edit*

the equation/logic i used in the previous post was off. The 5.6 million unit gap the 360 had over the ps3 at the ps3's launch should be the only units sold considered for the time frame argument. All other units sold afterwards only affect the attach ratio by difference in number of consoles sold, nothing else.

So now u have 5.6 million units which factor into the attach ratio in both difference in consoles sold and difference in time of availability. Then, u have 2.4 million units which only factor into the attach ratio in difference in consoles sold. Making the 8 million lead over the ps3.

MikeB said: This is in agreement with my comments here in the past, on that PS3 and 360 attach rates aren't that different overall despite the propaganda. I think PS3 software overall sells a little better from the point of view: amount of software sold per user per month of ownership. Which is a much fairer perspective than anything Microsoft has been spouting. For example if one platform has 8 million users and the other 16 million, of course it should be expected that the platform would sell twice as much software. Of course if that platform was also available on the market twice as long, well more than twice as much software should be expected to have been sold (about triple and there should be a higher attah ratio per user, despite software selling equally well for both platform on a per user basis). It's IMO sad North America / United States is so often the focus of PR (the 360 is stronger here than for the rest of the world combined and this is not the case with regard to the PS3). I would love to see more focus on EU/Europe, it's at least as big a gaming market than the US/North America (and certainly a bigger market in terms of revenue).

No offense MikeB, but the bolded...coming from you?  ...Oh the irony!

On topic, I think the op's title is misleading. AT best, the attach rate is better for the 4 games listed...not as an overall statement.

 

@therepublic

Yes, assuming the 360 only had a 1 year headstart overall (it was way more in various regions) the PS3 still sold more hardware and software taking equal timeframes.

But with regard to overall attach ratio, there are some factors which are not relevant to how multi-platform publishing can be expected to perform today. First of all many early ports to the PS3 had a huge release gap and thus were XBox 360 (/console) exclusive for a long period of time, of course these games then sold less on the PS3 as for example the biggest fans would already have bought a version for the 360 or another platform (and there would likely be less marketing). However with simultaneous releases PS3 versions sold on par and often relatively better.

Another factor not much of relevance are some high profile exclusive games included in the 360 software sales here, such as Halo 3. This game helped up the overall attach ratio for the 360, but it's not an indication of how well multi-platform publishing companies are doing (it's exclusive).

arsenicazure said: I dont think software devs give a shit bout attach rates.. i can sell 5 consoles sell 4 copies of a game and claim that it has a 80% attach rate but in actuality i have ONLY sold 4 copies. Multiplats may appeal more to PS3 owners in america but when it comes to absolute sales the 360 trumps it.

Attach rate (total software/total hardware sales) might be pretty useless, but you seem to be thinking of a specific game's tie ratio (game sales/total hardware sales).

And while it might be useless when accounting for the past sales, it can be useful for devs when planning for the future: they can use tie ratios of similar games in the past to project estimated sales on each platform.

 

Companies see total sales, that's true, but attach rates exist for a reason, every figure is important for decisions to make... For example: Once i worked with a juice brand in my country, in a staff meeting they were looking at some figures, according to their research the competition had a better attach rate among women, and despite they selling more overall than the competition they were looking at ways to improve their women's attach rate and decided to create a diet drink...

Attach rate can mean many things, brand loyalty, region loyalty, something bought for different reasons, etc., and software companies know that absolute sales are not the whole story...

Let's take Assassin's Creed as an example, this game had a simultaneous release. It was only a 360 timed exclusive for several months in Japan.

The 360 install base around launch according to VGChartz data was about 12-13 million and the PS3 install base was around 6 million. So a ratio of about 2:1 in favour of the 360. So 66% vs 33%.

According to VGChartz data, the PS3 version sold 3,35 million copies and the 360 version sold 4,47 million. That's only about a 1.3 to 1 ratio or 57% vs 43%.

And that's regarding a 2007 title, now it's 2009, the install base ratio is much closer now (about 55% vs 45%) and various multi-plaform publishers have even revealed that they generated more money on the PS3 in 2008 than for the 360, despite the 360's install base advantage.

So the prospects for multi-platform releases are very solid on the PS3.

^Take that with a pinch of salt, though. One could also state that early adopters on PS3 were more likely to have a higher tie ratio than a more varied demographic like the 360 had at the time.

noname2200 said: I love cherries, but I hate having to pick them myself. Luckily, it's Peter Dille to the rescue!

 

Nicely done.

nightsurge said: ruimartiniman said: Sony’s Peter Dille has claimed that PS3 has a higher attach rate than Xbox 360, Gamasutra reports. “If you factor in Xbox 360’s longer time in the marketplace and larger install base, Xbox 360 should be selling twice as many software units as PS3 if attach rates were equal — and that is just not what we are seeing at retail with many multiplatform titles,” he said. Here are the figures: Street Fighter IV: Only 44,000 units separate the two consoles, with Microsoft winning by a 1:1 ratio. Yet the Sony version sold 402,919 units giving it an attach rate of 5.5 percent compared to Microsoft’s 446,435 units with a 3.1 percent attach rate. Tomb Raider: Underworld sold 136,245 units on PS3, with an attach rate of 1.9 percent. The Xbox 360 version sold 108,784 units, giving an attach rate of 0.7 percent. Prince of Persia: Microsoft outsold Sony by 36,000 units giving the title a attach rate of 2.1 percent for the console compared to 3.7 percent on PS3. GTA IV: Had a 26.9 percent attach rate on PS3 versus Xbox 360’s 23 percent, but there was a staggering sales gap between the machines: 3,362,196 360 units were sold compared to 1,959,798 units for PS3.   Wow.... I didn't realize there were so many cherries to be picked that could make the PS3 look like it has a higher attach rate So let me understand this.  2x the console means that EVERY game has to sell 2x as much on that larger install base?  What a stupid thing to think.  He gives 4 examples.  4.  What about all the rest that sell 2x as much if not more?  And what about the overall attach rate being like 3-4 points higher on 360 than PS3? Why is it that PR guys are always the biggest fanboys with the worst logic?

I'd like to know what "the rest" are. M$ attach ratio argument has always used total software sales which seems like the greater crime of cherry-picking IMO. You can only use multiplat games to determine attach ratios.

The whole attach rato argument is pretty useless anyway so I don't even know why M$ decided to add it to their sales pitch in the first place

 

WereKitten said: ^Take that with a pinch of salt, though. One could also state that early adopters on PS3 were more likely to have a higher tie ratio than a more varied demographic like the 360 had at the time.

Then take a more recent example like Resident Evil 5, of course according to VGChartz figures the PS3 outsold the 360 version 1.69 million vs 1.53 million globally so far. Of course Japan is an important factor here, so let's concentrate on "American" figures only.

According to VGChartz the 360 has an install base advantage of just over 2:1 vs the PS3. According to VGChartz on the 4th of April 872 thousand RE5 copies were sold on the 360 in "America" and 541 thousand copies on the PS3.

That's far from a 2 to 1 ratio, rather a 1.6 to 1 ratio.