I felt the same as you shams. There's no chance left for the PS3 to be second in America. Japan belongs to the Wii, with the 360 and the PS3 trailing far behind. Europe is where the PS3 is strongest, but there's trouble there too with their strategy of discontinuing the better model.

Sony is reaping what they've sown. Their (bad) plans totally blew on their faces, and fierce competition didn't allow them to do well after so many mistakes in this generation.

As Lafiel said, wait until the 40gb have a chance to sell. I mean, the numbers that was presented for NA included like one day of sales. Next week will tell more of how it really went. I think we will see a steady increase of PS3 sales from now on with a good spike around christmas. I know the PS3 numbers can't match 360s right now, and i don't think it really will during winter. (why even bother to compare it to Wii, it's so much cheaper and a totally different kind of console with a kid oriented target. They don't fight for the same audience... and if they do, they will get either 360 och PS3 too)

And it doesn't matter if the 360 sell more during christmas, what matters is that the PS3 sells hardware. As much as possible. And build a userbase. The war about who actually lead in sales is silly. The best thing would be if all three consoles could have a equal userbase. Then all would be happy. i don't say this because i am a fanboy, sure i have had PS2, have PSP and PS3. Guess i am kind of a fanboy, but that doesn't make me hate or write BS about Nintendo or Microsoft. If i had the money i would buy everything that involves games. But as a poor student i only could afford a PS3 ;)

And for the European market everthing looks great for the PS3. Ok, it did'ent sell over 100 k for more than two weeks, but if the numbers stay about 50k around holiday season it's not bad. It's selling better than before dosen't it? What are you crying about? I still think Europe will remain Sony-land.

And the Japanese sales aren't bad at all. Sales have increased with 7 - 8k during the last two weeks. With 19 k before the release of 40gb PS3 bundled with Dynasty Warrior 5 (nr. 1 in prebooked titles on JP amazon) and Devil may cry knocking on the door, i think the sales will increase pretty much i Japan. Ok, ok... it can't compare itself with Wii, but as i said, they does'nt have the same audience. So it will really be up to them to decide of buying a PS3 or X360... if they want a the other part of the cake of games (devil may cry, mgs, Dynasty Warriors, resident Evil 5 ect... do you really believe the Japanese will take the 360 over PS3... no... i don't think so. I think the numbers may be ready to explode in japan for the PS3. I hope X360 gain some ground, because it would be kind of crazy if PS3 would be big in Japan, and small in US... what would the Japanese developers do then?

Game on everyone!
(be nice to each other now, your favorite console ise'nt going anywhere... AND IT'S CHRISTMAS FOR GOD SAKE! ;) )

What I do not understand is why games like R&C are not selling better on the PS3. This is an outstanding game but its sales are slow. What are PS3 owners waiting for? It will be interesting to see what happens with CoD4 and Assassin's Creed. Big games, lots of advertising, Xbox 360 and PS3 versions have similar reviews (not sure about AC on this!). If PS3 owners don't buy these games, and they don't buy family friendly platformers, what is left? I think people who own the PS3 exclusively have got to stop talking, and start opening their wallets.

The reason software for the PS3 isn't selling is - no one is really interested. Yeah, some folks, but most bought a PS3 because:

A. It was touted as the cheapiest Blu Ray player
B. Folks are loyal to the PS brand
C. There are few games on the PS3 worth of getting bought

Just look at the overall picture. Sales worldwide (not in Japan) are like 55K for the PS3. The 360 is right behind at 45K. The 40gb has been out ... how long in Europe? It was at 100K and dropped to 50K. The glaze is wearing off - and gamers are like 'Hay ... why in the devil am I buying this?!' I never buy anything based on what's around the corner. You have to give me a compelling reason RIGHT NOW to buy something - anything.

Believe it or not, Sony can't dupe some of us. Some of us aren't fooled by the lie that the 40gb PS3 is better without BC ...

We aren't falling for their Jedi mind tricks this time ...

Zyzomys its most likely the PS3's current market that is killing R&C sales. The current PS3 owner is more than likely a "hardcore" gamer that won't give Ratchet & Clank a second thought. The type of PS fans that would pick up R&C probably haven't picked up a PS3 yet. Its the same thing that happened to Viva Pinata on 360. The type of gamer that was likely to fork out $400 for a 360 was more than likely a "hardcore" gamer that wouldn't give Viva Pinata the time of day. Both games are victims of the PS3/360 lacking casual gamers in their userbases IMO.

I would have said that this entire month is critical. Unfortunately for Sony their price cutting is not generating a significant improvement of sales. The other regions only showed a 200,000 unit bonus in sales. While in North America it will be lucky to give a bonus of 100,000, and to be honest I did not see a bonus in Japan. I think the price cuts in total for all regions throughout the rest of the year will only generating half a million in additional sales that would not have been seen otherwise. Some might say any good news is good news. However Sony had to have expected a much greater improvement, as did I think many developers.

However unit sales are only part of the problem. The other part of the problem is the software attach rate. The reality no matter how unfair is that when a console has a lower user base that base must compensate with greater spending to maintain developer interest. Further more it is imperative that they do so to justify development for the console. We have to remember a exclusive game for the PS3 costs considerably more then the other two consoles. Great games simply must see sales over half a million to be profitable for developers.

Others have said it, but it needs to be emphasized. Games like Tools of Destruction need to perform far better then they have. When they sell poorly it scares developers away from the console. They say look at that high caliber game flopping over there. Look at the total attach rate for the console. Sony might not be selling the most consoles, but if they had Microsoft's software attach rate they would have some cushion to get on their feet. Ironically the existence of the 360 might actually save the dedicated gamers on the PS3 from total despair. Even if the console fails or flops there are enough units in the market that the console can get a decent supply of ports.

Sony needs to improve sales on two fronts, and the price cutting is not cutting it pun intended. I would dare to say that the console is in real jeopardy in the North American market, and it is not healthy in Japan. Further more there is no dominance in the other markets. They do not even have a decent user base to fall back on to guarantee a certain level of support. They have yet to entrench their console in the market. Until a console is entrenched its in real danger of being abandoned. With the lower attach rate that point is substantially higher.

I would say this Sony needs to sell at minimum globally one million units this month. They also need to sell globally over three million units this year. The closer the console is to ten million units the better. However if the console ends the year under eight million units sold globally. You can start lighting candles. Sure Sony can drag the corpse around, but it will not become some kind of success. Too much will be lost by a poor showing this month.

Right now the console has nothing going for it thats going to bring it up to adequate sales. Even the games are not selling like they need to, and finally the other two consoles are selling markedly better, and have been gaining real momentum. The race is not a vacuum what these competitors are doing is hurting the PS3, and the more ground they make the more appealing these platforms will become to consumers, and developers alike.

Yes it is fair to say this is crunch time for the PS3. This month will make, break, or kill the console. I have said it before the PS3 needs to survive the damage that will be done by this holiday season. Now if it cannot then next year will not matter. They need to entrench their console, and that is all that matters during the next few weeks.

Most of your post is pretty reasonable, but this part just doesn't make sense. By which metric is Europe" Sony land", in any way which is meaningful for the PS3?

Sure, the PS2 is still selling well, but that doesn't mean the PS3 will do well. If anything, the PS2 is comparable to the Wii in terms of casual appeal and price. It's certainly not comparable to the PS3, except for its brand name. Heck, Sony even discontinued the backwards compatible PS3 model in Europe, so there's precisely zero overlap in terms of games playable in both consoles.

Shams, as you stated before, and as I was agreeing,

price cut without game = no event

That is pretty simple.

but this Xmas is, since 2-3 months, predicted to be very hard for the PS3 (xbox360 line-up directly competting the same nich, high price).

Come on Shams, give it a break. At least TRY to be somewhat neutral. If I was a PS fan, I'd be really pissed by your postings. You're spinning every single charts thread, start 3 bashing threads a day... try to make VGChartz a little better and stop it. Even though I'm 100% Nintendo gamer, I am tired of reading "war is over" "PS3 failed" and so on. It's childish, you're only making people angry, and that's the last thing a mod should do.