Edge Online has recently reported that globally the PlayStation 3 has over taken the Xbox 360. This was originally reported by Gamasutra who pointed this happened at the end of 2010.
I think the biggest thing that should be pointed out about this is that Microsoft had a one year lead over Sony, they had the cheaper system (assuming you didn't want to bring it up to PS3-liek spec and play movies, have wireless, etc) and arguably had more grade-A exclusive games and they still couldn't blow away the competition.
The Wii had taken over the Xbox 360 ages ago and Sony has always been on a pretty steady climb towards Microsoft's numbers. Even if the PS3 and Xbox 360 bounce back and forth from second to third place Microsoft can't really be happy about that. They've made one of the best offerings they could and despite the price advantage and time advantage it will be a struggle. That, in my mind is a failure even if they hold onto second place.
My belief for the reason behind this is because Microsoft does nickel and dime their users to make a profit. The Xbox 360's add-ons are proprietary hardware (i.e. the hard drive) and they're expensive. Getting a decent online experience requires an online subscription and you still can not browse the internet unlike every other system including the Nintendo DS. They did eventually add a proprietary way to interface with Twitter and Facebook but again you have to pay Microsoft to access these free services. Quite frankly I think that's ridiculous. It makes me wonder if the Xbox 360 would have made a profit if they didn't, in my opinion, stick it to their customers.
The other revelation is that the Japanese aren't doing as bad as the gaming media has made out. Most gaming media that people will read comes from the west and especially the US. I believe the western-centric media wants to big-up Microsoft's Xbox 360 and as a result it has appeared (if you read most gaming sites) that the Microsoft is a leader and doing awesome. Microsoft isn't doing an awful job but quickly became a second place system and have been on their way to slowly losing that since the Playstation 3 was launched.
Some sites are worse than others. Take for instance Kotaku which, in my opinion, is the gaming equivalent of the Nation Enquireer. For instance two days in a row they had to point out that Nintendo isn't releasing many games in May [1, 2] and these 'fluff' pieces are running along side a story about the price people get for used Nintendo 3DS systems in Japan implying the system isn't doing well because of the cash people get and this was followed by twitter-esque report on The Sun's question report about the 3DS. Of course if you take into consideration what Japan is going through right now the first 3 links make complete sense and in fact a lot of their viewers were wise enough to point this out as well.
I believe you'll find Kotaku generally treats Sony in the same way. Alternatively I believe you'll find no similar stories about the Xbox 360 in the same time period. I went through a few pages of their site and couldn't find anything about the Playstation taking over the Xbox 360 either. I did though find positive stories about Kinect and even some lame limited edition xbox 360 for Japan.
Now I don't expect much from Kotaku because again, I believe, they're quite possibly the worst when it comes to gaming news. But I find western media in general has leaned that way. Even the most excellent Edge magazine has seemed almost fanboyish about the xbox 360 in the past and they as well love to push the idea of Japan losing it's power in gaming.
I'm not sure what the motive is. Whether it's because they just want to create drama to increase revenue, they're being nationalistic about it or Microsoft just gives better perks to 'journalists' (a term that should be used very lightly in gaming media) but as far as I'm concerned that's not the truth. Japan is still doing exceptionally well.
It's the west's Microsoft that's in the weak spot. They are doing well in North America but the rest of the world just doesn't seem that bothered about the xbox 360. As games get more expensive, if I were a publisher, I'd rather go with the systems that have sold the most systems globally and especially in areas like Europe where costs can be higher due to translating costs why would want to bother with the 3rd place guy if he's not doing well?
Will Microsoft even be able to re-create what success they had with the 360 in the next generation if they can't manage a year lead over the competition? What if North America ends up with a real lust for Nintendo and Sony in the next generation? Microsoft's numbers will be abysmal because they just don't have the support elsewhere.
I'll end this by saying I am quite happy this is happening and I hope this trend continues. It is my opinion that Microsoft has been a bad influence on console gaming. In Microsoft's world everything about gaming gets quite expensive even if it's just wanting to use a free service like Facebook. They've helped usher in the PC mentality that rushing a game out and patching it later is completely acceptable and everything about console gaming has to be proprietary in Microsoft's world which gives the consumer no choice for something like a hard drive and it's for no good reason. There is nothing special about an Xbox 360 hard drive.
Lastly, they introduced achievements. That has been one of the worst additions to gaming. In the old days of high scores the score only required playing well. Achievements instead seem to be more about extending the game without adding any content or anything of value. Just take a look at some of the achievements for Team Fortress 2. Some of which, I think, lead to people playing poorly and ruining it for their team. Where is the benefit other than keeping that user playing longer? I'd rather not cater to ADD kids.
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