UK Hardware Sales [Archive]

Eminem

03-Oct-2002, 02:00

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/r/?http://www.computerandvideogames.com/news/news_story.php?id=81304

Don't really know how reliable these are, but I haven't seen any other hardware sales figures for the UK.

PS2-23,032

XBOX-5,674

GCN-4,041

"Xbox is three feet high and rising, now placing consistently above GameCube on a weekly level. Microsoft's console rose nine percent to 5,674 units last week."

"Nintendo may be grinning a little less willingly than the rest, however. GameCube rose eight percent week over week to a meagre to 4,041 units. The news comes on the back of the company slashing profit estimates for the year by a whopping 77 percent."

"Sony is the obvious winner in the weekly figures with PlayStation 2 selling a cool 23,032 units, up 24 percent from the seven days before."

Geeforcer

03-Oct-2002, 05:39

I think this ties in nicely with the discussion about anti-American sentiment in Europe in relations to Xbox sales. I believe that guys from UK said that the real problem with Xbox was its high price. The fact that sales have been rising after a price drop seems to validate that point of view.

marconelly!

03-Oct-2002, 06:26

Actually, Xbox has been slightly cheaper than PS2 for a while in Europe now.

Teasy

03-Oct-2002, 10:29

XBox has always sold decently in the U.K. It was a little slow at launch with the high price (nowhere near as bad as sales in the rest of Europe though) and started selling quite well in the U.K when the price dropped. The U.K was XBox's strongest European market by far at launch and probably still is so those numbers don't suprise me much. Its really the rest of Europe that XBox needs to conquer.

As far as GameCube goes, there haven't been many games released in the U.K recently. But with the games just released and coming very soon for GameCube I expect GameCube's numbers to rise substantially soon.

The games I'm talking about are:

Resident Evil
WWE X8
Mario Sunshine
Eternal Darkness
Star Fox Adventures
Time Splitters 2
Metroid Prime

All either just released very recently (RE and X8 were released less then a week ago) or out in under 2 months.

Qroach

03-Oct-2002, 11:44

which ones of those games aren't out yet?

Teasy

03-Oct-2002, 11:52

which ones of those games aren't out yet?

Mario Sunshine
Eternal Darkness
Star Fox Adventures
Time Splitters 2
Metroid Prime
Medal of Honour: Front Line
Die Hard: Vendetta
James Bond: NightFire
Mario Party 4
Need for Speed: HP2

None of those are out in the U.K yet, they're all being released between now and the end of November. SMS is out tommorow, TS2 and Need for Speed is out by the end of October and the rest are in November. There are plenty of other good games coming between now and November of course but these are just the ones that catch my attention as the big titles (and of course there not all exclusives).

The only games in the first list that are already out in the U.K are Res Evil and WWE X8. Res Evil was released about a week ago AFAIR and WWE X8 was released a few days ago.

wazoo

03-Oct-2002, 11:53

The U.K was XBox's strongest European market by far at launch and probably still is so those numbers don't suprise me much. Its really the rest of Europe that XBox needs to conquer.

It is interesting to know that UK is equal to Germany+France in terms of sales market share.

Metroid Prime will be out in Jan. 2003.

Teasy

03-Oct-2002, 11:59

Metroid Prime will be out in Jan. 2003

Really?, has it been delayed?

Because according to all the stores I've seen here in England, Metroid Prime is scheduled for released on the 18th of November 2002.

Qroach

03-Oct-2002, 12:20

Ok, well call me surprised, you were saying you've played starfox in the other thread and it's not even out yet?

I'm a little curious how can you argue about the game when you can't buy it? All I can say is that it's a very, very good game. When it comes out go get it.

Teasy

03-Oct-2002, 12:23

Ok, well call me surprised, you were saying you've played starfox in the other thread and it's not even out yet?

Its not impossible to play games in the U.K before there released you know. For instance I played SMS a little while ago in a store demo and its not out yet either. As for SFA I have some friends with U.S machines and I played SFA for a little while at a friends house.

I'm a little curious how can you argue about the game when you can't buy it?

As I explained in the other thread I've played the game a little bit, but for the most part my opinion is based on reviews, opinions from people on the net and opinions from friends who have U.S machines.

All I can say is that it's a very, very good game. When it comes out go get it.

SFA seems like a good solid game and looks quite beautiful, so, as I said earlier, I will be getting it. All I've said is that its not THAT good. Its gameplay, from what I've heard/seen, is not so special. I'm not looking forward to it as much as I am looking forward to games like Eternal Darkness, SMS, Metroid Prime or TS2 as I know/expect all those to be great games (or at least I hope TS2 is a great game because I love the way there making the game very Goldeneye-like).

Johnny Awesome

03-Oct-2002, 14:01

Teasy. Do you even own a Gamecube? :oops:

Teasy

03-Oct-2002, 15:58

Teasy. Do you even own a Gamecube?

This isn't the form for the "stupidest questions ever asked" competition Johnny :)

Could you point out the comment in this thread that made you ask such a crazy question?

Mr. Angry Pants

03-Oct-2002, 16:27

Didn't Mario's performance in Japan and America prove how it's not going to impact sales nearly as much as Cubites have been claiming since November '01?

I remember all the Mario threads with guestimates of no less than 100,000 Cubes moved the day SMS launched. I think some people in this very forum predicted 400,000 Cubes in a month for the US alone. And we all saw the *real* impact the game had on hardware sales-- no more than 30,000 in Japan the week of the launch there, and as far as I can tell Cube hardware sales are less now with the launch of SMS than they were when RE remake was released.

Qroach

03-Oct-2002, 16:58

Yeah I know, some people have very short memories.

CaptainHowdy

03-Oct-2002, 18:22

zurich

03-Oct-2002, 19:03

Holding number one spot in Japan for almost 2 months??? You're spewing pom-poms (favoutite new word!) Howdy.

Japanese Console Game Chart
(Updated: September 30, 2002)
From: Sep 09 - Sep 15, 2002
6 8 Super Mario Sunshine Nintendo GC ACT 9,891 591,656

Japanese Console Game Chart
(Updated: September 23, 2002)
From: Sep 02 - Sep 08, 2002

4 6 Super Mario Sunshine Nintendo GC ACT 13,739 581,765

Dengeki Console Game Ranking Top 50
(Updated: September 27, 2002)
From: Sep 16 - Sep 22, 2002

8 11 Super Mario Sunshine Nintendo GC ACT 8,993 600,671

Dengeki Console Game Ranking Top 50
(Updated: September 20, 2002)
From: Sep 9 - Sep 15, 2002

7 8 Super Mario Sunshine Nintendo GC ACT 9,640 591,678

On its own, SMS is doing pretty well in Japan. Compared to the sales of SSBM:DX, its doing horribly. SSBM:DX hit 1 million within the month it was released, and there were a lot less GCs back then. For SMS being Nintendos #1 flagship title, its doing very poorly. It was handily outsold by even Gundam: Federation vs Zeon DX given the same period of time, not to mention Final Fantasy X's record breaking 1.9 million in one weekend deal.

Unlike North America, Japan provides sales stats on a weekly basis. Given these stats, its not wise to say that SMS is ripping shit up over there, when clearly its not. As a piece of software, its doing pretty well. For Super Mario, its not.

zurich

Mr. Angry Pants

03-Oct-2002, 19:13

Great job, Howdy. You managed to completely ignore the point of my post: That SMS did not have the chart-shattering impact on hardware sales that everyone claimed it would. Not even close, in fact.

Thank you, come again.

wazoo

03-Oct-2002, 19:50

9,640 591,678

On its own, SMS is doing pretty well in Japan. Compared to the sales of SSBM:DX, its doing horribly. SSBM:DX hit 1 million within the month it was released, and there were a lot less GCs back then.

And the fact that SSM was released for the Christmas season has nothing to do with its sales ??

For SMS being Nintendos #1 flagship title, its doing very poorly. It was handily outsold by even Gundam: Federation vs Zeon DX given the same period of time, not to mention Final Fantasy X's record breaking 1.9 million in one weekend deal.

Gundam is big in Japan, Mario is big worldwide. You should check the sales report from the GDC on gamasutra, it will explain you what brand are popular.

Smash Bros has sold quite well but now it is over. SMS will have a larger life span. Everybody forgets that Mario 64 did not sell 10M copies in its first year. SMS is selling at least on par with M64, we'll see where it ends up (I think 5M).

zurich

03-Oct-2002, 20:38

And the fact that SSM was released for the Christmas season has nothing to do with its sales ??

I figure that big titles/franchises sort of transcend time, ie: it doesn't matter when they're released-> they'll sell. Look at GT3 in the US, it was released back before the PS2 hit critical mass and still did a million in one day (or atleast said the PR report). Same goes for FFX in Japan, it came out in.. July was it?

The holiday season certainly affects software sales, but given the proper title/franchise, that shouldn't matter, atleast in the short term. Christmas appeals more for people who are looking for something to fill up a gift "slot", and if software is there, convenient.

I'm sure Mario has tremendous staying power, as most new GCs sold will most likely have a 1:1 attach ratio with him, but the existing pickup has been poor.

zurich

Vince

03-Oct-2002, 21:00

Teasy. Do you even own a Gamecube?

HA! :)

Vince

03-Oct-2002, 21:01

Teasy. Do you even own a Gamecube?

HA!

You do realise that putting "Teasy" and "GameCube" in the same sentance is redundent ;)

Teasy

03-Oct-2002, 22:00

Vince, that doesn't really make any sense, but well done for still making more sense then Johnny's last comment :)

L233

03-Oct-2002, 22:51

Actually, Xbox has been slightly cheaper than PS2 for a while in Europe now.

Actually, they cost exactly the same - €249.

marconelly!

04-Oct-2002, 00:05

Actually, they cost exactly the same - €249.

Really? I thought they were cheaper, at least in UK?

Johnny Awesome

04-Oct-2002, 01:39

I was just pointing out the possible absurdity. :)

After all Teasy seems to defend and trash games he's never played. Is it all that improbably that he doesn't even own a Cube? That would be pretty twisted though. :(

aneep

04-Oct-2002, 01:39

not sure wether this is true or not, but i belive it anyway since this person has revealed lots of info even before official announcements (SC Ghost for example)

he said Xbox now is around 50k less than GC in Europe (he's german i believe and his info mainly comes from retailers there)

-aneep-

BenSkywalker

04-Oct-2002, 01:44

SSBM:DX hit 1 million within the month it was released, and there were a lot less GCs back then.

Using the same sales charts you are using for SMS, no it didn't. To date SSBM, using Degenki numbers, has only hit 1.15Million despite remaining on the best seller charts for several months.

L233

04-Oct-2002, 01:51

Actually, they cost exactly the same - €249.

Really? I thought they were cheaper, at least in UK?

We were talking about Europe, no? ;-) j/k

Anyway, no clue about the Brits. They are weirdos and pay in some strange currency, so dunno.

zurich

04-Oct-2002, 02:04

Using the same sales charts you are using for SMS, no it didn't. To date SSBM, using Degenki numbers, has only hit 1.15Million despite remaining on the best seller charts for several months.

Unfortunately I can't find archived sales info from Degenki, but I do remember it selling 600,000 or so launch week, and hitting 1 million very quickly after that. Granted, it was a while ago.

Feel free to point me to hard numbers.

zurich

BenSkywalker

04-Oct-2002, 02:08

Zurich-

838,237 by the end of '01-

http://www.the-magicbox.com/Chart-BestSell2001.htm

zurich

04-Oct-2002, 02:29

Ok, did some more research.

http://cube.ign.com/articles/100/100174p1.html

Looks like SSB:DX launched with ~350k out the door during the second week of November. If it ended up with 838k sold by the end of 2001, even while taking the Holiday season into effect, it still looks to me that SMS is underperforming.

After 6 weeks during the holiday season, SSB:DX sold 838k units on a GC installed base of ~1 million.

After 10 weeks during the summer, SMS sold 600k units on a GC installed base of ~1.6million.

I'm no good at math, so maybe someone else can compare the speed of their growth rates, but SSB:DX definitely outshines :) SMS. Holiday season is definitely a factor, but so should SMS's greater installed base.

zurich

RaolinDarksbane

04-Oct-2002, 02:33

After all Teasy seems to defend and trash games he's never played. Is it all that improbably that he doesn't even own a Cube? That would be pretty twisted though

To be fair, when you trash a game, it doesn't seem like you even played it too(or that long).

Teasy

04-Oct-2002, 08:48

After all Teasy seems to defend and trash games he's never played.

As do you, as does everyone, there is such a thing as reviews and word of mouth you know. But as I said I HAVE played SFA.

Is it all that improbably that he doesn't even own a Cube?

Again nonsensical, yes it would be improbable considering I've had one since release with ISS2 and Rogue Leader, and today I got SMS and Wave Race. Your comment is just really strange, its like me saying "Johnny always defends the XBox, I wonder if he even owns one".. yeah that makes a hell of allot of sense doesn't it?

Anyway, no clue about the Brits. They are weirdos and pay in some strange currency, so dunno.

Nah, we just don't care about American's or MS's monopolising enough to let it guide our buying decisions, and our money has been established for many many years. Its you lot that pay in some new and wierd currency and frankly I hope we never join you because I do not want to feel like I'm constantly on holiday in a foriegn country while I'm at home :)

Legion

04-Oct-2002, 14:19

I'm constantly on holiday in a foriegn country while I'm at home
kind of reminds me of the french...

Magnum PI

04-Oct-2002, 14:22

I'm constantly on holiday in a foriegn country while I'm at home
kind of reminds me of the french...

???

Legion

04-Oct-2002, 14:47

The whole vacation bit...

Legion

04-Oct-2002, 14:59

How many units of each system have been sold total in Europe?

Gollum

04-Oct-2002, 19:05

Dunno, I kinda enjoy driving all over Europe, basically never having to worry about all that currency exchange crap anamore (well there IS Switzerland) and going "Oh damn, I still got 32,34 of this currency! Changing this small amount isn't worth it so I'd better buy some shit I don't really need", then again, living on an island some brits probably don't cross borders all that often... ;)

Magnum PI

04-Oct-2002, 22:32

The whole vacation bit...

???

PC-Engine

04-Oct-2002, 23:38

The whole vacation bit...

???

The French don't like it when people in their country speak English.

Mr. Angry Pants

05-Oct-2002, 04:34

Because they're snobbish pricks, or does it stem from the embarrasment of having english speaking countries save their sorry asses in both world wars? Or is it a combination of both?

StefanS

05-Oct-2002, 04:57

Because they're snobbish pricks, or does it stem from the embarrasment of having english speaking countries save their sorry asses in both world wars? Or is it a combination of both?

I don't know if that's supposed to be funny, but if so, don't read on:

I hate it when people who neither know sg about history nor about countries itself jump to general conclusions. So why the hell don't you shut up before making you more ridiculous. :evil:

Magnum PI

05-Oct-2002, 10:39

The whole vacation bit...

???

The French don't like it when people in their country speak English.

i'm french and i'm living in france and i'm very surprised you could say such a thing.. i frequently see ppl speaking english, for example in the subway, and it don't seem to annoy other people. because of the colionalist past of france we are used to have immigration from a lot of parts of the world and we are used to hear people speaking foreign language: arab, vietnamese, swaïli, mokutuba, ingala etc..

and the english-speaking music is very popular. even some people prefer seeing american or uk movies subtitled rather than dubbed (i'm one of these).

i have to say i read a lot of prejudices on european, french etc..

it seems to be an american speciality :)

Teasy

05-Oct-2002, 14:09

Dunno, I kinda enjoy driving all over Europe, basically never having to worry about all that currency exchange crap anamore

Nah, not knowing what the hell your spending because of a currency you don't really understand is part of a good holiday :)

Seriously I'd prefer to only have a foreign currency when I'm on holiday (at most a few weeks a year) rather then all year round.

I've gotten used to pounds to the point were I know what a good deal is in this country. To the point were I know almost instantly when I leave home in the morning to go to work/college that I have enough money for the day by just having a glance at the change in my pocket. I'm comfortable with my currency and it would take many years to get that comfortable with a whole new currency, sorry, not interested, you can keep the Euro.

Gollum

05-Oct-2002, 15:50

Well Teasy, its not as if I or other europeans now paying their bills in Euros didn't grow used to their own currencies. Gotta agree about the vacation bit, its excitig having to guess wether you're getting a good deal or ripped off... ;)

Some places I've been (like Italy or parts of Austria, lots of other places too I'd guess) you'll still see prices displayed in the original curreny (on purpose), even though you can only pay in Euro, so much for nostalgia. But after 9 months of getting used to it, I see hardly any difference to the good old Deutschmark anymore, I got used to the new prices, am comfortable with the new paper money and coins etc.. Its not all that big of a deal IMHO, its not as if our previous currency was really "better" in any way except for the fact that you were "used" to it. Its still just money, not like a vital organ I've grown quite fond of and wouldn't want to loose. :)

Mr. Angry Pants

06-Oct-2002, 00:57