The final numbers are in, and in terms of unit sales, the Wii is the unquestioned winner of the holiday shopping battle, with estimates claiming that Nintendo’s console is outselling the PS3 at a rate of two to one.
“Nintendo seems to have stolen the high ground in terms of playability and entertainment value. Nintendo seems to be surfing this wave of public interest and this idea of accessibility that they started with Nintendogs and these brain games,” said Forrester Research analyst Paul Jackson.
Although Sony had critical problems in production of the console, lackluster reviews and the obtrusively high price also impeded holiday sales. As the Wii continued to gain buzz over the PS3, online discussions of where to find Sony’s console became overshadowed by parents desperately trying to discover where to buy a Wii for Christmas, in addition to gamers looking to get one for themselves.
And this isn’t solely a supply issue, as even people who were able to buy a PS3 are trading them at a loss to get a Wii!
When the Sony PlayStation 3 console launched it was met with lines of people which camped outside of stores for days and days to get their hands on one of Sony’s next-generation behemoth consoles. It seems like the tide has turned because many people out there actually want to give away their PlayStation 3 for a Wii.
This isn’t just a few people but a lot of PlayStation 3 owners who are trying to get rid of their PS3 for a console that is less than half the price since the PS3 is $600 and the Wii is $250.
Now not only are there fewer PlayStation 3 consoles on the market but now even PS3 owners are jumping ship and leaving Sony for a Nintendo Wii.
Woah. I must need some sleep. I could’ve sworn I just read that Nintendo’s beating out Sony.
Nintendo simply had more available units for sale than Sony had, so therefore the Wii out sold the PS3. You don’t have to be a marketing genius to figure this out.
The price difference between them both is moot, since both units completely sold out, so people were willing to buy them regardless of the price. Nintendo just had more to sell than Sony.
2. “You don’t have to be a marketing genius to figure this out.”
Failure is a failure. The fact is that Nintendo was able to out-sell the Sony by two to one. Why is that fact diminished because Sony also failed to produce adequate quantities?!
The Wii is an absolute blast to play. The game play far excedes the graphics. We have had people at our house all week playing, it’s very addictive!!! I only wish I had bought more than one extra Wii remote, as trying to find a store with supplies is difficult. Kudos to Nintendo for one of the best consoles I’ve ever played!!!
Yesterday I was visiting my local Best Buy store. They had a PS3 on display for testing. No Wii in sight. Of course this is just an anecdote and hardly statistically significant, but my conclusion is that the Wii is so hot that they cannot even afford to put one on display as a demo.
#4 Damn right. I just did something I haven’t done in quite some time. I spent two days playing until the wii hours (pun intended after babel fish suggested me to write it).
…and to make it crystal clear; Yes, I know that phrase is written wee.
God, I hate to explain jokes
I used to believed this idea the new generation game machines needed to also be entertainment centers. Then I bought a DVD/DivX player for $38 and realized that my game machine only needs to play games.
Nintendo seems to have figured that out.
#2 consider this, maybe the Wii is more appealing then the PS3. It’s something different, something fun and hey its cheaper. Sony simply added HD and blue ray. Sony mostly rested on its laurels and assumed consumers would blindly line up and shell out $600 for a game console, while Nintendo actually did something new.
And John you should really fix the you can only post one comment every 15 seconds message.
Every time I play the boxing game in my wonderful Wii I have to take a bath, for I end sweating like a pig… perhaps this is the biggest change in game console they could have possibly made. I decided to buy it when I started reading reports about people getting sore muscles after playing it and boy, am I happy!
9,
Sony has always acted like that. In fact, it’s where Apple get’s their ‘tude from… Unfortunately, the Sony Halo has tarnished…
And good point about the Kind-a-Captcha 15 seconds. If JCD’s computer could count to 15 seconds it wouldn’t be a problem. But it seems to count on west coast time…
@3: Sony still moved over one million PS3′s in a month – every console they manufactured was sold. That’s not failure.
@5: Incorrect. Only some Best Buy locations seem to have Wii displays. On the other hand, every EB Games i’ve seen has one, and a lot of malls have Wii kiosks out in the hallways manned by Nintendo staffers for demonstration purposes.
@11: “Apple get’s their ‘tude from”. “West coast time”? It’s nice when people make it that obvious that their opinion is meaningless.
I.T.T.S.: It’s the software, stupid.
Considering the hardware sony is providing for the money, I have no problem with what they are charging, but how could they NOT put out a game that blew every other current game away. Just one game to show the potential.
If there were 10 times as many ps3 each and every one of them would be sold. motion sensing isn’t new, but getting 10 times the detail of regular television and true next gen hardware i think is far more innovative. plus what good is the console if all the games are mario games for 8 year olds?
I was in my local EB Games the other day and they had PS3s in stock but no Wiis since no one is buying Sony’s system, according to the sales staff there.
The Wii has set a higher standard in usability, and might take the crown for it. The advertizing (especially), games and price are well designed for mass market appeal, likely due to their experience with the DS, and so I don’t find this too surprising. Of course, I might be biased, as I am, in fact posting from a Wii.
Called it.
Now, here’s the next prediction: In two years the Wii will not have enough decent games out and slowly die off, while Sony will keep the PS3 alive long enough to get two million BluRay players out the door.
Sony will keep the PS3 alive long enough to get two million BluRay players out the door.
Too bad they will be as useful as the Betamax.
Gee… I wonder why….
The Xbox 360 and the Sony PS3 both provide cutting edge technology and bleeding edge graphics. They are packed with serious wow factor, the most serious console games ever developed, and a serious price tag.
Nintendo chose to go a different route. They made the games fun and the console cheap.
Thanks Nintendo