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Wii Outselling PS3 in Japan
Posted by
Zonk
on Wed Jan 10, 2007 03:29 PM
from the white-plastic-over-black-plastic dept.
from the white-plastic-over-black-plastic dept.
saintory writes "Apparently the Japanese console consumers are sinking their teeth into the modest Wii and are not as interested in the power-packed PS3. In fact, the Wii is outselling Sony's new console by a factor of almost 2:1. The number of PS3s sold into the Japanese market (466,716) falls well short of the million Sony had planned for the end of 2006. 989,118 Wii consoles have been sold in Japan in the same time span. From the article: 'Both Sony and Nintendo are projecting selling 6 million consoles by the end of March. Sony expects to start shipping the PS3 to Europe sometime that month as well. Straggling far behind Sony and Nintendo in the Enterbrain survey was Microsoft's Xbox 360, which had sold 290,467 since its Japan debut in December 2005. Selling machines in large numbers is crucial in the gaming business because it encourages software companies to make more games to play on the machines, which in turn boosts console sales.'"
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This is news because... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:This is news because... (Score:5, Insightful)
And maybe I should tell you about the two WalMarts, Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, Gamestop, and EB Games, all of which have PS3 stock. (Not to mention nearby (but inconvenient) Toys R Us stores).
Sony does have enough supply to fulfill demand now. Demand is just really low.
Parent
Re:This is news because... (Score:4, Interesting)
I notice you're from Alaska, and I can back that up (from Fairbanks). Here at the local Fred Meyers (Pacific Northwest Kroger-owned big box store), there have been the same 3 PS3s on the shelves for almost a week now (according to the sales clerks), they've been there every time I was there. I haven't even seen a Wii since I bought one there at launch. Hell, SIXAXIS controllers are danging on the racks, while even the Wii POINT GIFT CARDS are flying off the rack! I haven't seen a Wiimote, VCC, or Nunchuck since launch, and the clerks tell me they last a few hours at most.
This is one of the smallest markets in the contry. Neilson rates it 203 out of something like 211, and usually demand is much higher than supply (due to slow shipping), especially in electronics. If I hear that there are PS3s sitting on shelves in Times Square, and there are PS3s sitting on shelves in Fairbanks, Alaska, I think it's not too much to assume that they're pretty much sitting on shelves in most markets, as well. Oh, Fairbanks is full of rich fuckers too, with way too much time on their hands, and can't have any outdoor life. Video games are big here. PS3s still can't sell.
Parent
Re:This is news because... (Score:5, Informative)
Evidence:
http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/nikkei/nikkei-on-big
http://www.unscripted360.com/2006/12/28/playstati
http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/ps3/plenty-o-ps3s-bu
http://www.techimo.com/forum/t180097.html [techimo.com]
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6162141.html [gamespot.com]
http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/06/ps3-available-o
Parent
Re:This is news because... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
PS3 in Europe (Score:4, Funny)
Re:PS3 in Europe (Score:4, Insightful)
Now add to that that the month of march is a total dead one saleswise, no big holidays, christmas money is spent, and vacation money far off.
This console will sink in europe heavier than a stone, although Europe-EU is the biggest
market worldwide games salewise.
Not being able to ship during christmas in europe although the console is the most expensive one overy here might be the final death knell into the PS3 introduction.
Typical Sony arrogance, ignoring the biggest market saleswise currently (you have to count the EU as a whole and add the non EU countries), at the biggest and pretty much only chance to get it into the households before Christmas 2007, just in hope people will buy it anyway. Face it Sony
you already have a lousy reputation over here, and also
have in mind we have to pay around 900 Dollars for the console, at less average income and less free money to spend.
Parent
Re:PS3 in Europe (Score:5, Funny)
Plus the simple European folk tend to use turnips as their currency, and I think the yen-turnip exchange rate is particularly unfavorable this year.
Parent
Re:PS3 in Europe (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:PS3 in Europe (Score:5, Funny)
Actually the exchange rate should favour sales to the turnip union. In principle a US$900 console should only cost 695 Turnips currently.
Parent
From the Sony PR Department: (Score:5, Funny)
Re:From the Sony PR Department: (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:From the Sony PR Department: (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
are we surprised? (Score:5, Insightful)
Because Sony has not made as many PS3s as Nintendo has made Wiis. Rather simple isn't it?
Are we surprised that the 360 is tanking? nope, because it doesn't apeal to the japanese market (and it does not have the fanbase that Nintendo and Sony have).
The real question is how will the number end up once sony gets production going at a decent speed?
Other peopel have pointed out (and after research I now have to agree) that the PS3 isn't selling in the USA (if any one wants ot buy a PS3, Circuit City [circuitcity.com] has 60gig versions in stock). Yet is is still a chalange (though not impossible) to buy a Wii despite much higher production levels.
Re:are we surprised? (Score:4, Interesting)
Well, that is the simplest answer and it is certainly a major factor.
Other peopel have pointed out (and after research I now have to agree) that the PS3 isn't selling in the USA (if any one wants ot buy a PS3, Circuit City has 60gig versions in stock).
Anecdotally, I was at Best Buy yesterday and they were still out of Wii (got a shipment that day but sold out very quickly) but had 12 PS3.
I can't claim anything definitive from that anecdotal evidence, but I'm do think it's quite plausible that the high price of the PS3 and it being functionally similar to the Xbox360 which has been out for a year has limited demand for the console such that they already have sufficient production. Or maybe the ones that weren't willing to wait in lines or track deliveries to every store in the region have given up on getting a PS3 for now and simply haven't noticed that the stores have them stocked. That hasn't happened with the Wii, obviously, as people are still scarfing up the consoles as fast as they arrive.
Parent
Re:are we surprised? (Score:5, Funny)
One Wii, many Wii. A group of Wii is a club.
One XBox, many XBoxen. A group of XBoxen is a pack.
One PS3, many PS3s. A group of PS3s is a rarity.
*rimshot*
Parent
Re:are we surprised? (Score:5, Funny)
You obviously haven't been to an electronics retailer lately. You'll see lots of PS3s sitting there. You can spot the PS3 section by the tumbleweed blowing through.
Parent
Re:are we surprised? (Score:5, Interesting)
People are very quick to predict the doom and gloom of sony. What they all fail to recognize is that sony (and anybody else that had a clue on how the trends are moving) knew that this is going to happen. For months. The only thing they would not be able to anticipate is the negative public backlash from the hype machine that tried to imitate from the success of the 360 last year. This is a planned risk, as they are essentially taking on two fronts. One front is the video area, with Nintendo coming out guns blazing, and on top of that, the Microsoft juggernaut attempting to brute force their way through the market.
The bigger front that I see, is the movie industry. How long have DVDs been out? something like less than 10 years? How long did it take for them to make VHS obsolete? While it's completely understandable that Blu-ray Discs are probably not going to dominate DVDs at the rate that DVD did VHS, higher definition picture quality WILL win it over. The big question is: will Blu-ray Disc be the new DVDs of the future? Or will HDDVD? Or some other format?
This is the wild frontier that sony has been eyeing. They want their format to win, and is using the PS3 as their foothold. The PS3 is nothing more than collateral damage. Ever wonder why sony isn't making as big a push to produce games out for the ps3 as much as MS or NIN (aside from the fact that nobody really knows how to maximize the ps3 as of yet)? Their goal is to have as many bluray disk players in as many homes as possible(and for $599 for early adapters, that's pretty damn cheap). Once they get a decent foothold, and especially when prices begin to drop to decent levels, say $299? is when we're going to see frightningly high levels of market dominance by sony.
Parent
Re:are we surprised? (Score:5, Insightful)
So yea, people may claim they want HD. But they don't. No one watches a DVD now and goes "damn, this sucks." Few went to the theatre for the new Star Wars films and bitched about the fact that the resolution was a fraction of traditional 35mm stocks. Even on my setup (720p native projector onto a 102" glass-beaded screen) which makes most people's "huge" HDTVs look positively tiny. I have *yet* to hear someone complain about DVDs on my setup, they're blown away by how theatre-like the setup is. Would a Blu-ray or an HD-DVD player improve that? Yea, probably, but it's not worth the frickin' money when no one complains about it now. Same logic the film industry uses in not using higher-resolution stocks and switching to digital. I think they know their stuff personally. Even if they are trying to market the opposite to the unwashed masses.
The fact is, neither HD format, or existing HD televisions can display the majority of the information contained on a theoretical pristine 35mm film print even from pre-WW2(and stock/grain quality has advanced a lot since then). So, if you really want quality, pick up a projector and some reels. The resolution blows everything else out of the water atm, and that's the only advantage it really has, and I mean money is no object when it comes to picture quality, right? DVDs offered a ton of convienance features over VHS tapes, no rewinding, start/stop, extra content in the form of multiple audio tracks, etc. The HD formats offer... resolution. At 10-20 times the price for a player, 2-4x the price per movie, and with a fraction of the selection. Man, what a frickin' deal! And this isn't even going into things like ideal view distance.
The future is downloaded / on the demand content because it offers substantive advantages over DVD.
Parent
Re:are we surprised? (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
From Gamasutra: (Score:4, Informative)
Yes Sony, you can't compare "sold" with "shipped" - even though that's what you do every time you try to show the DS isn't beating the PSP globally.
Is this a surprise? (Score:4, Informative)
Causes: Price, Games (Score:5, Informative)
http://kotaku.com/gaming/top/ps3-sales-look-slugg
http://kotaku.com/gaming/top/those-ps3s-sales-loo
All three will survive (Score:4, Interesting)
But, I think there'll be a shift in the leadership, for those people who want to "rank" the leaders in the console market. The ingredients for this ranking draw on units sold, profit, and critical success, but isn't directly tied to any one of them.
My prediction for current generation:
1. Nintendo
2. Microsoft
3. Sony
For argument's sake, I'm going to claim that last generation was:
1. Sony
2. Microsoft
3. Nintendo
I know, I know, Microsoft lost money on every sale, while Nintendo made a healthy profit. Nintendo, though, had trouble finding and capitalizing on breakout games, and their console had difficulty penetrating the adult market.
Now, next round, what do you think the odds are that one of these three companies will fail, or that a newcomer will push one of them out of the top three? Is the next Nokia going to "N Gage" gamers and knock off Sony? Will Nintendo's "It's the gameplay, stupid" philosophy wear out? Will Microsoft decide to stop hemorraging cash, or *gasp* manage to make a profit? Turn in 2009 to find out!
Re:All three will survive (Score:4, Interesting)
Two reasons why Nintendo didn't die last round... the first is that they were selling GameCubes at a profit. They were making money with every console being sold, and despite their poor sales and relatively small penetration in the last generation of consoles, they were still operating in the black.
The second reason is that the GameBoy series remains the dominant handheld, and will probably remain so for a long time. They've got the penetration, the feature set, and most importantly the price range to maintain their dominance in that market.
By contrast... the PSP is a great platform. It's got great graphics, the sound is pretty good, it's got tons of extra features. It's also really expensive. Like three times the cost of a GBA, and easily twice the cost of a DS. Because of this, it's really not doing as well in sales as the GameBoy line is, and Sony probably isn't making enough money off it to keep their consoles afloat. Which brings to bear the other thing... Sony is selling the PS3 at a loss. They're selling 'em for $650, and they cost about $1100 to make. Sony was banking on selling enough of them that they could make the money back selling dev kits to allow other vendors to make games for the console. But if they don't reach critical mass, developpers aren't going to spend their time/energy making games that won't sell enough to make a profit. You might actually see a world where games are developped for the Wii, and then ported to the PS3, instead of the past, where titles were being developped for the PS2 and being ported to the XBoX and GameCube.
Now, I doubt Sony will just sink. Sony Online Entertainment is the only wholly independant subsidiary that bears the "Sony" name, and they're still making lots of money off their laptops, stereos, tv's, and music. But it's quite possible that the console/handheld division of the company will be pissing money away this time around.
Parent
Sure they've got PS3's... (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually, a little wikipedia reading reveals that they tried to sell Slurpee when they first opened, but the populous was not interested in the frozen delight. Opting instead for the irresistible ice cream in a bag.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7-Eleven#Japan [wikipedia.org]
Sorry, I know I'm way off topic, but I did get a big kick out of the picture of 7-11 selling the PS3.
The price points could easily explain this (Score:4, Insightful)
Before we all doom the PS3, let's wait until some of the big-name PS3 games come out later this year. Sony already knew they were going to take a loss at the outset of the PS3 market, so I think they're taking the long view. In Japan, when Final Fantasy XIII comes out, there is going to be a rabid fanbase that will purchase the console for that game alone. Others may hold off, but given the other big properties that will shortly follow, how can anyone avoid the PS3's gravity?
Also factor in the other part of the market... Blu-rays absolutely rock on a HDTV. LG is coming out with a dual-mode player, which means that given the choice, the consumer can be easily swayed towards Blu-ray simply by flooding (true) advertisements about the media's technical superiority. If Blu-ray pulls ahead, then the PS3 becomes much more attractive.
Game Fanboy Logic (Score:4, Funny)
Wow! (Score:5, Insightful)
Wii PS3. Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
When I first played a games console, oh, back in the halcyon days of 1992 or so, it was a Sega Mega Drive (aka "Genesis" in the US). It was a whole new experience for me, being able to interact with an onscreen character using a handheld controller. It was a new world and I loved it and was introduced to a whole wealth of other systems.
Fastforward 13 years and nothing has really changed. Games look better, are more imaginative and offer me more satisfying results than grabbing rings and power-ups. But the gaming concept itself is still pretty much the same. We all laze around on couches, plugged into the console, and gradually fall asleep in marathon gaming sessions.
2006: enter the Wii (no pun). I was a little skeptical after seeing the ads and the less-than-impressive graphics, but being there when my friend first plugged his Wii in was like being transported back to when I was 6 again. I was genuinely excited and amused playing WiiSports, with the new concept the controller had brought to my gaming.
The PS3 might look prettier and have more power. It even plays DVDs and other things I have no interest in. But what it doesn't have is a revolutionary new design that's been the most innovative thing (at least, in my personal gaming history) since I first started playing consoles. The Wii has got me up off the couch and really interacting with my games, while the PS3, however real it may look compared to the Wii's bobble-headed "Miis", is just another couch-sitting epic.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:newsflash cheaper things sell more than expensi (Score:4, Insightful)
Sony LOSES money on each PS3 sold, whereas nintendo GAINES money on each Wii sold.
Yes, I know there are games and all that, but still...if it takes selling 2.5 Wii's to match the price of one PS3, and EACH Wii is making a profit while that one PS3 loses money...which one do you think provides a better profit margin?
Net income means jack shit. I don't care if you bring in 2 billion a year if your costs are 4 billion. If my costs are 50,000, and I bring in 75,000, guess what: I have a higher profit margin, which means I have MADE more money than you.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Definitions of net income on the Web:
* Gross income less expenses, including taxes and insurance, but before depreciation, additions to reserves or distribution of earnings.
www.ncbuy.com/credit/glossary.
Re:newsflash cheaper things sell more than expensi (Score:5, Informative)
In this case the net income of company A is -$2billion while the net income of company B is $25,000. Net income is very important. In fact, net income is probably more important than profit margin in this case. I think you need to s/Net/Gross/ for your statement to make sense.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm not really sure where Sony got the idea that their future depends
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Why do people keep repeating this fallacy? This has been argued and shown time and time again that at worst the PS2 was slightly less powerful than it's competitors (Based on practical graphics capability) or considerably more powerful (based on specialized scientific algorithms).
More to the point, you can't judge Sony's success with the PS2 based on a simple list of effects. There were many reasons the PS2 was as successful as it was, in
Re:Developers follow the user base... creates spir (Score:3, Funny)
PS3 can run GNU/Linux and all the Free games developed for GNU/Linux by devoted amateurs. Wii requires each developer to be a company with office space detached from the home.
Re: Wii also has free games. (Score:3, Informative)
Ok, so you can buy a $600 PS3 that runs linux at the level of an 800 Mhz Pentium 3 [smorgasbord.net] ? Ok, I wouldn't do it but some people might.
Are you familiar with the Free flash games for the Wii [wiicade.com] ?
Wii games are cheaper to develop. (Score:5, Interesting)
Good games are going to be expensive to make, no matter what. I'd be curious to know what Zelda cost to develop versus, say, Oblivion.
I would be interested in the Zelda vs Oblivion costs, but when THQ states "it was far less expensive making games for Nintendo's console." [gamespot.com] and that "they could be as little as a third of the high-end next-gen titles... Maybe the range is a quarter to a half." I believe them.
Parent
Re:In Other News... (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re:In Other News... (Score:5, Funny)
It moves from east to west because of solar wind.
Christ man, didn't they teach you anything in school?
Parent
Re:Cultural differences...? (Score:5, Insightful)
The XBox software is very American, which isn't a bad thing at all, but it does mean that it doesn't sell well in Japan.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Gamers are not stupid. They're not going to make system decisions purely on what the game library is right now. Hardcore J-RPG fans (and I count myself as one), know that Sony consoles tend to get the best J-RPGs. Heck, I work at MS, but I will tell you I played far more PS2 games, thanks to all the RPGs from the likes of Square-Enix, Nippon-Ichi, Namco, etc. Square-Enix ha
Chicken and egg problem (Score:4, Informative)
That's changed a bit with the 360, thanks to MS attracting some big names. Mistwalker Studios [wikipedia.org], headed by the former Square honcho (and creator of Final Fantasy), has been developing some big exclusive RPGs for the 360. Blue Dragon just came out last month, and Lost Oddysey is on the way. (As a J-RPG fan myself, I keep track of these things)
While Blue Dragon sold a decent number of 360s, it's definately not enough. One game will not suddenly turn the console around, especially one that's brand new IP and from a new studio. Unfortunately for MS, it becomes somewhat of a chicken and egg problem. They'll need more developers to make "Japan-friendly" games, in order to attract more Japanese gamers. However, those developers aren't going to make games on a platform with a low user-base.
To an optimist, things are looking better. There are several more high-profile games coming in 2007 for the 360, including titles from Square-Enix, and another RPG from Mistwalker. Virtual Fighter 5, which is apparently a huge success in Japan, was recently announced to be coming to the 360 as well.
Personally, I see 2007 as a "do or die" year for the 360 in Japan. If even after all the developer-love, Japanese gamers still don't take to the console
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:3)
You can blame the extra demand on a lower price, Wii Sports, or maybe even claiming that it's the better product overall, but better availability is just ludicrous.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
1) The stores around my house have PS3's sitting around now. I don't believe it's because Sony caught up to demand. I believe that the demand shifted to the Wii because they were available. Also, since Christmas is over, parents are out of the running for camping stores for their stock.
I don't think demand shifted from PS3 to Nintendo because of availability. I read several accounts of how hundreds of people were waiting in line for a small shipment of Wiis with only a few in the same line for a similar sized shipment of PS3s, before Christmas, and units of the PS3 were starting to be generally available hours after shipments were out. The way things are going right now, Sony is going to have to slow production, or start to move units faster, because having a dozen units at almost every
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
The words say no, but the painfully tortured logic is telling me YES!
Let's stop posting these worthless articles for the sake of the horde ok?
We need articles like this because it is immensely gratifying to kick Sony while they're down. The rootkit will not be forgotten or forgiven.
Feature list for immature almost-tri-genarians (Score:5, Funny)
- SIXAXIS controller, which if pronounced sloppily can sound like "sex-asses".
- Motion sensing adds some potential.
Sex joke quotient: 50.
Wii:
- Name is inherently a phallus joke.
- Controller is phallic object, and referred to as "Wii-mote".
- Phallic object is "motion sensitive"
- Phallic object vibrates.
Sex joke quotient: 1 billion.
Winner: Wii. Wii always wins.
Parent
Particle Man (Score:4, Funny)
Particle Man, Particle Man,
Bought his Wii from a guy named Stan,
He plays a game, Particle wins,
Particle Man.
Triangle Man, Triangle Man,
Kicks Particle's ass playing Bomberman Land,
Same result while beta-testing Th3 Plan,
Triangle Man.
Note - Triangle Man always wins.
Man, I picked the wrong week to stop drinking
Parent