I want to ask about your DMC4 argument. Here, we are discussing whether FFXIII will sell more in the west on the 360 or PS3. Worldwide, DMC4 sold 1.3 million on the PS3 and 1.18 million on the 360. However, if you remove Japanese sales, then the 360 version sold 1.11 million to the PS3 versions 0.99 million. This difference will likely grow slightly in the 360's favor, since the 360 version has been outselling the PS3 counterpart for sometime now (Japanese numbers included).

Since you are using DMC4 as an example of a formerly Sony-exclusive franchise outselling the its 360 counterpart, what do you say about the slim margins the PS3 version has outsold the 360 version by, and what do you say to the fact that in the west, the 360 version outsold the PS3 version?

I want to ask about your DMC4 argument. Here, we are discussing whether FFXIII will sell more in the west on the 360 or PS3. Worldwide, DMC4 sold 1.3 million on the PS3 and 1.18 million on the 360. However, if you remove Japanese sales, then the 360 version sold 1.11 million to the PS3 versions 0.99 million. This difference will likely grow slightly in the 360's favor, since the 360 version has been outselling the PS3 counterpart for sometime now (Japanese numbers included).

Since you are using DMC4 as an example of a formerly Sony-exclusive franchise outselling the its 360 counterpart, what do you say about the slim margins the PS3 version has outsold the 360 version by, and what do you say to the fact that in the west, the 360 version outsold the PS3 version?

What are you talking about? The PS3 version of DMC sold 1.30M while the 360 version sold 1.18M! but I do see what your saying about it selling more in english speaking territories when you take away the Japanese numbers. But theres a big difference between DMC and Final Fantasy and thats Genre. While FF may have a greater brand recognition than DMC the fact remains that DMC appeals more to the 360 crowd because of it being a Action game with a heavy emphasis on shooting as oppose to Final Fantasy which is a JRPG which most of the time barley has any shooting aspects to begin with

On topic: That's a difficult question (and a quiet interesting one) and I believe this topic will be discussed for a long time. I am not ready to make a bet myself. But I have pointed out some things that I believe will affect the split of the sales between PS3 and 360 versions.

PS3:

- PS3 is the console where "FF fanbase" obviously is. However FF fanbase proved to mean very little back in 1997. The series is very mainstream, it catches the attention of everyone, not just your usual jRPG fans crowd.

- the PS3 version is claimed to be the superior one. So fans will obviously want to play the game in its best form, but are there many people who care that much about some minor differenses?

- Higher install base in Europe (I believe it will be higher by the time FFXIII arrives) That means much, however Europe is the weakest region for jRPGs.

- Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Fans of the series will want to play both HD XIIIs so PS3 is a better choice (for them) But once again - fans mean very little.

X360:

- Hyped, high-profile, non-casual (and non-sports related) games tend to sell more on the X360.

- Higher install base in North America, where jRPGs sell on par, if not better, than in Japan.

- Square-Enix have released more games for the X360 than PS3 (3 vs 0) So the fans of the company have probably moved to this console. The Last Remnant is doing surprisingly well and there should be a reason for that. However, like I already said fanbase doesnt mean much.

Yoshinori Kitase recently said they are going to promote the game very hard worldwide, if that's the case then the "fanbase this fanbase that" argument means even less. People will buy hyped and promoted game for the console they own. That means PS3 version will sell more in Europe and X360 one will do better in US. So overall I say x360 version will sell more in the West since Europe is the weakest region for this kind of games. This is not my final answer though.