While the gist is generally true, there's too many holes in the argument.

The glaring one, first of all, is the use of VGChartz as a reputable source.

SA sold 20 million copies... Yeah, and it's been out for like 4 or 5 years.

A lot of people are still playing their PS2s anyway, but as soon as they upgrade I reckon GTA IV will be on their list of games to buy. And MGS4 sold a lot of PS3s, so it doesn't really make sense.

I thought to be honest that their was more hype and such for GTA4 then SA, maybe someone told everyone else that the game is actually quite boring

I'm sure it will increase over the summer people will have summer jobs and actually be able to afford the high prices of games.

I think a few ideas are missing from this argument. For one, the fact that there are over four times as many PS2 owners than there are owners of 360 and PS3 also had an effect on sales. The market is much, much smaller at this time, and thus sales are reduced. Also, Many of GTA SA's sales were due to the fact that GTA SA did things games had never done before and attracted a much broader audience than just the hardcore adopters of the PS3 and 360 so far. A lot of people bought SA so they could shoot cops and run over hookers, not because it was a technical marvel with its open world design and a good game for fans of the series. In a way, it was a lot like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, because it attracted a following of both hardcore and casual players. GTA4 did not appeal to this audience, however, who are more interested in the above mentioned guitar games and Wii to worry about GTA, since they had already experienced what it had to offer in SA.

Also, casual games have always been in the industry. Gamers have always had to wade through piles of licensed crap to find the high budget games, and I don't see that changing either way for a long time.

No, this is only the PS3's first year, GTASA was released when nearly every gamer had a PS2, in about 3 years time when more people own the console games will sell more. You cant expect the PS3 to sell more in its first year than the PS2 in its 5th year.

Joshthegreat, there is no way IV is going to come anywhere near 21+ Million copies sold. I agree with iLLmatic that San Andreas was released near the late middle of the PS2's lifetime.

You want the truth? In retrospect, oddly enough, I believe GTA IV would have sold a lot more if Rockstar had considered a dumbed down version of it for simultaneous release on the PS2. The truth is that I saw nothing in the gameplay of GTA IV, even the in depth cell phone, internet and TV, that could not have also crossed backward to the PS2. All they would have had to do was take down the graphics several notches, in my opinion. Either way, the PS3 and 360 combined are not as prevalent in homes as the PS2 is, even to this day. So I think the article is operating under a flawed premise, that this is somehow indicative of the new console failing. The fact is that PS3 is only 18 months old and the 360 a mere year older than that. When San Andreas was released, the PS2 was 4 years old already.

Also, the present economy in the States is slower than last gen, which is also negatively impacting at least on this market. All in all, as the prices of the 360 and PS3 drop more and more, they will start to become more inherently popular. Keep in mind that when San Andreas was released, a PS2 cost $200.00.

I totally agree with ChiroVette, the two games were released at twp very different times, thus making it harderto compare also that not to many gamers have a next-gen console.

^^agreed too.
two diffrent times/.

well I guess any game that takes out planes to add in useless online dating isn't gonna be that great. why R* why?