Right around 25% now. So no, it probably won't be 2:1.

It's funny how the bar keeps on shifting towards lower expectations. At the beginning of the generation, all expectations were that the PS3 would beat everything easily including the Wii. Then when that didn't happen, it was when will the PS3 close the gap on Wii. Then after that, it was when will the PS3 catch the 360. Now we're debating if the ratio will be 2-1 in favor of the 360.

Both, the PS3 and the 360, will keep playing the same game:

Price cut, then the gap becomes smaller/bigger... then another price cut...

Even if switch places, both consoles will be locked in that situation for the rest of the gen.

The PS3 numbers are pretty good, which actually makes it difficult for Sony to justify any price cut. If they were outright terrible like in the first half of 2007 then it would be a no brainer.

Financially I see no compelling reason as to why Sony should offer a reduction in its manufacturer suggested retail price. The console may not be in a dominant or secondary position, but it is holding its market share. So there is apparently no imminent dire need to do so. Sony should wait until they begin to either start losing market share, or start out producing their sales channel. Not a minute before.

The irony is that comparatively speaking the sales of the PS3 have improved weekly. Last week the console held a twenty percent market share in North America. That is a drastic improvement to those weeks in the holiday season where the console was scoring under fifteen percent. The console is improving even if it is losing, and it isn't losing drastically enough to cost it massive amounts of support thus burying the console alive.

Yes Microsoft is slowly crushing Sony, but this desperate logic, or desire for Sony to compete is unfounded by the situation. Let alone by any desire at Sony to win the console war. Right now Sony has to make money, and due to economics their console is already losing them money. What exactly is the logic that says they should bleed the company white to stop Microsoft from wracking up two million more units in lead. Sony should be riding out the economic downturn, and showing a price reduction next holiday season if they can hold that long.

No it will not get their console the second place spot at that point. Far too late, and too far behind. However it will actually help the company if they cut their losses, and focus solely on finding a profit margin. It might not fit in the fanatic point of view of winning at all cost. However the kind of thinking would have killed this brand off years ago. Every time Microsoft cut their price the same people screamed for Sony to do the same.

Well, this is the real world.  Until you can travel back in time and undo that first year, it matters.  

The higher install base is the reason why multiplats sell more copies on 360.

Multiplats selling better on 360 is the reason why Sony lost so many big name exclusives this gen.

Selling better means devs work harder to make sure that version works, which is one reason why MS gets demos early, gets DLC and in general has the better performing and less buggy version of multiplat games.

All of this combines and paints a picture positive picture for the 360.

The thread is about will the 360 maintain its sales lead.  When its getting former exclusives to go multiplat, its gets the better version of most multiplat games and it has its own exclusives to counter the few that the PS3 has, I have to say that it will maintain.  Especially when its already 8 million ahead.

You can whine, pout and cry that it only has that 8 million because it came out early, but it still has that 8 million.  We can agree on that?  Until Marty and Doc Brown go back in time and change that, its always going to have come out first.  Even in the year 3399, the 360 will have come out before the PS3.  Nothing will change that.

> So the 360 will continue to outsell PS3 2:1?

I started browsing the past worldwide sales charts to find when this 2:1 sales ratio started, but I am having a hard time finding a week where the 360 outsold the PS3 worldwide by a 2:1 ratio.

The closest was Nov 28th (Black Friday US) where is was 380k PS3 vs 739k 360. Unless you were talking about a specific region, but it does not seem like it from your question.

Can anyone point me to the week where the 2:1 ratio started?

The 360 never outsold the PS3 2:1, so I don't see why it should in the future...
Perhaps it did in 2006 or something...

The PS3 is actually tracking above the 360. What remains to be seen is whether the PS3 outlasts the 360 long enough for that tracking over to become overtaking.

So no, the 360 won't continue to outsell the PS3 2:1, hell, it won't continue to outsell the PS3. I don't know why everybody thinks this is so permanent. Don't they realise that the moment the PS3 cuts the price, the momentum will shift again?

The momentum is with the last price cutter. Hell, if Nintendo felt mean, they could cut the price of the Wii. But that would be stupid, because they'd lose their profit.

MS says they are ready for the next price cut.

I think in NA the ratio will remain 2:1, VG chartz numbers are gonna be way off this week for the PS3, very unlikely that it had a YOY increase in January after this holiday season.