actually happen in 2008? Will it rain today? We can only hope our mountain of questions will be answered soon ...
It's that time again when corporate execs are held accountable for their actions, sales figures are calculated and the North American "digits" are revealed. It's time for April NPD! W00t!
Last month's video game competition was a heated race between Microsoft and Sony as the Xbox 360 was able to move 188,000 units narrowly beating out the PS3's 187,100. That news on top of Microsoft announcing the 360's 10 million U.S. milestone make it a pretty good month for team Microsoft. Though, Nintendo's Wii continues to dominate even without Grand Theft Auto IV's help moving an amazing 714,200 consoles. Speaking of GTAIV, it rocked the final week of April selling a jaw-dropping 1.85 million units on the 360 alone which is nearly double that of the 1 million units it sold on the PS3. And that's always good to hear. Check the break for a complete rundown of the April NPD hardware and software data.
In a recent interview, Microsoft's own Aaron Greenberg decided to go on the offense when talking about Sony and their big promises that they keep making yet fail to deliver on. Specifically speaking, Greenberg brings up the PS3's 1080p support, Blu-ray, Playstation Home, PS3's supposed lead in Europe and even Killzone 2. Talk about fanboy ammunition! We don't have to say much more, because we think Aaron Greenberg's remarks can pretty much stand on their own. Check after the break for some attack'alicious Greenberg quotes ... yum!
The Sony PR machine just got its oil changed, is fully lubed and ready to fight. We know this because at their recent Playstation Day press event (which, we must admit, did bring some amount of good) we learn that Playstation 3 sales in Europe have surpassed Xbox 360 sales in the region ... or so says Sony. Seeing that Sony is a tad bit bias with their calculations (and we don't even get a pretty bar chart or anything), we can't be sure how much validity there is to their European PS3 number touting. But one thing we can be sure of is that Europe is a cut-throat console market where Microsoft and Sony are currently fighting to the death. Now let's wait and see if MS's PR machine is equally primed for battle ...
Adding to the pile of Blu-ray rumors we've had the privilege of reporting on for the past few months, we get word that a Blu-ray equipped Xbox 360 is headed our way the third quarter of this year.
According to the Chinese Economic Daily News, Pegatron Technology (an OEM subsidiary of Asustek Computer who deals with computer component manufacturing) has been selected by Microsoft to assemble Xbox 360 consoles with Blu-ray drives which will begin shipping Q3 2008. And, as Joystiq points out, the report's wording hints at the Blu-ray drive being internal rather than an external add-on. So, how long will it take for Microsoft to deny this latest Blu-ray gem? We give them until 4:00PM eastern.
Sony is back to their typical mudslinging ways (because we all know Microsoft is an angel) when, in an interview with GamePro, Sony's Marketing VP Scott Steinberg mocked Microsoft's marketing strategy saying that they "may have punched themselves out of the fight". Really?
In the interview, Steinberg decided to gloat about the PS3's upcoming catalog of games, console features and superb Blu-ray tech all while pointing out that their "competition has already leveraged all their big assets in the first couple of years" and doesn't have anything left to offer. A metaphorical knockout to one's self. Steinberg further went on to say that they "are the [HD movie] standard" with a "formula [that] is going to drive consumers to the PS3" ... amazing. So, we guess a hugely successful Xbox Live Arcade, a Video Marketplace, games like Halo Wars, Ninja Gaiden II, Fable 2, Banjo-Kazooie 3 and Gears of War 2 don't mean much to Mr. Steinberg and his magical, global warming ending, world peace bringing Blu-ray technology.
Posted Mar 14th 2008 10:00AM by Dustin Burg Filed under: News
It's time once again for our monthly dose of NPD sales numbers and for the second month in a row the Xbox 360 falls behind the PS3 in terms of hardware sales. Though, February's 254.6K Xbox 360 sales were only slightly lower than the PS3's 280.8K, so it wasn't a huge walloping. And, for the second month, Microsoft's excuse for lackluster hardware sales is due to hardware constraints and not being able to keep up with demand. A problem that should be rectified for March. Oh, and that console called the Wii ... 432K units sold. Ouch!
Hopping over to the software side of life, February was stellar for Xbox 360 games seeing five of the ten top spots. Among the big winners was Call of Duty 4, Devil May Cry 4 and our friends at Harmonix were finally able to break into the top ten with Rock Band selling 161.8K units. Click towards the break to get your fill of February NPD hardware and software sales and let's just hope March brings a turnaround. Otherwise we have a feeling the big guys in Redmond may be forced to do some North American price cutting to stay competitive and strike fear in the eyes of their enemies.
They may have to support it for some of their products, but Microsoft is being vocal about their non-support of Blu-ray technology when it comes to the Xbox 360.
Microsoft's own Aaron Greenberg flat out told Reuters that Sony's Blu-ray technology would not be integrated into the 360 saying that "Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience". So, can we now officially put to rest anyrumors or talk of Microsoft releasing an Xbox 360 Blu-ray attachment? Please?
Well, well, well. If it isn't the lowly PS3 finally making a move in January and actually beating the Xbox 360 in terms of number of units sold in North America. Yes sir, you can color us NPD shocked and impressed.
According to the just released January NPD sales numbers, the Xbox 360 has come in a disappointing third place in the console wars, only managing to sell 230,000 consoles while the PS3 moved 269,000 and the Wii sold 274,000. But before you storm the streets in a fit of rage, know that there is some sort of explanation for the third place outing ... there wasn't enough stock. You see, according to Microsoft, they haven't been able to replenish the retail channels quick enough post holidays, resulting in less Xbox 360s on shelves and less 360s available to consumers. So, if that theory makes you sleep better at night, then go with that and know Microsoft is producing 360s as fast as possible and should regain its sales lead over the PS3 come February NPD. Hopefully.
We also wanted to mention that not only has Call of Duty 4 claimed the number one sales spot selling another 330,900 copies in January, but Rock Band made its top ten NPD sales debut too. You can review the rather gloomy NPD ranks and numbers after the break, though we advise keeping one thing in mind. It was lack of stock at retail ... lack of stock at retail ...
For whatever reason, the analysts over at EA decided to put their betting chips on the PS3 as the predict its sales to eclipse the 360's in 2008. For reals.
EA released their 2008 hardware sales estimates saying that the Wii (not surprisingly) is predicted to outsell all consoles, but EA's second place prediction is what has our heads confused. In Europe alone EA believes the PS3 will move 5-6 million consoles while the 360 only sells a measly 1.5-2.5 million units. EA goes on to predict that North American sales of the two consoles should be equal and, after the dust settles, worldwide sales in 2008 should put the PS3 at 9.5-11.5 million while the Xbox 360 will only manage 6-8 million. Either EA is smoking a lot of illegal drugs, simply decided to agree with Sony or they've gone off the deep end, because we do not see the 360's 2008 hardware sales to be that bleak. Eesh, eesh, eesh.
Sony CEO Howard Stringer is happy go perky when it comes to talking about the future of the PS3. Oh how bright the future is. Talking with Reuters, Stringer says that the "PS3 has now gone past XBox on the Christmas market" and that it is "moving into its own". Comparable to the growth of a tween becoming a teenager or something like that. Stringer then happily proclaims that the "PS3 is out of the woods and beginning to hold its own" when it comes to its competition with the 360. And we just hope that he's talking about Japanese sales numbers, because if he's referencing to North American sales then we'll have to be the bearer of bad news and say that the woods is much deeper and scarier than he thinks. But we'll let Stringer live in his fantasy world for as long as he wants, because he is a CEO. We'll just keep mum and let the numbers speak.
We can finally put the guessing and speculation to rest, because the US's December NPD video game sales are here! Let's jump in head first without a helmet.
The Xbox 360 sold 1.26 million consoles (wowzaz!) in December, barely trailing the Wii's 1.35 million, but completely dominating the PS3's 797.6K. But that isn't all friends, because the December NPD brings the added benefit of recapping what 2007's total sales were as well. And in 2007, the Xbox 360 made us proud selling 4.62 million consoles, with the Wii selling 6.29 million and the PS3 only managing to move 2.56 million. It should also be noted that the 360 leads in lifetime sales with 9.15 million units. Just saying.
Onto the software side of things, last December Call of Duty 4 on the 360 took the number one spot with 1.47 million copies, while Assassin's fell into number five (893.7K), Halo 3 at number six (742.7K) and GHIII at number nine (624.6K). Sorry kids, no Rock Band. And we're very proud to say that Halo 3 is the number one selling game of all platforms in 2007, moving a respectable 4.82 million copies, just edging out Wii Play's 4.12 million.
Our heads hurt, so feel free to click towards the break and look over the complete listings of December and 2007's hardware and software sales in list form. Remember, numbers are fun!
