Japanese hardware sales, 18 Dec - 24 Dec: shameless recap edition

@Figboy, I completely disagree.

I want Sony to fail. I want Sony to fail HARD. The PS1, piece of crap. The PS2, piece of crap. The PSP, piece of crap. I've yet to get ahold of a PS3, so I can't say, but experience does not encourage me.

SONY DOES MAKE GOOD HARDWARE. AT ALL.

Now, I'll admit, what they did for gaming was good, but they can't make a decent system to save their company. The sooner they give up making hardware, the better off we'll all be. Yes, competition is good, but the only reason no one else will try to enter the market is because it's completely dominated by Sony, Nintendo & Microsoft, there's no room for anyone else. Now, do you really think, if Sony stops making consoles, no one is going to try to pick up the remaining third of a business that produces something in the realm of $20 billion in the US alone?

I don't even care who replaces them, as long as they can make decent hardware.

This doesn't mean I won't buy a PS3 if it has the games I want, because in the end games are what really matter. But that doesn't make me hate Sony hardware any less.

Otherwise, I have nothing against Sony as a company.

I agree with justchris. I mean, competition is good for the industry. But Sony is not.

I don't think this generation is about HD vs. SD, in which case Sony and Microsoft fight over the 10% or whatever of households that have HDTVs, and Nintendo dominates the other 90% of households. I believe this generation is about the Wii remote vs. X-Box Live. I think those are the 2 best things in console gaming right now.

why, exactly was the PS1, PS2, and PSP, "crap?"

let's see:

PS1: capable 2D and 3D hardware: Check
amazing library of 3rd party games: Check

PS2: capable 2D and 3D hardware: Check (it only got 1uped by the X Box and GC because they came out a full year later. much like how the PS2 1uped the Dreamcast for the same reason).
amazing library of 1st and 3rd party games: Check

PSP: capable 2D and 3D hardware: Check
amazing library of 1st and 3rd party games: almost there (games like GTA:LCS, GTA:VCS, MGS:Portable Ops, Exit, Loco Roco, Tekken:Dark Ressurection, Lumines, SOCOM:FTB 1 and 2, MGA1 and 2, Daxter, Syphon Filter:Dark Mirror, MM:Powered Up, MM: Maverick Hunter X, show the potential of the PSP, as well as multiplatform titles like Lego Star Wars 2 and Tomb Raider Legend. the PSP has some quality titles finally, and more to come next year, ie; FF Tactics, Silent Hill: Origins, and FF:Crisis Core. the system is in 18 million homes. don't count it out yet).

we have a PS3, and it's an incredibly well built system.

it doesn't overheat, it's not loud, it's a quality piece of hardware. it seems like Sony has taken it's criticisms of the PS2 to heart, and actually tried to craft a functional console this time around.

after all, the proof is in the pudding, and how many reports of screwed PS3's have there been in the news lately? not many, especially in comparison to the plethora of complaints about defective 360's at the same time last year.

i have no problem with another company coming in and filling the gap left by the other, but you have to ask yourself, "will that company be as ballsy as Sony?"

Sony has always pushed multimedia functionality in it's consoles. why people don't remember this, i don't know.

with the PS1, they pimped the fact that it was also a CD player as well as a games machine. with the PS2, it was a DVD player as well as a games machine. with the PSP, it's a multimedia station for internet, music, and videos, as well as a games machine. the PS3 is a Blu Ray player as well as offering internet access, connectivity with the PSP, and being, of course, a games machine.

Sony is a hardware manufacturer at heart. what they attempt to do in all areas of their business is push technology forward. their cameras and TVs speak to the truth of that.

not many companies would take the risks Sony has taken with their platforms.

the PSP should have retailed for $500 because of all of the technology that went into it. yes, Sony could have cut a lot of features to break even or turn a profit, but the PSP would be much less if they had. i'm surprised at how much i use the other features of the handheld when i'm not playing games (contrary to popular belief, there are plenty of great games to play on the PSP). i check my mail and watch videos more than i ever had before, and it's proven to be a great device to have on my person when out and about, and i'm forced to wait for any significant length of time.

i'm 27 years old, my life doesn't revolve around video games anymore, so it's nice to have that extra functionality. it's why the PS3 appeals to me now.

after having experienced HD (in stores, and in friends houses who are more fortunate than me, financially), i'm sold on the HD movement the movie studios and electronics manufacturers are pushing. the fact that you can get a quality HDTV set for less than $800 is only a sign that they'll be even cheaper next year.

i'm interested in Blu Ray (HD DVD is also a great format, but the support for that format is too limited). i like that the PS3 can play all my PS1 and PS2 games, as well as DVDs and Blu Ray discs. being a movie fan, and hating going to the theatres, i'm looking forward to some high def content, and an affordable player to play that content on.

my DVD player broke down about 5 months before i got my PS2, so believe me, i was relieved that my PS2 had that DVD player functionality, as DVD players, at the time, were still a bit costly, and i didn't want to shell out the dough for another one.

judging by the history of the PS1, i knew the PS2 would get quality titles, even though the launch titles sucked monkey balls, so i felt confident in purchasing the PS2 as a games machine, and as a DVD player. i *still* use my PS2 as a DVD player when my fiance's DVD player is on the fritz.

i'm confident in what Sony can deliver with the PS3, and after spending the past month with it at home, and playing kickass games like Resistance, Motorstorm, and GTHD, and looking forward at what games are coming out in the next month or two, i'm even more confident in my purchase of a PS3, and it's future.

if someone better comes along and usurps the throne, fine. go ahead, but i'm not going to worry about that unknowable eventuality, and enjoy all 3 consoles for what they offer, and not bitch and moan that one is ahead of the other. regardless of who is at the top, it'll just push the ones lagging to try that much harder, meaning, on the end user part, we benefit the most.

i care very much who replaces Sony and Nintendo. i know what Microsoft is up to, and i don't like it, but i can't deny that they have some quality gaming software coming out in the next few months.

if their successors aren't as innovative and risk taking as Nintendo and Sony have been then i fear very much for the gaming industry.(Microsoft is more of a follower in my eyes, as they've innovated very little since they've entered the market. and no, X Box Live isn't an innovation, it just brought what the computer had been doing for *YEARS* to the console space. great move, but nothing innovative). we don't need another collapse like that of the early 80's with Atari.

the only difference would be there wouldn't be a Nintendo, or even a Sony, to revive it again.

now *THAT's* a scary thought.

@51

Hi, this isn't a criticism, just a slight correction.

"i like that the PS3 can play all my PS1 and PS2 games, as well as DVDs and Blu Ray discs."

Correction: The PS3 isn't able to play some PS1 and PS2 games.

Yeah X-Box Live definitely isn't innovative in any sense, but it is one of the 2 best things going on in console gaming right now. The other is the Wii remote.

Also, to get back on topic (these hardware sales), I'd just like to point out that the PS3's highest selling week so far was still lower than the Wii's lowest selling week so far. Booyah wacky new control schemes over wacky new format wars.

what about a yearly edition?

Awesome. I love the DS. What surprises me the most, though, is the sales increase of the PSP.

DS In america was getting its butt stomped by the PSP, untill the lite came out, and christmas stretched it further.

DS sales- 21 months-6,282,500

PSP sales- 21 months- 6,460,500

DS sales- 25 months- 8,497,000

PSP sales- 25 months(Not untill March)
http://www.vgcharts.org/usaconscomps.php?name1=PSP&name2=DS&type=0

So so far the PSP is still #1 in America and UK, just its getting slaughetered in japan.

@ Figboy

I believe you missed his point. His point was that the PS1/PS2/PSP HARDWARE sucks, he wasn't referring to software.

I'm primarily a multiplayer gamer, so I haven't used my PS2 enough to know whether it is crap or not, but it is fairly well-known that PS2 has had more problems than either XBox or GameCube.

I know for a fact the PSP is fragile as hell. My friend dropped it from his couch, which could not have been more than two feet in the air, and the power switch broke, and now it can't turn on anymore. And by the way, his PSP was even in a carrying case. The DS, on the other hand, was designed to take a beating. The clamshell design protects the screens and the buttons. The PSP has a lot of little buttons and switches that are exposed and easily broken if you drop it. Generally speaking, you have to TRY to break a Nintendo product, not so with Sony.

And sorry man, but if you seriously believe the PSP should have launched at $500 you are on some heavyduty drugs. At that price, I would expect a 60 gig harddrive and GPS built in.

And one more thing, I think you're being a bit stingy on the word "innovative." Just because many of the features on XBox Live were on PC before doesn't mean the Live integration on XBox wasn't innovative. In other words, before XBoxLive came out there was no market for online console gaming. Now that MS has had success with online gaming with Live, both Sony and Nintendo have followed in MS's footsteps.

Seemingly by your definition, not even the DS could be considered innovative, because touch screens have been used for a long time in PDAs and even longer before that with touch-screen monitors. But, I'd argue that Nintendo's choice to create a game system based on that technology WAS innovative. And, in the same way, MS's choice to bring online gaming to a game console was also innovative.

Figboy,

I own a PS3 and I have played it on a SDTV. The text for Motocross is barely readable in the startup menus on a 27 in SDTV. there are some things that look better but it is very minor on a SDTV compared to teh price you pay. Motorstorm and Resistance look the best but somethings from the distance that Resistance requires to play are almost unplayable unless you use teh zoom feature on a SDTV to make up for the lack of resolution.

The interlacing also hurts so of the main system menu where lines are 2 pixels thick in SDTV mode you can see a lot of flickering. Some things look really good on the PS3 like the lighting and stuff but even motorstorm looks only a little better than a high end XBOX game on a SDTV. Untold legends has some better effects but still the graphics are only a marginal improvement in that game compared to even a PS2 game.

This is where I am coming from

@ MAXpl..

u must be one of the most naive or stupid fanboys of playstation i ever met...
come on... the ds worhtless.. only doing good in japan.. the ds beats the psp in EVERY market look it up u raving lil fanboy.. man i wish all u fanboys could just die..
not to mention it sold more in every country than the psp... its ok tho.. enjoy ur constant swinging on sonys nuts