I'm sort of touching on a sidenote issue here but...
People surprise me. They do. "Graphics are paramount!" they will say. And to many, they are correct. But the industry does not always agree. "Poppycock, the PS3 is superior, developers can do anything they want with it!" they continue. They why aren't they blazing past the Wii yet? Why are they only outselling the 360 by tens of thousands a month instead of hundreds of thousands?
An even bigger phenomenon: Why is the "weakest" console always coming up top? The PlayStation 2 was the weakest console last generation, but it did significantly better than its competitors. The Wii is the weakest console this generation, and is selling better than any console in the industry's history. Given how much the PS2 dominated, and how well the Wii is doing now, it would seem we have plenty of empirical evidence to claim that no, graphics do not, in fact, matter most of all. They come after design, gameplay, story, and most of all affordability.
PS3: 5.51m/51w, avg 108,039/w (up 239)
360: 12.93m/102w, avg 126,764/w (up 625), leads PS3 by 7.42m (up 70k), avg lead 18,725/w (up 386)
Wii: 13.52m/51w, avg 265,098/w (dn 1,102), leads PS3 by 8.01m (up 90k), avg lead 157,059/w (dn 1,341)
If 360 sales stabilize, PS3 sales increases needed to pass 360 by...
01/08: (008w) +875.8%, 04/08: (021w) +344.4%, 07/08: (034w) +219.3%, 10/08: (047w) +163.5%
01/09: (060w) +131.8%, 04/09: (073w) +111.4%, 07/09: (085w) +098.1%, 10/09: (099w) +086.7%
If Wii sales stabilize, PS3 sales increases needed to pass Wii by...
01/08: (008w) +1072.%, 04/08: (021w) +498.4%, 07/08: (034w) +363.4%, 10/08: (047w) +303.1%
01/09: (060w) +269.0%, 04/09: (073w) +246.9%, 07/09: (085w) +232.6%, 10/09: (099w) +220.3%
If PS2 sales freeze, Wii sales increases needed to pass PS2 (as of Mar07, 108.4m) by...
2008: (008w) +4373.8%, 2009: (060w) +0496.5%, 2010: (112w) +0219.6%, 2011: (165w) +0116.9%
2012: (217w) +0064.9%, 2013: (269w) +0033.1%, 2014: (321w) +0011.5%, 2015: (376w) -0004.8%
At +0% it will pass it in 358w, the week ending September 19th, 2014, at an age of 409w (7y44w).
Current age of PS2: 7y37w.
Last update: Week ending November 3, 2007
