http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/680/680220p1.html
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/680/680526p3.html
couldn't find PS3 perdictions for last year.
ign said:Prey Steals Gears' Glory
ign said:Japanese Xbox 360 Development Will Increase
ign said:Microsoft Brings Larger Hard Drive
I think they are speaking in sales per month not in cumulated sales(ie installed base).Man if you could only place a wager on this in Vegas I would put some big $$ down that this wouldn't happen.
Two years ago, we probably would have told you that nothing short of divine interference could stop PlayStation 3 from becoming market leader. Nowadays, we don't think anybody is going to squash Microsoft's Xbox 360 this year. (Next year, well, that could be another story.) That noted, if any console comes close, it'll be Wii and not PS3.
Square-Enix Co LTD Tokyo (9684-TO) Top Beneficial Holders
1 Fukushima (Yasuhiro) 23,626,000 (21.31%)
2 Miyamoto (Masafumi) 13,422,000 (12.11%)
3 Fukushima Kikaku Co. 9,763,000 (8.81%)
4 Sony Computer Entertainment 9,520,000 (8.59%)
5 S System Limited 2,545,000 (2.3%)
6 HSBC Fund Service J2 1,685,000 (1.52%)
Source: Thomson Financial Datastream
I have a Knack for predicting stuff, anything really, peoples reactions, sports scores, political moves etc.
I will now use my gift to predict the future of the console war.
*drum roll*.......*cymbal clash*!
Wii - The Wii sales will decrease slightly, but it will sell amazingly well better than the 360. A new Mario announced at E3 will again push some dramatic Wii system sales at xmas. At the end of 2k7, Wii sales will easily be over 10mil worldwide, perhaps close to 15mil!
XB360 - will have a very similar year as it did in 2006. Halo3 will be awesome, but it wont be the xmas system seller many expect it to be. Xb360 has moderate success in Europe. Price drop will be announced at E3, each core will be reduced by $50. At end of 2k7 there will be close to 17mil XB360s world wide.
PS3 - sales die down after xmas 2k6 due to its high price. Sony's EU launch will be very successful, despite the high price. By E3 in May, Sony's worldwide sales will be 5million. It will be there Sony will announce a $100 price drop on both Cores. Sony wins E3 with some very impressive showings of its exclusives. After the price drop sales increase dramatically. At Xmas, Sony increases the HD size of both cores and will ship all PS3s at xmas with the BLU-RAY Spiderman 3, while maintaining the $399 and $499 price. FFXIII, MGS4, GT:HD, KZ and other exclusives propel PS3 sales to massive quantities, making the PS3 the most successful system of 2007. At the end of 2k7, Sony sits easy with close to 15m units sold, just a hair behind the XB360.
At the end of 2k7, the market share will look like.
Wii 30% PS3 - 30% XB360 - 40%
The day Sony feels like playing the studio buying game, MS will be ready with MUCH deeper pockets.
XB360 - will have a very similar year as it did in 2006. Halo3 will be awesome, but it wont be the xmas system seller many expect it to be. Xb360 has moderate success in Europe. Price drop will be announced at E3, each core will be reduced by $50. At end of 2k7 there will be close to 17mil XB360s world wide.
PS3 - sales die down after xmas 2k6 due to its high price. Sony's EU launch will be very successful, despite the high price. By E3 in May, Sony's worldwide sales will be 5million. It will be there Sony will announce a $100 price drop on both Cores. Sony wins E3 with some very impressive showings of its exclusives. After the price drop sales increase dramatically. At Xmas, Sony increases the HD size of both cores and will ship all PS3s at xmas with the BLU-RAY Spiderman 3, while maintaining the $399 and $499 price. FFXIII, MGS4, GT:HD, KZ and other exclusives propel PS3 sales to massive quantities, making the PS3 the most successful system of 2007. At the end of 2k7, Sony sits easy with close to 15m units sold, just a hair behind the XB360.
The fact that Microsoft reduced their forecast of unit sold for the fiscal indicate that they are not going to cut the price in the near future. IIRC, Steve Ballmer had said that 2007 is the year when the Xbox division must turn a profit. So it's unlikely we'll see a cut until the holiday season--if at all.
Things are not this simple. Microsoft will not be able to buy Japanese studios that easily, there would be a lot of internal resistance (political) and it is highly unlikely they would keep the same staff after the purchase. They would be (very) hostile takeovers. On the flipside Microsoft needs DOJ/SEC approval to purchase the larger western studios - EA and Ubisoft spring to mind and given their track record this is not likely to be easily forthcoming. Microsoft has the money but is somewhat handicapped by the politics.
Sony has the political capital in Japan but is handicapped by a lack of free cash flow (LBO's are a possibility but a big no-no in today's market).
If the studio buying game were to go full force I could see Sony opting for SE (FF, KH, DQ) and Konami (MGS & PES) while Microsoft would likely acquire Capcom (hostile) and Ubisoft. EA is simply too important to be purchased by any company since it is highly likely it will be deemed anti-competitive. What about Take2 and Rockstar? That would be very interesting. Lest we forget Nintendo who have enough money to play with the other two if push comes to shove.
If predictions are right and Sony does indeed learn their lesson for ignoring third party exclusives and having such a lop-sided focus on in-house titles then SCEI will likely be on the lookout for studios to make 1st/2nd party.
They look to be wasting millions already with Factor 5’s LAIR, the 1080p craziness has surely destroyed this game as a graphical tour de force (no one will care if it is technically impressive, that is irrelevant) and KillZone – a game only funded because of a fanatical desire to have a flagship first party FPS on their system, made even more unfathomable given the fact that they did not have such a title on PS1 and PS2 and did not suffer as a result. SCE WWS funding decisions have been nonsensical. I can understand where they are coming from – they wish to take on the Nintendo model. I think this is unrealistic.