Game Consoles Sell Over 3.2 Million Units in November 95
Ground Glass writes "While there wasn't any question that November was going to be a huge month for gaming (what with those two consoles coming out and all), it's still impressive to see the numbers. In short, Nintendo's DS was the big winner with over 600,000 units sold, though the Wii and Xbox 360 also each broke half a million. The PS3 probably came in at around 200K all told for the month. Convert those numbers into dollars and you're looking at one very fat and happy industry." From the Next Generation article: "In its monthly report analyst Arcadia Investment says console sales in November topped 3.2 million units. Arcadia says hardware sales increased by at least 50% year on year, with software up about 20%. Retail dollars increased by about 25-30% to about $1.6 billion, compared to $1.3 billion in November 2005. "
DS + Wii vs. PSP + PS3 (Score:5, Interesting)
Apparently, it wasn't a bad plan.
Re: (Score:1)
I doubt anyone would claim "victory" if Sony released PS3 which is PS2 with new controller...
Re: (Score:2)
While it is frequently bandied about that the Wii is only as powerful as the original Xbox, this isn't true either. The Gamecube itself was as powerful (in terms of CPU and grpahics capability, although it did have slightly less RAM, the performance of both was about the same) as the original Xbox. In reality, I think its pretty clear that b
Re: (Score:1)
Maybe Gamecube was more powerful than PS2, however that was an failure - Nintendo trying to compete with Sony in graphics. Otherwise, whenever they played on their true strenghts - they did really well - just check how AWESOME DS Lite is doing, and its graphics are not in the same galaxy as P
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, it's true (Score:2)
Yes, it is. He said "early." While there were some nice looking "launch window" titles, lots looked like high-res PS2 games. Look at shit like Tony Hawk's or Gun.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
You're wrong (Score:3)
Re: (Score:1)
Ranked in terms of consoles sold last month: (Score:3, Interesting)
DS (600K+) > XBox360 (500K++) > PS2 (500K+) > Wii (500K) > PSP (350K) > PS3 (~200K)
It looks like the PS2 and the Xbox 360 are both outselling the new consoles- which is surprising to me. Still, it seems Nintendo is the big winner, since they are selling an average of two games per Wii on top of actually selling a console for a profit. Microsoft seems to be doing a lot better with their 360 sales than I expected they would- I guess people decided getting a Wii or PS3 wasn't worth the effort when there was an good console readily available.
Re:Ranked in terms of consoles sold last month: (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
And you say "processing power" as if it doesn't matter. The SNES was just an NES with more processing power. The PS2 was just a PS1 wit
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Ranked in terms of consoles sold last month: (Score:4, Insightful)
The NES to SNES upgrade was actually relatively minor. You got more colors and bigger sprites, but the CPU was still weak, so the games were the same, but prettier. The SNES -> N64 transition was huge. It was the first console that could do 3D properly. Mario 64 changed platformers completely, and would not have been possible on any previous console. FPS as a genre wasn't really feasible until then either. The PS2 was the first console that had the horsepower to have complex environments, because the N64 and PS could not push enough polygons to do more than very simplistic environments.
This generation is potentially as interesting as the N64 one. The new consoles have an order of magnitude more power than the previous gen, and more importantly, they have a lot of power that's independent of the graphics pipeline. Wheras the main CPU in the PS2 spends much of its time crunching geometry to feed the rasterizer, the geometry processor in the RSX frees the Cell in the PS3 from much of that. Wheras previous consoles had to squeeze in AI and physics into a small slice of time between handling graphics code, the current batch can spend a lot of main CPU time on those things.
Gears of War is really a prime example. Even if you toned down the graphics, such a game could not be done on previous-gen systems. They don't have the horsepower to do either the physics, nor the level complexity (battlefields strewn with junk that serves as cover).
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
*cough*Dreamcast*cough*
Re: (Score:2)
Long live the Dreamcast. I mean, a modem and web browser too! One of my favorite systems ever.
Re: (Score:2)
First console to incorporate scanline rotation and scaling in hardware (Mode 7), allowing for much more realistic racing games (compare F-Zero to Rad Racer 2). First console controller to incorporate dual cross keys and shoulder buttons. The plain old "more CPU" console upgrade was Sega Master System -> Genesis.
Re: (Score:2)
Mode 7 not a one-trick pony (Score:1)
Single game, or single genre? There are plenty of mode 7 racing games that work. Even non-racing games can use mode 7 to improve the overall quality of experience. Start with Pilotwings, then see Actraiser that uses it for cut scenes or Super Mario RPG that uses it for a mine cart level.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
At the risk of being labeled a fanboy, this is 100% false. Over the Ps2, the Ps3 brings multiplayer capability out of the box (at least 4 players vs. 2 on the Ps2), Wireless control standard on all gamepads, MUCH better online infrastructure, The Ability to play Blu-Ray movies (a BIG plus if you have a high def tv), Downloadable classic games for 6 buc
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
With the negative opinions of the PS3 and the increase in HDTV uptake, it's not too entirely surprising.
Re: (Score:2)
The new systems won't be fully entrenched for at least 2 years.
Re: (Score:1)
We have a PS1, Gameboy Advance, and plan on buying a WII. The Nintendo caters to the younger children with more games that are not so violent.
But this is not a Christmas gift, it is a goal for the kids. A reward.
I have asked when I happen to be in the electronic departments if they have any WII's and it is usually "We had (5-20) on (day of week) and expect another shipment of the same on (same d
Units sold doesn't necessarily mean profit (Score:2, Interesting)
By some estimates Sony is subsidizing the PS3 to the tune of $300/unit while Microsoft is probably just about breaking even on systems. The big money for Microsoft and Sony comes from game sales, and the only solid numbers I've seen in that category were for Zelda units for the Wii (400k+).
So on the money side Nintendo has made a hefty profit from their 1.1 million+ units sold, Microsoft, hav
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Source?
Re: (Score:2)
MS rumored to be making $75 per console sold (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
So when people say that MS & Nintendo are making a profit on each device at this time, it means that they aren't being sold for a loss. None of them have paid off their
Re: (Score:2)
Because the $100 per console made per WII for the first year will not make up for it's development costs either.
Few manufactured items, in particular innovative ones are profitable in their first year by those standards. Accountants have a neat trick called amortization, which can assume that initial costs are considered over the expected lifetime of the item. Also, I don't know where you are getting your numbers from, but I'd be very surprised if any manufacturer every made $100 each on anything selling for a retail price of $250 per unit.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Yes because they couldn't sell enough games. To be fair, they'd probably have to sell like 50 games per console to break even.
Re: (Score:1)
Most of the cost analysis comes from looking at the separate components, seagate HD, IBM processor, ATI processor, Samsung RAM, etc.. and looking at the associated costs with either purchasing the part or licensing the design, and even includes volume discounts. These costs are relatively stable and well known. The guesstimating comes in when trying
Re: (Score:2)
With Sony, you pay $600 to get $1000 worth of machine
With Microsoft, you pay $400 to get $700 worth of machine
With Nintendo, you pay $250 on a $200 machine and Nintendo invests $300 into game development
With Sony, you pay $600 to get a $900 machine
With Microsoft, you pay $400 to get a $700 machine
Being that I could care less about Blu-Ray and am only buying this for games I wonder which I should buy
Re: (Score:2)
PS-3
What good is a $1000 machine that doesn't play any games that you want even if it only costs $600? So far I have heard of one good game of the PS-3 and that is nothing but YAFPS. Your buying it for the future? Why not wait until more games come out and see if it is really worth it. Guess what it isn't going to go up in price.
Blue-ray? I really don't care since none of the movies I really want to see are on Blue-Ray yet and unless their is a massive shake out it looks as
Re: (Score:1)
Did I even mention which system I like the most?
I merely stated that to the best of my knowledge, Nintendo is the only game manufacturer that makes a profit of their hardware from day 1 meaning that even though a lot of cash is changing hands Sony, and to a lesser extent Microsoft, have to wait to see the numbers on game sales before they become "fat and happy".
That doesn't make their system any more powerful or fun to play or even more profitable over it's lifetime, just that when comparing sal
Channel Stuffing (Score:4, Interesting)
There's a dirty little trick there that Sony's used before. What you do is recall the overshipment, and then re-ship to places that need it. You get to count those consoles as shipped twice. Nice isn't it?
Re: (Score:2)
Nintendo's somewhat more honest, stating actual sales instead of shipped.
Even looking at sales we can't really get a good idea what the market share actually was. How many sold Xboxs and PS2s we
Re: (Score:1)
could have been more (Score:2, Insightful)
Sony keeps heavy advertising about the PS3, but what good does it do if they get me interested in it, all to have me go down to the store to look at an empty shelf... It's having the opposite effect, more of a turn off than getting me to want one at this point.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
The fact is that there are so many PS3 comercials because Sony wants to make the fanboys think that the $600 they spent makes them own a cool product.
Re: (Score:2)
The fact is that there are so many PS3 comercials because Sony wants to make the fanboys think that the $600 they spent makes them own a cool product.
The difference between the $25,000 car and the PS3 is that Sony actually NEEDS a lot of sales for the PS3, where the car company only needs to sell a (relative to the PS3) few $25,000 cars.
Making fanboys feel good about spending too much money does Sony little good. They actually need to convince millions of people to buy PS3s (and actually wait until there's
Re: (Score:2)
I suspect that why companies want people who have bought their product to feel secure about their purchase is that they
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
From what I understand Nintendo Shipped about 400,000 to 500,000 on day one with 200,000 to 250,000 every week following that; I have also heard that NPD's sales numbers for november end on November 26th so it is possible that they're missing 4 days of sa
Re: (Score:2)
Wii profitable? Yes. (Score:3, Insightful)
Uhm, the development costs are already accounted for. Nintendo paid them. It was in their past reports. The Wii isn't yet profitable as a project, but it is profitable in that it helps Nintendo make a profit at the end of the next quarter. Every Wii sold makes Nintendo money. Every PS3 sold makes Sony lose money.
Well, at least Nintendo is happy ... (Score:3, Interesting)
The only people we know for sure that's happy about all those consoles being moved is Nintendo.
*(1) Although, if you take console sales as an indirect indicator of software sales, then yes, the other guys would be happy too. More on this later
What we do know is this:
* Nintendo makes money on the Wii, right out of the gate.
* Nintendo makes money on each DS Lite sold.
* Sony's PS3 is losing $200-$300US (we don't exactly how much they're losing, but most analysts say about that range)
* Sony's PS2 hardware is profitable now.
* Microsoft was losing money on the Xbox360 at launch, but they've been working hard to reduce the cost to produce the 360, so it may be breaking even at this point. Only Microsoft knows.
So, Nintendo is certainly happy, Sony is happy PS2 still rakes it in but doesn't make up for PS3's enourmous costs, and Microsoft is happy to just be in the fight
*(1) Consoles moved means more software sales, which is where Microsoft and Sony plan to make their money back. (Nintendo makes money from selling ANYTHING with Nintendo on it, so we know they'll make money on software. They arguably make the most on software than any other single console game producer) Seems the internet believes Microsoft is enjoying a good software sales rate for their xbox360, they won't say of course. Meanwhile, Sony is just mum. Why? well, doesn't seem the attach rate for the PS3 is doing so hot in the US [ign.com] or Japan [joystiq.com]. So Sony's still far away from making money on their new system.
My point? The industry may or may not be happy, we don't know for sure, but we do know, Nintendo is happy with these numbers
PS WTF's with the 0.98 attach rate for PS3 in Japan?! That's amazing to me. I know lots of people are flipping these on ebay, but even in the land of the rising sun, people aren't buying it to play games. That's bad news. Japan's a huge Sony supporter. If they lose Japan, they're in trouble.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
xbox360 = 500k * 400 = 200,000,000
ps3 = 200k * 600 = 120,000,000
wii = 500k * 250 = 125,000,000
ps2 = 500k * 129 = 64,500,000
nintendo_ds = 600k * 129 = 77,400,000
psp = 350k * 199 = 69,650,000
Based off pure revenue, Microsoft appears to take the lion's share with 30%. But as we all know, revenue and profit are quite different. You can play around with the numbers above to get a feel for who's coming out ahead - I may have a mistake
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
You also forgot gba = 500k * 69 = 34,500,000.
That brings us to 236,900,000, which I'm pretty sure is bigger than 200,000,000.
Would seem Nintendo is the winner here, no?
Re: (Score:1)
I updated the numbers [tinyurl.com] and it actually looks like Sony actually pulled in the most revenue overall!
sony = ps3 + ps2 + psp = 254,150,000
microsoft = xbox360 = 200,000,000
nintendo = wii + nintendo_ds + gba = 236,900,000
Surprising, huh? Of course, the ps2 sales may be cannibalizing possible ps3 sales.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
No way in hell. The ps2 has been out for 6 years already and runs only $125. Anyone who HASNT already bought one by now isn't really in the market for a $499 Ps3. The people buying PS2's now are primarily late adopters, curious Xbox and Gamecube owners looking to check out the PS2 game library (guitar hero is making lots of converts), and those buying second consoles and/or replacements for old and broken units. Not exactly
Re: (Score:1)
I'd be curious to see these numbers over time.
However, in the end, it doesn't mean much without the software sales.
Does anyone have numbers for the software sales for each of these platforms?
Re: (Score:1)
Sure, attach rate measures direct sales (how many games are bought with a console). However, people are much less likely to buy games when they know they're flipping a console on ebay. Anyone can buy games for the PS3, and people on ebay actually are LESS likely to pay a premium on included software (primarily because typically, you don't have a choice what games you're picking up)
Completely unrelated, but a quick ebay check on completed listings reveal
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
(Relatively) cheap Blu-Ray player? The Japanese are traditionally a nation of early adopters, so it's not outside the realm of possibility.
Uh... convert to dollars? (Score:3, Informative)
Console sales stats (Score:2, Informative)
Here in the UK, Sony messed up (Score:2)
That's lost customers, and the chances of them coming back to Sony are slim. Of the Sony fanboys I've spoken to, most are incredibly blunt about how badly Sony treats EU countries with hardware releases; a year wait for the