PS3 demand booms in Japan

Sony sold more PlayStation 3s in the last four weeks in its home territory of Japan than rival Nintendo sold Wiis, local games publisher Enterbrain said today. But another market watcher revealed Wii won out in the week to 25 November. According to Enterbrain, some 183,217 PS3s crossed counters in the four weeks to 25 November …

[Anonymous Coward]

Wii sales are red herring

Everyone I know who bought a Wii thought it was amazing and good fun for about a fortnight and then got bored of it. Swinging the remote was fun and novel but then gets tiresome and the lack of accuracy doesn't lend itself to long term gaming. The Wii went into a cupboard or onto eBay. For this reason, I highly suspect that whilst Wii sales are large, they don't sell many third party games. I bet the average Wii owner has a fraction of the amount of games than a PS3 or X360 owner has.

[Anonymous Coward]

Try Mario Part 8

"for about a fortnight and then got bored of it."

We're playing Mario party 8, it's consumed many many fun filled nights, so I doubt what your saying is true given my first hand experience of the console. (MP8 is a turned based game where you compete in minigame tournaments to gain coins to buy stuff. It's a party game, best played in groups. We're only about 20% way through the game)

"and the lack of accuracy doesn't lend itself to long term gaming."

The controller also has the usual arrow keys and buttons on it, so it can be used like a normal ('accurate' as you call it) controller (and is for some of the minigames in MP8).

"The Wii went into a cupboard or onto eBay. "

Yet the eBay numbers don't back your claims up.

I think it's just sour grapes. Sony and Microsoft outdid each other to make a console that would render the most polygons, and the public decided more fun was not more polygons. Well that's what happens when you don't listen to your customers.

Nintendo made the best call.

Sony's boost is likely temporary on the back of a price cut of something, like the XBox blip on the back of Halo3.

[Liam]

oh noooo not Mario Party 8

i bought it cos it looked good. how wrong was i? its just random - the COM characters always manage to get really high scores and fluke around where you just get stiffed, hardly any skill involved and graphics that a playstation 1 would be embarassed of :( it wasnt even in widescreen!!!! i mean come on, its like travelling back in time! it went back after one night :(

the only games worth playing on the wii has been wii tennis and zelda... both look awful on a large tv.

i think sony is being helped due to the upcoming release of titles like drakes fortune and the like. blowing anything wii has to offer out of the water.

and i have both - so im not biased... i DO like the controls mechanism in zelda but the nunchuck remote is pants - it tries to force you to go in one of the 8 directions rather than feeling true analogue (like ps3 controllers), the main controller works well but if you look closely you can see that the game producers have had to do all kinds of tricks to stop it spinning around. not to mention that almost every time you select a range weapon (like the box & arrows) the cursor disappears.

i just dont think this console is meant for REAL gamers... more party games & women (argggh i can hear flames ;))

[Law]

RE: Try Mario Party 8

LIES!! lol.... My wife wins mp8 everytime we play, and Brain Acadamy... although it isn't the wii that goes in the cupboard, its the wife! :)

Mario Galaxy is an amazing game... not sure it's out here in the UK yet, but you should definately get it. The accuracy of the pointer is perfect, and it's not just a Mario 64 clone this time, it actually has some novel gameplay in it. It's odd jumping from big sphere to another big sphere, and having it's gravity suddenly take hold... very cool!

Not all the games are about swinging the remote either.... Zelda is amazing. It's true though, I haven't got half as many games for the Wii... but its mainly a lack of 2 things:

- Lack & quality of 3rd party ports (Spiderman 3 was disgusting on Wii compared to even the ps2 version, never mind 3!)

- Any real online system... where is the Xbox live rival I was promised? They seriously need to work on the online stuff.

[Joe K]

Christmas will be interesting

Rumours are flying around now that PS3 demand is quickly skyrocketing, now that its got its first christmas in Europe, and 1st anywhere with some decent games.

Assassins Creed and COD4 are on the Xbox360 and PC too, but appear already dwarfed by PS3 sales of them.

I couldn't find one for love nor money on launch day. Xbox360 and PC copies though were piled high.

It is NO temporary boost a-la Halo 3, the Sony brand still carries just as much weight as Nintendo, though in a more mature market.

[JohnA]

Yes Liam

The Wii is for partys and women.. Two things you will never have.

[Anonymous Coward]

Blah blah 360 and PS3 more powerful...

That's true, and I don't think anybody's going to dispute the fact that they win on power, or that the 360 has a wider range of titles available and better online play. If polygon-pushing is what you're after then go for it...

... different consoles for different people, although I'd say it's between the 360 and the Wii. No idea what Sony's up to, as a PS1 and 2 fan I'm still waiting for a reason to get one, no GT5, no MGS4, no Final Fantasy...

[N]

PS3 finally "coming good" for Sony?

If so, it's about time. But on the back of what? Sales figures usually ride on a particular release. Some Japan-only title that won't mean a lot to us perhaps?

Still waiting for a good excuse to buy one though. I think I'll wait on the rumble pad version next year.

[Iain]

A particular release? Why, yes.

It's had a boom in demand due to the price on the new 40Gb cut-down model. Which also comes in a really nice shiny white edition.

There aren't many new games worth worrying about, but BluRay has the Spidey, Pirates and Die Hard movies. So that might be an influence.

[Matthew Johns]

Total sales

Per that graph there are about 18 million Wii's in Japan and 6.5 million PS3's. WHich one will a developer go for do you think?

[Liam]

wtf @ john?

check out assassins creed, heavenly sword, and drake's fortune :)

@ john a := yes, being an older fart now i dont have as many parties or women as i used to - but i do know the plural for party so im obviously not as thick as you - where the hell did that come from? i would also have loved you to come to some of our old parties - i could show you how to live...

wiis arent for proper gamers - ive only STILL found zelda worth playing after the many games ive tried... wheras my ps3 is on all the time MY WOMAN isnt there....

[Lickass McClippers]

I concur...

...The Wee is for chicks'n'kids. Please go away and leave it to the proper gaming consoles; the PS3 and the Dell GX150 (otherwise known as the Xbox 360)...

[david gomm]

the Wii may appeal to chicks 'n' kids

thanks for the hardcore gamers view but there are an awful lot more chicks 'n' kids out there than hardcore gamers.

[Lickass McClippers]

My pleasure...

...Dave, my pleasure...