According to Activision CEO:

From jeuxvideo.com

http://www.jeuxvideo.com/news/2008/0...activision.htm
English translation

According to Activision Blizzard, the end of this year will be marginally favorable to Sonay and the playstation 3. According to CEO Mike Griffith, there will be about 8 millions ps3 sales versus 6 to 7 millions 360 sales (EU + North america). Pretty small difference. All the more so when you compare it to the excpected increase in WII sales. According to Mike Griffith, there will be another 15 millions wi sold before the end of the year. The wii craze isn't about to settle down.

Personal thoughts:

Although I would be pleased by that, I really can't see it happening, especially considering the 360 price cuts (just a few days ago an extra 50 euros cut to its price in France, which does show that they are having trouble in France but it also shows that they are being proactive in solving their issues...). The big 360 and ps3 exclusives cancel each other out (resistance 2 + GoW 2), so all that just because of LBP ?? Doubtful. It would have made sense in Japan because of WKC but Europe and NA, I don't really understand his rationale. Unless I am missing something

I'd be very very surprised if the PS3 managed to outsell the 360 this Xmas. Price is such a big thing at the best of times, let alone in a global financial crisis.
Microsoft I feel, definitely need to make the gap as big as possible this Xmas, because next year the PS3 will have a very long list of AAA games released, a price cut is probable, not to mention that there'll be more big games announced in Europe and Japan.

I think Sony will use the momentum of the PSP and the PS3 next year to cross promote each other and drive up sales, this year however, particularly in Europe where there has been TWO Xbox pricecuts within as many months, I am confident the 360 will outsell it.

maybe be true. parents always goes for the cheap

A lot of people on here are saying that the price of the Xbox will put off parents from buying the PS3. Since when did parents decide which console kids wanted? Sadly in this day and age kids seem to get what they want exactly when they want it. Spoiled? Probably. Then again my ZX Spectrum +2 was probably ?150 in 1987 or so. Also my Amiga 500 was about ?300 in about 1990/1991. **** man I was spoiled too! That was a hell of a lot of money in those days. So please belive me. If a kid wants a PS3 then they will most probably get one!

P.S. The above does not take into account the ZX Spectrum 48k and the Atari 2600 that my brother had and I played before I got my own "Speccy"! ???! My parents are/were not rich people either. Thankfully I now work in I.T. so all my exposure to computers through the years has maybe paid off?

i will eat my shorts if the ps3 without a price cut outsells the xbox in europe..

sony are aiming for the upmarket (160gb sku) but the market is moving downmarket because of the cerdit crunch. also the big drop in blu-ray player prices is squeezing sony..

what they really need to do is cut by 120 bucks (90 euros/75 pounds) in europe but the question is whether they can afford to.. i don't think sony can do a price cut before christmas but if they did it would be one of the best kept secrets in the retail industry.

The only video game comericals I've seen were a world of warcraft commercial with Mister T and a 360 price cut.

I think the sales will be pretty close in the UK over XMAS. 360 is cheaper but I think PS3 appears more to the casuals out of the HD consoles. Blu-ray, Singstar & Buzz are household names plus LBP. Speaking of advertisements I've seen quite a few for PS3 games lately. LBP with TV spots and I went to see James Bond at the cinema and they had a big Motorstorm cut-out outside the screeen and in the previews they had a long Resistance 2 advert. Was also a GoW2 advert aswell though.

I'm not sure if it would happen this christmas season. Families have tight bugets and less money to spend.

Well, it'd be interesitng to see that happen but like many others, I am quite skeptical, mainly because of the price difference.

I don't think it's a secret...if you look at the last quarter financials you'd see Sony's game division is back to losing cash and the whole company is struggling. This while Microsoft actually beat estimates and has a lot of cash on hand. Microsoft is really in a position of power at the moment.

Well mate i don't watch much tv so can't comment on that but for the last month or so Sony has been hitting the free papers (London Lite & LondonPaper) & Sport magazine with front & back page ads. It's something but still not good enough for a game like LBP.

Well that'll be it then. I'm watching Sky 1, Sky Sports and ITV. Must be because they're all the mickey mouse small time channels.

It really depends on what channels you're watching. Me? I'll watch G4, ESPN, Spike and FX; and see multiple commercials for MS2, LBP and R2. Along with the Sony sponsered Mirror's Edge and EndWar.

Don't expect to see gaming ads while on the Home Shopping network or Oxygen!

I was only saying this the other day Sparc. I very rarely see PS3 adverts, in fact I can't remember the last one I saw on TV.

The 360 on the other hand, every big game is advertised like crazy. Even the multi-platform games have the XBox 360 logo and console price at the end.

Yeah I think it's mainly here in Europe where it seems quite on the adverts front - well the UK at least. I can honestly say I haven't seen a UK PS3 advert for weeks, perhaps even a couple of months! Not say they aren't ever on but they are not on enough for me to have caught one. I mean if I were SCEE I would be shouting from the hill tops about LBP. Just think of how cool an advert you could create solely out of Sack boys

I do think the PS3 will outsell the 360 this holiday....but it wont be anywhere near enough to make up the massive gap between the two console's in sales overall.

With the 360s price cut and all the Skus of the 360 being a bundle WITH games. i don't see it happening. I remember working last holiday and ppl wouldn't even buy the elite when we ran out of the Marvel/Forza 2 bundles.

With today's financial situation and Gears 2, which is much larger than R2 unfort. the 360 will be the winner I'm guessing.

Also the little things, that parents ask me while shopping for their gamer has effected the PS3 a great deal.

Examples:

The 360 controllers starting out at 39.99 compared to PS3 54.99 price.

The PS3 only including composite cables, with a growing number of households being HDMI ready..it's dissappointing.

As I mentioned above..the bundles. (Uncharted will be 500 bucks )

And Gears of War/Halo series..those two games are HUGE deciding factors.

360 is cheaper now, they have more units worldwide. PS3 has better exclusives right now imho, but i don't think that's gonna be enough.

360 is so cheap right now even some PS3 owners are considering buying it.

From the articles I've come across today, I read that the PS3 is surprisingly catching up with the recent sales spike the 360 made in Japan. Supposedly, GTAIV and LBP were the key drivers and help sale more PS3s than the Wii and 360 combined sales for that week.

I haven't got the any figures but just look around and you'll someone picking up on it.

That about sums up here too.

Here in the states I see sony adverts for alot of the 3rd party titles along with MS2 LBP.. For the box i've only recently seen GeoW2 and Fable2..(maybe guitar hero but I think its more of a stand alone commerical or a GS one)

Weird.. They def need to get on the ball in other areas..

Very little apparantly.
Even here in NZ, I see Gears, Fable 2 ads on TV.
On the other hand Sony..........
<Tumbles weeds blow past in a deserted street>

It's frustrating that in the past week I have seen adverts for Fable II, Fallout 3, and some Wii stuff but none on LBP! I mean what the crap is going on with Sony Europe's marketing this gen!?

It may happen, but who knows? Last holiday, it looked like an easy win for 360 as it was cheaper and had Halo.

I think people need to look past FPS games as major hardware movers. They give short term spikes, but the more casual stuff is what will sustain hardware.

SONY will have their rise after chistmas with Killzone 2, i'd like to think LBP would have a massive impact but it has yet to be seen. Same goes for Resistance 2, I don't really know it's pulling power yet or how good the online will be.

Killzone 2 is almost a 100% sure thing for SONY and I can tell you right now it will have a marketing campaign that will rival Halo.

I totally agree. PS3 will pullin good numbers but I think 360 will outsell it this xmas holiday. Like you said the 360 price cut will be too big for parents to ignore and a certain game called Gears 2 will sweeten the pie.

While it would be nice to see such numbers, I don't see it happening. The price is just too much of a deterrent for parents. Especially when you consider the current financial situation.

i doubt it. the 360 price cut is just too big for parents to overlook.

Price cut, and certain game I'm currently playing, OMG, it's beautiful.
KZ2 may surpass it, but the price difference is enough for most people to quesiton if the difference is worth it.
KZ2 has a lot now riding on it's shoulders, it 'really does.

I think that could be possible but let's see what happens. Everyone seems to be sure enough that the 360 will outsell the PS3 this year but I don't know about that. For some people, cheap things spell out...well cheap. They break easily, or they're cheap for a reason. Sooner or later, a parent may find out that a child needs A, B, C, and D to get the most out of the system. I'm sorry but I don't see how you can play a system bare like that without things that heightens the experience.

I also don't think Sony is focusing on selling the most consoles. They need to make a profit and get back on track. Microsoft only cares about selling the most.

But if the PS3 still wins despite the price, that will be HUGE.