XBox 360 launched in Japan

[Sis]

OMG!! MS better hope for the best with DOA4. IMO the 360 should do at least 40,000 next week.

Yeah, I definitely find it ominous that the sales have fallen this fast. My guess is that a game such as DOA4 is not one to "save" the 360. Perhaps one of the RPGs coming out, and correct me if I'm wrong but the DOA series wasn't enough to save the original Xbox.

.Sis

 

[one]

Just one last batch of numbers before DoA4...

And just after DOA4 (12/29) now...

http://www.m-create.com/jpn/s_ranking.html
Media Create 2005-12-26 - 2006-1-1

DS 390,181
PSP 110,741
PS2 78,646
GBASP 15,998
GC 12,579
Xbox360 12,300
GBM 11,234
GBA 447
Xbox 121

In the software sales ranking, DOA4 is at 13th and has no number. At the 10th is a Pokemon game for DS and it sold 61,154 copies.

 

[Teasy]

Well I'm not talking about jumping ships all I'm saying it might get decent success. I don't think It's even possible to beat Sony in Japan, not even close.

Nintendo are doing exactly that in the handheld market so why not in the console market?

 

[mckmas8808]

Nintendo are doing exactly that in the handheld market so why not in the console market?

Well to be fair Nintendo has dominated in the handheld market for over 15 years now. This is Sony's first handheld and it's only been one year (in Japan). Consoles are a different story.

 

[avaya]

How can anyone say that's that for 360 in Japan so early in the game? Of course we're not talking about market leadership or even second place, I'm talking about a sustainable level of sales.

Wait a couple of months at least, I think Mistwalker and N3 will have a bigger effect than DOA4 and even it's effect cannot be estimated in just 1-2 weeks of sales.

If they do help out the 360 and a steady stream of Japan centric titles come through Microsoft could well sustain a reasonable ~10-20K a week.

 

[mckmas8808]

If they do help out the 360 and a steady stream of Japan centric titles come through Microsoft could well sustain a reasonable ~10-20K a week.

You better hope so. We'll see.

*Disclaimer: I'm not saying that it won't happen.

 

[Teasy]

Well to be fair Nintendo has dominated in the handheld market for over 15 years now. This is Sony's first handheld and it's only been one year (in Japan). Consoles are a different story.

Nintendo have always dominated in the handheld market yes, but they also dominated in the console market against everyone until Sony came along. The biggest difference between the handheld and console markets always seemed to be that Sony were never in the handheld market before. Well now Sony are in the handheld market and Nintendo are blowing them out of the water in Japan (and winning worldwide). Not because they have the brand (the PSP is the Playstation Portable after all), but because they have designed the more interesting gaming system. The Revolution builds on the idea behind the DS, so I'd say it has a very good chance of doing extremely well.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Nintendo are blowing them out of the water in Japan (and winning worldwide)

I'm not getting involved in this argument in any way, save to suggest DS isn't particularly winning worldwide in sales from what I can gather. I mean, it's sold more, but in sales rate and how much people want PSP versus DS, it's very similar. Figures are something like >10 million PSPs (10 million in October IIRC) to 13 million DS's as of the end of the year, and DS had a headstart helped by not being hard to make like PSP which slowed release. I think both are doing well and neither is totally outclassing the other, save DS in Japan where it's a runaway success of course!

 

[Sis]

I'm not getting involved in this argument in any way, save to suggest DS isn't particularly winning worldwide in sales from what I can gather. I mean, it's sold more, but in sales rate and how much people want PSP versus DS, it's very similar. Figures are something like >10 million PSPs (10 million in October IIRC) to 13 million DS's as of the end of the year, and DS had a headstart helped by not being hard to make like PSP which slowed release. I think both are doing well and neither is totally outclassing the other, save DS in Japan where it's a runaway success of course!

It is a silly argument, but to clarify--10 million is shipped, as per normal Sony figures. 13 million for DS is, I believe, sell-through.

Month to month figures seem close enough that it doesn't matter. And if Sony ever releases anything other than movies on the PSP, I'm sure it will sell better.

.Sis

 

[mckmas8808]

It is a silly argument, but to clarify--10 million is shipped, as per normal Sony figures. 13 million for DS is, I believe, sell-through.

Month to month figures seem close enough that it doesn't matter. And if Sony ever releases anything other than movies on the PSP, I'm sure it will sell better.

.Sis

I liked your whole post until you had to throw that little comment at the end. We all know that in NA the PSP games are selling more than the DS games. Why you acted as if PSP has no games I don't know.

Can we just drop this petty PSP vs. DS arguement.

 

[Sis]

I liked your whole post until you had to throw that little comment at the end. We all know that in NA the PSP games are selling more than the DS games. Why you acted as if PSP has no games I don't know.

Can we just drop this petty PSP vs. DS arguement.

That was a silly jab from a fan of the system. Sony, give me something to play!

Also, where do you get that PSP games are selling better than DS games? I find this strange.

.Sis

 

[mckmas8808]

That was a silly jab from a fan of the system. Sony, give me something to play!

Also, where do you get that PSP games are selling better than DS games? I find this strange.

.Sis

NPD reports. And why do you find this strange?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

It is a silly argument, but to clarify--10 million is shipped, as per normal Sony figures. 13 million for DS is, I believe, sell-through.

From here

Thus compares with Sony's October declaration of 10 million sold into retail a figure that has likely increased given hoq quickly units have sold thrrough in the West. In December, SCEA's Kaz Hirai claimed PSP's U.S installed base would be doubled over the peak Holiday season, to six million. If achieved, (and assuming all released figures are accurate) PSP's global figures may well be closer to matching DS's than ever before.

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1960&Itemid=46
That's sold/shippped as of October. So not only can we safely assume 10 million sold, we can be pretty sure another n million have been sold worldwide from then through Christmas. I wonder Sony will announce figures? I think PSP did a good job of catching up with DS, and they seem to be comparably desirable between the two different markets.

 

[Sis]

NPD reports. And why do you find this strange?

The DS has been out longer and has a larger library of games. It also--last I heard--had an overall install base lead in NA. Which would mean that PSP owners are buying more games than DS owners, and given what I consider to be a dearth of games for the PSP, I wonder what they're buying.

That said, I do not track the handheld market that closely, which is why I found it "strange" not "unimaginable" :smile:

.Sis

 

[Sis]

From here
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1960&Itemid=46
That's sold/shippped as of October. So not only can we safely assume 10 million sold, we can be pretty sure another n million have been sold worldwide from then through Christmas. I wonder Sony will announce figures? I think PSP did a good job of catching up with DS, and they seem to be comparably desirable between the two different markets.

Right, that's what I said. Sold to retail AKA shipped. These are not sale through. I thought the DS numbers were sale through.

.Sis

EDIT: According to this link, http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=13896, it is indeed sell through.

 

[Teasy]

Yeah Nintendo made it clear that they were talking about sold to consumer numbers when they said:

Approximately 13 million Nintendo DS are now in the hands of people all around the world

Were as Sony say 10 million sold to retailers in there press release.

 

[mckmas8808]

The DS has been out longer and has a larger library of games. It also--last I heard--had an overall install base lead in NA. Which would mean that PSP owners are buying more games than DS owners, and given what I consider to be a dearth of games for the PSP, I wonder what they're buying.

That said, I do not track the handheld market that closely, which is why I found it "strange" not "unimaginable" :smile:

.Sis

Well trust me Sony is neck and neck with Nintendo in videogames sales in NA. Last I looked the PSP was a little bit higher. I'll post the link when I find it. I'm at work so it's hard to post with the man over your freaking shoulder.

 

[Bobbler]

Right, that's what I said. Sold to retail AKA shipped. These are not sale through. I thought the DS numbers were sale through.

.Sis

EDIT: According to this link, http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=13896, it is indeed sell through.

Looking at the numbers we do have we can make a solid assumption that there are about 10m PSPs sold at this time.

USA/Europe are nearly equal on PSP/DS sales by all accounts (slight lead for DS maybe?), Japan has around 2.5m unit advantage though. So we have ~13m - ~3m = ~10m.

It isn't so hard to believe. Trust the fudgy math!

Take a look at some of the games coming down the pipe in 06 for PSP -- lots of gems on the way. I'm much more excited for it's 06 lineup than DS'... Not that DS' current lineup isn't fantastic (fantastic enough that I'm going to get myself one in the next couple weeks -- hurray).

I'll make a rather "silly" prediction and say by 2008 PSP will have a larger install base than DS (assuming DS is still the current high end Nintendo handheld). I think PSP has a lot of room to grow, especially after a few price drops (which NDS can't really do after 99... 79?) -- then throw in more software titles, more other feature updates, 222->333mhz jump, downloadable games/movies, psp/psp3 interaction (who knows how that'll end up?), and who knows what else. Not that the DS won't have room to grow (I'm interested if there will be some Rev->nds interaction -- that'd be sweet), but it can't cut its price much, and it doesn't have the headroom to grow like PSP does. If psp sales are this good at 249, they should be rather fantastic once it hits 149 or 199 even.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Nintendo are doing exactly that in the handheld market so why not in the console market?

Well I quess it's "possible", but I don't think an american console has much change in there, atleast the transition won't happen in one generation or two...
Handhelds are different ballgame and still it's too early to proclaim the winner, I feel as though Sony hasn't given their full support to PSP yet, but once it starts to get it's megagames I'm sure it will do better, and it's doing good as it is.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Looking at the numbers we do have we can make a solid assumption that there are about 10m PSPs sold at this time.

Only if after shipping 10 M PSPs by the end of October, there were enough PSPs sitting on shelves to satisfy November and December demand so that subsequent shipments from Sony had no influence. I don't think shipped figures are far off sales figures on popular devices. There's no benefit in making them way ahead of selling them. I'd be surprised if sales were less then 11 million, and not shocked if they're nearer 12+ million.