Ok before I start this editorial, I will like to make one point very clear. I am not a PlayStation 3 fan boy or an Xbox 360 hater. In fact I have both gaming consoles and love them. Then why the hell I am claiming that PlayStation 3 will eventually sell more than the Xbox 360? The reason being that I have been following this generation of gaming since it began in 2005. I am no industry analyst but this editorial is basically a representation of what a gamer like me will think. Now let’s get started.
When Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 in fall 2005, it was a no brainer that Microsoft will have lead of millions of units, when the PlayStation 3 and Wii launched in 2006. According to my findings that lead was 6 million units. I am not considering the Wii in this editorial, since the gamble has really paid off for Nintendo, and no one really expected it to do so well. As it is the Wii is targeted for an audience which may or may not belong to video games, hence broadening the market for video games. Now let’s compare the sales of both the consoles till date.
Xbox 360 life time sales: 39 million (2005 Fall to date)
PlayStation 3 life time sales: 33 million (2006 Fall to date)
As you can see the lead has been stable. The Xbox 360 had a 6 million head start and it has maintained the same for the last four years. Now why am I claiming that the PlayStation 3 will eventually sell more than the Xbox 360? As you all know Sony has a ten year old plan for the PlayStation 3 and with almost six years to go before that time gets over, the PlayStation 3 is still in a pretty good position. If you think logically, neither the PlayStation 3 nor the Xbox 360 have outsold each other overall so far by a long margin (overall), considering the fact that the 360 actually got released a year before.
Also we all know, the Xbox 360 is catching up with age. Fall 2010 will mark the 5th anniversary of this amazing console. I am not sure how many years have Microsoft planned for the Xbox 360, but surely they must have started working on ideas surrounding the next Xbox console. Sony has always claimed that PlayStation 3 was meant for a longer run and it looks like it’s going to be that way. With some of the most technically proficient games out there on the PlayStation 3 like Uncharted 2 and Heavy Rain, it’s really tough not to think that there is still untapped potential in the black beauty. So given a scenario where the 360 really starts to show its age, developers will take up the PlayStation 3 and use that processing power to drive the next generation of games. It is my belief that the best of PlayStation 3 is yet to come, as was evident with the PlayStation 2 when the best of games came out in the later stages of that console. And as is the trend, people always prefer buying quality games and that is one of the major reasons as to why I see the PlayStation 3 selling more units than the Xbox 360 in the longer run.