November US sales: Sony's spin

By Robert Purchese Published 10 December, 2010

Cites "early blockbuster success" for Move.

PlayStation 3 sales were well under half that of Xbox 360 during November, typically the biggest shopping month of the year. What's Sony got to say about that?

"This holiday season PlayStation celebrates," Patrick Seybold told Industry Gamers, deftly ignoring the point but addressing the Call of Duty fuelled growth of the videogame industry as a whole.

"The early blockbuster success of PlayStation Move has undoubtedly helped to pave the way for us as we head into 2011.

"In fact, the strength of Move's technology infrastructure in allowing our developers to make already released titles Move compatible, will help broaden the net of their existing PS3 titles, bringing them to life even further with PlayStation Move.

"We're pleased that consumers continue to look to PlayStation for innovative and unique entertainment experiences.

"As we head into the new year with almost every PlayStation Move SKU in short supply and on allocation," he added, "I think we will continue to see a steady surge of positive growth for our home entertainment offerings simply because customers looking for strong product value, quality entertainment offerings, depth in gaming and content will choose PlayStation."

Seybold went on to boast about upcoming Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception - announced yesterday - LittleBigPlanet 2, Twisted Metal and Killzone 3. Games like those, he said, "will only help continue to solidify our place in the living room".

Sony's PlayStation 3 was sold 530,000 times across North America last month. Not only did that figure pale in comparison with Xbox 360 and Wii, it also represented a 25 per cent drop year-on-year for PS3.

Innovative titles like PDC Darts use PlayStation Move.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (39) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • raloB #1 1 year ago

    Show and tell! Show me everything, tell me nothing. Would be better had he given some actual Move sales figures.

  • RodHull #2 1 year ago

    Aside from Gears of War 3, what do MS have to rival Sony's exclusives next year?

  • coolbritannia #3 1 year ago

    If that's the best they can spin it they really are in trouble.

  • linea #4 1 year ago

    Well, they've got Forza 4. Tbh though the Playstation's range of exclusives is looking ever more tempting.

  • coolbritannia #5 1 year ago

    RodHull, it seems M$ don't need exclusives to stay ahead of Sony. But off the top of my head, probably Halo remake, Gears 3, Steel Battalion, Forza Kinect. Not a great list, but half of the PS3 exclusives are sequels to mediocre games anyway...

  • GamesConnoisseur #6 1 year ago

    RodHull

    Thats the point! I mean if MS could only clearly show GoW3 as a must have exclusive (there are others but that not the point) and Sony been trunpteting some great PS3 games coming in 2011.

    STILL X360 sells more than PS3 in USA?!

    What gives?!

    Kinect's currently more desirable than Move?

  • JBlokeUK #7 1 year ago

    @RodHull

    Absolutely nothing. Even the most rabbid 360 fanboy has to admit that the PS3 is looking very strong, software wise, next year.

    I had a go at Kinect today in a store here in OZ, and I was impressed with how responsive it was.

  • mcmonkeyplc #8 1 year ago

    I get a strange kick out of seeing the SDF in action.
    Edited by mcmonkeyplc at 10/12/10 @ 09:41

  • menage #9 1 year ago

    I love my PS3, but thhis overeliance on stuff like 3D and Move in their campaigns is not really what I care about. Just bring me UC3 and stuff like that.I want a game machine, not some wonder device without a direction.

  • des #10 1 year ago

    Even Sony PR is trolling PS3 fans,lol

  • natashaspice #11 1 year ago

    Time for a price cut one would think. But don't think they really care it's not like it's not selling well it's just being outsold in a particular region just like Microsoft they don't sell that well in japan but don't think they care about that either.

  • NotSoSlim #12 1 year ago

    Only new game Sony have announced is UC3 but everyone knew that was 2011 anyway all the other exclusives have been known for ages. I wouldnt shocked to see more Kinect exclusives than actual core games from MS as thats clearly there focus even if people believe otherwise.

    All companies do thing differently and nothing wrong with either approach. One company gets users and potential users excited about future games and the other shock and surprises users with its announcements

  • MrChuckles #13 1 year ago

    Ok, now i don't understand playing PDC Darts on the Move... I have a dartboard, surely it's more fun to actually play darts as it isn't that hard in the first place unlike playing a guitar compared to playing guitar hero.

    Also, if the Move is HYPER-ACCURATE shouldn't PDC darts be as difficult as real darts anyway?

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #14 1 year ago

    As a 360 owner I have to say I'm suprised by the comparitive sales of 360 and PS3! I chose a 360 a few years back as they're pretty equal in terms of gaming power but the 360 was cheaper which a much larger library. Just a personal choice but it seemed like a no brainer to me.

    As the years have gone on I've knocked MS for selling studios and being quite strict with exclusive deadlines and praised Sony for taking their time to get the most from their exclusives. Seemed to me that this would be a real issue for MS and EG comments show I wasn't alone in thinking that. Exclusives seem to factor a LOT in fanboyish debates.

    Well, looks like I 'may' be wrong (bit early to say) but i've now realised from thinking back to being a kid again that there are some things more important than exclusives such as what console your friends have got and how much your parents are willing to spend.

    I know it's only one month but that is a worrying drop from last year for Sony when they seem to be doing everything right and a massive increase for MS when, in our eyes at least, they seem to be doing lots wrong.
    Edited by SpaceMidget75 at 10/12/10 @ 10:30

  • dloob #15 1 year ago

    I remember last year people said "Apart from Halo:Reach what do MS have to rival Sony's exclusives next year?"

  • Zimo #16 1 year ago

    @MrChuckles
    your joking right, while the move maybe "HYPER-ACCURATE" its also configurable, the same as any controller or device,
    if the devs want to make it easier with assisted throws its perfectly possible.

  • patch #17 1 year ago

    Didn't Sony "overperform" last year due to the Slim coming out? Seem to remember it near enough doubled their 2008 figures.

  • lockload #18 1 year ago

    Wow that's an embarrassing press release, someone should be sacked at sony

    Complete failure on their part 25% drop, outsold almost 3 to 1

  • xentar #19 1 year ago

    oh boy, the year to year comparison hurts

  • TheNinkyNonk #20 1 year ago

    But this is America. We're a global market and there are many areas where the story is very different.

  • TopKatt #21 1 year ago

    @sven_vath

    Agreed. If you make any pro Sony comment on EG someone jumps up and accuses you of being in the SDF. Oh well, wouldn't want that so....

    Oh noes...... these figures is disaster for the PS3! It's finished!!! I'm gonna sell mine on de ebay and buy another xbox! I don't care waht games the PS3 has or about sales figures in the rest of the world, if the xbox sells more in the US, then I don't want a sony failstation anymore!

  • SeesThroughAll #22 1 year ago

    Wow that's an embarrassing press release, someone should be sacked at sony

    Someone probably will.

    Sony should learn to do marketing like Microsoft.

  • arcam #23 1 year ago

    The article just says: "PlayStation 3 sales were well under half that of Xbox 360 during November." It doesn't say anything about that being USA only.

    But maybe the article is wrong/incomplete - wouldn't be the first time.

  • Bleemo #24 1 year ago

    I am a bit surprised too that Xbox have managed to keep the momentum going on so few exclusives. The rules seems to be that the 360 has less exclusives that sell more copies. Perhaps it's true that outside of the super-core most gamers stick to a smaller amount of games and play them a lot. This would work in favour of Microsoft with the battle lines for games like Call of duty, Elder Scrolls, Fallout and GTA clearly skewed in their direction not to mention the online components of Gears and Halo.

    Where as PS3 exclusives whilst perhaps better made are more niche and therefore struggle to sell over 3 million units. Still I will be getting one for Xmas this year and perhaps more people will eventually pick one up with a growing list of quality exclusives.

  • RodHull #25 1 year ago

    @TSB

    I very nearly marked you down for reminding me of the utter toss on toast that was Lair. Not sure if that, Haze or Heavenly Sword is the most disappointing of the PS3's exclusives.

  • SlackMaster #26 1 year ago

    Price is the only thing holding it back currently... If it tries to be more competitive and drops its price then its sales will pick up. Unfortunately Sony seems very stubborn over price, which is one of the reasons for the failure of the PSPGo.

  • MDL199 #27 1 year ago

    @arcam
    Look at the headline it clearly says November US sales so this story is only about America and seeing as the 360 is clearly the most US focused console on the market it's not a huge surprise.

    In both Europe and Japan I reckon the PS3 will give the 360 a bloody nose this Christmas and further close the now pretty close sales gap.

    As for price which someone else mentioned there is absolutely no question that the PS3 gives you more bang for your buck in terms of value for money when you remember you're getting one of the best media players around built in with your games console and you won't have to pay £40 a year just for the privilage to play the games you spent a lot of cash on already online. And i've not even mentioned iPlayer, LoveFilm, VidZone, Youtube support and a built in web browser which i'm using right now.

  • funkateer #28 1 year ago

    The cited article doesn't make any mention of the 360, yet EG skillfully turned this into yet another piece of fanbait tabloid drivel.

    Every now and then EG has some truly excellent articles. This is not one of them.

  • man.the.king #29 1 year ago

    @SeesThroughAll

    "Sony should learn to do marketing like Microsoft. "

    Agree 100%. One thing Microsoft are VERY good at is getting into the public consciousness and sticking there, deserved or not.

    I'm currently going through Physical Therapy for the back of my neck (stiffness and pain) and my Therapist, a late-20 (or early 30s) something lady called Donna, knew what the Wii was and what the "Kinetic" was, but not the Move.

    The same goes for the consoles as well - Sony are great at hardware and do come up with some phenomenal stuff,but they REALLY, REALLY, REALLY suck at marketing themselves.

    And yeah, PR does not always have to be spun to say something positive. They could just have admitted they didn't do as well as they expected and then focus on getting into public consciousness.

    That being said, I see (at least on amazon.com) that both Move and Kinect are pretty hard to get hold of, so both do appear to be selling well - but I assume Move is selling more to the traditional gamer than the casual one.

    We'll see what the future holds, I guess.

  • technicianTed #30 1 year ago

    There's quite a few 360 exclusives announced(and some heavily rumoured)for 2011.

    Xcom
    Project gotham 5
    Kingdoms(no i have no idea what it'll be like either)
    Perfect dark 2(and another rare game rumoured for 2011..a proper banjo kazzoie game would be nice)
    gears 3
    Fable 4(certainly something from mr molyneux anyway).

    There's plenty to keep 360 owners happy.. I'm looking forward to what the summer of arcade next year brings as well, the last 2 years have really shown sony the way to go in terms of quality downloadable releases.

    The ps3 has a nice lineup as well though, lbp2 and infamous 2 i'm really looking forward to but i'd be surprised if one of sony's big titles 'the last guardian' actually makes 2011.
    That's got 2012 written all over it and nothing's been seen of Agent which doesn't bode well for a 2011 release.

    Sony always offer plenty leading into an upcoming year but don't always deliver, microsoft tend to mention release dates nearer the time.
    It'll be an interesting 2011.

  • Bill Gates is Evil #31 1 year ago

    Microsoft is intentionally relying less and less on exclusives. It's their strategy-- it's not like Microsoft doesn't have the resources to secure endless amounts of sequels and buyout pretty much every developer in industry. They do, it's just not a cost effective way of pummeling Sony.

    Exclusives cannabalize console sales: it sucks the sales out of third party multi-platform games. By weaning themselves off of console exclusives, they're forcing gamers to pay attention to third party offerings. The result of this, obviously, is that multiplatform games on the Xbox 360 sell better, get more developer love and resources, and as a result of this usually end up being the better version. The Xbox 360 version of a game isn't always better than the PS3 version, but the majority of the time it is. It just makes sense if you're a third party developer to focus more resources and effort on the Xbox 360 version: Microsoft wants to facilitate an environment in which 3rd parties can succeed, not one in which they're pushed to the side by a billion dollar Microsoft Game Studios uber-title.

    The problem is even worse for Nintendo than it is for Sony, as Nintendo has relied extremely heavily on their in-house development efforts to support their consoles. The result of this, naturally, is a blight of a console for third party developers.

    There will always be Microsoft-exclusive games, Sony-exclusives, etc. It's simply the degree to which those games dominate the release schedule-- Microsoft has been making a concerted effort to limit it's competition ot third party developers.

    This competition-friendly strategy of Microsoft's secures the longevity of their position as 3rd party platform of choice. That's a huge deal for the Xbox 360's sales, even if it's more subtle than a Halo or a GTA or whatever. Microsoft has older, cheaper, less advanced technology: but it continually beats the PS3 in multiplatform quality. That, my firiends, is an excellent business strategy: Microsoft wants to focus more and more on facilitating a competitive 3rd party battlefield on it's own console than it is boosting console sales via one-time big name exclusives. It's a long term strategy.

  • MeBrains #32 1 year ago

    how much has ps2 sold in the states?

  • makeamazing #33 1 year ago

    @bill gates is evil, I do agree that the console manufacturers have to be very careful releasing exclusive games and not taking away important sales from 3rd parties. Sony need to make sure they spread their titles out next year or they risk doing that. Especially as everyone seems to be releasing games in Jan-March Next year.

    Sony are doing well overall, but not so well in the USA, I think they need a bit of a price cut to help them out, I think one will be coming next year. It certainly looks like they will be third again this Christmas (amazed at the wii still selling so much at Xmas).

  • MDL199 #34 1 year ago

    Just because you called yourself "Bill Gates Is Evil" doesn't mean we don't know it's you Billy boy!

    Anyways I don't agree with your point the fact is a consoles exclusives give the console an identity and character. Titles like Heavy Rain which was a huge hit on PS3 would have totally bombed on the 360 with it's largely thicko yank audience whining because they couldn't blow shit up!

    The 360 has some good games but it doesn't have the wide selection of games the PS3 has.

    The superb and unique exclusives on the PS3 are one of the best reasons to buy the console.
    Edited by MDL199 at 10/12/10 @ 21:22

  • Bill Gates is Evil #35 1 year ago

    "The 360 has some good games but it doesn't have the wide selection of games the PS3 has."

    360 has a much wider, and higher quality selection than the PS3. This is very obvious, if you own both consoles.

  • MDL199 #36 1 year ago

    I do own both consoles and the PS3 definitely has the best exclusives and more diversive selection of games. Left of centre titles like Little Big Planet and the previously mentioned Heavy Rain just wouldn't go down well with the 360 crowd who seem to like Guns, guns and more GUNS! And let's not forget Uncharted 2 the best game of the current generation for my money.

    Interesting couple of videos part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-ezdt8dj...

    part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5l4JNYnL...
    Edited by MDL199 at 11/12/10 @ 03:15

  • dirtyvu #37 1 year ago

    well under half of the 360? more like 1/3 of the 360 sales.

  • Alex_976 #38 1 year ago

    You can't say Sony are bad at PR. They are the reason SEGA don't make consoles now.

  • Dizzy #39 1 year ago

    >I do own both consoles and the PS3 definitely has the best exclusives and more diversive selection of games

    XBLA laughs in your face.