14 DAY TRIAL // EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich believes that the PlayStation 3 is set to continue its run of good sales numbers and will again outsell the Microsoft Xbox 360 in June. He made the remarks when commenting on the numbers regarding May, that have been recently released by the NPD.
With Grand Theft Auto IV making less of an impact on Xbox 360 sales than analysts expected it to, Divnich thinks that the Microsoft created gaming console might even see a drop in the following period, while the PlayStation 3 exclusive Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots has the power to take sales of the Sony gaming console higher.
Divnich stated that: "This is likely due to the exclusivity factor as exclusive releases on Sony's platforms have historically shown to be a better hardware driver than that of multi-platform releases. On average, PS3 exclusive games sell 45% more, throughout their lifetime, than multi-platform titles available on the PS3. Exclusive titles for the other two systems, the Wii and Xbox 360, only boast a small increase in lifetime sales over multi-platform titles."
The same analyst thinks that, as a response to the rise of the PS3 and to the continued dominance of the Nintendo Wii, which managed to sell more consoles than its two rivals combined in North America in May, Microsoft is getting ready to unveil a new Xbox 360 model and also to cut prices across the board for its consoles. The ESA-backed E3 expo, which is coming up in a few weeks, might be the perfect venue for Microsoft to make an announcement.
"If there is a hardware price cut, it is not known if Sony will follow suit right way, but it would be safe to assume that Sony would execute some type of plan within a 2 month window of any hardware price cut from the Xbox 360." Divnich said. So, in a rather short time, we might be seeing the prices of gaming consoles drop - which for a gamer is always good news.