Retailers and analysts across North America confirm that the hottest selling gaming c

[nelg]

Retailers and analysts across North America confirm that the hottest selling gaming console this past weekend was the Xbox 360

A quick trip around to several stores on Sunday saw all Nintendo Wii systems sold out, but the majority of gamers who were coming to get a Wii or a PlayStation 3 were taking advantage of the $449.99 Xbox 360 deal.

No surprise that it beat the PS3 considering the supply constraints, but the upsurge may signal the fickle nature of brand loyalty.

 

[RobertR1]

So if the Wii sold over 500,000 last weekend, the 360 sold even more???

Nov numbers should be interesting then.

 

[scooby_dooby]

This is just a slight step above anecdotal evidence though...

And it's canadian too, we're notorious xbots

 

[scooby_dooby]

LOL, sort of on topic, Bill Gates tosses down the gauntlet:

Bill Gates - This Christmas, the story is: Xbox 360 is going to sell super-well, and they'll sell the rounding error amounts they can make.

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/12299/Gates-Sony-Can-Make-Bricks-and-People-Would-Buy-Them/

Ouch!

 

[22psi]

NPD numbers should be very interesting. If this is true, good job MS.

 

[London Geezer]

Heck, if MS didn't take advantage of the massive shortages the competition are facing, i think they should have fired everyone in their marketing department!!

 

[Rolf N]

I fully trust MSN gaming news to give a correct and balanced account of the situation. Really. I'm sure the thousands of people who camped in lines to flog a PS3 on Ebay but came too late just picked up 360s to flog them on Ebay.

They should at least have the decency to add "... who could not find the system they came for but still insisted on purchasing a games console ..." to the middle of that certain sentence, and some other minor touches throughout. But hey, it's on MSN. Don't let accuracy get in the way of the corporate mission.

 

[Ben-Nice]

Heck, if MS didn't take advantage of the massive shortages the competition are facing, i think they should have fired everyone in their marketing department!!

But were the Wii shipments on target? 500+ thousand? I have never heard of a console selling 600+ thousand in a weekend. That's a record of some sort isn't it?

 

[Sankari]

But were the Wii shipments on target? 500+ thousand? I have never heard of a console selling 600+ thousand in a weekend. That's a record of some sort isn't it?

Yet, the PS2 initially sold well partly on the basis of the strength of the PlayStation brand and its backwards compatibility, selling over 900,000 units in the first weekend in Japan. This allowed the PS2 to tap the large install base established by the PlayStation - another major selling point over the competition. Later, Sony gained steam with new development kits for game developers and more PlayStations for consumers.

That was japanese launch alone. I wonder what the USA numbers were.

 

[London Geezer]

I fully trust MSN gaming news to give a correct and balanced account of the situation. Really. I'm sure the thousands of people who camped in lines to flog a PS3 on Ebay but came too late just picked up 360s to flog them on Ebay.

They should at least have the decency to add "... who could not find the system they came for but still insisted on purchasing a games console ..." to the middle of that certain sentence, and some other minor touches throughout. But hey, it's on MSN. Don't let accuracy get in the way of the corporate mission.

Heh i'm sure a lot of people who got PS3s also got Xbox360's. Sell the PS3 on ebay for at least a grand so u have enough cash to get a 360, then also a PS3 later on... And lots of games!

 

[wco81]

X360 hasn't cracked 300k since the launch. By contrast, PS2 was only below 300k once in the first 17 months or something like that.

With Black Friday coming up and a big game like GoW, X360 should go over 300k this month.

Even despite hundreds of thousands of PS3s and Wiis being sold this month.

 

[22psi]

That was japanese launch alone. I wonder what the USA numbers were.

X360 hasn't cracked 300k since the launch. By contrast, PS2 was only below 300k once in the first 17 months or something like that.

With Black Friday coming up and a big game like GoW, X360 should go over 300k this month.

Even despite hundreds of thousands of PS3s and Wiis being sold this month.

Closest was May I believe when 360 pushed nearly 296k units. NPD for Nov will be very interesting.

 

[Rolf N]

Heh i'm sure a lot of people who got PS3s also got Xbox360's.

If all you wanted was a 360, would you choose PS3's and Wii's launch weekend to go out and buy one? You know there are going to be crowds, lines, outrage and general insanity.

360s could have been bought a few days earlier or a few days later. Making the purchase on the exact same day when all games stores are in total overload is ... err. An interesting idea?

 

[archie4oz]

That was japanese launch alone. I wonder what the USA numbers were.

There was only 500K available for the US launch because Nagasaki Fab1 was having issues (was brand spanking new) and thus the PS2 was GS constrained...

 

[heliosphere]

If all you wanted was a 360, would you choose PS3's and Wii's launch weekend to go out and buy one? You know there are going to be crowds, lines, outrage and general insanity.

360s could have been bought a few days earlier or a few days later. Making the purchase on the exact same day when all games stores are in total overload is ... err. An interesting idea?

Some stores like Futureshop in Canada were running special deals for Friday only - $449 CAD for a premium system with GRAW, GoW, RR6 and Live Arcade Unplugged. With deals like that it was worth people risking some PS3 queues. I know a lot of people who picked one up on Friday.

 

[patsu]

Quite true. MS can sell boat loads of Xbox 360 this Christmas if they start (and sustain) a marketing blitz all the way until Christmas. No one could stop them due to inventory issues (Sony, Nintendo) or new product not ready yet (Apple)

 

[pipo]

LOL, sort of on topic, Bill Gates tosses down the gauntlet:

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/12299/Gates-Sony-Can-Make-Bricks-and-People-Would-Buy-Them/

From that same link:

Gates: 'You know, Sony can make 80,000 bricks, and people would buy them.'

We are sorry to inform you Mr. Gates, but it is actually your company the one that includes a huge brick with every Xbox 360 so please avoid that analogy next time.

 

[pipo]

If all you wanted was a 360, would you choose PS3's and Wii's launch weekend to go out and buy one? You know there are going to be crowds, lines, outrage and general insanity.

360s could have been bought a few days earlier or a few days later. Making the purchase on the exact same day when all games stores are in total overload is ... err. An interesting idea?

Why not?

 

[Rangers]

But were the Wii shipments on target? 500+ thousand? I have never heard of a console selling 600+ thousand in a weekend. That's a record of some sort isn't it?

If somebody could give me some idea what large chain stores were getting (say, "my Wal Mart/Best Buy/Gamestop got 70" and so on) I bet I could reasonably extrapolate. Based on 360 and PS3 numbers.

Joystiq claims they MAY have sold a million. I'd guess 300-500,000.
________
Alexxa

 

[ZoinKs!]

The walmart I work at had 20 Wii... err, Wiis, errr Wiies. Or something.
By contrast, it had 4 ps3's and I believe ~8 x360s at launch.
This is a relatively small store in a small market.


Edit: Just for fun, I'll toss this out: the ps2 is still the highest seller measured by units sold-- Guitar Hero 2, a zillion other games, name recognition, and the relatively low price of <$130 has something to do with that. x360 premium is the next best seller-- some of those recent sales are a direct result of Gears of War.