from all the Xbox 360 fan bois. Who said it would never sell and that it was crap technology.

And as a sidenote Xbox 360 has a 16% failure rate compared to 3% for PS3 & WII.

When they're buying a PS3 no doubt they're factoring in that they're getting a Bluray player with it...

Perhaps the turfers will switch their story to comparing the *games* attach rate of a PS3 vs XBox 360.

Sort of "Oh what if the PS3 is selling well, people are buying it to play BluRay discs not play games...."

Considering how much more expensive the PS3 is than the XBox360, how much earlier the 360 came out, and how 360 owners will tell you their games are better and more numerous, for the PS3 to be beating the 360 within a year of release is, frankly, nothing short of stupendous.

Now that Blu-Ray has kicked HD-DVD into a cocked hat, I suspect there's nothing stopping the PS3 from complete domination. Soon most living rooms will have this Linux-able box hooked up to their TVs - will this spell the end of Microsoft in the home? One can only hope.

It would have been interesting to see how well the PS2 and the Wii would have done if they were both freely available from launch.

Not quite as impressive as the Wii, but then that's a fad that will die of quicker than Tickle Me Elmo...

What's impressive about the PS3 sales, is not only has it reached a million quicker than the PS2, which is impressive itself, it reached a million 6 weeks quicker than the 360. The 360 of course rushed it's launch and had a market to itself. The PS3 is competing in a full arena.

"Still, Sony can't afford to get cocky: Nintendo sold 1m Wiis in the UK in just 38 weeks."

Yet again, you think it's some kind of shock that something costing half as much sold twice as quickly. You lot still don't get it. Or maybe you do, it's just that you want to maintain the ignorant media line on us such things.

Or maybe that it's just that you can't bear to allow Sony to have something positive written about them?

Otherwise, it's sad that this is the best you can come up with, print a few numbers and some stock comment. Nothing but porn for beancounters.

Where I can honestly say "Hats off to Nintendo for a great machine", I still think that side by side comparisons shouldn't be done. i know, I know, I might sound like a fan-boy, but the Wii is targeted at a general user group rather than the PS3 (or Xbox for that matter). PS3 and Xbox are targeted for the hardcore gamer clans where as the Wii is for everyone (in affordability and games).

Again, I stress that I think the Wii has been an amazing success that has brought a games console to the masses (*tips hat once again to Nintendo*).

Overall, yes it can be the three in the same group, but for us Xbox and PS3 (hardcore gamer) fans, it's purely a two horse race for out and out hardcore games.

once more: *tips hat to Nintendo for creating a family friendly games console*

There's alot of love about consoles in general from this reader :o)

As the machine has nearly been out for a year , I am hoping the game developers have got used to the uniqueness of the ps3 and can use some of that power so it does not keep getting run of the mill cross platform game ports. GT5 does look nice.

Cue the console fan-boys slagging every console apart from the one that they own. Personaly, I'm quite pleased that the console business isn't a one horse race this time around.

It's also reasuring to know that the console I bought last year isn't going to go the way of the Gamecube.

A heart because it's Valentines Day and I just feel so much love for you guys ;)

Something you need to take into consideration is when the Xbox 360 was released into the UK the stocks were in massive short supply.

It was not until after February that the consoles were available and even then in small quantities.

I've seen PS3's sitting on shelves for months.

Now the Christmas rush is over it will be intresting to see what happens with PS3 sales.....

The PS3 has taken a lot of flak from the press and the 360 install base, so it's nice to see that underneath the flak, FUD and fanboyism, it's doing pretty well, better in fact than both its predecessor and its major competitor.

It'll be even more interesting to see the sales numbers when the big exclusives hit. Gran Turismo, Metal Gear, Final Fantasy et al are yet to make their next-gen debuts...

Considering the whopping price of the thing, thats pretty damn good going to outsell the PS2, Xboxes and not be as far off from the Wii as i thought.

Still gonna get people saying "but theres no games" in this thread though.

I bought a Nintendo Wii just before Christmas. It was opened on Christmas day and hardly played with again after. Luckily they were still hard to get hold off come mid January and I managed to get more than my money back for it (I imagine the joy of paying cash at Tesco's enabled me to transfer the warranty helped)

The Wii is a right pile of garbage in my opinion. The games are just awful, and I imagine that after 6 months the casual purchaser will never play it again. All Nintendo have done is create a massive ecological disaster as there will be millions of Wii's sitting in a landfill come next year.

I will never buy an Xbox after all the fuss about the reliability. I am just waiting until they slim down the PS3 case and a price drop, the PS3 is fucking ugly.

PS3 has no games.

Wii is not a next-gen console.

Xbox is Micro$haft.

There we go, now we can have a proper discussion, I like MS and I have a Wii, and I'm quite happy with it.

"The games are just awful"

Whenever I hear someone say this, I wonder: which games did you play? Wii Sports obviously (why is that awful - it's fun for at least a week surely and great for a freebie?). But what else? Metroid Prime 3? Super Paper Mario? Mario Galaxy? Trauma Center? Zelda? Guitar Hero? Lego Star Wars? Resident Evil (4 or UC)?

If none of the above, then you didn't play the best games for the system, so you didn't really see what the system has to offer. It would be the same if you bought an XBox or PS3 but got some middle-of-the-road games. I, for one, am still playing my Wii over a year after I bought it and enjoying the hell out of it.

Outside the novelty factor of Wii sports, there is little else. Mario Galaxy is just another rehash of Super Mario Sunshine, and pales into insiginificance when compared to something like Ratchet and Clank Tools Of Destruction on PS3, in gameplay, graphics and funfactor.

I am waiting for Donkey Sanctuary Manager 2008, Wii Pony Stroking, and Wii running up/down stairs, with the special Wii stairs attachment as the next big hitters on the Wii platform.

The Wii has some very well thought out games, that lean a lot more towards the replay factor for various age groups with an approach to a unique control style. To compare Mario to Ratchet & clank is short sighted at best, and downright ignorant at its worst. I own both consoles and get more than enough hours of play out of both systems(more on the wii currently ;) ). But I won't touch a Xbox 360 with a barge pole tbh. so I gues its Horses(or donkeys) for courses really, try before you buy folks....I'll get me coat now.

I'm afraid I have to pick you up on RE4 (though I've not played all of your list on the Wii).

I borrowed RE4 from a mate a couple or so months back. I can safely say (IMHO of course) that whilst it might be visually pleasing (and contrary to just about every review) the control system is a little broken. It's that, and that alone, which stops me dead in my tracks every time I think about having a play.

Well, more specifically one aspect of the control system. Oh wait, I think I can I hear the mantra rolling around my head even as I type ... "Why can't I strafe?" ... "WHY can't I STRAFE?" ... "WHY CAN'T I FVCKING* STRAFE?" (*that's the Latin spelling)

From what I'm given to understand strafing is lacking in all RE games ... with the close quarters combat style of gameplay inherent to the series, how in merry hell does that happen?

... well, it certainly bugs the living shit out of me.

</off topic rant>

"Mario Galaxy is just another rehash of Super Mario Sunshine"

You couldnt be more wrong.

I can tell you've never played a Wii.

Isn't the PS2 actually outselling the PS3 currently? !!!

At least the PS2 has games worth playing and UK buyers can actually play them unlike on the PS3.

whats so impressive about the wii?

i have all playstations and a wii - never liked the xbox from the start - crappy controllers and lots of bugs.

the wii is just a gamecube with a fancy controller - that they surely could have sold for about 100£. a controller that is actually useless for controlling anything other than the novelty games. the graphics on a big tv just want to make you cry - not to mention STEREO output :( albeit pro logic 2 (i think)

any serious gamer will discount the wii within a few weeks. mine hasnt been on since xmas yet my ps3 is on most days now - even the mrs loves it! the graphics are great on a hdtv - everything is in PROPER surround sound, you need to pay an extra 40£ to run via ethernet and rechargable gamepad docks (included as standard with the ps3)

yes, the wii is good for women, children and the old. but for serious gamers they are a joke.

the only decent game i found was zelda - that after a while became boring, repetative and graphically AWEFUL! so its just wii sports left then.... res evil looks like the ps2 version - but worse - i took it back in 48 hours it was so bad. the controllers just arent accuarte enough - so like in zelda all you do is move it up down left right - how exciting!

people need to look at the games being sold to actually see how consoles are doing - i think no end of people play on a wii at a party and think 'oooh how novel', buy one then realise they are dissapointing, they simply dont have the longevity. and i had to take a day off work to take the mrs to casualty with a pulled arm ligament lol!

ps3 has plenty of games, ea pro street is quality racing, pro evo footy is the best football game on any platform. gta will be awesome (mate works for rockstar so cant wait for my freebie :)) drakes fortune was AWESOME...

i mean how many people play full on fps games on a console? thats all the xbox seems to do. and lets face it - 16 people servers are pretty poor compared to 64 player pc fps games!

"yes, the wii is good for women, children and the old"

And that is exactly what is so good about the Wii and why it sells vast amounts.

All other consoles appeal to a small teen to 20-something male market.

There's room for them all though. Serious gaming and fun gaming.

What is daft though is Sony using the PS3 to push Blu-Ray. If they'd got Nintendo to shove in a Blu-Ray drive, Blu-Ray would have killed HD DVD dead instantly and taken a heafty 10% or more share of the DVD market. Instead it's held back HD by years and only achieved a 1 to 2% market share from DVD.

Alternatively, Sony could have dropped Blu-Ray and cut the cost of the PS3 massively, encouraging a lot more serious gaming.

"any serious gamer will discount the wii within a few weeks."

Wrong. Serious gamers are able to see beyond the eye-candy and can appreciate innovative gameplay.

Vacuous knuckle dragging 'gamerz', on the other hand, like any old generic shooty/drivey/fightey/sporty shit - as long as it has 'teh amazin HD graficks'.

OK, Liam, you just proved most peoples' point about the Wii. Have a 50" HD screen with 6.1 surround and love playing FPS? Great, you might like the PS3.

For the other 97% of the population, the Wii works just fine. Personally, I hate playing FPS on a standard console controller (mouse & keyboard every time though I had no problems jumping into Metroid and Medal Of Honor Heroes 2 on the Wii), I have a 30" SD TV and the graphics and sound are fine for me - can't tell that much different between the Wii and 360 at that resolution. There's no shortage of decent games for the Wii and I tend to get more play out of the Wii than my 360 at the mo.

That's my mileage, and if only "hardcore" gamers like yourself would get yourselves out of the 12-year-old-kid "it suxx on HD and it's for old ppl lol!" attitude maybe you'd that it isn't bad. Not for everyone, but not bad. So, you don't like it? Well there's a market for Fords and Ferraris in this world and not everyone wants to run a sports car.

@bluesxman: yeah, I know what you're saying but I had a slightly different reaction. I'd played RE4 to death on the GC and the Wii update breathed a new life into the game for me. Each to their own though.

Sony have sold 1m consoles....

It doesn't matter what they shove into it, or that people are buying it as a cut price BR player. Whether anyone likes it or not it comes down to...

It has sold 1m units in the UK and that is money in the bank profit or not. Period.

People need to grow up and stop romanticising things. ALL the games companies are out to get as big an installed user base in as short a time as possible for as little outlay as possible with calculated hopes that content following later (look at the Wii until recently people). That is business, and on a big scale in this case.

And no, I'm neither defending or slagging ANY console either! Just stating a few facts people are failing to see.