LogFAQs > #962103122

THEGODDAMNBATMA posted...

It's weird how people say the PS3 sold more than the Xbox 360.

Do people actually say that? Nearly all the commentary I've ever heard about that generation is that both Sony and Microsoft generally sold similar numbers of units, while Nintendo absolutely blew the doors off both of them in terms of sales because the Wii was an unholy whirlwind. So it's more like a tie between the two while Nintendo "won".

(Unless you're talking to someone who dismisses Nintendo's success because most of those sales were to casual gamers who were buying the Wii more as a gimmicky toy than an actual gaming console, in which case they tend to just say that Microsoft and Sony were equally successful.)

At most, you'll occasionally hear Sony supporters mention that the PS3's weak showing early on was less about the console/brand itself and more about their insistence on forcing a Blu-Ray player into it (thus raising the price) to win a non-gaming format war, but since that a) is literally true, and b) successfully helped Sony win that particular format war, it's a cogent point.

You'll also occasionally hear people point out that Sony's weak start in that generation was because they were a bit too cocky after their easy dominance in the PS2 era (true), and that the same sort of arrogance is what kicked Microsoft in the dick when they went from being cocky about the 360's success and shat out the Xbone in the worst possible way (also true). In both cases, both companies had to recover from a weak (if not disasterous) start to play catch up, though the PS3 did a much better job overcoming that false start than the Xbone ever did (and Sony didn't have to resort to the panic decision of withholding sales figures to try and hide just how badly they were doing the way Microsoft did).

I don't think I've ever heard anyone really say that either company "won" that generation (especially since, if all you care about is sales figures, then Nintendo did, easily). Then again, I respect myself way too much as a person to spend time on Sony or Microsoft centric console boards, so I've generally insulated myself from the worst bleating of the fully indoctrinated console drones on either side.