Weekly Sales Analysis, 29 December - Holiday Period Ends, Sales Down

Worldwide Hardware:

1: 3DS - 665,304 (-40%)
2: PS3 - 599,500 (-22%)
3: X360 - 421,815 (-48%)
4: WiiU - 238,530 (-39%)
5: Wii - 202,795 (-39%)
6: PSV - 144,349 (-29%)
7: DS - 143,498 (-46%)
8: PSP - 84,803 (-37%)

Worldwide Software:

1: (X360) Call of Duty: Black Ops II - 447,173
2: (PS3) Call of Duty: Black Ops II - 433,305
3: (X360) Halo 4 - 357,019
4: (Wii) Just Dance 4 - 349,317
5: (X360) Far Cry 3 - 282,236
6: (3DS) New Super Mario Bros. 2 - 253,838
7: (PS3) FIFA Soccer 13 - 243,423
8: (PS3) Assassin's Creed III - 242,777
9: (X360) Kinect Adventures! - 216,358
10: (PS3) Far Cry 3 - 215,534

[smashcrashbash]

Wow PS3 did pretty good this Christmas.Second only to the 3DS

[Muerte2494]

Please wait on the official numbers coming from Microsoft and Sony. But for all those naysayers saying ps3 would never surpass xbox360....

PS3 has surpassed xbox360 in worldwide sales (shipped) 77 million to 76 million roughly from the latest report. These numbers are as of December 2012.

one source....
http://www.gamesradar.com/p...

2nd source
http://www.ign.com/articles...

3rd source...
http://xbox.firstorfast.com...

Now is should be noted that there are no hard concrete numbers from Sony or Microsoft yet. Microsoft should be announcing their number here in a couple of days. We will hear from Sony at the beginning of February. But this report is according to Game Industry International (worldwide shipped sales).

[B-radical]

Lol wait for official reports

[Hands Up For Games]

Does this mean we can have a party now?

[GribbleGrunger]

No, it's just verification that the inevitable is going to happen this year.

[QSPR]

bu.... bu... one year headstart.... but... but... we got final fantasy and metal gear!!!! bu.. but.. we have a exclusive content for a month! we got netflix firts, HDMI is not ned it for hd content or the future, the ps3 is just a bluray player.. nooooooooo!! lol @ micro$oft

[stiggs]

In the last generation Sony sold 6 times the amount of PS2 consoles than Microsoft did with their original XBOX.

This generation the two companies are essentially tied in sales. You call that a win for Sony?

LOL @ QSPR

Side note: I have both consoles and it's my hope that they both succeed now and in the future.
Also, anyone who writes "Micro$oft" is either a child or an idiot...probably both.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

@Muerte294 while I am not doubting the validity of the shipped number report. You site 3 "sources" to back up the report. The problem is all 3 of your "sources" are all using the same "source" which is IDC. There is only ONE source at this point that has reported this shipped number. There are multiple other media sites reporting on that ONE source.

Just clarifying the facts not trying to say you are wrong or the report is wrong. And as you pointed out, official numbers would be nice to confirm everything.

[BABYLEG]

Does it matter if PS3 sales surpasses 360 sales? Especially when Xbox brings in 10x the revenue of the playstation. All those consoles with so little game sales while the console with less sales have more active players on every game, more active online users and better overall experience

[Skips]

@stiggs

Sony's worst performance on console sales is tied if not better than Microsoft's best. Just sayin.

[stiggs]

I understand your point but that is semantics. One has to take into account that Sony was coming off a very successful run with the original PS1. They became a juggernaut with the release of the PS2 and absolutely crushed the original XBOX in terms of sales. The expectations for the PS3 were that Sony was going to wipe Microsoft off of the map. To see Microsoft essentially tie Sony in sales during this generation is a near miracle.

Even if the PS3 exceeds the sales of the XBOX 360 it's still a massive win for Microsoft and in turn can only be viewed as a disappointment to Sony (based on sales figures from the former generation of consoles)

I play on both systems so good on both companies for succeeding in a poor economy.

[fatstarr]

I cant wait to see the 2million ps3's and 3million 360s shipped over this holiday season counted as official numbers...

Official sham numbers

[darthv72]

both ms and sony moved some impressive units overall.

And QSPR...WTF? If i didnt know better, i'd say you are intentionally giving sony gamers a bad rap with that comment.

off topic: This gen, MS earned their respect for being committed to staying in the game to the end. That is something even a culture like JP finds honorable as opposed to simply giving up.

@fatstarr...there are two types of sales numbers. sold to retailers (aka shipped) and sold to consumers. When MS and sony talk about sales they are referring to the units sold to retail stores. When stores report sales numbers they are reporting sold to consumers.

So basically both sets of numbers have their purpose and both can be interpreted the same way. Consumer market is sold "by" the store. Retail market is sold "to" the store.

[user3915800]

Not really, loosing sales is not a strategy anyone wants to keep, over all Sony its below the standard and the problem is out of touch with both consumers and developers. I remember when Sont was the IT factor... Now what we have is the hope for Sony to keep us visit with first party, gamers has change and so have the developers. Its a done deal the only one who lost this gen was sony, nintendo and xbox both outpaced their previous demand by exciting on their sales from previous gen. I hope Sony does better with PS4 and I think they will cause WII-U as you can see has been on the slow sales demand world wide and will die off withing 2 years time, letting the big guns come out blasting for triumph of next gen Sony/MS.

[Knight_Crawler]

Who the hell is buying all these 3DS?

[B-radical]

Xbox has done great to hold its own against ps3. Keep in mind xbox only had one console before the 360 to build its name on. Vita imo has been a fail but will have to see what 2013 brings. 720 and ps4!

[chestnut1122]

Say the Vita is a "fail" after 5 years dude.., and keep in mind that XBOX360 is 1 year older than the PS3., Now that the PS3 is coming closer and closer to the top., Now is the right time for Vita to have incredible games. I believe SONY will surpise as these coming February

[chukamachine]

Get what your saying, but MICROSOFT is a household name already and spent megamillions advertising and goodie bags.

Had a year+ on it's own and devs coded for it's hardware.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

and they also overcame the RROD fiasco which lets be honest, that single huge issue should have sunk the 360. I also happen to think the 360 RROD is the main reason why Sony was even able to get to this point. If you looked at the sales trend the 360 tapers off significantly at the end of yr 2 as the RROD issue came really was brought to the forefront of the media and the company formally began addressing it. Confidence in the 360 sank...and yet MS salvaged what should have been disasterous. They limped through yrs 3 and 4 and then really turned it back around in yrs 5 through 7.

[Moentjers]

@Dlacy13g. Indeed, some extra billions can do miracles...

[kikizoo]

" I also happen to think the 360 RROD is the main reason why Sony was even able to get to this point."

no, better hardware (+ bluray) and more and better games are the reason why...(rrod = more consoles sold for ms, but also more millions spent for reparing, and viral marketing + internet partners/sites and fanboy : "rod is not really a major problem" "ps3 is doomed" etc etc)

ps : 200k more for ps3 again ? clearly first now (since months) and it's not over (without $$$ marketing, and extreme fanboyz and sites spreading lies it should have been a huge victory before)

[gnothe1]

you sony fanboys crack me up..even IF the PS3 surpass the 360 77-76 million you gotta go back to last generation...sony was 100+ million an xbox was ONLY 24 million..this gen xbox TRIPLED its sales an so far sony has LOST sales...so how is this a celebration for sony..also last year you guys accused MS of channel stuffing...how do you know thats not what sonys doing..unless something drastic happens at the end of this gen MS an sony is gonna end up in a TIE.

[chestnut1122]

Your just making Yourself butthurt., You should know by now that PS3 is still going strong with lot of big games being announced for it with more exclusive games.

[wenaldy]

Dude you went mental, chill the f out..

[Bowzabub]

U mad.

[rainslacker]

Sony had sold 87 million PS2 after 6 fiscal years on the market. Currently the PS3 is still in it's 6th fiscal year, with 2-1/2 months left to go.

I don't know if the 77 million prediction is accurate. If it is then Sony is currently down 10 million from their previous console, if it's closer to 72 million then they are down 15 million.

What that indicates to me, is that Sony is still on track to sell over 100+ million consoles. It just may take them an extra year to do it.

That's not too shabby considering it was twice as expensive as the PS2 on release, and still is more expensive than the 360 (with one SKU being the same cost as the Wii U), and had a lot of competition from both Nintendo and MS. Sony has never really had that competition before. Sony's big boom on PS2 sales came in it's 3rd-5th year on the market, when it saw almost no big competition whatsoever.

MS has a lot to be proud of for how they managed to become a real competitor this generation, but for the most part Sony is doing what it's always done.

[room414]

"this gen xbox TRIPLED its sales an so far sony has LOST sales"

So sony's lowest selling console still beats microsofts best...

lol

[bothebo]

lol nice

[Ezz2013]

lol you deserve a 2 bubble for funny/well said

[Newsman]

Woot, made up figures.

[smashcrashbash]

It's amazing how angry people get over this.They claim it doesn't matter but are foaming at the mouth over it. All the time they were hanging the fact that the 360 was ahead and now that it looks like the PS3 has jumped ahead suddenly it doesn't matter anymore. It amazes me how gamers can just jump back and forth with things.You have no real loyalty or beliefs.You just side with what ever makes the system of your choice look good. If the reviews are not very good reviews don't matter.If they are good then reviews are the greatest thing ever.It only matter when gamers say it does. With so many good games coming for the PS3 this year you can be sure that they will sell even more consoles.And when ever anyone says that the PS3 is doing okay they grab the 'it's not doing as well as it once was' shield and hide behind it. Not seeing the fact that if this is information is true not only does this mean that Microsoft is now behind the PS3 in sales and that they still haven't even surpassed the Wii but that even with everything that happened with the PS3 and everything underhanded or not Microsoft did it still jumped ahead.Now before you drown me in disagrees mind you I said IF this is true. We still have to hear official statements for the companies themselves.But IF it is true Sony had a good Christmas and managed to pull ahead.

[gnothe1]

Again..you sony fanboys crack me up.an personally I don't care..I have MULTIPLE PS3' s an 360's in my house..my xbox has been good to me an I PREFER to do my gaming on my 360..is MS or sony gonna drop outta the consle business..NOT A CHANCE...so why are you guys trying to make a big deal outta something that may or may not be true...but I'm willing to be you one thing..sony would rather sell a few less consoles an take control of the US an make PROFIT MS that has made than sell a few more an be spread all over the place..

[smashcrashbash]

Why? Is the money they are getting from other countries different or something? I don't understand your logic.Are you saying selling more consoles world wide doesn't matter as long as you sell more in NA? So if if I sell a hundred million consoles around the world and someone else sells 90 million consoles and most of the is in NA that is better? How so? Isn't the money that I am getting still in my pocket? Why does everyone keep repeating the same $hit since people have been saying the PS3 has been beating the 360 worldwide for a while now that it doesn't matter? Why doesn't it matter? Why does everyone keep saying that NA is all that matters.I am certain Microsoft would love to sell more consoles worldwide cause that means more money.Anyone would.But people keep trying to pretend that somehow it doesn't matter.I'll bet if they were always ahead in WW sales it would always matter and people would be rubbing it in our faces.But as the rule of butt hurt goes it always doesn't matter when you don't want it too.

[USMC_POLICE]

I think most of your forget a lot of the 360 sales were from people buying 360s to replace ones that died. I was a manager at best buy a lot of people who bought xboxes were replacing broken ones and a lot of ps3 buyers were getting there first ps3 or a second for another room in the home. I'd like to see numbers of systems sold that still work. Then we should go from there.

[gnothe1]

What about the amount of PS3' s sold as blu ray players...a lot of them was sold as blu ray players because they were the best an CHEAPEST blu ray players on the market..lets not forget that..

[rainslacker]

It would be next to impossible to qualify those numbers, unless the companies themselves came out with statistics for game use. They probably have those numbers with the advent of internet integration and trophies/achievements. It's a good way to track those numbers, as the user themselves are unique.

When it comes to sales numbers, generally the higher the sales, the more people have one and are using it. Replacement systems(RROD, YLOD), or Blu-Ray players(PS3), may take some out of the equation for game sales, but that percentage is probably not as high as you would think.

When it comes down to it, publishers are looking at software sales, as that's all that matters. I believe in the US MS sells more software for it's system, while in other parts of the world, it's either equal or heavily favored to Sony.

Attach rates can sometimes be discussed, but doesn't take into account the same things that you mentioned. However, generally the higher the attach rate, the higher the number of people using it to play games. Right now both Sony and MS are roughly equal(as of 2010), with some people saying Sony surpassed MS late 2011(no verifiable statistics).

[B-radical]

My elite has been running strong all these years the arcades seemed to be problematic

[JBSleek]

The fact that people really get joy when a huge corporation succeeds in passing another corporation in the number of sales is really sad. I really go to these articles not to look at the numbers but to read the comments of the rampant stupidity of people who cling to these brand names and swear pledging under them but the reality is none of these companies truly care about them.

The anger and the dismissal is all just funny I just really want gamers to please grow up but that would be way to much to ask for because of course in the world I can't enjoy what I enjoy and you can't enjoy what you enjoy without there being a fight. Am I wrong for wanting such a thing..these comments depict that I'm wrong.

[nevin1]

"The fact that people really get joy when a huge corporation succeeds in passing another corporation in the number of sales is really sad"

Maybe they may one day buy some stock.

[nevin1]

"What about the amount of PS3' s sold as blu ray players...a lot of them was sold as blu ray players because they were the best an CHEAPEST blu ray players on the market..lets not forget that.." gnothe1

lol, it still counts as a sell.

And your comment about how MSoft did triple the number this gen while Sony lost alot of marketshare is flawed.

True, no question Sony lost alot of Marketshare this gen but again the market has become bigger(PS2 did that) this gen while the economy didnt help Sony either.

$500-$600 for a video game machine won't cut it. Especially in the US as PS2 owners founds themselves settling on 360.

And last I checked, the PS3 still doesnt have the $199 price point. How long has the 4GB 360 model been out? It won't shock me if thats their best selling 360.

But at the end of the day, all three 3 companies did well.

[gnothe1]

thats all im saying dude..they both did good...these guys cant wait to bash MS for anything they can...an its not MS fault they sony doesnt have a 199 system... an it wasnt MS sony released the PS3 for 5 an 600 dollars...sony had TO MUCH faith in their brand name an it costed them..

[metroidfusion2]

Wii u is doing good also the 3ds and wii and just dance and mario bros