Just tagging, most of you already brought good points. I'd just add one thing about marketing: Sony is good at marketing the PS brand name, but it too often sucks at marketing its games.

Edit: BTW, Kevin Butler is actually very good, but even when he advertises SW, I get more from him a good marketing job aimed at the whole PS offer and brand, it must be that VP running gag that conveys this unspoken message.

He was really good at first but eventually they just made his commercials about him rather than the game or product.  Just going to use Resistance 3 as an example.  They showed nothing about Resistance 3.  It basically just had him talking about it.  

Regardless he was great and it's a loss for sony that they are sueing him unfortunately.

They are doing a better job with the Vita though.  It just doesnt have the games that people are attracted to.

I thought the "World Is In Play" ad was the best Sony ad I'd seen since the mid/late 90's.

Yes I know it's all alternate reality speak (therefore completely pointess, subjective and pure fantasy) - but how the hell did you come up with that number?

Once again this whole "proof" of this or that - is proof of nothing - but pure fantasy, and as you agreed - alternate reality.

Also - I wasn't aware - as per the #4 point you made at the top of your post - that the PS3 was subject to far harsher critical analysis than othe consoles. Is this the "Playstation Conspiracy" I hear about? Or are there reasons people are critical of it, or subject more/far harsher criticism? If there is some grand conspiracy of which I am unaware, I best be informed.

Q-If I pick apples faster than you, but you started earlier - who is the better apple picker? 

A - The person who picks the MOST apples at the end of the day - races aren't run on top speed and MPH - but who gets over the finish line first.

I have thought, for a long time, that the PS3 would overtake 360 LTD sales. It's seemed inevitable since the PS3 was announced. Every year since about 2010, I've thought this would happen. Looked pretty certain by 2012 around this time last year. I'd say it looks pretty certain now. Guess we'll see.Didn't 360 actually outsell PS3 last year? I couldn't have seen it coming. Still - if I had a competitor who said he sold the most with x amount - I'd be claiming I'd sold x+1 - if I actually had done. MS called it, no one disputed it (except in the forums of the internet) - , I'd say it was indisputable.

Also - I wasn't aware - as per the #4 point you made at the top of your post - that the PS3 was subject to far harsher critical analysis than othe consoles. Is this the "Playstation Conspiracy" I hear about? Or are there reasons people are critical of it, or subject more/far harsher criticism? If there is some grand conspiracy of which I am unaware, I best be informed.

Thing is - this generation is  effectively over.

It's already gone a year or so longer than the longest generation we'd had (most gor for about 5 years) - and in some ways - the 7 or so years (6 for Ps3/Wii) - this generation has gone on for - has fundamentally changed the market.

Now - I'm sure mobile/tablet gaming, casual , F2P - all these things which in the last couple of years have really shaken up the traditional console business model - would have happened regardless - I don't think people should underestimate the boost these alternative outlets for gaming software have gotten from people looking for some new box to play games on. Not that they don't enjoy their current box, just that, as used to people are these days to upgrading their smartphones every two years max - because - get this - people like to get new shiny stuff.

Console sales are down , this gen is basically running on fumes. Nintendo's on to the next (which effectively means - this gen's over in about 3 weeks), Sony have got a few new IP's to drop, MS have got one or two old ones to trot out - we all know most of the top devs A - Teams both multi and first party, are already beavering away on new dev kits - and we know that either MS or Sony will be bringing out a new box next year, with a great degree of certainty.

I really do like Sony, but I just tend to respond to people who try to pass off blind "what if" wishes  - or use stats for distance to measure weight -  as "proof". Hence my original reply.

Yes, they should immediately bury the hatchet and smoke the calumet with him. And keep on using him more for HW and brand name than for SW, as his "VP of everything" character by now unavoidably overshadows game characters and the games themselves. And MAYBE make a game about him?    Big "maybe", but at least putting his character in some games like LBP and PASBR shouldn't hurt.

It's astonishing that we're on a site with all these numbers and people are still so ignorant.

GT5 will pass Reach eventually. There's only 700k separating the best selling Uncharted and Gears games. Sony has God of War and LittleBigPlanet, which are on equal footing with Forza and Fable.

But what else has Microsoft got? Crackdown had limited success, but I wouldn't be surprised if it never got a sequel. Everything Rare puts out these days is a flop. Alan Wake failed miserably.

Then you have Sony with multiple smaller successes. Heavy Rain, inFamous, Killzone, Ratchet. The Last of Us, PS All Stars and Beyond: Two Souls will surely be hits.

There's just no comparison.

lol I had my answer in the very first comment haha  I forgot about GT.  I tend to forget about GT because I did not like GT5 at all.

Regardless I'm still calling a flop on PS All Stars.  metacritic of 75-82 is my guess.  Laast of Us will be amazing though :)

Yes I know it's all alternate reality speak (therefore completely pointess, subjective and pure fantasy) - but how the hell did you come up with that number?

That number is not imaginary. 360 had a 6million head start on PS3, PS3 has been selling at a comparable but faster pace. As of right now the gap has decreased from 6million to 1.5-2million(although the gap has closed according to Sony's reports)6m-2m equals 4million difference. 6m + 4m = 12million actually but I was leaving room for margins of error/fluctuation of the market. This corresponds to if PS3 had the year head start that 360 had.

Also - I wasn't aware - as per the #4 point you made at the top of your post - that the PS3 was subject to far harsher critical analysis than othe consoles. Is this the "Playstation Conspiracy" I hear about? Or are there reasons people are critical of it, or subject more/far harsher criticism? If there is some grand conspiracy of which I am unaware, I best be informed.

Some of it warrented, some of it not. I have been told that I am a very "glass half empty" type of person, probably true. Yet this doesn't excuse the people who choose to ignore what is going on around them because it is too difficult to deal with or think about. If I am only seeing what I want to see, then there is just as much chance that others are NOT seeing what they don't want to see. Regardless of the ethical standing of the scrutiny, PS3 very obviously got more flack than 360 on everything, yet still out performed it year over year.

Q-If I pick apples faster than you, but you started earlier - who is the better apple picker? 

A - The person who picks the MOST apples at the end of the day - races aren't run on top speed and MPH - but who gets over the finish line first.

Wrong, if you actually want to retain the sports/athletic metaphore. In order for it to be fair they have to start at the same time(or as close as humanly possible). The faster picker is obviously better because if they had started at the same time he would have picked more, so far more effecient. You can't "cheat" in a race and claim victory. What if everyone said PS360 were failures because they didn't immediately sell 150million like the PS2? Perposterous right? PS2 had several years head start on them, so it is not a totally fair comparison in the grande scheme of things.

Didn't 360 actually outsell PS3 last year?

Nope, wrong again. This was Western biased drivel shoveled out by MS and NPD to give the allure that 360 is doing better than they are. PS3 has handidly outsold 360 every year for the last 3-4(not sure about in the beginning). Yet....media and critics jump down Sony's throat everytime they released numbers screaming "THATS SHIPPED NOT SOLD!" with no proof of that :/ It has been strongly rumoured that PS3 and 360 are actually about even in sales for the past year and a half.

I really do like Sony, but I just tend to respond to people who try to pass off blind "what if" wishes  - or use stats for distance to measure weight -  as "proof". Hence my original reply.

In no way is my hypothetical analysis a blind "what if" scenario. Its backed up by math and sales trends. At the end of the day, Sony still has the strongest and most resilient selling power in the Gaming industry. It is unfortunate that they are in last place.

Since you are considering a single game, well then even Gears and Halo are no 10 million+ sellers, proven by both Gears 3 and Halo 4.

God of War is actually bigger than Uncharted. God of War 3 sold over 5 million units, accorfing to an official report by Sony, as of June 30, 2012.