PlayStation 3 Tops Xbox 360 for the First Time in Nearly Three Years

Sony fans can finally celebrate a triumphant month in the United States, with the PlayStation 3 landing on top of the sales charts.

How would Microsoft PR  handle the Xbox 360 losing a month to the PlayStation 3?  Microsoft’s been sending out a sales report each month since 2011 that goes something like “Xbox 360 maintains its lead in the U.S. console market for the X month in a row…”

Not this time. For September, NPD reports the PlayStation 3 finally pulled ahead of the Xbox 360, thanks in part to a Grand Theft Auto V PS3 system bundle. Microsoft’s email chose instead to highlight an Xbox 360 sales milestone (passing 80 million units sold worldwide) and added that the system “maintained its lead as the number one selling console in the U.S. in 2013.”

Was the latter ever in doubt? The Xbox 360′s been ahead of the PlayStation 3 in North America by millions of units for years; the chances it was going to lose that lead were precisely zero. In any event, it’s testament to the Xbox 360′s appeal (in the U.S., anyway — Sony’s slightly ahead in worldwide console sales) that the console’s held that top sales spot (excluding games handhelds) for 32 months straight.

September was really Nintendo’s month, however: the 3DS outsold everything, hardware-wise, for the fifth consecutive month despite Grand Theft Auto V‘s arrival, and with Pokémon X & Y demolishing sales records, it’s probably safe to assume the 3DS is a lock for October.

What about the Wii U after that $50 price drop on the Deluxe model, which lowered the price to $300? Nintendo says sales of its beleaguered console increased “by more than 200 percent over sales in August,” adding that that’s with just two weeks of data being reported at the new price. NPD says the Wii U The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD bundle helped. October should be telling.

Last but not least, software juggernaut Grand Theft Auto V accounted for fully half of all gaming dollar sales in September, says NPD, and “had the highest first month sales than any other previous launch in the Grand Theft Auto franchise.”

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Sony’s PS4 Has Fifty Percent Lead Over Microsoft’s Xbox One

According to research by Strategy Analytic, Sony’s PS4 will have the edge over Microsoft’s Xbox One in the upcoming next generation console war.

According to the report, “Games Consoles: Purchase Intention Index Q2 2013″, 14.2% of consumers are very or somewhat likely to buy a PS4 within the next twelve months compared to 9.5% who will buy an Xbox One.

These figures  imply that sales of the PS4 will be nearly fifty percent higher than Xbox One. The survey was conducted across the US and Europe in June and  included a  representative population sample of more than 6000 people.

Jia Wu, Director, Connected Home Devices (CHD) commented “Our survey suggests that consumers believe the PS4 will win the early phase of the next generation console war. Sony’s performance at E3 was widely accepted as superior to Microsoft’s, and the survey evidence suggests this has already fed through to the wider consumer market.”

Of the 20-35 age group nearly 30% of respondents are very or somewhat likely to buy a PS4 compared to under 20% for Xbox One.

Ed Barto, Director of Digital Media Strategies, believes Microsoft must invest in exclusive games in order to recover from the poor showing at E3.

 

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