Probably because of the price drop.
Most of the people who would want a PS2 as a primary console probably already have it, so its sales would have leveled off regardless, and sales for those looking for one as a secondary console can’t be nearly as much.
The price drop in the XBox is probably just as likely people who’ve already have a PS2 and are looking at a second console as it is people buying their first console period.
Still waiting for the Sony’s price to drop before I buy one…
Probably a large factor, but now the interesting part. Of those people how many will buy the PS2 version of a game when they now have an Xbox?
As a long time PS2 owner, had I the money to purchase an XBox, I certainly would be buying the XBox version of any game that is available on both platforms.
Graphics aside, I’d be looking at the XBox side of things for its network support. Too little support on the PS2 side of things hasn’t made me all that happy with my network adaptor purchase when it first came out.
We may be different, but we have our consoles hooked up to different TVs so that more than one person can play. The PS2 is hooked to our best TV so we always get the PS2 version if it’s multi-platform.
I have my Xbox on my best system for the DD5.1 of course.
I would say the answer is “not enough to have it really show up”. When it comes to 3rd party games, unless they’re from EA, they really don’t ever make a huge showing on any one console to the point of it being a major hit. Even True Crime, which sold well, didn’t go bonkers in sales. It’s certainly no GTA III.
The games that really matter in this and any console generation are the ones that are exclusive and the ones that are monster hits. The monster hits that are NOT exclusive have almost all come from Electronic Arts. And even then they sold best on PS2 all the way across the board and that’s very unlikely to change.
–Dave
I think I have an explanation for the sudden spike.
I have both systems and given the choice will almost always get the Xbox version, except on rare occasions where the PS2 version is demonstrably superior (Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 being the last example I can think of).
There’s obviously an extra benefit for PS2 when it comes to EA Sports titles too, but until they get some kind of centralized Xbox Live-style system in place on PS2, I can’t be bothered.
Xbox has just passed PS2 in weekly sales here in Australia, too (for the first time since launch). Of course, we’re hardly a major market here but it’s perhaps indicative of a wider trend.
Personally, I think it’s those of us who’ve been suffering with a flaky XBox DVD drive – when the price hit $150, I broke down and bought a new one.
I can play NBA Street v2 and KOTOR again, wahoo!
(I can’t copy over my Ninja Gaiden saves – boo!)
So, now to order my mod chip and turn my old one into a mediacenter box thingy.
While there may be something to that, Australia is something of an anomaly in that XBox has always done disproportionately well there. It’s probably not a good example if you’re looking for overall trends. Same with Canada and New Zealand.
While there may be something to that, Australia is something of an anomaly in that XBox has always done disproportionately well there. It’s probably not a good example if you’re looking for overall trends. Same with Canada and New Zealand.[/quote]
Very true. Just look at the paltry Cube sales here - outsold 5:1 by Xbox and 10:1 by PS2. At present Cube software grabs around 3% of the market each week.
Australia: Huge.
Xbox: Huge.
Makes sense.
Both were large, distinct islands in the middle of an ocean that nobody really cared about up until everyone had all ready visited everywhere else.
Coincidence?..
I won’t even finish that for fear of the lumping I’d get.
I think a lot of it is that Sony hasn’t matched the Xbox price drop. I think that means there will some significant pricing announcement at E3. Possibly the $99 PStwo?