GameStop GTA IV data: 360 easily outsells PS3, not per console though
by Christopher Grant 
{ May 12th 2008 at 6:58PM }
Another limiting factor: these numbers don't account for console sales for the month of April, so any GTA-infused boost may skew the numbers further. But don't let those sobering facts stop you from enjoying our fancy chartification of GameStop's data. Note: Despite selling nearly twice as many copies, GTA IV performed better (at GameStop) on a per-console basis on the PS3 than it did on the Xbox 360.
| # CONSOLES SOLD | % TOTAL CONSOLES | % GTA IV GAMESTOP SALES | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xbox 360 | 9.9m | 70.7% | 64% |
| PlayStation 3 | 4.1m | 29.3% | 36% |
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ May 12th 2008 7:03PM
*wonders how long it will take before Sony starts yelling about their promised DLC too*
Aww fuck it, would take even more piss out of the console wars.
ComradeTrotskii @ May 12th 2008 7:05PM
I don't see any point in reading too much into this particular statistic. Per console the likes of Mario Kart Double Dash, Smash Bros and even some Mario Party on the Gamecube did better than all the previous GTA games. The smaller a console user base the less diverse it is and is more likely they are to buy the big games, if the PS3 install base was the same as the 360s I would expect a fairly even distribution of GTA4 across both in terms of overall sales and per console.
David @ May 12th 2008 9:51PM
your an idiot. the fact that all the games you listed are available for only nintendo systems completely invalidates your point. gta 4 is available for both 360 and ps3, so that's a very fair and relevent statistic.
John McPoop @ May 12th 2008 10:36PM
@David
Why do you have to call the man an idiot for making a point ... If you disagree with his point thats one thing but to be a total jerk for no reason is uncalled for
ComradeTrotskii @ May 12th 2008 11:25PM
Man I haven't been called an idiot on a forum for ages, I just remembered why I love the interwebs.
And no, the fact that I used a load of Gamecube games doesn't make me an idiot. The Gamecube is the poorest selling console in recent memory (actually maybe the Xbox, I'm not really sure) but a few of its major games sold to around 1/5 (20%, and lets say 5 million ish units sold) of its total install base. Even the best selling PS2 games, incidentally the GTA games, 'only' sold 15 million tops to a console with an install base in excess of 110 million. That's around 1/7 or 15% give or take.
Now are you going to tell me that the games I listed and/or the Gamecube are more successful than the PS2 because of some sort of higher percentage attach rate? Didn't think so.
My ultimate point was this, and I will keep this short: Lower install base = less diverse audience and a greater percentage of people purchasing major releases. The GC figures prove this and I believe so do these figures for GTA 4.
Again if the PS3 had 10 million units sold I would expect the percentage of people purchasing GTA to also decline, just like it did on the PS2 and like it has done on the 360.
pkpk523 @ May 12th 2008 7:06PM
I never really understood why these figures are important to gamers. To shareholders, yes. Gamers? If you enjoy it, does it matter which system outsold the other?
romeyrome @ May 12th 2008 7:38PM
Just gives something for the haters to hate on..
I'm part of that 36% of PS3 purchasers and I saw more copies of the 360 version going out the door, but that just meant that I had more of a chance to get mines..
Ninjakamster (PSN: Chin-Poh) @ May 12th 2008 8:36PM
Their not important to "gamers", but fanboys.
MASTUR CHEEF (Yes I pay for Xbox live you cheap ass scrub) @ May 12th 2008 8:50PM
@Ninjakamster
You forgot trolls
Roofie @ May 12th 2008 9:03PM
I'm not a fanboy, but I do always hope that my console of choice has the better sales numbers. The more my console/console's games sell, the better the chance that it will get better games than others. It would be great if all games got released on all consoles, but that's definitely not the case, and the companies that want to release on a single console will hopefully choose the one that I play.
Does that make sense? I'm not sure if I explained it well.
hotnutz @ May 12th 2008 10:05PM
>>I'm not a fanboy,
Who are you trying to convince?
PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!) @ May 12th 2008 10:59PM
only reason gamers need these numbers is for fanboy fuel. those numbers are right about where we all expected them to be anyway, a 60:40 split for 360 and PS3 respectively. i bought mine on PS3 and i love it. im sure the 360 guys love it just the same. what else matters? we all got a great game.
EMOruffino @ May 12th 2008 11:57PM
because gamers are assholes.... ps3 fanboys are vagina's and xbox 360 fanboys are dicks....
put them all together and it just works.... thank you statistics!
Med Striker @ May 12th 2008 7:07PM
Does this include the 2-3 discs that people go through to figure out that the 360 freezing up isn't related to the discs but bad coding?
Why don't you report on this Joystiq?
http://forums.xbox.com/33/20012123/ShowPost.aspx#20012123
konajinx @ May 12th 2008 7:07PM
Ah yes, but when it performs better on the PS3, is that taking account on the freezing/bricking/whatever issues that are talked out constantly on the PlayStation forums? Har har!
Seriously, no probs with the game whatsoever on my beautiful 2006 edition 360. Yee haw and all that.
Maverick Saturn @ May 12th 2008 7:16PM
Neither have I, and I have it for both ¬_¬
rip @ May 12th 2008 8:27PM
I could comment on the 360 disc read errors, igniting power supplies, noisy fan, and the old favorite, RROD... but hey, only 30% or so of 360s broke. So 70% are pretty reliable.
On the plus side, the 360 version of GTA seems more reliable.
rip @ May 12th 2008 8:28PM
I could comment on the 360 disc read errors, igniting power supplies, noisy fan, and the old favorite, RROD... but hey, only 30% or so of 360s broke. So 70% are pretty reliable.
On the plus side, the 360 version of GTA seems more reliable.
name123 @ May 12th 2008 7:07PM
The pattern continues.
3rd person games are consistently selling better on the PS3 than on the 360.
3rd person - Mainstream
1st person - Hardcore
Game, set, match, winner: Sony.
Jake11 @ May 12th 2008 7:12PM
you could be a dj with those spinning skills.
but seriously, you suck
kobebryunt @ May 12th 2008 7:27PM
I don't understand why you even bother posting. ;_;
legios @ May 12th 2008 7:38PM
Selling better? It seems that 360 versions outsold the ps3 version 2-1 in terms of pure numbers.
The lower per console attach rate benefits Microsoft in one of two ways: Either
1. There are so many good 360 games that people do not feel the need to pick up GTA IV.
or
2. The 360 base is more diverse, so people (like my wife) are perfectly content with Katamari and don't want GTA IV.
either way, bad news for Sony
hey_big_dck psn:fuliano626 @ May 12th 2008 7:39PM
2 eggs 1 cup of flour 3 table spoons of milk 3 1/2 a quart of high fructose corn syrup 1 tea spoon of brown sugar 1 cup of water 1 console of choice 1/2 gallon of idiot how to make a fanboy cookie
Joel @ May 12th 2008 8:08PM
lol you don't know how to read those numbers do you? lol! the attach rate per console is higher for hte ps3 because there are less ps3's! duh come on now.
deaftly @ May 12th 2008 8:19PM
Ahh name123, always with comments that are about as clever as your name.
Zeus.:God @ May 12th 2008 8:46PM
This kiddo right here is a perfect example as to why Joystiq needs and I.Q. test that you MUST pass before being able to create an account.
name123 @ May 12th 2008 9:41PM
Worldwide it's even worse for Microsoft.
360: 3.29m (56%)
PS3: 2.62m (44%)
You can't win by catering to the hardcore because they don't breed, hence the smaller population.
David @ May 12th 2008 10:39PM
That's right. GENETICALLY DIFFERENT.
/sarcasm + brucie
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ May 12th 2008 10:48PM
....
*Vegeta's head implodes due to Name's incredibly stupidity*
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ May 12th 2008 10:49PM
why did I put incredibly?
Markez (MKWii 4339-2878-5120) @ May 13th 2008 12:16AM
Vegeta - Too priceless, you just pwned yourself, OGMOGMOGMGMG
And that 1/2 gallon of idiot comment? Ooh that was good.
Brian @ May 12th 2008 7:08PM
It sounds like both sides are extremely happy with the results, and deservingly so.
Bj Sisco @ May 12th 2008 7:09PM
This just means the 360 attracts a more diverse group of gamers.
Lone Starr @ May 12th 2008 7:13PM
Ok, each side gets their own pet statistic. Let's call it a day!
xFenixKnightx @ May 12th 2008 7:14PM
I'm having a huge brain fart, I still dont get this. All #'s are higher for 360 on that chart. Doesn't really matter though.
"You'll have to excuse my friend, hes a little slow."
-Lloyd Christmas
xFenixKnightx @ May 12th 2008 7:16PM
Scratch that, got it.
:P
Zoesch @ May 12th 2008 7:24PM
It's a case of "We have no skills to present numbers" rather than bad math.
Sean @ May 12th 2008 7:28PM
Basically joystiq is trying to say that even though the 360 is outselling the ps3 by more than two-to-one, the 360 version of gta4 is only outselling the ps3 version by slightly less than two-to-one.
It's probably the most pathetic attempt at spin I've ever seen. Comparing two completely unrelated percentages.
Jack Spicer @ May 12th 2008 7:17PM
I'm not surprised. There really isn't a whole lot to play on the PS3.
Jamesology @ May 12th 2008 7:32PM
There is not much to play on the Wii but it's still out selling both 360 and PS3. I current play with my PS3 more now, but when Gears of War 2 comes out it's time to switch.
-Off Topic-
The reason why ppl care so much on how their console's consumer statistics is b/c it's the only thing they can afford. It's their "big investment", pride and joy, and life. I don't have that problem so I love all three of my consoles HAHAHAHA!
Sean @ May 12th 2008 7:21PM
Wow Joystiq sucks at math.
"GTA IV performed better (at GameStop) on a per-console basis on the PS3 than it did on the Xbox 360."
You don't have the numbers to make that conclusion. We don't know how many copies of GTA4 were sold.
name123 @ May 12th 2008 8:12PM
You don't need the total games sold when you're comparing percentages.
If the 360 and PS3 had the same attach rate for GTA IV the game sales would be split 70.7/29.3, like the system percentages.
ComradeTrotskii @ May 12th 2008 8:36PM
Sean: judging by the fact that you have been voted up to three stars you are clearly not the only one having a problem with what is being described here.
It doesn't matter how many copies of the game Gamestop sold. It could have been 1,000 100,000 or a million. What these figures tell us is that a greater percentage of PS3 owners have purchased the game than 360 owners (at Gamestop and with US hardware figures till April).
The validity of the math is not in question, what is is whether what it tells us is in way any useful, which I would argue it is not.
Sean @ May 12th 2008 10:16PM
"What these figures tell us is that a greater percentage of PS3 owners have purchased the game than 360 owners"
No, that's not what the figures tell us. 64% of the GTA4 games sold were for the 360.
What the figures tell us is that a greater percentage of PS3 owners bought the game compared to the percentage of people who bought a PS3. But you can't compare the two numbers because they have nothing to do with each other.
ComradeTrotskii @ May 12th 2008 11:11PM
Let me break this down further. Lets say for sake of argument (and because we don't have an actual figure) that Gamestop has sold 1,000,000 copies total of GTA 4. That would be 360,000 on the PS3 and 640,000 on the 360. The percentage of PS3 and 360 owners that have bought the game are 8.8% and 6.5% respectively.
To prove further lets take the somewhat spurious figure of Gamestop selling 5 million copies of GTA 4. This would represent 43% of PS3 owners and 32% of 360 owners buying GTA. (note: all numbers are rounded)
Whichever way you cut it a greater proportion of PS3 owners are buying GTA 4 than 360 owners, that is all these figures intended to prove and they do so. There is no problem with the math.
Like I have already said in my initial reply to yourself and my comment near the top of the page I am sceptical as to what worth we can assign to these numbers in telling us anything useful. That however doesn't change any the facts.
Jesus @ May 12th 2008 7:22PM
I am just getting mine tomorrow :)
Makatsu @ May 12th 2008 7:24PM
Okay maybe i'm simple or something but how does 2m extra copies sold on the 360 = Sony win? How does having a ratio of 2 sales on the 360 to every 1 on the PS3 = Sony win? I'm somewhat confused here. Surely the bigger number = win?
Marty @ May 12th 2008 7:26PM
*Ssshhh*
They have to throw a bone to both camps no matter what the news is, or a flamewar will break out.
Marty @ May 12th 2008 7:25PM
Sony was the only one with the GTA / PS3 bundle, so I can understand beating the 360 in sales-per-console sold percentage-wise. Percentages are idiotic though, as someone above pointed out with a Gamecube example. Percentage-wise, David beats Goliath pretty easily.
drew swartz @ May 12th 2008 8:40PM
ps3 may have done better per console selling gta4 but that may mean there are more good games to choose from on x360.