August Console Sales Numbers

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

The demo for Jericho is out today on XBL. It will be on PSN next Thursday.

If you like gore-fests, this is your game. They submitted the console version to the ratings board in Germany. The amount of gore resulted in an adult rating. As a result, they just pulled the game release from Germany rather than tone down the gore. It will still be released on the PC in Germany.

[Fidatelo]

I think Mizzou B-ball Fan forgets one other MASSIVE selling point for a console, especially after the intial year: people tend to buy the one their friends have. And I think that this will only be more true with this generation (and future gens) as online gaming has become so huge.

At this point, your friends are 3 times as likely to own a 360 as they are a PS3. Which will weigh heavily when you buy a system if you want to play games online, or be able to bring extra controllers to a party, or borrow games, etc.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

I think Mizzou B-ball Fan forgets one other MASSIVE selling point for a console, especially after the intial year: people tend to buy the one their friends have. And I think that this will only be more true with this generation (and future gens) as online gaming has become so huge.

At this point, your friends are 3 times as likely to own a 360 as they are a PS3. Which will weigh heavily when you buy a system if you want to play games online, or be able to bring extra controllers to a party, or borrow games, etc.

Actually, the current ratio of sales is 2:1 Roughly 12M 360's and 5.5M PS3's. Also, online gaming is not quite as 'huge' as you might think. There are still a lot of people that are exclusively single player gamers. Multiplayer gaming is certainly a point to consider, as I mentioned in the response to Galaxy, but the biggest factor by far is games available, especially exclusives for that system. For example, Galaxy isn't going to buy a 360 just because his friends have one. He's going to buy it because it has games like Halo 3 and Gears of War that he can play with those friends.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Actually, the current ratio of sales is 2:1 Roughly 12M 360's and 5.5M PS3's. Also, online gaming is not quite as 'huge' as you might think. There are still a lot of people that are exclusively single player gamers. Multiplayer gaming is certainly a point to consider, as I mentioned in the response to Galaxy, but the biggest factor by far is games available, especially exclusives for that system. For example, Galaxy isn't going to buy a 360 just because his friends have one. He's going to buy it because it has games like Halo 3 and Gears of War that he can play with those friends.

The rate in america has got to be a lot higher than the world rate.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

but I disagree with the hardware point. The PS3 has the better hardware,

dawgfan has already commented, but I'll add my 2 cents worth. The PS3 has DIFFERENT hardware. It is not necessarily better. The SPUs are VERY useful for certain types of algorithms. For other types of code, the 2 extra general purpose processors (with 4 more cores) in the 360 are far more useful.

In the end, which one is "better" depends greatly on the type of game you are making. And given that ALL games have different types of code running in them, I doubt either one will ever show a clear advantage over the other in games consumers buy. Contrived demos can be written to show advantages to one over the other, but that's all they'll be: contrived demos.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by stevew

The rate in america has got to be a lot higher than the world rate.

But once again, these companies do not make money just in America. Also, America is MS's home turf. They should be winning here, despite the fact that they lost the last generation badly. The exclusion of some regions is selective reasoning at best. I'm sure that MS is delighted that they have a 2:1 ratio at this point.

[Bee]

You really believe that MS being based in America has anything to do with their winning the console war in the US? What's your basis for that belief?

Does anyone have numbers for how many XBOX360s and PS3s have sold in the US? I'd be curious to see that number instead of the worldwide ones.

[Bee]

Originally Posted by Bee

You really believe that MS being based in America has anything to do with their winning the console war in the US? What's your basis for that belief?

Does anyone have numbers for how many XBOX360s and PS3s have sold in the US? I'd be curious to see that number instead of the worldwide ones.

A little searching and I found the numbers:

Wii: over 4 million
360: 6.3 million
PS3: 1.75 million

So yep, the 360 has a 3.6 to 1 advantage in the US.

Nintendo Still Rules U.S Game Console Sales
Friday, September 14th 2007 @ 11:00 AM PDT


New sales figures from the NPD Group show Nintendo is still dominating video game console sales, while Sony is still trying to develop a market for the PS3.

New sales figures from the NPD Group covering video game and video game console sales during the month of August show Nintendo continued to dominate video game hardware sales, moving 403,600 Wii consoles and 383.000 DS handheld systems. So far, that brings Nintendo's sales totals in the United States to over 4 million Wii consoles and nearly 13 million DS handhelds—a position essentially unmatched from any other game maker.

In comparison, Microsoft managed to sell a respectable 276,700 Xbox 360 unit during August 2007, meaning the console has an installed base of about 6.3 million units. However, when comparing that number to the Nintendo Wii, consider that the Xbox 360 has been on the market a full year longer than the Wii: in just nine months, Nintendo has managed to sell nearly two thirds as many consoles. Microsoft will no doubt see a sales boost in the remainder of 2007 as its much-hyped Halo 3 game hits retailers on September 25.

Sony, meanwhile, continues to do very well with the PlayStation 2…and not so well with the PlayStation 3. Consumers took home 202,000 PS2 systems during August, raising the total installed base for the legacy console to some 39.1 million units in the United States. Sony's PlayStation Portable handheld unit also moved 151,200 units, taking its installed base to 8.3 million units. The PlayStation 3, however, lost sales momentum, moving just 130,600 units during the month, a drop from July's total of 159,000. The decline comes in the wake of a $100 price drop on the system, which still remains the most expensive of the bunch at $500, and still lacks a strong, exclusive hit game to drive sales momentum. In the United States, Sony has managed to sell about 1.75 million PlayStation 3 systems in nine months.

[Bee]

Wow, when you run the numbers the PS3 has less than 15% of the US next-gen market. That's even worse that I expected.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Actually, the current ratio of sales is 2:1 Roughly 12M 360's and 5.5M PS3's. Also, online gaming is not quite as 'huge' as you might think. There are still a lot of people that are exclusively single player gamers. Multiplayer gaming is certainly a point to consider, as I mentioned in the response to Galaxy, but the biggest factor by far is games available, especially exclusives for that system. For example, Galaxy isn't going to buy a 360 just because his friends have one. He's going to buy it because it has games like Halo 3 and Gears of War that he can play with those friends.

Dude, you wrote the following TODAY:

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

If your friends and you play online a lot and they use the 360 to do that, I'm not sure why you wouldn't chose the 360.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

I guess Halo 3 is doing alright.

$170 million on day 1. Not bad.

It barely beat out a children's book for the biggest day one in US entertainment history, and only did so because of all the saps willing to shell out $130 for the Legendary edition.

(yes, it is rather impressive)

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

It barely beat out a children's book for the biggest day one in US entertainment history, and only did so because of all the saps willing to shell out $130 for the Legendary edition.

(yes, it is rather impressive)

Of course the game is about $30 more expensive than the book.

[Big Fo]

Yeah, but Harry Potter wouldn't have sold near as many copies at $60, $70, or $130 I suppose. Although it would be quite interesting to see how hardcore the Harry Potter fanbase is and how the book might have sold at those prices.

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Yeah, but Harry Potter wouldn't have sold near as many copies at $60, $70, or $130 I suppose. Although it would be quite interesting to see how hardcore the Harry Potter fanbase is and how the book might have sold at those prices.

Uh.

A book and a video game are two completely different things. I can't even believe you're trying to compare their sales numbers.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

Uh.

A book and a video game are two completely different things. I can't even believe you're trying to compare their sales numbers.

check your sarcasm detector

[Daimyo]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

At this point, your friends are 3 times as likely to own a 360 as they are a PS3.

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Actually, the current ratio of sales is 2:1 Roughly 12M 360's and 5.5M PS3's.

Originally Posted by stevew

The rate in america has got to be a lot higher than the world rate.

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

But once again, these companies do not make money just in America.

If you keep shifting your arguments every time they're shown to be stupid eventually you might hit a winner I guess...

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

check your sarcasm detector

It ran out of batteries early today.

[Galaxy]

Does either systems have a wireless connection to play online?

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

Does either systems have a wireless connection to play online?

Pretty sure that Wi-Fi is built-in to the PS3. You can buy a Wi-Fi adapter for the 360, but it costs ~$90, so that's an advantage for the PS3.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Pretty sure that Wi-Fi is built-in to the PS3. You can buy a Wi-Fi adapter for the 360, but it costs ~$90, so that's an advantage for the PS3.

Wi-fi is indeed built-into the PS3. However, some people have said they have problems staying connected (I haven't had that problem). I was listening to the Gamers With Jobs podcast this morning and one of the hosts on it thought it might have something to do with interference (though interference with WHAT wasn't clear). He mentioned he had a stable connection when he hooked his PS3 to the TV in his bedroom (I think that's where it was, or an office with a TV or something) but not in his living room.

/tk

[MJ4H]

wifi is built into the wii too

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Wi-fi is indeed built-into the PS3. However, some people have said they have problems staying connected (I haven't had that problem). I was listening to the Gamers With Jobs podcast this morning and one of the hosts on it thought it might have something to do with interference (though interference with WHAT wasn't clear). He mentioned he had a stable connection when he hooked his PS3 to the TV in his bedroom (I think that's where it was, or an office with a TV or something) but not in his living room.

/tk

Yeah, the connection drops are user specific. There's no problems with the technology itself.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Daimyo

If you keep shifting your arguments every time they're shown to be stupid eventually you might hit a winner I guess...

I've always said that using the U.S. numbers alone is not any way to judge the console war. Business decisions by both Sony and MS are not made just on what America demands. They have to adjust and adapt to make money in all regions. The fact that the 360 has failed so badly in Japan is the thing most analysts point to as a reason that the PS3 could end up the eventual winner. Giving away a whole segment of the market to your competitor is a tough way to win console wars over the long haul.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Big news in the EU countries. Sony has reached an agreement to sell PES 2008 as a bundle with the PS3. Should be a great system seller in Europe as this game is huge in that region.

[CraigSca]

It should be interesting to look at the NPD numbers for September to see if Maximum Football 2 spikes PC sales.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

I read somewhere that the Samba Amigo (or whatever it's called) game is coming to Wii too. The monkey maracas game on Dreamcast. I never got to play it, but heard it's good.

That was a wacky but fun game

SI

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by CraigSca

It should be interesting to look at the NPD numbers for September to see if Maximum Football 2 spikes PC sales.

PC sales have a max gain limit to keep their numbers from getting out of hand.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by CraigSca

It should be interesting to look at the NPD numbers for September to see if Maximum Football 2 spikes PC sales.

Forgot a 360, I need to upgrade my PC for the greatest game ever.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Giving away a whole segment of the market to your competitor is a tough way to win console wars over the long haul.

Unless that segment constitutes less than 19% of the worldwide market and you are outselling your main competitor by greater than a 2:1 margin in the single biggest market in the world (U.S. and A).

[Bee]

Well MS never had the Japanese market to "give away". If anything was given away, it's been Sony giving away the US Market where they previously were the 800 lb gorilla and now are one of those little masturbating monkeys you see in the zoo.

[Eaglesfan27]

These rumored deals are so good that I'm taking a quick break from my break of posting in this thread:

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/09/27/ru...-this-holiday/

The details:

The Pro 360 will include Forza 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance (both fun games) starting October 9th. Same deal with the Elite starting October 23rd.

The core will start shipping with a 256 MB memory card, a wireless controller, a HDMI port, and 5 free Xbox Live games on a disc starting at the end of October.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Bee

Well MS never had the Japanese market to "give away". If anything was given away, it's been Sony giving away the US Market where they previously were the 800 lb gorilla and now are one of those little masturbating monkeys you see in the zoo.

DING, DING, DING.

We have a winner.

MS never had Japan. They probably never will no matter what they do. That's simple reality. MS knew it going in. Again, their hope with the 360 was to tear some market share away from Sony and become relevant in the USA/Euro markets. Mission Accomplished.

Sony was the dominant one all across the world. MS never expected that they might actually BEAT the PS3. Now that is a real possiblity. Spinning this any other way is asinine. But expected I guess.

One thing Sony and MS never counted on was Nintendo, the console that will win this generation.

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by TroyF

One thing Sony and MS never counted on was Nintendo, the console that will win this generation.

QFT.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

These rumored deals are so good that I'm taking a quick break from my break of posting in this thread:

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/09/27/ru...-this-holiday/

The details:

The Pro 360 will include Forza 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance (both fun games) starting October 9th. Same deal with the Elite starting October 23rd.

The core will start shipping with a 256 MB memory card, a wireless controller, a HDMI port, and 5 free Xbox Live games on a disc starting at the end of October.

You should retire as a doctor and go into sales. Your pushing me into opening my wallet very soon.

The core system, at the same price, sounds very promising. Is a 256 MB memory card big enough to hold a lot of information? I'm seriously thinking of plucking down an order. My only concern is if they consoles will be the new ones that solve the problems the 360 have.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by TroyF

One thing Sony and MS never counted on was Nintendo, the console that will win this generation.

It's not just Sony and MS that were caught by surprise by the Wii's success - I'd venture to say nearly all parties in the gaming industry were not expecting this level of success for the Wii.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

Is a 256 MB memory card big enough to hold a lot of information? I'm seriously thinking of plucking down an order. My only concern is if they consoles will be the new ones that solve the problems the 360 have.

256 MB will be enough for some saved games. You won't be downloading many demos on it. Maybe a few arcade games will fit.

If it's got an HDMI port, it's a fairly safe bet it's one of the new ones.

[Neuqua]

Are the 360s with the HDMI input built to fix the RROD issue?

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Yeah, the connection drops are user specific. There's no problems with the technology itself.

Except for, y'know, when firmware 1.92 introduced random disconnects that were, in fact, completely hardware-specific.

Folks who are having issues with 1.93, that's probably related more to location of the PS3 versus that of the wireless router than anything else...but depending on how old the claims in question are, it could very well be a drop issue that was absolutely the result of the then-latest firmware for PlayStation 3.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Neuqua

Are the 360s with the HDMI input built to fix the RROD issue?

Not yet, anyways. I don't notice that mine gets particularly hot though. Hard to say if they've fixed the issue(doubtful).

[stevew]

I still wouldn't buy a core, although all that included stuff is pretty tempting. If you don't plan on using Live, and don't ever download demos, then I suppose it should be good enough.

[SackAttack]

So apparently the reason NBA 08 PS3 doesn't have "The Life" is because they're wrapping it up this year. Some trilogy crap, and this year is the final chapter of it on PS2.

Be interesting to see how they replace it next year.

[Galaxy]

Do you guys expect any shortages of any of the systems this holiday season?

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

Do you guys expect any shortages of any of the systems this holiday season?

If you ask Sony I'm sure they'll predict empty shelves for the PS3 this holiday season.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

Do you guys expect any shortages of any of the systems this holiday season?

Honestly, no.

Shortages of specific SKUs for 360 or PS3? Possibly. Depends on circumstances.

Like, if the 80 gig PS3 either doesn't drop or only drops to $549, and the 40 gig comes in at $399, I could easily see stores have trouble keeping the 40 in stock.

Also, depends on whether retailers run specials on one SKU or another.

But just, overall, a particular system not available? Not at this point. It's too important a Christmas for the three for any of them to start with shenanigans, and a second Christmas of virtual unavailability on the Wii might start to deflate the warm fuzzies from the consumer base.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Honestly, no.

Shortages of specific SKUs for 360 or PS3? Possibly. Depends on circumstances.

Like, if the 80 gig PS3 either doesn't drop or only drops to $549, and the 40 gig comes in at $399, I could easily see stores have trouble keeping the 40 in stock.

Also, depends on whether retailers run specials on one SKU or another.

Honestly, Sony needs to hurry up with the 40 GB machine or a 80 GB price drop. Their sales are going to suffer until they do that. The 60 GB machines are becoming pretty scarce online and in the stores, but there are plenty of 80 GB machines. No one's going to buy those 80 GB machines with the price drop coming along with a new SKU. Part of their sales problem right now is the price drop and new system. The quicker they can announce it, the better it is for them. Even if they don't have the system ready, they can at least build some level of hype for the $399 price point this holiday season.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Lots of speculation that the 40 GB PS3 will be released on October 30th. Rumor is that the Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction game was moved back from October 23rd to October 30th for that reason. Also, Spiderman 3 is scheduled to be released on October 30th. That's significant because the $399 40 GB PS3 is supposed to be bundled with the BR version of Spiderman 3.

The 5 BR movie rebate site (http://www.bluraysavings.com) has recently been updated to add a new SKU to the list of PS3's as well. Another sign that the new system is coming relatively quickly.

Also, a 'Big Bang' (their words, not mine ) announcement by Sony is expected on October 12th. Speculation is that it will be to announce the new 40 GB machine.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

So apparently the reason NBA 08 PS3 doesn't have "The Life" is because they're wrapping it up this year. Some trilogy crap, and this year is the final chapter of it on PS2.

Be interesting to see how they replace it next year.

If they release the same type of game they did this year, why bother?

www.gamenikki.com for my review of the dreadful NBA 08.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Lots of speculation that the 40 GB PS3 will be released on October 30th. Rumor is that the Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction game was moved back from October 23rd to October 30th for that reason. Also, Spiderman 3 is scheduled to be released on October 30th. That's significant because the $399 40 GB PS3 is supposed to be bundled with the BR version of Spiderman 3.

The 5 BR movie rebate site (http://www.bluraysavings.com) has recently been updated to add a new SKU to the list of PS3's as well. Another sign that the new system is coming relatively quickly.

Also, a 'Big Bang' (their words, not mine ) announcement by Sony is expected on October 12th. Speculation is that it will be to announce the new 40 GB machine.

$400 for a PS3 with backward compatibility, WiFi, and Ratchet and Clank as a pack-in game would probably be enough to get me to buy one.

Big Bang? I always liked "megaton." It was mentioned in French GamePro so it might have to do with European pricing.

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Big news in the EU countries. Sony has reached an agreement to sell PES 2008 as a bundle with the PS3. Should be a great system seller in Europe as this game is huge in that region.

If this year is anything like last year, most retailers will offer bundles on both consoles with PES 2008 (and probably FIFA as well).

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

$400 for a PS3 with backward compatibility, WiFi, and Ratchet and Clank as a pack-in game would probably be enough to get me to buy one.

That would be a phenomenal holiday bundle.

Hell, let's get really crazy - Spiderman 3 as a pack-in BD, Ratchet as a pack-in game, $400 40 GB PS3 with BC (software, most likely) and built-in WiFi.

I think that would actually cause a sonic boom.