Now the PS3 is only 3 million units behind Xbox 360, gap keeps getting slimmer

Never underestimate the power of the Playstation brand. Sony's new ad campaign boasts that the PS3 only does everything, it might not, but surely it's closing in on the Xbox 360 in the U.S and around the world. Oh don't take our word for it, there's data to back up this claim.

When Sony announced the re-designed PS3 Slim in August at GamesCom, gamers from around the world were excited, yet none knew what to expect. Would the PS3 Slim really make a difference, or would there just be a temporary sales boost and things would go back to normal a few weeks after? Just some of the questions Sony fans and journalists alike had. Well to their surprise and probably even Sony's, the PS3 juggernaut is unstoppable, and if Microsoft doesn't revamp its strategies, PS3 Slim will keep slimming down the Xbox 360's lead until there's none.

In Sony's latest financial reports, the company revealed the amount of PS3 Slims that were sold, 3.2 million in the Q2 at the new $299 price point. According to the hardware giant, the PS3 has sold 27 million life-to-date units worldwide, outselling the Xbox 360 during Q2 and nearly matching that of the Wii at 2.1 and 3.5 million units sold respectively.

Some charts suggest that the Xbox 360 has sold over 32 million units globally, others contend it's more like 31 million, however, none of the aforementioned charts take into consideration the sheer amount of Xbox 360s that have failed because of the incurable disease dubbed the RROD. There are claims that over 5 million have died because of it; a staggering number indeed. Not all the broken consoles are repaired, even if Microsoft tried its best to fix them all through its excellent warranty, millions still go unfixed because of how long the owner has had his system, and varying fine print protocols.

So let's give Microsoft the Highest estimate and say at least 32 million Xbox 360s have been sold worldwide, but then you must minus at least 2 million that have died and never got repaired. You are now back to a more realistic number number of 30 million units sold globally. It's no wonder the that recently most games have been selling better on the PS3 in various parts of the world than the Xbox 360, with software sales almost being identical in the U.S on multiplatform games.

It will take Sony years to overtake the Xbox 360, and it might never overtake at all; I own both machines and truly I enjoy them. And there's one thing that I've come to realize, it's that neither of the two giants is going anywhere anytime soon.

11/08/09 Ernice Gilbert