Sony says GTA 4 has driven sales of the PS3, MS says 360 version outselling PS3 version 2-to-1.
Microsoft and Sony have already started chest thumping over which company has benefited most from the phenomenon that is GTA 4.
Yesterday, in a press release issued to Kotaku, Sony said: "Demand for Grand Theft Auto IV drove sales of the PlayStation 3 entertainment system within the first 24 hours, continuing the strong legacy of the franchise on PlayStation platforms."
AdvertisementSony brought in heavyweight help to back up its case, including GameStop senior vice president of merchandising Bob McKenzie, who said: "From our position, the launch of GTA IV has been tremendous in driving traffic to our stores, as well as providing a vigorous lift in PS3 console sales over this time last week. We attribute the growth to a huge fan base of PS2 owners who see this title as the trigger for the PS3 upgrade they've been planning."
Analyst Michael Pachter also got in on the act, citing "brand loyalty" as the reason why "Sony's in a great position right now."
He added: "There is a huge installed base of loyal PlayStation 2 owners who have been looking for a reason to upgrade, and they have strong previous ties to the Grand Theft Auto franchise on PlayStation platforms. Add to that a number of other big exclusive games for PS3, including Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, Metal Gear Solid 4, LittleBigPlanet, and SOCOM: Confrontation, to name a few, and it seems like Sony's in a great position right now."
However, Microsoft hit back. Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE told Next-gen.biz: "What we've heard anecdotally from our retail partners is that the Xbox 360 version of the game is outselling the PS3 version by a margin of two-to-one. That mirrors what we saw with pre-orders, but it continues to hold true at retail, at least for the first couple of days. It's a great sign."
While we still do not know official sales figures for GTA 4 in the US, official UK ChartTrack day one figures have already been released, showing 55% of all GTA 4 units were sold on the Xbox 360. We'll have to wait and see whether that figure remains the same following the Bank Holiday weekend.
Who do you think has benefited most from GTA 4? Let us know in the comments section below.
TINTED wrote at 12:21 on 02 May 2008
I think that that's all contributed to the bugs on ps3, which never should of been there. anyone who knows both systems, knows which is better. I wouldn't doubt microsoft bribed someone 2 make sure ps3's failed at the start, rockstar never makes these kinds of mistakes. 360 has held enough games back w/ the dvd disks, processor, etc. microsoft's too greedy and charges far too much for stuff that far too cheap and u.s. would better off w/o that leech bleeding us dry.
DiamonKn wrote at 15:02 on 02 May 2008
Rockstar had the same sort of failings on the recently released Bully on the 360, so they do make those kind of mistakes
jim wrote at 15:27 on 02 May 2008
tinted, that was biased at all. FANBOY!
pblive wrote at 15:31 on 02 May 2008
No, Microsoft: 55% to 45% is not 2:1, go back and do your maths exams again.
I don't know why Microsoft didn't just say they were outselling the PS3 versions, it would have been the truth and still would look good for them, why do they have to resort to lying?
me wrote at 16:12 on 02 May 2008
tinted at least i didnt dish out over £300 pounds for a console with no desent games bar GTA and that dosnt even work! fanboy!
@ME wrote at 19:22 on 02 May 2008
**** you! Elite cost that much didnt they? And it doesnt have any HD media to play aprt from digi downloads. lol Go and crawl under a rock you xbot FAGGOT!
MS payed R* to screw up the PS3 version to make them look worse, MS owns you lot and is trying to own the devs aswell. Bill **** cant win anything without flashing money!
bob wrote at 02:21 on 03 May 2008
i have 360 and ps3 yah gta freezes on ps3 but for every time gta4 freezes my 360 gets the 3 red rings of death so there neither 1 is better so stfu ps3 fan boys and stfu 360 fan boys
anon wrote at 01:32 on 04 May 2008
OK all you 360 fanboys stop saying your console is cheaper! The 360 elite is now I think 40 bucks cheaper than the 80GB ps3. The 360 (at the point were the ps3 is now) cost more. PLUS 360 (despite being way older) only has about 50 more games (only maybe 8 of which are even worth noticing) than the ps3. I HAD a 360 with all the accessories, then it RROD'd and my warranty was out as far as I know because Microsoft wouldn't repair it. I hate Microsoft for that because I'm only 14 and earned those 700 dollars myself! So why buy something that will just die. Because when you look at it, after your warranty is over you will need to spend more and more money repairing your 360 and why bother? If the difference between sales is only 10% it's still a loss for Microsoft considering there is more people with 360's out there. My next point is that the reason the 360 is outselling the ps3 is because Microsoft count ALL the units they hand out, which includes consoles you get back from repair (they get counted twice) and pretty much it's outselling it because people need to buy new consoles after they RROD ( because they are too dumb to realize that they are better off with a Wii or ps3 (which I think both suck anyways ATM so I'm waiting for the ps3 slim or the wiivolution to come out)). And on top of the bribe Microsoft gave to Rockstar to make the 360 version better (which I've heard word of in several places) didn't help, as the 360 version looks TOO detailed (as in you can notice wrinkles from afar because of overshading) as opposed to the ps3 version which looks slightly more natural (but can also look better). Also, the 360 is getting EXCLUSIVE 360 bonus content (yay) but the ps3 is getting exclusive PS3 content (don't hold me to it though :])
I just wanted to shut some people up, this "battle" has gone on long enough >_<
All of the consoles have flaws, I think it's just that the 360 owners (which are a larger group) overpower the ps3 by sheer numbers (as in not enough people repeating the same crap for the ps3). Enjoy your console >). Please let others enjoy theirs. I mean you already bought it why justify your purchase by making other consoles look like crap (notice the word LOOK).
I hope this helped in some way, shape or form to clear up some issues...
The Flush wrote at 04:10 on 04 May 2008
Very well said anon. I totally agree with you on the fact that Microsoft is extremely greedy. GTA 4 wouldn't even be on the 360 if it were not for the bribes Microsoft issued. First of all, GTA 4 was supposed to be a ps3 exclusive, but on E3 2006 Microsoft showed it off (in other words, they bribed Rockstar). Secondly, the exclusive content was only given 360 exclusivity because, once again, Microsoft gave them some doe. Finally, while I don't think that Microsoft bribed Rockstar to "glitch" the ps3 version (non-exclusive games often have problems on the ps3), I do believe that they made the game not reach its potential. Why? Well, it is a great game (I'm playing it right now!!), it could have been better if it utilized (to the fullest extent) the power of the blu ray disc. That would have add basically double the content if they took advantage of it, making it an even greater game. Imagine double the halirious television shows, double the music, and double the story/in-game content. Thanks Microsoft, you @$$ holes! Therefore E=MC2
floridaking wrote at 00:18 on 05 May 2008
i dont think microsoft is some mafia family " bribing " people or " paying them off ". someone has been playin gta a lil too long, if u have the money why not spend it to get a very good company and there games.cause frankly halo cant compete wit gta, cause halo sucks, and yes i have a 360 and i think that game sucks. and if u were rockstar y wouldnt u wana get paid. im sure sony has too pay just as much to have the rights to the game as microsoft, cause im pretty sure rockstar isnt paying sony to be on there system. im not dissin sony or anything, god for bid if i did that, nobody attack me please, cause i no how great they r.... but y dont all u FANBOYS move to japan as well, and watch all the anime porn u want and stop hatin on microsoft cause they run the gameing buisness now and u guys r just mad cause sony ran it but they lost it.
fanboy wrote at 01:45 on 05 May 2008
i think ps3 is benifitting more and will win the gta4 battle
047gaboca wrote at 02:00 on 05 May 2008
On a long-run SONY will prevail over MSOFT. It's just a matter of time........
why bother wrote at 13:14 on 05 May 2008
fanboys??? who cares what someone else plays? just pawns for each side. the battle doesn't matter, the war was won when microsoft lost their backing in HD DVD because toshiba knew when to get out. money can't buy everything.