Although the PlayStation 3 has been outsold by its competitors these past few months, Matt Peckham argues via the Washington Post that the situation is not as grim as may seem. The Washington Post article refutes a story from CNN Money that completely writes off the PlayStation 3 as a failure.

Compared to November 2007, PS3 sales are down this year from 466,000 units sold to 378,000 units sold. In contrast, Microsoft and Nintendo products sold very well in November. Twice as many Xbox 360s were sold and five times as many Nintendo Wiis were sold.

Despite comparatively poor sales numbers, Peckham points out overall PS3 sales grew by 60% year-to-date. For much of 2008 the PS3 had been catching up to the Xbox 360 due to momentum gained from events such as the end of the high definition disc war.

Peckham also discusses how the combined sales of the PS3, the PS2, and the PSP exceeded one million units. This number tops the 836,000 Xbox 360s that were sold. He states if the profit margins on the PS2 and PSP are assumed to be much better than the PS3 it becomes less clear which company made more money off of hardware sales.

The CNN article states the differences between Blu-ray and DVD are hard to see on a TV less than 50" minimizing the benefit of having a Blu-Ray player included in the PS3. Peckham refutes this claim stating “Blu-ray at even 720p (1280 x 720) with all its other commensurate upticks in sample rates and color quality is shockingly better than the visuals output of the average DVD”.

Finally, the CNN articles mentions a lack of quality exclusive titles on the PS3 to which Peckham lists off a variety of PS3 exclusives such as Metal Gear Solid 4, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Ratchet & Clank Future, Wipeout HD, Valkyria Chronicles, the original Resistance: Fall of Man, and MLB 08: The Show.