Gizmodo: Console Wars

Nintendont Wee DVD Player

Mark Wilson — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 11:30:21 EDT

Found at a Tokyo retailer, the "Wee" is not everyone's favorite Nintendo console, but a DVD player that can...play DVDs. Yeah, it's a pretty half-assed knockoff that had better at least come with a "Weemote." Japan, we're disappointed in you. Even if you imported the Wee from China. [kotaku]

Xbox 360 Price Drop Brings Sales Way Up On Amazon

Jason Chen — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 16:50:15 EDT

People like cheap things. Just like the PlayStation 3 price drop caused its sales to tent, the Xbox 360's slash made the Xbox 360 Premium rocket to #11 in sales in video games. The other two, Elite and Core, also went up as well. Forza 2, the 360's racing game, also benefitted from the price drop, launching all the way to #1 from #94. [Amazon]

PS3 Sales Surge 135% Since Price Drop, Sony Seen Laughing on Way to Bank

kthompson — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 20:43:54 EDT

Crediting a strategic price cut and a strong E3 showing, Sony is gloating over its latest figures: PS3 sales are up 135% since the July 9th announcement of the $499 price tag. With Xbox 360 sales dropping, new firmware updates enhancing the basic functionality of the system, Blu-ray pushing hard against HD-DVD and a growing lineup of original titles including the exclusive Metal Gear Solid 4, the PS3 seems determined to become a serious console competitor before the year is over.

PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) SALES PICK UP STEAM, INCREASE BY MORE THAN 135% On the heels of a strong showing at E3, today Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) announced retail growth for PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) in July. Based on preliminary internal data, PS3 sales have increased by more than 135% at the company's top five retailers since the new $499 price was announced two weeks ago on July 9th. During this same two-week period, total PlayStation hardware sales have increased by 161%, software by 15% and peripherals by60%. Also, according to NPD sales data released today for the month of June, PlayStation sales increased prior to E3, as well. Overall, the PlayStation brand continued to exhibit solid growth evidenced by a 21% increase in total retail dollars generated year-over-year in North America with total sales of $393 million. PS3 sales were up 21% over May's figures, with 98,469 units sold at retail. Furthermore, PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) witnessed an impressive increase, up 31% year-over-year, selling 290,108 units at retail, while PlayStation® 2 (PS2) once again remained one of the best-selling consoles on the market, with unit sales of 270,763 for the month. "The new price on the 60 GB PS3, coupled with our very strong software showing from E3, is certainly paying dividends in terms of impressive sales across the board at retail," said Jack Tretton, president and CEO, SCEA. "This jump in sales bodes very well for us heading into the fall as we launch an impressive arsenal of hardware and software, leading off with the new 80 GB PS3 in August along with the unveiling of highly anticipated games such as Lair and Warhawk. That will be followed by Heavenly Sword in September and six more exclusive first-party PS3 games in October, including Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction."

Egg-Headed Analysts: Sony PS3 to Win Console War

Charlie White — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 09:35:12 EST

Navel-gazing think tankers at Research and Markets say even though the Sony PS3 has lost the opening battle, it will still win the console war, predicting an installed base of 75 million PS3s around the world by 2010. Researchers at the Yankee Group echo that, predicting the PS 3 up top by 2011 with a 44% market share, Xbox 360 in second at 40% and the Nintendo Wii trailing with 16%.

Tossing out on their asses those who forecast gaming console sales by throwing darts at a dartboard, let's take a look at the real numbers: Xbox 360 has sold 9.44 million units so far, the Wii has moved 2.2 million, compared to the measly 854,627 units of the PS3. Maybe those researchers aren't paying any attention to which gaming consoles are actually fun to play. Who's your daddy, PS3? – Charlie White

Research and Markets: PS3 To Win The Console War [Playfuls.com, via Dvorak Uncensored]