Why these numbers are laughable:
I came in here expecting domination. Instead I see the PS3 selling only 36% more. Thats simply, "doing better"... and not by much.
Japan was never a factor in the success of the original X-box and in the 360 they account for less than 5% of total worldwide sales... which basically means Japan is irrelevant for MS when it comes to market share. This would be a factor if the PS3 was winning Japan, but its not. Its losing horribly to the Wii. Wii sales have skyrocketed ad post price drop, PS3 sales are plummeting. However, you certainly can't say that Japan was irrelevant for Sony last time around.
NA... This is "strong sales" and "dominance"... for the 360. The landslide difference in sales of the 360 in one week almost makes up for the difference in PS3/360 sales in Europe for the month. Proof: For november, the total difference was the PS3 by about 156K units. The week of Nov 2nd, the The 360 sold 91K more units than the PS3 in North America. Now, post $100 price drop for the PS3, the sales difference was 94K units for the week ending 12/03. Yes, thats a december date, but if we used the week ending 11/26 i'd hear screams of "Black Friday" as the reason why the PS3 got beat by 135K units.
Why this won't change too much in 2008:
The 3 guarenteed knockouts Sony fans tout (and are 100% bankable titles) are MGS4, FFXIII and GT5.
MGS2 (http://vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=3774).. sales of less than one million in Japan. Sales of 2.25 million in the US. MGS3 (http://vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=1328) sold even worse. That will not swing the PS3 to victory in North America and Japan is even less interested in it than we are. That will hardly help it turn the tide in the home country. Bottom line: MGS is a non-factor in Japan and is about isn't anywhere near being a bonafide system seller in the US.
Final Fantasy... X saw alot of love on a global level (over 2 million everywhere) for a total of. I didn't see realistic sales for XI (everything seemed super low (like less than 200K) so i'm assuming vgchartz is missing the main SKU. So I won't comment on it. X2 (http://vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=760) sold well in japan, but in the US it sold less than 2 million copies. Everywhere else it didn't even sell 1 million copies. XII... sold well in Japan but in the US it was only 1.7 million copies (http://vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=765). Everywhere else it didn't even sell a million copies. Undeniable trend: sales are dropping on the series when you compare all the PS2 games that I saw on VGchartz (X, X2, XII). In the US it sales moderately well, but like MGS, its not a bonafide system seller here. It won't help that massive chasm in sales difference in NA. In Japan, who knows. The Wii is moving just ridiculous numbers. In Japan its like one console wins, everyone else dies a merciless death and right now its the Wii thats doing the winning.
Gran Turismo... finally a bonafide system seller. GT3 (http://vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=886) did decent in Japan. And amazingly great everywhere else. GT4 (http://vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=887) Sales of 1.26 in Japan, 2.63 in US and everything else worldwide. In Japan its not that strong. It sells good (comparable to Assasin's Creed... which hasn't even been out a whole month yet). In the US its good, but not really great sales. Other is where the game shines. But as you can see, the sales are decreasing (http://vgchartz.com/games/index.php?name=gran+turismo&console=&publisher=&genre=&keyword=&order=Last+Updated). GT3 is almost an outlier because it sold millions more than all GT games before it and all GT games after itThis will definately help the PS3 in Europe. Everywhere else its just OK.
AND THESE ARE THE TIDE TURNING SERIES OF 2008!!!!!!! One series that Japan doesn't care at all about and only gets decent US sales and another series that series that only Japan cares about (but is being released on a system thats outsold like 4:1)... and GT5. Halo 3 (http://vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=6964) has sold more copies in the US in 2 months than any two titles (pick from MGS2, MGS3, FFX, FFX2, FFXII... I don't have the data but i'm pretty sure you add FFXI) have sold in years on the US market. Thats a "system seller". The next versions of these games will not turn the tide in the US and will only lead to marginal improvements in Japan. When you analyze it with stats, sales trends, numbers and a healthy dose of reality, you only have Gran Turismo. I'd like for someone to post the logic that disputes this (and logic needs evidence).
In 2008, the 360 will continue to sell amazingly well in the US. It will continue to lose Japan but do far better than the original XBox ever did. It will continue to sell decent everywhere else. The PS3 will continue to do mediocre in the in everywhere but Europe and will only see sales boost every now and then.
There are other potential hits, but they are just potential hits and can be matched with the potential hits of every other system.
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