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PlayStation 4 Outsold Xbox One and Switch in October (venturebeat.com)

October was a huge month for both software and hardware, and -- once again -- Sony is benefiting from that excitement. PlayStation 4 outperformed the Xbox One and Nintendo Switch both in terms of dollars and units sold in October. That's according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. From a report: And as is usual for PlayStation 4, it is still seeing year-over-year growth, according to NPD analyst Mat Piscatella. "PlayStation 4 hardware unit sales achieved an all-time October high for the platform," Piscatella said. "While PlayStation 4 hardware dollar sales reached its highest point for an October month since October 2014." This was actually one of the best Octobers for any PlayStation console ever. "October 2018 unit sales of PlayStation 4 reached the highest mark for any PlayStation hardware platform in an October month since the PlayStation 2 in October 2002," said Piscatella.

71 comments

  1. That's because ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... there was stock on hand.

    1. Re:That's because ... by JMJimmy · · Score: 2

      ...or they actually have exclusives people want to play. For 2 year's my Xbone has been a media player - I don't think I could name an exclusive. It doesn't even get the media player part right (ie: don't try to use it unless you have fewer than 32 files+folders per directory, it's slow as sin and lacks search)

    2. Re: That's because ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Q. Is your Xbone connected to your net(bone)work?
      Couldn't resist. Happy Turkey day=)

  2. More as an Internet TV box by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    A lot of this is not just game usage, but people using the devices as their Internet and TV portals. It's why the cable firms are freaking out - mass defections to high speed internet only with HDTV antennae to get local content.

    Naturally, this only works in cities or places within range of decent Internet, but rural folks are just plain unprofitable to serve via traditional methods.

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    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    1. Re:More as an Internet TV box by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Funny..I live in rural Ohio and have gig internet service.

    2. Re:More as an Internet TV box by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most cable firms also supply the internet that their TV customers are using. I don't think they're freaking out so much as smiling joyfully at all the new broadband cash flow coming in. Channel subscriptions to air on cable are not insignificant, nor is the head end video equipment, satellite receivers, etc, etc. Broadband on the other hand is nearly free to provide.

    3. Re:More as an Internet TV box by samdu · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I don't think that's really all that big of a driver for PS4 sales. Certainly not on the level of Blu-Ray considerations driving PS3 sales. With competition from $35 Chromecasts and Fire Sticks, a $200-$300 game console doesn't look all that attractive for simple media consumption.

    4. Re:More as an Internet TV box by bobstreo · · Score: 2

      There are plenty of less expensive options for internet TV than a PS4, or an Xbox. I'm still rocking my PS1 and PS3 and Dreamcast for gaming.

      The very cheapest option for people with no Internet is an antenna and a cheap DVR box. Or going to the local library and checking out DVDs or Blu-Rays.

      For places with no broadcast TV available \ou could also probably get satellite TV service pretty much anywhere for substantially more.

    5. Re:More as an Internet TV box by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's simply not true. The big CMTS systems they put in the headend cost millions of dollars. Meanwhile, a large portion of the money charged for video services is basically pass-thru, and just goes on to pay the content providers.

    6. Re:More as an Internet TV box by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's all? 1 gig? Man, you're in the boonies...
      10g is ghetto entry-level where I'm at.

      CAP === 'accept'

    7. Re:More as an Internet TV box by olsmeister · · Score: 1

      Maybe. I still am rocking my PS3, too. But there are Black Friday deals this year for a PS4 1TB bundled with the new Spider Man game for $199. Tell me they're not going to sell the shit out of those. I'm actually thinking about getting one, even though the PS3 is still doing fine for me.

    8. Re:More as an Internet TV box by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sony's devices are great!? unless you want to watch Hulu live TV in which case your screwed.

    9. Re:More as an Internet TV box by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Comcast has thrown in an anti-competitive fee of $50 USD for unlimited data after you go over 1TB. The easiest way to hit that is to watch streaming TV.
      "Comcast claims "99 percent of customers use less than 1TB per month", but it does now offer an unlimited option for $50 more"

    10. Re:More as an Internet TV box by bobstreo · · Score: 1

      Maybe. I still am rocking my PS3, too. But there are Black Friday deals this year for a PS4 1TB bundled with the new Spider Man game for $199. Tell me they're not going to sell the shit out of those. I'm actually thinking about getting one, even though the PS3 is still doing fine for me.

      PS5 is right around the corner, and you can run kodi on the Xbox apparently. (Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals for them as well)

      How much are 1TB drives going for nowadays? I last bought a 3TB drive for under a hundred a few years ago

    11. Re:More as an Internet TV box by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now I know you've never worked in a cable headend. A CMT is little more than a DHCP server with coax drivers. NOTHING in a cable headend costs millions. The data side is barely more complex than off the shelf server equipment.

    12. Re:More as an Internet TV box by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is no such thing as a HD antenna. A radio signal is a radio signal. Anyone selling a "HD" antenna is a con artist.

  3. Useful things by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I spent my money on something useful. Opiates.

  4. PS4 by BringsApples · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I loved PS until the PS4, due to the inability to play music of any kind (CDs, MP3s MP4...), without paying for some music service. They literally sold hardware that was limited by software that required regular money. Not sure why they outsold Xbox1.

    Hell I only bought Xbox because PS decided to NOT allow Rocket League to be played on a PS3 (of which I had). So I bought an Xbox1 simply to say 'f_ck you' to PS. Also because I HAD to have ROCKET LEAGUE!!!!!!

    --
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    1. Re:PS4 by EvilSS · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It sold more originally because of XBOX's misteps at the E3 announcement for the XBONE, trying to push digital and make resale of physical harder by tying it to a digital copy license (hilarious since even that year digital was already selling 2:1 vs physical, and it's closed to 5:1 today and people think you are a weirdo for buying physical). So it got off to a bad start, even after MS backtracked on physical media.

      Today it's still being outsold because Microsoft decided to not focus on platform exclusives while Sony doubled down on them. As anti-consumer as exclusives are, most console gamers actually bitch about it if a platform doesn't have them. They are not the brightest bunch, but Sony sure loves them for it. They have a bunch of platform exclusive titles and they also took over deals MS had but didn't renew with companies like Activision for timed exclusives for some of their AAA titles.

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    2. Re:PS4 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, no you didn't. You're nothing but a damn troll. Yes, Sony deserves a lot of flak but godDAMN don't lie.

      If you're booting a goddamn playstation these days to play cds or mp3s, you're doing it wrong. Use a Raspberry Pi to play your music. It just makes more sense to NOT power up a power-sucking game console to play encoded music files. If you're using a playstation to play mp4s, well... at least you're trying. Again, use the RPi and fire up Kodi or some variant of. Maybe get creative and run a plex server.

      It outsold the xbox because it has killer exclusives and I can't believe you don't see that.

    3. Re:PS4 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yep, this is what's truly sad. Microsoft are hated because of the anti-trust issue, but Sony outright hacked people's PCs with malware and made them vulnerable to the outside world, they're the key backer of the RIAA, and have actively tried to reduce consumer choice by preventing cross-play.

      Yet, consumers reward them.

      This is why companies can and will continue to do bad shit - because most people don't care and are happy to have their rights trampled.

    4. Re:PS4 by BringsApples · · Score: 1

      You're nothing but a damn troll.

      I'm so sorry. How do I undo it? I have a media server that the PS3 plays from. PS4 won't. That means that I can't use the PS4 as an entertainment system, to the degree that all other gaming consoles of today are able.

      It outsold the xbox because it has killer exclusives and I can't believe you don't see that.

      If by "exclusive" you mean "exclusive to our new console only", then yeah I understand. Still makes more sense to buy a new console that does what I want out of the box.

      --
      Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
    5. Re:PS4 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Rocket League

      Added to foes, -6 score modifier.

    6. Re:PS4 by BringsApples · · Score: 1

      scared?

      --
      Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
    7. Re:PS4 by JMJimmy · · Score: 1
    8. Re:PS4 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Microsoft are hated for far more than the anti-trust issue. Their latest OS is not infected with malware, it IS malware. Everyone here could list many many examples of Microsoft screwing their customers and business partners.

      Yes, Sony sucks. Microsoft is even worse.

    9. Re:PS4 by BringsApples · · Score: 2

      I R that FA, thanks, but I'm not making this stuff up.

      If this is no longer true, then please let me know - maybe, HOPEFULLY, they eventually changed the way it works. And if that's the case, then I'll be a little sad.

      --
      Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
    10. Re:PS4 by JMJimmy · · Score: 2

      The limitation is to CDs which the hardware does not read. It has no trouble with MP3s on DVD/Bluray or USB though

    11. Re:PS4 by BringsApples · · Score: 1

      This was not the case when I tried it originally, so they must have added functionality.

      --
      Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
    12. Re:PS4 by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

      I have a media server that the PS3 plays from. PS4 won't.

      Sure it will

      https://manuals.playstation.ne...

      I just started up Rygel (on Fedora) shared my music folder on the external drive (you want to serve it over "lo interface) and the server popped right up in the PS4's media player.

    13. Re:PS4 by CronoCloud · · Score: 2

      Yes, with V2.00 of the PS4's system software, released 4 years ago. Didn't you get the memo?

      More seriously didn't you check out the new stuff in the updates?

      FYI the PS4 has TWO media players.

      One is just the simple USB music player, that's the simple unobtrusive one that works best while playing games. That one only does music and only MP3's/AAC. You will only see it's icon pop up if you plug in a USB storage device. With that one you can change folders and whatnot without suspending the game.

      https://manuals.playstation.ne...

      The second is the Media Player, that's the one that also can play FLAC, video, phots and does DLNA. That one always has the icon visible. It doesn't work as well while playing games.

      https://manuals.playstation.ne...

    14. Re:PS4 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >>Today it's still being outsold because Microsoft decided to not focus on platform exclusives while Sony doubled down on them It is also pretty important that the Xbox is quite a bit slower than the playstation. Running 960p when the PS4 runs the same game at 1080p makes a difference.

    15. Re:PS4 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Such a black and white world you live in. If you look at Android no company (except Google) does more open source development than Sony. As bad as Sony can be they are light-years ahead of Microsoft. Rootkit you say? At least they only developed the "feature". Microsoft made the RootkitOS.

    16. Re:PS4 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lol. What a F'ing joke. MS are the biggest aholes when it comes to preventing cross platform software. There are so many examples it wouldbe virtually impossible to compile a concise list of them. But heres a few: purposely breaking the java standard in IE. Changing the msn messenger and office format (pre xml) over and over to thwart third parties from reading their files and making third party msn messenger clients. LOL they broke the msoffice format so badly to stop third party readers that even newer versions of msoffice had trouble reading older files!!! Directx was created EXACTLY to hinder cross platform games. Same with SMB, NTFS etc etc - all proprietary crap to cause incompatibility with other operating systems. Never sticking to established standards. Always doing things the microsoft way.

      If microsoft is so true to their word about cross play then why did they F over minecraft players by dividing the minecraft pocket and minecraft java players? They own the source code to both programs so it was certainly possible to make them all cross play if they wanted to. Liars they are.

      Also I hope you know the cd rootkit thing was ONLY possible because microsoft made windows to default to autoplay cds. Crap tonnes of of people got viruses and other malware through autoplay in windows and autorun macros in msoffice. What did microsoft do about it? It took them a f'ing decade to stop that stupid practice, all the while, microsoft had a huge role and a huge responsibilty in people getting malware *without even needing to do anything*. So fuck microsoft and fuck you shill.

    17. Re:PS4 by jittles · · Score: 1

      It sold more originally because of XBOX's misteps at the E3 announcement for the XBONE, trying to push digital and make resale of physical harder by tying it to a digital copy license (hilarious since even that year digital was already selling 2:1 vs physical, and it's closed to 5:1 today and people think you are a weirdo for buying physical). So it got off to a bad start, even after MS backtracked on physical media. Today it's still being outsold because Microsoft decided to not focus on platform exclusives while Sony doubled down on them. As anti-consumer as exclusives are, most console gamers actually bitch about it if a platform doesn't have them. They are not the brightest bunch, but Sony sure loves them for it. They have a bunch of platform exclusive titles and they also took over deals MS had but didn't renew with companies like Activision for timed exclusives for some of their AAA titles.

      I'm still waiting for Sony to make controllers big enough for an adult's hands. Pretty sure PlayStation controllers are sized for 5-10 year old kids. I know I have not found their controllers to be comfortable since I was about 13.

    18. Re:PS4 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe because people buy it mostly for playing games, and for that it's superior to Xbox, both hardware and software wise?

      However, Spotify on PS4 works beautifully, and personally I only use streaming for music (Spotify on phone, ps4, desktop), would never see trouble of playing around with physical media or files... Anyhyy, I'm pretty sure media player on ps4 does play mp3's, at least it has played any kind of videos I've thrown on it with USB stick.

    19. Re:PS4 by EvilSS · · Score: 1

      The original yes, the updated models (S, which is the new base model, and X) no longer have that problem.

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  5. Re: Of course by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is a repeat year after year

  6. Re:Of course by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Switch is easily hacked. Now you have all the Switch titles for free, and you can run emulators on it for all the old Nintendo games. And it's portable.

    Xbox, yeah, that's garbage.

  7. Re: Of course by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Except you cannot chat on PS4 so there is something missing. Might as well forego the $500 without that

  8. Howzat boycott workin' out for ya? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh wait... Never mind

    *sigh* Some things never change

    1. Re:Howzat boycott workin' out for ya? by Kaenneth · · Score: 1

      I still haven't forgiven them for the CD Rootkit. So I dodged the disabling of Linux on PS3, but It's been a long time.

  9. And... by bblb · · Score: 1

    And the Honda Civic outsold the BMW M3, what's the point... the PS4 is still trash compared to an Xbox One X.

    1. Re:And... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would take a PS4 over a Litterbox One X any day.

    2. Re:And... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      You're both morons. The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is the superior gaming system.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    3. Re:And... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sega does, what nintenddont't
      Blast Processing

      Sega Genesis For The Win

    4. Re:And... by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      Don't be silly, the hardware is roughly equivalent. In particular they use nearly identical AMD CPUs and GPUs.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    5. Re: And... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But I've been assured Sega does what Nintendon't.

    6. Re:And... by bblb · · Score: 1

      Only in as much as the Civic and the M3 have "roughly" the same hardware. The PS4 Pro has the same eight-core CPU as the original but overclocked to run at 2.1 GHz whereas the Xbox One X has a custom eight-core chip designed to run at 2.3GHz.. 10% faster and not overclocked. The PS4 Pro has a 900MHz GPU with 8GB DDR5 RAM on a 256 bit bus running at 6800MHz effective clock whereas the Xbox One X has a 1170MHz GPU with 12GB DDR5 RAM on a 384 bit bus running at the same 6800MHz effective clock. 30% faster with 50% more RAM on a 50% wider bus. Literally the only advantages the PS4 Pro has over the Xbox One X are exclusive titles and the PS VR headset, neither of which are significant in terms of performance capacity. Add in that Xbox Live crushes the PSN in basically every way and it's barely even a competition.

    7. Re:And... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hardware isn't the point, you buy this hardware to play games. The exclusive games trump the xbone x. If you really care that much about hardware and performance just get a PC, it is even better and from what people say better at the same cost.

    8. Re:And... by Tough+Love · · Score: 1
      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    9. Re:And... by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      We bought our PS4 mainly for Little Big Planet. We have/know lots of kids that like to play games together at the time time rather than take turns.

      --
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    10. Re:And... by bblb · · Score: 1

      That's up to the developers... doesn't change the fact that the hardware is significantly better, that's indisputable. Whether or not developers are taking advantage of it at present, the Xbox is unquestionably a better system.

    11. Re:And... by bblb · · Score: 1

      Right... because little big planet is the only multiplayer game available? Really don't understand what y'all are struggling with here. If you own the PS4 and enjoy it, cool... good for you. That doesn't change the reality that the Xbox is the superior system. It's not a subjective statement, it's a fact. If the PS4 suits your needs, that's great. If you want to talk about the better system, the discussion is short.

  10. That should go for Xbox then, not PS4 by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    A lot of this is not just game usage, but people using the devices as their Internet and TV portals

    If that was the main driver, Xbox sales would have been better - I've had a PS4 since launch, now a PS4 Pro, but was planning to get an Xbox sometime soon just for UltraHD BluRay support (which no model of the PS4 has and the Xbox has had for about a year).

    --
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  11. Red Dead Redemption 2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I bought an Xbox One X to play Red Dead. The 4K output doesn't work on my TV for some reason but even at 1080p it looks absolutely flawless. I'm a PC gamer but I'm seriously impressed with the thing.

  12. This is good news for Xbox owners! by ffkom · · Score: 3, Funny

    If MicroSoft wasn't well behind Sony in the console market, they would become the usual assholes they are to every customer in markets they dominate.
    Having to please their customers to compete is the only thing that causes Xbox to be a reasonable offering at this time.

    1. Re:This is good news for Xbox owners! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The best part of it is that Microsoft is moving many of their games to PC, so the Master Race becomes even better.

    2. Re:This is good news for Xbox owners! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gotta have the windows 10 store though. Thats a big no from me even on PC.

    3. Re:This is good news for Xbox owners! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gotta have the windows 10 store though. Thats a big no from me even on PC.

      Same here, it's fortunate that they don't have any exclusives that I consider "absolutely must play", and if they did, I would still prefer to pirate whatever that may be and send the cash for it directly to the devs/publisher to avoid the MS store.

  13. But why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    TVs already have built-in apps for this, and quite a few who don't will just buy an Apple TV or something much cheaper.

    1. Re:But why? by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

      I'm describing usage. A PS4 can be used as a network console (PSN), a game console (what most geeks think of), a media player (for movies or music), and it has built in high end graphics engines. I mostly use mine as a media player and as a game console.

      And, yes, I also have an xBox.

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  14. PS4 beats Xbox in power everyday by Chewbacon · · Score: 2

    I bought an Xbox One for the same reason as many other people: because my friends were buying one. Before PS4 and Xbone, I had Xbox 360 and PS3 and the PS3 slayed the Xbox in performance. PS3's Achilles heel was online play (albeit it had other issues). Despite being free, it couldn't compete with Xbox Live in terms of quality. Now the PS4 is playing catch up. If it weren't for friends, I'd be all over PS4 and I wouldn't look back; therein lies the challenge for Sony in the console wars.

    --
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    The Bible is like Wikipedia: written by a bunch of people and verifiable by questionable sources.
    1. Re:PS4 beats Xbox in power everyday by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not if you have an Xbox One X. See the Red Dead Redemption II reviews. One X runs at native 4K, PS4 Pro, nope.

      If you have an OG Xbox One or S, yes the vanilla PS4 does have a better architecture. Red Dead II looks great on my One X, I should install it on my OG One for a laugh. :) Probably would look pretty terrible on it.

    2. Re:PS4 beats Xbox in power everyday by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most people don't buy a console to stare at one games graphics, they buy it to play many games. There are many more good games that can't be played anywhere else, so PS4 is the default choice. MS are buying up studios now to fight back when the next gen starts, but they're just throwing money at the problem and there's no indication that the studios they've bought are going to actually produce a must have game for a 2020 "NextBox" release

    3. Re:PS4 beats Xbox in power everyday by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where did I say I bought it for one game, or anyone should for that matter? Oh yeah, I didn't. I've got a lot of 4K games that run on it.

      Microsoft adding backwards compatibility with the 360 and enhancing a bunch of 360 games on the X is also a nice feature. I prefer Microsoft's first party games to Sony's, hence my buying an Xbox. People can buy what they want, up to them. With my 360 games, plus games with gold games I have close to 350 games to chose from on my Xbox One, so the lack of games argument, PS4 "default" argument is rather silly.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  15. Re: Of course by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Except you cannot chat on PS4 so there is something missing. Might as well forego the $500 without that

    Except that you can chat on PS4 (text or voice), you just don't know how.

  16. Just bought a One but I'm not the typical customer by ET3D · · Score: 1

    What I like about the Xbox One is how Microsoft opened it up. Not only can a normal console be used for development, but it's also possible to publish to Xbox (to the 'Creator's Collection' section of the store) without having to become a certified developer or anything like that. This makes it rather tempting to just muck about with console development to see what it's like.

  17. I don't think that's the case anymore by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    Sony did damn near the same thing with the PS3 ($600 price tag thanks to a blu ray player nobody really wanted, real time weapon change, etc) and recovered by now.

    XBone's sales are down because Microsoft's current CEO doesn't believe in the product. He's just milking it at this point. So while Sony's got The Last of Us, God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn and Spiderman Microsoft's got Forza and... well that's about it. No new Halo in 3 years. Last Gears of War game was 2 years ago (and just kinda OK..., plus it has a PC port).

    They've got no system seller. Nothing worth buying the console for. At this point they're coasting on fumes, exactly the way their CEO intended.

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