This thread does not claim that the PS3 will not sell more with a price drop. Of course it will. Simple economics. The thread is about something more interesting and very profound. Please read the actual post before responding with a fanboy rant. The thread title should have been:

How The 360 Broke Through the Atlantic Wall

A PS3 price cut, even as deep as $100 and as early as March cannot turn the wheels of time backward in the race against the 360. Something irreversible happened in the last 3 months in Continental Europe and no price cut is going to change it:

The 360 had become socially acceptable in the continent.

To appreciate the importance and the magnitude of the transition in continental Europe we have to look at the numbers and recall history.

Microsoft and the 360 have a very painful and frustrating experience in continental Europe. The original Xbox was a flop and sold very little in the region. The 360, even through it had two holidays seasons as the sole HD console in the market (holidays 2005 and 2006 - before the release of the PS3) gained very little traction. The Europeans displayed such a strong bias against the 360 that it came in last even when it was the only console in the race.

The Europeans simply snubbed the 360, especially in the continent (the UK is another story). Sony ruled Europe in the previous generation and the Europeans seemed to be hell bent on waiting for the new PS3 rather than take a risk on Microsoft's new console. Even when the high launch price points of the PS3 were already known in xmas 2006, the Europeans decided to skip the much cheaper 360 and wait for the spring launch of Sony's new console.

The result - measly sales of the 360 through its first two xmas seasons.

In 2007 the PS3 is already in the market and is crashing the 360 sales in Europe. The 360 can barely hold to its prior year sales and is being outsold by the PS3 by a wide margin. Continental Europe seems to be boldly declaring that the 360 is not welcomed..

Fast-forward to fall 2008. Microsoft, with a series of price cuts reintroduces the Arcade at a $200 price point in late September. The company reports soon after that the model sales are increased six fold. Change is in the air, something big is going to happen in Q4.

Indeed looking at the 360 sales for the first 8 weeks of Q4 we find an astonishing change:

The floodgates opened. The sales in continental Europe grew to four-fold over the same period in 2007 and 2006. No other region in the world showed such a growth for the 360 this fall. Not even close.

This is a see of change. The Europeans, who stood like the Atlantic wall preventing the 360 invasion to the continent, have crossed the lines and are now endorsing the 360 in their masses.

Yes, the price point was the trigger for the change. But it is much deeper than that. The 360 is now acknowledged by continental Europe to be a solid and safe choice. It is clear to the European that it is not going to flop like the original xbox and that its library of titles is valued as great. Suddenly you don't have to apologize to your friends why you bought a 360. It became cool to own one. If not cool, at least a safe bargain and not a risky bet anymore.

Once the 360 acceptance happened, it was irreversible. The bias against the 360 is gone forever. The PS3 can and will drop its prices, but from now on the PS3 and the 360 will be evaluated on their merits without the original bias that hampered the success of the 360 for its first 3 years in Europe.

No more walk in the continental park for the PS3, with or without a price cut.

Makes sense?

Totally makes sense.

Being a gamer for the past 19 years (I'm 27 now) and watching the industry trends, I think it's now irreversible.
Microsoft is gaining so much momentum, nobody could have predicted such success.

In B4 Leo-j, spanky, twis and makingmusic. :D

Btw... imo, no...just no...

I'm not sure Sony can not turn this around again but I am amazed at the numbers you posted!

France for me (as I live nearby) is the biggest surprise. They are relatively against anything US and US related, and MS is high on their "hate" list. To see the 360 sell as it has there is amazing, so good job MS (as it is clear price has something to do with it, as well as cleaning up the RROD mess and offering a great gaming experience).

And just WOW when you realise they have done it in all of Europe as well!

someone give me a gun... this is gonna be the third thread in a row for the guy where he gets slammed around and told hes completely wrong...

But it wont be by me. I already had enough of him so I'll just say this... "no... just... no..."

@ kowenicki: Sure, the xbox will do great here now, but to say one can't argue with facts... the thread title is not exactly a fact.

If and when sony drops the price of the PS3, it will surge ahead of the xbox again, so for the thread starter to assume that a price cut is not going to help sony, is completely wrong.

http://vgchartz.com/hwlaunch.php?cons1=Wii®1=Total+Other&cons2=PS3®2=Total+Other&cons3=X360®3=Total+Other&weeks=156

(Total other including countries that are very fond of the 360 because of easier piracy and similair reasons)

http://vgchartz.com/hwlaunch.php?cons1=Wii&reg1=------&cons2=PS3&reg2=Europe&cons3=X360&reg3=Europe&weeks=92

(Europe only)

Enough said

Okay... so it was me who would tell this guy is wrong... again

Its too early to say what will happen, but the following is certain. PS3 did dominate Europe for a year. Now the Xbox360 is gaining momentum. Its sales are now about on par with PS3. This is because 360s numbers are up while PS3s are down. However, the PS3 is still holding steady with a larger share of the HD system market. That is an advantage on to itself.

However, the economic downturn does not bode well for Sony. And if what you say about shifting attitudes is true, Sony is even in for more trouble. At a cheaper price 360 can fast come up on PS3.

And then there is the wild card. The Wii. This console is punishing the other contenders, though there is enough profit to go around. However, you have to wonder how it impacts the overall sales of its competitors.

In Japan for instance the Wii has a stranglehold on the home console market. A game like RE2 or LBP couldnt even sell 50,000 in its opening week. 360 is even worse. These games are obviously not pushing consoles. Everyone is happy with their Wii it seems. A pity too. The Japanese are missing out on quality games because they do not fully support the HD systems, especially in the case of the 360.

 Nope I didn't miss it at all. Hes logic is poor. and I could link numbers showing what the pricecut did for sony last year and say the same thing about the 360 and assume since it happened with the ps3 and 360 already before another pricecut will just help sony again.

Here it's been more like knowledge rather than acceptance. The PlayStation brand has been and still is well known, unlike the Xbox. On the net it's not even close to this but in real world it is. I don't know about other Europe, though, but I guess it might be pretty much the same.

Anyway, I wouldn't be so sure yet. PlayStation is still a huge name in Europe, and that's why I believe it will sell better when its price drops, even if the price is higher after the cut. Besides, the 360 doesn't have that many casual games that could attract new customers. Net services, on the other hand, are less known about and I'm sure people feel they're not as easy as simply buying a new game and putting it in the console. Oh, and credit cards aren't as common in Europe as they're in the US.

I believe MS has taken a good step but they're still not quite there. The casual player may still think there are no interesting games on the 360; there's only Lips (not that many would actually know what it is) and a few music playing games, and even then it's all about music. Still, the direction is good for MS. Sony just won't be beaten very easily - they're still strong.