Sony PlayStation 3 Tops Microsoft Xbox 360 As Video Game Consoles Top Dog in Worldwide Sales

Sony PlayStation has overtaken Microsoft Xbox 360 in the sales of videogame consoles according to a report released on Wednesday. The report was generated by International Data Corporation (IDC), a leading data tracker.

The report states that the sales of Sony PlayStation 3 units differed by almost a million from Xbox 360 sales. This is in spite of the fact that Microsoft had released its coveted game console a year prior to the launch of PlayStation 3. It has been estimated that Sony sold around 77 million units.

The report, prepared by Lewis Ward, the gaming research manager at IDC, also projected the shipments of Wii U consoles, the latest gaming console from Nintendo, to reach 50 million by the end of 2016.

The launch of new consoles by Microsoft and Sony will further strengthen the video game industry. With Wii U and the next generation consoles from Sony and Microsoft, the game disk industry is set to see significant rise.

The report maintains that video game consoles will still have a strong reach in homes and additional features would be added to it. This is a move towards the digital direction offering users gaming experiences as well as non-gaming services. These features include streaming television shows and movies and other entertainment.

Ward believes that set-top boxes offered by cable companies and web-connected smart TVs will not hamper the reach of the ‘big 3' gaming consoles in the current year or the next.

Ward also stated that console game revenue will be primarily contributed by packaged videogame discs in the coming years. This prediction is expected to hold true even though players are gradually moving towards downloading game software online.