PS3 outsold Xbox 360 2:1 in Japan

PS3 selling over 5 times faster in Japan

That works out that in Japan the PS3 has averaged 125,000 per month since launch compared to the 360's 22,000.

Woo

The more I read about the Wii the more it impresses me. It has an air of underdog. The other consoles do not excite me, because they overlap with my PC far too much to justify the expense. Nintendo has made the Wii seem sufficiently novel and different, such that it is the kind of thing a PS3 or Xbox or PC owner might consider buying in addition to their existing machine. And all this with just a wavey controller.

You should look at the PS2 launch sales to see how bad the PS3 is doing.

How come you spin bad Sony sales figures into an anti MS article?

The 360 is not selling well in Japan but compared to the original Xbox its doing far better.

PS3 sales figures are nowhere near as good as they were for the PS2 - 900,000 in the launch weekend.

Sorry to say but The Register used to be the place for technology news but nowadays the articles seem to be 'copy and paste with added bile' and the reviews are very inconsistent.

Yeah but

One thing worth noting is that the Ps2 sold that number (1 million) in a few DAYS. It's taken Sony 8 months to shift that number, and most were during the latter half of last year. Since the start of the year it's sold little more than 8-15k a week (and last month sold less than 40k).

Hardly impressive for a Sony machine.

Remember

Peter Moore said that the PS3 wasn't doing as well as Sony thought it was, that was all! Its almost as though you're trying to start a riot posting news like this!

Not only but also....

Both Microsoft and Sony need to wake up to the fact that only a small number of consumers will pay £300 odd for a games machine...

The Wii is novel but just as importantly - it doesn't cost a fortune - and therefore appeals to a larger audience.

Title

To the guy talking about the PS2 sales. The PS3 is actually selling faster worldwide than the PS2 did. Yes the PS2 sold very well initially in Japan but sales fell off. It sold badly in the rest of the world and didn't pick up until around a year after when Gran Turismo 3 was launched.

Incidentally the PS3 has also sold more worldwide than the PS1 and 360 did in their first 7 months (360 SHIPPED 3.2m PS3 SOLD 3.6m) and sales are increasing. It's been #1 on Amazon.com's video games chart for over a week and weekly sales in Japan have just hit a yearly high.

In short if you are saying the PS2 had a great start as a console you must surely now change your opinion that the PS3 is doing badly.

Not selling as fast as the Wii doesn't equal selling badly.

Geez, I Wonder Why? PS3 = Japan, XBox = MS =US?

Ya think that MAYBE the Japanese are favoring a homebrewed (Sony) product as a matter of pride, even though it is higher priced and inferior to the Foreign (US) Microsoft XBox 360 unit???

Funny thing is, neither device is MADE in their own home countries! Flip em over and find Made in China! So much for buying a homegrown product, Japan and US. (Ps - same goes for the Wii)

Boycott Commie Chinese made products, it's funding their military and the sale of weapon and weapons technology to Militant Islam and Leftist Countries. It's in the news EVERYDAY.

No surprise

The Wii is pretty much cheap enough to be a spur of the moment purchase (well, thats how I ended up with one, and am most happy) where as the Xbox360 and especially the PS3 take a lot of thinking about splashing out that amount, not to mention sweet talking the wife and whatever else is needed to get her in the mood to say "yes" (to a console of that cost!)

Wii = cheap = lots of sales

PS3 = omgexpensive = remortgage = no

I think nintendo is giving the big boys a lesson in pricing here ;)

Oh, but when the PS3 is finially down to less than insanity pricing levels, I'll have one in a shot (without having to butter up the mrs)

Boycotting China

I'm afraid there won't be much left to buy then.

By the way, in what news is that "everyday"? The "Neocon Informer"? The "Proud American Hillbilly"? Or the "Biblebelter Economist"?

But then again?

But then again , how many desktop PC's , notebooks and laptops were sold in the same period of time?

Still , if you add the combined world sales figures , along with the Japanese it still leaves more than a few left overs from the initial launch stock sitting in the warehouse awaiting potential buyers though , which explains why the Electronic Games Division is still awash in a sea of red ink with bigger expenses then income , so as to speak!

poor support

The Xbox 360 is very poorly supported from Microsoft itself in the Japanese market.

Playback of xbox games is not as well implemented as in US consoles.

Most games xbox 360 games are also not aimed at the Japanese market. Ports of US and European games will not work on the Japanese market. The commercials are really weird. If you watch an Xbox 360 commercial in Japan you need someone from MS next to you tell you it is an xbox 360 commercial. The marketting is really weird. At the end of the commercial the xbox 360 logo is displayed but that is it. No commercial for games and gameplay is never showed.

Also the Japanese indeed have a Japanese product fixation that will not be easily broken.

Wii...

I got a Wii, I don't really do games in fact the games that Ihave played for any measureable amount of time are:

Elite

Exile

Lemmings

Wolfenstien

Doom

Doom2

I thought I might have a look at the Wii and got one with my bonus, it is great, you can get people who have never played a computer game in their life to join in and enjoy it(!) The lack of HD graphics and a processor to shame a Cray don't even begin to limit the machine. Compare that to a PS3, for which you can buy about three Wiis, the games tend to be targeted at "gamers" and you'll never get people to think that you could play one if you've got a few friends round for a few bevvies.

That said, the amount of beers and ash trays knocked over has dramatically increased since I got the Wii, but this is a small price to pay...

Re: Webster

Aaah, Webster. Your daily dose of pure plonker always makes me smile.

"Ya think that MAYBE the Japanese are favoring a homebrewed (Sony) product as a matter of pride, even though it is higher priced and inferior to the Foreign (US) Microsoft XBox 360 unit???"

Higher priced I can agree with. Inferior? Are you mental?

Though the rest of your post answers that second question rather nicely.

Xbox 360 not selling well in Japan is normal.

Xbox 360 not selling well in Japan is normal, it has little to do with japanese favoring their own manufacturers, but more to the fact that the Xbox 360 has a poor lineup of games that would attract the typical japanese.

In Japan the successful games genres are party games (singstar, buzz, Wii sport, DDR), asian RPGs (think final fantasy, not oblivion) and action/fighting games. FPS are not very popular. Also Japanese tend to prefer nice graphics rather than realistic graphics (think anime rather than live action). This is pretty much the oposite of the Xbox360 lineup! With no party games and a weak JRPG lineup the Xbox360 can't compete.

Also in Tokyo space is at a premium (a lot of young singles or couple live in one room) so you either need to sell them a small unobtrusive machine (the Wii) or a large machine that will cater to all their surfing and multimedia needs (what the PS3 tries to do). Xbox360 is a big box just for playing.

It's not that the Xbox 360 and it's game lineup are bad (they are not!) , it is just that they are not at all well adapted to the japanese market. If Microsoft realeased a thiner Xbox360 with integrated web browsing and good multimedia capabilities, a series of good party games (DDR, Karaoke, a response to Wii sports) and a much stonger lineup of JRPGs (not realistic stuff like oblivion) as well as better action games (where's microsoft equivalent ro mario and sonic). And forget Halo 3, that's a FPS with realistic graphics, that will be irrelevent in Japan (FPS + realistic = very bad in Japan).

Wow, some great comments so far...

... people will pay £300 for a console, given the article above at least 1.5m Japanese people have quite recently. The Wii is stunning (i've got one with my Xbox 360) but it's aimed squarely at a different gamer, it's more fun and cute, but it's not going to appeal to the hard core gamers, racing games, Halo-types etc will not buy a Wii as the graphics can't cut it... for innovation and enjoyment the Wii wins hands down!

And Jon, it's hardly surprising that a PS3 will have sold a higher average volume per month given it was a product in demand that has recently been launched. A more accurate examination would be the sales for the first 3 months or 6 months of PS3 vs Xbox 360.... i think you'll find the Xbox will be out in front, given you couldn't get one for 4 months after they were launched unless you had a pre-order, whereas a PS3 was readily available... now ehitr given the huge delays from Sony led to them having plenty of stocks, or less people were actually that impressed having tried one?

George Bush reads The Register?

"Boycott Commie Chinese made products, it's funding their military and the sale of weapon and weapons technology to Militant Islam and Leftist Countries. It's in the news EVERYDAY."

*sigh*

Commie China

Mmm

Boycott Commie Chinese made products, it's funding their military and the sale of weapon and weapons technology to Militant Islam and Leftist Countries. It's in the news EVERYDAY.

or

Boycott imperialist US products, it's funding their military and the sale of weapon and weapons technology to Dictatorships (U.A.E?) and Rightwing Countries. It's in the news EVERYDAY.