Week recap: PS3 profit; Xbox 360 last; Wii No. 3

Marcus Lai from Punch Jump writes: "Sales for Sony Corp.'s Playstation 3 dropped in the latest Japan retail figures. The product ranked No. 4 in overall video game hardware sales for the week.

Sony this week cut the fiscal shipment forecast for the PS3 despite recording a profit in the Oct. to Dec. period. The company held a profit increase of 25.2 percent.

Resellers are offering the DualShock 3 controller for sale at Amazon.com. The controller offers rumble functionality not found in the Sixaxis controller.

Sony this week said that the release of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is on track for Apr. in the U.S. The title will be sold for $39.99.

The PS3 Devil May Cry 4 bundle SKU sold out this week at Amazon Japan. The bundle includes a 40GB PS3 and Capcom Co.'s Devil May Cry 4 software.

Demand for the 80GB PS3 SKU was greater than the 40GB version at Amazon this week. The 80GB product has been discontinued at retailer Bestbuy.com.

U.K. retailer Woolworths this week cited the PS3 as a factor in a decision to back the Blu-ray disc format over HD DVD. The retailer will discontinue sale of HD DVD titles in stores."

[Joey Gladstone]

"The Xbox 360 ranked in last place in the latest Japan retail tally. The hardware ranked below all handhelds and consoles for the week."....
....
.Honestly they tried a different strategy with Blue Dragon to appeal to the Japanese, but I dont ever see 360 really selling well over there.
...
..
......"The JOEY has Spoken"

[Ri0tSquad]

PS3 isn't doing so well in NA.

[craymoogy]

i think ps3 is doing as well as 360 in america. if you think about it, it's pretty amazing because of the pressure from wii and 360, ps3 will doing extremely well.

sale figure shows that ps3 is beating 360 just like blu-ray is beating hd dvd. by the end of next this year or early next year, the sale figure in the US for ps3 and 360 will be neck to neck but not much different.

[SoulReaper]

The PS3 is doing good in NA, if sales was like the 360 in Japan thats when Sony should be really concern..The PS3 even sold more then the 360 its first year and with only a few great games..

Sony got Japan and Europe and even NA( they doing just fine here)

There a lot of heavy hitter games coming out this year..Sony will dominate this year..

[Jamaicangmr]

The state of the PS3 in NA is in no way comparable to the state of the Xbox360 in Japan. The PS3 is sellin very well in NA but the Xbox360 sales are quite depressing to say the least.

[Panthers]

The PS3 in America is doing good, but will pick up considerably this year. All it needs is hype. Hype for KZ2 and hype for MGS4.

[bruiser81]

@ 1.1 i could be wrong but i do believe the ps3 has the biggest install base in the U.S. than it has in other countries. It may not be leading the american market to date but it is doing very well given the competition that it has. The same cant be said with the 360 in japan where it preceded the other two systems by a year.

[Spike47]

nothing seems to work for them at japan.

But it's not japan's fault it's just that Ms picked that American style gaming from the start.

[whoelse]

So:

Wii doing amazing everywhere
PS3 doing good in Europe, ok in Japan, and disappointing in America.

Ah well, end of 2008, it could be very different.

[Says you]

and plus they are more smarter then there american counterparts.

[Ric Flair]

.

[Le-mo]

Disappointing in America? I wouldn't say that. Despite PS3 high price tag and lag of epic games in 2007 it sold pretty well in America and now in 2008 the two consoles seem to be selling the same amount with the PS3 gaining ground.

[SoulReaper]

Yup, the ps3 is doing just fine here in NA..The 360 in japan is only able to push 2k-4k now thats really awful..

[MADGameR]

For the most expensive gaming console out. Microsoft brought out ALL of their BIGGEST hitters on 360 and STILL got outsold by the PS3 in 2007. And with the HUGE titles coming out this year on the PS3, its going to murder 360 7 times this year.

[joeynox]

the 360 is selling between 4000 and 10000 a week in japan while the ps3 is about 30000. in NA the 360 outsells the ps3 by 30000-40000 so its going to come down to europe. You have to factor in bluray. If the ps3 didnt have blue ray how well would it be selling or how poorly?
The 360 needs more wacky jap games for japan . Also people have to understand that 3/4 of the world hates MS because of its " monopoly" because they are the big company and because they are american.

360 ftw. Ms needs to buy sega and get them to bring the dream cast games to the arcade edit : also drop the arcade to 175 and the elite to 250.

[heyheyhey]

yeah like me

i hate M$ because of their greedy attitude and carelessness towards their customers- its why i don't buy their products anymore

no-one wants a big, over-bloated company to take control of monopolies because then they just get treated poorly

oh yeah and i highly doubt that Sega will become a part of M$

[Ju]

I think the world hates M$, yes, because of their business practice. And, 360 because people expect the same business practice swapping over into gaming. And to some extend, this is true. Wouldn't it be MS, a product with such a high failure rate would have been take off the market. It introduced online gaming into the console market - and again total control with it thru MS. I really have a hard time buying into the 360, just because of those things. MS could have convinced the gaming audience buy providing outstanding open platform, but instead, quiet the opposite was delivered. I think even the Japanese gamers would buy into the XBox if they would have delivered a high quality product. But instead, I think MS is destroying its reputation in gaming the same way it did in the PC world.

[MADGameR]

360 is NOT doing well in Japan. Its getting chewed and spat out in Japan by the Wii and the PLAYSTATION 3. As for in the U.S. after Gears 2 (IF it comes out this year) thats all for the 360. The 360 is basically done! Gears 2 is its last resort before it gets demolished lolz

[uxo22]

I do believe that Sony Corp is by far bigger than MS Corp, so please get real with the over bloated company crap. From my observation Sony tends to give things to their customers after first trying to get away without giving anything, they give things after the consumer whines about missing features. Wwhich is a sign of being somewhat untrustworthy. (ie Rumble being last gen, PS1/PS2 compatibility, etc.)

While MS has made some really big mistakes from the Hardware reliability stand point. Some of you PS3/Sony Fans should feel good for MS inexperience in the Hardware market, because if the 360 had not had the RROD issues, I think the it would be sitting number 1 right now ahead of the wii.

Also, most people I know don't compete for 2nd place and it appears to me that that's exactly what PS3 fans are doing. You are so focused on the PS3 beating the 360, that you have completely lost track of the prize "Being #1". NO ONE remember the 2nd place winner or another way of putting it, the first looser.

As for the Japanese market, once again in my humble opinion, I think they are just buying Japanese products (With some exceptions) because that's just what they have traditionally done. I believe that if they 360 was and had always been a solid and reliable product, it would still only have perhaps another 5% in sales at best.

Lastly, I think if MS should have dropped the Japanese market from the start they could have spent more money in other regions in marketing, specials, and development. Based on the numbers coming out of Japan, their numbers aren't that great overall anyway. And to continiously bark about the 360 coming in last in Japan is just a waste of time and IS NOT NEWS. It would be news if the 360 outsold the PS3 or Wii in japan, becuase it is unlikely to happen.

[ambientFLIER]

$250 for elite? Lol. Let's be reasonable, maybe more like $350, with a 120gb drive. Premium should be about $250.

[Jamaicangmr]

I that last time the Xbox360 sold anywhere near 10gran in a week was when Ace 6 launched. The Xbox360 has been averaging 3-5gran a week.

If your gonna say how well would the PS3 be sellin without Blu-ray is a silly question. For one it would've be much cheaper from the start so there in lays your answer.

It's not the so called hate on Microsoft that's affecting them globally. The main thing thats affecting them in the console market is their lack of reliable hardware and games that appeal to specific regions. Not some worldwide Microsoft hate because if that was the case then European sales would look like Japanese sales for the Xbox360.

[CrazzyMan]

on HIGH failure rates.
After RROD problem was spread by media, there was only one way for x360 in Japan - R.I.P.

[xboxrumble]

so thats total BS. The reason why it's not doing so well, RROD is part of but, its not the main factor like fanboys want it to be..

Japanese wanted a smaller box and complained and they got it, even some games that suits their tastes and they are getting that. not as established as the PS over the years but not bad games.

doing great over there is more than just RROD or a big xbox..

[Ju]

^^ true, but fighting the failure of the first xbox with a unreliable and shooter focused platform again, it was pretty clear, this is not the strategy for success, either.

[2 cents]

To summarize:
Ps3: Jap. market, EU market and more than half of US market.
X360: US market and less than half EU market. US market is very big but it won`t stand a chance against the rest of the world.
So i guess the PS3 isn`t such a failure after all. X360 will never do any better than it did last year while the PS3 is on uprise.

[MaJiKaLL]

tbh, all they did was create a desktop computer that was a co0nsole. What research and development did they do? whats innovative in the x360? nothing... Microsoft saw a chance to make a quick buck, and they did. Losers who pay for online gaming are the only suckers. In the history of gaming, why would it cost u to pay to play your game?

Ps3 built on the ps2 and delivered exactly what the customers wanted.! they understood whats currently out n popular (i.e usb, memory stick(s), bluetooth, HDD).

I was a strong backer from the moment sony released the PS3. and to this day still believe its the best console out! sure the wii is all fun, with wii sports, but id never pay for one. Its like monopoly or poker, play it when friends are around, thats it.

Ps3 will dominate from 2008. Though it had a rocky start with all the dif models, the core of the systems is still perfect. With the weak dollar mind you, it would be foolish not to buy one on a trip frm the states. With added bonus that majority if not all, blueray games are region free (except stranglehold im told, since it has a copy of the film on disc 2)

U wud be stupid in not investing one, esp if u are investing into a visual/audio system for High def content.

[IntelligentAj]

Nah. If anything the 360 lead gives them more of a reason to stay in the market as they showed that Sony is actually beatable(due to their stupidity "They'll but it no matter what" here lookin at you). Add in the fact they gained a profit the past quarters and I would say there's almost a 100% chance they stay in the market, which I would prefer because competition is healthy for the gaming market. We've all seen what happens when there is no competition(Madden I love you but damn try to reinvent)

[Nostradamus]

They are making money, and thats why they did it in the first place.

[Silver360]

no objectivity on this subject. So why speak about it in the gamer section. Put the flame war comments in the open section. Ms will not stop making consoles and neither will sony the money is to great to pass up. And as for innovation Xboxlive is leading edge. Achievements are innovative, a common gamer tag and voice support in every game. Sony is trying to follow in these foot steps. They have a universal hard drive now because of the first xbox. They made the PS3 so suped up because they felt embarrassed that the original xbox was more powerful than the ps2. And in the end, there is nothing wrong with that. Competition benefits me as a gamer. One dominant console leaves me with limited choices.

[Ju]

I am not sure, if MS in the game for the "gaming" part. What they want is a cheap media endpoint to make sure, they can use a device where a PC is to big and clumsy - and to complicated to use. Their focus on downloadable content and the interconnect to their delivery backend. Be it movies or other content thru their media server PCs. And by loosing the "endpoint" in the living room to other devices like Sony or Tivo (etc) is a critical part in their strategy. Making money is obviously not their main focus. Surprisingly Sony makes profit with the PS3 already, while MS is still not there, yet.

[karlostomy]

errr... no, sorry dude.

MS has been making a rather handsome profit on its xbox360 division for well over 6 months now.

Please don't spread FUD.

[Ju]

^^ Well, no idea why that is FUD, nothing to spread here, MS speaks for itself, IMO. If you're right, I take the "non-profit" back. Great job, then. They made it, eventually. (aehem, and BTW. I find your avatar tasteless).

[pshizle]

ps3 = GETTING PWNED

[The Killer]

that there isn't much of 360 news these days and half of those are boring news or negative?

well the ps3 year has started with ps3 outselling 360 worldwide!
i think its time for 360 owners to jump ship and just open their 360 when ever there is a big game like twice a year!

[PSWe60]

Truly good news for the boys at Sony

[FirstknighT]

Alot of people bash Bill Gates and Microsoft for their business practices but as always in todays' society, people think about the negatives. You do know that Bill Gates spends millions of dollars on the poor, environment, education, etc...???

[DrWan]

that has 0 thing to do with gaming, can I say that?? Talk about double standard, I clearly remember you or someone that looks like your name bashing PS3 for the [email protected] program. I remember it bc I had to explain to everyone about the molecular biology behind it when it was released.

Dont even bring in the humanitarianism if you are going to bash [email protected] to begin with. Because we can all just say it has nothing to do with gaming.

By the way, did you check how much Tax Reduction Bill Gate got for donating? There is always a motive behind each man's action, if I were you, I would not speak so quickly.

[Alcaponeyou]

why they do that in the first place?
I guess not.

[pshizle]

guess what

LAIR = FLOP
HS = FLOP
RC = FLOP
uncharted = sales failed

[DrWan]

I guess 950k of Uncharted is consider a failure now? i thought one million copy was consider King..and uncharted will undoubtly reach 2 mil lift time total with "best hit" and when sequel comes out we will see the second launch effect. When God do War 2 came out, God of War 1 start getting sales as well bc ppl never played it

[sleepyk]

the only flop was lair, genius.

R&C: 750,000
HS: 800,000
Uncharted: 1 Million Units

[wiizy]

the wii is back in stock now.... so all that fanboy and hater joy is coming to an end this month.