The Myth of Slow PS3 Sales

[Shin-Ra]

A very well written piece, see the original article for images.

THE MYTH OF SLOW PS3 SALES
MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2009
By Kyle Kulyk

With Sony’s recent announcement of a revamped and cheaper PS3 model, many technology writers and video game industry journalists have taken this opportunity to examine the potential impact of Sony’s latest Playstation iteration on the gaming industry. The Financial Times wrote in an article published Aug 19th under their technology section “The high-spec – and high-price – PS3 has struggled against competitors. It has sold 24m units, compared with about 30m Microsoft Xbox360s and 50m-plus Nintendo Wiis.”

This is a lie.

While there is no denying the success Nintendo has had this console generation with their Wii games console, the false notion that Sony’s Playstation 3 console is somehow struggling against its main competitor, Microsoft’s Xbox 360, is parroted over and over again in the writings of the US dominated game media. This idea that somehow the PS3 is struggling versus the Xbox 360 is not only incorrect, but it’s so easily dispelled by a liberal dosing of sales data that it makes one wonder if members of the games media have any business writing about the videogame industry at all when their ability to fact check is so obviously in question. Since the PS3’s worldwide launch at the start of 2007, data released from both Microsoft and Sony prove that the PS3 has outsold the Xbox 360 in the 2 ½ years since it’s launch by over a million consoles.

According to Sony and Microsoft sales data released each quarter, the Microsoft 360 managed to build an 8.6 million console lead before the Playstation 3 launched worldwide in early 2007.

For the calendar year 2007, the PS3 dominated the 360 selling 8.85 million consoles to the 360’s 7.3 million.

In 2008 the PS3’s dominance continued over the 360 for the first 3 quarters, outselling the 360 by a hefty 6.32 million consoles to 4.8 million consoles. In September of 2008, Microsoft drastically slashed the price of the 360 making their 360 Arcade offering the cheapest next gen console on the market and sparking a sales comeback over the holiday season during a period of slowing consumer spending due to the pressures related to worldwide recession. 2008 ended in a dead heat, 10.78 million PS3’s to 10.8 million 360’s.

So far for the first half of 2009 consumer spending has remained slow however the PS3 has still managed to stay neck and neck with the 360 despite being double the price. 2.71 million PS3’s sold versus 2.9 million 360’s, a difference of only 190,000 and with a recent price cut and new PS3 Slim set to shake things up leading into the 2009 holiday season, certainly this does not paint the picture of a console struggling to keep up with its rival who just posted their worst sales quarter in 2 years.

So how can so many in the games media be completely oblivious when it comes to these facts? Simply enter a search into Google for “slow PS3 sales” and you’ll find a flood of hand wringing regarding the PS3’s slow start, slowing PS3 sales growth, the prospect of Sony ditching the PS3 altogether and a parade of “Why the Playstation is Doomed,” articles.

Now, repeat the Google experiment with “slow Xbox 360 sales.” The difference is astounding. Despite the odd article regarding the 360’s inability to crack the Japanese markets, the outsold Xbox 360 simply isn’t under the same media scrutiny. From Kotaku’s “Sony Responds to Reports of Lethargic PS3 Sales” type articles to Play.tm reporting on “PS3 Hardware sales still slow,” article after article exists, examining Sony’s imagined plight while Sony themselves, when asked to comment on slow sales continue to denounce the idea that there is anything wrong in the first place. Meanwhile it becomes abundantly clear looking at the 360 sales numbers that if any console has struggled to remain competitive, it’s Microsoft’s faulty hardware plagued Xbox 360.

One could possibly forgive this type of negative journalism if critical articles were equal across the board, but that’s simply not the case. Despite the 360 being matched and outsold since the PS3 launched, nowhere will you find articles examining slow Xbox 360 sales. CNET isn’t writing articles speculating on ways that Microsoft can save the Xbox 360. ABC news isn’t reporting on how Natal could potentially boost slumping 360 sales. Forbes and the Financial Times aren’t writing articles about how the 360 is struggling to keep up since the PS3 launched.

So, why is that?

It might simply be a matter of demographics. This current generation, Nintendo’s Wii has dominated, but let’s look at the Wii’s demographics. It’s comes as no surprise to those that follow the industry that gamers who play on the Wii aren’t what is typically described as “hardcore” gamers. According to data revealed at last years Electronic Gaming Summit, the majority of Wii owners play between 1-2 hours a week. Game sales show games aimed at the “hardcore” game market on the Wii tend to perform poorly and that’s a problem for gaming media as it’s the hardcore gamers that buy magazines and surf online for the latest game information. Your average Wii owner who plays Wii Sports and might own Sonic and Mario Olympics or Wii Fit isn’t surfing the internet for the latest game information. They simply aren’t picking up games magazines looking for info on the next Wii Fit titles, so there’s no money to be made there.

So next up is the 360 crowd who still outnumber PS3 owners due to the 360 launching a year earlier than the PS3. Not only do 360 owners outnumber PS3 owners, but 60% of 360’s sold worldwide are sold in the US, home to the majority of the worlds videogame meida outlets. 360 fans love their Halo, can’t get enough information regarding the next Gears of War. They flood internet games sites and snatch up copies of their favorite games magazines that offer new glimpses of soon to be released titles that appeal to them. There are also, like sports fans, often very loyal to their team and the game media knows this. Not only do articles that offer insight into their favorite games attract attention but negative articles critical of the other teams draw attention as well. So far 360 fans have simply outnumbered PS3 owners, and a game media eager to draw eyeballs to their websites and advertisers have been quick to give them what they want, and they want the scent of their enemies blood.

So, using the old adage “If it bleeds, it leads,” game media has been quick to pick up and perpetuate the false fall of the Playstation 3. It’s what the readers seem to want and many games site seem unwilling to let a little thing like facts stop them from writing another speculative piece on “Why the PS3 is failing.” But what will happen to a games media that has become fat off 360 fans when the 360 starts its inevitable decline? What will happen if Sony fans are suddenly in the driver’s seat as their number swell? Will the game media be quick to hop off the 360 bandwagon and toast the 360’s demise to the delight of Sony’s PS3 fans, will they continue to bash Sony’s offering with complete disregard for the facts of the videogame biz or will they revert back to the days when the games media reported on actual news without corporate bias or pandering to one specific audience?

Personally, this author hopes it’s the latter.

[Icemage]

That's a really well-written and well-reasoned piece. I like!

The only caveat here is that most of the mainstream media are based in North America, where the 360 does indeed still outsell the PS3 (whereas the PS3 handily beats the 360 pretty much everywhere else).

Of course, with the PS3 Slim, all bets are off - as things stand, by this time next year I would be surprised if the PS3 wasn't outselling the 360 everywhere, including North America.

I don't really know why Microsoft decided to dump most of their internal game development studios, but that move is not doing them any favors now, and I suspect it will come back to bite them in the coming years as Sony's internal development houses continue to output titles that the 360 will have no answer for - and can not steal for love of money.

[KingBing]

Good to see articles like this being written, it felt like they were all negative ones at one point

[funnymanbing]

Nice read.

[Skunkster]

The only thing that the author left out was the solid drubbing the 360 (and the PS3) took from the PS2 during the first 2 years of this generation's life.

It is truly appalling how bad journalism seems to have become in the past 10 years or so.

[Lord_Stewie]

Good Read. such a myth.

[SillyMammo]

I read this article earlier and it was nice to see a well thought out response to all the negative Sony pieces.

[FinalEvangelion]

Finally, an article that explains what I've been trying to say the whole time to people. When you just live in the US, you feel MS is really dominating and the press has been feeding off of that.

This doesn't even factor in sales of the 360 as replacement units. Many customers are just buying Arcades and putting their hard drives on them rather than paying the repair fee.

During the months the PS3 was outselling the 360 by a good margin, it was all quiet on the media front. I expect that to happen again with the slim and new prices.

[KilloWertz]

Very well written article. Like Icemage said, the 360 does still outsell the PS3 in North America, but that stands to change after the price drop. Also, the main thing is that most multiplatform games sell more on the 360, but that could also change in the future if the PS3 gets on a roll sales wise like it should. Either way, it is nice to see someone write about how bad the media is nowadays.

[X400]

very cool

[kevinbr100]

great article! thanks for sharing. im probably gonna pick up one of the new ps3s, and move the old one to the bedroom