Wii Launch Beats 'Em All

Posted on Friday 12th January 2007 at 18:52 by karasuman

After endless months of hubbub surrounding the various next-gen (this-gen?) console launches, complete with fanboys of all flavors proclaiming their console the winner and predicting at least one complete loser, the numbers are finally in. Which console really did the best in its launch period--and which did the worst?

With similar year-end launch windows for each of the three consoles, it seems fair to compare their sales from launch until year-end. In 2005, the X-Box 360 sold 607,000 consoles. By the end of 2006, Sony had sold 687,300 PlayStation 3s for a narrow launch-window victory. But, wait! In the slightly smaller 2006 window Nintendo gave the Wii launch, it sold 1.1 million consoles, vastly outstripping either of its competitors.

Of course, no one likes to be declared the loser in any kind of race, and Sony and Microsoft have been swift to point out a few caveats before taking these numbers at face value. While the Wii was in short supply throughout the holiday season, Nintendo managed to overcome the supply hurdles that kept Microsoft and Sony in the dust. With an infinite supply of each of the three consoles, it's hard to say which brand would have come out the winner. Also, Microsoft's 360 was the top console seller of this holiday season, claiming a 51% market share in North America.

So what do these numbers really mean? I'm inclined to agree with the analysts. It's too close to call. There aren't any clear losers as of yet, and I think it's going to take at least another year to see if Sony ever solves its production problems or if the Wii fans knocked unconscious by wayward Wiimmotes ever recover from their comatose states. So, shut up, fanboys. Or at least start basing your predictions on the market a year from now.

Source: GameSpot

Posted in: Gaming Industry News

Written by	karasuman
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	Member Since: 2003-07-31
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Comments

Hamedo	Comment 1: 2007-01-12 19:06
	Regardless of which console did the "best", they all had strong outings with their sales numbers. The real winners were the folks who managed to get ahold of one of the damn things.
Ganolink	Comment 2: 2007-01-12 21:22
	Quote (Hamedo @ 12th January 2007 19:06) Regardless of which console did the "best", they all had strong outings with their sales numbers. The real winners were the folks who managed to get ahold of one of the damn things. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are all winners, imagine selling such a large amount of Consoles, the income must be enormous!
Barrylocke	Comment 3: 2007-01-12 21:43
	They all did well, and I though I side with the Wii,the smart thing is to wait for more games to come out for the PS3 and Wii.
Del S	Comment 4: 2007-01-12 22:27
	Quote (Ganolink @ 12th January 2007 21:22) Quote (Hamedo @ 12th January 2007 19:06) Regardless of which console did the "best", they all had strong outings with their sales numbers. The real winners were the folks who managed to get ahold of one of the damn things. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are all winners, imagine selling such a large amount of Consoles, the income must be enormous! Um, only Nintendo stand a chance of making profit on the actual console units at the moment... Or just a smaller loss than usual. Well, it's nothing new really, but selling about double over one when you had about three times the availability isn't exactly a mean feat, nor is selling better than the competition with a year's head start. What is, is cocking up at every turn. Sony must surely win an award for that?
Cloud_Strife510	Comment 5: 2007-01-12 22:51
	Quote Um, only Nintendo stand a chance of making profit on the actual console units at the moment... Or just a smaller loss than usual. Well somebody beat me to saying it. Del S pretty much said everything I wanted to say. So all that's left for me to say is that it came out as i had expected. And I'm impressed.
Ganolink	Comment 6: 2007-01-13 00:27
	oh, i had no idea that they would actually loose money on a sale like that, i just assumed that it would be like that ;p that only proves that nintendo make games for the players, not for their own profit. Ive been siding with nintendo all along really, i never really liked Sonys games, except for final fantasy and a few others. Most of the games nintendo made has been good, which is what hooked me up.
karasuman	Comment 7: 2007-01-13 01:22
	Quote (Ganolink @ 12th January 2007 19:27) oh, i had no idea that they would actually loose money on a sale like that, i just assumed that it would be like that ;p that only proves that nintendo make games for the players, not for their own profit. What? All of the companies make games for their own bottom line. Making games for the players is precisely what makes them money, because good games sell well! If Nintendo makes better games than Sony or Microsoft (and I am by no means conceding that fact!), it's because they happen to have smarter developers, not because they love their players more. Also, last I read, Nintendo makes a little bit of money on each console sold, whereas Microsoft and Sony both lose upwards of $50.
Barrylocke	Comment 8: 2007-01-13 01:25
	Hmm, so it's even cheaper to make the Wii? I would have thought that they were like the PS3 and 360 with that, though I guess it helps that a lot of the Wii technology is older stuff.
Del S	Comment 9: 2007-01-13 05:31
	Quote (Barrylocke @ 13th January 2007 01:25) Hmm, so it's even cheaper to make the Wii? I would have thought that they were like the PS3 and 360 with that, though I guess it helps that a lot of the Wii technology is older stuff. If not for the controller, you'd be paying for last gen with bells on IMO. In fact, I personally think all you're getting is a gamecube on DVDs and a funky wireless controller as well as a slightly more powerful engine, not much, but a little more powerful. Mind you, what's under the bonnet doesn't matter half as much as how you use it. You Fiat Punto will get the job done, and the Ferrari will never really be used to it's full potential unless you want to see if it can outrun a police car. PS3 however gives you an investment in the lower tiers of the next generation of consoles and XBox 360 is the only true 100% 7th gen console released. PS3 is good for gaming no matter what, because it's souped up engine forces the competition to up their game, by doing what they do best. For Nintendo, that's to simply create decent 1st party games along with a handful or more of good 3rd party ones irrespective of console power because it's cheaper to keep it weaker. For Sony, that's apaprently to blunder with every move as of late and hope the next wave of games provides some sort of killer app. For Microsoft, it appears to be just sitting there with the hatch closed popping thier head out occasionaly and waving the turret gun about.
Hamedo	Comment 10: 2007-01-13 15:05
	PS3's gathering dust on shelves while Wii's stay sold out.
WildHalcyon	Comment 11: 2007-01-13 16:52
	I think Wii would have sold even more if more consoles were available. They may have overcome whatever hurdles Microsoft and Sony had, but they still sold out in many, if not most, locations. I myself have still YET to see a Wii on sale in any store I frequent, yet I would have purchased one if I had.
Del S	Comment 12: 2007-01-13 16:59
	Raises an intresting point really. These sales figures probably don't take into account returns for PS3 or Wii (Or for that matter XBox 360). Also further backing that the PS3 launch in general should have been delayed rather than rushed headlong and head to head with the cheaper mass-produced red team...
sweetdude	Comment 13: 2007-01-13 21:25
	Remember the PS3 isn't even out here in Britain. They'll make progress once it is. Also I'm guessing there are people like me who are still accumulating enough money to buy the thing - along with everything else. So I'll predict that PS3 sales remain steady while Wii's will drop eventually. Still it's no suprise that the cheapest console takes the prize when the superior competitors aren't even making games worthly to champion it yet.
Tiddles	Comment 14: 2007-01-14 11:32
	I think, for now, the Wii's technical inferiority actually plays in its favour. Sony and Microsoft have made a lot of noise about HD content, but the fact remains that most people still have SDTVs and won't see half the graphical improvements the PS3 or 360 bring to the table. It's one thing to decide whether to spend more for better graphics, but if you can't even appreciate much of that improvement, it's quite another matter. In its control system, the Wii's selling point, on the other hand, doesn't require ridiculously expensive, early-generation TV hardware.
TehChococobo	Comment 15: 2007-01-15 12:38
	Does anyone here know how much the PS3 is costing Sony? According to the January 2007 GameInformer magazine: Quote ("GameInformer") iSuppli, a marketing intelligence service, claims that Sony is taking a considerable loss for each PlayStation 3 sold. Their report states that "Materials and manufacturing costs for the 20GB model exceed the suggested retail price of $499 by a total of $306.85. For the 60GB version, costs exceed the $599 price by $241.45." I find this very believable because the PS3 relies on extremely new technology, like the Blu-Ray disc. If Sony is truly selling this console for barely over half of what it's worth, and they're still not selling well, it may not last very long. I just hope they get out of this hole quick, before PS3 becomes one of those cult consoles.
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