Wii, PS3 Sell Big In First Week 306
Wowzer writes "Nintendo today announced the Wii sold through more than 600,000 units in the Americas in just its first eight days of availability. That's a rate of nearly one per second continuously since the November 19 launch!" From the article: "The company noted that, when taking into account first-party software and accessory sales, Wii sales have thus far amounted to an impressive $190 million. Nintendo also added that sales of the Wii's highly anticipated launch title, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, has already has achieved sales of more than 454,000 units in the Americas, a figure which it notes represents in excess of of 75 percent of all hardware purchasers." I couldn't find any sales figures for the PS3, just word that the company has sold all the units it shipped. Gamasutra is also reporting sales figures via Ebay for the two consoles. 15,000 PS3s were sold, while the Wii cracked 27,000 via the popular online auction site.
Before anyone mentions NexGenWars (Score:5, Interesting)
It's worth noting that 15,000 PS3 units could be as much as 10% [gizmodo.com] of the North American supply. Given that we don't know the actual figures shipped, it's just as possible that 15,000 is 5% of the supply. Either way, it's a significant percentage of the PS3 consoles.
Analysts (Score:5, Interesting)
Until NPD releases its November numbers or Sony makes an announcement I think those are about as accurate as we're going to get.
Re:Ebay numbers wrong! (Score:2, Interesting)
Yeah but how many of those Wiis were fake and scams?
Re:Too early to tell... (Score:5, Interesting)
Then Sony started lying out their asses about what the PS2 would be like and managed to spread the FUD so thick that people nearly quit buying Dreamcasts completely. (despite the fact that the PS2 was, in reality, only incrementally superior to the DC) Sega's marketing department failed to keep up, and the rest was history.
Point of the story being, the DC situation is unlikely to be repeated in this case. It sort of came out in a weird "in between" time, generationally, rather than this situation where the three consoles have all come out relatively near to each other. (remember, people think of the SNES and the Genesis as being of the same generation, even though they were separated by two years)
So what it's all going to come down to is customer adoption and games. Personally, I think Sony is at an INCREDIBLE disadvantage, one I'd be highly surprised to see them overcome. It's going to come down, I believe, to a slugging match between Microsoft and Nintendo in a war of prettiness and grittiness vs fun and fluffy. And I predict they'll end up at something of an equilibrium, maybe 40% market share each, with the PS3 taking the high-end business but little else.
Re:Zonk plugs Nintendo... again! (Score:2, Interesting)
I've seen a lot more about the PS3 than I have the wii. The wii just gets positive articles because it's very hard to bash it (beyond LOL OLD GRAPHICS) and the PS3 is just a complete mess which is hard to complement.
It's like going "This is a bike, it works perfectly" and then "This is a 13 wheeled bike, it sort of works and it's really cool!" You can't find a fault with the bike but the 13 wheeled bike you can easily.
It's a manufacturing race... (Score:4, Interesting)
However, Sony will be able to keep selling units for top dollar, which will help them, because demand is so high... but they can't supply the market.
Nintendo appears to have figured out how to get units out the door. It doesn't matter that 2x to 3x the people want a Sony system as a Nintendo system if Sony can't get them off the line and into stores. Nintendo will sell there demand, and some will substitute a Wii for a PS3. Sony blew this launch BADLY. They may win this round, they may make money, they may pull off a lot (they have a LOT of Brand Value), but they screwed up manufacturing.
If Nintendo keeps manufacturing units and selling them, they will sell games and make money. Some third parties may sign up (if you want to launch a game for next Christmas, if Sony doesn't fix its manufacturing problems by mid-year, Nintendo may be a real option for them). The interesting thing is that Nintendo's system is SO different, it isn't straight ports that will work. Last generation, game companies could switch their target system around without much re-jiggering, but Nintendo's system requires a completely different approach because it is so unique.
However, Sony blew the manufacturing... marketing did its job, but they didn't get product out there. I expect Microsoft to be the BIG beneficiary of this, as Sony and Microsoft are much more substitutable (similar hardware, similar controllers, similar target markets), but Nintendo will find itself fighting in the normal market, not just a niche...
Interesting thing as well, Nintendo didn't overspec their system, they may have underspec'd it. That means that they may be able to get costs WAY down. If Sony's botched launch delays games (because nobody wants to sell games to a dead market), Nintendo may be able to keep moving systems and get the costs down fast. If that happens, expect Nintendo to start selling to hardcore gamers because if they can get a $200 package with 2 games out within 24 months, hard core gamers may pick one up to augment their Sony/MS gaming with Nintendo's unique offering.
Nintendo executed, Sony didn't. Kudos to Nintendo. Sony, get your divisions back in sync.
Alex
Re:Before anyone mentions NexGenWars (Score:3, Interesting)
How many were put up on ebay and NOT sold? I'm guessing that there are not many more people willing to pay $1000 extra just to get a unit before the next shipment arrives. Think of all those thousands of poor people, who are now stuck with a $800 doorstop. Remember, they only bought it to resell it, not to use it.
The Counter-Strike of Game Consoles (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Before anyone mentions NexGenWars (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:How many of those were busted? (Score:2, Interesting)
Regardless, why does it matter? Read my other response. The Wii I received had scratches and was already registered to someone in Washington, DC. My guess is that that person had similar problems to me, sent it back to Nintendo, they wiped the firmware and sent it to me.
Re:How hard is it to find a Wii at the moment (Score:3, Interesting)
However, the production rates are supposed to be HUGE, so I bet there will be some soon.
The killer, for me, is that I can't get the 4th nunchuck for my system. No one has ANY Wii accessories in stock; they sell out so fast it's not even funny.
Re:From what I here and see, WII has the advantage (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Heh looks like Sony is a bit embarased (Score:3, Interesting)
Sony said that they would ship 400k units on launch day in North America. They said that the first 500k would have a movie included. My buddy just went to Target yesterday and was lucky enough to get one of the 20GB systems that "just came in" and it also had the movie. So, by my simple math Sony did not ship 400k to N.A. on 11/17.
Now for Nintento... They said they would have 2 million for NA launch. However, now it appears that they actually meant 600k worldwide.
So it looks like both Sony and Nintendo lied. Now Nintendo is saying 2 million by the end of the year, and Sony is saying 1 million. I guess time will tell...
Having said all that I have a PS3 60GB, and so far I like it. It definitely has its issues, like downscaling 720P games to 480P on my 1080i only TV, and the registration process flat out needs to be redone. The password restrictions are ridiculous and some of the error screens need to be better worded. Having said all that, the downloadable games (motorstorm, blast factor etc) are very fun and Marvel Ultimate Alliance is a great game for an old comic book fan like myself. The sixaxis controllers rock and I love that they are wireless. The wireless worked right out of the box and the quality of the system appears to be excellent. I will say that I had around 25 people over for Thanksgiving and most thought that Marvel was "ok" not much better than other games, but Motorstorm was a HUGE hit, it actually got some people that would never watch a game to play it.
Also, I have dorked around with putting pictures on it and showing them to the family during thanksgiving. I found this quite easy to do and love the fact that the pictures come out in HD and the sideshow features are great. Family members had no clue the PS3 could do that and started to understand that it is more than "just a game machine".
I tested a couple of 1080P movies and they look great on my 1080i TV, and coming from the PS2 DVD playback, I can say that the PS3 is much better at playing/managing DVD's and bluRay(PS3 only). Again, I don't have a 1080P set, but I can say that the 1080P content looks better than any of the HD cable stations I have. It isn't a ton better than the Discovery station, but I can tell a difference. I have a 52" RCA Scenium TV...
At the end of the day the people that saw the PS3, played with it thought it was too expensive initially, but then started to change their toon a bit after "messing" with it. (Seeing pictures, videos, and games) My observation of them is that "if" the PS3 was down to say $400 by next Christmas a few of them would buy it. "If" it was down to $300 then most of the families there would buy one. I want to point out that this is almost exactly what happened with the PS2. My family got it year one, then some year two and then the rest year 3.
I will say that the ONLY person that flat out wouldn't give the PS3 a fair shake is the 19 year old Windows Gamer. He is a gamer and I thought he would love the PS3, but it appears that if it doesn't run on a PC, then he doesn't like it. He kept wanting to argue that the graphics at 1920X1080 isn't as good as 24XXX by 2XXXX. I wonder what it will take to convince the Windows gamers to give the PS3 a fair shake.
Lastly I want to say that most enjoyed the "tilt" control of the PS3, few wanted to use if for long and switched back to using a "normal" control. It appeared that people liked to see a motorcycle do weird stuff and would laugh with the tilt controls, but after 20 or so minutes would want to go back because their hands got tired of holding the controller in the "correct" way.
Anyway, back on topic....
I think it is pretty much a fact that this year is really BETA for the PS3 and Wii. Next year will be interesting. I can say that I give the PS3 a 7.5 on a scale of 10 so far. If they "fix" the downscaling issue soon that will go to a 8.5. If they continue to put up more fun demos then is could go to a 9.
Re:Before anyone mentions NexGenWars (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Fuzzy math (Score:4, Interesting)
There are 1500 ps2 titles listed on wikipedia and I'd estimate an equal amount of ps1 titles. So if they continue, you'd have 1500 * 3 platforms = 4500 titles (just listing quantity not quality). Not that it's apples to apples but the Xbox had about 700, the 360 has about 300 so far. Sony is an electronics and entertainment company first, whereas MS was (and is) trying to break into the market. That's just the reality of the situation.
I have a 360. But when FF13, Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid and especially White Knight (assuming the videos aren't pre-vis) are released you better believe the demand will be there. Although the price is a bit steep and it's so much more complicated than the ps2 was. It's early, hard to say. PS2 launch was the same imho, all that is different is the pricey High-Def age. Tivo Series 3(HD) is $700, Series2(non HD) was $399 at launch. HD just costs a lot, ps3 is right in there. I'd be curious to know if anyone has any old HiFi (audio) war stories?
Re:Before anyone mentions NexGenWars (Score:3, Interesting)
Um, yeah. You might want to check that attitude at the door. Sony is already missing their projections of 2 million consoles (originally down from 4 million) by half. They're down to a broadcast projection of 1 million consoles for 2006. The analysts that you're quoting for that 200,000 number are the same ones who are saying that Sony will miss their latest target by 250,000 units. Also, if their 125,000 - 175,000 units for North America guesstimate is correct (which has yet to be proven either way), Sony already has 205,000 - 255,000 units in customer hands. (The ~80,000 in Japan were verified using sales figures.)
Sony has had a crappy launch from day one, and will most likely continue to have a crappy launch. (Depsite their best efforts to airlift in new consoles.) Trying to convince others that Sony is an even more dire situation than even the worst case estimates only serves to brand you as a Nintendo or Microsoft fanboy. Which isn't a very good position to argue from.
If you're boycotting Sony, please do me a favor and don't advertise it. Otherwise, with friends like you, who needs enemies?
no, they don't (Score:4, Interesting)
No. An analyst says that Sony loses $300 per unit. That is the same $900 / unit that analysts were talking about a year ago and was generally thought to be complete bunk. Just before the rootkit fiasco when everyone decided hating Sony would be the new cool thing to do on the Intertubes. Now when an analcyst spouts some bullshit numbers that ignore the fact that Sony owns the production lines for many of the PS3 components, people take it as god-given fact.
Re:Meanwhile MS claims they won launch week... (Score:1, Interesting)