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PlayStation 3 Worldwide Sales Eclipse Xbox 360's

 

While the general perception is that this generation has been "won" by Microsoft -- largely due to the Xbox 360's dominance in North America -- analyst firm IDC's data now shows a slight advantage for Sony's PlayStation 3.

In a new report entitled "Worldwide Video Game and Entertainment Console Hardware and Packaged Software 2012-2016," IDC says that Sony passed Microsoft's worldwide numbers in the recent holiday season. PlayStation 3's worldwide sales numbers now stand at 77 million, compared to Xbox 360's 76 million.

This near dead heat is surprisingly, considering that Sony got a late start in this generation, and has struggled to catch Microsoft in the U.S. and Canada. It's also worth noting that -- despite the previous conventional wisdom -- the video game market in this generation was robust enough to support not one, but three, successful home game consoles (including Nintendo's Wii).

Source: IDC via Digital Trends

 

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Comments
  • no one said 360 won that Gen, Wii clearly did & got the numbers to prove it,EVERY Wii sold was profit for nintendo

  • No surprise here. If the PS3 costed $350 from the beginning, the PS3 would be WAY ahead of the Xbox.

  • Alrighty then.

  • Congrats to Sony, I suppose.

    However, the numbers are skewed more towards Sony for one simple reason in that the Japanese is vastly anti-360. If the PS3 was made by an American company and had the same rigid cultural perception, I don't necessarily think the PS3 would sell as much.

    If it's a numbers game, sure, the PS3 is finally outpacing the 360 at a faster clip given the year lead, the same can be said about the 360 in that they also have a similar handicap in that the Japanese could really give a damn about the 360 at all.

    If the 360 even sold half as well as the PS3 did in Japan, the 360 would still be far ahead.

    Something to think about.
  • O yea

  • Congrats to Sony :)

  • As a 360 owner, I can say that I'm not surprised. I love my 360, but I've had too many problems with LIVE, and the 360's focus is becoming less and less on games. For this next generation, I'll be getting a Wii U, and either a Durango or PS4. It's pretty close.

  • Got to love all the Sony fanboys that surface when there is any hint of even being somewhat remotely competitive to the xbox360. Hows that horrid controller going for you guys?
  • Me, I'm still not over Pearl Harbour.

  • Viva la Sony...?

  • HaHAAA!!! I always knew PlayStation had the game going.

  • Surprised me, I was sure that the 360 was ahead by just a little.  I know that I'm a proud owner of a PS3 slim (and the 360 and Wii U). :)

  • The info is wrong. PS3 has outshipped  Xbox 360 worldwide not outsold.

  • Owning a PS3 slim, I'm glad to contribute to that. Yay PS3! Just keep up the success and don't screw up your PS4 launch. . .

  • It's due to one fact, PS3s break often!
  • ok now before you get all YAH SONY IS BETTER

    there are some explanations for this

    sony stopped making ps2's so everyone who has one decided maybe it was time, rumors of the ps4 not being able to play used games and totally sucking makes people wanna just buy the ps3 for a little while. Microsoft will be releasing the 720 soon so nobody is buying a 360 at the moment.

    done and done

  • Cool beans.


  • I still have my original PS3 from the day it came out, never have had a single problem with it. The original one looks better than the new ones IMO.

  • Stay neutral. You pick a side, you get ambushed. Proof ....below