PS3 surpasses Xbox 360 Worldwide!

[Bolivar]

GUYS a "case study in brand loyalty" means you analyze how it was affected by various factors, not that brand loyalty was a factor in anything. I just think it's interesting how Microsoft (and Sony itself) were able to dwindle away that PS2 market share with a variety of methods.

If there was one way in which brand loyalty was a factor, it was definitely in the way in which Microsoft galvanized their users into marketing evangelists. That $50 a year is worthless unless there's people on the network, and that first year crowd was able to get their friends to buy the system, to get their friends to buy the system to the point where people aren't buying game consoles for their games anymore; as some EoFFers admit, they're buying it if their friends have it instead. And it became negative. I remember one Xbox mag had a headline: "Halo 3 is Coming - The PS3 is Dead." And as we've seen in this thread, it felt like every 360 owner had to have a ready explanation as to why they didn't just buy a PS3 instead. I've never seen a console war this bad since the Sega and Nintendo days, and even then, we never talked about sales figures and marketing strategies. I didn't even know people kept track of those kinds of things until this generation.

Yet here you all are putting on your business caps and telling us how Sony shot itself in the foot and that Microsoft has done a better job, doing your best to cover your eyes even in a thread discussing how they just pushed almost 80 million consoles in 6 years.

Why do you care? There's more consoles in households and more games to go with them than ever before. All three manufacturers along with the publishers have done an amazing job putting gaming in the forefront of the media and people's lives. I fault them for not providing the kinds of games I like to play, not for selling a few less systems every year than they did with the PS2.

[maybee]

The 360 is pretty meh considering that you have to replace the batteries in your controller every 4 weeks. I grabbed my old PS one controller and hugged it and tears and apologized for taking it for granted.

Should of brought a PS3.

I'm not buying a X-BOX 4 or 720. I'm done with Microsoft. Bunch of overrated trout.

Well done PS3 and sorry for not buying you.

[Quindiana Jones]

Just buy a wire. xD

[Sephex]

I honestly, seriously hate to be THAT guy, but...

>2013
>caring about how people play video games

I just don't really see the point. If you prefer a console or whatever, that's cool. It's your choice. But it gets old real quick when people try to push their preferences on others. The world isn't going to end because someone else like [x] over [y].

[NeoCracker]

Nor shall the world end if I tell someone why they are wrong!

[Sephex]

Eh, as far as the video game industry goes, there are much, much bigger problems out there than what console/PC/whatever people choose to play on. Just makes no sense to linger on such a mundane issue.

Then again, I am self sufficient can afford basically what I want, so that might have something to do with my view.

[Formalhaut]

I found the later end of the seventh generation (That is the 360 and PS3 right? I'm so behind on trend) to be rather underwhelming. Seriously, 2012 was just a boring year for games. I can't even remember what crazy, innovative game came out that year. I think Microsoft capitalised early with the Halo series and rode that wave to a high crest. Meanwhile, the PS3 sort of assumed that the amazement of the PS2 would carry it along, and it sort of didn't.

If anything, they were both taken aback with how well the Nintendo Wii did actually! That matched up fairly well too. Super Smash Bros. Brawl was the best selling game of 2008, Mario Galaxy was a hit, hell, even Mario Party did quite well this generation. I'm not sure about actual sale figures, but the Wii was damn close to the two "big boys".

As for the next generation, well, we have the Wii U, which is sort of a 7.5 gap fill meant to tide people over until the 720 or whatever comes out. Will Sony continue this reign? It remains to be seen. The Halo makers still have two more games of this new trilogy left and well I'm sure they will milk Halo, and Call of Duty for all it's worth. I think the Xbox has more solid exclusives though. While I can think of Halo and other titles, what is an actual exclusive for the PS3? Little Big Planet I think is one, and the Uncharted Series were very popular. Eh. We shall see where it leads.

I guess I'm more "loyal" to Sony if only because I was brought up in a Sony household. My older brother loved playing Final Fantasy VII and VIII, so he naturally had a PS1. The love affair continued on really. That, and the fact that I don't really play online, like ever. The PS3 is probably better for single player while every Xbox game I know of is tweaked so that single-player mode is "target practise" for the on-line experience.

[NorthernChaosGod]

ITT: buttmad

Not surprised it took this long, what with all the 360 owners having to buy brand new 360's after their first ones crapped out on them.

I'm on my original one from 2007.

[NeoCracker]

ITT: buttmad

Not surprised it took this long, what with all the 360 owners having to buy brand new 360's after their first ones crapped out on them.

I'm on my original one from 2007.

It's wierd. Everyone I know except for two people got a red ring. One of the two people who didn't has effectively had his 360 snowed on, rained on, and dropped several times and it worked just fine. It's like the 360 thrives on abuse. ;P

[Loony BoB]

360: Out earlier (this is a massive advantage, highly understated), cheaper, more FPS games, better built when dealing with online multiplayer games. These are the reasons I feel this console did very well for the initial years. Being out earlier meant that gamers flooded to find out what the HD games would be like and they loved them. The price allowed them to remain competitive for a very, very long time. More FPS games in today's generation of gamers is a very important thing because most gamers are FPS gamers. The online multiplayer functionality was also a big boost for the multiplayer functionality of FPS games - I always felt that Halo 3 gave me a much better experience than any of the PS3 online multiplayer games, not when speaking of the actual fights but more so when speaking of how easy it was to get into a game with your friends.

PS3: More powerful, more functional, more variation in game genre/type, free online. Being out a year later meant that less people had an instant demand for this console, let alone were able to justify the asking price which the power of the PS3 was partially responsible for. The functionality, however, which was the main reason for the asking price being so much higher, was notable. It was a much better home entertainment system than the 360 when it comes to being able to do more than simply play games. The variation in games is what drew me to the console (I own both, but use the PS3 more) as while I do like FPS games, I like variation even more. The free online bit is the part that kept me using the system as I don't like having to pay to get Xbox Live. This equates to a poorer performance with online games' features but it's a sacrifice I can justify as I don't go online as often as others do.

In short, both have advantages and disadvantages depending on the gamer. I'm personally quite happy to switch between the two depending on the game. Eventually, I might even be able to justify the cost of Xbox Live again, but I doubt that will be anytime too soon as online gaming isn't my bread and butter (although I do concede that I really miss the early days of Halo 3 with Dan, Psy, Jess, Danielle and others).

The overall winner when it comes to manufacturers was, without question, Sony. Not because of anything to do with gaming, though. Sony putting the Blu-Ray into every PS3 was the driving force behind the Blu-Ray beating the HD-DVD. Sony, along with a couple of other companies, own the patent to Blu-Ray. With the advent of online downloading of movies, this may not matter a massive amount in the very-long-run, but for a good five or six years now the Blu-Ray has been king of the retail film release market. If it were not for the PS3, I'm not so sure this would have happened. Still, Microsoft have certainly advanced significantly in the US and UK markets in particular, and while they may be behind in sales by whatever marginal amount, they are still up on market share compared to where they were before this generation, and that can't be ignored.

Now the big question is whether or not the next generation of consoles can justify themselves, and we'll see where that goes!

[maybee]

Just buy a wire. xD

You can do that ??

Oh my gosh. I feel so dumb.

[Old Manus]

I haven't played games on a console (outside of a few games of FIFA at parties) for about 2 years. I invariably get bored within half an hour and my PS3 doesn't allow the genius of of alt-tabbing and doing something else for a while before coming back to it later.

[Loony BoB]

Just buy a wire. xD

You can do that ??

Oh my gosh. I feel so dumb.

You can, although I'd still say the 360 controller doesn't last as long as my PS3 controller. Not sure if there's any reason why.

[Quindiana Jones]

Superiority?

On that note, I found out why I never liked the PS3 controller. The reason is because I bought a 360 controller for Windows. They are both too light. I don't like the insubstantiality of them. The PS3 one also has those horrible saggy flaps instead of nice, meaty triggers, but it's mostly the weight.

[Bubba]

My housemate moving in with his 360 has pleased me immensely. I now have the best of both worlds.

I can't stand the 360 controller though... it just doesn't sit right in my hands. Though it's probably because I've been using Playstation controllers since 1997.