“Statistics published by top game developer Tose show that with 42 million the total number of PS3s sold globally have exceeded the Xbox 360 by a million units.

The statistics come by way of a presentation by Tose (a prolific Kyoto-based game developer best known for not being known, as their games as usually credited exclusively to the company outsourcing the work to them, most often Nintendo) at the Kyoto Cross Media Experience 2010, published by Famitsu.”

• Wii: 74,000,000
• PlayStation 3: 42,000,000
• Xbox 360: 41,000,000

Source:  http://www.famitsu.com/news/201011/08035343.html

In what looks to be a massive (some would say fatal) blow to the Xbox 360, EA announced at Gamescom 2010 that Mass Effect 2 would be coming to the Playstation 3 on January 2011.

Expect the port fully utilize the power of the PS3 which means better textures, faster loading and a more fluid frame rate than the 360 version.

Killzone 3D (PS3 exclusive)

Mortal Kombat 3D (PS3 exclusive)

Kinect for Xbox 360

Kinectimals (360 exclusive)

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

360 Slim

Nintendo 3DS

Star Wars Kinect (360 exclusive)

With the God of War 3  around the corner it seems that Xbox fans, perhaps even Microsoft themselves, are taking the console wars to the next level.   The problems on PSN are not only being blown out of proportion by the MS biased media, it is also SDF’s opinion that this problem could’ve been caused by Xbox fanatics in an attempt to deflate the biggest  release in video game history.

Keep an eye out on SDF for more fair and unbiased coverage of the PSN debacle.

Edit – It seems Xbox Fanatics are now posing as PS3 fans on YouTube. Check out the pseudo-rage of this typical Xbox Live gamer:

Thanks to the continued Slim Effect™, PS3 has been dominating sales charts across the globe.  So much, in fact, that Sony is predicting massive shortages throughout 2010.

As you can see Heavy Rain, Final Fantasy 13 (PS3 version) and PS3 Slim are currently topping the charts with no sign of slowing down.   The inferior 360 version of Final Fantasy 13 is barely in the Top 30 currently sitting at #29. One would guess the exclusive avatar gear isn’t exactly setting the video game world on fire.

From looking at the January NPD game sales it seems Mass Effect 2 didn’t perform as well as expected.  For a game that was supposed to sell millions, it didn’t even beat out New Super Mario Bros for the month, with Wii Fit and Modern Warfare 2 right behind it.  This casts a huge shadow on a potential 3rd game in the series and adds pressure to EA to get the PS3 versions out as soon as possible.   Lets hope Bioware can recover from this debacle before EA starts another round of cuts.

Full NPD numbers:

PlayStation Family 418.6K
Wii 465.8K
Nintendo DS 422.2K
Xbox 360 332.8K

NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Nov-09 656.7K
MASS EFFECT 2* 360 ELECTRONIC ARTS Jan-10 572.1K
WII FIT PLUS W/ BALANCE BOARD* WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Oct-09 555.7K
CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2* 360 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD Nov-09 326.7K
MARIO KART W/ WHEEL WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Apr-08 310.9K
SPORTS RESORT W/ WII MOTION PLUS* WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Jul-09 297.6K
CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2* PS3 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD Nov-09 259.0K
ARMY OF TWO: THE 40TH DAY 360 ELECTRONIC ARTS Jan-10 246.5K
JUST DANCE WII UBISOFT Nov-09 191.9K
DARKSIDERS 360 THQ Jan-10 171.2k

Now that Mass Effect 2 has come and gone with barely a blip on the gamer radar, game reviews are starting to become more realistic on how this game actually is.

“Aside from the narrative weakness of too many underdeveloped characters, the new global emphasis on skirmishes is also of concern. As stated earlier, the teammate AI and combat mechanics are greatly improved over the first game, but things have (again) gotten carried away. The architecture of most levels has been downsized to small, almost perfectly linear spaces that emphasize combat over exploration. Planetary hubs are now reduced to large rooms, and although quite beautiful, most action areas are little more than unconvincing, glorified hallways.” – GameCritics

“The story does waver when it matters most, and the planet-scanning and other hacking mini-games are quite the bore…” – Xbox World Australia

“Remove the ho-hum gunplay, and the rest is an interactive action movie that’s decent enough for one walkthrough. Don’t go for seconds, though. And if you’re still craving for a space opera fix by the time you’re done with Mass Effect 2, better rent all five seasons of Babylon 5.” – Absolute Games

“It’s a shame though that Bioware did not improve the inventory and skill system of the first game, but actually reduced it even more. I really wished there were more customization options, more ways to develop and gear up my characters.” – PC Games

One can only hope Bioware cleans these problems up for the PS3 Blu-ray release.

Neither Activision or Infinity Ward  could possibly imagine the true impact of The Slim Effect™ until they released Modern Warfare 2 for the PS3.   The amount of gamers playing MW2 on PSN has been so great that it’s bringing Activision’s servers to its knees.   Many have speculated that the PS3 version has actually outsold the notably inferior 360 version in many countries.

The Slim Effect™ MW2 patch is expected on Friday.  Until then, please be patient while Infinity Ward triples their PS3 server capacity (possibly even taking servers away from the disappointing 360 version).

It’s coming time for the Holiday launches of anticipated multiplatform sequels — and new data provided to Gamasutra by OTX’s GamePlan Insights finds that many sequel-buyers might be switching platforms, defecting from Xbox 360 to PlayStation 3 for more than one major release.

In addition to identifying the cash-strapped consumer’s most-wanted games for the holiday season, GamePlan Insights previously examined “franchise lineage,” or gamer intent to purchase sequels to favorite games.

According to OTX analyst Nick Williams, data on franchise lineage highlights an interesting trend between the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 SKUs for Modern Warfare 2 and Assassin’s Creed 2, the two top-ranking titles on the latest purchase intent charts — and also two of the titles with the strongest franchise lineage.

OTX data shows that 15 percent of those who plan to buy the PS3 version of Assassin’s Creed 2 own the Xbox 360 version of the original, while only 7 percent of those who plan to buy the Xbox 360 version own the original game on PS3.

The data highlights a shift, at least among fans of Assassin’s Creed, in favor of the PS3 — a “sizable portion,” according to Williams, of players who plan a console defection for the second installment.

Moreover, the trend for Modern Warfare 2 is the same, according to OTX. “The PS3 seems poised to shift the ratio of Xbox 360 to PS3 sales for most major multi-platform releases in its favor among dual owners,” Williams tells us.

Even Netflix couldn’t ignore The Slim Effect™ and has no choice but to add their streaming services to Playstation 3 or face losing out on a huge chunk of revenue.

With this major bomb dropping, one has to wonder what the point is of paying for Xbox Lag anymore.

Source:  http://www.netflix.com/NRDInfo/PS3