Microsoft will show off its innovation.

Free game play for ads on Xbox.

Better believe it.

Xbox 360 is FAR from tanking. What kind of reporting is this? Xbox easily came away from E3 in a leader position. Tanks?

[If you read the article, we report about actual sales, not announcements. But admitted, "tanks" was not the right word as the sales of the Xbox 360 actually went up from the last month. I adjusted the headline. -wolfgang]

Sorry, but you have it all wrong. Usually if the PS3 out sells the 360 it's by like 20K and at that rate it will take years to overtake the xbox in the states. The only reason the PS3 sold so much in June was the release of MGS4. . . The xbox360 had the best showing at E3, nobody will deny that, and with the addition of Netflix now, plus the price cut I can guarantee big numbers for July, at least DOUBLE the PS3. The Wii is trouncing both of them

Microsoft innovative? Please ... Windows was created as a rip-off of the original Mac GUI, XBox is a Playstation rip-off, Zune is a IPod rip-off. See the pattern? MS is anything but an innovator. Now I see they're ripping-off the Wii Mii with "new" XBox live avatars.

Look we get it that you hate the 360 and I like most of your articles but seriously why do you bash the 360 so much? I'm not an M$ fan boy I seriously have all 3 consoles because I really don't care which has better hardware I just care about playing the games and all 3 have exclusive titles that I like to play (Zelda, Halo, and GT). I could understand preferring one over the other. I just don't understand how you could love the PS3 and hate the 360 or vise versa. Their almost identical.

[I don't hate it. I just think its time is gone and Microsoft is not taking Nintendo and Sony serious enough. Looking at E3, Microsoft is taking a completely different direction than the Sony and Nintendo, while trying to do a little of what Sony does and what Nintendo does. The Xbox 360 needs a serious price cut, a serious hardware upgrade or a completely different product strategy that allows Microsoft to better differentiate it from the PS3 and Wii. -wolfgang]

"For a premium of $50, buyers not only get the newer console that is able of 1080p output, but also a larger hard drive and a Blu-ray drive. It is not difficult to see that Microsoft is already under pressure to introduce price cuts or system upgrades in the near future."

Yeah, but in addition the cheap MS console DOES NOT come with WiFi. They actually make you pay $75-90 for an add-on WiFi card! Add to that the $50/year xBox Live membership REQUIRED for *any* online play, and the fact that you can easily throw in any 120-300 GB 2.5" HD in the playstation 3 (versus buying incredible overpriced "proprietary" xBox 360 HDDs which are tiny), and the PS3 with it's blue-ray player is a bargain!

Yes the Wii is kicking everyone's butt right now, but it's such a completely different animal, appealing to such a different demographic, that discussing it as though Wii sales are hurting Xbox and PS3 sales is misleading. Handhelds are also a different beast, and relatively very cheap.

So the real question is whether Xbox is losing ground to PS3. The June sales figures with the huge spike in PS3 sales obviously are due to MGS4. The previous four or five months show a nearly dead heat between Xbox and PS3 (with PS3 winning just slightly each month). So it appears Xbox in indeed losing some ground, but not much. At this rate (not counting the June anomoly) PS3 would never catch up with the total sales.

As far as price cuts go, I strongly predict Xbox will do the same thing PS3 did last year. The current 20GB drop to $299 with the new 60GB at $349 is only "while supplies last" of the 20GB boxes. Pretty soon after they are gone, the new 60GB box will be reduced to $299, at which time all three Xbox SKUs will see a price drop, across the board. That's the prediction part. I'll even go so far as to predict a SECOND across the board price cut just before the holidays. So at THAT point the Arcade SKU will be under that magic $200 line, and its sales will boom. The Pro SKU will be around $279 with the Elite down to $379 or so.

well, there is still a lot of parents I know that is still looking for a wii for child since the game is more suited for them and mom probably want to try too...
as for ps3...a lot of grown ups are buying it not just for game but for blue ray...it's a really cheap machine consider you got blue ray and game for 399.
as for xbox...yea...who wanted one already had one.
if you have not buy it after 2 or 3 years..you most likely not going to buy it since it still ain't cheap.

This article still forgets to mention that the new 80GB PS3 Core Pack doesn't include backwards compatibility. It shows that Sony is desperate to increase PS3 game sales outside of the big games (Ratchet/Clank, MGS4 and the now non-exclusive FFXIII). Its the only reasoning behind such a ill-conceived notion.

Also as others have talked about, this article fails to mention (although a one-liner at the end tried to) that the Wii is playing to a completely different market, i.e. the "casual" gamer. Sure it'll sell easily 50 million over its lifespan ( possible redesigns a la DS), but its never going to get HD capability or hardcore games due to the Wiimotes motion sensors (a problem that was just fixed by a $30 addon).

If I were Microsoft I would be terribly disapointed that only 337 thousand people are interesting in buying a new console.

Also to Chris' point, everything is a rip off. Mac's GUI was a rip off of Xerox's original design at PARC, Playstation was a rip off of a failed collaboration between Sony and Nintendo, iPod is a Rio rip-off. There are some improvements to the lineup, but its still the same. Oh and don't think that Nintendo was unique in coming up with an animated avatar, one could argue that has been around since D&D days, as what is a character but just an avatar of a player?

xbox rules and everyone knows it. so stop complaining fanboys and get your facts straight. xbox 360 is the only platform for the serious gamer and no service available can touch xbox live.

Overall the gaming industry continues to show how robust and healthy it is. All of these sales, whatever your "allegiance" is, shows that the industry is super healthy even in a tough economy. If all of these numbers continue on their current trends we gamers are guaranteed to have years of top notch quality games!! I'm loving it!

I'm fine with the rest of your comment but Apple didn't invent the GUI OS. Apple stole it from Xerox. Both M$ and Apple ripped their GUI OS off.

Since when is the 360 not able to output 1080p? Mine sure has been doing a fine job of that for the past year.

[I have to correct myself. Yes, the Xbox 360 has 1080p output for gaming. Correction made. -wolfgang]

I understand why you start the graph with all three players present but why not show the whole story and include data from the months that the Xbox 360 was all alone and making sales.... seems rather skewed to compare the Xbox360 data from a year after it's launch to those of the other consoles launch numbers. Doesn't it?

... maybe some people actually own BOTH a Wii and a 360! In fact, lots of people do (including myself). So the 360 has "tanked" just because the Wii has outsold it? Thats just idiotic to even suggest.

The Wii has a lot of appeal, but lets face it, it's NOT in the same league as the 360 and never will be, no matter how many they sell. Comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges. "Hardcore" gaming is done on the 360 (or even the PS3), while the Wii is good for 'family' and 'casual' gaming.

The 360 is not going under just because the Wii finally caught up to it in terms of sales. If Nintendo could actually keep the Wii's in stock, this would've happened a long time ago, but this has nothing to do with the success of the 360.

Gotta agree with Jason -- my console has been able to output 1080p content for quite some time now. Why does this article imply that the PS3 is the only console that supports that?

Also, to Chris -- what about achievements? I think Microsoft was the first one with those available. And now Vavle has them, the PS3 is adding "trophies", and even World of Warcraft is going to support them. I'd say that's a feather in the cap for Microsoft.

Gotta agree with Jason -- my console has been able to output 1080p content for quite some time now. Why does this article imply that the PS3 is the only console that supports that?

Also, to Chris -- what about achievements? I think Microsoft was the first one with those available. And now Vavle has them, the PS3 is adding "trophies", and even World of Warcraft is going to support them. I'd say that's a feather in the cap for Microsoft.

That is not a price cut. That is some of the most ass backwards reasoning I have seen in a long time. By this logic, every new graphics card, processor, or whatever random improvement one may identify qualifies as a price cut.

Intel is releasing a faster processor that will cost the same as the current fastest processor? That is a price cut! This temporary price to 299 is a price cut. However, I do not know what Sony/MS are thinking. Consumers are not going to see the advertised HD size on the outside of the box and go, "oh man, what a deal!" They are going to say, that is a PS3/XBOX360 and then look at the price. If the price is THE SAME as it was yesterday then there was NO price cut.

Looking at this article on TG Daily () and this article on IDC (http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS21190708) makes me wonder:

On first quarter 2008, 16 million PCs and notebooks were sold, which is more than ANY modern console has sold in it's life;

ESA valued the videogame market at $8.6 billion, and PC game market at $910 million, which is nearly 10 times smaller.

Now think: PS3, XBox and Wii games are not interchangeable, while PC games can be played on any PC (talking x86 here); if someone bought a PS2 racing wheel back then, and then switched to an Xbox, his wheel is wasted, whereas in PC anything from the past decade can be used on any PC today.

WHY THE H*** VIDEOGAMES SELL MORE GAMES THAN PCS???

Revolting answer: 95% of PCs today CANNOT run ANY 2008 game! Proof of it is that, from the top 20 selling games for PC, at least 13 could be run on an old GeForce2, which is slower than ANY current integrated graphics. PC game developers just want eyecandy, use of all available technology, blablabla, but they just don't manage to outsell WoW and The Sims 2... Come on! I have an integrated graphics, and I want to be able to play Race Driver Grid! NWN2! Oblivion! ANYTHING NEW!!!

At least Spore runs very well...

The ESA article said PC racing games account for 1.5%, while in videogames they are 8.5%, or nearly 6 times higher. Together with my post above, there are no good racing games on the pc, nothing the level of GT4 or Forza! The same is true for other genres, both pc and vg sides... too bad...

Wolfgang, I use to like your articles a lot but its articles like this that make me just want to stop reading you completely. They should be written from a NEUTRAL point of view stating facts and then commenting on them... not just bashing something completely and being bias.

[Now, i do hope that you will continuing reading my articles, since we do take great passion here in technology. I actually read through my article again and did not see any bashing. Would you say the comment that the Xbox 360 is under pressure is inappropriate? -wolfgang]

The 360 elite and expert (newer pro w/ HDMI) output in 1080p. And as far as my TV knows which switches resolutions when the device does (for example when playing a 720p game on the PS3 it switches my TV to 720p). When I play a DVD in the 360 it keeps my display resolution at 1080p. Weather it's really upconverting to 1080p, i don't know but it sure seems like it is.

You did not include game sales. The 360 destroys the others. I think the PS3 has 3 games that sold over a million. The 360 has 28! I don't have the number for the Wii but I'm guessing it's not much more than a handful(Wii sports doesn't count since it's bundled). Do you have the numbers Wolfgang?

Thanks for the replay. From that point of view I agree with you. I think M$ should have cut the price months ago to try to keep the pressure on the PS3 at least it would make business sense.

Game wise PS3 and the 360 are not that different. I think something like 70% of the games made are for both PS3 and 360 and graphics wise I can't really see a difference between the two. Just my opinion though i'm sure others will disagree.

Look, the simple fact is that the Xbox has the better games for the hardcore gamers. Period. I personally own the Xbox and the PS3, and all my gaming is on the Xbox and BluRay's are on the PS3.

Sure the PS3 has a larger hard drive; it has to since all of it's games copy a GB when you first play it!

There's not much denying that the PS3 has better hardware, but again, who gives a crap if there are no games worth a salt??!

I appreciate the reply Wolfgang. I reread the article as well and should not have used the word "bashing" when refering to your view on the 360. There is no doubt that the Wii will continue to outsell the other consoles. It's fanbase just dominates that of the 360 and PS3. However, when refering to console sales, I do think 360 should be selling less in the coming months since its install base is probably reaching its plateu. Would you agree? I mean, most people who wanted a 360 probably bought it by now.

I just think little things like that should be mentioned, as well as game sales like someone commented on also, because the 360 typically outsells the other platforms in non-exclusive titles. Overall I would correct myself and say that you did not bash the 360, but I just get the feeling lately when I read console articles that everyone is quick to point out anything going wrong with the 360 since its a Microsoft product.

I don't like SONY, I want a quiet 360 to play back BD movies. I will give MS 2 quarters. Or I will have to jump onto PS3 boat.

Does anyone wonder why the PS3 did so well this month? Hmmm, MGS4 bundle, plus MGS4 the game. Was Sony in trouble when MS shifted over 500k 360's the month Halo 3 released (which, by the way, was released on 9/25, leaving only a few days of sales for NPD).

I mean, the 360 isn't in "trouble" per se, but it is in need of a permanent price drop. Dropping the price by $50 is nice, but they need to do it on the 60gb when 20gb supplies are exhausted. The 360 is getting long in the tooth and this price drops are long overdue. The fact that it's still keeping pace in most parts of the world, however, is something to be proud of.

But knowing the lineups of both consoles for the near future, I see no reason for MS to be concerned by the PS3. Neither has a game that's going to outdo the other by very much.

I know, I know...HD DVD is dead, but the 360 is able to output movies in 1080p with the HD DVD player, so 1080p is not "limited to gaming" as the article would suggest. If MS were to be so bold as to release a Blu-Ray drive for the 360, it would have no problem handling the 1080p output.

It's too bad half of the comments have to be corrections to the original article.

When I was a younger man, I got a job co-managing a nightclub. When I told my boss that I heard a new club was opening, and asked him if that spelled trouble for us, he answered wisely: "Let them open one right across the street. The more clubs that open, the more customers will be out each night. The club scene will be healthier."

Why do we always need to see console sales like a deathmatch? Is it because of all the Slayer matches we've played on our game systems? The Nintendo Wii is bringing new gamers into the gaming world. That's good for the entire industry and all gamers. The more money flowing around, the more momentum the industry will attain, continuing to attract high quality talent to the companies that create hardware and software.

The Wii is introducing gaming to entire families who never had a gaming console in the house. And while some moms and young children may be content to stay with the standard definition graphics and generally less-sophisticated game titles that Nintendo offers, many dads and older siblings in Wii households will use the new experience as a springboard into more serious gaming experiences, like Halo3 Multiplayer over Xbox Live in high definition.

The Xbox360 remains the console of choice for serious gamers. And the technologically powerful PS3 will probably become equally desired as its game library grows and Sony eventually gets its act together with an online multiplayer experience that works as well as Xbox Live does now.

Month to month sales are relevant. But the bigger trend is more important. More people than ever are playing console games.

Hahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahaha. :)

Using the month that metal gear solid comes out is a great month to compare sales and make conclusions base on that data.

Nintendo is an original game production company successfully striking both 360 and ps3 on own tech field. The whole wii idea is easily controlled game for all on the contrary the other 2 are high tech features for "tiny" army of sophisticated players.

So which side is majority and why is wii simply gaining everywhere?

Long live Nintendo Wii! I hate Xbox 360 and PS3 because have Seagate hard drive! I hate Seagate hard drives because people are complaint for lost files easily. Seagate company must close down, people who work at Seagate company is not very good. Lousy one. I heard about 1,000 jobs kick out at Seagate company on Google NEWS. Seagate is very terrible! I love Western Digital(WD) hard drives forever and I have good taste to pick on WD. Why? You have bad lucky to pick on PS3 and Xbox 360. You will have change hard drives again, again many times. Nintendo have Solid State Disk built in memory like Memory card. 512 MB flash memory is placed on Nintendo Wii motherboard. Really very strongest than PS3 and Xbox 360 without get overheat or get in fire. I will plan to buy Nintendo Wii 2 in around 2010 to 2014. Please note: All GameCube and Wii games and controllers will work on Nintendo Wii 2. You can use mouse, keyboard, webcam, printer, scanner, USB hard drives, Blu-ray, etc, etc for Nintendo Wii 2. Nintendo Wii 2 will support built in Internet(Ethernet Port), USB ports, FireWire 400, Blu-ray, DVD and CD too. Nintendo Wii 2 will have Solid State Disk come with inside. About 128 GB to 512 GB or more. I not sure Nintendo Wii 2 will have 2-4 GB RAM and Dual Core/Quad Core processors with 3 GHz or above, Nvidia(unknown title name) or ATI(unknown title name) video card with 512 MB or 1 GB. You can upgrade storage on your Nintendo Wii 2 anytime you want to. Nintendo Wii 2 will support both 1.8 inches and 2.5(like same size as Laptop) inches, type support are S-ATA and S-ATA2. Nintendo is very bright in the future. Don't get me wrong!!! Shine blue! I love blue!!! :-) You can take NES, SNES, GBA, GBC, N64, GameCube, Wii or Wii 2 anywhere in other planet without problems! Because don't have hard drives. You don't need to replace hard drives again, again. Lifetime! I am born in year same as Nintendo Entertainment System! Longest live Nintendo!!! Go Nintendo! Go Nintendo!!! Mario! Luigi! Zelda! Kirby! Yoshi! Too bad for Xbox 360 and PS3 don't have Mario, Luigi, Zelda, Kirby, etc games! Yay!!!

One bad reason from Nintendo Wii is Virtual Console, Because download games and internet program(Opera) are not free. That is not even! I skipped it. I wait until download become free and I can download files for my Wii for free. Wii Point cards are sucks because you waste your money! I'm lucky not have Wii point cards!!! I currently have NES, SNES, GBC, GBA, N64, GameCube, Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii. Because I have a lot of roms on my computer!!! About over 2,000 ROMS(Include NES, SNES, GB, GBA, N64, and few GameCube games) on my PC. Nintendo is back on all computers! NES, SNES, GBA, GB, N64 are dead now but! Still live on computer hard drives when you ripping Nintendo games on computer and start play on emulators! You will have biggest fun time on computer. Don't forget buy USB joystick like PS2/PS3 controller. Plug in and play your oldest games forever. Oldest games can allow copy thousands of old Nintendo games for now and in the future to play oldest memories back again. Remember Nintendo will never die! GameCube emulator is too slow to running game for right now. We better wait until new GameCube Emulator release out soon. You can play your Gamecube disc in your computer dvd drive to read then play game without problems. GameCube emulator will be free for everyone who own Gamecube disc or roms. If you have Phantasy Star 1 & II game for GameCube, you can able play on your PC use internet to play against your friends or foes. You will have wonderful time for your life! Be happy! Don't get mad or complaint on Nintendo. :-)

Well said, Guest 1986.
:-)))

International sales give a better measure of a success.
http://spong.com/article/15287/Nintendo_We_Will_Double_Wii_Sales_in_2008

You do know that unlike Xbox, PS3 hard drive is very easy to replace. I have a 200gb PS3 by the way well anyway it also has Yellow Dog Linux installed too. I play World of Warcraft, Crysis, and Total War games on my PS3, no problem at all.

I play my NES, SNES, GBC, GBA on my PSP, I always have fun and confuse alot of people when they see Mario or Zelda on my PSP. I do by the way have NES, SNES, Sega CD, PC, Atari 2600, PS1, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, GBA, PSP, Sega Game Gear. I should say that if you are limiting your scope to just one game company you are missing out on the others.

I have a pre-order on Starcraft 2, Wrath of the Lich King, Resistence 2, Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Star Wars: Unleashed, Guitar Hero: World Tour. See what are missing by being on one company.

Wolfgang, You must work for Sony, at least you could have made it a little less conspicuous. PAYOLA !

with the problems its had with overheating and such, if I do finally buy one it will be a PS3. Although if Halo Wars is only available on 360 I may reconsider.

Lol, @ the people defending the 360.

The 360 sales are slowing down. The 360 may still have an edge in selling software but that's all they have. Microsoft better do something about Sony and Nintendo, otherwise they will lose the console race AGAIN.

The man problem about the 360 is that its basically playing a magic trick. 299 sounds like a fantastic price for a 360 but they forgot to mention that if you wanna experience the full potential (which isn't much) of the system you have to pay 5 bucks a month plus 80 dollar add of wifi which in most starts are still 99 dollars.

Then comes exclusives yes they get third party exclusives but you can't count third party games to stay exclusives so 1st parties are the way to go but what do they have Halo series and Gears...? They dont have variety, yet they say they have blockbuster hits well the are on the ps3 too.

Online so when you actually pay for the online what is so wonderful about it that you have to pay for it? Community, connecting with friends, easy connection or what have you. The ps3 can do the same with free service. With intro to Trophy system now the achievements isn't a selling point as well as online service when it its. Yes they have a good service but Sony doesn't need to do much to be better.

The ps3 is by far the better system and once more of there AAA games come SOCOM, GoWIII, Jak n Daxter, and their new IP's Heavy Rain, iNFAMOUS, Little Big Planet. 360 will need to copy alot more than just Mii's and Sing Stars to even exist

Um.. you forgot take into account game sales and neither the wii or the ps3 can compete in those numbers.

I play, as do my kids, both the Xbox360 and Wii equally. So much that we have never even considered a PS3. Any decent game that will be on the PS3 will be on the Xbox360 anyway, so why bother? Nothing compares to the Wii anyway, so no need to go there. But for all other entertainment needs, the PS3 doesn't even come close to an Xbox360. Blu-Ray can just die IMHO. It's not needed or worth the price extreme.

I agree, this article has WAY too much product preference in it. Besides, measuring console sales before the impact of E3 is rather premature and not well considered. TG needs to step back and be more objective in it's reporting. Report the info, not the love or hate.

yes,,nintendo isnt doing as good as 360 in GAME sales,but you have to consider that usually the only company/companies making the good games on wii are Nintendo and their subsidiaries.there are alot of companies making games for nintendo's wii,but a lot of the times,they suck.