Xbox 360 Beats PlayStation 3 in Holiday Sales by 88%

The latest NPD hardware and software sales data has arrived, and from it we can extrapolate quite a lot of interesting information, especially in terms of the battle between the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

It seems that the holiday months, November and December, were pretty good to Sony, which managed to sell an impressive total of 1.74 million PlayStation 3 consoles.

Microsoft and its Xbox 360, however, blew the Japanese console out of the water in the USA during the winter holidays, as 3.27 million Xbox 360 consoles were sold in stores across the nation.

When compared, that's an 88% difference, and it definitely seems that Sony wasn't exactly in the best of shapes at the end of the year, despite releasing the new PlayStation Move motion detection peripheral back in September.

Still, Sony was quick to highlight the up side when talking about the NPD data, saying that it was the only console company to show year over year software sales growth, by 32%.

"According to the December NPD, PlayStation is the only console company to show year over year software growth with an impressive 32% increase in its sales," said Sony Computer Entertainment America Senior Director of Corporate Communications, Patrick Seybold.

The Sony representative also emphasized the potential of the Move, but didn't offer any concrete sales numbers.

"Since launching four months ago, PlayStation Move has introduced 50 supported titles, with close to 20 titles still on the horizon, underscoring PlayStation's steady expansion of software titles to create what is without doubt the most exciting line-up of motion control gaming options available to consumers today."

Last but not least, Seybold also emphasized that two more big Playstation 3 exclusives, LittleBigPlanet 2 and Killzone 3 are getting ready for release.

"As we come out of the gates in 2011, PlayStation is brimming with new games to whet the appetite for all gamers, like next week's highly anticipated launch of LittleBigPlanet 2, which received top scores. And right around the corner, Killzone 3 is positioned to set a new standard in hardcore gaming as the first AAA title to utilize both 3D and Move functionality."

Even if Seybold is excited about Sony's situation, the Japanese company needs to pull some big tricks in order to once again compete with the Xbox 360 in the USA.