The Console Wars: Discussion, debates and developments

[JordAnime]

We're now in the second full year of the new console war!  Isn't it exciting?  Anyway, this is as good a thread as any to discuss the on-going console war.  I think I'll get the ball rolling with the numbers:

VG Chartz



The interesting thing for me is the PlayStation 3, it's performing much better than I had anticpiated, and it's poised to overatke the 360 in Europe.  Meanwhile the Wii is on its way to overtaking the 360 in North America, and when that happens I think the shit will hit the fan over at Microsoft.  Microsoft is sitting in a fairly delicate posistion, and the PlayStation 3 is seemingly selling as fast as the 360 globally, if not, than faster.  I really consider the 360 to be the Ron Paul of this console war, it's an unlikely canidate for victory but it everyone who has it loves it and is obnoxiously vocal about it.  Still, I'll be laughing when it has the smallest marketshare in the end, despite it's year-long lead. 

Nonetheless, the PlayStation 3, I think is going to be near tied with Microsoft behind the Wii .  My current guess for end-of generation sales would be Wii: 100 million, PS3: 38 million, 360: 30 million.  I don't expect a "10 year" life cycle for the PS3 or the 360, they don't have enough momentum.  The whole "higher techology will last longer" arguement is bullocks.  If that were true, the GameBoy would have lasted three years and the 3DO would have lasted well into the 64 bit era.

Anyway, feel free to make your own outrageous claims here as I have, or be more conservative, whatev.

[NinJa]

I've always felt that the PS3 would eventually overcome the 360. All the hype went to 360, then as I suspected, people were getting disappointed one after another, with each 360 having a good chance of being faulty, and ending up having to get sent back 3 or more times. Even though the 360 had the games, the simple flaws brought more attention to the Wii and PS3. While the Wii is a legacy on its own, the PS3 is getting alot more recognition for graphics and durability. I've had my PS3 and it hasn't broke since I got it. I am getting a Wii soon, and probably never a 360.

But anyway, I think the Wii will reign supreme for awhile now, as the PS3 overtakes the 360 sometime this year.

[JordAnime]

I don't think the PS3 will be able to overtake the 360 globally this year, the 360 still has more installed units and momentum, the PS3 has some momentum but I don't think enough to overtake the 360.  Best case for Sony is they sell 9 million more units this year, which would put them around 18-19 million, meanwhile Microsoft is over the 18 million unit shipped mark, currently.

[NinJa]

Yes. I just think overtime the PS3 will do better. From what I saw this year the 360 momentum is falling slowly, but surely, even with its library of games. I almost bought a 360 before my PS3, but I kept hearing how the 360 just kept breaking, the red ring, overheating, so I stuck with a PS3 and been happy with it, and even with its not-so-broad library of games, I wanted it for the games I wanted anyway. Like Socom: Confrontation, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and I'd rather play online for free than paying for it.