The year 2012 is ending, which is a good time to look back at how well the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3 did throughout the entire year and the console's overall sale numbers. Sales took a dip compared to 2011; however, for 6-7 year old devices, current sales are still impressive.

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The battle between the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 over the years have been long and hard, but despite Sony's valiant efforts, Microsoft appears to have come away as the victor with only the Nintendo Wii besting the Xbox 360 in overall sales.

According to VGChartz, the Xbox 360's overall sales figure is 72,263,580 units sold, followed closely by the PlayStation 3's 70,316,129 units sold. Definitely, a close fight, but as long as the Xbox 360 continues to control the roost in the United States, the PlayStation 3 will not surpass it. Despite the number of exclusive titles coming out for Sony's console in 2013, it is unlikely they will shift many PlayStation 3 consoles, mainly due to rumors of the Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4 launching in the same year.

Still, there is some good news to be had about the PlayStation 3 in 2012. Sony managed to sell more PlayStation 3 units than the Xbox 360 throughout the whole year, which is a bit surprising considering how well the Xbox 360 did. The numbers show that 9,808,394 PlayStation 3 units were sold in 2012, compared to the Xbox 360's 8,494,136.

Sony and its PlayStation 3 won't be able to best the Xbox 360 in 2013 despite its high number of exclusives. Why? Quite a few big name Sony exclusives launched in 2012. However, the majority failed to do well, which makes you wonder, how important are exclusives these days? The Xbox 360 is not winning this race based on exclusive games, but third party titles with exclusive content. Not only that, third party titles tend to perform better on the Xbox 360 compared to the PlayStation 3. Take, for example, the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 to understand better.

Will history repeat itself in 2013? Will many of the PlayStation 3 exclusive games bomb, while the Xbox 360 shine with third party contents? Leave your comments below.

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