Whoaaaaa, haven't been here in a while but this topic really caught my attention.
I actually haven't been following sales data and haven't been caring about this stuff anymore. Until this topic, that is.
All I can say about this matter is....Microsoft is just wreaking of desperation now. I've said it before and I'll say it again...gaming market would have been better if Microsoft just never entered the console market. They are only here BECAUSE of Sony and now they just so desperately wanna beat them. Ever since PS1, MS was just envious about what SOny has created with the PlayStation brand. The all-in-one entertainment centre.
Sorry to say this, but brand recognition is everything and everyone knows it. PlaySTATION - the one place for all your entertainment needs. Sony was first and they deserve to be #1. Microsoft, in my eyes, will forever be the follower and imitator.
It may be a little bit better in the US ONLY because America is loyal to American brands....but Europe knows better. :)
Japan is very much like America...loyal to their Japanese brands. And when PS was more American branded, they turned more to Nintendo for all their gaming needs.
It truly makes me wonder what would happen if ever there was to be a EUROPEAN-branded console. But I guess that's kinda more difficult to determine, because of the EUROPEAN UNION. It's a combined culmination of all the European countries.
In the end, it's funny now that Microsoft has to BUY OUT companies that were already on PlayStation all along in order to steal an audience from the PlayStation brand.
In comparison, this would be like Sony buying out EA and there would no longer be any FIFA or MADDEN games on the Xbox. This is just screaming desperation. The companies that fell under the Sony umbrella were forever Sony owned companies from day one, like Naughty Dog, Santa Monica, Guerilla and Liverpool Studios to name just a few.
