February Console Sales Numbers

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

I don't dispute that there are a few good third party games for the Wii, but the vast majority of the third party games are underwhelming on the Wii and will be even worse as a port to the 360.

The vast majority of games from any party on any system are "underwhelming" of course.

As for that article I reckon Microsoft would be better off saving their motion controllers for their next system and try to beat Nintendo and Sony to the market again next generation. Coming out with it for the 360 reeks of desperation.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

You could always check into renting a PS3 from Blockbuster for a few days if you absolutely cannot wait an extra six weeks to play GTA IV!

Or he could get into the spirit of the GTA4 release and just shoot someone and take their PS3.

Note: Don't do that unless you enjoy 8x10 foot rooms.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

The vast majority of games from any party on any system are "underwhelming" of course.

As for that article I reckon Microsoft would be better off saving their motion controllers for their next system and try to beat Nintendo and Sony to the market again next generation. Coming out with it for the 360 reeks of desperation.

The other major problem with the idea is that the 360 motion controller isn't standard with the system and isn't the primary method of control for the vast majority of the 360 games. The Wii comes standard with motion control. The PS3 has it built into their controller. If you want to use it on the 360, you'll have to buy each controller separately. Past trends have shown a huge drop-off in adoption rates of peripherals that you have to purchase separately. Why drop $70-80 for two controllers when you can get a Wii that has motion control in all of its games for $180 more?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Interesting 1st Quarter Sales Numbers out of Japan. The PSP made some major headway into the market while the DS lost quite a bit of market share. No major changes in console numbers outside of a drop in 360 sales.

Wii - 1,077,100 (1,005,313) [+7%]
NDS - 1,064,289 (1,948,344) [-46%]
PSP - 1,038,713 (672,823) [+53%]
PS3 - 336,429 (362,647) [-8%]
360 - 54,250 (80,547) [-33%]

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

I bought a used DreamCast from Blockbuster, but that would have been like 5 years ago now.

Would you like to buy another Dreamcast? I have one. Mint condition.

[Kodos]

He's thinking.

[Fidatelo]

It's definitely tempting. For sure Mint right? Not Near-Mint?

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Interesting 1st Quarter Sales Numbers out of Japan. The PSP made some major headway into the market while the DS lost quite a bit of market share. No major changes in console numbers outside of a drop in 360 sales.

Two words: Crisis Core.

That came out close enough to the end of the quarter that you might see another strong sales period for PSP in second quarter, but the DS will destroy it again in the 3rd and 4th quarter. Take it to the bank.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Two words: Crisis Core.

That came out close enough to the end of the quarter that you might see another strong sales period for PSP in second quarter, but the DS will destroy it again in the 3rd and 4th quarter. Take it to the bank.

Portable sales in Japan tend to do that. Big sways in sales mostly based on game releases. The new Monster Hunter game should give another boost to the PSP.

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

It's definitely tempting. For sure Mint right? Not Near-Mint?

Well, probably Near-Mint. I haven't looked at it in years, it has been tucked away in it's own carrying case for when I go to a friends house to play.

[Fidatelo]

You must not see your friends very often?

[Eaglesfan27]

There are reports all over the internet that PS3's are starting to see a high number of failures due to an "80010514" error which is related to the Blu Ray drive.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

The vast majority of games from any party on any system are "underwhelming" of course.

As for that article I reckon Microsoft would be better off saving their motion controllers for their next system and try to beat Nintendo and Sony to the market again next generation. Coming out with it for the 360 reeks of desperation.

Add me to the list of people that hope that MS doesn't come out with a motion controller. It's a standard part of the Wii. I hate the implimentation on the PS3 and turn it off instantly on any game I play.

I've kind of sat out of this for awhile, but it continues to amuse me.

Reading all of the reports, Sony has gotten back on track. They've won the war for Blu Ray. They've started to outsell the 360 worldwide.

Yet when I look at the numbers, they still trail the 360 by over 7 million units worldwide. In US households, the 360 is close to 3 to 1 up on it. In the US software sales,they are getting crushed by both Nintendo and MS by over a 2 to 1 margain. They have one software title currently in the top 20 of the chart and that's a game the 360 has at #5 on the same chart.

Sony is making a comeback, but they are still a solid #3 in the worldwide market, with zero hope of catching #1 and will be in a dogfight for #2 the rest of this generation.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

There are reports all over the internet that PS3's are starting to see a high number of failures due to an "80010514" error which is related to the Blu Ray drive.

High number of failures is obviously a vast overexaggeration, but here's the info on the error for those that are curious...........

http://www.n4g.com/industrynews/News-133170.aspx

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

High number of failures is obviously a vast overexaggeration, but here's the info on the error for those that are curious...........

http://www.n4g.com/industrynews/News-133170.aspx

That's a nice explanation, but one that other sites disagree with. Also, do a google search of the error code and you can readily see how widespread it is becoming and how it is causing people to be unable to play their games.

[Synovia]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

That's a nice explanation, but one that other sites disagree with. Also, do a google search of the error code and you can readily see how widespread it is becoming and how it is causing people to be unable to play their games.

I've seen hardly anything "widespread" on my google search, and quite a few sites think its a bad batch of Motorstorm thats causing the issue, and not the PS3 itself.


That being said, even if it is reasonably wide spread, I doubt its the 40% failure rate that MS has.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by TroyF

I've kind of sat out of this for awhile, but it continues to amuse me.

Reading all of the reports, Sony has gotten back on track. They've won the war for Blu Ray. They've started to outsell the 360 worldwide.

Yet when I look at the numbers, they still trail the 360 by over 7 million units worldwide. In US households, the 360 is close to 3 to 1 up on it. In the US software sales,they are getting crushed by both Nintendo and MS by over a 2 to 1 margain. They have one software title currently in the top 20 of the chart and that's a game the 360 has at #5 on the same chart.

Sony is making a comeback, but they are still a solid #3 in the worldwide market, with zero hope of catching #1 and will be in a dogfight for #2 the rest of this generation.

Probably the best timing for these comments considering March and the next three months should be big months for the PS3. European PS3 sales received a heavy boost thanks to GT5:P. In North America, the rumored 360 shortages were corrected by the end of February, so the numbers in March should be very telling. If the 360 doesn't retake the lead in March in North America, they're going to need a price cut or new system to get jump-started again.

In April, a hardware boost for the PS3 in Europe and North America is widely expected with the release of GTA4. The 360's only salvation will be that existing North American owners will allow GTA4 to outsell the PS3 version in North America. In Europe, the early sales edge for GTA4 appears to be in the PS3's favor.

May should have some GTA4 carryover on the systems in the build up to the release of Metal Gear Solid, which is expected to be a multi-million copy seller on Day 1. Bundles are sold out in Japan already, which is good news for that region as they need to build up the base over there.

In addition, most analysts believe that the PS3 will now pass the 360 in worldwide sales in early to mid-2009, which is much sooner than the late 2009 that I had previously predicted late last year. The final boost which will help the PS3 is obviously the day that FFXIII comes out. The sales will explode at that point. Remember also that 2-3 million Xbox owners will have their RROD warranties expire later this year and will be forced to pay for any further repairs on their 360. Will they choose to pony up the $129 to repair a system that may break again or do they purchase what will likely be a $299 PS3 at that point with a wealth of AAA exclusive titles.

Interestingly enough, the trend is far different than anything we've ever seen in the console market. Record sales numbers were put up for January 2008 and February 2008 that dwarfed the previous sales records. If that continues and Microsoft fails to do something to make waves, the market share could see a dramatic shift.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

That's a nice explanation, but one that other sites disagree with. Also, do a google search of the error code and you can readily see how widespread it is becoming and how it is causing people to be unable to play their games.

Well, how can I disagree with that kind of fact-finding. I'd like to note that these kinds of posts when I've made them in the past were blasted by you and others. In response, I've tried to go out of my way to back up any of those kinds of posts, in addition to the article I just posted. Now, you're making similar posts and calling the problem 'widespread' based on a Google search.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Synovia

I've seen hardly anything "widespread" on my google search, and quite a few sites think its a bad batch of Motorstorm thats causing the issue, and not the PS3 itself.


That being said, even if it is reasonably wide spread, I doubt its the 40% failure rate that MS has.

17,600 hits seems fairly widespread to me, particularly for a problem that might be just starting to come to light. Shrug. I'm not trying to guess any percentage failure rates like MBBF and you were from limited data, as I agree this is just a very unscientific look at the issue.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Well, how can I disagree with that kind of fact-finding. I'd like to note that these kinds of posts when I've made them in the past were blasted by you and others. In response, I've tried to go out of my way to back up any of those kinds of posts, in addition to the article I just posted. Now, you're making similar posts and calling the problem 'widespread' based on a Google search.

It is amusing to see the similar issues and arguments that surrounded the original XBox's Thompson drives and the 360's RROD. Especially given that these failures are hitting the PS3 hard right around the time the RROD's hit the 360 hard.

It will be interesting to see where this conversation goes over the next month or two.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

It is amusing to see the similar issues and arguments that surrounded the original XBox's Thompson drives and the 360's RROD. Especially given that these failures are hitting the PS3 hard right around the time the RROD's hit the 360 hard.

It will be interesting to see where this conversation goes over the next month or two.

Exactly. And despite, MBBF's link claiming it is not a hardware issue, there are hundreds if not thousands of stories out there already including on Sony boards about this being a Blu-Ray hardware problem and people having to send their units to Sony to get it fixed or replaced. I've had 4 no shows this morning so I've been reading through some of them.

To Sony's credit, they do seem to be quietly sending most people refurbished units free of charge (a few people have reported being charged but the vast majority do not), although some people are complaining about long turn around times.

[Cringer]

Dreamcast people.....just saying, I haven't had a problem with it, it could be yours.

Stop talking about PS3 problems, now I don't know what to buy......

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Exactly. And despite, MBBF's link claiming it is not a hardware issue, there are hundreds if not thousands of stories out there already including on Sony boards about this being a Blu-Ray hardware problem and people having to send their units to Sony to get it fixed or replaced. I've had 4 no shows this morning so I've been reading through some of them.

To Sony's credit, they do seem to be quietly sending most people refurbished units free of charge (a few people have reported being charged but the vast majority do not), although some people are complaining about long turn around times.

Once again, I was blasted several months ago for posting stories off the internet and personal experience as the basis for RROD being a big issue. Since internet posts are evidently a solid basis for fact-finding now, I'll repost the following as fact.

-Over at LootNinja.com, there are 4 writers who all own Xbox 360's. Since the release of the 360, they have had 17 consoles fail with the RROD issue. So out of 21 consoles they've owned, 4 are still working.

-At the Sports Gamer Blog, the two writers have had 6 consoles fail with the RROD. So out of 8 consoles they've had, 2 are still working.

-Of my own personal experience, I have 10 friends that own a 360. Out of those 10 friends, not one has their original Xbox 360 and 3 of them are now on their third console. So, out of the 23 consoles that have passed through their hands, 10 are still working.

-On Neogaf, they have a RROD thread where people list their broken consoles. That graveyard count now numbers in the thousands with the thread now approaching 160 pages. You can find similar thread on virtually any gaming message board. Since you've decided that page counts constitute the level of legitimacy of information on the internet, this thread alone has over 300,000 hits thus far and it continue to grow and remain bumped on the front page of that message board.

-Microsoft recently received a very poor rating in their annual ranking from an organization that focuses on environmental protection. The reason cited was the poor quality of the console, which was resulting in many consoles ending up in landfills.

Now we have the 'facts' straight.

[gstelmack]

Or we could just assume that making a modern console is hard and everyone is likely to have breakages.

[PurdueBrad]

Two of my first hour students had the PS3 800-something error code pop up this week. Both were told they have to send their systems in and one of the students was told by the phone rep (not sure if it was a technical assist person or not) that they are getting "quite a few calls" over the last week or so in regards to this issue.

That being said, I'm an X-Box 360 owner and am on my second (I would say fifth but basically in a two hour period I ran through three of a bad batch at Gamestop).

Basically, I'm thinking that the quality for either one is not up to what we've been able to be used to in the past. I think this will likely be the way things go for a while though, as they deal with new technologies.

[Daimyo]

Xbox has RROD issues? Did Blu Ray win the format war too?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by PurdueBrad

Two of my first hour students had the PS3 800-something error code pop up this week. Both were told they have to send their systems in and one of the students was told by the phone rep (not sure if it was a technical assist person or not) that they are getting "quite a few calls" over the last week or so in regards to this issue.

That tends to lend credence to the thought mentioned earlier that a bad batch of PS3's was released at some point. If it were a system issue, it wouldn't suddenly creep up out of nowhere. I know there was a similar issue when the 40 GB machine was released in Europe where a batch of systems was bad. At that time, the internet went crazy with stories about massive PS3 failures, but it quickly became evident that it was a batch problem.

[PurdueBrad]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

That tends to lend credence to the thought mentioned earlier that a bad batch of PS3's was released at some point. If it were a system issue, it wouldn't suddenly creep up out of nowhere. I know there was a similar issue when the 40 GB machine was released in Europe where a batch of systems was bad. At that time, the internet went crazy with stories about massive PS3 failures, but it quickly became evident that it was a batch problem.

I was wondering the same thing batch-wise. I've had a 360 since day one and frankly don't see anything wrong that I'm on my second (I encountered a bad batch during the switch over, but that is exactly what it was, a bad batch) and I would feel the same way about a PS3. But it seems like both groups (obviously 360 more than the PS at this point) have suffered from batch problems more than an overall design flaw. I'm not sure if it is from the variety of components or poor manufacturing but it does seem to be a problem among the high end systems. I guess, for me, the lesson will be that with every next gen. system here on out, I'll buy the extended warranty as a safety precaution (even though both Sony and Microsoft have both been strong at responding to issues).

[MJ4H]

Anyone here had a Wii fail?

[PurdueBrad]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

Anyone here had a Wii fail?

Nope and that is exactly my thought. I accept the Wii as a next gen console but at the same time, it is on a lower technological level hardware-wise which allows it to have a much better track record. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, in fact the choice not to try to go into the tech race with PS and XBox is probably a better one for consumers rather than joining the technology duel.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by PurdueBrad

Nope and that is exactly my thought. I accept the Wii as a next gen console but at the same time, it is on a lower technological level hardware-wise which allows it to have a much better track record. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, in fact the choice not to try to go into the tech race with PS and XBox is probably a better one for consumers rather than joining the technology duel.

Yeah, I'd agree with what you're saying. I'm all for having the console companies push the limits of what's available from a technology standpoint, but when they rush the process to the point where they have failure rates much higher than regular electronic devices or PC's, that's where you begin to question whether they really are pushing it past an acceptable limit.

As you mentioned on the Wii, it doesn't have anywhere close to the failure rate because the technology is at a much lower level than what the 360 or PS3 is running.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

Anyone here had a Wii fail?

Not full failure, but it locks up / crashes on games a lot more than my 360 does/did.

[cartman]

I might have to pickup a Wii just for this game:

Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People



http://arstechnica.com/journals/thum...m-and-max-devs

[SackAttack]

Well, I would say two things with respect to the PS3 error code brouhaha.

1) The "RROD" was a minor issue at first, too. It started popping up sporadically at first and quickly blossomed. Now I don't think the PS3 error code is on that level at this point, but that doesn't mean it can't get there.

2) PlayStation 2 "Disc read error," anybody? Same thing. Systems worked beautifully for about a year, and then took a shit. Problem started as an intermittent one, and quickly became the signature of the "fat" PS2.

Basically, it's too early to put it on that level, but it wouldn't be the first time for Sony is what I'm saying.

[MizzouRah]

The mighty ps3 getting errors????? The horror!!!!

[Chubby]

YAWN...

This is of course coming from someone who just traded in his day 1 PS2 a month or two ago for Rockband (and still has a working fat PS1, even if you have to flip it upside down).

The PS3 issue isn't anywhere near the RROD issue. Can it get there? Sure but it's nowhere close right now.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

Not full failure, but it locks up / crashes on games a lot more than my 360 does/did.

Seriously? I've never heard of that. Have you contacted Nintendo?

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by PurdueBrad

Nope and that is exactly my thought. I accept the Wii as a next gen console but at the same time, it is on a lower technological level hardware-wise which allows it to have a much better track record. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, in fact the choice not to try to go into the tech race with PS and XBox is probably a better one for consumers rather than joining the technology duel.

Agreed on all of this.

[Synovia]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

17,600 hits seems fairly widespread to me,

On Google? I get 400,000 hits for "Intestinal fungus".


I checked a bunch of links, and they almost all reference the same page. Its a whole big mess of circular reporting. One article, and whole bunch of people quoting it.

I get 560K hits for "360 RROD"

[Synovia]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

That tends to lend credence to the thought mentioned earlier that a bad batch of PS3's was released at some point. If it were a system issue, it wouldn't suddenly creep up out of nowhere. I know there was a similar issue when the 40 GB machine was released in Europe where a batch of systems was bad. At that time, the internet went crazy with stories about massive PS3 failures, but it quickly became evident that it was a batch problem.

From everything I've read, its not a PS3 hardware issue, its a bad firmware issue. From everything I've read, a whole bunch of disks, and possibly the sony update site had bad firmware updates on them, and because you can't downgrade firmware, if you upgrade to the bad one, you're screwed until a new version comes out, or you send it to sony.

[Synovia]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

Not full failure, but it locks up / crashes on games a lot more than my 360 does/did.

You run WiiConnect24, don't you? You probably fried the video card. The earlier ones had that problem.

[MrIllini]

Does any store actually still carry the Wii in their B&M location?

[MJ4H]

Um, yes?

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by MrIllini

Does any store actually still carry the Wii in their B&M location?

You're kidding, right?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Some VERY concerning numbers for Microsoft coming out of Europe in March. MS cut the price on their console last month, yet they were outsold by both the PS3 and the Wii by 150,000 units. The MS management said that Europe was the battleground they needed to win in 2008, but things have taken a drastic turn for the worst for the 360. Here's the March numbers for both Japan and PAL territories...........

March Japanese Sales Numbers

Wii - 214K
PS3 - 65K
360 - 9K

March PAL Sales Numbers

PS3 - 507K
Wii - 502K
360 - 353K

[Groundhog]

In Australia at least it appears that PS3 is the system that is getting pushed in the stores between it and the 360, though it's still the Wii and DS games and consoles that are located right by the entrance to most stores.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

In Australia at least it appears that PS3 is the system that is getting pushed in the stores between it and the 360, though it's still the Wii and DS games and consoles that are located right by the entrance to most stores.

The PS3's advantage in Australia is the region-free aspect of the system. Australian games are notoriously expensive. With the option to export North American versions of games from Asia into Australia, gamers in that country now have a way to avoid the high retail prices if they're willing to wait a few days for a shipment.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

The PS3's advantage in Australia is the region-free aspect of the system. Australian games are notoriously expensive. With the option to export North American versions of games from Asia into Australia, gamers in that country now have a way to avoid the high retail prices if they're willing to wait a few days for a shipment.

Yup. I haven't bought a single game from inside Australia, where they retail from $90~ upwards. But it's more the ability to play non-PAL releases like CH 2K8 that brought me over, along with the bad taste in my mouth that the 360 left after both the RROD issues and my experience with the XBox Live service.

[Groundhog]

dola

Even the person working at EB Games when I bought my console, when I declined their offer of 10% of a used game with the purchase of the console, admitted that I'd be better off buying the PS3 games from overseas.

[MrIllini]

Er...let me rephrase.

I know they still "carry" it...but do any of them actually have them in stock? Can you finally walk into a store and walk out with a Wii or are they still back-ordered 3 months?