Version: 2008

Comments on: Early returns show strong holiday video game console sales

Microsoft said its Xbox 360 had the strongest holiday season of its lifetime, while Sony and Nintendo both tout their own sales success.

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by gerrrg January 5, 2009 8:18 PM PST
Can you explain the numbers?

If the Wii is selling so well, how is it that you're quoting 15.4 million units since 2006, but also note that worldwide the PS3 has sold 20 million? Are you ambiguously mixing worldwide sales of PS3 and Xbox 360 with US sales of the Wii, and if so, what is the measure of worldwide sales of the Wii?
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by Zoobie January 6, 2009 8:27 AM PST
I think world-wide, Wii is roughly the same as PS3+X360; or, about 48M units sold based on the figures cited in this article.
by Kwasiowusu January 6, 2009 8:49 AM PST
@ zoobie :"I think world-wide, Wii is roughly the same as PS3+X360; or, about 48M units sold based on the figures cited in this article. "

No it hasn't.
If the Wii has sold 15.5 million in the US(NPD), 7 million in Japan (Famitsu/Media Create), then lest be generous and give the Wii 12 million sales in Europe, that gives you 34.5 million, no? Even if you add in Canada and Australia and make that say 2 million, you are still talking 36.5 million. Lets be even more generous and make it all 38 million from the "other" category, and you are still nowhere close to 48 million.. Still short by the 10 million your plucked from thin air.
by Zoobie January 6, 2009 9:27 AM PST
I'm using numbers from this article (as I stated), but percentages from vgchartz.com.

Last I checked, Wii had a 49.4% market share of current generation hardware. MS and Sony add up to the remaining 50.6%. So, with those percentages, and the figures from this article (which are admittedly hard to follow because the author mixes US and worldwide sales indescriminately), I come up with Wii sales of 48M units.
by Kwasiowusu January 7, 2009 7:52 AM PST
@ Zoobie : "I'm using numbers from this article (as I stated), but percentages from vgchartz.com."

Vgchartz is utter rubbish. NO self respecting publication takes their figures seriously.

"Last I checked, Wii had a 49.4% market share of current generation hardware"

Say who? You just pluck figures from thin air?

"So, with those percentages, and the figures from this article (which are admittedly hard to follow because the author mixes US and worldwide sales indescriminately), I come up with Wii sales of 48M units"

I just proved in my post above, by going through Wii sales country by country, using recognized nationla tracking outfits like NPD, GfK, Charttrack , Famitsu, Media Create etc, that there is simply no way , Wii sales are 48 million right now.
If you think the Wi has sold 48 million, you are gonna have to prove that, by giving is in exactly what countries those 48 million units were sold at. And don't even think of quoting me the fraudulent figures from vgchartz. It's been proved they lie all the time and make figures up.
by lazybum131 January 7, 2009 7:03 PM PST
@ Kwasiowusu: You're compiled numbers are definitely missing countries, no way the Wii numbers are that low. From Nintendo's last earnings release, they had already shipped 34.55 million by the end of September 2008. US sales alone for Oct-Dec would push shipments to 38 million.

I would not be surprised that Nintendo announces they had shipped ~46 million at the end of 2008 in their next earnings release later this month.
by Kwasiowusu January 12, 2009 12:36 PM PST
@ lazybum131, out of those 34.55 million shipped by end of September, Nintendo themselves said, and I quote: " 80 per cent of which are sitting near televisions in living rooms, " {http://www.theage.com.au/news/digital-life/games/articles/nintendo-to-offer-videos-on-wii/2008/12/26/1229998700053.html}.
That makes it less than 30 million actually sold to consumers.
Even if Nintendo sold 5 million in the US in the last quarter, and another 3 million the Europe, adding in the 500, 000 it sold in Japan, plus another million for the rest of the wotld outside Europe, and you still have less than 40 million Wii's actually sold.
Untill you are able to come up with exactly where you are plucking your numbers from, and in what countries those "48 milion " or "46 million" or whatever the heck figures that you can make up from, you are just blowing hot air.
by Penguinisto January 6, 2009 6:20 AM PST
One big question: How much of that was actual sales, and how much was channel-stuffing? (Sorry folks, but this is not a troll question at all: Microsoft has stuffed the channel before with xboxes, claiming sales when in fact the excess stock still sat on retailers' shelves).

@gerrg: The Wii has sold (apparently) 4m units in December.
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by Kwasiowusu January 6, 2009 9:51 AM PST
@ Penguinisto : "Sorry folks, but this is not a troll question at all: Microsoft has stuffed the channel before with xboxes, claiming sales when in fact the excess stock still sat on retailers' shelves)."

And the same Microsoft understimated 360 demand last year so much so that, there were severe 360 sortages from November 2007 through February 2008.
It's easy enough to get close to the 28 million 360' sold through:

Over 8 million in EMEA(Charttrack, GfK))
~1.2 Million in Canada (Estimating 140k or so Dec NPD) + ~14 Million in the US (Assuming 1.5 million Dec NPD , with NPD LTD to November at 12.5 million), making 15.2 million
~800k JP
~500k AU
That is 24.5 million sold through right there.
Add in another 2.5 million for the rest of WW including Mexico and the rest of Aisa and South America, and that leaves a possible only 1 million in the channel.
BTW, It was a troll question. You can always be relied upon to troll every single Microsoft thread with yet another foaming at the mouth comment.
by tjtaylor January 6, 2009 8:03 AM PST
The calculatronics in this article are amazing. The only person that cites console sales historically double from November to December is Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for Xbox 360, referring specifically to Xbox 360 consoles. Not Wii consoles. Not PS3 consoles.

And why are the console "play times" ordered #1 (PS2) #3 (Wii) #2 (Xbox 360) #5 (PS3) #4 (Xbox)?
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by NPGMBR January 6, 2009 8:12 AM PST
Renguinisto - Maybe you don't understand the process. An Xbox is counted as sold when it is shipped to a reseller. Its no different than how other companies work. When a dealer orders a car from GM, GM can count that vehicle as sold.

Whats happening is that resellers, dealers or whatever you want to call them don't just order products from OEMs for free. Essentially they buy them from the OEM so what you see on store shelves is not a true reflection of actual sales because the reseller/dealer now owns the product until the consumer buys it from them.
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by Zoobie January 6, 2009 8:24 AM PST
Does anyone know if the Nielsen minutes-used data includes time spent watching movies on the PS2 or Xbox360? I know I'm only a sample size of one and not representative; however, the PS2 probably has more usage than the Wii at my house, but only because the PS2 is the primary DVD player on the family TV--my kids use the Wii more for games.

Can a Nielsen box tell the difference between movies and games on a PS2/X360?
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by Kwasiowusu January 6, 2009 9:03 AM PST
"Can a Nielsen box tell the difference between movies and games on a PS2/X360? "

Yes they can, beause in the same release, they listed the top 10 most played PC games for 2008 ( # 1 World of Warcraft ), meaning their equipment is able to measure what is actually being played on a console/PC, rather than merely noting that it's turned on.
by Kesteral January 6, 2009 3:28 PM PST
Kwasiowusu- "Yes they can, beause in the same release, they listed the top 10 most played PC games for 2008 ( # 1 World of Warcraft ), meaning their equipment is able to measure what is actually being played on a console/PC, rather than merely noting that it's turned on."

There is a BIG difference between getting numbers for PC games that require internet access and getting numbers for game consoles that don't require internet access at all. I think Zoobie has a point about how time on the console is used. I don't think a Nielson box can tell a difference. (technologically, it would be nearly impossible for a computer to tell the difference between DVD and a game.) I also question whether their survey pool skewed the data to favor non-wii consoles. If they surveyed only those who would describe themselves as gamers, then people who prefer to play casual games like those on the wii probably wouldn't have had much input.
by Kwasiowusu January 7, 2009 7:42 AM PST
@ Kesteral : "There is a BIG difference between getting numbers for PC games that require internet access and getting numbers for game consoles that don't require internet access at all"

Stop talking nonsense.
Nielsen's measures of PC game playing has nothing to do with internet access. For example, the 3rd most played game was Halo: Combat Evolved , a lot of which is played in single player mode. The Nielsen proprietry device attaches directly to the PC or video game console, and measures actual game play. It does not, repeat, not measure playing movies on DVD's.
Stop trying to make excusres just because the 360 beat the Wii in total vodeo game play time.

" I think Zoobie has a point about how time on the console is used. I don't think a Nielson box can tell a difference"

You "don't think"?. That's pretty weak isn't it? Why don't you check the Nielsen site? Easy enough to do isn't it?
You excuses are getting more pathetic by the minute. You might consider stopping and embarrasing yourself further.
And no, "Zoobie" has NO point.

"Can a Nielsen box tell the difference between movies and games on a PS2/X360?"

Of course they can.
They wouldn't say so if they couldn't. And Nielsen is the most respected outfit out there for measuring TV ratings in this country. They have been for decades. Their technology for merasuring these things have been fienly tuned for a very long time.
by Kwasiowusu January 6, 2009 8:42 AM PST
" While nonscientific, of course, if Greenberg's formula is correct, Nintendo would have sold about 4 million Wiis in December"

Neither the Wii, nor the 360, nor the PS3 even came close to selling twice as much in December 2007, as they did in November 2007.

360 PS3 Wii
Nov 2007 770,000 466,000 981,000
Dec 2007 1,260,000 798,000 1,350,000

"By comparison, Wii sales skyrocketed 108 percent, from 981,000 to 2.04 million "

Even if Wii December sales "skyrocket" (to use your word) by 108% in December from last year's sales, that still gives you 2,808,00 Wii's sold in Decmeber, not 4 million.
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by Kwasiowusu January 6, 2009 9:16 AM PST
"It's not surprising that the PS2 would come in first in such a study, given that there are more than 100 million of the consoles in players' hands"

Neilsen only has their measuring devices in US homes. It would be more accurate to refer to 42 million PS2 US users.
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by GiggleWonk January 6, 2009 5:29 PM PST
This is very encouraging news for the gaming industry.

Also, it's hard to remember how broke I am when I'm so busy kicking MKDC butt.
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