No, I don't think the PS3 ever surpassed the Xbox 360 or even came close. But it did rebound after a disappointing start.
Exactly.
Xbox won last gen, IMO.
Playstation eventually passed them in global sales some time last year, but the 360 was in control for pretty much the entire generation, and more importantly, they won North America. Neither MS or Sony will ever come out and say it, but the USA is their most important market because it's home to arguably the biggest core base of gamers....but equally as important, if not moreso, is that it is here that gaming crosses over into the mainstream and pop culture, which leads to even more revenue.
The 360 outsold the PS3 here in the states and it became the preferred console for gaming. That is a victory to me.
Playstation 1 and 2 used to be what 360 was for last gen - the console that was on TV via movies and shows. It's the console that formed partnerships with various brands from Snickers to MTV, etc. It's the 360 that became the desired console for developers to show off their games first, just as PS1 and PS2 had been. Sony lost their place atop the mantle and that's why they went as far as to point out their own mistakes in the months leading up to PS4. They showed humility because they had no other choice.
They dominated the market for so long that they thought they could price the console at 600 bucks, remove the rumble feature from the controller, and everyone was just going to come running because they were "Playstation".....and they were wrong.
As I said before, the funny thing is that they seemed to have changed places with MS. After the mass success of the 360, MS kinda looked at it like they had everyone reeled in. They were the ones who priced their console 100 bucks more than the competitor, and they tried to implement the always online thing and the insanely stupid idea of not letting you play used games or your games on someone else's XB1. Due to all the backlash, they wisely removed those two features as mandatory requirements for the XB1, but by then it was too late - Sony had already built up all the momentum after their E3 conference where they embarrassed MS, and lots of people had already decided by that point that they were going PS4 no matter what.
In the end, I am very surprised to see PS4 outselling XB1 at the pace that they are. I knew PS4 was going to make up a ton of ground and maybe even surpass Xbox here in the states, but I'd be lying if I told you I thought it would be by such a significant margin. Rumors are that MS is floating with the idea of both dropping the price of the XB1 and making digital versions of their games cheaper so as to entice more people to buy them and the console. That's a pretty desperate move so early into the game if true.
I think that as long as Sony doesn't screw up, they've got this.
