7 hours since last update:

#09 XB1 Gears Bundle (same)
#13 PS4 Black Ops 3 Standard Bundle (down 2)
#30 PS4 Star Wars Standard Bundle (down 4)
#34 N3DS Black (down 2)
#38 XB1 Three Game Bundle (down 1)
#62 WiiU Mario Kart Bundle (same)
#76 PS4 Nathan Drake Bundle (up 2)

PS4 - 4 bundles, 3 in the top 100
XB1 - 8 bundles, 2 in the top 100

Sorry for the tardy update, I fell asleep whilst looking through the manual on how to use this danged laptop.

The nerve of the guy!

xbox one doing good and is at the moment #9 on the chartz. It will probably start to drop, but it did enough i believe to make December close. Remember november ps4 sold 200k more and this included the pre-orders from start wars and bops3. This time around there is no pre-orders so I believe the ps4 will take november by around 50-80k.

It's difficult to say this month because of the stock shortages Amazon seem to have had. Insiders over at GAF have had no such stock issues and are reporting incredible sales for the PS4 and very good sales for the XB1. You could be right about the gap being smaller than last month (which was just shy of 250k) but I still think the conflicting message of the insiders and Amazon suggests more people are buying directly from bricks and mortar retailers than online. I'm still sticking with my prediction of a 300k - 350k gap just for the fun of it but I have to admit I'm no where near as confident with that prediction as I was last week when Amazon had no stock issues.

On the subject of there being no preorders this month, you're right, but you also have to remember that the map pack for Black Ops 3 and the new bundle is giving it a boost and the fact Star Wars released is also pushing the Star Wars Bundle (at retailers). Then remember December is a 5 week NPD month and includes Cyber Monday.

Is the PS4 Black Ops 3 + Destiny Bundle for $350 new?

you may be right. There is no doubt sony played it smart this year with all the third party deals. I believe holidays should be left to the third party games as it is the season where most casuals buy consoles and the other months should see more first party releases. Hopefully microsoft secures better third party deals for 2016 holidays and that should result in better competition.

Better third party deals are a must for MS but they also need to spread their exclusives out throughout the year this time. Next year should be bigger for both companies but MS really need to sustain the momentum all year and not hope for a big boost around Christmas.

I hope Microsoft learned their lesson with this year results.

A) Spread the exclusives thru the entire year.

B) DO NOT try to compete with COD, not even with Halo.

C) DO NOT money hat franchises that are related to Sony systems.

D) Put a leash on the PR guys so they stop running their mouth with stupid slogans.

E) The Forza/Gears/Halo Tag Team is not what it used to be.

F) Forza flopping should teach them to stop milking so much their well made franchises, there is so much you can do on a years time for a game.

G) DO NOT hype stuff like Teh Cloud and DX12, much less stuff not intended to be for gaming on a gaming related show just for the WOW factor (Hololens).

ETC.

To be fair to MS, most of the things on that list may well be ill advised in hindsight but all they had to give themselves a chance. I don't think they so much 'played it wrong' as 'had no other options'. The only thing I would say is a legitimate 'played it wrong' is the release date of Tombraider, but an interesting post over at GAF on that subject has given it perhaps a different slant. I'm all for thinking around things rather than immediately calling it stupid, and whilst the GAF post sounded a little conspiratorial, it is worth keeping in mind the idea that 'failure' could have been the actual objective here. The theory went that Crystal Dynamics no longer wants to the work with SE so they make a backhanded deal with MS to give SE a reason to let them go and so free them up for an MS purchase. We'll see, but I'm certainly watching this space carefully.

And kudos to X1Gates for actually having a conversation. I expect my fellow Amazonians to bare this in mind too.

You have to remember that star wars, destiny and cod are long term partnerships. Sony will have marketing for these for a while.