@ Chrono:

I meant the PS1 had no competition when it launched, as it came out well before the N64, although you are right about the Dreamcast.  Also, they were expensive when they came out, about the same price as the Premium 360 when it came out, but nowhere near PS3 launch price.  And I think I said in my big post that the reason the PS3 is on par with the 360's first year is because they scared people by telling the people who would have waited for a price drop that they wouldn't be able to get the best version of the console soon.

 Also, it deserves to be said that, with PS1, and 2, Sony wouldn't have considered it an achievement to be 'pretty much keeping up' with sales of the other consoles.

But, as I said, this is all just my opinion on the state of things, and I enjoy the discussion.  I even like to be proven wrong, as it makes the discussion much more interesting :)

@eugene

then if not "lousy" what term could be used for USA

also keep in mind EU didn't even JOIN until March (5 months after NA/JAP launch) YET it did better than 360 in it's first year

USA sales I meant

I wish my first post was that awesome.

It was long, but I'm tough and read the whole thing. A very reasoned analysis. The mascot thing is not something that I really noticed before.

Ok, the PS3 matched a system that had virtually no international presence outside of Amercia, no killer game until a year later with Gears of War, and whose previous system was outsold by 100 million units. Im sure Sony had a higher bar to reach than to merely match Xbox's first year. And note: Xbox's second year killed PS3's first year and in reality, that matters more.  

@DMeister: Do you mean I 'shouldn't' say that?

@Darth: That is a very good point that I hadn't considered, but still, see my previous post.

@MrPickles: I disagree on your point of manhunt as a quality game, otherwise I see nothing objectionable in your essay (and I have read it all). It was an interesting read, although I can not really verify anything since I have been a PC gamer between Famicom and Wii.

If only other posters had this kind of integrity...

Please stay. 

 Well of course ^_^ I have a feeling you'll be a very welcome addition to the site :P but back to the response!

The PS1 had no immediate competition, but then again it was the SONY PLAYSTATION!!! (???) which as we all know was the first of Sony's gaming creations. Nintendo had something on the way to build hype from the SNES (which had a MASSIVE following), Sony didn't have much lol. So I'd say that the playstation releasing earlier was the only shot they had :D (good timing on Sony's part).

I think were all putting too many words into Sony's mouth to be honest. Considering the fact that SONY is a hardware company, an entertainment business, and then a gaming company after all of that, they understand what its like to be in a market full of competition, I actually doubt they just "expected" to win this early on, they put out hardware that will last a looooong time (like they always do) and kept the price high to cut back on losses until the technology drops. Didn't Jack Trenton specifically say that Christmas 07 wasn't there important year? Of course anyone can claim that it's PR spin, and it could be, but lile I said they've been in this industry and many similar industry's for quite some time. 

Yes ALL I'm saying is that 360 got 5 Months of EXTRA EU/OTHER SALES in it's first year than PS3..