Network now...NEWS
PS3 Sales Double in Japan
Sony’s Playstation 3 saw the biggest proportional sales growth this week in Japan. The console, which sold 17,436 units the previous week, has doubled its turnover to 34,978 units.
The PS3’s sales rush sees the console selling at three times the rate of the Xbox 360, which had in recent weeks narrowed the gap between the two consoles. Microsoft’s box sold 11,423 units, down by 4,000 from last week.
As with the PS3’s sales jump back in early November, compelling software seems to be the single driving force behind sales for the console. This week Konami’s own World Soccer Winning Eleven 2009 sold above 168,000 copies in its debut week.
Yet Winning Eleven 09 wasn’t the biggest-selling game this week in Japan. That distinction goes to Level-5’s riddle-bound adventure game Professor Layton and The Final Time Journey, which moved 347,000 units. The success of this game has helped the Nintendo DS experience a dramatic turnaround in fortunes; the handheld barely moved 3,559 units two weeks ago as the DSi continued to dominate Japan’s interests, yet last week DS sales spiked to 18,580, with the unit growing further still and selling 26,851 units this week.
The DS’s sales jump doesn’t seem to be visibly affecting its successor, however. The DSi continues to outsell its competition by a wide margin; this week moving 87,185 units, a trimming of some 1500 units from last week.
Wii sales too had climbed considerably, reaching 49,848 units sold. That figure puts the console within reaching distance of the PSP (55,090), nearly marking that rare occurrence where a TV console outsells one of Japan’s latest handhelds.
Full list according to Media Create:
Nintendo DSi - 87,185
PSP - 55,090
Wii - 49,848
PlayStation 3 - 34,978
Nintendo DS - 26,851
Xbox 360 - 11,423
PlayStation 2 - 5,628
Previous week.
Via Kotaku.
I understand where yur coming from with that but honestly the playstation is just a drop in the hat compared to all the other merchandise Sony has out it might even be the case that they dont even consider the playstation brand as a top priority it seems we all forget that Sony has merchandise from cd players to full blown computers all trying to get out into the general public maybe they have to much on there plate trying to one up ALL there competitors which in electronics there are many.
You're absolutely correct. Having worked for Sony for a couple of years, getting an idea of their scope is almost breathtaking. Sure Sony cares (significantly) about the PlayStation brand, but their focus is on the Home Entertainment market as a whole (publication house notwithstanding). The initial push for the PS3 specifically was to establish the Blu-Ray format and Sony as the leading supporter. Now that the format war is over, the major push from the company seems to be on accessible home theater. Personally, I have a soft spot for the Playstation brand, and I would love to see it do well. The reason I hope that Sony would reduce the price of the console is so that everyone else can share my enjoyment in a little box I love so much. Nothing against the 360 (I own one as well), but the Playstation as a whole just seems like a more well rounded, better engineered system (referring to the aesthetic style of the console itself, the interface, built in capabilities etc). On a second note, I don't really understand fanbois (in any camp). Enjoy the games you've got, regardless of the system. The system really doesn't do much at the end of the day. It's the content developers that make it enjoyable for us.
I agree w you there Nick I dont see any of the systems even touchin the Wii. I know an 80 year old lady that has one kinda shows the effect its had.
I believe Sony is no longer interested in coming in 2nd or 1st place. It seems they've adopted the same strategy as the handheld arena. They've long given up on the PSP ever beating the DS and instead are concentrating on profitability.
They won't bother dropping their price below the competition or in response to the competition's price drop. As long as sales come in as expected or higher than their forecasts, it's good enough for them. If sales falter they will try a bundling strategy first. And failing that there will be a price drop so long as they still profit.
Of course this will mean coming in last place and it seems they're accepting that and in order to keep themselves relevant are no longer really courting 3rd parties with paid exclusives and are putting more support and funding into their first party studios so there'll always be a reason to get a PS3.
You don't think Sony believes they need to save face? I think you're assumptions are logical and would make sense, I just feel like Sony's pride is on the line and that may be as important to them as profit (maybe not to investors or shareholders and maybe they have spoken up a bit and redirected Sony's focus on what really matters). Not to be racist or stereotypical, but it was my understanding that the Japanese are an esprcially prideful race, to lose to an American relative newcomer (at least newcomer when it comes to home consoles, I don't think MS is a newcomer in general) would seem almost disgraceful. Or, I'm just ignorant which is fairly possible, too. ^^
Despite my rant above, one can never write-off Sony. They're like AC Milan.
Speaking of sales there are some excellent PS3 bundles happening just now. This is the best one though (UK):
Sony Playstation 3 160gb with 7 games (4 downloads, 3 disc based) Including Lillte Big Planet, Fifa 09 & Smackdown 09 only £324 Delivered -- Dixons
Use coupon code: HAPPY5 to bring price to £324.
Links:
http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/291315/sony-playstation-3-160gb-limited-e...
http://www.dixons.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/103245
Heavy Rain def looks promising
well Nick it would kinda be somthing to brag about I mean the original xbox wasnt exactly competition to the PS2 it did come out like 4 years after didnt it ? The PS2 was kinda in a league of its own back then this time its different I mean all bashing aside the 360 is a pretty good opponent w a year head start on Sony, call it Sonys handicap. So if Sony ends up overtaking the 360 in a couple of years even with its slow start that would be a major blow to Microsoft and a major win to Sony. I mean alot of xbox fanboys would be pissed it would be all over the internet prolly even on Edge "Sony Pulls Ahead " or something like that we both know that if it does happen thats exactly how it would go down and it def would be big news the typical underdog story.
Xbox 1 came out 1 year after PS2 as did the GameCube. They may pull ahead, but it'll be so late in the game that it wouldn't matter. And if they do, it won't be by much. Maybe that could be considered a win, but far below the PS2's success.
You're right that the 360 is a strong competitor and it shows your character being a PS3 owner that you can admit that. I think if Sony accepts the fact that they have strong competition and isn't delusional that they are going to smash the competition like they have in the past they probably will be happy with beating the 360 in the end this generation, even if only by a relative small margin.
All 3 of the current gen systems are strong in their own way and if any of them think they're leaps and bounds ahead of the other (other than in Wii’s graphical/audio disadvantage) that's just silly. This generation I'm sure will end with all systems being pretty close. The Wii may have a strong lead, but it won't be 140 million to 45 million to 45 million, it'll be more like 80 million to 50 million to 45 million (not guessing who will be 50 million though). This is of course my own estimates.
The PS3 pulling ahead at any point this generation would be news indeed, but my point was it'll be by far less than it was last generation. And you're right, Sony would probably be happy with that, cause they know they aren't catching the Wii (my guess).
Sony was the #1 hardware maker last generation, and in this generation they're currently #3. I don't know how you can be all that happy about giving up your first place position...even if you end up taking the lead near the end (they won't be surpassing Nintendo in '09). I mean I would have expected Sony to dominate the competition because they had all the resources available to keep their lead. Just ask all those people out there that are trying to compete with World of Warcraft...it's tough to take down the top dog. In my opinion the #1 position was Sony's to keep and Sony's to lose. Getting it back in year 5 or 6 of a 8-10 year cycle, is far below expectations...i expected them to have the #1 position all along actually.
Ya know wuts really gonna be great when the PS3 surpasses Xbox after having a year to a year and a half head start and honestly its startin to look like that in the long run. Sony wrecked Microsoft throughout the year till the price cut and in some regions are ahead Europe and Japan.Sony is also still selling better even after the xbox price cut in Japan for instance.
Edit: Oops, this was supposed to be a reply to a comment...my bad. I was replying to this comment by Top Dollar: "It's no wonder why Sony isn't cutting the price of the system because (sales wise) it's on par with the PS2 (140m sold as of 20/07/2008 and counting) when that system was 2 years into it's release cycle."
Okay, so below are the PS2 sales numbers I have from NPD for Nov. of 2001 through Dec. of 2002. Considering the PS2 came out in N. America in Oct. of 2000, these months would roughly compare to the PS3 months dated from last Nov. until now. Let's see how they compare?
Month PS2(2001-2002) PS3(2007-2008)
Nov/2001 920,000 ---- 466,000
Dec/2001 1,940,000 ---- 798,000
Jan/2002 350,000 ---- 269,000
Feb/2002 420,000 ---- 281,000
Mar/2002 350,000 ---- 257,000
Apr/2002 190,000 ---- 187,000
May/2002 490,000 ---- 209,000
Jun/2002 690,000 ---- 406,000
Jul/2002 440,000 ---- 225,000
Aug/2002 450,000 ---- 185,000
Sep/2002 540,000 ---- 232,000
Oct/2002 500,000 ---- 190,000
Total: 7,280,000 ---- 3,705,000
And I highly doubt that it's going to come even close to these numbers in the next two months.
Nov/2002 1,300,000
Dec/2002 2,700,000
I worked for Sony for 5 years and love their products, but I wouldn't say the PS3 is tracking with the PS2...not by a long shot.
I'm going to see if I can't try and dig up some Europe numbers, because I can't believe that it would be that different from N. America.
It's nice to know that the PS3 is gaining steam in Japan. I think any industry analyst will tell you that the Wii will sell the most units worldwide this generation with the PS3 coming in second. No one here should be arguing that fact.
No need to speculate about when system sales will pick up because economic circumstances make that projection rather difficult. The best thing to do is to temper extrapolation and let the people like NPD, EEDAR, and Michael Patcher worry about sales. Just enjoy the software.
I'll be nice because you made a nice reply to my first post here, but I think you need to re-evaluate your definition of the word fact.
There's no point in asking for calm if you're going to pass off bias opinion as fact in the next sentence. :P
You can't come to Edge and dictate what people can and cannot argue on Edge. It's ok to have a different opinion. Nothing that pertains to a paticular hypothetical future event is "fact". Right now, 360 is winning (FACT) and will extend it's lead the rest of this year (OPINION). See what I just did there!? lol!
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It's all in the games. I'm fickle when it comes to consoles (much like the Japanese seem to be). I don't concern myself with the unit itself rather than what the software developers have to offer. If a game is released on multiple platforms, my choice typically goes to Sony, simply because they have the most comfortable controller and for no other reason than that. Thanks to a phenomenal previous two years for each of the consoles, my tv stand is now stuffed with black and white boxes of joy.
Japanese gamers aren't typically fickle. The majority are from the younger generations, and have had brand loyalty bred into them. Most of the world was enamored with the PS1 and PS2, and is the reason that PS3 has consistently outsold 360 in Japan, regardless of how much Microsoft has attempted to woo the Japanese gamer. Of course, my gut tells me that because Microsoft is an American behemoth, it likely didn't help them cater to those in the East..
With Level 5's White Knight Chronicles getting released on the 25th of December sales for the PS3 on the final month of the year will exceed that of those in November.
"December sales for the PS3 on the final month of the year will exceed that of those in November"
Is there really any question that a console will sell more in December than any other month of the year? I'm assuming this is true in Japan as well as in N. America.
Take a look at last years numbers across the top 3 non-portable platforms in N. America:
---------------------------360-----------PS3--------Wii-----------------------
November 2007 | 770,000 | 466,000 | 981,000
December 2007 | 1,260,000 | 798,000 | 1,350,000
And the previous year...
---------------------------360------------PS3---------Wii---------------------
November 2006 | 511,000 | 197,000 | 476,000
December 2006 | 1,100,000 | 491,000 | 604,000
Impressive sales for all three formats (in the US). Especially for the PS3 considering it's the most expensive console of the lot.
It's true, if the games are there then consumers will pay the $400 asking price for the system. In 2009 we'll see more evidence of this with games like Killzone 2, InFamous, FFXIII (JPN), Heavy Rain, etc.
It's no wonder why Sony isn't cutting the price of the system because (sales wise) it's on par with the PS2 (140m sold as of 20/07/2008 and counting) when that system was 2 years into it's release cycle.
There is no reason why the PS3 can't do PS2 numbers because it's already emulating the PS2 in terms of sales when, indeed, that system was out only 2 years.
With the PS3's 2009 line-up being far superior to that of 2008, Sony could probably wait until this time next year before cutting the price of the system.
I think most of your observations are fair except two. As I think Ken asked, do you have anything to back up your PS2 claims? I know that it has sold 140 million worldwide, but after two years the PS2 only sold 16.8 million units? And the other one, people keep saying "next year will be PS3's year." This year was supposed to be "the year of the PS3" when it still will end up being 2nd to the 360 (at least in the US which is the biggest market of the 3 territories). This year saw the release of MGS4 (arguably Sony's biggest gun), LBP and a bunch of other games that Sony's fans on this site have mentioned and it still wasn't a huge year for the PS3. So...next year maybe? I can't see too many games being bigger than MGS4 for Sony. I guess they do have Killzone coming out next year which has my interest a bit, and GOW 3 possibly coming out next year (which doesn't have my interest) maybe it could be a big year for Sony.
Well, MGS4 (and LBP) was (is) a success, considering the lesser user base of the platform (and LBP's still counting ^^). It's a matter of opinion what would you take as success: the PS3, with its higher price, made more money per unit than the competition. Plus they have the PSP and PS2 divisions to make 'em happy. Oh and last time I heard PSN went quite good. Next year they'll drop the PS2 and release some cash-cow exclusives, like Heavy Rain, Killzone 2, Uncharted 2, FF XIII Versus (probably), God of War III (most likely), and will announce the next Team Ico game.
For a personal record, I'm really interested in Uncharted 2, the Team Ico game, and some lesser ones -- Fat Princess, fl0wer, and the new PixelJunk title(s). My 2 cents.
Can we all agree that PS3 sales (worldwide, japan is already won) will eventually surpass that of the 360.
It's inevitable. No point in discussing to be honest.
You make a ridiculous statement like this then accuse others of fanboyism? My eyes are rolling out of their sockets.
Hmm, I think you're right. But by the time they do surpass the 360 most likely the next Xbox will be out and it wouldn't matter anymore. At the worldwide sales rate of 1-2 million more consoles sold for the PS3 than the 360 a year, even at 2 million a year more worldwide assuming the PS3 and 360's numbers stick to what they are now for the next 3 years would put Sony at a little over 2 million less consoles sold worldwide than the 360. So, no, I don't think it is that cut and dry. If the PS3 is to surpass the 360 in worldwide sales within the next 3 years, they have to outsell the 360 worldwide by more than 2 million consoles a year. If they can hit 3 million more consoles a year every year prior to the next box coming out, they'll surpass them, but by very little. And again, beating a competitor by a fraction of consoles when the prior generation you obliterated them is hardly anything to brag about for Sony. It should be seen as an absolute disaster. If the PS3 only tops 40-50 million consoles for this generation (my guess, they can't afford to sit around letting MS have another head start for too long), that's a 60% decrease from the PS2. What a mess. Oh well, every super power eventually falls (look at Nintendo after their dominance with the NES and SNES to get stomped all over and dropped all the way to 3rd behind a first time console (Xbox 1). It’s only natural.
With the price drop, I firmly believe Microsoft put Sony in a hole they can never climb out of. November and December NPDs are gonna show the PS3 being slaughtered by the 360.
I know you don't want to hear that, but the you have to stop being so delusional at some point.
Didn't i just give you the link to TeamXbox within my previous post? Here it is again:
http://www.teamxbox.com/
Now go, run, i'll time you!!
Huh?
Top_Dollar: "It's no wonder why Sony isn't cutting the price of the system because (sales wise) it's on par with the PS2 (140m sold as of 20/07/2008 and counting) when that system was 2 years into it's release cycle."
That's gotta be wrong. Show me some numbers. A supply constrianed PS2 with the sixth gen market to itself in it's first year could never do as bad as the PS3 in it's first year. Show me numbers to back that up please.
The rest of your comment is the typical "wait until x game" that PS3 fans have been screaming since early 2007. So I won't comment further.
I know, eh? First it was "Wait 'til MSG4 comes out, PS3 will lead the way."
Then it was "Gran Turismo 5 will be a REAL system mover."
Then it was "LBP is a must have, AAA title. It'll bring even casual, mainstream players to the PS3"
Most recently it was "Resistance 2 is a beautiful game. Everyone's gonna want to play it"
What is it this time, Killzone 2 now? You'll pardon me if i'm a little skeptical.
The proof is in the pudding. No 1 game is gonna jumpstart sales for an extended period of time. It's a combination of many titles that will help boost PS3 sales AND KEEP THEM ELEVATED. As was mentionned, if 2009 is going to be "The year of the PS3," it's going to have to have an exceptionally strong library overall, not just a highly anticipated/hyped release every few months. Does it? For some people yes, for some people no. That all depends on people's tastes. But talking about the next "hot release" clearly isn't doing it.
"No 1 game is gonna jumpstart sales for an extended period of time. It's a combination of many titles that will help boost PS3 sales..."
Agreed. The thing is, as far as games go, the PS3 has reached its critical mass this year. It has the "exceptionally strong" library you mentioned, so for me it's definitely a yes. (Don't want to enumerate the titles, did that several times. ^^)
Kenology, go back to team xbox you muppet. Here i'll even give you the link.
http://www.teamxbox.com/
//Some people, man.
So now I'm an Xbot because I asked Top_Dollar to provide evidence to support his claim.
lol!
Like I said in an earlier article, Sony fanboys are incredibly testy nowadays... and it'll only get worse once those NPDs drop.
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That's gotta be wrong. Show me some numbers. A supply constrianed PS2 with the sixth gen market to itself in it's first year could never do as bad as the PS3 in it's first year. Show me numbers to back that up please.
}
"We’re relying on the fact that the industry will keep growing and while we might have a comparatively smaller share of the market we will have higher sales. PS3 is tracking where PS2 was at the same point in its life. The value added strategy will continue for some years to come."
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/32597/Sony-Were-ahead-of-Xbox-in-Europe
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The rest of your comment is the typical "wait until x game" that PS3 fans have been screaming since early 2007. So I won't comment further.
}
Typical reply from a nay sayer. It's a FACT that the 2009 line-up for the system is going to be better than that of 2008. Just look at any decent gaming site...it's a no brainer.
Also, i'm not going to justify which other systems i own, just so that it can shut up some fool.
Ok, the PS3 is tracking similar to PS2 in EUROPE is believeable, as that's the PS3s strongest market. You didn't say "IN EUROPE" in the original post, so I assumed you were speaking worldwide - which we know is not the case.
It will only take some great games, and the next price cut, and PS3 will do even better.