i've been reading sales threads for some time, and the trends in thinking are quite fascinating.  it is the latest of those that is the subject of this thread.

so the slim is out and dominating beyond everyone's expectations.  the rate that it is outselling the 360 is impressive indeed.  even the release of odst didn't make so much as a dent as the slim continues to steamroll ahead into the holiday season.

now the ps3 fans are shouting their joys at this victory, the response from the die-hard m$ fans is summable as follows, "yeah well when the price drops and natal comes out we will start winning again."

this strikes me as very odd.   for the first three years of the console war ps3 fans have extolled the ps3 as the superior system, while explaining the deficit due to the high price point.   M$ fans looked to the higher sales of the 360 to conclude it was the better system.  vox populi vox dei i guess.

now that the shoe is on the other foot, the xbox response has changed.  the game is on an even playing field.  the prices are the same, the games are roughly the same, and the battle is out of control for them.  what do they say?  we'll do better when the field in not level again.

isn't this argument just a tacit acknowledgement that the 360 is an inferior machine that can't win in a heads up contest?  i think that it is.

discuss.

i doubt that natal will do anything except make the 360 more expensive... but that a good point that the 360 does need leverage to beat ps3

The 360 isn't an inferior machine, the Playstation brand is still stronger. This isn't really news.

It doesn't really matter whether you have a level playing field or not though. Sales are sales. The fact that Sony decided to release a machine that was overpriced for a large proportion of the market was a mistake, and that translated into low sales in comparison to rival consoles.

I agree that Sony has a better machine in terms of pure hardware and features and I prefer it to the 360, but in terms of business and competition, it means squat.

of course it doesn't matter if the field is level.  this is free-enterprise.  it's no longer may the best team win as it is now it's only cheating if you get caught.

the point of my thread was to get m$ fans who still insist on arguing to realize the harsh reality that they are backing an inferior machine. what they don't realize is that the very same thing which allowed them to gain an early lead is the thing that will prove their doom in the long-run.  sony was over-ambitious and crammed too much stuff into their console.  every expert knows that 300 bucks is the sweet spot for a new console.  sony launched a machine for double that.  they chose to give the consumer the most posssible and trusted that they will make the wiser choice.  that isn't really how business works.  sony just had to stay relevant long enough to drop the price...which they barely did.  now we are seeing the fruits of their labors.  this time is really seeing sony hit their stride in the gen.  the same can't be said for microsoft.  this is clearly evinced by their legions of fans arleady talking about what will happen when the next gen starts.   this gen is practically a fait accompli...and m$ fans are none too happy about it.

And the inevitable $150 x360 will change the situation again, so will the $250 PS3, and the $200 PS3, and the $100 x360, etc, etc.

The 360 is cheaper, this is why it is superior. This is not an "even playing field", this is a playing field where Sony is bleeding more money temporarily.

well that's an, um...interesting way to define superior.

I'm following your logic.

You started the thread with quoting 360 fans who "looked to the higher sales of the 360 to conclude it was the better system", and you continued their idea by claiming that for the same reasons, now the 360 is "inferior" because of its lesser sales. 

If cheapness makes a console more popular, and the more popular console is superior, the cheaper console is superior.

Well at least we know you're not biase. . . oh, never mind.

". . .the harsh reality that they're backing an inferior machine."

Wish I was using Firefox, I miss my ignore user script.

that doesn't exactly follow.

i think you can say that most people would argue the most successful console is superior. while price factors into the equation, it is not the sole determinant.

the 360 would have to be significantly cheaper than the slim to outsell it. just being cheaper per se will not be sufficient.

that is neither here nor there as it was not the point of the thread.

the point was to get people to discuss what they thought about the implication of what m$ fans were saying.