Sony Takes Second, Third Place In January

[Goten4]

NPD: Sony Takes Second, Third Place In January


Sony hardware sales pick up steam.


by Jeff Haynes (http://ps3.ign.com/email.html)

February 14, 2008 - The NPD Group released its most recent data report which tracks videogame software and hardware sales for the month of January today, and Sony did particularly well on all three fronts. The PS3 came in second place behind the Wii, with almost 270,000 units sold. Considering that the Wii sold close to 274,000 units, that's very good news for Sony's most powerful system, as it closes the gap with Nintendo's popular hardware. The elder statesman of consoles, the PS2, was close behind in third place with almost 265,000 units sold, proving it still has longevity. The PSP was the fifth best selling console in the month with 230,000 units sold. While it was slightly behind the DS, Sony's handheld still managed to outsell Microsoft's Xbox 360 for the first month of 2008. What's more, combined sales of Sony's three systems outsold Nintendo's two systems by almost 239,000 units. That margin by itself is more than what Microsoft sold in January as well.

Unfortunately, while Sony has picked up a lot of sales in the hardware department, its software appears to be somewhat behind the curve. Combined, the Wii and DS accounted for five of the ten top selling games of January, while the 360 held four of the top slots. Only Call of Duty 4 for the PS3 took home the 8th best sold title for the console in January, with almost 140,000 games sold.

Good job sony

[zultekmilennia]

Well, it was to be expected. The only reason to buy a 360 was because it came out early and the awesome online service.

But, Sony is constantly improving their online services, and they have the more powerful console, so it was only a matter of time.

Though, I'll take the same route I did with PS2, I'll wait a few years until the system stabilizes and there are more good games out before getting one.

In the end, the gamers are the winner.

Plus, developer will probably choose PS3 due to the Blu-Ray issue. 360 owners have to purchase a SEPARATE plugin to use HD-DVD, which seems like a money-making scheme to me. They won't release two version of their game, right? Or will they.....

[Ereos]

i dont really agree with what you say
it more like
more better games are now releasing on the PS3
like MGS4, DMC4...etc
compared to XBOX360 who are like at a peak of good new games they can release furthermore....

[zultekmilennia]

Well, DMC4 is also on the 360, and you don't need to endure a 20-minute install to play it on the 360. What is up with the installation thing, the reason I like gaming on the console is because I can play any game I want and not need to have adequate disk space for it. Just pop in the disk and go. That's console gaming.

I can see the reasoning, but still....

I feel that developers will try to avoid it in the future. I have like, more that 30 games for my PS2 (the ones I deem worthy of the title "games that I enjoy playing") and I can play any of them at any time i want.

And, did you hear? HD-DVD is dying, as most major publisher are abandoning it and going for Blu-Ray. Recently, Netflix and some other publisher hopped on the Blu-Ray bandwagon.

[CK]

Meh, When the price tag drops on the ps3, i might consider one

[Ereos]

well ps3 already has dropped the price drastically already once...but PS3 has a whole lot of games coming now...

[pmaster4]

Wii sold little in the US for January since they diverted supply to Japan for the release of Brawl. Check the world wide sales the Wii continues to widen the gap at a rapid pace, same goes for the DS. However, the 360 may be in trouble as it has better games than the PS3 yet the PS3 continues to sell better week after week in worldwide sales.

Just wait until Brawl adn Wii Fit come to US

[zultekmilennia]

The success of Wii greatly depends on how creative the developers can get (and how long can they stay that way) and its very low price.

In the long run, people gonna get over Wii and go for the other Next-Gen consoles. But, since its damn cheap, you can get one and a next-gen console.

alas, in the end, only a few developers will be able to keep gameplay on Wii, fresh, while others will rely on cliches and rehashes of old classics.

[DesTiNy]

wii prices dont even matter for january, wait till three weeks from now when smash bros comes out, the sales will be off the chart.

[pmaster4]

lol Wii prices is what keeps people buying the Wii and there were reports of people paying 1000 pounds for the Wii in England. It has been almost a year and a half and the Wii continues to outsell both the PS3 and 360 combined buy the time people "get over the Wii" we will have a similar situation with the PS2 era, the user base will be so large that developers will find it far more feasible to develop foe the Wii.

With Brawl coming up i don't see anything on the horizon that will slow the Wii down. A common argument is that the wii is selling to "casual" gamers so with Brawl coming, arguably a "hardcore" game, expect great increases in Wii sales as more hardcore gamers buy the system. Look at games like No More Heroes, its sales increase every week , and the 2 Resident Evil games; mature games sell on the system they just need more of them and i expect to see a few announcements this year. This race is already over

Wii - 21.49 mil
360- 16.98 mil
PS3- 9.94 mil
DS - 67.18 mil
PSP - 31.15 mil

vgchartz.com

[zultekmilennia]

I'm quite sure hardcore gamers ain't gonna want to play the Wii for like 10 hours straight (like what I've done with FFXII on PS2, good times).

And, if you're gonna play a "normal" game on the Wii, why even bother?

I haven't even touch any of the Super Smash Bros series (though I'm informed that they're quite good, and Famitsu mag just gave the latest iteration a perfect score.)

I don't think the limited power of the Wii is gonna satisfy the desire for more immersive gaming. Developers often have to leave out features in a game just because of "hardware limitations". Personally, I'm sick of that. Sure, most games are gonna play the "pretty graphics" card (Crysis was beautiful, but the writing was...I don't even want to comment on it).

In the end, having more freedom allows developers to be more creative. (try compressing a 500 page novel into a 500 words essay, such as happened to me when I entered a writing competition, what kind of university limits to only 500 words on writing competition!?)

[pmaster4]

If u feel developers are concerned about being creative u are sadly mistaken. This is a business and once they see there is an alternative path for them to make profit they will take it. Just look at every other shooter on 360 or ps3, is that creative ???

[zultekmilennia]

Granted, not all developers are concerned about being creative, but there are a few gems out there, like Hideo Kojima, Shigeru Miyamoto, the guys who did LOMAC.

My point is that not all games are worth buying, and some developers, no matter what kind of hardware they develop for, will churn out crap just to fill their pockets. Ask the guys who keeps making those Army Men, Smurfs and Barbie games. (there was an Army Men game that wasn't crap, only mediocre, made by a reputable developer, but, still, its ARMY MEN!!)

My concern is giving those rare gems a chance to showcase their talents and maybe allow new ones to be developed. Limiting hardware might make the developers think more on innovations rather than the technical sight, but if they spent an eternity making sure that the game doesn't crap out on a console, that a level doesn't take ONE WHOLE MINUTE to load, trying to cram texture data onto a puny disc, there's not much room for innovation, right?

[pmaster4]

I understand that developers do churn out crap to make a buck but that happens for all systems. Look at the N64, PS, Dreamcast era the Dreamcast was considerably more powerful that the other 2 yet it finished a distant third. The PS had some gems on it like FF7 which shows us that the hardware power is not the determining factor for a game to be excellent; art style, game play, story are also important.

But what u are saying is if these games were developer on a more powerful system then they would have been even better???? That may be true for the older generation but not this one. You would be surprised at the number of people who pick up the wii just because it’s cool t see their action translated into the game.

[zultekmilennia]

Yeah, sure, but does anyone here remember the Nintendo Power Glove, or the Gun peripheral for the Sega system?

Those can also translate your action into the game. But, as I recall, they were crap, so it doesn't really make a good comparison.

I'm also eager to see what crazy things can we do with the Wii, but sooner or later, the novelty will wear out and those games just don't have the longevity a good RPG (like FFVII) would. Dreamcast died because of poor games, but they succumbed also due to the might of Sony Corp.

And I'm not going to flail my arm around for 10 hours straight, I'd rather be playing a 40-hour+ RPG. Nintendo won't be worried, they got awesome franchises (Zelda, Mario, etc..) and some mad geniuses backing them up, so they won't go down anytime soon. And the Wii did garner some great third-party games, contrary to the Gamecube, though I wonder how long will this last?


My point is, more technology allows more freedom. Imagine Grand Theft Auto, but more Oblivion-like. Every time you start a new game, a random city template is generated. And it develops itself, like a real city.

It adds to the gaming experience, and allows more emergent gameplay. Few people will have the same experience in the same game. Granted, the missions will be hell to design, but I'm no developer, so I wouldn't know.

[pmaster4]

o_O

Firstly the power glove cannot realistically be viewed in the same vain as the wii control. Many of the quality games we have seen on the wii were build with the wii control as the main input interface or had a drastic change to their control system. The power glove on the other hand was simply an attachment for many games.

Anyways you also say the novelty will wear out??? How come the novelty hasn't worn out from pressing buttons all these years??? It seems that you feel changes can only be made graphically since you place so much emphasis on the tech specs of the various systems. Many of the current games could have been done years ago only today they look "prettier" .

Granted that the increased power allows for better physics but that depends on the engine the game is running and it has been clearly shown that all the current generation systems are capable of good physics. Another thing, if technology allows so much freedom how come PC games aren't booming ahead and dominating the market?? since the PC clearly has more power that all the current systems.

I can guarantee u that this new interface the wii/ds has introduced adds more to the game experience than improved graphics.

[zultekmilennia]

Hey, don't get me wrong. I love the Wii, I was one of the guys that were kinda relieved that Nintendo didn't try to compete with the other two and went a different path. I know it's great. I loved Guitar Hero and Rock Band.

In fact, I remember one time I wrote in an article about wacky import games from overseas and why they are awesome and should be released stateside. Guitar Hero was one of them. And yes, the comparison I used was crap. So it doesn't really count.

Graphics aren't everything. Imagine a Barbie game, a freakin' Barbie game. If it had Crysis-level graphics, it is still a Barbie game. AND GOD FORBID. The mental images are killing ME. ARGHHH!!! IT BURNS!!! NOOOOOO!!! NOT THE LIGHTS!!!

*slumps over dead


Anyway, PC gaming aren't booming because of many factors. PCs have so many configurations and the normal laymen aren't smart enough to configure them correctly. Hell, when I started working as a computer technician when I was 12, there weren't many problem that made me scratch my head. Most of the clients sent in their PC for stupid reasons. Not to mention instability (thanks to windows)

PC games are kinda complex, so that's another factor. Try playing Falcon 4.0. My head almost imploded trying to remember all the key combinations.

And, one of my recent laments, price. Try playing Crysis on a sup-par PC. You'll literally cry. My PC is a Pentium Dual-Core E2140 with 1GB RAM and a GeForce 8400GS. (Hey, I'm a student, its the best I can do with my budget)

People who buy consoles are assured by the fact that others have the exact same configuration as them. This is both ways. Developers don't have to worry about varying hardwares and users don't have to worry about the game not able to run on their console, or the game is too complex for them.

*And please don't remind me about the different packages the two Next-Gen console comes in. Damn Microsoft. Just because they want to prove that their console is the cheaper alternative, don't market a barebone console and then selling the other parts as add-ons. Add the HDD, the HD-DVD drive and the price is basically the same with PS3.

Edit: Maybe greater physics will allow me to climb over a freakin chest-high wall in Half-Life 2, or shoot down a wooden door. Hehe. I'm reading the HL comic made using the Source engine and its damn funny. Try ithttp://www.hlcomic.com/