Wii Continues Dominance in Japan

By Ed Oswald | Published February 6, 2007, 11:35 AM

Nintendo's Wii console continues to be the surprise success in the next-generation console race, outselling the Sony PlayStation 3 by a two-to-one margin in Japan during the month of January.

Only 148,000 PS3s sold during the month, compared with 405,000 Wii consoles, Japanese gaming magazine Enterbrain said Tuesday. Sony's lackluster success in a region normally considered its strongest again brings up questions of the console's overall success.

The company has repeatedly maintained that shipments of the console are ramping up -- most recently saying 1.84 million shipped worldwide before the end of 2006 -- however sales numbers from analyst firms have just not added up to those numbers.

Scattered, although unconfirmed, reports have been received of PS3 consoles actually sitting on shelves, being passed by for the cheaper Xbox 360 and Wii consoles. Price may actually be the problem in Japan as well.

The base model PS3 sells for 49,980 yen ($416 USD) in Japan, compared to 29,800 yen ($246 USD) for the base Xbox 360 and 25,000 yen ($207 USD) for the Wii. Enterbrain said it believed the much lower price was helping sales.

1.4 million Wiis have sold in Japan, over double the 614,000 PS3s sold. Both consoles launched in November 2006.

Comments

one reason ps3 is doing, not that bad in the states? or other places is because people watch blue-ray videos, somewhat. Here, they don't.
Even a DVD cost like ... quite expensive here, so imagine the prices of BR-disc videos...

Score: 0

|

Lame attempt at PS3 bashing.

WII and PS3 are not even directly competing. I doubt anyone would even consider them to be in the same generation of gaming.

WII = GameCube + Novelty Controller + Some cheesy games.

Score: 0

|

"I doubt anyone would even consider them to be in the same generation of gaming.
"

I agree it doesn't match up to the HD power houses of the 360 and PS3. But visually it is an upgrade form the gamecube, my only consern with the wii are games that require next gen graphics engines like Unreal engine 3. Would suck to lose good games over this, however that is why I bought a 360 in the first place. So I guess I shouldnt be too worried since I can still play all the high def games anyways.

Score: 0

|

Indeed, the battle here, is Xbox360 Vs PS3, WII is the under powered last generation wannabe outsider.

Not sure what relevance the WII sales on PS3 are, as nobody buying WII would have bought a PS3 anyway (as the WII is not a cheap substitute).

This is just the usual Betanews troll reporting from Ed and Scot. They may as well report than Fizzy Cola Bottles have outsold PS3 last month, it's just as relevant...

Score: 0

|

Well I still plan on buying a PS3, just need some killer apps or a confirmed 'backup' method.

I dont consider the wii under powered though. For the price its really worth it. Plus from the looks of it, if I had a choise between a game on the 360,PS3, or wii. I'd take the Wii version anyday. Thats my personal taste though, take the godfather game for example. I like the idea of doing the motions when I smash someones head in with a crow bar.

Score: 0

|

"Well I still plan on buying a PS3, just need some killer apps"

How about PS3 version of Oblivion Elder Scrolls? Considerably better than the xbox360 version..

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/ar...170800&RSSid=762108

Score: 0

|

Why would I buy the same game again? I already beat the game like ummm, 6 months ago...

Scratch that, 11 months ago.

If all you have going for you Davey is 1 year old games, then I feel sorry for you.

Score: 0

|

I assume then, you won't be buying Guitar Hero for Xbox360, as I finished that on PS2 well over a year back...

Does release dictate the quality of the game? I think not...

Score: 0

|

"I assume then, you won't be buying Guitar Hero for Xbox360
"

That is correct, I have a REAL electric guitar... Not to mention it looked gayer watching my friends playing DDR.

Score: 0

|

ahhh. alas....another oportunity to bash the ps3. ahaha i might as well take advantage of it ;P

what else can be said about the ps3??? idk. its pretty much been torn apart. yeah the ps3 is pretty much a let down thats y its 600 price tag is a shot to the leg. u could own both other systems for 650 so ur pretty stupid to buy the bluray station.

Score: 0

|

Who wouldn't buy a Wii when it's half the price of the PS3? Unless you're specifically looking for a (crippled?) BluRay player, there's no reason to go for the PS3. :P

Score: 0

|

I have a Wii and its a lot of fun. Wii isnt for the serious gamer though - I dont think it was built for that. It was built for fun and everyone wants to have fun - even the serious gamer sometimes ;)

Score: 0

|

Wii is great, I camped out and have had one for a while now, but I wish I didn't have to wait for every Monday for games to come out on Virtual Console.. it would be a much better selling point for the Wii if all games were available immediately, to have a huge library of games to download as soon as you get it plugged in would be a great way to get Wiis sold... having to wait for Mondays when only 3 or 4 games comes out gets old... For example, I'm a huge Zelda fan, how cool would it be to be able to download all the Zelda games as soon as you get it rather than waiting and hoping they release one on any given Monday?
Just make them all available!

Score: 0

|

Score: 0

|

LMFAO!!! that sh!t was hilarious!

Score: 0

|

Yey Nintendo. I actually FINALLY got my hands on a Wii over the weekend. I've been playing Zelda since then. I'll definitely says it's better than anything on the PS3, for the time being atleast.

Good news for the PS3 though. Theres a hard drive loader being released soon, so free games might be an insentive for me to buy one.

Score: 0

|

uh, a loader won't make the games free. If you're going to pirate stuff, atleast accept that's what you're doing.

Score: 0

|

Shessh thanks for stating the obvious... I was un-aware I was implying otherwise.

Score: 0

|

free!=pirated.

...just sayin'.

Score: 0

|

Before it can tackle Windows, Chrome must leave Safari in the dust

It's a little browser with dreams of becoming a bigger operating system some day. But while it's chasing Microsoft's dreams, Chrome's tail is being chased by Apple.

Silverlight 3 goes live on Microsoft's servers

Microsoft's answer to Adobe's Flash is (unofficially) here, with prospects of higher-speed, higher-resolution video and for the first time, 3D.

Best Buy-brand TVs to get TiVo

A new alliance will place the retailer's own brand alongide the manufacturers, and could also lead to future partnerships on services.

Three Android phones on the way from T-Mobile in 2009

T-Mobile's myTouch 3G, launched Wednesday, will be followed by two more Android phones later this year, but neither of them will be HTC's Hero.

LTE still lacks a voice

The 4G Wireless standard that Verizon hopes to show off before this year is out is still at a loss for (spoken) words.

T-Mobile's strategy to combat Apple's iPhone with Android

With a trio of Android phones now in the pipeline for 2009, T-Mobile hopes to break the iPhone's emerging stranglehold.

EC's Reding: Government should act as broker for media downloads

If Internet media services don't step up and build an attractive way for users to start paying for downloads, a commissioner says, government may do the job instead.

Sony TVs get Netflix, still no PS3

Though it's coming in behind LG, Samsung, and Microsoft, Sony will begin to offer Netflix streaming, too.

Google Chrome OS: Too little, too early

Carmi Levy: Wide Angle Zoom Don't start the revolution just yet, says Carmi, who isn't so certain Chrome OS will be the "Windows Killer."

GAO pen test brings the hammer down on federal rent-a-cops

But are the computers to blame for the contract-guard fiasco at FPS?

What's Next: Chrome OS will have at least some friends in high places

Also: South Korea takes another round of DDoS abuse, and Neelie Kroes and Steve Ballmer may shake hands before she exits stage left.

Data sharing among online advertisers: Is sanity in sight?

Lockdown with Angela Gunn In the middle of a 15-page plea not to get regulated, a spark of smart thinking.

PST Recovery Software 12.0

July 9 - 11:34 PM ET

Unistal Data Recovery 12.08.06

July 9 - 11:09 PM ET

BKF Repair 3.0

July 9 - 10:54 PM ET

Vuze for Windows 4.2.0.4

July 9 - 6:26 PM ET

UltraVNC 1.0.6.4

July 9 - 6:05 PM ET

WildBit Viewer 5.5 Beta 3.0

July 9 - 5:44 PM ET