March Console Sales Numbers (omg)

[Big Fo]

Hardware:

Wii .....................721K
Nintendo DS .......698K
PSP................... 297K
Xbox 360 ...........262K
PlayStation 3 ......257K
PlayStation 2 ......216K

Software:

WII SUPER SMASH BROS: BRAWL...........................2.7M
360 *TOM CLANCY'S RAINBOW SIX: VEGAS 2 .......752.3K
360 ARMY OF TWO..............................................606.1K
WII PLAY W/ REMOTE.......................................... 409.8K
PSP GOD OF WAR: CHAINS OF OLYMPUS............... 340.5K
PSP CRISIS CORE: FINAL FANTASY VII..................301.6K
WII GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK.............264.1K
360 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 2K8.......................237.1K
360 *CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE..............237K
PS3 ARMY OF TWO...............................................224.9K

Industry Sales
---------------------------Mar-07-------- Mar-08---- CHG
Total Video Games --------- $1.1B------ $1.7B----- 57%
Video Games Hardware---- $377.9M ----$551.3M--- 46%
Video Games Software----- $579.1M ----$945.6M ---63%
Video Game Accessories---- $139.5M----- $220M ----58%



Holy crap at the Wii numbers, utterly ridiculous for the month of March. Smash Brothers did great as well. I wonder if Nintendo is starting to catch up to demand, the going rate on ebay has dropped to around $50 over MSRP. They're gonna need a lot more of them for Mario Kart Wii next both and Wii Fit in May.

Two PSP games making the top 10 is unusual, it's rare that one even makes it. I hear the God of War game is really good.

The 360 versions of Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and Army of Two outsold their PS3 versions big-time, at a greater ratio than the installed base of the two consoles. Both HD consoles had declining sales from last month taking into account a 4-week February and a 5-week March.

Videogames are often said to be one of the few recession-proof industries.

[wade moore]

This is US or Worldwide?

[Big Fo]

US only.

[Groundhog]

If 360 sales > PS3 sales, go ahead and assume it's US only.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Videogames are often said to be one of the few recession-proof industries.

We'll see, I guess. Both the consoles as well as the games are considerably more expensive than they used to be.

[Eaglesfan27]

So much for MBBF's predictions of the PS3 catching the 360 in early 09. The US numbers have to be more favorable for Sony for that to happen at anytime in 09 much less early 09.

Those Nintendo numbers are incredibly impressive.

[Groundhog]

I'm interested to see what Nintendo do next, console wise.

[Big Fo]

Nintendo PR

US, April 17, 2008 - In March, Nintendo again defined industry momentum in both home and portable video games sales, according to the independent NPD Group, which monitors retail activity in the video game industry. More than 720,000 Wii systems sold in March, representing the highest monthly sales total outside of holiday months (November or December) to date, while Nintendo DS™ also sold through nearly 700,000 systems.

Nintendo also finished with the top-selling U.S. game of March. Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which launched March 9, came in at No. 1 with 2.7 million units sold.

"Nintendo systems represented 58 percent of all video game hardware sold in March in the United States," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "We expect our momentum to continue with big upcoming game launches like Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit."

Other March U.S. statistics, according to NPD, include:

Three Wii games finished in the top 10, including Super Smash Bros. Brawl at No. 1, Wii Play™ at No. 4, and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock at No. 7. Nintendo DS has now sold more than 19 million units in the United States alone since it launched in November 2004.

For more information about Nintendo, please visit Nintendo.com.

Microsoft PR

Consumers continue to make the ultimate vote for Xbox 360 as the console of choice by investing $9.4 billion to date this lifecycle in the Xbox 360 experience, far outpacing that of other game consoles. (March NPD data)

Going into March, some key U.S. retailers were still experiencing the trickledown effect of Xbox 360 console shortages. By the end of March, supply issues had improved and we expect retailers to be fully stocked with Xbox 360 consoles in time for the “Grand Theft Auto IV” launch. According to NPD, 262,000 Xbox 360 consoles sold in March, reclaiming the #2 position in the next-gen console category.

In just two weeks, Xbox 360 will extend its industry lead with the year’s most anticipated game launch, GTA IV. Launching April 29, GTA IV will be coming to Xbox 360 on day one. GTA IV will feature the first ever online multiplayer for the franchise and Xbox 360 is also the only place you can earn GTA IV Achievements and increase your gamerscore.

Starting this fall, only Xbox 360 owners will have access to exclusive GTA IV episodic content. Whether it’s the results of online polls or data from pre-sells, consumers have made it clear that the benefits of Xbox LIVE and exclusive access to GTA IV episodic content are making Xbox 360 the chosen place to play GTA IV.

Man, MS loves to hammer home the fact they have the definitive version of GTA IV

Originally Posted by Groundhog

We'll see, I guess. Both the consoles as well as the games are considerably more expensive than they used to be.

Consoles yes, games I'm not so sure. I remember back in the days of cartridges prices were higher in some cases, Street Fighter II on the SNES was $70 in 1992, around $105 today when accounting for inflation. Things did get cheaper once CDs largely replaced cartidges though.

Originally Posted by Groundhog

I'm interested to see what Nintendo do next, console wise.

You and me both. It will be interesting to see how all three companies react to the way this generation is unfolding, and which of them will be the first to launch a new console.

In Nintendo's case I hope that in addition to improved motion controls and keeping the IR pointer that they make it capable of HD graphics and have it come with a hard-drive, but those seem pretty obvious. Something along the lines of PS3 power but if the PS3 had a lot more RAM. And ditch the friend codes, copy XBox Live for online play but don't charge for it, kthnx.

[General Mike]

Yeah, game prices haven't changed that much in the last 15 or 20 years. I remember alot of the premier NES games were 49.99 and then the Genesis and SNES games were between $60 and $80.

[Groundhog]

Ahh, I forgot that video game prices aren't as criminal elsewhere as they are over here. $120AUD isn't uncommon for a new 360 or PS3 title, which is $112US. That's why I buy all my games as imports, because even with shipping I'm sometimes saving $50.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

You and me both. It will be interesting to see how all three companies react to the way this generation is unfolding, and which of them will be the first to launch a new console.

In Nintendo's case I hope that in addition to improved motion controls and keeping the IR pointer that they make it capable of HD graphics and have it come with a hard-drive, but those seem pretty obvious. Something along the lines of PS3 power but if the PS3 had a lot more RAM. And ditch the friend codes, copy XBox Live for online play but don't charge for it, kthnx.

I hope Nintendo don't really strive for PS3 graphics power - I don't think their titles really *need* it. Definately improve on what they have now, but they don't have to try and take a giant leap forward, as I think they've shown this round of next-gen consoles.

I'd like to see them to progress their motion sensoring, perhaps something along the lines that that dude with all the videos on youtube did - with the 3D effects and the like. Mix that with more sensors (maybe sensors connected to your legs, arms, head, etc.), and you could have something like what we all expected we'd be playing by the year 2000.

[sterlingice]

Those numbers for Brawl are impressive! Can't really call it a system seller at the moment as, well, there are still no systems to sell but hopefully that will smooth out between now and Christmas.

If you're Nintendo, you just keep putting the pressure on and continue the momentum through next Christmas and this generation is not just over in theory but in practice. That said, how many more bullets are in the gun? Nintendo's sent all of their big stuff out early in the generation. What's next? A second Zelda for the Wii? It's not that they can't just coast from this point forward, but there's nothing on the horizon to keep the buzz up after Mario Kart is out. Wii Fit will be interesting- I'm still not buying it as the next big thing stateside. But I didn't think so about Brain Age and it sold like crazy in the US.

Speaking of which, the DS just chugging along. Tho there are rumors of a slight redesign at E3. They're pretty much out of big guns on the little screen, too. Also, a lot of the "second tier" franchises like Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania, Contra, various RPGs, off the wall games, etc- stuff that really rounds out a library but doesn't sell a ton of systems- those are mostly tapped out for the DS, too.

That said, I'm really curious about The World Ends with You which comes out next week and IGN put up a great review about so maybe I'm wrong about the lack of IPs for Nintendo to hit right now.

SI

[sterlingice]

FYI- more numbers out in IGN today, tho of Japanese in variety:

DS Hits 100 Million in Japan


Games, that is.


by John Tanaka

April 17, 2008 - The DS is as popular in Japan as The Sims is in the entire world. Japanese retail tracker Media Create announced today that the DS has sold a total of 100 million pieces of software in its home territory.

It took the DS three years and five months to reach this feat. In contrast, the PlayStation 2 took four years and three months.

Media Create also provided a few stats for the system. Since launch, the DS has seen 922 titles. Of these, 21 have crossed the million mark.

New Super Mario Bros. is the best selling DS game of all time in Japan with 5,174,163 units. Below it on the top 10 are Brain Age 2 (4,835,159), Animal Crossing DS (4,693,662), Brain Age (3,771,440), Mario Kart DS (3,042,753), Pokemon Diamond (3,005,505), Pokemon Pearl (2,490,564), English Training DS (2,216,322), Mario Party DS (1,706,506), and Big Brain Academy (1,654,285).

Except for the Pokemon games, these are all Nintendo-published titles.

SI

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

If you're Nintendo, you just keep putting the pressure on and continue the momentum through next Christmas and this generation is not just over in theory but in practice. That said, how many more bullets are in the gun? Nintendo's sent all of their big stuff out early in the generation. What's next? A second Zelda for the Wii? It's not that they can't just coast from this point forward, but there's nothing on the horizon to keep the buzz up after Mario Kart is out. Wii Fit will be interesting- I'm still not buying it as the next big thing stateside. But I didn't think so about Brain Age and it sold like crazy in the US.

Speaking of which, the DS just chugging along. Tho there are rumors of a slight redesign at E3. They're pretty much out of big guns on the little screen, too. Also, a lot of the "second tier" franchises like Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania, Contra, various RPGs, off the wall games, etc- stuff that really rounds out a library but doesn't sell a ton of systems- those are mostly tapped out for the DS, too.

That said, I'm really curious about The World Ends with You which comes out next week and IGN put up a great review about so maybe I'm wrong about the lack of IPs for Nintendo to hit right now.

SI

The DS is still looking pretty good for the next few months IMO, the weird thing is that it is all third-party driven. The World Ends With You, Super Dodgeball Brawlers, Final Fantasy IV remake (maybe everyone else played GBA remake but not me), Etrian Odyssey II, Civilization Revolution, Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2, tastes differ of course but it looks good to me. Thank goodness third-parties are coming out with what should be quality games since Nintendo's upcoming stuff is limited to Pokemon Mysterious Dungeon and Crosswords DS, neither of which I find to be all that appealing.

I'm looking forward to TWEWY next week, from its reception it seems to be one of the best games on the DS.

As far as Nintendo having already fired their big guns once Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit come out, it certainly looks that way. The remaining franchises (Starfox, F-Zero, Pikmin, etc) are second-teir compared to what has come out already. From a Nintendo financial report and other sources these are the games they have planned for the rest of the year:

Animal Crossing
Mario Super Sluggers
Kirby
Wii Music
Disaster: Day of Crisis
Fatal Frame IV

Definitely some potentially good games in there but yeah compared to what has come out during the past year it doesn't quite match up.

[MJ4H]

Another Zelda is very likely since Twilight Princess was essentially a Gamecube game. StarFox, Kirby, Pikmin, and Animal Crossing should be big. Wouldn't rule out another Mario game either (I mean Mario platformer). Certainly there will be more Wii-Whatever games.

[MizzouRah]

Why would Nintendo ever change its present strategy? They are proof that a non-HD console can do just fine... in fact, not just fine, but mind-boggling GREAT!

[Big Fo]

In four or five years they could make an HD console for a lot cheaper than Sony and Microsoft are currently making, I don't expect the Wii's successor to be coming anytime soon. HDTV ownership will be much higher at that point as well, and maybe even people will have learned that you can't get an HD signal through composite cables.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

and maybe even people will have learned that you can't get an HD signal through composite cables.

composite and component are way too close in name. Very easy to confuse people.

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

$120AUD isn't uncommon for a new 360 or PS3 title, which is $112US. That's why I buy all my games as imports, because even with shipping I'm sometimes saving $50.

Holy hell.. $112? I'd never be able to buy a new game.

[Raiders Army]

I heard a basic breakfast for one in Australia is $30 US.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

I heard a basic breakfast for one in Australia is $30 US.

5 years ago with the Aussie dollar it was probably $30aud for an Aussie to buy breakfast in the States.

A "basic breakfast" at a cafe/restaurant here would be anywhere from $8-$15aud or $7.50-$14usd (and well beyond, depending on how posh you want to go), and that's for a "big breakfast" (not sure if that's a term used in the states; means sausages/eggs/bacon/mushrooms/tomato/toast).

Everything else is pretty reasonably priced, it's mainly electronics and video games that are far more expensive here than elsewhere. Why that is, I have no idea.

[Big Fo]

Sony PR

PlayStation by the Numbers

March 2008

PS3 Sales Up Nearly 100% Year-Over-Year; PS3 Momentum Continues

Total PlayStation Hardware Unit Sales Top 770,794

PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) continued the strong momentum with 257,120 units sold in March. (according to NPD March 2008 sales data). This represents a year-over-year sales growth of over 98%. More than 1.9 million software units were sold for PS3 in March, representing a year-over-year growth of 139.2%.

The Season of Monster Titles Has Begun: The April releases of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Grand Theft Auto IV kick off the waterfall of blockbusters coming to PS3 this year, including the exclusive titles Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2 and SOCOM: Confrontation to name a few. These mega hits combined with enthusiasm for Blu-ray promise to further drive PS3 sales throughout 2008.
PLAYSTATION®Network Continues to Thrive: In North America, there are over than 3.7 million registered PLAYSTATION Network accounts and more than 67 million pieces of content have been downloaded from PLAYSTATION Store to date.

PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) continued to boast strong sales with 297,011 PSP hardware units sold in March, up 22.1% over the previous month and representing a sales increase of 65% growth year-over-year. Sales were fueled by the of recent exclusive blockbuster releases of God of War: Chains of Olympus and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, the two best-selling handheld games in the month of March.

PlayStation®2 (PS2) also had an excellent month in March with hardware unit sales reaching 216,485 units. The PLAYSTATION exclusive hit title MLB® 08 THE SHOW™ debuted as the top-selling title for PS2 in March.

As always the focus is on the positives.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

As always the focus is on the positives.

Isn't that the norm for every company in the universe?

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

5 years ago with the Aussie dollar it was probably $30aud for an Aussie to buy breakfast in the States.

A "basic breakfast" at a cafe/restaurant here would be anywhere from $8-$15aud or $7.50-$14usd (and well beyond, depending on how posh you want to go), and that's for a "big breakfast" (not sure if that's a term used in the states; means sausages/eggs/bacon/mushrooms/tomato/toast).

Everything else is pretty reasonably priced, it's mainly electronics and video games that are far more expensive here than elsewhere. Why that is, I have no idea.

I'll have to talk to the guy I work with. He told me that this week. He also said that a carton of cigarettes was $10.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by wade moore

This is US or Worldwide?

Here are the worldwide numbers for March.......

March Worldwide Sales Numbers

Wii - 1,437,000
PS3 - 829,000
360 - 624,000

March North American Sales Numbers

Wii - 721K
360 - 262K
PS3 - 257K

March Japanese Sales Numbers

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

March PAL Sales Numbers

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

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

So much for MBBF's predictions of the PS3 catching the 360 in early 09. The US numbers have to be more favorable for Sony for that to happen at anytime in 09 much less early 09.

Those Nintendo numbers are incredibly impressive.

Certainly, the numbers don't bear that out. The PS3 beat the 360 for the 5th straight month and still haven't started releasing their console selling exclusives. The PS3 even narrowly beat the Wii in Europe thanks to the release of the glorified demo otherwise known as GT5: Prologue.

Worse yet, the 360 had no shortage of units like they had claimed in January and February when they were beaten in all three regions. They came within 5K units of losing all three regions again without any excuses available to spin the numbers. The 360 desparately needs a price cut in the next couple of months if they hope to avoid getting buried in their home region of North America now that the PS3's big games are incoming over the next 3 months.

[stevew]

I remember when Lair and Heavenly Sword were going to turn this thing around!!!!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by stevew

I remember when Lair and Heavenly Sword were going to turn this thing around!!!!

Yes, it's actually quite amazing how far Sony has come since the disaster known as Lair. The industry sales have done a complete 180 since October. Obviously, GT5 and MGS4 are a much different beast than those games as you well know. I'm going to go out on a relatively sturdy limb and say that MGS4 will fare a bit better than either of those titles, especially since it's included in system bundles.

[stevew]

I'll probably buy a bundle for MGS, but I more or less just want a blu ray player. And maybe the Show.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

I'll have to talk to the guy I work with. He told me that this week. He also said that a carton of cigarettes was $10.

I don't smoke but yeah, I think they are about $10 or so. The government puts a big tax on cigarettes though, which is why they are so expensive. Came in to effect a few years ago now.

[stevew]

10 bucks a carton, or 10 bucks a pack?

Surely you mean pack, I think anyways.

[Groundhog]

Yeah, a pack that would be.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by stevew

I remember when Lair and Heavenly Sword were going to turn this thing around!!!!

That's just it. We keep hearing about the bigtime Sony exclusives and the reality is very few of them have been worth a damn for the PS3 yet. Lair was supposed to stem the tide a little bit and was a monumental bust. Heavenly Sword is a decent, not great game that didn't do a damned thing.

Sony is still struggling in the US. Despite Blu Ray winning, despite their big exclusives on the way. . . let's not mince words here, they are still down close to SEVEN million consoles in the United States. The only thing MS feels bad about now is the Europe numbers. They hoped to continue being stronger there. As for Japan, we've talked about that from the start. MS knows it's a dead end and wasn't expecting any gains in that market.

Even counting all markets, Sony needs to beat MS by over 535K units a month, every month for the next year to catch MS by March of next year worldwide.

They aren't even at half that number now and MS hasn't done a damned thing to try to stem the tide at this point. No price cuts, no huge announcements. Nothing. They just keep plugging along.

Sony could catch MS in '09. For that to happen they need every single one of their huge releases to be as good as advertised. They also need MS to continue to sit on their hands with little to no big games or announcements in play.

Neither is going to happen. After looking at the numbers today, I think it's likely MS holds it's worldwide lead through '09. I'm not at all convinced they'll ever catch MS in the United States. If they do, it'll be well into 2011 and we'll all be talking about the next big system release.

Sony is going to spin this as a win, as are Sony fan boys. But the reality still holds true. The console which had close to 75% of the market in the previous gen still doesn't have 25% of the worldwide market share and is getting completely mauled in America with a 17% share of the market. (and losing more and more of that along with MS everytime Nintendo pounds them by 500k.

Can anybody name me a product that had 75% market share worldwide and lost 2/3 of that share in a single cycle? Yet people still try to put lipstick on the pig.

My next two console purchases are likely GTA for the 360 and Mario Kart for the Wii. The next PS3 game will likely be in June (although I'm not sure I'll pick up Metal Gear, I know people who love the series but I can't stand playing 10 minutes of game and then watching 20 of cut scenes, so I'm on the fence there)

After that it'll likely be nothing until the football games come out in July.

Only game that could change that is WipeOut HD.

[Groundhog]

You're under-estimating world wide sales. It's not just about North America and Japan - Only 31% of the Worldwide sales for the PS3 came from North America, 8% from Japan, and a total of 61% from PAL.

For the 360, North America has a larger share with 42%, Japan a paltry 1%, and PAL 57%.

The 360 is clearly the leader in the States, but the PS3 is doing pretty darn well everywhere else.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

You're under-estimating world wide sales. It's not just about North America and Japan - Only 31% of the Worldwide sales for the PS3 came from North America, 8% from Japan, and a total of 61% from PAL.

For the 360, North America has a larger share with 42%, Japan a paltry 1%, and PAL 57%.
The 360 is clearly the leader in the States, but the PS3 is doing pretty darn well everywhere else.

The 360 isn't even the leader in the U.S. anymore. They lost the last two months and basically tied this month despite no supply contraints and a competitor who is selling at a higher price point overall. Microsoft should be increasing its market share at this point in the lifecycle, not giving it away. Not only that, but Microsoft had declared at the start of the year that they needed to win Europe. They're getting hammered over there right now.

[wade moore]

It definitely seems like Europe is the key battle ground right now between MS/Sony. The US for all intents and purposes is running at a draw the last few months. But MS continues to lose ground in Europe. I don't know that market well enough to understand what they need to do - but they should be looking at a price cut, etc, etc. for it.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by wade moore

It definitely seems like Europe is the key battle ground right now between MS/Sony. The US for all intents and purposes is running at a draw the last few months. But MS continues to lose ground in Europe. I don't know that market well enough to understand what they need to do - but they should be looking at a price cut, etc, etc. for it.

Microsoft made a price cut in Europe last month. They saw a relatively minor bump in sales for two weeks and then numbers went back down again.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Interesting weekly numbers coming out of Japan. All three consoles are selling relatively low numbers..........

Wii - 46K
PS3 - 8K
360 - 1K

Pre-sales of the MGS4 bundles are through the roof for the June release, but that doesn't help Sony in April. Wii is down quite a bit from its numbers a month or two ago. 360 doesn't seem to be stirring hardly any interest at all. Doubtful that GTA4 will provide much of a boost in Japan, where the game isn't nearly as popular as Europe and N.A.

[sterlingice]

Are those weekly numbers? Kyoto only, maybe? Someone missed a 0?

SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Are those weekly numbers? Kyoto only, maybe? Someone missed a 0?

SI

Correct. That is a weekly number for Japan.

[sterlingice]

That makes a lot more sense

SI

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by TroyF

Even counting all markets, Sony needs to beat MS by over 535K units a month, every month for the next year to catch MS by March of next year worldwide.

The rest of you can keep arguing what you want, but when all these "catch" predictions were made 6 months ago Sony needed something like 300K+ wins every month, and they're not hitting it. Sony may finally be winning the month-to-month battles, but not by nearly as much as everyone was predicting they would nor by enough to meet the crossover point by next year as everyone was predicting they would.

But I do agree wholeheartedly that Microsoft needs to make SOME sort of a move, as the "down 200K per month" is not good news for them.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

You're under-estimating world wide sales. It's not just about North America and Japan - Only 31% of the Worldwide sales for the PS3 came from North America, 8% from Japan, and a total of 61% from PAL.

For the 360, North America has a larger share with 42%, Japan a paltry 1%, and PAL 57%.

The 360 is clearly the leader in the States, but the PS3 is doing pretty darn well everywhere else.

I'm not underselling worldwide sales. I'm saying that Sony is winning the worldwide console market by about 200k a month right now. (this is over the 360, Nintendo is no longer part of the discussion fellas, they've won, game over)

For them to take over the 360's worldwide lead, they'll have to get beat by over 530k a month for the next year. Does anyone honestly believe Sony is going to pull that off? The Wii is beating Sony by about 600k a month now, and close to 450k of that is in the United States.

Do I see the PS3 becoming so utterly dominant at any point in the next year they get close to Wii totals? Hell no. Look, I agree with anyone who says MS is crushed to be getting pounded like this in Europe. I don't think they expected that after their start.

But if they don't start getting crushed like that in the US, Sony isn't catching them with worldwide numbers until 2010. And no mater how you slice it, Sony is going to go from 75% of the worldwide market to WELL under 50% in this cycle. (40% is even a pipe dream at this point)

Monumental fail in terms of the console market folks. The Blu Ray can be another discussion. But Sony went from total domination to a solid 3 and needing a monsterous run to get out of #3 by the third or fourth year their console is out.

MS is crushed by the Euro market. Sony will continue to roll in Japan like they always have. MS will put out a price cut at some point. I'm not sure when I can see Sony ever catching up in the American market now.

[Mustang]

I can say that I read these thread not because I actually give a shit, but just interesting reading the posts from people that do.

Odd I guess, but.. eh..

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Mustang

I can say that I read these thread not because I actually give a shit, but just interesting reading the posts from people that do.

Odd I guess, but.. eh..

It's somewhat like polical discussions. In the end, it doesn't matter much, but it's fun to talk about.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Certainly, the numbers don't bear that out. The PS3 beat the 360 for the 5th straight month and still haven't started releasing their console selling exclusives. The PS3 even narrowly beat the Wii in Europe thanks to the release of the glorified demo otherwise known as GT5: Prologue.

Worse yet, the 360 had no shortage of units like they had claimed in January and February when they were beaten in all three regions. They came within 5K units of losing all three regions again without any excuses available to spin the numbers. The 360 desparately needs a price cut in the next couple of months if they hope to avoid getting buried in their home region of North America now that the PS3's big games are incoming over the next 3 months.

Very simple math here. Worldwide, PS3 is at least 6 million units behind the 360, more likely over 7 million units behind them, but at least somewhere in the 6-7 million range depending upon which numbers you use. PS3 needs to convincingly win all of the regions to even have the slimmest of slim shots at catching the 360 by early 09 since they need to sell at least 600k more than the 360 per month to catch up by "early 09." That isn't happening when the 360 is still winning in the USA. To catch the 360 at any point in 09, they are going to have to sell at least 300-350k/month more every single month throughout 08 and 09. I strongly doubt that will happen. Time will tell which of us is correct. As Troy said, Microsoft isn't just going to sit still, they are going to make moves to regain momentum.


Edit: Or I could have read the rest of the thread, where Troy made the same points

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Time will tell which of us is correct. As Troy said, Microsoft isn't just going to sit still, they are going to make moves to regain momentum.

I agree with this. My personal opinion in regards to sales is that we're going to see a much bigger hardware boost in June for the PS3 than the 200-250K boost we saw with Halo 3 last year. Not only is it a good value with MGS4 included, but it involves the reintroduction of the 80 GB machine in N.A. and the first shot for Europe at a BC PS3. But I'm not sure HOW much bigger it will be. We won't have to wait too long for that.

In regards to Microsoft making a move, they're hands are somewhat tied right now.

1. They already made their move in Europe. They cut prices on their consoles. Judging from the minor boost that only lasted two weeks, Europe didn't seem to care too much.

2. They're much like Sony last year at this point in that they don't have any games slated for release this year that will move consoles. Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Halo Wars, and the Square RPG exclusive should make the existing installed base happy, but none of them will provide a boost 100K over normal numbers when they are released.

3. There are going to be 2-3 million Xbox 360 console owners that are going to see their RROD warranties expire later this year. What those people do when their old Xbox 360's fail again after the warranty expires will have a big effect on the market. Sony and Nintendo are going to gain some converts when that occurs.

Sony has also reduced the cost of PS3 manufacture quite a bit. If they need to make a move, they could drop the 40 GB PS3 to $299. That would be a big move if they did it in the October timeframe.

No matter what, the heated competition bodes well for consumers as a whole. We're going to see a lot of good deals head our way in the coming 6-8 months.

[Eaglesfan27]

The top selling 100 games of the last 12 months were announced in this article:

http://next-gen.biz/index.php?option...=9639&Itemid=2


Reading from OS, here are the Sports Titles that made the list:

97. NASCAR 08 (PS2/PS3/X360) 490K sold

80. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (Wii) (other versions came out earlier and are not counted here) 610K

73. NBA 2K8 (PS2/PS3/X360) 670K (it's sad to see such a great game didn't break a million when Madden despite all of the criticism sold almost 6 million.)

64. The Bigs (Wii/X360/PS2/PS3/PSP) 730K

62. Skate (360/PS3) 780K

54. Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground (PS2/PS3/Wii/DS/X360) 950K

53. Football Manager 2008 (Worldwide Soccer Manager 2008 in America)
(PC/X360/PSP) 1M - Nice to see the game continues to do well.

52. Motorstorm (PS3 Exclusive) 1M

46. NBA Live 08 (PS2/PS3/PSP/360/PC/Wii) 1.1M

30. NCAA Football 08 (PS2/PS2/XBX/X360) 1.5M

20. Forza Motorsport 2 (X360 Exclusive) 2.1M

18. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (Wii/DS/X360/PS2/PS3/PSP/PC) 2.3M

13. WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2008 (PS2/PS3/PSP/X360/DS/Wii) 3.5M

12. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (PS2/PS3/PSP/X360/DS/Wii/PC) 3.8M (surprising to me)

5. Madden NFL 08 (PS2/PS3/PSP/X360/Wii/GC/DS/PC/XBX) 5.7M

4. FIFA Soccer 08 (PS2/PS3/PSP/X360/Wii/DS/PC) 5.7M



The top 3 aren't sports games, but for those that are interested:

3. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock (PS2/PS3/X360/Wii/PC) 7.5M

2. Halo 3 (X360 Exclusive) 8M

1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (X360/PS3/PC) 8.3M

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

New Mortal Kombat game announced.............

http://www.mortalkombatonline.com/

Today, Midway Games confirmed what had been rumored for a while: the first next-generation Mortal Kombat title, up until now called "Mortal Kombat 8" by the community, is officially titled Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. As the title suggests, it will be a crossover with the characters and setting of DC Comics. Further information about the game should be forthcoming.

[Eaglesfan27]

Not a Dola -

It's even sadder that College Hoops didn't even make the list.


EA's offer to Take Two expires today. Take Two has tried to imply they have other offers. Microsoft stated today that they aren't interested in purchasing Take Two. When talking about why Microsoft wasn't interested, Shane Kim's quote made me chuckle, "there's an awful lot you can do with 3 billion dollars."

http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=187221

It will be interesting to see if EA ups their offer of 26 dollars per share, if they back off (unlikely) or if they reapply pressure in pursuit of a hostile takeover (again.) It seems like the board has rallied the troops over at Take Two, but I imagine that might only last until after GTA IV releases.