Any news article, blog post or message board rant that uses the phrase “PlayStation family” should be teased mercilessly. It’s a weasel word borne of public relations speak.
With that out of the way! 1UP has taken it upon itself to defend the PlayStation 3 from so-called “mainstream” media criticism. (See: CNN Money, etc.) No, 1UP argues, the PS3 isn’t failing, and, even if it’s not doing as well as its fan(boy)s might want to see, it’s till got a lot going for it.
Sure, it’s a little more expensive than the Xbox 360, which can be had for as little as $199, but think of what you get: a Blu-ray player to play, you know, The Dark Knight in high-defition.
1UP also mentions that PS3 sales are some 60 percent higher than they were last year. That’s great and all, but 16 is 60 percent higher than 10. That is to say, a percentage increase isn’t nearly as impressive when you’re dealing with small numbers. (For the record, Sony sold 2.56 millions PS3s in the U.S. in 2007, so around 4 million this year; Nintendo sold 2 million Wiis this past November alone.)
I don’t know, all these sales figures analyses are fun in the abstract, but dwelling too much on them is sort of a waste of time.