PS3 "Strong Contender" To Overtake Xbox 360 [Slashdot]

[DP ServBot]

donniebaseball23 writes "Xbox 360 has been having an incredible year so far in 2011, but on a global scale Sony's PS3 is still gaining ground. In fact, this year PS3 has outpaced Xbox 360 by 10% worldwide, analysts have pointed out. While the Wii has clearly won the race for this console generation, the battle for second place is neck and neck, and PS3 has a good shot of overtaking Xbox 360. 'As for second place, as far as the hardcore market is concerned, I'd say PS3 is a strong contender for that position,' commented M2 Research analyst Billy Pidgeon."

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[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

PS3 has a lineup of games just as good as the 360, and similar graphics now as programmers learn to get more out of the Cell processor. It's online is poorly done, but it has a wide variety of JRPGs compared to the 360.

The price is what killed it early on. With that reduced, more ground will be gained. It's just like the Sega Saturn would have done if it hadn't had Bernie Stolar screwing it up.

[kedawa]

I was under the impression that Wii sales had pretty much stalled. Were they that far ahead that PS3 and 360 can only fight it out for second place?

[Leo_A]

It's been obvious for a couple of years now that the PS3 has been steadily closing the gap in worldwide sales to the Xbox 360 and would eventually surpass it. Must be a slow news day.

I was under the impression that Wii sales had pretty much stalled. Were they that far ahead that PS3 and 360 can only fight it out for second place?

There are approximately 90 million Nintendo Wii's out there. And it's still selling in decent numbers, despite being far down from previous years. So it shouldn't have trouble surpassing the 100 million mark given another Christmas season ahead of it (which has always been when the system saw the majority of its sales), likely over a full year left ahead of it as Nintendo's premier home console, and perhaps some market life left in it afterwards as Nintendo's budget platform if it still has any steam left in it by then.

The Xbox 360 is somewhere around the 55 million mark and the Playstation 3 is just past the 50 million mark. So even if the Wii was discontinued tomorrow, I don't think anyone expects either one to reach the Wii.

[kedawa]

I'm surprised I don't see more Wii consoles at yard sales, since there are so many out there. Of the dozen or so people I know who own one, only one actually uses his regularly. The rest just dust it off when the big releases hit, and those are few and far between these days.

[wingzrow]

It's online is poorly done

It's FREE and i'm not constantly being not bombarded with ads telling me to buy from netflix or to get a kinect.

Thanks but ile stick with the way PS3 does online.

[Bojay1997]

I'm not sure how this is "news". As of late last year, at least a couple of analysts were already claiming that the active install base of PS3 vs. Xbox360 was about a million more worldwide on the PS3. Having said that, those numbers are heavily dominated by Japan and Europe as the PS3 is well behind the 360 in the US numbers. I believe the most recent active install base numbers at the end of 2010 were around 16 million for the PS3 in the US and over 25 million for the 360. In addition, monthly sales in the US have been showing the 360 leading the PS3 pretty much all of 2011 in the US. It has definitely been a very interesting generation and I am curious to see what happens in the next go round.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

It's online is poorly done...

Could you elaborate on that statement?

I'm interested to know what about the PSN online experience is "poorly done" in comparison to the 360 or the Wii.

[otoko]

In addition, monthly sales in the US have been showing the 360 leading the PS3 pretty much all of 2011 in the US.

How many of those are RROD buy's though? I've known several people who have bought more than one 360 due to the system flat out dieing on them.

It's online is poorly done

I'm curious what you mean by this as well

[kedawa]

Not as good as XBL is the same sucking when it comes to gamers. There is no middle ground, there are no shades of gray.

[kupomogli]

How many of those are RROD buy's though? I've known several people who have bought more than one 360 due to the system flat out dieing on them.

Or how many of those were 360 Slims purchased from people who already own an original 360 and wanted to upgrade.

PS3 online sucks

Mortal Kombat is mostly unplayable on PS3 and 360, Tekken 6 is mostly unplayable on PS3 and 360, Street Fighter 4 99% of the time has no(noticeable) lag on PS3 and 360, etc, etc, etc.

The difference is, is that PS3 owners pay $0 to have shitty Mortal Kombat and Tekken 6 matches while 360 owners pay $50 a year unless they get a special. Point is. A shitty game experience online is still shitty regardless what system you're playing on, where a good game experience is good regardless what system you're playing on.

The only time the 360 online was better than the PS3 online was when the PS3 was offline for a full month.

[heybtbm]

Negativity, negativity, blah blah blah

[Rickstilwell1]

Not as good as XBL is the same sucking when it comes to gamers. There is no middle ground, there are no shades of gray.

There is a middle ground if you factor in all the gamers who don't even give a crap about online gaming period.

[Berserker]

A few months ago I read a great article by our own Mr. Frank Cifaldi that immediately sprang to mind here.

[Bojay1997]

A few months ago I read a great article by our own Mr. Frank Cifaldi that immediately sprang to mind here.

That's actually a very funny reality check. The truth is, regardless of who comes in second and third, both Sony and MS have lost a ton of money this generation and both have made significant mistakes. I personally like my 360 and my PS3 and my Wii for that matter, but I'm also looking forward to the next generation which will hopefully be more trouble free (I never had a RROD or YROD, but I have tons of friends who had problems with both their PS3 and 360), less expensive for gamers on the hardware side (I paid $600 for my first PS3) and chock full of great games early on rather than a couple years in (all three of my current gen consoles sat idle for a long time after launch).

[Rickstilwell1]

That's actually a very funny reality check. The truth is, regardless of who comes in second and third, both Sony and MS have lost a ton of money this generation and both have made significant mistakes. I personally like my 360 and my PS3 and my Wii for that matter, but I'm also looking forward to the next generation which will hopefully be more trouble free (I never had a RROD or YROD, but I have tons of friends who had problems with both their PS3 and 360), less expensive for gamers on the hardware side (I paid $600 for my first PS3) and chock full of great games early on rather than a couple years in (all three of my current gen consoles sat idle for a long time after launch).

I know exactly what you mean. I do things slightly differently but pretty close - I buy all the systems when they are fairly new and have at least 1 game I want just to have the "now machines" but then I don't really go crazy about collecting them until they've been out for a while. I just concentrate so much more on classic gaming.

Last gen this is what I did:

Nintendo DS: Unsatisfied with my regular Game Boy Advance because of its dark screen and not caring much for GBA SP at the time due to having Game Boy Player and the SP not having a headphone jack, I decided the best thing to do was get a DS just to play my GBA games. I knew Final Fantasy III was being remade for the DS so I was encouraged to buy it. I don't remember what I actually purchased for the DS first. Could have been Sonic Rush, Final Fantasy III or New Super Mario Bros.

PS3: I bought my PS3 as a memory card storage device for PS1 and PS2 games first. I didn't get any actual PS3 games till Sonic The Hedgehog (2006) went down in price to $15 or $20 (I forget).

Wii: After that I got a Wii just to check out the Virtual Console. I eventually did pick up Super Mario Galaxy but I still haven't played it much yet. The only Wii game I beat was New Super Mario Bros. Wii when my uncle let me borrow it.

PSP: Next, I finally got my PSP-2000. Already having the PS3 and being able to download games from PSN, my first game was the rhythm game Beats. It was so fun and I always took it with me on the bus to play Extreme mode with already fast punk rock. People used to look at how fast my thumbs were moving and were like "whoa he's really into it." My first UMD was X-Men Legends II

Xbox 360: The last one from this past generation I got was the Xbox 360. I got it just to have it and it came with Grand Theft Auto IV and the employees also gave me the Marvel Ultimate Alliance / Forza 2 Motorsport combo pack. I had less interest in this system so it's been my least played. I'm not really fond of the idea of paying for online gaming which I don' even do for free on the PS3, and I'm not a shooter fan. I will pretty much only play 007 themed FPS games and the last one I really liked was Agent Under Fire. I gotta try that new Goldeneye.

for all of the above, I still only have about 10 games on each system.

Now for this new upstarting generation:

Nintendo 3DS: I got it because I hadn't had a new system in a long time and was itching for something new. Bust-A-Move Universe and Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D convinced me that there were at least a couple series I already like available for the system. I kind of like how spaced apart the good games are with their release dates because I can't afford them all at once anyway. I want quality games, not rushed games.

[kedawa]

I didn't buy a 360 until they were on sale for $99, and I plan to do that for all systems from now on. The days of blowing a month's rent on a game system are over for me.

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

360 online is centralized, and done in an organized fashion. There is a Gamerscore system and a wide variety of gamers. And it's more reliable. Remember when the PS3's online "framework" failed for a while in April-May 2011?

[kupomogli]

Remember when the PS3's online "framework" failed for a while in April-May 2011?

You mean failed as in "got hacked?" There's two threads on it if you look back a few pages. Sony could have brought it back online, but they were keeping it offline to fix their infrastructure and make sure security was in check.

Again. That's the only time the 360 online is better than the PS3 online. When the PS3 was down for that month, then yes, the 360 online was better, because PS3 owners weren't even able to get online. All multiplatform online games for the PS3 run just as well as their 360 counterparts.

One thing is possible that started this "360 has better online." Most PS3s are wireless ready, while almost all 360s aren't. Most gamers who own a PS3 and 360 might run PS3 wireless and 360 wired and assume that the 360 just has better online because you're getting a worse connection while running wireless. Another thing is the thought that. "I'm paying $50 a year for this, it must be better."

[Bojay1997]

You mean failed as in "got hacked?" There's two threads on it if you look back a few pages. Sony could have brought it back online, but they were keeping it offline to fix their infrastructure and make sure security was in check.

Again. That's the only time the 360 online is better than the PS3 online. When the PS3 was down for that month, then yes, the 360 online was better, because PS3 owners weren't even able to get online. All multiplatform online games for the PS3 run just as well as their 360 counterparts.

One thing is possible that started this "360 has better online." Most PS3s are wireless ready, while almost all 360s aren't. Most gamers who own a PS3 and 360 might run PS3 wireless and 360 wired and assume that the 360 just has better online because you're getting a worse connection while running wireless. Another thing is the thought that. "I'm paying $50 a year for this, it must be better."

In fairness, they had multiple security flaws which allowed hackers to infiltrate the infrastructure and in Japan at least, they were not legally permitted to bring PSN back immediately whether they wanted to or not. Of course, lots of institutions are susceptible to hacking and I can't say that Live hasn't ever been hacked or couldn't suffer a similar outage. Also, please keep in mind that there was no real low cost option for PS3 on launch and not until quite a while after, so Sony essentially limited those of us who are early adopters to paying full price for the then unproven format of Blu Ray and forcing us to pay for wireless whether we had a router that worked with it or not.

I personally really like PSN now, but it took several years to just catch up with Xbox Live with features like trophies, etc...Frankly, owning and using both, I prefer Live for many new release games simply because the lobbying and matching system seems to work more smoothly (I feel like I actually get matched with players at a similar skill level), download speeds of games and DLC I purchase are much faster and frankly, I have less issues with glitches and crashes during gameplay. Of course, speed and glitchiness could be related to individual Internet connections, although I have quite a few friends around the country who also have both and have experienced similar issues on multiple Internet providers.

Ultimately, the 360 and PS3 are pretty evenly matched nowadays and this holiday will bring a number of great exclusives on both platforms and if you can afford both, there really is no reason not to own both.