i've been reading some of the discussion threads about sales, and it is the typical jihadesque milieu of fanboys throwing castigations and pejoratives at the other side.  well i am all about pride in one's brand.  i've had many systems in my time, and i have loved most of them.  i was really disappointed at the way gamers tended to fire and take shots at the ps3 when it launched.   it was as if they had something to gain by its failure.  ever since then i have felt like the ps3 has not received the treatment it deserves.  but that issue is really neither here nor there.  this thread is about sales.  i have been called a sony fanboy plenty of times, and i have argued with people over which sysem is better.  but what i don't understand is when people use sales as the end of the argument.  how does the number of sales affect anything other than microsoft's and sony's pockets? 

the way i see it, for any generation, it's a competition to see who can make the best system with the best games and functionality.  which system sells the most is really quite irrelevant.  isn't it true that movies that make the most money generally are pretty artistically devoid?  people buy avril lavigne albums for christ's sake, so what does popularity have to do with what we as gamers should be concerned with?

it is true that the ps3 is in last place, but does that affect me as much as a system that breaks on me or games that i miss out on due to exclusivity?

i'm not saying that we should all get along.  frankly i enjoy lively debate with xbots.  but what i am saying is that relying so heavily on sales numbers takes the fanaticism to almost religious levels, and one should be wary of religious thinking in any arena...even religion.

that is all.

Translation:

I like the PS3, Xbox360 sux and the Wii is garbage!

Nasty fanboy troll post in a silk wrapper! Oh-la-la!

there are plenty of other threads for your not-so-bright type of responses. this was a serious question posed for a legitimate discussion.

Well normally people, such as myself, use sales strongly in a debate because they are the final say of whether a not a game or hardware can be deemed a success. However, considering we don't know what the companies would consider a success for the most part they can be pretty worthless. Thus the only way to tell is through assumptions (usually by most are pretty poor ones) and historical trends. For example, if people actually compared now to previous times in the Japanese markets, I don't think people would be freaking out as much.

So why do people use them so seriously? Because it does matter and it is something finite and concrete you can use. Brand nationalism, although more interesting to most and more fanatic (to your disbelief), is mainly normative. There is nothing you can really prove or settle with it. Instead it leads to ongoing conflict with absolute no end. At least with sales data you can put an end to some things... although not all. Thus it plays quite an important part in settling disputes. Not to mention this is a sales site haha meaning it will take up a lot of discussion.

Sales do matter but people must understand that to use they don't mean everything. I mean I'm disappointed by the sales of a lot of games but I'm more ecstatic that I did get to play it. People can let sales devoid them from their reality, which is actually playing and enjoying the games that the businesses provide. Sales analysis from a consumer standpoint is somewhat ironic but to some it is quite a fun thing to do and for the most part can lead to enjoyable debate. Just take out the biases and hatred and it will do just that... can't have that en the battles of opinions.

So that's why it matters but also why it shouldn't be the only thing it matters.

Maybe because this is a sales website :P

I don't feel like there's anything wrong with discussing sales but I see your point that, not on this site but, some people get a little nuts over sales figures but I think that is just to justify their purchase or tastes to others or maybe it makes them feel important like they are a part of something. And there's nothing wrong with religion just religious fanaticism, and no not all religious people are fanatics.

Because talk is just talk. Sales are people who literally put their money where their mouth is. You can trash or hype a game until you're blue in the face, but somebody else who votes with his/her dollar has a real impact on where the resources of the gaming industry will be allocated in the future.

Money is a far more tangible and meaningful sign of appreciation than top ten lists and metacritic scores because people are sacrificing their limited financial resources which they guard more cautiously than their opinions.

 Words of wisdom my friend. 'nuff said.  I will meditate on that, and become a better poster/gamer.  :)  thank you.

Representing sales as an absolute measure of quality is stupid, but it is the only objective measure of the value of a system or game that we have Everything else is opinion. Many people on gaming websites seem to have a genuine difficulty in grasping the difference between opinion and fact and think their gaming allegiance is representative of some sort of ultimate truth.

Zucas alluded to the fact that back and forth debates are fine as long as they are kept lighthearted, but how often does that actually happen. Sales sometimes just serve to show people that their likes, their opinions, their allegiances may in fact place them in a niche group, a sub culture and not necessarily the core or the driving force of the industry.

Liking something more doesn't make you mainstream, doesn't mean companies have to pander to your every whim and doesn't make you the ultimate judge of quality. I think having the sales on the front page is a gentle reminder to people that their opinions are not necessarily representative of the whole and is perhaps part of the reason why this site tends to be more civil than many others.

It's strange reading a post from a Sony/PS3 fan complaining about too much sales talk this generation.

I wish I had a nickel for how many times online I've heard about how many PS2 consoles were sold compared to the GC & Xbox and how many PS1 consoles were sold compared to the Saturn & N64. I'd be a very rich man now.

Did your change of heart come only after Sony has remained last place in sales this generation? See....this is one reason why there are so many disgruntled gamers on the net against Sony and PS3 fans. Sony and Sony gamers had been on top for so long that their arrogance and sense of entitlement, respectively, has made all the people they stomped on the way up to now rejoice watching Sony get taken down a peg or two.