Xbox 720 Release Could Cause PS3 to Overtake Xbox 360

The analysts are at it again, and this time, they’ve issued a statement that might appear equal parts obvious and equal parts baffling to those unaccustomed to the mechanisms and machinations of the gaming market.

According to M2 Research analyst Billy Pidgeon, if Microsoft release a new console now, it could and probably would cause the PS3 to overtake the Xbox 360.

“Should Microsoft release a successor to Xbox 360 and shift the pipeline for hardcore games over to the new consoles, that would be a possible scenario by which PS3 could bypass Xbox 360’s active installed base,” Pidgeon told Industry Gamers.

“This scenario would give PS3 the opportunity to soak up the hardcore sector,” he said.

On the one hand, this makes total sense- if Microsoft release a next gen console, then sales for the 360 will taper off. Many people, who might not have the kind of premium money that Microsoft would presumably charge for their next system, would then settle for a PS3 over an Xbox 360, as buying a system when it’s successor has been released would be seen redundant. This is mostly what happened with the Genesis against the Super Nintendo back in the 1990’s.

The problem, though, is that Pidgeon would chalk down these excess PS3 sales to the hardcore gamers- and we know that hardcore gamers would flock to the new hardware over buying technology that will soon be completing its fifth year on the market. Was Pidgeon confused, then, or does he have different definitions of these terms than we do? Or did he, like all analysts, have no idea what he was talking about?