There's been a lot of focus in the last week on Grand Theft Auto IV and which platform it best runs on.
The majority of people who've played both versions are saying that it runs marginally better on the PS3, but the findings are inconclusive at best: both are equally good in our eyes.
What's interesting to me at the moment is how Microsoft is attempting to use GTA as a PR exercise to boast about the Xbox 360 console and its success.
We received an unbelievable and outrageous press release today from Microsoft UK saying:
"Gamers have voted with their wallets, and the results are in. The Xbox 360 version of 'Grand Theft Auto IV' has sold more than 100,000 copies, or 20 per cent more than the PlayStation 3 version in the UK since the game's release last Tuesday 29 April."
Exaggeration and hyperbole
The release then sees Microsoft rambling on and on, mostly just patting itself on the back about selling more copies and going on about how the Xbox 360 is the premium platform for enjoying GTA. Blah, blah, blah.
Please excuse me briefly while I pause to be sick.
Here's the point: there are more Xbox 360 consoles out there (it launched over a year earlier) so straight numbers are a terrible way of looking at the market. The Xbox 360 version of GTA IV sold 20 per cent more copies than the PS3 version. And that's despite the fact that there are almost twice as many Xbox 360 consoles in the wild in the UK, compared to PS3s.
Crunch the numbers
So, relatively speaking, for Microsoft to brag about doing better than Sony, it would need to sell almost twice as many copies of the game, too. But it didn't. And as such, the numbers say that per-console, the PS3 version has actually done a bit better.
"Data released by ELSPA/Chart-Track shows Xbox 360 Week One sales at 514,000 copies sold in the UK. PlayStation 3 version of the game sold only 413,000 copies, clearly demonstrating that gamers prefer the Xbox 360 version," says the Microsoft press release progaganda exercise.
What a load of complete rubbish, Microsoft!
Let's do the maths. 413,000 PS3 copies of GTA IV divided by the 1.2m PS3 consoles sold in the UK, equates to about 0.3 copies sold per console. So basically one in three UK PS3 owners have bought GTA IV in the last seven days.
Compare that to the 514,000 Xbox 360 copies sold in the UK, divided by the 2.2m consoles in circulation. It amounts to 0.23 copies per console. So about one in four Xbox 360 owners bought the game. Comparatively LESS than the PS3 version.
It's all a load of smoke and mirrors nonsense. Everyone is up to it - it's not just Microsoft.
This is an absolutely textbook example of a big company spouting a load of dingo's kidneys in order to promote itself.
Your comments (13) Click to add a new comment
gavin
May 9th 2008
13. I am a red ring sufferer myself, I can wager a guess that 1 in 5 xbox360 users bought a new console (before MS did the extended returns malarky)
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lavalamp
May 8th 2008
12. I think batman is having issues with his trouble english.
True that every company twists facts to big themselves up, but James was merely pointing out that Microsoft were manipulating them in this instance, it doesn't make him a Sony fanboy at all!
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batman
May 8th 2008
11. James Rivington is trying to say that Sony is selling more GTA’s then Microsoft. What he did prove was that more people have an Xbox 360 then a PS3 in Europe. It also sounds like James is bias and twisted the facts with his trouble math. The truth is that GTA looks good in both platforms but people did speak with their wallets and bought GTA on the platform that offers more and that platform is Microsoft Xbox 360. I do not understand how James Rivington got his job if he is going to be bias. How much money is Sony paying you? Can you try to be less bias and stop doing trouble that math?
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altairdawn
May 8th 2008
10. You know what I noticed? Half the people here(the author of this article as well) seem to be sucking Sony's cock. I clicked upon this expecting to see a fair and unbiased review for both systems. Instead we have a Sony fanboy doing his best to knock down other companies. I will admit, Microsoft was wrong to make such claims, and their boasting was un-needed and unwanted. But you all act as if Sony hasn't done their very LARGE share of boasting. Come on guys, get those cocks out of your asses and realize the truth. A company will say ANYTHING to get your money. No matter WHAT company it is.
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altairdawn
May 8th 2008
9. You know what I noticed? Half the people here(the author of this article as well) seem to be sucking Sony's cock. I clicked upon this expecting to see a fair and unbiased review for both systems. Instead we have a Sony fanboy doing his best to knock down other companies. I will admit, Microsoft was wrong to make such claims, and their boasting was un-needed and unwanted. But you all act as if Sony hasn't done their very LARGE share of boasting. Come on guys, get those cocks out of your asses and realize the truth. A company will say ANYTHING to get your money. No matter WHAT company it is.
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ymmv
May 7th 2008
8. What I found most interestinb about the press release how conveniently MS forgot to mention GTA4 sales in the rest of Europe... It just happens that the PS3 has been outselling the 360 there since October last year. Sony mentioned at their press conference European PS3 sales have now eclipsed those of the 360. If the difference in sales beween the different versions is only 100,000, then total European sales will absolutely make up for the difference and more.
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