PS3 Outsells Xbox 360, Four Horseman Draw Nigh

Despite current economic suckage, video games are proving to be resistant to high gas and food prices. In fact, video games sales have increased. Compared to a year ago, there has been a 53% increase in both software and hardware sales. The biggest surprise? The PS3 outsold the 360 last month, and kept going strong throughout July.

The resilience of video games to these hard economic times isn’t too difficult to believe. Gamers are notorious for being able to survive for days on only Mountain Dew, Red Bull and various junk foods. Their lack of mobility also saves them tons of money on gas. These thrifty saving methods, as well as the release of Grand Theft Auto IV and Metal Gear Solid 4, are probably what increased sales of video games in June compared to last year. That, or people have been spending their economic stimulus checks on games. I’m inclined to believe the latter.

The Wii continues its reign as King of Console Mountain (selling more units than PS3 and Xbox 360 combined), and shows no signs of losing its throne. Meanwhile, Sony and Microsoft continue to battle like Godzilla and King Kong (pictured here destroying Nintendo headquarters) for the #2 spot. For the record, the winner of Godzilla vs. King Kong is not different depending on which version of the film you watch.

According to June’s sales figures, the PS3 has managed to sell nearly twice as many units than the Xbox 360, doubling its own sales from May–and continuing to surge through this month. Snake, despite his age, managed to bring PS3 the #1 game sold last month. Personally, I saw all of this coming. I’m not psychic; I just couldn’t find any MGS4/PS3 bundles at the store.

But this success isn’t without some sorrow. Sony’s loss of its exclusive ties to the Final Fantasy series and Square Enix titles in general has certainly been both a big blow and a bigger surprise. Now I don’t consider myself a Sony fanboy, but that announcement made me feel about as ill as Obi-wan did when Alderaan was destroyed.

Wait a minute. PS3 sales up? Japanese RPGs on the 360? An irate Steve Guttenberg (”Guttenberg smash!”)? It’s official, the four horseman are readying their mounts.

As E3 (and the world) ends, there is a lot of excitement about new titles for the PS3. Personally, I’m really excited about God of War 3. That, in and of itself, is a big motivator to buy a PS3. Between Banjo-Kazooie (Xbox 360 exclusive) or Ratchet & Clank (PS3 exclusive), I’ll go with Ratchet & Clank. And with Bioshock no longer exclusive to the 360, the PS3 looks better and better.

If Blu-ray is the next generation of media format, then the Xbox 360 may have to undergo some changes to compete with Sony’s 10-year plan (which I’m still struggling to figure out). But are we ready for the Xbox 720? Maybe the cockroaches will enjoy it after we’re gone. Or the robots. Whoever wins.