The argument is....Where can the most accurate sales numbers for this console war be found?

I've come to this forum for help because a fellow worker (a sony hater) here at work said that VG CHARTZ isn't the place for this at all.

Here is his reply to an email I sent linking him to VG Chartz attempting to show him that the PS3 is outselling the 360 every week thus far this year. 

(His Reply In Blue)

Never ever link me to vgchartz ever again.

Yeah, the PS3 pulled in 10 million earlier than the 360 (by a few weeks).

Even so, VGChartz is all projection and guesses out their ass. An example is that VGChartz has no way of updating their numbers for Europe at all. To give you an idea of how inaccurate they are when they make their own predictions, here are their January numbers with actual NPD numbers in parenthesis.

VGChartz-----NPD

DS 605,716 (251k)

Wii 395,496 (274k)

360 336,036 (230k)

PSP 282,979 (230k)

PS2 255,219 (264k)

PS3 224,901 (269k)

He came to me raving that forums with NPD numbers are my best bet in finding accurate sales numbers.

And I responded with "How can you know that the people in these forums are submitting factual information? How do you know that these ppl or person aren't manipulating these numbers to give there favorite console the edge?

Being honest I was just trying to give him a hard time because he always trys to put Sony down never giving them the props they deserve.

This was his latest email in an attempt to "educate me"

Educate yourself.

http://www.npd.com/corpServlet?nextpage=corp_welcome.html

They are a research firm closely associated with Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. They’re the official company that gathers sales figures and releases them to news outlets, LIKE NEOGAF.

If you’re doubting the figures compiled onto their forums, then by all means feel free to compare those figures to those released to other news outlets for discrepancies. They’re as factual as you’re gonna get.

So can you guys help me? 

didnt ps3 outsell 360 in january?

dont go to nexgenwars.com they are totally off.

I'm open to being educated as well. I'm a musician but work for a video game company. I'm a moderate gamer but I'm always willing to learn more about this cutting edge industry.

This sentence is common online; "Vgchartz are pulling the numbers out of their ass."
People who say that have no insight or understanding of how this site works and most of them refuse to take the numbers seriously (despite the site being uncannily close to the massive tracking conglomerates almost every month) because the numbers don't agree with their bias and wishes.
Reality is tough for some, hand them a handkerchief and tell them to suck in the gut and take it as a man (or a woman all depending)!

Many members of NeoGAF work in the video game industry, but to my knowledge, NeoGAF itself does not have "industry insiders" that give them any means of accurately predicting sales.

VGChartz has many, many sources all over the world that help with the number's accuracy. See the Methodology page and compare for yourself. VGChartz is usually at MOST 10-15% off, which is the best we have on a weekly basis.

and your friend is a fanboy.

"VGChartz is all projection and guesses out their ass"

what other site provides sales numbers lik vg does other than nexgenwars.com

this is the best place to find numbers. even if they you don't like their weekly number they adjust to retailers, devs, and other tracking firms. Go back 1 month and the numbers are 95% accurate, go back 3, and they are 100%.

I hate people complaning that VGChartz is not accurate.
A friend of mine never believed VGChartz untill the PS3 kept outselling the Xbox 360.

Everywhere you go you are viewing the same thing. Someone's best attempts at "guessing" the actual end result using various methods. VGC uses the same methods NPD does, just on a smaller scale (NPD has more retail sources basically). The truth is no one is perfect.

Example, if you add up what NPD says the big 3 sold during the last quarter of 2007 they are way off. Whereas VGChartz is much closer.

The only reason people, like your friend, use NPD so much is because they have been around longer and have become the defacto leader in sales charts.

Tell your friend to do this. In the next couple of weeks all 3 companies will detail their fiscal year results. Compare those SHIPPED figures to VGC's SOLD figures and you will see that VGC is spot on.

Whenever you look at the numbers from NPD, Mediacrate, famitsu, VGC, etc just know that they are all approximations and in reality are giving you a general idea of what is happening.

You're friend is just being a fanboy because VGC doesn't give him the answer he is looking for.

It's also important to note that NPD only counts USA and VGChartz North America.