Actual December NPD Numbers

Nintendo DS: 1.6m
PS2: 1.4m
Xbox 360: 1.1m
PSP: 953,200
GBA: 850,700
Wii: 604,200
PlayStation3: 490,700

1Up story

I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see the GBA is still selling so well -- but I'm surprised to see the GBA is still selling so well.

I bought a Virtual Boy.

With respect to GBA selling well I wonder if it's a case of parents perferring the lower price point and ruggedness of the GBA for younger kids?

In our case Santa brought both my kids a DS. While it does seem more fragile they had enough experience borrowing Mom and Dad's that I felt it was safe. Heck, my 4 year old daughter handles the DS with no problem. Plus 4 DS's in the house makes for some fantastic wireless play.

The December report lists PS3 sales at 490,700, for a total of 687,300 units sold in 2006. If Sony's claims of 1 million units shipped in 2006 are true, this is a complete disaster for them.

Podunk wrote:

The December report lists PS3 sales at 490,700, for a total of 687,300 units sold in 2006. If Sony's claims of 1 million units shipped in 2006 are true, this is a complete disaster for them.

Careful, you spilled a little haterade on this thread.

Of course, I agree with you. You should see Kotaku, they've got press releases from MS, Sony and Nintendo all claiming they dominated in December. Pretty funny.

I'm surprised, but only because between DQ and here, I thought the Wii had sold some 80 bajillion systems and was already blowing everyone else out of the water.

Also, those Sony numbers aren't representative. Once everyone remembers that the PS3 has RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDDGE RAAAAAAACCCCEEEEERRRRR it'll be gangbusters.

Hemidal wrote:

Of course, I agree with you. You should see Kotaku, they've got press releases from MS, Sony and Nintendo all claiming they dominated in December. Pretty funny.

I guess they all did, depending on how you view it. 360 won the "next gen" sales, PS2 won overall console sales, and Nintendo dominated handhelds.

Sony PS2 is still a juggernaut.. its amazing that there are still people who HAVENT bought one yet all these years later

Podunk wrote:

The December report lists PS3 sales at 490,700, for a total of 687,300 units sold in 2006. If Sony's claims of 1 million units shipped in 2006 are true, this is a complete disaster for them.

NPD is far from a complete source of sales info. It doesn't track smaller retailers nor some of the larger ones like say Walmart.

Sinatar wrote:
Podunk wrote:

The December report lists PS3 sales at 490,700, for a total of 687,300 units sold in 2006. If Sony's claims of 1 million units shipped in 2006 are true, this is a complete disaster for them.

NPD is far from a complete source of sales info. It doesn't track smaller retailers nor some of the larger ones like say Walmart.

I believe they do now indeed track Walmart.

TheGameguru wrote:
Sinatar wrote:
Podunk wrote:

The December report lists PS3 sales at 490,700, for a total of 687,300 units sold in 2006. If Sony's claims of 1 million units shipped in 2006 are true, this is a complete disaster for them.

NPD is far from a complete source of sales info. It doesn't track smaller retailers nor some of the larger ones like say Walmart.

I believe they do now indeed track Walmart.

They take Wal*Mart into account in their model.

I have no PS2. I'm glad that the rest of you can now appreciate how amazing I am.

I don't find any of this a surprise - except for the PSP. Nearly 1 million units! Wasn't that platform supposed to be dead? Far from it.

As far as companies go:

Nintendo: 3 million
Sony: 2.84 million
Microsoft: 1.1 million

I can see how Sony could (will) overtake Microsoft. Once production and good games are released, we will likely see the PS3 outsell the 360 by a healthy margin.

Once production and good games are released, we will likely see the PS3 outsell the 360 by a healthy margin.

Production is exceeding demand right now.. do you think that producing even more units and having them sit around will increase demand?

And why would suddenly having good games mean that it will outsell the 360 by a healthy margin? If anything what blockbuster titles does Sony have left that will suddenly move 50-75% MORE units per month than Microsoft? As long as Microsoft maintains their current sales pace per month Sony has a HUGE problem.

Remember.. for every good game that Sony manages to produce finally for the PS3 (and I mean finally.. the release list through April is barren) chances are the Microsoft will manage an equally good game for the 360.

We have to begin to realize that Sony has failed to convince the consumer that the PS3 is any more powerful than a 360 or offers anything different in terms of game experience for its $200 premium.

I think nothing short of a drastic price drop will help Sony.

I am really surprised by the PSP also. I wonder what the attach rate is. The only feature on it that has kept my interest from day one is the homebrew scene and the back-n-forth between Sony and the hackers.

My attach rate for the PSP is 1.

For all the furor, the Wii seems low. I just thought there were more units shipped than that... which was clearly the biggest constraint to getting one.

Is continued production of the PS2 hurting the PS3? How many PS3 sales did the PS2 steal?

TheGameguru wrote:

Sony PS2 is still a juggernaut.. its amazing that there are still people who HAVENT bought one yet all these years later :)

Indeed. They keep coming out with good games, though. So what are you going to do. It's funny that in the year of the PS3 release the PS2 is so red hot.

And yeah, as someone who will hopefully own a PSP soon, it's good to see it not lagging that far behind.

Alien13z wrote:

I have no PS2. I'm glad that the rest of you can now appreciate how amazing I am.

I'm without as well. Truly we are giants among men for withstanding the pull.

DSGamer wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:

Sony PS2 is still a juggernaut.. its amazing that there are still people who HAVENT bought one yet all these years later :)

Indeed. They keep coming out with good games, though. So what are you going to do. It's funny that in the year of the PS3 release the PS2 is so red hot.

And yeah, as someone who will hopefully own a PSP soon, it's good to see it not lagging that far behind.

You used to own a PSP right? What's with the repurchase?

SirRockford wrote:
DSGamer wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:

Sony PS2 is still a juggernaut.. its amazing that there are still people who HAVENT bought one yet all these years later :)

Indeed. They keep coming out with good games, though. So what are you going to do. It's funny that in the year of the PS3 release the PS2 is so red hot.

And yeah, as someone who will hopefully own a PSP soon, it's good to see it not lagging that far behind.

You used to own a PSP right? What's with the repurchase?

You're new here, aren't you?

Seriously, though, I have this thing. I like to buy stuff, play the heck out of it and then sell it when I get bored with it. Logic would say I should keep it, but (I think in part because of how poor I grew up) I tend to feel guilty when I own too much "stuff". So I tend to sell stuff when I'm done with it.

This is usually okay. Like with books, DVDs, CDs, graphic novels, etc. With games and systems? Not so much, since I'm never completely "done" with something.

That's the short version.

The long version involves me explaining something I've gone over with my psychiatrist.

Staats wrote:
Alien13z wrote:

I have no PS2. I'm glad that the rest of you can now appreciate how amazing I am.

I'm without as well. Truly we are giants among men for withstanding the pull.

Woohoo, me too.

Damn shame we miss out on Guitar Hero tho.

MaxShrek wrote:

I bought a Virtual Boy.

Revised numbers:

Nintendo DS: 1.6m
PS2: 1.4m
Xbox 360: 1.1m
PSP: 953,200
GBA: 850,700
Wii: 604,200
PlayStation3: 490,700
Virtual Boy: 1

Staats wrote:
Alien13z wrote:

I have no PS2. I'm glad that the rest of you can now appreciate how amazing I am.

I'm without as well. Truly we are giants among men for withstanding the pull.

Me 3. I could steal my brothers' though, I guess.

TheGameguru wrote:
Once production and good games are released, we will likely see the PS3 outsell the 360 by a healthy margin.

Production is exceeding demand right now.. do you think that producing even more units and having them sit around will increase demand?

And why would suddenly having good games mean that it will outsell the 360 by a healthy margin? If anything what blockbuster titles does Sony have left that will suddenly move 50-75% MORE units per month than Microsoft? As long as Microsoft maintains their current sales pace per month Sony has a HUGE problem.

Remember.. for every good game that Sony manages to produce finally for the PS3 (and I mean finally.. the release list through April is barren) chances are the Microsoft will manage an equally good game for the 360.

We have to begin to realize that Sony has failed to convince the consumer that the PS3 is any more powerful than a 360 or offers anything different in terms of game experience for its $200 premium.

I think nothing short of a drastic price drop will help Sony.

I want to believe in you. I want to believe.

Analysts are claiming that Playstation's "mindshare" will carry it through this time, that 360s are being purchased by former Xbox owners, and Microsoft risks simply upgrading its existing base. 360 sales were only up 6% over the Xbox 1's first year; during that period there was NO PS3 at all. Last month's sales certainly show people switched, but the real test will be in the next 12 months. Will Microsoft drop back down to 200k-300k per month? Will PS3 sales rise to 400k once a few killer apps are released? The Xbox 360 will still have a large lead next Christmas, but I won't be surprised if the PS3 sales pick up dramatically. A few good games will change everything.

Podunk wrote:
Hemidal wrote:

Of course, I agree with you. You should see Kotaku, they've got press releases from MS, Sony and Nintendo all claiming they dominated in December. Pretty funny.

I guess they all did, depending on how you view it. 360 won the "next gen" sales, PS2 won overall console sales, and Nintendo dominated handhelds.

Yup, putting the spin to it is fun. After all, there's needs to be a reason for marketing departments to exist, no? If you just go by revenues, Nintendo must have totally owned the season though even if you ignore the software sales. Just add the GBA, DS and Wii sales and keep in mind that the company tends to make a profit on their hardware.

Sony PS2 is still a juggernaut.. its amazing that there are still people who HAVENT bought one yet all these years later

I'd say sales took really off because the thing is really cheap now. Which made it a great gift for parents who can't or don't want to spend tons of money. And since the system still has the largest amount of shelf space in many stores, potential buyers can't do anything but stumble across it. (Unlike the Gamecube, for instance.) The system is cheap and you can pick up many cheap games along with it. It's actually a great time to buy a PS2.

Analysts are claiming that Playstation's "mindshare" will carry it through this time, that 360s are being purchased by former Xbox owners, and Microsoft risks simply upgrading its existing base.

That would be all fine and dandy but would seriously fall apart when I can walk into just about any store and buy a PS3 right now.. "mindshare" would to me reason that the system is going to sell out in its first month or so of release and we're simply not seeing that.. surely troubling.

Will PS3 sales rise to 400k once a few killer apps are released?

What killer apps? In 2007 I see the 360 with WAY more "killer apps" your acting like only the PS3 can enjoy sales boost from "killer apps" I look at Microsoft's upcoming stable and certainly there are many titles that will move hardware.. why is this phenomenon exclusive for Sony?

Yeah, the Nintendo hardware profit angle is definitely interesting. They moved a lot of units. The GBA (while I shouldn't be surprised) was really surprising. I wonder if Nintendo ever thinks twice about killing it off.

As far as the PS2 goes, I think it benefited strangely from the PS3 hype. I talked to a few people that were eager to get a PS3 this season, that had an XBox already. They got frustrated and then realized the PS2 was far far cheaper, had a tremendous game library and thus was a much better buy than the PS3 for now.

I wonder how much of the new sales will be dictated by online playing concerns. I don't have much interest in console gaming, but if the people I play multiplayer PC games start mostly defecting to the 360 now, there's no way I'm buying a PS3 instead of a 360.

I don't know anything about the console market, but is that something that could be a factor down the road? Like, we buy consoles based more on whether more of our friends are on the multiplayer infrastructure or not.

It could get that way. Keep thinking like that as loudly as possible so that Microsoft ups the limit on how big your friends list can be from 100 to infinity.

Another thing to think of is if Sony does manage to double the 360's monthly sales from here on out.. say 400K a month to 200K a month with an almost 9 million unit lead it would take Sony 3-4 years to catch up with Microsoft in unit sales.. and by then.. what if any killer apps will even matter anymore?