Sales never mean anything, are Toyotas the best cars? Is Twilight Breaking dawn the best movie in America? the answer is no. Sales dont mean shit.

This article seems to be some 360 players can't accept that in the end, they will finish last.

I disagree with all of you. Console sales do matter however how their sales figures stack up against one another is irrelevant. As long as each console, Nintendo's included ( im intrigued by the Wii u controller ), sells enough to stay in the game im happy. Don't care which is first, second, or third as long as each company makes enough to keep creating a new console then im happy. We need that competition. So we get better products and more varied experiences. I don't care for the Wii but without it I would have never got a new way to navigate my dashboard, without xbl we prob wouldn't have psn, and without ps3 ms prob wouldn't try at all to get exclusives ( they still haven't done a very good job yet, but at least their trying ).

So in the end, all fanboys should take a step back and go by the enemy because in the end it will likely just make your fav system better and who knows, maybe you'll end up with another enjoyable console as well.

When you look at it on the whole console sales are not reflective 1:1 with software sales. Game companies are not going to look at 'consoles sold' they're going to look at which console sells the most of the type of games they want to make and which console they can profit the most from (remember profit margins are different in different countries per sale). The thing about Xbox360 now is, you have to wonder how many consoles are being sold because of kinect and whether those people are going to buy the traditional core games. If they're not then that customer's sale is almost meaningless to core game developers unless they think they can sell to that group. And also if you're a core gamer you don't want them to dumb their games down to try to sell to that group either because it's emerged as a new demographic on the system.

When a software maker looks at the platform, they're going to put more resources usually to where they get the most return, and they are more likely to consider exclusivity to a platform where they get the most return. If you're arguing that sales = more investment; therefore are relevant - you have to look more closely at regional profit margins and which type of games you like are selling on which console - that's where the investment will come in. For example if a console is only selling shooters well - if you like shooter that's great. Companies will invest in your type of game. If you aren't found of shooters, that's not good because companies will invest in games you don't like.

I can just see it now, the headlines read Sony confirms they have overtaken the XBOX360 in total sales and N4G erupts to 1 million degrees.

What does that say about us? That's why I spend little time here on the forums.

Sales for consoles by year may mean something, but not a lot. Console sales overall...mean absolutely nothing. The numbers aren't accurate at all, and for Xbox 360 users, a lot of them just bought a new one.

For example, take all the sales of 2005, all of those users got a Red Ring by now, and the estimated number is 70% of those users went out and bought a brand new system. That's probably 7million users or more. That's just 1 example.

For those saying console sales don't matter...............look at the Dreamcast. Low sales killed it. Low sales mean little 3rd party support.

Lol xbox fanboy damage control article just as the Ps3 is about to surpas the xbox 360 sales number,And it's true lots of people had the $200 ps3 bundle @ best buy ,LOTS ( on black Friday), I would be surprised If the ps3 didnt surpass the xbox 360 sales this holiday season.

This article should get a lot of 'in-depth' reasoning.

Considering the countless shareholders we have here, you'll get enough responses, don't you worry.

If a game, or console, attracts you as a consumer, you'll buy it. If it doesn't, or you like another console, so be it.

The title of this article should be "This Article Proves nothing". Honestly, all this guy did was rant for a few minutes about how people probably have 3-4 of every console and that consoles used as supercomputers over-inflate sales. Really a tasteless article from the dumbing-down of internet journalism...This guy needs to go back to school and learn how to write!

Between Microsoft and Sony, MS clearly won.

The real battle isn't so much about hardware sales; that's important to a degree. It's all about mindshare and that's where MS won.

They needed Xbox to become cemented in the mind of gamers as the go to machine and that's exactly what they did. They've sold enough units but more importantly they got the mindshare. No one would've considered MS comp for Sony a generation ago and look what happened.

I have all three so as someone said above me: as long as they sell enough to keep making new games and hardware, I don't care who's winning. I just want the games to keep coming. If you have good games, I'll buy. That's the bottom line.

he has a good point! Though sales figure are always sales figure. That goes for online revenue which xbox live wins.
At this moment I give PS3 credit for all kinds of opportunity to have everything in PS3. Same as XBOX, online shouldn't be paid, but people buy and see their value, then I give credit for MS for letting consumer know how value the live can be, where I say **** that, I'm getting PS3 for free online and full set, that I don't have to worry in the future. And oh yea Blu Ray too.

My old line!
The better the competition, the better the choice gets for consumer :)

So please Sony or MS, don't lose :)

troll alert

Well console sell sure is everything to business.

For gamer wise, games sell do mean something --> more sell -> more support for games that u love -> more games.

The author is completely underestimating RROD if he's even putting it in the same sentence of YLOD, out of 5 people I know who had 360s all of them broke - either RROD or a bad DVD drive that stopped reading discs.

360 was probably one of the most faulty electronic devices every released.

I've never met anyone with YLOD although I acknowledge that it exists. Also, I have heard that early 60 gig owners were affected disproportionately, but otherwise PS3 failure rates have always been within electronic standards.

Also, 'upgraded hardware syndrome' only affect 360 because it had no wifi, or HDMI?! and hard drives are a complete rip off.

PS3 on the other hand allowed you to upgrade you HD for cheap and hasn't really added anything requiring an new console upgrade - in fact, there's more incentive to keep you old console.

My launch 60g is on 6-10 hrs a day. No problems. Can't wait for "skyhawk" and "last guardian"!

Ah, so this must be the new "All of a sudden console exclusives don't matter" type article

I guess sales is more important than the quality of games on the system, the value for money, the build quality and life cycle of the console... Yeah? Its ridiculous how these issues don't get brought up when talking about who "won" this generation.

For pure build quality and sales Nintento cleary won.
For game quality and value for money it's Sony.
For Online its Microsoft.

No one can argue with any of this. And why Sony gets the "value"? The blu ray player was the cheapest at one time, with free online and built in Wifi. Also the swapple HD. Seems people only care about the cost of the box and not the added "extras" that needs to be purchased for the full experience, which actually cost more in the long run.

Fanboys talk about sales. Gamers talk about the things that matter to them which are the gameplay experiences on the consoles.

If you really want to talk about sales... The 360 is leading Sony for one reason... Earlier release. What is the gap now? Two to three million? And that's even with the PSN downtime and negative press. But how do these volumes affect us? Its doesn't. The games do. So STFU already about this.

Yes it matters and why is it now that the PS3 is over taking the Xbox that we see an article saying sales doesn't matter because the numbers are distorted. We all know the average Xbox user is on his/her 2nd or 3rd Xbox. Aren't those numbers a little off too or have been for years?

MS releases a console a full year ahead of Sony and hit 50 million units sold 3 months ahead of Sony and a few years behind the Wii. If that's something to be proud of, good for you MS.

MS also released a console built with spit and bubble gum. They sold 24 million units last year and doubled that this gen. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why they doubled sales. You had a choice of continuously repairing a broken product or upgrading to the slim. A ton of people chose the latter or worse, bought another broken fat 360 only to repeat the process.

As for the PS3 Slim, it's nothing like going from 360 to 360 slim. It's actually a downgrade with more memory. The YLOD is nowhere near the scale of the RRoD and the PS3 phat + upgraded HDD eliminates the need for a PS3 slim. The fact that the PS3 is also a blu ray player does not matter. The author is a college student and probably too young to remember the fact that the PS2 was also the best available DVD player at the time...so should we take away from those sales as well? The Super computer thing was just stupid, so no comment on that. Lastly, Sony handicapped itself with it's absurd pricing and arrogance. Were it not for those two things, I doubt the Wii would have a comfortable 30m lead like it has now and MS would have tanked again.

Let's be honest here. 2nd place means you're the first loser. The Wii is #1 and the rest does not matter. If any of you think MS or Sony cares about beating each other at this point, you're fooling yourselves. Kinect and Move were created for the sole purpose of convincing Wii owners to move into the HD era of console gaming. #1 is all that matters and both Sony and MS know this. Gamers haven't got the message.

lol i dont care who sales the most all i care is for the video games sales. I all ready have a PS# and now im gonna wait for a good christmass sale to get an xbox...P.s did anyone seen the TARGET STORE ADD? they are selling the PS3 1yre subcrition to plus for 14.39 it a print mistake by the store. but you can get it for the price on the add

as most things are - Sales are a factor however not the whole picture, but they do count they just arent a final verdict.

who ever wrote this is desperately trying to feed his family.

Of course the console sales mean nothing this gen, microsoft is leading. Last gen it meant everything.

I'm on Xbox #5 thanks to 4 RRoD. I have 2 PS3s, one fat & one slim, both going strong. And I've had 2 Wiis since the first one broke due to a faulty surge protector.

So I alone have skewed sales figures, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Of course it doesn't matter....now that Sony's PS3 is about to overtake 360. (and now that the nolvity had worn off, the Wii is all but irrelevant in this discussion) I am a supporter of the "sales don't matter" statement...but noticed the hate that Sony unfairly received this gen.

I'm also american, and support us products. However, Sony's PS3 is clearly tbd better system....and it astonishes me to how 360 sold as well as it did. I mran, its great and all, but the nickel & diming, broken units, and onlind fees, is insane! (Sony should have blew ahead years ago...)

Tell me again how the multiplatform strategy was supposed to fix everything. Look at your results and compare them to Nintendo, which keeps thriving with exclusives. Your loyal fans are gone. And let’s not forget the pile of IPs you purchased only to let them rot.

The worst thing is this is down from last years numbers/expectations which was down from the previous years numbers/expectations. You think about how long “down” has been a consistent part of the communication and you realize those subscriptions are what’s holding that boat together. The price cut of gamespass is still a price raise in a string of price raises. They are trying to use players to offset the missing revenue. Now call of duty is out of gamespass, which is literally WHY they bought the company. To draw people to the subscription. They realized they missed a boatload of money and that wasn’t sustainable. Now you pay for it like you would have if they never bought the company… so why buy the company? Mind you those billions still need to be paid back. Yeah it gives you a chance to say we make the biggest FPS… but the internal conversations must be brutal at high level on topics that really matter. Like revenue. Profitability. And ROI for the shopping spree.

Is this like the 10th quarter in a row they're down 33% on hardware how is that even mathematically possible. You would think their mediocrity would Plateau

Helix will be expensive but it's still a day one for me.

Oh, my days...
So Nadella meets with the US president multiple times to ensure AI regulations are minimal if any at all, donates to the inauguration and ballroom, and his boy not only won't regulate AI as farmers lose land and billionaires/corporations buy up farmland to build data centers...but because he's insane and compromised, he starts a war on behalf of a rogue colonial zionist state and [further] destabilizes the Middle East, restricting component access and helium supply.

Now the head of Xbox is saying the hardware pricing "could impact" next generation hardware pricing? Asha,...your boss at a minimum played a direct role in this. What are we even talking about?

Yea because a $3 trillion company can’t absorb the majority of the cost to keep the product lower for consumers.

Expensive… oh no, here comes another flop.

Could? Strange how prices rise for virtually everything we buy, yet when things settle down, prices don't come down. This has been happening in the UK probably before I was born. With that, how much is a next gen console going to cost? Look at the price of the PlayStation 5 Pro, which has been a flop for Sony. On that note, we don't need the next consoles for another 5 years.

I guarantee if people just stopped buying this kinda stuff all together. This would all be sorted within 2 weeks and everything would be back to normal.

We seen the exact same thing through the COVID period. Companies just jumped on the bandwagon realising that they can get away with charging far more under false pretences and fear mongering.

Consumers now have this fear of "you know what, I only live once. I'm going to spend all this money I earned through my hard work" Or "I only live once I'm going to take a loan out and enjoy my time here".

Silicone Valley spends literally billions of dollars researching how much they can push society to the limits to increase spending. You can research it yourself. There's published written documentation about it. Have a look for yourself into their group research into subscription programs to see how evil they are and why it's such a giant focus of current civilization. Its the very essence of corporate capitalism.

Just delay all new consoles. I could easily go another 5 years with my base PS5.

could? it's already affecting current gen pricing.

It is greed. Apple are selling at the same price, while Microsoft Surface increases 500$ per unit. Karma will tell.