2008 Ship Stats: PS3 Nearly Ties 360
January 29, 2009 Ben-Dutka — 219 Comments
The entire point of any business is growth. Every year, a successful business sees overall growth, so this being the case, it seems clear the PlayStation 3 is headed in the right direction.
Obviously, there's no chance the PS3 sold as many units as the Xbox 360 in 2007; that would've been borderline impossible, what with the exceedingly high price, lack of software, and Blu-Ray's infancy. But how did the two fare against each other in 2008? Well, according to UK gaming site Gamezine, the hardware numbers were quite similar last year, but bear in mind that the following numbers are shipping totals . It's certainly true that the PS3 sold less than the 360 during the latter part of the year (when Gears of War 2 launched), but PS3 worldwide sales topped 360 sales for several months in a row earlier in the year, when Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots released. Yeah, see what we always say about software? Anyway, Sony shipped about 10.77 million units worldwide in 2008, which is up significantly from the 8.85 million they shipped in 2007. In comparison, the good holiday season for Microsoft allowed them to shift 6 million units worldwide, bringing their 2008 total to around 10.8 million. That's neck-and-neck, people.
As for the overall sales numbers, they're about where both Microsoft and Sony said they were: the 360 is at around 28.45 million and the PS3 sits at about 21.35 million. This is, however, a little closer than the 8 million gap Microsoft tossed out earlier this month. Yep…sounds like a heated war to us!
Godslim
mmmm its pretty close remembering that 360 launched a year earlier…but ive never been bothered about the sales just that we are all happy playing!
lol……ya avatar,i just can't stop laughin',that grin tells a whole lot!
lol……ya avatar,i just can't stop laughin',that grin says a whole lot!
hehehehe 😀
coverton341
Let us all remember to take into consideration the number of second units some people bought after their first one died. I know lots of people who have bought an Arcade and kept their hard drive when something happened to the first one. Lots of people. It is probably not enough to say that the PS3 has more users due to re-buying but I think it is safe to say the numbers may be even closer than we all think.
Just a possibility.
I've mentioned that several times. Taking that into account, I firmly believe there were many more new PS3 owners in 2008 than new 360 owners.
I think you are right about that Ben. 2008 probably did herald in more new PS3 owners than it did with new 360 owners and if that kind of trend keeps up in 2009 which I think is more than very likely then by the end of the year we may be able to say that there are indeed more PS3 owners than 360 owners, but I personally would like to see more dual system owners out there and stop all this back and forth pissing contest that is going on. This is seriously getting worse than politics.
Troy Powers
I can understand why you would want more dual system owners, but I just can't bring myself to buy a 360. And, every day the chance gets slimmer. I mean, looking at the year ahead of me, I can't think of a single reason to pay $250 for a 360. I expect the multiplat games to be better or equal on PS3. And I don't expect any of the 360 exclusives to be great enough to warrant buying the system. I just don't. And I really want to. I really want to be able to say, "Well, I own both systems, adn my opinion is…" But, I can't see it. They're hardware is still shoddy. They're online service still costs. I can't see anyone who already has a PS3 being able to justify purchasing a 360.
Maybe if my daughter was old enough to be into console gaming, and I wanted to buy her one of her own, then I'd get a 360, since we've already got the PS3. I think that would be the only situation.
But, even then, I might still go with a second PS3 instead, because then I'd have the added bonus of giving her the ability to watch the blu-ray movies I've bought her on her own television. As it is now, if she wants to watch Ratatouille, she has to use MY TV and MY PS3.
Tim Speed24
I agree with you Troy. I would like to try Gears of War 1 and 2 but the cost of the 360 for a few exclusives is hardly worth it.
I completely feel your point Troy and honestly the only reason I have a 360 is because I was quitting Gamestop and some kid was trading his in so I told him I would give him 90 cash and Gamestop would only give him 75 cash which is mostly true. Anyway I still think if you can find one for that cheap it is worth picking up just for the few exclusives it does have. I guess the fact that my buddy told me he would give me a free year of XBL sweetened the deal for me but I think I have honestly used XBL a total of 5 hours.
lol…funny story about Gears 2:
My buddy got the game at a midnight launch and brought it over to my house with his Xbox. We both wanted to see how great it would look in HD (he's still standard def). So, we put it on and played for a while, the whole time I'm thinking "This looks like CRAP!" But, I didn't say anything, cuz I knew he was pretty disappointed too. Didn't wanna rub it in.
Anywayz, after we play and we're unhooking everything so he can go home, I notice we've still got the little switch on his composite cables set to standard def. DOH!!!
I then proceded to give him the business for having to use composite cables in the first place. "Man, my joint came with HDMI port standard. I don't have that problem."
To which he replied, "Well, yeah, since you had to take out a second mortgage to buy it, I would expect it to."
Ahhh…good times. 🙂
Anywayz, I dunno. The titles I hear most about for 360 are Halo and Gears. My boy was underwhelmed with Halo 3. Gears 2 was cool (despite composit cable mishap), but I doubt I would play it at all once KZ2 drops. I pretty much stopped playing R2 when I got the beta (but, I'm slowly getting back into it).
If they came out with a couple super awesome exclusives this year, and I could get it for super cheap, maybe I would. But, I don't see either of those things on the horizon.
zerostar39
the xb360 exclusives are what led me to get one at the end of December. there are actually a good number exclusives worth checking out (right now I'm obsessed with fable 2). but if I have a choice for a game i'm gonna choose the ps3 version. I almost feel guilty owning an xb360 bc how much I think M$ screws people out of money with XBL or wifi adapter,etc. but I'm a gamer above anything and I just want to play the great games out there.
I agree with u after the 360 rrod Im sure the 360 and the ps3 numbers are touching each other.
Arkhon
I really don't know why anyone would buy another one when they're all covered by warranty and are repaired or replaced for free.
Orvisman
Agreed Zerostar39
Last edited by Orvisman on 2/3/2009 9:25:16 AM
PS3_Wizard
I wonder what a certain somebody will say about this article?
Two comments down
HaHaHa….right you are.
Ha score one for me 😛
Its almost the 1 year anniversary of when I bought my Ps3! =D
and im going to buy another one for my brothers birthday!
Well since those are shipments ill take it with a grain of salt.
Now, I will say that is impressive tho for such a pricey machine. But recently Sony has stated that PS3 sales are down 9 percent from last year. So im wondering to myself how many where shipped to how many where sold. And sales in America(the king in console shares) show the 360 ahead.
What is worrisome tho is how they came out a year later but are still being outsold. This cant be good for the supposed comeback Sony is planning.
Were see what happens. This year really is the put up or shut up of the PS3.
Considering that Sony REALLY doesn't feel like producing a bunch of machines they can't sell (especially these days), I wouldn't take those numbers "with a grain of salt."
@jOSH
why do you sound so negative?
Last edited by Prevent on 1/29/2009 12:57:28 PM
Prevent: Don't even ask…
Let me explain Prevent:
lets look at the word negative as a shape shall we? What shape comes to mind when people say negative? A horizontal line right? Well lets add the fact that Josh is a guy. What do guys have thats a horizontal line? A Dick!
Well lets all all that with your inital question.
To summarize, Josh I being negative because hes a Dick. And Dicks are always negative.
So there you have it folks! Its been scientifically proven that Josh is nothing more than a Dick!
Better then a ASSHOLE. Yes thats you at times.
caliblue15
Also do not forget Sony switched to SOLD numbers as of June 2007, and Microsoft uses shipped still, so there could be a smaller gap, and PS3 might have even taken 2008, do not forget that fact.
Good one Josh!
But I'm ok being a a**hole when I comes to you.
but seriously, good comeback man lol.
Last edited by PS3_Wizard on 1/30/2009 8:52:14 AM
my ps3 died two weeks ago. *sniffs* going to get a refurb from sony * tries to hold tears in* umm gotta go check on pet *runs offf crying*
LoL that was funny!!! nice wording
and sorry about your ps3
javon_27
don't sweat it. i should be calling to get my box today so hopefully i can get a refurb before Feb is over
to be honest, am quite disapointed, in the first 6 months of the yr, the ps3 was outselling the 360 by quite a margain, so MS responded and dropped the price, resulting in the last 6 months the 360 caught back up to the playstation, sony didnt respond hoping that the better christmas software would get the sales, but as yesterday's article about resistance and LBP having lower than expected sales, showing that although great games to sell systems, ultimately its the price which is number 1 on a shoppers list ( granted probaly not on a hardcore gamers list ) but on your average person's list its going to be price first, games second. I expect Killzone will lead the charge this year but a true sales spike wont happen until the ps3 price is dropped.
Yeah, I think Killzone 2 will get the PS3 off on a good start for the year, and it'll be full steam ahead from there.
I just don't think MS really has an answer for KZ2 at this point. They're dropping the Halo Wars game at the same time, but I'm expecting that to underwhelm. I don't know any console gamers that are hugely into RTS. I think MS is just expecting that to sell off of name recognition.
Anywayz, to stay on topic, I agree that the software sells hardware. And I don't think MS has the software line-up to battle PS3 this year, which will mean that 8 million console gap is going to close…probably quite a bit.
And joystiq just had an article saying that PS3 software sales were up about 15 million units over the year before. Good news, good news!
I would not underestimate the power of the Halo name Troy. Do I think it will be a superior game? Not by any stretch of the imagination. Do I think it will outsell KZ2? No, but I do think the sales will be close in the first few weeks. I really think that is a sad thing but I can see it happening nonetheless. I am sitting on a broken PS3 at the moment that I thought I was getting fixed a few weeks ago but things happen. I for one will still go out and pick a copy of KZ2 up even if my PS3 is still in shop.
What happened to your PS3? I once thought mine was broken. Wouldn't turn on. I vacummed out the vents, and it's been good since then. That was over a year ago.
The fan burnt up in it. If I turn the system off from the back and leave it off for a while and then try it, it will power up but you can hear that the fan is not running. I probably have a crap load of messages and requests by now. Anyway since all the college crap is paid for I think I may be able to get the ball rolling on Monday. Fingers crossed.
Sorry to hear that Coverton.
And Halo will sell good only because of the drought of games the 360 will see this year. They will pretty much be forced to pick it up.
Last edited by PS3_Wizard on 1/29/2009 3:34:38 PM
sorry this is off topic but ign have put up the Killzone 2 review… scored a 9.4!! i duno if their breaking any rules their as ben assured us its the 2nd of feb and not 29th of jan, maybe they think their too big for their boots and game publishers wont get too mad at them for breaking the rules?
Good review. Although I think anything less than a 9.5 is just plain wrong. I watched the HD video review. Jeez, I'm salivating!
The flamethrower did look pretty weak though.
I just checked, it ain't there.
Sure it is.
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/949/949161p1.html
Wacky, it wasn't connected to the regular listing of the game.
Jesus they nitpicked the hell out of it though!
Only thing they could do to make it score lower than a 9.8
raztad
That is a MATCH! but while I agree software matters this match is not cause Gears 2. MS did that good at holiday season thanks to x360 price cut. I have the feeling that most users that purchased Gears 2 ALREADY had a x360 (you know, for Gears 1 and Halo).
Sony management is pretty confident they have the winning hand on this one. Even without a price cut, PS3 sales could match much cheaper X360's last year. Wow. IMO MS console is reaching a plateau, Sony's is ascending and will ascend much faster after KZ2 and much much faster after the expected 100$ price cut.
At JoshuaAdam360….
No need to take it with a pinch of salt… Its not shipments.. The numbers at the bottom are total units sold.
Good points about MS hardware but I think this is true and follow me on this.
Alot of PS3 guys said this last year. Im not attacking im just saying that MS and Sony have different practices when it comes to that. MS tends to talk about a game and their plans THREW OUT the year as opposed to announcing plans at the beginning. MS has stated they have alot in store this year for the 360 and I believe that.
Finally a battle for software. Software wars tend to only bring amazing games for both of us.
throughout the word is throughout
anyway yes Microsoft has a way of holding their tongue when it comes to their games up to the point it is about to release unless it is related to Halo and then they can say what the hell ever they want and fans will not give a damn how long it takes to come out just so long as it does.
I keep hearing rumblings of plans for the 360 this year but I have yet to see anything come to solidity. I have however heard and have seen the plans for the PS3 this year and we keep hearing about these unannounced projects that are supposed to be releasing as well.
God of War III (which may hit Q1 2010 but will be worth it)
Uncharted II
Honestly all I have heard and seen confirmed for 360 is the two Halo games….
I used to believe what Microsoft told me too, then Vista bombed my laptop and it died just like the hookers in my basement.
Sorry to hear about your loss. Too bad about the laptop as well.