Japan: PS3 sales closing in on Wii?

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Home #japan

12:56 PM on 11.02.2007 | Dale North

32 comments

Japan: PS3 sales closing in on Wii? photo

#japan #PS3 #Sony

Much like yours truly working the Destructoid morning shift, the PlayStation 3 is proving to be a slow starter when it comes to sales.

According to Japanese publisher Enterbrain, the PS3 is slowly but surely closing the gap, coming up behind the Nintendo Wii in monthly sales. Sure, the Wii is outsellling the PS3 two-to-one, but back in June the ratio was more like six-to-one. This makes the fourth month in a row where the PS3 has increased in sales.

For the month ending October 28th, the PS3 moved 47,183 in Japan. Nintendo sold 110,415 Wii units in that same time, while Microsoft's Xbox360 sold 18,717 units.

Next-Gen attributes the PS3 sales increase to recent price drops and a better list of titles. We would agree. Japanese gamers were smart enough to wait for the inevitable drops, and we're willing to guess that sales will continue to increase as Sony releases more titles in 2008.

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29 comments | showing # 1 to 29

bhive01

I agree with Next-Gen too.

kobewan0824

This is what Nintendo gets for not having enough good games. Oh well, they are still far ahead.

brad drac

->kobewan: If by "this" you mean an install base four times larger than sony's, and giant swimming pools of money, I'm not really sure I see your point. Wii has at leasy as many good titles than the ps3. I personally think more, but that's up to personal opinion.

While I still cling to remnants of disdain lingering from that extended period where sony did nothing but fuck up royally and constantly, this is probably a good thing in the long term. Eventually, the ps3 will probably be worth buying, if only for team ico's next game, and I'd like them to still have some developer support at that stage.

Joe Burling

I hate to be Mr. Negative, but in order for the PS3 to start closing the gap between sales, wouldn't Sony have to first start selling more than Nintendo? If the Wii is still outselling the PS3 2 to 1, wouldn't that mean the gap is actually still getting bigger?

bhive01

Geez... Mr. Negative over here.

BlindsideDork

Hai Mr.Negative!

*waves*

THANKS AGAIN!

linuxguy

good but being outsold 2 to 1 by a 250$ gamecube+waggle is kinda lame

bloodylip

And isn't this more like Nintendo closing the gap, since the Wii's sales are slowing down more than the PS3s are gaining?

Xbudz

Less is more in Japan, Xbox 360 wins!

OK, I just need sleep.

bhive01

5:1 for the 360. But, Japan doesn't like American goods, unless it's Elvis.

Marlboro Man

Its only a matter of time before the Wii sales die down and the ps3 and 360 take off. I think most of the wiis sales were because of its cost. New system, 250 buks... why not. Hell its almost an impulse buy at that cheap vs the other two.

Sony having a strong history in JP. the 360 designed its system almost with JP ppl in mind as its target, ..only to have still fail there.

Maybe when 'FPSbox 360" has a system seller that isnt yet another first person shooter, they will finally sell in JP to a better degree. Blue Dragon was a nice start, to bad it was such a shitty game.

Cowboy TTop

I think its important to keep Sony on the back foot, so they can learn some lessons from their recent debacles. While Sony would have developers sit in its camp until the end of time, and many seem comfortable to do so, I still think what Wii is doing is more important to keep the industry on its toes.

This is very premature anyway. Call me back when the sales for Mario Galaxy, Smash Bros Brawl and Mario Kart are out and shifting.

Joe Burling

Cowboy, I agree completely. I don't have too much of a problem with the bad PR Sony has been getting since the PS3, as long as it teaches them a lesson.

If the PS3 was doing well, we certainly wouldn't be seeing a $400 PS3 within it's first year after launch.

Variable Gear

BuckF1tches makes too much sense...

subnet6

You know Sonys business model is hurting when their only successes are the slowing sales of the Wii. Even with 2 huge price drops and quite a few more game, the PS3 really isn't selling much more than it ever did.
The funny thing is that the PS3 nuts somehow think they've won something. Admittedly, the Wii is slowing down in Japan. No question. But the PS3 isn't exactly setting a fire if you know what I mean. In the end, I want their sales to be closer because then we as consumers will benefit. Buck is right. Its only because of Sonys struggle that the PS3 is within $100 of being affordable.

Corak

Hard to compare 2 consoles that are vastly different. The Wii while very fun, is not as enjoyable single player as the PS3 is in my opinion. I have the most fun with my Wii when I have friends over, mostly while in a drunken stuper. But when its just me I almost always pick up my PS3 over my Wii. When I get Galaxy that might shift a little but I think I'll still be playing the PS3 more when I'm by myself. Maybe thats what some people are realizing if they just have the Wii.

Urashima

It could be that the gap is closing because of the fact that probably almost every japanese household already has a Wii and said households have had ample time to save up for a PS3.

Either way, kudos to Sony.

Mxyzptlk

Doesn't everyone in Japan already own like 3 Wiis? And sales can't actually start to close in until Sony begins selling more than Nintendo.

Cheeburga

Ps3 outselling 360 5 to 1 i bet.
:P

Furi Kuri

It looks as though the guy in the suit is sizing that employee as if to purchase him.

"Forget the ps3, i shall take him."

StriderS

*blah blah wii sux*
*blah blah ps3 sux*

wonky360

Still dont want one. Too busy trying to fit in gaming due to the 360 avalanche of A+ titles. Japan will NEVER embrace a foreign games console, I think it would take a big shift in ideology to ever bring this about.

king3vbo

Its because everyone in Japan has a Wii already

brainderailment

I would expect to see a console that costs half as much to sell twice as many units. I don't think we will see the gap get too much closer until the Japanese come to their sences and realize that they are now shaking violently instead of button mashing. Then they will see that you can have fun games and good graphics at the same time, it isn't oil and water. Then the ps3 and less likely 360 sales will start to really go places.

Cyberxion

Screw graphics, it all comes down to good gameplay, doesn't it? One would think that this being the case, perhaps it's the lack of compelling games that is keeping so many people from buying the PS3 in Japan, and not that they have some sort of hangup about good graphics and gameplay being mutually exclusive or some stupid shit. Or whatever it is you're trying to say.

Burnt Meatloaf

I don't care if Sony sells more than Nintendo. All I care about is that games are made for it.

Why people obsess over who "wins" is beyond me. These are game machines, not sport teams.

questworld

Outside of the actual install base, exactly how is Wii sales declining over there became a point for the PS3 "closing in" on the Wii? The PS3's been hovering between ten thousand and twenty thousand for months now. It's like boasting that a poor man caught up to a rich man financially now that the latter manage to fall back to the same level as the former - dead.

stankee

man it's just simple economics

since the japanese are used to deflation, they just waited until it got cheaper!!!

Maybe the whole bad marketing scheme of sony is actually a good one! They wann make early adopters feel real cool so they can say that they are truly hardcore! while all other who are just buying their ps3 now are only a bunch of lamos!

i am getting one soon

mandlebaum123

I love reading the spin on sony "closing in". Like a few before me have stated:

I think of each month's figures as a lap in a race. The lead before this lap was nintendo's, and now after this lap, that lead has gotten LARGER. Until Sony's lap time beats Nintendo's, they will not be "closing in".

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