August NPD Numbers Look Good For Wii, 360 121
To add a little more context to yesterday's announcement that the Wii had outsold the 360 worldwide, we have August's NPD numbers courtesy of 1up. From the article: "The story hasn't changed much -- Wii remains on top, PlayStation 3 continues to have trouble gaining steam and Xbox 360 maintains a position behind Wii but gaining momentum as the fall season moves into gear-- but the numbers have shifted. Encouraging news for Microsoft, however, as Xbox 360 moves nearly 100,000 more units compared to last month's 170,000, while Madden NFL 08 pushes 896,600 boxes and BioShock moves 490,900 copies -- impressive numbers for the Xbox 360 platform, software-wise. Nintendo must be happy with the performance of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, as the latest sci-fi Samus Aran shooter managed 218,100 copies in late August, with Wii Play (released in January) only beating it by nearly 50,000 units."
Wii vs 360 vs PS3 (Score:5, Insightful)
One thing is for sure, in terms of software, the 360 is top dog. This system flat out moves games. With Halo3 coming out in a little over a week, expect the 360 to have record quarterly numbers.
Re:sony is outsellin both of em (Score:5, Insightful)
202 + 130.6 + 151.2 = 483.8
And you claim that makes it outsell nintendo and the xbox? Ok by that logic it's correct that it outsells xbox but if you're going to compare it to nintendo it's a little bit of a double standard if you take all three systems and compare it against only the wii OR it DS... by your line of reasoning shouldn't we combine all nintendo platforms and get 403.6 + 383.3 = 786.9k so you should be saying
"the nintendo family is outsellin the sony family and the xbox gg xbots and ps3tards"
If you want to troll at least try not to look so obvious (and just for the record the only console i currently own is a PS3)
Sony can't be too happy (Score:4, Insightful)
Although I am sure that Sony will find some way to spin this in a good manner, I can't imagine they will be too happy that sales have actually decreased from July. With the expectation that the 60 GB version with true backwards compatibility would only be around for a short time, I am certainly surprised there wasn't a longer spike in sales. There might be some increase in sales due to high profile games like Lair and Heavenly Sword In September, but all signs point to these being disappointing and may do nothing to drive sales.
I am not shocked to see Xbox 360 sales increase. Bioshock is an amazing game, and as the de-facto console of hardcore gamers, the Xbox 360 version of Madden certainly helped sales. With Halo 3 only days away, I would expect the Xbox 360 will finish off the year with units flying off the shelf (and I would expect that sales will rival the Wii for the rest of the year).
The Wii continues to have strong sales, hampered by a continuing lack of supply. Nintendo will be happy with the sales of Metroid, and I imagine this game will continue to be a top seller for the next year or two. I'm betting Nintendo has started to hoard some units for the upcoming Christmas rush, so probably the rate of sales will be steady until November.
Re:Missed the Boat (Score:3, Insightful)
The thing is too expensive, period.
Re:Missed the Boat (Score:3, Insightful)
Probably because it's twice as powerful and offers features that the 360 especially, touts as "add-ons" (If you add up the add-ons the price becomes comparable).
You blame the hardware company instead of the software company that used a feature badly, bravo on your ability to shift blame.
How so? It only locks developers into this format for PS3 games, which happens to offer the same major features as HD-DVD, oh and it gives twice the storage space. Whose fault is it that some idiots don't take advantage of it? 360 doesn't even have the HD-DVD built in, it's an "add-on".
I agree that the PS3 is not being developed correctly on the software front, thats impossible to argue against at this point. But as a piece of hardware it's a solid machine that doesn't have a habit of dying on you, like some other console I know.
Re:Missed the Boat (Score:4, Insightful)
IT went from 99% to 80%. hardly going to hell. 360's still at 30%-40%.
360 fanbois (Score:3, Insightful)
This, to me, is even a bigger issue than the difference in processing power. The 360 has a slightly better GPU, which helps, but the PS3 has much more raw available power. (Emphasis on "raw.")
Really, the big deal *is* the BluRay, and not for movies. The fact that Sony included both a hard drive and a BluRay player means the game developer can assume certain things-- a fast hard-drive cache and 50GB of data storage topping the list.
I believe Microsoft was foolish to skip the HD storage medium for their HD-capable game machine. Games are getting *way* above 8GB these days.
The 360 fanbois are counting Sony out on this one. I don't think they realize Sony has the edge here as games grow to take advantage of the new system capabilities. What you see on the 360 today is about what you'll see on the 360 in four years. The PS3 is still in the Rayman stages.
But, to each his own. I'm very pleased with my PS3. Others will be pleased with their 360s. And we all win.
Re:Missed the Boat (Score:3, Insightful)
Nintendo and the fragile game market... (Score:3, Insightful)
I think the Wii will subsidize the hardcore segment of the market, but I have doubts that the people who bought the Wii for wii sports / Wii play will have much of an interest in hardcore games. I'm taking a wait and see approach. It looks to me like the Xbox and Wii will be king in North america and the PS3 and Wii will be king in Japan.
Nintendo though has been really having problems developing their first party games and the 3rd party software developers have REALLY caught up with Nintendo in terms of game quality.
I was playing Twilight princess and Wind Waker and found myself underwhelmed by it compared to a game like say God of War and God of War 2. They are both action games, but Zelda was not as combat heavy, nor as interesting as other more explorative games.
Re:Missed the Boat (Score:1, Insightful)
With the PS3 you buy a
PlayStation 3 (60GB) $499.99
Playstation 3 Wireless Sixaxis Controller $39.99 (Includes rechargeable battery).
2nd PlayStation 3 USB Controller Charger Cable $4.99 or less it's just a USB cable. (Don't need but this way you can charge both at the same time...)
Xbox needs
Xbox 360 Console Includes 20GB Hard Drive $349.99 or 350...
Xbox 360 Wireless Controller $37.99
But wait you also need rechargeable batteries
Xbox 360 Rechargeable Controller Battery Pack $11.99
Xbox 360 Quick Charge Kit 29.99$ (includes one battery pack)
From Amazon Wii = $324.34 or you camp out for 250$
Now add in
Wii Charge Station $29.99 with twin rechargeable battery packs...
but wait 2nd person =
Wii Remote Controller $39.99
Wii Nunchuk Controller $19.99
Now to play Classic games you should pick up:
Wii Classic Controller $19.99 x2 = $40
and / or
Gamecube Wavebird Wireless Controller Grey $29.90 x2 = $60
Totals:
PS3: $545
360: $430 - $530
Wii: $380 - $474
Granted you can pay some Wii games without the second Nunchuk but it's considered somewhat "standard" for a lot of 2 player games. On the other hand it does come with some basic demo's which is cool.
PS: Though Amazon you can also get 8 blue ray disks (3 ship with the PS3 5 come with a mail in rebate) but it's not that big a deal. I don't consider video's as part of a game system so I skipped the 360's HD-DVD drive.
Re:Wii vs 360 vs PS3 (Score:1, Insightful)
Don't worry, you'll grow up eventually.
Re:360 fanbois (Score:2, Insightful)
Yeah, the kind of "lets blow it up to 50Gb and hype that we need it" kind of games. Simply go back to unompressed wav, bmp and avi and you'll fill it up in no time flat. You see the exact thing going on with Blu-Ray where they're trying to push LPCM over DTS, since they need something to eat the extra 20GB of space. Nevermind that 1.5Mbps/6ch = 512kbps/stereo, which is twice what iTunes' high quality songs are, and twice that again what most people seem happy listening to. Most PC games have come with HDTV+ resolutions for a long time and DVD size is plenty. With more programmability like shaders and such, size goes down rather than up because you render more and play prerendered content less. If you're telling me that the PS3 needs 50GB it's a sign it's underpowered
Real Console Winner--the PC (Score:2, Insightful)
1. Vast library of titles available and also has titles available on multiple consoles (vs. PS3's dearth of a game library)
2. Option to have non-faulty hardware (vs. XBOX 360 "red ring of death"; btw, I'm not saying all have it--mine is in an extremely well ventilated area and I have no problems)
3. Superior graphics capabilities. Being able to play Oblivion at resolutions 1280x1024 and up--gorgeous (vs. the Wii)
4. No need to deal with figuring out the complexities of HDTV or even buying one (just choose the resolution your monitor, which you already have, supports)
5. The expense. You already have a computer if you are reading
6. No loading times (for the most part). Forza Motorsport 2 or Oblivion on an XBOX 360--painful, after a while
Something to think about.