John-ShepardAnother month, another period of double-digit growth for the PlayStation 3.
However, SCEA says "incredible demand" and "tight inventory" for their machine affected the February hardware sales, which saw the Xbox 360 beat both the Wii and the PS3 in the monthly chart. The Wii was rarely beaten early on in this generation but lately, both the PS3 and 360 have begun to surge ahead, thanks in large part to big exclusives like Mass Effect 2 and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves . Here's the NPD hardware stats for February:
As for the software, Bioshock 2 for the Xbox 360 was #1, which is hardly surprising, considering that Bioshock debuted on the 360 and didn't arrive on the PS3 until a year later. This means that most fans of the original who intended to buy the sequel have a 360; that's just logic talking. You can see the rest of the software sales and judge for yourself; please note that Heavy Rain actually made the top 10 at around 219,300 and bear in mind that it only includes North American results. Also, the game launched on February 23, so that number is based on only one week of sales; in comparison, Bioshock 2 launched on February 9.
And lastly, here's Sony's statement from Sr. Director of Corporate Communications Patrick Seybold:
"There continues to be incredible demand for PlayStation 3, but tight inventory is definitely having an impact on recent sales numbers. That said, we’re still tracking to sell 13 million PS3s worldwide by the end of March, which marks a 30% increase over last fiscal year. In February, PS3 was the only platform to see double digit growth when compared to the previous year and the platform is showing no signs of slowing down. This year will once again showcase how deep and broad our content offerings are with breakout titles like Heavy Rain, which ranked in the top ten in February with only a week of sales in the month. God of War III which will be a multi-million unit seller and hardware driver is launching later this month, followed by ModNation Racers, Gran Turismo 5, SOCOM 4 and many more. At GDC this week we introduced our new motion controller, PlayStation Move, and unleashed a whole new, ultra-sensory gaming experience that will change the way people enjoy both casual and hard core games. Needless to say, 2010 will be one of our best years ever for PS3 and we expect continued momentum for PSP and PS2."
I swear those Xbox numbers are fake. Everywhere i go there a ton of Xbox's and no PS3's. Who the hell is still buying that doorstop MS calls a game HD console? I guess the low amount of PS3's in the store would be from the supply shortage.
Hard to believe the DS is still topping the charts. You'd think everyone and their mother would have one by now.
Last edited by Jawknee on 3/11/2010 9:40:14 PM
possibly repaired/refurbished 360s and/or using shipped numbers as units sold. most of the people i know who are buying sequels of games already have a 360. It could also be because of 360 users who got rrod or e47 errors that dont know of the repair plan or just dont want to deal with microsoft's service. repairing your 360 has to be cheaper than buying an arcade unit, right?
Last edited by johnld on 3/11/2010 9:52:16 PM
Jawknee,
I think it's because all the DSi gamers are snatching up the brand new DSi XL that just came out, it's the same as the old, but it's much larger, and with much bigger screens too.
@johnld, i don't know anyone who is still buying 360's. I was luckily enough that the Xbox's library of games is rather limited for my tastes, so saying good bye to it wasn't a big deal. Was happy to get rid of the headache actually. i don't know how much it cost to fix a box. i just assumed they were all repaired under warranty. I do know MS still counts units shipped as sold but aren't these numbers different then the ones MS gives out?
@bikersaint, i wasn't aware the DSi XL was out already. I just bought a blue regular DSi this Dec. I like it how it is. No need for a larger one IMO.
@ BikerSaint
They changed the charger and you can't play gameboy cartridges with it.
oh snap! Gameboy Advanced b/c is back! i kept my DSlite for that.
@Jawk Just stop with the fanboy antics
Hey Hitch, I'm only going to say it one more time. If you don't like it, turn your eyes away. Your obsession with me is starting to get a little creepy.
looks like i will need to get a better paying job for all the great games coming out 🙂
PS3 got outsold again?
Mass Effect 2 has mass effected the 360 sale, pun intended.
You're probably right about that. Mass Effect 2 is a pretty damn sweet game too. Got it on the PC because I came across a copy of one on the PC and just liked the set up better but I can see how people might go and pick up a 360 to play it.
On another thought though Biker may be correct about replacement consoles. We have seen the reliability issues progressively become better but it is still failure prone more so than the other systems and it is quicker to go pick up a base console if they even still sell it that way than to send it into get repaired especially if it is out of warranty.
Anyway, having a supply shortage probably hurt those numbers for the PS3, though I am not saying those are bad numbers to post. I just think if the PS3 had been more readily available then the numbers might have told a different story.
Mass Effect 2 is a surprisingly good game. I imagine it will hold me over until GOW3.
No FFXIII Shams?
Waiting on Ben's review for that one. But yeah, if I do, not until after GOW3.
The PS3s are selling out almost everywhere. At least 5 people came into gamestop looking for a PS3 on Monday, but we had to tell them that none of the gamestops in town had any. I think it might have a something to do with a couple of little games called Final Fantasy and God of War. Of course, I could be wrong…
Are you the outcast at your daily job? ha.
i've never encountered a Gamestop employee who's pro PS3. They always assume i want the Xbox version of any particular game, when when i asked why the Xbox cases say 720 through 1080p on all of them and the PS3 cases don't(now they do but before they didn't)they would tell me because only the Xbox is capable of true 1080p. Works every time. It's so easy to get Gamestop employees worked up over their MS favoritism.
Last edited by Jawknee on 3/11/2010 10:18:04 PM
Maybe Gamestop employees don't truly understand what HD gaming is about? Who knows…
Saying that, I am actually very surprised by those xBots numbers… how can it be… anyway, let's expect a sales surge soon and we will see the PS3 at the top… the cheaper xBot arcade machine is a thorn in Sony's side though… I wish it would just go away, but unfortunately it will not 🙁
M$ will try to keep the xBot alive for as long as possible and hope it sells like the PS2 one day…
@Jed – It's nice to know you are one of the few GameStoppers who support the PS3 🙂
Q!
" learn . experience . enjoy "
Last edited by Qubex on 3/12/2010 12:14:13 AM
No "veiled fanboyism" allowed Qubex. Hitch is out on fanboy patrol.
Better watch out!
Sometimes I get a fanboyic spike, but don't mean it in a bad way… a little frustration boiling over I think… unfortunately, deep down, I do resent M$ a lot…
Q!
" learn . experience . enjoy "
Hating Microsoft doesn't make you a fanboy; it means you have a brain in your head. They're evil and a threat to the industry.
Hating people who play games on the 360 makes you a fanboy.
Hating games just because they're 360 exclusives makes you a fanboy.
Blindly supporting anything Sony (or M$ or Nintendo) does or says makes you a fanboy.
I've never seen any of that nonsense from Jawknee. Other people who occasionally post here, yes.
Last edited by Fane1024 on 3/20/2010 6:21:35 PM
im in the fresno county in california and i had to travel 50+ miles just to snag the last 250GB ps3 target had in my county…. best buy… gamestops toys r us… walmarts EVERYWHERE ps3s are gone…… so this is no lie….. there is a serious shortage for the ps3 i feel bad for the people that put it off because FF and GOW 3 are here now and imagine being on the other end of it wanting a ps3 and not being able to buy one for the GOTY gow 3
So true, Alot people can't find a ps3, My friend can't find one to save his life, It's really funny!!
I remember standing in Best Buy just a few months go staring at 2 7 ft towers of ps3s stacked up on the floor as I walked in….
Ive got a friend who work at gamestop that had save me the last ps3 that they have in stock it took me three days too find a ps3 finally the heavens have open up to unto me. All HAIL KRATOS!!!!!!
Pretty solid numbers for Heavy Rain in the last weak of February sales. What are the numbers now?
The numbers now stand around 600-650K, according to VGChartz.com.
Hope I helped =)
Well for it to be a really great success in terms of sales numbers, it would be nice to see it pass the 1 million unit sold number (worldwide); but that may be difficult now with the other top software releases coming out 🙂
However, come to think of it… HR will continue to sell over time, for example, myself, I will probably get it, but not now… I have other stuff to pick and play…
I am sure other gamers who haven't got it for their collections yet will get it in time… maybe within 6 months the million mark will be passed… probably will.
I don't know how much real momentum HR still has… some sales may have been lost because of recent PS3 shortages… also; let us not forget that Sony will eventually include it in a give away hardware bundle… which would increase it's exposure…
Q!
" learn . experience . enjoy "
Last edited by Qubex on 3/12/2010 12:21:12 AM
in the uk you cant buy heavy rain anywhere, they all sold out on the first weekend, and whenever they come in, sell out same day. luckily i pre orderd my copy but its really starting to annoy my mate who's tryna get it
@ Cavan
You should try Amazon.co.uk – they have Heavy Rain in stock.
Take care.
I haven't seen a PS3 in a store anywhere either, just stacks and stacks of 360s, but those stacks count as units sold so I'm not surprised.
And here I thought Americans were actually buying the "better" console…
Well, the Japanese and the Europeans (minus the British) never fail us!
ps3 will surpass the 360 because of Japan and Europe. The US is a lost cause imo
—
Personally I'm just happy for ps3 since its exclusives are some of the better games coming out year in and year out.
I blame Dick Cheney.
I love Dick Cheney.
Duely noted.
He knows how to handle wheel chairs quite well!
Q!
" learn . experience . enjoy"
…and Haliburton. But, not shotguns. Definitely not shotguns.
Who's Dick Cheney?
@Scarecrow nuff said. Playb3yond
Anyone that can survive 5 heart attacks definately has my vote of confidence.
And to think all those liberals who said he DIDN'T have a heart.
Ok I looked it up on Wikipedia. I can't help not knowing about every little thing in the American politics as a 16 year old outsider.
Yeah I always felt Australia & New Zealand came off pro 360. I talked one guy into a ps3 but mainly all I hear is 360. Bit if a shame really.
the Xbox is the Britney Spears of the gaming industry. Crap the sells a ton world wide. Except Japan of course.
If you mean, old, broken down, and irrelevant then yup it is Britney.
haha
There is a PS3 shortage, it's actually true. That's why the numbers are a bit low.
I know it, I haven't seen a ps3 for sale in my town since Christmas.
good to see heavy rain getting the praise it deserves……….. from some people.
just read the PSM3 review and i can tell you this that will be the last issue im ever buying!
their soul complaint is the games not a game its a movie…………….
weve got pleanty of ps3s here and theres a obvious reason for that.
FFXIII released 3 days ago and since then i have seen 40 yes i have been counting 40 adds for it.
and NOT ONE has the ps3 version of the game on there, every single one has the 360 after it.
40 ads for a game thats 3 days old!
ive only seen 2 resistance 2 adds and thats a year and a half old.
ive only seen 5 killzone 2 adds and thats a year old.
ive only seen 8 uncharted 2 adds, 6 of those were at the movies and its 6 months old.
ive only seen none, yes 0 adds for MAG and its a month old.
i almost fainted today when i saw my second heavy rain add today, 2 adds in 3 weeks.
catch my drift?
when is sony going to learn you have to spend money to make money?
I agree Heavy Rain is like a movie but i don't agree that its a bad thing. The game is quite original(to me at least). It's a nice title for the PS3 to have. Sony continues to give us variety and that's good. I'd probably quite playing games if all there was were shooters.
"ads" my friend, a-d-s ads.
exactly thats what i was thinking.
i would kill for another heavy rain game but this time take the players decisions to the next level.
instead of having one or 2 points in the game that can slightly change the story, make every single second of the game a game changing decision.
i mean everything, like sony promised.
sure it would take a insane amount of time, and a insane amount of money but hey its worth it no?