Network now...NEWS
Japan: 360 Topples Wii
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 outsold Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’s PS3 in Japan during the week ended September 14, Famitsu reports.
According to an MCV translation of the report, weekly Xbox 360 sales hit 28,681 units, a massive jump on the 843 units shifted a week earlier (Media Create data pegged prior week 360 sales at 1044). In comparison, Nintendo moved 27,057 Wii units and Sony sold just 8,050 PS3s.
A number of reasons were cited for the hike in Xbox 360 sales, including a recent price cut to the entire range of 360 models, the launch of a 60GB unit, and renewed stock following widespread shortages.
The release of Square Enix’s Infinite Undiscovery, which reportedly sold 86,708 copies in its debut week, also contributed to the system’s weekly hardware victory.
According to the report 717,275 Xbox 360s have now been sold in Japan.
We’ll publish the usual weekly hardware sales figures from Media Create on Friday and the Japanese software top ten on Thursday.
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Now being discussed in the Edge online forum:
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/edge/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13630
Japan:
In August when the awesome RPG called Tales of Vesperia was released for the Xbox 360, the sales of the Xbox 360 increased so much that literally every Xbox 360 in the entire country sold out. Microsoft issued a public apology to the people in Japan, and told them they would get more systems to them as quickly as possible.
By the end of August, Japan still didn't have any Xbox 360 systems, but Microsoft did announce that the price would be lowered in Japan, too. The first week of September only saw a small shipment of Xbox 360 systems to Japan, which caused people to wonder if the demand for the system was over or not.
A big shipment of Xbox 360 systems finally reached Japan just in time for the release of the awesome RPG from Square Enix, called Infinite Undiscovery--which the Japanese people LOVE! We clearly saw that the Xbox 360 is still very much in demand in Japan.
The Xbox 360 finally outsold the Wii in Japan...and the sales advantage of the Xbox 360 over the Playstation 3 rose from a 5:3 ratio to a 7:2 ratio.
One thing is FOR SURE: If Square Enix passes up the opportunity to release Final Fantasy 13 in Japan, then they are DUMB!
Europe:
Xbox 360 already had experienced a price drop in Europe earlier in the year. When that happened the sales of the Xbox 360 literally DOUBLED and the Xbox 360 continuously outsold the Playstation 3 in Europe from that point on.
I am looking forward to see what type of impact the price drop will have on European sales.
North America:
Stores like Gamestop have seen Xbox 360 sales increase six-times on each of the models. Amazon.com even has a deal going where you can buy the Elite for $399 and get a $60 gift card. The demand for the Xbox 360 is very high in North America, and it is difficult to find one in the stores.
Managers that I've talked to in several stores have agreed that the Xbox 360 will definitely take the sales lead back from the Wii in North America this holiday season due to the price drop, Gears of War 2 and Fable 2.
About FFXIII: Squenix is not passing up on anything in Japan. It's just that they are well ahead in the development of the game on PS3. On 360, they are about to set up coding, having gotten the dev kits only a couple of months back. They will finish the PS3 version and get it out in Japan. Then they will port it to 360 and when that version is done, it will be launched worlwide. Squenix is actually doing a favor (I'm guessing paid favor) by delaying the launch of the PS3 version in Europe and USA until the port is done. I may be wrong but as far as I know, localization doesn't take as much time as a port ;)
Interesting. The last I heard FFXIII is confirmed for some asian territories but not Japan. They could have changed since then, but where did you get your information?
http://www.edge-online.com/news/report-square-enix-yet-begin-ffxiii-360
A few weeks after that, I read somewhere (can't remember where honestly) that the team acknowledged having received the kits. Somewhen in the summertime.
Asian release is not simultaneous to Japanese release. It comes at the same time as US release more or less. So there is no contradiction there.
Do you get a good bonus rate at MS?
Actually, ever since May this year, the PS3 has been outselling the 360 in Europe. I'm pretty sure the 360 is doing well now that they've cut their price again - but Kim only seems to read Microsoft PR and copy-paste it. Overall though, the Wii is still outselling both.
I think that bonus rate is heightened by the number of words per post. :P
Lmao, poor ol kim.
I don't know official numbers from Europe so I can't comment on that but I'm sure their sales will be boosted for a while in all territories. I don't know if they can sustain that, especially in Japan when there's no big RPG coming out, the sales may drop again.
I am getting teary eyed just thinking about the magic 1 million mark that MS could achieve soon in Japan.
Seriously though, good work on securing those RPGs for 360, Microsoft.
Mrstickball over at VGC was right - price drop + Infinite Undiscovery would have the 360 edge out the Wii.
Wonder what Media Create's data will show.
Even still, this is great for Microsoft.
I guess that answers last week's question as to whether the prior weeks sales plummet had something to do with lack of supply or lack of demand, my guess would be the former. Good news for MS, hope they can keep it up.
Odds a Japanese person will have a 360: 1 in 183
Odds a European will have a 360: 1 in 100
Odds an American will have a 360: 1 in 30
All numbers on installed hardware taken from NPD numbers or MS statements. Number of inhabitants taken from Wikipedia. The number sure is good for the US, but Europe and Japan are limbing far behind. The poorer parts of the EU might be an explanation why the installed base is relatively small, for Japan, the argument does not count. But if you call the 360 a flop in Jpaan, then it's a semi-flop in Europe. Then again, the PS3 and the Wii had quite some coverage in mainstream media print press and weekly magazines. The same can't be said for the 360.