PS3 Sales Double In Japan

According to data from Media Create, the Sony PlayStation 3 doubled its previous week sales, selling a solid 35,000 units in Japan for the week ended November 30th. Japan continues to be dominated by Nintendo consoles however, which saw the DSi sell 87,000 units and the Wii sell 50,000 units, a 30 percent increase from the previous week. The Sony handheld PSP sold 55,000 units. The DSi’s predecessor, theDS Lite sold 26,000 units. Bringing up the rear after a month of strong sales was the Xbox 360 with 11,000 units sold. Chart: * NDS (DSi + Lite) - 114,036 * PSP - 55,090 * Wii - 49,848 * PS3 - 34,978 * Xbox 360 - 11,423 * PS2 - 5,628 Source: AfterDawn

Add comment December 6th, 2008

Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii vie for Christmas sales

The Nintendo Wii looks set to be the biggest-selling games console this Christmas for the third year running, despite fears the Wii is in short supply in the run-up to the festive season.

Sales figures from industry-tracking website VGChartz shows that more around 336,517 Nintendo Wii consoles have been bought in the last month, compared to about 190,440 Xbox 360 consoles and 88,561 PlayStation 3s.
The release of games such as exercise title Wii Fit and child-friendly Wii Music are thought to have boosted sales of the Nintendo console, which has been credited with introducing a new generation to video gaming.

But both Microsoft and Sony have mounted their own aggressive advertising campaigns in the run-up to Christmas, and have released a number of family-friendly games in the hope of tempting some consumers away from Nintendo.
Microsoft has revamped its online portal, Xbox Live, introducing customisable avatars to the platform to allow players to create cartoon-like representations of themselves. It has also launched a “party zone” on the platform, where groups of friends can meet to chat online, play games over the internet, and even share photos.

The company has also released a slew of games that will appeal to a wide variety of age groups, including the movie quiz Buzz, and karaoke title Lips.
Sony, too, is hoping to win over cash-strapped shoppers with its PlayStation 3 console, which combines high-definition gaming with a Blu-ray DVD player.

According to analysts at Screen Digest, high-definition Blu-ray DVD players are going to be among the best-selling gadgets this Christmas, but many of the cheaper players are in short supply. Shoppers are therefore expected to opt for devices such as the PlayStation 3 which have multiple uses and offer better value for money.

Sony, too, has released several family-friendly titles in the run-up to Christmas, including the innovative LittleBigPlanet, where players can build and share their own characters, platforms and environments with other LittleBigPlanet fans. The recent launch of rhythm-action party games, such as Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Band 2, where players connect plastic instruments to their console and play along with the music, will also be key for Sony, as it bids to attract a wider user base to its platform.

“Nintendo is currently riding high,” said Steve Bailey, an analyst with Screen Digest. “We don’t believe the Wii will be beaten by the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 consoles this generation.”

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Add comment November 30th, 2008

Software Attach Rates for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii Calculated

 Gamasutra pulled together a rough and ready numbers piece today, shunted from a substantial and detailed feature on Nintendo’s sales, and ranked the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii according to their software attach rates.Any surprises? Just one. The PS3 had a third-party attach rate of less than two back in late 2006, just after it debuted, but Gamasutra’s chart now has it nipping at the Xbox 360’s heels with more than double that figure.First-Party2.4 - Wii1.4 - Xbox 3600.9 - PlayStation 3Third-Party5.2 - Xbox 3604.4 - PlayStation 33.1 - WiiGamasutra notes these figures are for the Xbox 360 after September 2007 and the PS3 and Wii after September 2008. If you look at the Xbox 360’s life-to-date ratio, or 35 months, on the other hand, Microsoft’s tie ratio rises to 8.1.You have to be careful here — high tie ratios are generally good, unless a system is trafficking unusually high numbers of units.A console’s tie ratio is equal to total software units divided by total hardware units. So say you sell 10 copies of 5 games for System A and System A sells 10 units, but you sell 10 copies of 5 games for System B and System B sells 50 units. The attach rates are going to be 5 (50 / 10) and 1 (50 / 50) respectively. System A has a much higher attach rate than System B, and so would appear to have the high ground, but System B sold just as many software units and five times as many hardware units, meaning that in this instance, System B is beating the snot out of System A.Likewise, if you’re selling very few hardware units, but lots and lots of software, your attach ratio is going to be high, while obviously failing to indicate your software platform’s paltry sales, or give any indication what your install base looks like.So who’s winning? Hard to say. If you think install base matters most, then Nintendo, with some 16 million units sold in the U.S. versus 13 and 6 million for the Xbox 360 and PS3 respectively. If you think raw software sales trump all, Microsoft has around 126 million total in the U.S. versus 96 million for the Wii so far this year.Several of you might further note that Wii Sports comes bundled with Nintendo’s system (15.2 million copies), so you can’t not buy it, and that Wii Play (15.9 million copies) is essentially free with the purchase of a Wii Remote. Either of these details may or may not skew figures, depending on your perspective.Then again, if you just think “who’s winning” is a dull, boring, last-gen game, hear hear, and I’ll see you online to play something better tonight.Source: http://www.pcworld.com

Add comment November 9th, 2008

Wii Fit: Is it as good as it is supposed to be?

58 out of the 69 current reviews on Amazon are 5 star, so it looks like this really is the add on of the year from the best console of the previous year! Keep it up Nintendo, I will be sure to get one when stock levels improve!

Add comment May 14th, 2008

Console War: Nintendo vs Microsoft vs Sony

I really enjoyed this and found it quite amusing, I hope you will do! What’s it about before you start watching? A funny and interesting interpretation of the battle between the big game companies sums it up really! A bit of fun to watch! And who do i think the winner is, Microsoft definitely. I mean, the Master Chief is awesome and unbeatable.

Add comment March 31st, 2008