Ps3 Strikes Back

[Nicolai25]

NPD: January game sales slip 6 percent, Wii and PS3 neck-and-neck


Overall decline overshadows complex combination of rising software and falling hardware sales during shorter reporting period; Sony's console passes Xbox 360 for first time to nearly tie Nintendo's machine in sales.

The US gaming industry ended 2007 with record retail sales of nearly $18 billion. This week, though, the NPD Group provided a sobering reminder that market growth is not guaranteed.

Today, the industry-research firm released its US retail sales data for its January 2008 reporting period. While software sales for the month were up 11 percent to nearly $611 million for the month, hardware sales fell by a quarter to about $378 million. Combined with modestly declining accessory sales, the overall industry was down 6 percent for the month, posting $1.18 billion compared to January 2007's $1.25 billion take.

Despite that, the month contained indications that the industry actually grew. That's because NPD's January 2007 reporting period was actually five weeks long as opposed to this January's four-week span. NPD analyst Anita Frazier noted that the numbers are much rosier when that adjustment is taken into account.

"At the top-line, on an average sales per week basis, January 2007 was actually up nearly 18 percent as compared to last year," Frazier said. "And the big winner was console software which was up nearly 50 percent when compared on a level playing field to last year."

However, even on a week-by-week basis, hardware sales were still down 6 percent from last year. Frazier blamed that slide on price cuts made to the consoles, and speculated that hardware shortages in the wake of stellar December sales contributed to January's slide. That assertion was backed up a statement from Microsoft saying the Xbox 360 was suffering from temporary shortages.

Hardware sales weren't the only thing shrinking last month, and Nintendo's longtime lead on its competitors was similarly slimmed. The Wii once again took the system sales crown, but by a much narrower margin than in previous months--and with a new challenger nipping at its heels. In a month that saw significant advances for the PlayStation 3's chosen Blu-ray disc format, Sony's system ran nearly neck-and-neck with the Wii, selling 269,000 systems compared to the Nintendo console's 275,000. The third-place Nintendo DS racked up 251,000 system sales, while the PlayStation Portable and Xbox 360 brought up the rear, selling 230,000 units each.

As is customary after the holiday rush, January was a light month for game releases. Only two new titles cracked the top 10 software sales, with the Xbox 360 version of Burnout Paradise coming in seventh place with more than 144,000 sold, while the DS debut of Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games rounded out the 10 spot with 133,000 copies sold.

More familiar faces dominated the software list, with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for the Xbox 360 once again besting all challengers, notching up another 331,000 in sales. The PS3 edition also did well, taking eighth place overall. Nintendo's Wii Play completed a full lap of the calendar, as the February 2007 release was second with just over 298,000 in sales. Guitar Hero on the Wii and Xbox 360 took third and fifth respectively, sandwiching the Xbox 360 version of competitor Rock Band at number four. The remaining spots were claimed by Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii at six and the DS edition of Mario Party in ninth.

THE NPD GROUP's JANUARY 2008 US GAME INDUSTRY SALES

Category / Total / Change
Video Games: $1.18 billion -6%
Video Games Hardware: $378 million -25%
Video Games Software: $550 million +11%
Video Game Accessories: $191 million -4%
Total Sales Per Week: $295 million +18%

Hardware Sales (in units sold)
Wii: 274,000
PlayStation 3: 269,000
Nintendo DS: 251,000
PlayStation Portable: 230,000
Xbox 360: 230,000

Game Software (in units sold)
1) Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat (360, Activision) - 331,000
2) Wii Play with Wii Remote (Wii, Nintendo) - 298,000
3) Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii, Activision) - 240,000
4) Rock Band (Xbox 360, MTV Games) - 184,000
5) Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Xbox 360, Activision) - 183,000
6) Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, Nintendo) - 172,000
7) Burnout Paradise (Xbox 360, EA) - 144,000
8) Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat (PS3, Activision) - 140,000
9) Mario Party DS (DS, Nintendo) - 139,000
10) Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS, Sega) - 133,000

[Phil]

hehe when gt5 and ff13 comes out, sony should take the lead

and the wii should stop giving out excercising games to make us lose wieght and give us an rpg we can be proud of

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[HitoV]

yes sir, i know thats when i am planning on getting one =)

[Phil]

actually i read a story about this in one of my CAR magazines.......Sony was pressuring polyphony digital to hurry up and release gt5.......because gt is one game where the sales never dip below 5 million, gt3 a-spec bringing down a whooping 15 million units sold.

as for square enix, they can do whatever they, want basically.....just look at ff12s 5 year development span

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A PC is like a hooker, it's a lot cheaper and gives you what you're after.. and if unlucky some diseases as well, that's why you gotta use protection. -CC

[Thanakil]

Originally Posted by tomegathericon

hehe when gt5 and ff13 comes out, sony should take the lead

and the wii should stop giving out excercising games to make us lose wieght and give us an rpg we can be proud of

They got more than one RPG coming, and the Wii doesn't have that many exercising games. And as long as people ask for them (which is quite well represented by the sales) there's nothing wrong in giving people what they want.

But as far as RPG "to be proud of" I don't see the prob, we got some of them coming : Monster Hunter, FF : CCx2, Tales of """ and many small-name RPGs (who look kinda cool, for some of them).

Anyway, it's nice to see that Nicolai keeps on posting charts whenever the PS3 has a sudden boost .
Let's keep in mind that those are US Sales of January. Nintendo had a shortage on console in the US since they sent consoles to Japan instead of the USA that month to help with the Wii-Fit sales and SSBB launch. Meaning : Less sales in America.
Microsoft had a shortage of consoles too, either because of various restrictions on the components used or by MS simply trying to make a shortage themselves (to help with sales of other models of 360, which is highly likely, those shortages helped the Elite model sales).

So the PS3 had some help in climbing up the chart ladders, with it's spot in the chart not being representative of the console "health". The PS3 sales will definitely boost sometime soon tho, but it's not right now.

Hardware sales of 9th February shows the Wii with over 400k solds, the PS3 with less than 200k solds, and the 360 in very last position. (not by that much tho)

(worldwide, that is, not ONE country alone)

The PSP kicked the DS ass in Japan, the PS3 beats the 360 everywhere except in America, the Wii dominates everywhere. Overall the Wii and the DS easily have over 400k with everything else having under 200k (the PSP almost get it tho).


As long as the PS3 keeps on selling well it should get over the 360 before the end of the year, but overcoming the Wii will be harder. Another price drop (or simply another version with a very small HDD) and MGS3/FF/GT sales would really help get a bigger momentum. That's when the PS3 will strike back.

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Last edited by Thanakil; February 16th, 2008 at 18:33..

[Kaizen]

the PS3 has tons of good A-list rpgs planned for the future,
the east love their RPGs and that's what will make ps3 eventually come out on top

I honestly see it outselling the wii then

so far Star Ocean 4 is the best looking rpg (but that's just my little bias)

[Thanakil]

Originally Posted by John Aiton

the PS3 has tons of good A-list rpgs planned for the future,
the east love their RPGs and that's what will make ps3 eventually come out on top

I honestly see it outselling the wii then

so far Star Ocean 4 is the best looking rpg (but that's just my little bias)

The ps3 will most likely end up on top, that's for sure. The Playstation name alone is the biggest selling point of the console.

But those rpgs are still a little far away, a lot of them aren't completely confirmed for 2008, or are quite likely to be delayed to 2009.

(I'm expecting the PS3 to "win" this "generation war" (as stupid as those wars are) with a little advantage over the Wii, and quite a bit over the 360, who seems to be slowing down more as time goes on. But it's still far away, right now the PS3 is still third and building momentum, but without any huge sales.)

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[Carmofin]

the ps3 is jsut as fine as the wii, i think both will be successfull eventually, i just hope the xbox will fail.

[PCXL-Fan]

Originally Posted by Carmofin

the ps3 is jsut as fine as the wii, i think both will be successfull eventually, i just hope the xbox will fail.

Whats with Europe's general distaste for the Xbox and Microsoft in general?

Is it resentment against America's dominance in the IT sector? I see a similar trend with AMD vs Intel debates.

Don't try and misdirect it by saying "its because the xbox is only stupid shooter games". Thats far from the truth when discussing the xbox360.

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[Kaizen]

Originally Posted by PCXL-Fan

Whats with Europe's general distaste for the Xbox and Microsoft in general?

Is it resentment against America's dominance in the IT sector? I see a similar trend with AMD vs Intel debates.

Don't try and misdirect it by saying "its because the xbox is only stupid shooter games". Thats far from the truth when discussing the xbox360.

nah, nothing that personal

just anyone who is not american and has played on xbox live will get so much racist crap to the point of hating MSoft themself

I'm Scottish........yeah
whiney 8yr old american kids can't comprehend that I can't get out of America because i'm actually not physically there (funny story )

[Gladiator@]

Console Sales Ranking in Japan - February 4 to 10:

Attached Images

Vendas - Japão.jpg (131.3 KB, 27 views)

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Originally Posted by snickothemule

It was decided by one on one battles to the death at the Roman coliseum in Rome. There were over 72 contestants and Gladiator@ was the victor. His extensive knowledge and cunning enabled him to defeat all those who opposed him. His victory has given him title 'Official Matchmaker of Recyclebinia'.

If you wish to dispute this then there must be a battle to define the winner. Being the current champion Gladiator@ has pickings on the battle location and stipulations of the match.

[Cid Highwind]

Originally Posted by PCXL-Fan

Whats with Europe's general distaste for the Xbox and Microsoft in general?

Is it resentment against America's dominance in the IT sector? I see a similar trend with AMD vs Intel debates.

Don't try and misdirect it by saying "its because the xbox is only stupid shooter games". Thats far from the truth when discussing the xbox360.

It's probably because of the different cultures. On the surface we may all seem western, but Microsoft might as well be seen pompous and arrogant at other places such as Europe, desperately trying to get a hold in everything, since they have too much money anyway.

Also, Europeans have a different preference for games, the Xbox probably still has the image that it's just racing and shooting games, even though that isn't completely true any more. And of course what John Aiton said: I find it highly annoying when here we do our utmost best to speak English properly, and only to find out now much those who don't know any other language can seem to butcher it. Then again, that's probably how someone studying Dutch might think of the dialect I speak. Still, dialect >> slang.

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Join the NGEmu Folding @ Home community NOW!

[MagicDust]

Thank you for incoming MGS4 GT5 Disgaea3 that boost their sale this year and also winning of blu-ray over HD-DVD.

Somehow sony need to release their PS3 slim/lite/45nm version to reduce PS3 cost to boost more sale.

[Thanakil]

Originally Posted by Cid Highwind

It's probably because of the different cultures. On the surface we may all seem western, but Microsoft might as well be seen pompous and arrogant at other places such as Europe, desperately trying to get a hold in everything, since they have too much money anyway.

Well, I don't see how that's SOOOO bad. As long as the 360 doesn't rule the game market alone, a third competitor is good.

__________________
“Wall of Text” (Illusion, Bureaumancy)

Upon casting this spell the mage bathes a 10'x10' cube/lvl. area with mindless mutterings, ranting, copious formulaic backstory, or repeated iterations of “Romani ite Domus!”

Anyone in the area of effect must make a will save or suffer one of three effects: Confusion, Emotion of Hopelessness, or their head explodes. Blind targets are not affected. Dyslexic targets save at +3.

Counterspell: Erase

[Nicolai25]

DISGAEA III- CLASROOM CARNAGE

here are some of the videolinks of the upcoming disgaea 3 which is now on sale in japan..

Japanese Extended Trailer:
Gametrailers.com - Disgaea 3 - Japanese Extended Trailer

DISGAEA III- CLASSROOM CARNAGE OPENING ANIME

Gametrailers.com - Disgaea 3 Opening by tigersnake86

significant advances for the PlayStation 3's chosen Blu-ray disc format


Warner Bros. going Blu-ray exclusive
HD DVD suffers serious setback as biggest maker of DVDs abandons the Microsoft- and Toshiba-backed format in favor of the PS3's chosen media.

Just two days before Bill Gates' Consumer Electronics Show keynote, Microsoft's chosen next-generation video format suffered a major setback. Late Friday, movie and television studio Warner Bros. announced that it is discontinuing its support of the HD DVD format, and will release its high-definition home-video offerings solely on Blu-ray Disc beginning this coming May. Currently, the company, which controls nearly 18 to 20 percent of the US home-video market, supports both Blu-ray and HD DVD.

"Warner Bros.' move to exclusively release in the Blu-ray Disc format is a strategic decision focused on the long term," said Barry Meyer, Warner Bros.' chairman and CEO, in a statement. "The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass-market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers."

Warner Bros. joins a host of other movie studios--including the Walt Disney Company, 20th Century Fox, and Lionsgate--who are backing the Blu-ray format. More importantly for gamers, Blu-ray was created by Sony, which has included an internal Blu-ray Disc drive as part of all four PlayStation 3 models released since November 2006. Besides movie studios Universal and Paramount, HD DVD is backed by Microsoft, which released an external HD DVD drive for the Xbox 360 in November 2006. It recently denied rumors that it is working on a version of the Xbox 360 that would have an internal HD DVD drive.

Toshiba, which led development of HD DVD at the same time it was partnering with Sony to create the PS3's cell processor, was openly shocked by today's events. "Toshiba is quite surprised by Warner Bros.' decision to abandon HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray, despite the fact that there are various contracts in place between our companies concerning the support of HD DVD," the company said in a terse statement. "We were particularly disappointed that this decision was made in spite of the significant momentum HD DVD has gained in the US market as well as other regions in 2007. HD DVD players and PCs have outsold Blu-ray in the US market in 2007."

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Last edited by Nicolai25; February 17th, 2008 at 05:27.. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

[Phil]

its like Blu-Ray is getting ready to deliver the nuke to HD-DVD

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A Mac is like an escort, you pay a ton and get nothing.
A PC is like a hooker, it's a lot cheaper and gives you what you're after.. and if unlucky some diseases as well, that's why you gotta use protection. -CC

[Nicolai25]

Final Fantasy 13
screenshoots

showing summons like ifrit and carbancle and the other new characters

Attached Images

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[Nicolai25]

Final Fantasy VS13
Screenshoots

NEW FACES OF FFVS13

Attached Images

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	vs2.jpg (16.8 KB, 13 views)
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	vs4.jpg (21.0 KB, 13 views)

[Phil]

RPG HEAVEN

Nicolai25!! I commend you!!

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A Mac is like an escort, you pay a ton and get nothing.
A PC is like a hooker, it's a lot cheaper and gives you what you're after.. and if unlucky some diseases as well, that's why you gotta use protection. -CC

[Thanakil]

Warner Bros leaving was very old news, and those aren't new faces (I think it was Nicolai himself who posted videos showing them weeks ago).
(the disgaea video hadn't been posted tho AFAIK)
(and the PS3 still need W-RPG to be a RPG heaven, right now it's flooded with JRPG which is nice, but is empty of anything Western, except maybe if we count various Marvel comic games and Oblivion...)

But in other news, Toshiba is dropping the HD-DVD too. After being abandoned by stores they simply decided to give up on it. They will keep selling equipments but won't put any resources on new devices and ect, leaving the road clear for Blu-Ray to do what they want.

__________________
“Wall of Text” (Illusion, Bureaumancy)

Upon casting this spell the mage bathes a 10'x10' cube/lvl. area with mindless mutterings, ranting, copious formulaic backstory, or repeated iterations of “Romani ite Domus!”

Anyone in the area of effect must make a will save or suffer one of three effects: Confusion, Emotion of Hopelessness, or their head explodes. Blind targets are not affected. Dyslexic targets save at +3.

Counterspell: Erase