PS3 sales catching up with Wii in Japan: will the West follow?

Stuart Dredge Gaming, Top stories
Share

ps3-sales-japan.jpgIt’s not been the best of years for Sony and PS3, but there could be light at the end of the tunnel. Well, kind of. In October, Sony sold 47,183 PS3s, compared to the 110,415 Wiis sold by Nintendo.

How is being outsold more than 2:1 good news for Sony? Well, the gap was 6:1 in June, so PS3 is catching up, thanks to price cuts and (finally) some decent games coming out for its next-gen console. Sony is also stretching its lead over Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which only sold 18,717 units in Japan during the month.

At this rate, PS3 will be outselling Wii by early next year… Okay, that’s a foolish assertion, but the narrowing of the gap is nevertheless good news for PS3 fans. Meanwhile, Wii owners can contentedly rejoice that its strong sales will ensure a steady flow of games in 2008.

(via PSPSPS)

Related posts
PS3’s Gran Turismo 5 to feature downloadable episodes of Top Gear
Messiah’s Darklite PS3 DVD/Blu-ray remote
PS3 and Xbox 360 have “near identical” UK sales figures for 2007

Stuart Dredge
For latest tech stories go to TechDigest.tv

10 comments

  • “At this rate, PS3 will be outselling Wii by early next year… Okay, that’s a foolish assertion”

    You’re right. That’s foolish. PS3 is already outselling the Wii and it’s still november…

  • I’m certainly not a graphics whore. Like I said, I’m a Nintendo fanboy. I’ve owned every system they make until now. Yes, I’ve played RE, Metroid 3 and many other games for the Wii. It’s just not that fun. The graphics on a 50″ monitor are beyond terrible. Almost to the point that I can’t tell what I’m doing. The motion sensitive control leaves a lot to be desired. I never thought I’d ever be a PS3 convert but Nintendo’s new machine has a shelf life of maybe 3 more years tops and sorry, it’s underpowered. I go for gameplay over graphics anyday but this is like plugging in an Atari 2600 and saying the game play is fun. No, it was fun years ago. The Gamecube was fun years ago, now it is simply inadequate. And as far as numbers, as a Nintendo fanboy I’m still thrilled to see them back on top but I’m also a pragmatist and in the end the PS3 will dominate the Wii. First the gap shrinks, then PS3 elimniates it completely, then it takes off and begins selling as the price keeps shrinking. It will be about this timje that the Wii’s life cycle is over and it’s time for Nintendo to start over. Had they done the motion control w/a better graphics processor they would have been on to something. Right now, it’s a budget system with a short shelf life.

  • Price cut for the PS3? even more loss to sony haha and they use the same controller everytime

  • The Wii sold sold 63 000 MORE consoles than the ps3! how can u say the gap is closing? Well put simply the Wii has sold over 13 million consoles in a year, while the ps3 has sold 5.5 million. so at this rate it will be over a year before the ps3 reaches the number of sales that the Wii has right now. Eddie u obviously havn’t played Metroid Prime 3 or seen Resident Evil Umbrella chronicles. The graphics are better than the last generation. I’d rather sacrifice HD for actual fun gameplay with the Wii-mote, rather than basically the same controller as 8 years ago that sony has.

  • Eddie, that is honestly the stupidest assertion I’ve heard in a long time. The PS3 is NOT catching up, I don’t care how you put it. It’s simply not getting clobbered in sales by the Wii as much as it used to. I would hardly call that an accomplishment. It’s funny how “sure” you are that PS3 will eventually outsell Wii, even though it’s obvious you’re just a biased graphics whore who has no idea what he’s talking about.

  • As soon as the PS3 passes the Wii in monthly sales it will be 1-2 years before the PS3 has passed Wii in overall sales. By then the Wii is dead and Nintendo has to come out with its next gen system. PS3 will then continue to sell ever more units while Wii is dead in the water. I’m a Nintendo fanboy but even I can admit it’s a gimmicky product that gets boring after time. The graphics are god awful. And yes, when you were being outsold 6 to 1 and bring that margin down to 2 -1 you are indeed catching up. The competition is selling more than you but their lead is not extending as much or as fast. Once the pendulum swings in Sony’s favor it’s over for the Wii. I wish Nintendo put as much work into it’s graphic processor as it did the motion sensor. This si the first Nintendo hardware since the NES that I haven’t nor will I purchase.

  • James, what’s wrong with Troy’s post? Unless you’re making the point that Troy’s looking at lifetime sales as opposed to monthly sales, then Troy is pretty much spot on.

    If the Wii only outsold the PS3 by 1 console a month for the next couple of years basically a dead heat…then the PS3 is not gaining on the Wii overall…it is losing ground. Losing ground by a negligible amount, but still losing ground.

  • Troy, there is so much wrong with your post I won’t even bother trying to explain.

    Just enrol in primary school and start from there. Okay?

  • Agreed, even when the PS3 finally does start to outsell the Wii, there are still going to be millions more of Nintendo’s little box out there. It’ll take years before there are more Sony consoles out there in peoples living rooms.

  • This isn’t true at all. The Wii is outselling it 3 to one or two to one instead of 6. PS3 isn’t catching up, Wii just isn’t outpacing it as quickly. The gap between them is STILL widening, just not at as fast of a pace. If I go from running six times as fast as you to running twice as fast, are you catching up with me at ALL? The PS3 would have to outsell the Wii for months to catch up or for the gap to close.

Comments are closed.