I'm sure almost all of you have seen this: 

http://vgchartz.com/hwcomps.php?cons1=Wii&reg1=All&cons2=PS3&reg2=All&cons3=X360&reg3=All&align=1

When the launch dates are aligned, the PS3 sales numbers match exactly the historical performace of the 360.

Is it just me, or does it seem like a really interesting coincidence that these sales numbers are tracking eachother so precisely. There seems to be way too many variables for this to be a random occurance -- it has been within a few percent for about 20 weeks now.

Does anyone have any insight as to why the PS3 sales are following exactly the same curve as the 360 sales?

it is kind of interesting... but this is mostly coincidence. after all, american sales, japanese sales and european sales are such different beasts, just so happened that after you add them up they are aligned.

but it does say that 360 and ps3 are essentially the same products. i think if you really stretch it you can think of central limit theorem (a mathematical statement) as a "reason", but that is really, really stretching it.

I think that main reason why PS3 is selling as well as 360 is because 360 doesnt sell in Japan at all. So comparing region by region would give you better insight into which console is selling better/worse.

yea they are both selling at the same rate worldwide from launch they both had different things going on when they launched and what not..

And that saying its a $600.00 system vs a $350.00 system or $280.00 system or a $450.00 system etc..

sales from every region matter people who say japan doesnt matter know that its basically lost in that region...

Actually $500. The uptake of 80gb Motorstorm bundles is decidely less than the $500 60gb.

Surprising. You'd think with the Playstation name and two consoles with 100 million a piece under their belts they would sell quite a bit differently. Yet, the PS3 is tracking only a bit higher than the Gamecube and nearly on the same track as the original Xbox.

http://vgchartz.com/hwcomps.php?cons1=PS3&reg1=All&cons2=GC&reg2=All&cons3=XB&reg3=All&align=1

Times have certainly changed.

Lingyis, your statement about the 360 and ps3 being the same product was exactly the conclusion I came to as well.

The other interesting thing I noticed was that up until last week, the PS3 was tracking almost exactly the PS2 sales in the same way.  But not it looks like it might be trending along the original XBox line -- we'll see where that one goes over the next few weeks and with the holiday season coming up.

In any case, it will be interesting to see how this progresses.  It is precisely because there are so many factors that just happen to be coming together coherantly that make this interesting for me to watch. And quite possibly a real-world example of the central limit theorem.

And that's saying it's a $350 console with one region lost.

Honestly the PS2 line is worthless for comparisons right now. With its upper limit being over 100 million and current consoles being below 11 million its really hard to see the meaningful difference in the lines. It would help if we could specify one of the consoles as the primary view window so we can focus in on the area we are interested in.