Wii Outsells PS3, Blue-ray Outsells HD DVD

njkid1, a regular contributor of GameDaily articles, passed us word that the Wii is handily outselling the PS3 in Japan. Famitsu parent company Enterbrain has figures showing that Nintendo sold 405,000 Wii units last month, while Sony sold 148,000 units of the PS3. While this is probably not something the folks at Sony are overjoyed about, they did have reason to crow this week. They've now announced that cumulative Blu-ray sales have passed the HD DVD format for the first time. Gamasutra has the word, from Sony itself, with some interesting supporting information. Most PS3 owners, it seems, have used their system to watch HD movies. Some full 80 percent plan to buy further HD titles in the future. This is further support for the VideoScan sales figures we discussed last week.

Wow?

[realilskater]

Is it really surprising that something that costs less than half the price of a PS3 and offers a completely new style of game play is selling more units?

Re:Pretty much history repeating itself...

[Anonymous Coward]

Just like DVD, most people's first DVD player was a PS2.

Sorry, but that's clearly false.

Bluray?

[MoFoQ]

I'm skeptical about those Blu-ray stats...just like the numbers that the MPAA cited for Canadian piracy (see /. post for Michael Geist from a few days ago).

Plus PS3 has that blinking issue...maybe good for "3D" movies (ref to old vid cards that came with "special" LCD glasses).

Apples and Oranges

[baptiste]

While they are both game consoles, there is a big price differential between a Wii and a PS3. It makes sense that the Wii would sell more units. While it has a nifty controller, power wise it's on par with the PS2 which sold like gangbusters this past holiday season. Compare it to those numbers for a telling look.

Dead cat bounce

[Generic Guy]

Even a dead cat will bounce once on its way down.

The common perception about the VideoScan numbers is that a lot of PS3 owners used their "free Blu-ray movie" coupon, boosting 'sales' after Christmas. Especially since there doesn't seem to be anything else available worth doing on the PS3 device right now. This is in addition to a rather dry HD-DVD lineup in January. Let's remember, the first two weeks in January after Christmas doesn't necessarily set a trend.

The VideoScan numbers for the third week in January, not reported in the article, already show Blu-Ray slumping down again, compared to HD-DVD.

All this sounds vaguely similar to the narrowly-defined "Zune leads 30GB music player market in first two days of sales" reports we saw a few weeks ago. Much ado about nothing.

Re:Apples and Oranges

[cowscows]

If the Wii and the PS3 are not a valid comparison, I don't see how the PS2 and Wii is any better. One is many years into its lifespan and has hundreds of games available. The other is just a couple months old and is selling faster than they can be manufactured. One has a tried and true tradition control scheme, the other has a new and very different control mechanism that nobody's familiar with. While the Wii certainly does not try to be the number crunching powerhouse that the PS3 is aiming for, saying that it's equal to the PS2 in terms of hardware is going a little too far. My Gamecube can certainly match the PS2, and even if the Wii is just 1.5 gamecubes in terms of numbers, that still puts it comfortably ahead of the PS2.

Price certainly helps the Wii, but people won't pay $250 for something that they view as a piece of crap. And at the same time, there are plenty of people who will pay significantly more for something that they perceive as better than the alternatives (witness the ipod).

So, why isn't the comparison of the Wii to the PS3 to the Xbox 360 worthwhile to you? The next 5 or so years of living room gaming is all about those three consoles. What does comparing any of the new systems to the PS2 tell you that's useful?

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Re:Dead cat bounce

[Thraxen]

But the comparison to the Zune isn't exactly sound. Zune is the system, BR movies are the software. I'm sure the surge at the start of January is due largely to the coupons, but there's no reason to believe that many of these people won't pick up BR movies in the future. The fact that the coupons alone were able to propel BR past HD-DVD in total sales is rather telling of the fact that HD-DVD is hardly leaving BR in the dust... not even close. At one point I was pretty certain HD-DVD would win out, but I'm not so sure anymore. In the long run Sony's plan may actually work out.

Hype Train

[Intangible Fact]

Ive posted some bias comments about the Nintendo Wii on Slashdot and Joystiq. Heres my chance to redeem myself. When a new technology comes out there is one thing that will help it stay and its called "Mass Appeal". The new technology has to find a way to reach the masses and be the next long lasting technological trend (such as vhs,dvd,mp3,joysticks). The Wii comes off to the general public as a family party game or something to help them exercise. Hardcore gamers are very different from the casual gamer. Casual gamers tend to not have the type of loyalty as the hardcore. When something new comes out people tend to jump on the hype train. Once that cool feeling wears off the casual gamer looks for something new to fulfill that high. The Wii will have a hard time staying on top once the casual gamer gets tired of the same old party games. It all depends on how long that hype lasts.

Re:It makes sense

[goodenoughnickname]

Huh?

I should have elaborated instead of sounding like a troll. When the PSP debuted, games were scant, but people wanted to use their new hardware so they bought what was in supply: UMD movies. Perhaps now the same thing is happening with the PS3 and Blu-Ray movies.

Re:PS3 sales still artifically low

[jchenx]

Actually, even though the Wii is hard to find, I saw two Wii consoles on sale at a small GameStop store just one block from Northgate Mall in Seattle, as well as the usual stack of PS3 consoles. So you can buy them, at least as of Sunday afternoon. Both consoles.

To me, anecdotal stories like that are rather pointless. All it means is that you were able to find it that one time. One event doesn't mean anything. After all, you could just have been lucky. I can tell you that I haven't been (and I also live in this area).

It's the same thing regarding stories of PS3s sitting on shelves. The first few reports don't matter. However, after some time, and with report after report coming in, then you can start to think there's some truth in there.

But for the time being, I don't really hear that with the Wii. At least not yet. Maybe a couple more weeks?

Remember kids, it's all subjective

[jchenx]

Can someone please name ONE game that the Wii has that is worth playing? I considered getting the latest Zelda game and a Wii, but it was the only game worth getting it seemed. So, I just got the gamecube version.

This isn't really a reply to you, as it is to all the Wii fanboys that are about to flame you for being dumb, and citing their favorite Wii games as proof that the Wii is superior to all.

To be honest, I'm in the same boat you are. Looking at the line-up and my particular preference for games, I really don't see much besides Zelda for me. Yeah, I'm not exactly the "new audience" that Nintendo is looking for, since I am most certainly considered a "hardcore gamer" (although it's really RPGs that are my thing, not so much shooters). I know a lot of people are raving about Rayman, Elebits, and Wii Sports, expecting everyone to share the same opinion they are. Meh. Doesn't really excite me. (Then again, I imagine games like Gears of War, World of Warcraft, Metal Gear Solid, and Final Fantasy, don't really excite many of these Wii fanboys either) Let's remember everyone, to each his own.

That said, I still want a Wii, just to try out the experience. Since the console is cheap enough, why not?

Re:lull

[MeanderingMind]

Generally there's a lot of ramping up that's done prior to a launch. This means that in most cases there's a greater supply at and around the launch period than afterwards, as you've had some number of months to produce systems and related items in advance.

Additionally, most everything sells less following the holidays, as most people don't have money to buy things. Many of the purchases of the Wii are likely to be people still attempting to get little Johnny his Christmas present.

However, the true lull is in games for people who blow through them like tissue paper. They've probably got maximum scores in all five Wii Sports, could recite for you all of Midna's lines from Twilight Princess, could plot every tree on every course in Excite Bike, power their house using Elebits, and have saved and killed as many patients in Trauma Center as your nearest hospital has in its entire life.

Quite simply, until there are more games than any one human can play these people will not be satisfied.

Re:It makes sense

[Danse]

Another thought: how many good Wii games are there that don't rely on that gimmicky remote control?

The PS2 controller was gimmicky at one time as well. Now it's basically the standard. Games are either good or not. Whether they rely on the controller or not doesn't really matter. It's still either a good/fun game or it isn't.