Analyst: Investing in Wii development is 'fool's gold' originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Xbox 360 sales reach 28M, Xbox Live garners 17M users originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

PSN boss disses Xbox Live's interface, game delisting originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analysts predict big jump in May game sales originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading MGS4 fires a shot in the console wars

MGS4 fires a shot in the console wars originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's official: HD DVD has officially died an official death originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cartoonish caricature of the console wars warms our cockles [update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Despite the PS3's late start in Europe, SCEE chief David Reeves has confidently predicted to MCV that the system is poised to overtake the Xbox 360 in cumulative European sales by late summer. "In terms of installed base in some of our major markets, such as France, Spain, Germany and Italy ... our current cumulative installed base is now higher than Xbox 360," Reeves said, adding that the PS3 outsold the 360 in all PAL territories 3-to-1 last week.

Is such a turnaround possible in the time frame Reeves suggests? A quick look at VGChartz (graph shown above) does show Microsoft's European sales lead on the PS3 recently getting cut in half, from roughly 1.8 million units in July '07 to only 0.9 million units in January '08. The narrowing came almost entirely during the highly competitive holiday season, though -- since then, PS3 and 360 sales have run roughly parallel.

Of course, the whole Sony/Microsoft battle might be meaningless, considering the Wii utterly dominated European sales through the 2007 holiday season. Then again, we suppose there's some pride in battling for the silver. Just ask Mitt Romney after the Iowa caucuses.

SCEE chief: PS3 to overtake Xbox in Europe by summer originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 24 Jan 2008 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Jaffe comes out for a unified game console standard

Jaffe comes out for a unified game console standard originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 11 Jan 2008 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Wii: The Wii blitzed the last year and is selling at a phenomenal pace. The only thing really holding it back at this point is software. Publishers weren't ready for the Wii's success, which has translated into massive quantities of reheated waggle ports. If third-party publishers start putting more effort behind the console, it won't be a "fad" created by Nintendo supporting Nintendo games.
• Xbox 360: The console with an extra year under its belt really delivered this past year with BioShock, Halo 3, Gears of War and others. A third-party publisher darling, the Xbox hasn't gotten a hold in Japan and has to continue bringing the solid titles as the Wii and PS3 finish their warm-up year.
• PS3: It's gettin' there, it's gettin' there. Hype may have gotten the heir-apparent through the end of last year, but '07 was not kind to the console. Things are slowly turning around now with Ratchet & Clank, along with Drake's Fortune and Heavenly Sword, but Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII are expected to get the ball really rolling next year.

Console Wars: One year later, begun they have originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 15 Nov 2007 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

GameStop: 360 returns down since warranty extension originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 12 Sep 2007 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Xbox 360 sees 260% boost in UK sales originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 07 Sep 2007 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analysts: 360 sales going up, will outsell PS3 through holidays originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 24 Aug 2007 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MS fails to meet 12 million mark originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 06 Jul 2007 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Exclusives: Sony's loss, Microsoft's gain

Exclusives: Sony's loss, Microsoft's gain originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 03 Jul 2007 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

European 360 sales "have hit a wall" originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 20 Jun 2007 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Haze 360 removed from Ubisoft release list originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 20 Jun 2007 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Xfire Debate Club debates the console war (defense forces, UNITE!) originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 11 Jun 2007 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Motley Fool tells MS to get its act together originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 08 Jun 2007 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft contemplates a 360 price cut originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 08 Jun 2007 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Today's montageist video: Wii60 BFF

Today's montageist video: Wii60 BFF originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 15 May 2007 00:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Microsoft uses beer to illustrate Xbox 360 cost advantage

Microsoft uses beer to illustrate Xbox 360 cost advantage originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Handing out chairs to the weary fans waiting in the PS3 lines that were printed with a link to this site on the back of them.
  
• Sending SMS messages to game journalists saying "The Xbox 360 team wishes you a good night."
• Driving boats past the Sony event adorned with "XBOX 360 HEARTS YOU" signs.
• Arming themselves with whistles and blowing them from rooftops to drown out the noise of Sony PR.

Continue reading Microsoft secret agents resort to subterfuge at PS3 Euro-launches

Microsoft secret agents resort to subterfuge at PS3 Euro-launches originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MS responds to Fils-Aime's claim originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 19 Mar 2007 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Today's best-looking mech video: Armored Core comparison

Today's best-looking mech video: Armored Core comparison originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 19 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Finally, someone predicts a Wii win originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 01 Mar 2007 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's a gaming sing along! How to Kill a Brand [update 1] originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 27 Feb 2007 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

360 eats electricity. A lot of it originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 21 Feb 2007 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The state of the Xbox 360 in India originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 19 Feb 2007 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading PS3 kiosk, can you spot the 360?

PS3 kiosk, can you spot the 360? originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 15 Feb 2007 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Activision: 360, PS3, and Wii tie in 2007 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 08 Feb 2007 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

IGN got some hands-on time with the long-awaited PS3 port of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and came away with some quite favorable comparisons to the Xbox 360 version. Load times that were seven to ten seconds on the 360 have been reduced to three to five seconds on the PS3, according to IGN. What's more, the frame rate drops that accompanied entrances to detailed areas have been eliminated, and the graphics have been improved with higher resolution textures, improved shading and an increased draw distance (to minimize far off object popping up suddenly). Amazing what newer hardware and an extra year of development time will do, isn't it?

Still, it's not all wine and roses for PS3 owners. While the "Knights of the Nine" side-quest will be preloaded on the PS3 disc, the rest of the downloadable content available to Xbox 360 and PC players will not be available, though the content packs "may find their way to the PlayStation Store at some point in time in the future." Hopefully PS3 adventurers will be too busy playing the massive main quest to notice the omission when the game comes out in March.

[Thanks, Phranctoast]

IGN: PS3 Oblivion loads quicker, looks nicer than 360 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When Sony released their fiscal Q3 (Oct. - Dec. '06) financial results recently, most of the focus was on the PS3 and how the costs of its launch contributed to a massive loss for Sony's games unit. But, as the UK's Pocket Gamer points out, a massive slowdown in PSP shipments worldwide is probably just as worrying for the company.

In the three month holiday period, Sony shipped just 1.46 million PSP units worldwide, a nearly 72 percent decrease from the 6.22 million units shipped during the same period a year ago. Broken down territorially, Europe and Japan each got roughly 900,000 systems while North America saw only an anemic 10,000 PSP units shipped in the three month period (no, that isn't a typo). For comparison, Reuters reported in November that Nintendo planned to ship 1.5 million DS units to Japan in December alone.

But not all is doom and gloom in the Sony numbers. NPD data from December showed relatively healthy sales of nearly a million PSPs in North America, suggesting that Sony slowed North American shipments to let retailers sell off some of the 2 million systems shipped during the summer months. And despite the slowing hardware shipments, PSP software shipments actually rose 20 percent to 21.2 million units worldwide for the holiday season. Still, it's easy to look at this massive shipment slowdown and see the tide decisively turning towards Nintendo in the portable market share battle.

PSP hardware shipments plummet, software up slightly originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 01 Feb 2007 13:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Japan: What can Microsoft Do? do? do? originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 31 Jan 2007 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

You can always count on the New York Times to confirm what most people have acknowledged as conventional wisdom weeks ago. To that end, the Gray Lady today has an article looking at the relatively warm welcome the Wii has received when compared to the PS3.

The Times recounts more now-tired tales of hard-to-find Wiis, PS3s piled in shops, and the Wii's potential appeal to new gamers ("My husband broke a sweat playing golf on there," one mother declares). The biggest fireworks come from Sony spokesman Dave Karakker, who derisively calls the Wii an "impulse buy" and Nintendo marketing head Perrin Kaplan, who angrily argues that Sony's reports of slow Wii shipments are "absolutely inaccurate." Save it for the ring, fellas.

Possibly the most notable thing about the article, though, is the absence of any practical discussion of the Xbox 360 and its effect on the next gen race. Sure, the 360 might seem like old news compared with the more recently released systems, but it does have a multi-million unit head start and just this past holiday saw a multi-platinum ultra-seller. Surely its impact warrants more than a passing mention in the eighth paragraph.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]

Gray Lady confirms Wii's early success originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cruising around eBay the other day for a deal on every single NES game, we stumbled across eBay Pop, a great little feature that lets you easily monitor the popularity and average selling price of various game consoles (and other products) on the world's most popular internet auction marketplace.

Looking at the results for the past two weeks (above) we can see the Wii is the undisputed auction leader, selling over twice as many units as the PS3. That doesn't mean the Wii's dominance will last, though -- the number of PS3 auctions has shot up nearly 50 percent over the past two weeks, outpacing the Wii's increase by a good 20 percent.

The Wii is also in the lead for price inflation, with auctions finishing at an average of 151 percent of the retail price. PS3 auctions average around 127 percent of retail (though this might be slightly higher when accounting for lower priced 20GB units) and, surprisingly, Xbox 360 premium auctions are selling at an average slightly less than the system's $399 retail price. Also surprisingly, more people seem to want the original NES than the 360 core system. Guess people really want that hard drive.

While these stats aren't indicative of the entirety of internet auctions, or even directly relatable to actual in-store sales of the systems, the regularly updated numbers provide some good data for those of us who thrive on the horse race aspects of the console transition.

Wii auctions outpacing PS3 on eBay originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 30 Jan 2007 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reduced 360 target causes VG stock dip originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 26 Jan 2007 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Early 2007 price cut for 360 "unlikely" originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 26 Jan 2007 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MS: Less than 50% of 360 owners had Xbox 1 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 18 Jan 2007 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gates: PS3 will never have graphics advantage originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.