UK hardware sales: Xbox 360 roars, PSP whimpers

by Ross Miller { Sep 7th 2007 at 11:30AM }

Thanks in no small part to a price drop and a new model, Microsoft's Xbox 360 scored a 260% sales increase in the United Kingdom from two weeks prior, according to ChartTrack (via MCV). The Elite model was released in the territory August 24 for £299.99, while the Pro and Arcade models received price drops to £249.99 and £179.99, respectively. The momentum is also likely to be helped by a certain Covenant-crushing behemoth set to deploy later this month.

Though Microsoft may be having its (VH1) Best Week Ever, Sony's PlayStation Portable had its worst. ChartTrack is reporting the PSP had its worst week of sales since its launch September 1, 2005. Both SCEE and ChartTrack blame the sales drop-off on the impending launch of the PSP-2000 model, coming September 14 (sans ceramic white) and believe the redesign will boost the PSP's sales.

Chart-Track did not provide specific numbers for either console's sales.

Read -- 260% sales jump for Xbox 360
Read -- SCEE looks forward after worst week ever for PSP

Tags: europe, hardware, hardwaresales, microsoft, psp-2000, psp2000, pspslim, sony, uk, unitedkingdom

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

MariosInferno @ Sep 7th 2007 11:35AM

260%....good lord. And it already sells well in Europe.

blooh @ Sep 7th 2007 11:36AM

no specific figures? we just have to take their word that it's good/bad?

mr nimblewick @ Sep 7th 2007 11:36AM

How am I supposed to brag about the Wii still selling better if they don't give numbers? :P

Psaakyrn @ Sep 7th 2007 11:41AM

You need numbers for that? I thought it's a given that the only competitor for 1st place for the Wii is the DS...

Stupidiot @ Sep 7th 2007 11:41AM

What's to brag about with sales numbers? I never understood the logic that fanboys use. Is a console or the games for it automatically more fun because it's sold more units?

mr nimblewick @ Sep 7th 2007 11:57AM

I always see the argument that sales DON'T matter is made by fanboys whose system is selling poorly... so...

Gag Halfrunt @ Sep 7th 2007 12:34PM

Console sales DO matter. And they matter to YOU, the gamer.

Market share is a good indicator of third party involvement. Greater market share means a larger market for a game produced for that console. Developers and publishers like that, it means their game has a greater chance of financial success.

Also, the better market share a console has, the less trouble that console's company will have securing exclusives.

By the by, for the current console generation, the Nintendo Wii has around a 41% market share (hence the exclusivity of the next Dragon Quest game), the Xbox 360 has a 40% market share (hence the unbreakable exclusivity of Bioshock and the exclusivity of online play in Virtua Fighter 5), and the PS3 has a market share of 20% (hence the talk of Sony potentially losing exclusives such as Final Fantasy XIII and Metal Gear Solid 4).

Summarized, the economics determine in large part what games you get to play. And, Nintendo's market share explains why developers are scrambling to make games for the Wii.

Slaziman @ Sep 7th 2007 3:20PM

With the Wii's demographic being what it is, I don't think the third party support for 360 and PS3 suffers, at all. Different games for different audiences.

Slaziman @ Sep 7th 2007 3:22PM

Also, the next Dragon Quest is going to DS amirite? Or has there been a new Dragon Quest game announced? Or do you mean Swords, which is not really a Dragon Quest game more so than FF:Crystal Chronicles is a real FF game?

aBs @ Sep 7th 2007 11:36AM

everyone knows x360 is the way to go.

FoxHoundADAM @ Sep 7th 2007 11:44AM

It will be interesting to see how the consoles sell this holiday season.

Will the Wii continue to sel out everywhere or wil the lack of great games finally start to catch up to it?

Will the PS3 finally take off, or will gamers wait till next years big releases of AAA titles?

Will the 360 jump ahead with a stller and deep fall lineup marquied by Halo 3, or has it already tapped out its market and fail to move into others?

HaleysComet @ Sep 7th 2007 11:45AM

See sony fanboys? THATS what a price drop is SUPPOSED to do...

Way to go 360! This holiday will be ridiculous...

cc123 @ Sep 7th 2007 12:05PM

Hey JonnyBoy why do you change names every couple of weeks?

ssuk @ Sep 7th 2007 12:39PM

To be fair, the PS3 never had a European price cut, just a bundle of stuff thrown into the box. And the PS3 US price cut wasn't anything more than a clearance sale, not a substained price cut.

HaleysComet @ Sep 7th 2007 1:09PM

Good points ssuk...

I feel so bad for Europeans sometimes when I read gaming news on Joystiq...

When did this whole trend of shafting Europe begin?

borland502 @ Sep 7th 2007 2:00PM

Well, let's see it might have begun when the EU's market became smaller than that of the US. It might also be because localization for more than a dozen languages might be a tad more difficult than localizing for one.

It's certainly not due to some bigwig trying to screw the EU because they once got stiffed by an Italian cabbie.

jsn @ Sep 7th 2007 11:52AM

good for them. It should be selling well everywhere, it's the best system on the market by far. If the Japanese weren't addicted to anime kiddie porn games it would probably be selling well there too.

borland502 @ Sep 7th 2007 12:49PM

Way to stereotype based on a console. Do you have another snappy response for the Wii? And what does that say about Xbox folks vs the Wii...that 360 users prefer homoerotic (not that there's anything wrong with that) action in the form of Madden and Masterchief?

jsn @ Sep 7th 2007 2:12PM

I always have plenty of snappy responses, it's my trademark.

Way to jump the gun and assume I'm attacking the wii in some way.... My stereotyping had nothing to do with any specific console. It was directed at the Japanese and their obvious and undeniable love for erotic anime (games, books, comics) in which the characters all look like pre-teens and most end up in their underwear at some point in the "story"..

If marcus fenix had looked like a androgenous teenager with giant eyes and wore a pink miniskirt, I'm sure the game of the year there.

xXFenixKnight13Xx @ Sep 7th 2007 11:52AM

I think the 360 will be #1 Come this Jan. Wayyyyyyyyyyy past the PS3.

James @ Sep 7th 2007 12:04PM

I don't, I see the Wii and DS flying past it. As usual the 360 in the middle, Sony's pair far behind, Nintendo's double whammy up front.

Wii60!

Sean @ Sep 7th 2007 11:55AM

What just came out there to cause such a huge jump in sales?

Sean @ Sep 7th 2007 11:56AM

Nevermind. This is a dumb question and you're all stupider for reading it.

mr nimblewick @ Sep 7th 2007 12:00PM

"This is a dumb question and you're all stupider for reading it."

I really can't afford that.

Sean @ Sep 7th 2007 12:21PM

:gives you brain powers:

VampireHunter Z @ Sep 7th 2007 12:01PM

Yup, the 360 is already kicking off the holiday early. It only gets better when Halo 3 drops.

Fernando Rocker @ Sep 7th 2007 12:09PM

Smash Bros probably will sell more than Halo 3.

The Wii install base is bigger, the game is cheaper... and almost every owner are going to buy this game. Just look Bioshock and Metroid. Metroid outsells Bioshock already, and Bioshock was released a week before.

Wii owners are hungry for good games, not Carnival games. The perfect example is Metroid. First really good game this year for the Wii, and its selling a lot. This is going to happen with Smash Bros and Mario Galaxy.

GunForHire @ Sep 7th 2007 12:15PM

Are you serious? Halo 2 sold something like 8M copies did it not? Tons of people, myself included, bought a 360 for Halo 3, and there's plenty more people out there who will. If you think SSB will outsell Halo 3 you're delusion. Halo 3 has over 1M preorders in the US alone.

Fernando Rocker @ Sep 7th 2007 12:17PM

Smash Bros Melee sold almost the same as Halo 2, like 7.8 millions. Noob.

dunlop @ Sep 7th 2007 12:20PM

"Smash Bros probably will sell more than Halo 3"

Not sure what this has to do with the topic but there is not a chance that it will outsell Halo. Smash Bros is not going to be that attractive to the casual gamer that makes up the core of Wii owners, the "carnival" games are.

There are no real stats to show that Metroid has outsold Bioshock, VG Charts (take it for what you will) clearly shows that Bioshock outsold metroid on the first week. Take into account that it is a third party company and a new IP (it is not System Shock) and these are some pretty impressive numbers.

I know you love to spout endly Wii love for the world to read, as a Wii60 owner right now my Wii is a paperwight. Until Smash Bros or Mario Galaxy there is nothing for me as I will just rent Metroid, wheras the 360 has more games than I can afford to buy this holiday season.

hvnlysoldr @ Sep 7th 2007 12:22PM

Halo 2 sold 6-8 million. SSBM sold 6 million.

mr nimblewick @ Sep 7th 2007 12:25PM

Not to mention the HUGE marketing push microsoft is putting behind the game.

I think Gears of War proves that if you advertise a game enough, sales will skyrocket.

VampireHunter Z @ Sep 7th 2007 12:28PM

Xbox is the master of attach rate. No other system will sell games like it. Halo 3 sales will have no equal. Even a game as big as GTA4 with a solid release date got delayed to avoid collision with this game.

OnimushaSoki @ Sep 7th 2007 12:31PM

"Just look Bioshock and Metroid. Metroid outsells Bioshock already, and Bioshock was released a week before."

Just out of curiousity, where'd you pull that information from? Not that it doesn't sound credible, but I can't say I had heard about it prior.

Fernando Rocker @ Sep 7th 2007 12:37PM

OnimushaSoki

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=171307

OnimushaSoki @ Sep 7th 2007 12:49PM

thanks for the link. :]

I know I personally bought two copies of Smash Bros Melee years back(one for myself, the other for my younger brother)... and the collector's edition of Halo2... so I guess I helped.

jaysins @ Sep 7th 2007 1:36PM

I don't think comparing it to bioshock is fair. I know here in Orlando all the gamespot's are sold out of the 360 version and PC. Hard to sell a game you don't have. Also, Bioshock is a new ip where as this is metroids 3rd iteration in the last decade. Halo will sell incredibly well and more than likely be the best selling game for some time.

Poisoned Al @ Sep 7th 2007 2:00PM

Fernando, you're going to have to do better then some site I've never heard of say so without any hard figures.

Oh and BTW, you're not doing the Wii any favours by posting in EVERY SINGLE FUCKING THREAD how "awesome" Metroid is. WE GET THE FUCKING MESSAGE! You like your fucking Wii! Well done, you're pathetic little life is complete. You may kill yourself now.

megaStryke @ Sep 7th 2007 2:17PM

Halo fans bought the 360 for Halo 3 just like Smash fans bought the Wii for Brawl. If Melee could outsell the original Halo and come two million shy of Halo 2 on a machine that was outsold by the original Xbox, I think it is really safe to say that Brawl can outsell Halo 3 on a machine that has already and will continue to outsell the 360.

ahatter @ Sep 8th 2007 5:57AM

you do realize the attach rate forthe wii and 360 are pretty much equal right now..

I have a Wii and a 360.

I will have Halo 3 but I wont have Smash Bros

License to ill @ Sep 7th 2007 5:40PM

Whats that you're saying Rocker you seem to be fading out. You are one sad little fanboy...

Erwos @ Sep 7th 2007 12:28PM

"I think Gears of War proves that if you advertise a game enough, sales will skyrocket."

Gears of War was a FANTASTIC game. Best ever? No. But hyping up a great game, and then having it sell like crazy - that's the way things should be.

Benny @ Sep 7th 2007 12:29PM

New 360 + cheaper old 360's + Halo 3 soon = 360 sales high point?

It's not surprising at all really.

As for the PSP, well, a new one is around the corner.

Johivin @ Sep 7th 2007 12:36PM

This is just a foolish article. No data = Not worthwhile.

George @ Sep 7th 2007 12:36PM

Hmm. I thought the psp was more successful than the 360.

OnimushaSoki @ Sep 7th 2007 12:38PM

Personally, I hope the PSP stays afloat. A handheld market run by just one company would just produce stagnant, dry, no-risk games... Honestly, who wants a Madden-complex to occur when some of the best games stemmed from times when console/handheld rivalries were about?