Probably the big reason for this is that the XBoxes these people bought last year all had the fatal Red Ring of Death and were forced to buy a new one...

that everyone who wants a console has now got one ?

Not to say I don't think the 360 is worth it as Iove mine, but why such a spike in sales when there aren't any AAA releases to prompt it? Maybe it's because the Arcade model is the cheapest system on the market?

Is that "sold" or "shipped"?

I'm wondering if all the ones shipped out to replace RROD'd ones sold last Christmas are in those figures.......

when Project Natal will pretty much wipe out the opposition next year, unless Sony has something secretly buried away in the labs......watched a demo last week expecting another disappointing eye-toy type gismo, but was completely gob-smacked. Natal doesn't seem to have got much coverage here though.......

@Andrew - also, consoles with the 3 red rings are covered by a 3 year warranty :)

You have to consider these console sales in context with the game releases though, last year there were three big selling titles out in April through June: Wii Fit, GTA IV and MGS4... none of the three platforms have a comparably big title recently released at present.

The thing XBox haters miss in their RROD conspiracy theories is perhaps the most important fact.

The XBox 360 is just that much more fun than the PS3, it has more, better games, a better online community and you can buy 2 of the standard 60gb model for the price of a PS3.

The 360 is still selling well simply because it's a good, fun, solid console.

I say solid because the RROD problem was fixed around the end of 2007, hence why it doesn't make news anymore and the only people who bring it up are ignorant Microsoft haters.

The 360 is beating the PS3 for one reason and one reason only, it's just that much better an offering when all factors are taken into account.

Why does everyone always jumps on the RROD bandwagon? I had a launch 360 that worked perfectly for two years when I traded it for an Elite. That 360 has been running perfectly since then.

NPD reports sold numbers, not shipped. So will not include any replacements under RROD.

The PS3 is more expensive and even a cursory glance shows that it has precious few 'must have' exclusive titles whereas those available on PS3 and 360 tend to look better on the Microsoft machine. I don't know if it's lazy coding or bad support from Sony or the desperate lack of texture memory on the PS3 - but some PS3 games are running in lower resolutions than the 360, have lower frame rates and some horribly blocky textures.

As for the Wii sales falling. Simple - once you've played Wii Sports, what else is there that's worth having? The Wii is a complete bust as a games platform, Nintendo seems to have forgotten to release games for it, preferring a series of gimmicks like Wii Fit and Wii Music which don't have much long appeal and are ridiculously expensive.

I'm on my 3rd 360, whereas my PS3 and Wii have behaved perfectly; but it's clear Microsoft have won this generation of consoles - they've tapped into popular sentiment and got a compelling set of exclusives.

I should know, I'm currently waiting on my 4th replacement machine from Microsoft. But i still play it and buy games for it because it's such a good gaming machine, with a great online infastructure, better controllers, better games, better graphics and more selection.

My PS3 has sat there as an expensive ornament, briefly being used for Drakes Fortune (brilliant), Little Big Planet (over-hyped crap) and Ratchett & Clank (not as enjoyable as the PS2 versions)

The Wii was a gimmick, only decent games have been the Nintendo produced ones and they have very short lives.

I've also noticed in the shops like Game, that many of them seem to be concentrating on the PS3 the least - it's has the smallest section and an abysmal game selection.

The sad thing is that I was a huge PS2 fan and was hoping the PS3 would deliver so much more than it actually has.