A few days ago we reported that thanks to the Blu-Ray release of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, which was also made available as a bundle with a demo of Final Fantasy XIII, the PS3's sales surged from a meager 16k units from two weeks back, to a whopping 57k units last week. We had also made certain to note that numbers from other retail trackers such as Famitsu are generally different than Media Create, which we hold as the proper standard of retail trackers – the NPD of Japan, if you will.
Well, last night, Media Create's hardware numbers went up and they tracked the PlayStation 3 as selling a bit more than our initial number of 57k. Turns out, over 62.5k PlayStation 3's were sold last week in Japan, trumping everything else by a considerable margin. The Nintendo Wii remains unmoved with a less than stellar 13k sold, and the Xbox 360 slipped back down below the 10k mark. The PSP once again outsold the Nintendo DSi, but could not outsell the DSi and DS Lite combined.
Furthermore, the PlayStation 3 has been consistently outselling the Nintendo Wii as its year-to-date figures have passed that of Nintendo's system. Meaning, over the course of the past four and a half months, the PlayStation 3 has sold more than the Wii in Japan. Exactly by how much? As of April 19th, the PlayStation 3 has moved over 447k systems in Japan and the Nintendo Wii 432k. It's still a very close match, and if the PS3 can maintain the momentum of outselling the Wii consistently, it should have no trouble holding that lead. Stay posted!
PS3 62,527
PSP 40,065
DSi 38,287
Wii 13,221
Xbox 360 8,652
DS Lite 6,438
PS2 4,230
Related Game(s): Final Fantasy XIII
Whooo hooo! Too bad that's Japan only…
-Arvis
I could tell who posted this by the 'Awesome' pic! See what I did there?
It tripled sales! Jeez, and its just a demo! I hope Square is paying attention, This is what happens when you release stuff for the PS3!
i love the fact that we get ff13, ffv13, and 4 all of us who have a psp, get ff ajito (spelling??) 13… meenwhile 360 just gets ff13:P
bravo sony (gotta give some credit 2 squenix… sure they now work with m$, but damn, they give us 2 more games than the xbox, which i think is sick…)
If only the rest of the world followed. At least it thrives strongly somewhere.
This is great news but can we please refocus on the real story? That the PS3 is in the death spiral, that Sony is going to shut down operations and sell their business to Microsoft. Man, it's almost like you don't know what is really going on in the world Arnold. At least unbiased websites exist out there like Edge. LOL!
Haha…Don't forget about the PS3 exclusives Sony is losing to Nintendo and M$ like Uncharted and LBP.
lol
and dont forget about the halo EXPANSION PACK omg nooo…
Wouldn't it be great if the same thing happened in the usa/europe?
it's already happening in Europe
Huh?
picture the current console war like ww2…
first few beginning months/years, no one stopped Hitler(say, M$) and its Nazi army(the 360)… but soon after the allies(ps3) joined in… but the allies were getting stomped and crushed for 3 years… finally, the allied war machine gains ground (in japan in the case of the consoles) and eventually starts to regain territory, while the Nazi's are slowly retreating to Germany (America in the case of the 360) and by this time, most of Europe is liberated from the Nazi oppression, and japan completely surrenders to the allies (still the ps3)
now while the Nazi's are in full retreat, the Russian allied army (still ps3) invades and destroys Berlin, and most of Germany. ending the Nazi war machine, and ridding the world of Hitler's terror.
picture that as what's currently happening in the current gen war… xbox 360 came, and for a while, no one opposed it, than the ps3 comes out and is attacked and bashed by m$ and its fanboys… and it takes a few years to actually gain offense…
and picture the last paragraph as the future of this console war… ps3 gaining ground, eventually outselling the 360, putting out better quality games than it. eventually winning the console war on top, and crushing the 360..
it may be weird, but i think it's a good analogy!
So who are Nintnedo then, I suppose they could be Italy since Mario is from there, lol.
I can see hat your tryingto say, this could b the rise and fall of 360 and Wii.
If there's going to be cheaper consoles which are designed for short lifespan, then we'll see higher sales in that short space of time. Since the PS3 is designed to be around for a 10 year spell and is also expensive, then those sales will be spread throughout those years. The PS3 will have more of the best software and features in those years and price-drops increasing the number of sales as the ears go on. Much better to pace yourself than to go full out and not have the legs to finish the race. Its hare and the tortoise, with PS3 being the tortoise (sales wise)
@mordakai1
NO, that was not a good analogy. It comes perilously close to being a Godwin situation.
@TheHighlander
come on, don't throw the Godwin law @ me… just cuz I made a comparison that does in fact make sense, but involves Adolph… if you have an imagination, that analogy makes sense…
so… now that the law has been thrown down… does this mean that this whole convo is dead??
And I bet tomorrow I will see another "PS3 in Death Spiral" news story pop up somewhere
You'll have to wait until Monday…unless Kotaku does it over the weekend. I don't know why Kotaku is even popular. I guess I just don't get what Kotaku has to offer.
Alright, I'll try to channel the US tech/gaming media…though I may get a headache, and it will hurt my sensibilities to do it. Satire demands it must be done…
Is PS3 in a Death Spiral?
Stunning news over the weekend. Sony's ailing and costly BluRay player, the so-called PlayStation3 managed to eek out a lead over the Almighty Wii in Japan.
No doubt Sony supporters were cheering from the roof-tops and rejoicing in parties. However what's really going on here? Wii continues to sell strongly managing to hold the PS3 to a mere 5:1 advantage, and with strong titles no where in sight, it's continues strong sales no doubt bring heart to the masterminds of the casual gaming generation. Microsoft too sees signs of cheer managing to beat out the PS2 by a 2:1 margin and only being outsold 7:1 by the PS3.
What caused this anomaly? Well, it was not a game, it was a BluRay. And this is the problem Sony faces. It simply cannot sell games for it's ill-fated game console and needs to lean on the secondary functions of the device for sales. A mere BluRay release was able to spike sales by approximately 45000 units in one week. How can Sony possibly hope to maintain this kind of momentum with BluRay players becoming ever cheaper? The PS3's days are clearly numbers as it is an order of magnitude more expensive than the BluRay competition. Oh, it's a good BluRay player, but is that worth an extra 20,000 yen? Sure it plays games, but then so does the iPhone.
Now, before I close, I must at least draw attention to one last fact. The BluRay in question was Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, a CG movie of a 15 year old game. Significantly the disc included a short demo of an upcoming title from Square Enix in the Final Fantasy series. This upcoming game is notable because it was formerly exclusive to PS3, but Square Enix felt that it was necessary to delay the game to make it multi-platform. Another signal of impending doom for the ailing PS3.
In conclusion it seems clear that the PS3 is entering what can only be described as a death spiral where unit sales are only supported by one of special BluRay releases and demos of games expected to do well on competing platforms. Continuing strong sales of Wii and 360 clearly underline the weakness of the PS3, and year to date figures show that the PS3 is only just maintaining a lead of the Wii. Remember folks, this is in Japan, Sony's own backyard, where they expect to do well.
<end of spoof>
It's a death spiral alright, following the Xbox360 all the way down and performing a victory roll as the 360 explodes into a cascade of millions of red LEDs and then crashes and burns.
Anyone kept count as to how many times that's been said?
yh if only it was just more than japan. but just wait until the real ver comes out, and not 2 metion gt5. which is 1 of the best franchises over there.
Great news, can't wait to see the ps3 have similar sales jumps when things like that release here 😀
Brings a tear in my eye seeing the playstation brand on top like the good old days even if is only in Japan.
Good old untainted times. You gotta thanks M$ for ruining it for us all.
Great News!
Now all we gotta do is wait for ripple effect to reach Australia/New Zealand, then South & Southeast Asia, then Europe, and then FINALLY the Americas.
How long will it this take? I'd say 2 years tops.
Last edited by King James on 4/24/2009 5:59:23 PM
wow… I havent seen any Japanese numbers that high for a console in a while. this is intense.
Cool
Prize cut at E3 and it should stay hot like this.
hopefully the ps3 can maintain this momentum
🙂 WHOA!
What everyone keeps overlooking is that 95 percent of the population rushed out and bought the wii, and until all the babies grow up and start buying them, there is nobody left to sell them to. Just check the sales figures from the time it was released. They all own a wii. That is the only reason anybody is outselling them now. So everyone gloat because ps3 is now outselling a system the whole world already owns. If Sony can't outsell them now, something is wrong. Besides I believe the wii is still kicking butt in the U.S. I have a psp, a ps2, and a ps3, and if I wasn't having to save to replace my ps3, I would buy a wii too, and like Ben mabey a xbox 360 too. Come on people, really, why do you care if the wii sells trillions of systems! Why do you care if Microsoft sells trillions of systems! Why do you hate all systems except Sony's! Just hope Sony can sell trillions of systems! You are missing a variety of good game play by being so one tracked. Grow up and get over it!
Last edited by crawdaddy on 4/24/2009 7:14:13 PM
Arnold, it's only three-and-a-half months.
… unless I fell asleep and it's mid-May already.
Last edited by Fane1024 on 4/24/2009 7:03:36 PM
Those PS3 sales are mega from a demo release. PSP sales are great too with more people in Japan buying a PSP than Nintendo's new handheld.
I don't understand the whole "console war" thing. As I have read before (here, I think), if one console "won" the war, there would be no competition for that console and therefore they would have a monopoly, which is never, ever good. example: windows.
What's the point of arguing about who's console is better, use whatever console you chose to buy and play some games, and enjoy them! That's the whole point, is entertainment. So go and entertain yourself. Who cares if you have a 360, a PS3, NES, GBA, DS?
Can someone please enlighten me then on why it is such a big deal with people? I have heard and been a part of wayyy too many arguments on this subject…
I don't like the console wars(do hate Nintendo) myself but growing up with Sega(later Sony) my whole life and being a Dreamcast fanatic I know am force to look at sales for the PS3.I really don't want to wake up one day and find out that the head of Sony discontinues the Playstation brand because of bad sales and no profits.
The "War" is stupid. I like seeing the PS3 sell because if there are more PS3 out there, Developers are more likely to pay attention to that console. See the 360 for the last few years is a example of that.
I've owned all three consoles this generation. For a few months I had them all at the same time. Not everyone has the same preferences and should play there games by thous preferences. I just happen to prefer the PS3 more than its competitors.
And your so right about one console having a monopoly. Competition in the industry is a good, no, Great thing. Part of my distaste of Microsoft is that they did not try to compete. They outright bought games so that competition would not be a issue for them. People would hard pressed to think of a scenario where they would still be beating Sony in sales if they did not do this. The Wii… Well.. The Wii is a oddity, But it also goes to demonstrate that sales don't dictate quality. Sony has many thing wrong with it as well. PSN Could use a overhaul, There need to be better communication between regions and it is in need of a price cut. But over all it has great games and is a really sturdy piece of technology. And this is a big reason why I think most of us are members of this site.
Yup, what you said!!!!
I enjoy all eleven of my systems, and plan to add a few more into the mix later this year too.
That does make sense. Just like to hear other people's opinions on this sometimes besides the normal "OMG PS3 SUX" or "XBOX3FIXME" stuff spewed by fanboys.
'Preciate it.
That's why I come to this site. There is very, very little of that.
The only reason I'm a partisan is the one you gave: Windows. I don't want Microsoft to grab a monopoly in the console market like they did on PC.
And, believe me, they're willing to do anything to make that happen.
PLAYSTATION 3 will win this generation period
It already feels like the return of the king.
It already feels like the return of the king.
What defines "Win"?
How does it "win"?
I don't understand.
Does it mean that more PS3s will be in consumer's homes, or that it makes Xbox & Ninty die, or what?
If PS3 was the only game console out there, it would be baaddd. *coughmonopolycough*
They should so bundle a demo for FFvsXIII in with the full FFXIII. Pie charts everywhere would implode.
If you want an answer to the console war thing it's because when you have the best tech you want it to be the most proliferated system on the market. This causes devs to use it as a games platform (like Oyashiro said) but furthermore it means more will be willing to go exclusive, now for me, I don't want an exclusive in order to rub it in someone's face, I want a game exclusive because everyone knows exclusives are the most top quality games and the top quality games on the top quality tech means the best gaming experience for me (and you) So yeah, there's your answer.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 4/24/2009 10:04:31 PM
I think that's a pretty good answer. I had not thought of that… Comes back to just entertaining yourself, I guess. Buy the system with the games you like but don't go around bashing other people's systems because you don't like it because it doesn't have games YOU like.
Ack, whatever I say won't change anything, it just perplexes me WHY people do it. And it bugs me.
Awesomness….
Goddammit Arnold you crack me up. I love the pic you put up for this one.
The news is pretty good to hear too.
Last edited by Jed on 4/24/2009 10:19:46 PM
It's great to see the PS3 finally taking hold in Japan. I think it's looking good for them to win the console sales race there for 2009.
It's going to take a lot of doing to win in the U.S., for obvious reasons that I won't recant. Perhaps the "price drop at E3 rumor" will come to fruition and that will start the machine. Of course, Xbots won't buy the console at any price. They actually think what they read at Eurogamer and Kotaku is gospel.
go ps3 go, your time to truly shine!
p.s. GOW3, FF13, ICO3 have not even been released yet.
Last edited by BigBoss4ever on 4/25/2009 1:13:46 AM
Cool, FFXIII better not be disappointing, but then again, it's my favourite RPG so it will be and since I like Kingdom Hearts I also gonna like FFVXIII too.
PS3 won't surpass the 360 this year, but it will SURELY close the gap BIG TIME.
So lets now head over to N4G.com for another round of 'The PS3 is Dooomed' . L.M.A.O
FFXIII pwnage. i played the demo. envy me.. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHA