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PS4 Versus Xbox One: Early Black Friday Results Show Statistical Tie

By Scott Grill
Published on: 05:40 PST, Dec 1, 2015

The current generation console war between the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One has turned into more of a minor skirmish as Sony’s console raced out to an early lead after Microsoft’s initial stumbles and hasn’t looked back, as it recently reached 30 million units sold worldwide. Still, early Black Friday 2015 results from InfoScout show things are still interesting between the two consoles in the United States with the Wii U getting a bit of a pick up over last year.

According to InfoScout, the PlayStation 4 edged out the Xbox One by a 1 percent dollar share on Black Friday, 42 percent versus 41 percent. Meanwhile, the Wii U landed in third place with a 17 percent dollar share.

It’s important to note the method InfoScout used to come to this conclusion. The service analyzes shopper behavior by analyzing shopping receipts voluntarily sent in by users of its various mobile apps. In the case of its Black Friday analysis, the service used 250,000 receipts to derive the numbers above. While this is a large sample size, the margin for error likely ranges as high as 3 to 5 percent. This essentially puts the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in a statistical tie for Black Friday thus far.

The real measure will come with the monthly NPD report for November, which will at least put the consoles in order of which sold the most. The real numbers will either come from leaks, the console makers, or not come at all. Sony will likely have no issue touting its sales successes with the number one console overall, whereas Microsoft has turned cagey by first lumping Xbox One and Xbox 360 console sales figures together and then turning to reporting only Xbox Live figures lately.

Sony isn’t resting on Black Friday sales, however. Today, it announced the Star Wars: Battlefront and Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection 500GB PlayStation 4 bundles will be priced at $299.99 through December 19 via the PlayStation Blog. That matches the 500GB Xbox One Gears of War bundle that sold extremely well during Black Friday thanks to retailers like Target throwing in an additional $60 gift card.

InfoScout’s tracking on software sales showed some interesting trends as well. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 was the top-ranked game, as expected, but Star Wars: Battlefront was all the way down at number 13. This may be due in large part to the aforementioned PlayStation 4 bundle combined with a lack of big Black Friday deals on the title.

Meanwhile, Disney Infinity 3.0 wins the “toys to life” genre in the number four slot with a 4.3 percent of the Black Friday software sales. This beats newcomer LEGO Dimensions at the number 11 spot with a 2.1 percent and Skylander SuperChargers at number 14 with a 1.6 percent share.

The rhythm music genre is back for 2015 with both Guitar Hero and Rock Band making returns this year. However, the more affordable Guitar Hero Live slid in at number 10 with a 2.1 percent share, while the more expensive Rock Band 4 didn’t even make the top 20.

Sports games were strong sellers once again with Madden NFL 16, NBA 2K16, and FIFA 16 taking up three of the top six spots. Other notable chart mentions are Minecraft at number seven, Super Mario Maker at number 12, and Splatoon at number 18. The latter two have been on the market for a couple of months now but really shined on Black Friday to give the Wii U a much-needed holiday boost.

Which console did you go with during your Black Friday shopping? PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or Wii U? Sound off in the comments below.

[Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images]

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