Wii vs PS3 vs Xbox360

[number9 0]

Yeah, the PS2 outsold every next gen console in the States this past December. Though that's partially due to lack of supply, you can't deny the great library for PS2.

http://www.slate.com/id/2161405/

 

There was an amusing poll lately, do you prefer relaxing onsen or amusement park fun for a holiday? And the results were overwhelmingly onsen.. except for Akita and Kochi whose majority preferred amusement parks.. maybe because they live relatively far away from decent amusement parks? More often than not though, it's Kansai that comes out with a different result from the rest of the country, interesting.

 

I wish the world poll came out with a colour coded result map instead of just listing countries and their results. It's interesting seeing regional patterns.

[muikabochi 208]

Seems a bit strange that. If I was in the market for a console, and I knew the PS3 would play all PS2 games, even if I was a bit short I'd probably wait to save up that bit more for the PS3. It's not as if they haven't waited long enough! And the biggest cost for gamers in the long run is the actual games, right?

[number9 0]

Consumers aren't always (usually?) rational. Plus it probably has more to do with short term gratification and money rather than long term planning (PS3 price will drop in the future anyways, maybe making the current $120 PS2 price tag essentially free). So, maybe it is rational if you have no must buy PS3 titles for a while.

[2pints-mate 0]

PS3 is out here in a week or so. Motorstorm is the title getting a lot of attention.

[NutteyCubey 0]

Motorstorm is excellent (if a little featureless). I'd say the best PS3 game there is out there so far.

[brit-gob 9]

What do you mean by "featureless" Nuttey? I had a go on that one in the shop the other day - looks like an awesome racer that one.

[NutteyCubey 0]

No online, no multiplayer, hardly any options at all. The Japanese release just felt rushed. Didn't really affect the racing itself. I hear the overseas versions though are a more polished produce, features wise.

[snowbender 3]

My good friend got themselves a Wii and I had a few plays on it. Fun little machine it seems. That snowboarding one SSX looks like it will be good.

 

Not into all these war-like FPSs that the Xbox and (maybe) PS3 will host.

[SpaceAgeMonkey 0]

In another year I reckon the PS3 will be blowing everything else right out of the water! That's in a year though. For right now unless you want the kiddly like fun of the Wii the x360 is the gaming box of choice.

[klingon 10]

But will another year be too late? It sure is risky, but it sure will be interesting! Have you seen the latest PS3 ads here in Japan? They are not advertising games, they are promoting the way the PS3 can show slide shows of photos with music! Totally lame.

[klingon 10]

Interesting article on the Will wiping the floor with the ps3 sent to me:

 

Sony's new PlayStation 3 video game has gone from top dog to underdog in record time.

Despite the buildup and hype around its arrival in November, the PS3 has been outsold so far — at a rate of almost 2-to-1 — by the Nintendo Wii.

 

In February, the Wii was the top-selling console video game system with an estimated 335,000 sold, outpacing the Microsoft Xbox 360 (228,000) and the PS3 (127,000), according to The NPD Group.

 

For Sony, that performance "is simply abysmal," says Newsweek's N'Gai Croal. "The PS3 is sucking wind right now. …. Price is a factor. Some of the negative buzz is a factor. Some of the FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) is a factor. And the lack of a large number of triple-A software titles is a factor."

 

Nintendo's $250 Wii, released the same week as the PS3 ($500-$600), has sold about 1.9 million so far, compared with 1.1 million PS3s.

 

Initial online bidding for the PS3 soared to $2,000-plus, but four months later, customers can find ample supplies in stores while Wiis remain tough to come by. "It's a strange sight. Nobody would have predicted that," says Dan Hsu, editor in chief of Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine.

 

Sony counters that sales so far of the PS3, which launches in Europe this week, rival early sales of the Xbox 360 and PS2.

 

"I chuckle when you say we are in trouble, because when you couldn't find them on shelves, some said we were in trouble," says Sony Computer Entertainment's Dave Karraker. "So we're damned if we do and damned if we don't."

 

The PS3's early stumbles — fewer than expected shipments, extensive updates needed for backward compatibility — caused some analysts to reconsider how the market might play out.

 

Billy Pidgeon of IDC, in Framingham, Mass., expects the Wii to sell more than 16 million systems worldwide this year, compared with 10 million each for the PS3 and 360. "The PS3 is not breaking out of last place in market share anytime soon, (but) I believe the PS3's momentum will increase in the second half of 2007."

 

More is at stake than just games. Sony and Hollywood studios backing the Blu-ray Disc high-definition movie format are hoping the PS3 will help it overcome the rival HD DVD format. PS3s are the lowest-priced Blu-ray players available.

 

Last fall, Microsoft released a $200 HD DVD add-on for the Xbox 360. Although Blu-ray Disc sales have risen since PS3's arrival, neither format has blossomed. "The PS3 is pretty important (to Blu-ray's success)," says Tom Adams of Adams Media Research.

 

Forthcoming games such as Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (due in September) and Final Fantasy XIII (December) could energize the core gaming audience, Hsu says. "Once you get (them), you can get the mainstream audience from there. That's the way Sony did it with the PlayStation and PS2."

[BagOfCrisps 24]

Interesting how the Wii seems to be selling in those markets without an equivalant large number of triple-A titles.

 

(Whats a double A title?)

[fukdane 2]

40 people at Australian launch!!

 

http://kotaku.com/gaming/ps3-launch/australian-ps3-launch-shindig-246437.php

[NutteyCubey 0]

It's not looking that good for the PS3 is it?

 

Interesting read:

 

Last week's NPD sales data confirmed Nintendo's dominance at the register in both the handheld and console spaces. The Wii's lower price point pits the most heated (and arguably "next-gen") console war between Microsoft and Sony. When NPD reported that Sony sold just 127k PlayStation 3s in the U.S. in February, it's easy to suggest that the company is in dire straits, but looking at the path tread last year by the Xbox 360, Sony is actually on familiar ground.

During its first four months at retail, Microsoft's Xbox 360 was supply constrained but still managed a sell-through in the U.S. of 1.02M consoles through February 2006, according to NPD figures. With suffocating supply constraints during the November launch period, Sony's PlayStation 3 still outsold the Xbox 360 during the same four-month launch window with 1.06M consoles sold through February 2007.

 

Briefly ignoring just how supply constrained the 360 was during that four month period, the fact that the PlayStation 3 has outsold the Xbox 360 over the same period in its life span despite costing $200 more per unit isn't a something that should get lost amidst the cries of doom and gloom for Sony's platform. How much more would the Xbox 360 have sold had supply not been so constrained in the first four months after launch?

 

After selling 160k units in February of 2006, the Xbox 360 went on to sell 192k units the following month before bouncing back in April's NPDs with its biggest month since the November launch with 295K units sold. That 295K units would also be the second biggest month for PlayStation 3 sales, but Sony's biggest month wasn't the November launch, rather it was December where the system sold 491K units.

 

What does this mean for Sony? Considering the system's higher price point, if the platform can keep pace with the Xbox 360 through the first year (while the software matures), regardless of the installed base, the system has to be considered semi-successful.

 

A concerning statistic between the two platforms' first January and February months is the drop-off in sales for those two months. From January 2006 to February 2006 the Xbox 360 sales trailed off 36% (250K units down to 161k units). At the same point in its lifespan, Sony's PlayStation 3 experienced a drop-off of 48% (244K units down to 127K units). That drop in sales, considering the units are available at retail, is cause for concern. Yet, despite trailing off by 25% more than its supply-constrained predecessor, the system does still cost $200 more.

 

Neither console had major exclusives during their first February (Virtua Fighter 5 on the PlayStation 3 sold 53K units) -- PlayStation 3 has Motorstorm and Oblivion in March, where Xbox 360 had Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and Oblivion at the same point in time last year. Ubisoft's GRAW, which just shipped a sequel this month, sold 486K copies in March of 2006; Oblivion sold a combined 356K copies in March 2006 (there was a limited edition of the game, too). Yet, while software surged for the Xbox 360 in March of 2006, the system only sold 191K units -- its third worst month to date.

 

What does that mean? Even if Motorstorm and Oblivion-PS3 sell with Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and Oblivion-360 type performance at U.S. retail (the latter seems less likely considering pretty much the same game is coming to market a full year later), based on the Xbox 360's March 2006 sales, the PlayStation 3 may not see the sales surge some folks (myself included, albeit erroneously) said the system needed.

 

In addition to selling more over the first four months of its lifespan than the Xbox 360's first four months, the biggest first party software on PlayStation 3 outsold the biggest first party 360 title during those same four months. According to NPD, Insomniac's Resistance: Fall of Man sold 500K units through February -- the biggest selling first party Xbox 360 launch game over same period -- Perfect Dark Zero -- sold 396K units across two SKUs. The system is selling better over the first four months of its lifespan than the 360 and its major launch game outsold the 360's best selling launch game during the same window.

[klingon 10]

Xbox + beer = PS3 comparison!

 

Not sure if Fosters is the best beer to use but... clever.

 

 

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/03/23/microsoft-uses-beer-to-illustrate-xbox-360-cost-advantage/

[muikabochi 208]

 

Look at this, free HDTV with every PS3!

 

"London saw the biggest turnout and all those that turned up for the midnight event also got a free HD TV to go with their new console."

 

Not a bad deal that!

[thursday 1]

Sadly I am still waiting for my friend to trial the American version to work with the Japanese games on the Wii. Looks promising, but awaiting his confirmation.

[YellowSnow 0]

Last week PSPs outsold the wii, maybe because of Need for speed carbon and Burnout.

 

Warning the new burnout is crap.

[klingon 10]

Currently in development

 

[grungy-gonads 54]

 

I might be tempted with these machines if only they released some games. There are so few out there so far.

 

Anyone with a PS3 and viewed a BluRay disc? Is it pretty?

[YellowSnow 0]

grungy-gonads yes it is pretty and also have seen xbox360 at the same rez 1080p on a 1080p projector. Probably the sweetest setup you can get but as those projectors cost from 400,000 to a million yen they are not in my price range yet.

 

But I have prettier, a monitor I can actually afford, dell 3007 2560x1600 its the same as the the apple 30" cinema screen. I might forget about the ps3 etc and just get that with 2 top of the line video cards.

 

I like racing games and end up on all systems anyway, so might just continue to invest into my pc which will have better graffics by far.

[big-will 7]

Hey anyone remember Jet Pac? I used to love that on my Spectrum. Anyway seems XBox live arcade is getting it - original plus all new hi-def version

 

 

That brings back a lot of memories. Looks pretty cool.

[wakaran 1]

If you like shooters (of the more 2d kind) and simpler games, there are some fantastic games on xbox live arcade now. Jetpac is up from today - and the next hi-def version is excellent. Other ones to look out for are Assault Heroes, Geometry Wars & Heavy Weapon.

[scouser 4]

I remember Jet Pac and Atic Atak and other Ultimate Play The Game games. They are Rare now, right? That new Jet Pac looks fun actually.

[klingon 10]

Yes they became Rare.

 

Remember Imagine Software as well?

 

JetPac is getting some really good reviews it looks like a lot of fun. And only 400 points.