Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, has said that Sony is, essentially, making up figures when it says that the PS3 has now outsold the Xbox 360 in Europe.
Speaking in an interview, Greenberg said:
“I think it's not based on actual data. I think that's clear. We went and looked at independent sell-through data from companies like Chart-Track and GfK, and actual retail sell-through in actual consumers' hands. We have more than a million units than PS3.”
So... Sony was dead wrong. Microsoft's actually a clear million consoles ahead in Europe. Assuming, of course, that what Greenberg
meant to say is 'We have more than a million units
more than PS3'. That sentence makes actual sense.
As far as Greenberg's concerned, apparently, the
assertion by David Reeves (president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe) that Sony has “sold more PS3s throughout Europe than Xbox 360” is one of those nasty snow jobs the Microsoft man's been
talking about.
SPOnG contacted Sony to find out where its figures came from, but no comment was available at the time of press. Frankly, it seems unlikely that Sony would pluck facts like that out of its arse, especially for a pre-planned announcement by SCEE's president.
Microsoft isn't the only company in the pair to baldly deny the other's figures are accurate of late, however. Sony Computer Entertainment Australia's MD, Michael Ephraim,
said that some Microsoft figures relating to
GTA IV's performance Down Under were “completely wrong”.
It seems to SPOnG that there's an obvious way to avoid all this snow – provide hard figures. Then back them up with their sources. Simple.
Source: Gamasutra