US PS3 sales surge US PlayStation 3 sales almost doubled last month on the back of the latest in the Metal Gear Solid game series - but the Wii remained June's games console champion. According to figures from market watcher NPD, Sony shifted 405,500 PS3s through US retail channels in June, up 94.3 per cent on the May's total of 208,700. The …
The fact that Sony is still shifting "old" technology in volumes comparable to both its and Microsoft's current efforts is significant and interesting, and the graph as drawn conceals this. Would it be possible to have a graph with a PS2 line too? (And any other earlier console still selling in significant volume). At some point PS2 sales will drop off, but as is, we have no good way of visualising when.
Sony sales numbers are certainly questionable. Sites like www.vgchartz.com suggest Sony has shifted 14mill units, nexgenwars claims 10mill.
At E3 last week Sony in their very own keynote announced "We're close to selling over 10 million units". This is irrefutable evidence that the stats provided by most sites are wrong, simply because it came from the mouth of Sony themselves.
There's no doubt that MGS4 increased sales, but the increase is still rather modest and does not come close to the sales increases bought by the likes of Halo 3 and Super Mario Galaxies for their respective systems.
With Final Fantasy IV now due to be released on the XBox 360 despite Sony owning over 17% share in Square Enix and Sony's talk of focussing on the longer term profits it's fairly clear what their strategy is.
Sony accepts that they can no longer compete in the market of latest and greatest in this round and are hoping that over time when Microsoft and Nintendo have moved on to next-gen that they can at very least do as they've done with the PS2 and satisfy the last-gen market, people who are happy with older, less impressive but much cheaper hardware. Whether this will work is interesting because over time if the PS3 can't at least get enough sales to drop it's hardware costs it could get overrun by the decreasing price of the Wii and 360 due to their high sales.
To suggest US PS3 sales surge is a bit enthusiastic, "One or two months of good sales due to MGS4" is more realistic. Sony themselves accept they've screwed the pooch this round with their acceptance of FFXIII on the 360 as major Square Enix shareholders, they know they're going to make more money this way. It comes as no surprise though that The Register puts an overly positive pro-Sony twist on all this as they didn't even cover hardly any of the extremely positive news from Microsoft and Nintendo from E3 yet gave plenty of coverage to Sony's mediocre, almost irrelevant news. The Register, like Sony fanboys simply can't accept the facts this time round. Facts, that even Sony themselves now accept.
Those PS2 customers will be PS3 customers in 5 or so years.
Don't think that because 360 has 4m or so lead (4m is abysmal, considering the 12/18month headstart), over the life of the PS3, it will clearly exclipse the 360, and most likely outsell the Wii. Although I don't think the Wii is being bought my traditional gamers.
My mother just bought herself a Wii (for Wiifit), and there is no way I would ever have envisioned her owning a console...
While all the other metrics people have asked for in here are perfectly valid, I'd still like to see some world-wide sales figures over the last year. Focusing in just one region can be very misleading.
If I remember rightly, most consoles gamers I know regard the original-Xbox as a success due to its visibly high market saturation by the end of its product life-time, yet this only turned out to be true in the US and western Europe. Every games developer I have every spoken to regard the original-Xbox as a financial flop for M$ due to poor sale in Asia - a games market that dwarfs the US apparently.
So here we are again talking about sales performance of three competing consoles, yet we're focusing on the US exclusively...?
I just think over-simplified analysis like this just a bit flawed, that's all.
I love the xbox fanbois here, Sony has a little good news and they all go rabid.... ug sony bad, microsoft good ug.
As for the exclusives, what about Little Big Planet, Resitance 2, Killzone 2, Motorstorm 2, SOCOM: Confrontation, Time Crisis 4, Afrika, GT5 and the list goes on, currently it stands at 51 PS3 exclusives and more are added to the list weekly....
As for the Xbox exclusives - Halo series (played 'em, they suck), Fable (It'll be out on the PC soon enough), Bioshock (oh yeah, not an exclusive now, but the PS3 DLC is).
AC, do you have reading or comprehension problems? You comnstantly post this tripe here, and are constantly corrected..
As per Sony's E3 press release,
It's 10m this financial year, not total sales to date..
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/30557/Sony-forecasts-10m-PS3-sales-in-next-year
So with the pre-2008 sales of 10m, that's a TOTAL of 20m PS3's It's clearly too diffucult for Xbox fanboys to understand this, and it's almost certain he will continue to post his tripe however.
"It comes as no surprise though that The Register puts an overly positive pro-Sony twist on all this as they didn't even cover hardly any of the extremely positive news from Microsoft and Nintendo from E3 yet gave plenty of coverage to Sony's mediocre, almost irrelevant news. The Register, like Sony fanboys simply can't accept the facts this time round. Facts, that even Sony themselves now accept."
Well it depends on your perspective, ie. whether you're a Microsoft/Nintendo fanboy or not. Cleary you're not a Sony fanboy, but many of the reviews I've read covering the Microsoft/Nintendo/Sony announcements at E3 slated Microsoft for slavishly copying the competition with their new avatars and lacklustre services, while praising Nintendo and Sony for their new hardware, services and/or games. So, please step forward the Microsoft-fanboy - there's always at least one! I don't care about any of the 3 console manufacturers, but your clearly biased fanboy rant did make me laugh. Pot, kettle, black eh?
Joke Alert because fanboys are always good for laugh.
MGS4's boost to the PS3 has been a disappointing blip, after it was hailed as one of the system's killer apps. I think Sony must be getting quite worried now.
Now that MS have grabbed FFXIII, Sony don't really have any big name exclusives in the near pipeline. I'm sure PS3 owners will point to Resistance 2, Killzone 2 and Little Big Planet, but I'm not convinced they'll get any of those out this year, and they're nowhere near as big as franchises like MGS or Final Fantasy. This is probably what prompted Don Mattrick to promise PS3 won't outsell 360 in the US until the end of this generation.
With Gears of War 2 and a secret new Halo title, I suspect MS are going to have the biggest buzz amongst hardcore games this year. Especially after Nintendo's decision to go entirely casual.
Just look at that jump when Wii Fit came out, blimey!
I remember when Atkins diet books and videos were all the rage, making billions for its creators, all because the public had somehow convinced themselves that they'd be toned and fit almost just from buying it. Your friends were on it, so you had to be too.
Then everyone realised that its all bollocks and the books and vids instantly became bargain bin material.
I'm just saying........
...Is happy with the current range of consoles and playing games on all of them? Or is it just me?
Don't get me wrong, I'm no hippy and not into cross console love making, but this CONTINUAL bitching back and forth is mental! I don't ever remember it been this bad PS1 vs Saturn, SNES vs Megadrive, PS2 vs Dreamcast vs N64.
There are some folks in here need to discover things like alcohol and masturbation to better fill their time. Or colouring books.
All the people posting about how PS3 has these other exclusives coming up like:
"Little Big Planet, Resitance 2, Killzone 2, Motorstorm 2, SOCOM: Confrontation, Time Crisis 4, Afrika, GT5"
Really? Is that it? Then the PS3 really is screwed. Hardly stands even close to the likes of Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Left 4 Dead, Splinter Cell: Conviction and similar.
A lot of PS3 fans seem to be really running scared now, scraping the barrel on what excuses they can come up with next for their console that has failed, even by Sony's own acceptance.
It's rather amusing that fanboys find it even harder to accept the failure of a product they have less allegiance to than the company that created it who have instead fairly easily accepted they got it wrong this time and lost hard.
Gotta laugh at the "My console's better than yours" guys. Personally I think the ps3 is the better console however currently the 360 has the better media player and cataloge.
But who care's im an adult I work hard, so I own them both (after all its not like a 360's expensive and a ps3 is a good and cheap blu-ray player).
Sony have been lacking on good titles but they are sorting that out and thats making a lot of people go out and buy one. I know a lot of people that have said I will get one when the price comes down or the game I want comes out etc. Its nice to see sony actually getting some good retail movement of their hardware now their software is starting to get its act together.
Gosh so many Fanyboise of all 3 stripes (one more than your standard gender wars) getting all excited and uppity about their favourite toy. Then rudely slagging off the one they don't own, to validate their own existance (I have 2/3 of said consoles and a PC & MAC, so just call me a console whore or indecisive or just happened to like games on 2/3 and cannot persuade the wife to let me have all 3.)
What exactly do you sad fanboise actually get upon the demise of a console? I mean does Msoft/Sony/Nintendo, actually send you a pile of cash to cover all the money spent on the product? Do you receive a medal proclaiming your victory and support in such a dangerous activity? Did you feel all warm and special when HD died? Do you display your little printed certificate stating you owned a PS3 v0.00000001?
Or do you get less choice, increased game costs ('cos that is what monopolies do) and an enforced search for something else to be a fanboi about? Then hoping that BMX v Chopper Fanboi wars return?
They're games consoles, people. You **play games** on them. That's it (yes, yes, I know you can watch movies on them too, whoopeee!).
The entire Playstation vs 360 vs Wii fanboy ranting reminds me of nothing more than when my nephew and his friends used to argue over what the best Pokemon card was because "this one flies so it's BEST!!!" "but this one has flameguns in its arms so it's BEST!!!" "but this one is invisible so it's BEST!!!!".
<--The one with the "WiiStation 360" (TM) logo on the back...
It seems like the PS3's gaining traction at last. Of course it is MGS4, but it isn't just that: the price is now around something I can actually pay for... except I'm still cash-strapped, so I might buy the thing by December.
A lot of PS2 gamers were holding out to MGS4, me being one of them. I've been losing interest with games lately; it seems that SquareEnix has gone mostly downhill after, well, they turned into SquareEnix. My favorite RPG's seem to have died (Xenogears/Xenosaga, Suikoden?) and I've outgrown most FPS games. Come on, the FPS games haven't really done any groundbreaking achievement since Half-Life (interactive environment), Red Faction (I can ride vehicles!), or Doom3 (d00d! I can actually use the computers now!). Halo wasn't even a blip, its only contribution was an annoying health system, a "two weapons max" inventory and "c00l" graphics.
As was said here earlier, the 360 was released 17 months earlier than the ps3.
A quick search for sales reveals about 15 million PS3's sold and about 20 million xbox 360's. The PS3 was released 21 months ago, and the 360 38 months ago.
Hence:
PS3 - 15,000,000 / 21 = 714285 units per month
360 - 20,000,000 / 38 = 526315 units per month
Seems pretty obvious and easy to work out which is selling better. (Obviously this is clearly a battle for second place with the Wii being at the top. But I don't really count the Wii, with it's endless library of tennis games and Mario rehashes)
All consoles suck. The C64 sold more than any of them ever, and will remain the best games and office computer ever made.
especially the old beige brick one which was advertised with the elephant.
I am using it to type this, whilst simultaneously 'streaming' some text (10 print "Hello World"; 20 Goto 10), and watching a movie.
Ok I'm lying about the movie.
And the typing.
But it will definitely stream text.
C64 for eva
"There are some folks in here need to discover things like alcohol and masturbation to better fill their time."
I fear they have already discovered masturbation. It's what they're wanking over is the problem. Come on guys, that console of yours is a taker, not a giver. Find something with flesh to spunk over.
...like Paris.
I find it hilarious that anyone feels enough loyalty to any of these corporations at all.
They certainly don't give a shit about you after you've parted with your cash.
Seems to me the intelligence of your average console gamer regresses every year, for example please read the vitriolic replies to the following statement.
With the minor exception of an occasional title, usually just a rehash of the previous version with slightly flashier graphics, 99% of games are identical on all 3 consoles. The idea that one is so much better than another is laughable.
Of particular interest (and indeed highly amusing) will be the attempts to explain in technical terms how the consoles differ from each other. But I'll give you a helping hand, because I know big words without explanatory pictures are difficult for you to understand.
The PS3 is the overpriced toy of spoiled little rich kids. The XBox 360 has a 99% chance of becoming the most expensive doorstop you've ever owned, and Nintendo think innovation means waving your hands about instead of using a joypad.
Sorry to say, but your comments loose quite a lot of traction when you made the mistake with the predicated sales of the PS3.
I, myself, am quite happy with the PC, but it seems you, as another commenter suggested, perhaps sleeps with your Xbox just a little bit too much. After all, the only thing any of the console companies are after are money, they do not care about you per se, only your dollars.
I don't understand why The Reg continues to allow anonymous posts to be made on these obviously, highly flammable boards.
Particularly along the lines of AC "Really?", and their long and windy misinterpretation of reality.
I'd rather know which Microsoft employee he or she is.
"Those PS2 customers will be PS3 customers in 5 or so years" says an AC.
Not something you should take for granted. Every 360 owner I know had a PS2. Not every one plans to buy a PS3 as well. Since most of them are old enough to have owned a Megadrive but then went for a PS1 instead of a Saturn, the methodology looks particularly suspect.
"Really? Is that it? Then the PS3 really is screwed. Hardly stands even close to the likes of Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Left 4 Dead, Splinter Cell: Conviction and similar."
Ha ha ha ha ha!! Please.... stop... you're killing me....!!! No.. please... it hurts so much!
"A lot of PS3 fans seem to be really running scared now, scraping the barrel on what excuses they can come up with next for their console that has failed, even by Sony's own acceptance."
Ha ha... *cough coughc cough*.. ha ha ..EEerrgh!! *BANG!*
*We are sorry to announce that the writer of this post has died from laughing too hard. His sides have split, and his brain haemorraged. You can send donations of PS3s and PS3 games to the Grim Borhters Mortuary in South Caroliner*
*His was the one with the SONY logo on the back..*
It's all a bit immaterial really, M$ will release a new console doubly early next time around, i.e. 24 months early, such is their desparate lust to beat SONY. They care not for their user base, they mearly wish to beat SONY and add to their coffers. It's all quite sad.
I think Sony & Nintendo are true gaming consoles, Nintendo especially so although I do think the Wii is a nonsense, a Smaller updated Gamecube with a new pad, Clever but boring.
No, for me SONY deserves the prize, it's console reeks quality and who knows, maybe the developers and middleware providers will extract that un-tapped grunt the console has, perserverance gets rewarded.
Paris..... well, something to do with coming in an attractive box.
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