December 2008 Console Sales Numbers (lol what recession)

[Big Fo]

December numbers and top ten are out. NPD figures are USA only as always.

Hardware: ....... December ..... November.... Lifetime

Nintendo DS .......3.04M........1.57M.. ... .... ... 27.4m
Wii .................2.15M...........2.04M...... ..... 17.6m
Xbox 360 ..........1.44M..........836k... .... ... 13.8m
PSP ..................1.02M......... 421k........... 14.2m
PlayStation 3 .......726k.........378k........ ... 6.8m
PlayStation 2 .......410k........206k..... ...... 43.4m


Software:

WII PLAY W/ REMOTE ................. ............ 1.46M
360 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR ..... ...... 1.33M
WII FIT W/ BALANCE BOARD ............ .......... 999K
WII MARIO KART W/ WHEEL ............ ........... 878K
WII GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR .... .............. 859K
360 GEARS OF WAR 2 ................ ............... 745K
360 LEFT 4 DEAD .................... ................. 629K
NDS MARIO KART .................... ................. 540K
PS3 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR ..... ....... 533K
WII ANIMAL CROSSING: CITY FOLK .... .... ..... 497K

Top 10 Games of Calendar Year 2008

1. Wii Play w/ remote - Wii – Nintendo ............... 5.28 million
2. Mario Kart Wii w/ wheel – Wii – Nintendo .......... 5.00 million
3. Wii Fit w/ balance board – Wii – Nintendo ........ 4.53 million
4. Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Wii – Nintendo ........ 4.17 million
5. Grand Theft Auto IV - Xbox 360 – Take-Two ......... 3.29 million*
6. Call of Duty: World at War - Xbox 360 – Activision .... 2.75 million*
7. Gears of War 2 - Xbox 360 – Microsoft .............. 2.31 million*
8. Grand Theft Auto IV - PS3 – Take-Two ............ 1.89 million*
9. Madden NFL '09 - Xbox 360 – Electronic Arts ...... 1.87 million*
10. Mario Kart - DS – Nintendo ...................... 1.65 million

2008 Hardware sales:


DS ............ 9.951 mil
PSP ,......... 3.829 mil
360 ............ 4.735 mil
PS3 ............ 3.544 mil
Wii ............. 10.171 mil

Overall industry performance:

Annual Annual
Dec-07 Dec-08 CHG 2007 2008 CHG
Video Games $4.84B $5.29B 9% $17.97B $21.33B 19%
VG Hardware $1.84B $1.88B 2% $7.06B $7.81B 11%
VG Software $2.39B $2.75B 15% $8.67B $10.96B 26%
VG Acc. $612.8M $662M 8% $2.25B $2.57B 14%

NPD Statement:

Overall

"While industry growth has not continued at the blistering pace we saw during the second and third quarters, December's 9% increase over last December brings the year in 19% ahead of last year, and sets a new record for total industry sales."

"This month marks the first time that industry revenue has topped $5B in any single month. In 1997, annual revenues were $5.1B, and now a single month has realized that level of sales."

"We get asked a lot why there are so many layoffs and studio closings occuring in the industry when it has just realized another record-breaking year. This is not a case of the rising tide lifting all boats. The increasees are not being enjoyed equally by all manufacturers and publishers."


Hardware

"The NDS captures the top-spot for hardware sales this month, marking the first time that any hardware system has sold in excess of 3 million units in any single month."

"The record for single-month console system sales still belongs to the PS2 which sold 2.7 million units in December 2002."

"38 months into this generation of hardware, the three new systems have sold a combined 38.2 million units, whereas at the same point last generation, in December 2003, the three systems had sold 36.9 million units. Factoring in the continued strong sales of the PS2 even after the new systems were released, 52 million systems have sold at retail since November '05."


Software

"Software sales reached nearly $11B, which is more than total industry revenues were in 2005."

"While some have wondered if the popularity of Guitar Hero and Rock Band is waning, both properties realized their best month yet in dollar sales, and combined represent 16% of total software dollar sales this month."

"The variety of content on the top 10 list shows just how viable non-traditional content has become. Not only can these games succeed, they can end up on the top 10 list for the year."

- Nintendo DS is the new record holder for most sales in one month, taking that mantle from the PS2

- I think the Wii numbers could have been closer to the DS if supply issues weren't still present two years after launch. Considering that December was a five week month compared to November's four, weekly sales actually declined this month.

- It's pretty amazing that years after release Mario Kart DS still made the top ten for 2008.

- I give an over-under of seven posts before someone bitches about Wii Play's presence in the charts

- Not too many people seem bothered about CoD's return to World War II. Still though, next fall's Modern Warfare 2 (made by COD4's Infinity Ward instead of Treyarch) could sell over ten million.

- Mario Kart Wii was so close to beating GTA4, PS360 versions combined. It will win the battle for limetime sales going by the massive legs of the DS game and assuredly sold more worldwide.

- Music games continue to sell best on the Wii

- Does Nintendo really want to bring the DSi over so soon? Even at $180?

- Left 4 Dead is a smash hit. Shame we don't get numbers for how well it sold over Steam.

- Hopefully in the next day or two a top 20 or top 10 by platform comes out. I want to see how Wii Music, LittleBigPlanet, Rock Band 2, and a few others did.

[Atocep]

Square's CEO announced that Final Fantasy XIII wouldn't hit the US until April of '10 at the earliest.

Final Fantasy: You Won't Play Final Fantasy XIII Until 2010 (http://kotaku.com/5132555/you-wont-play-final-fantasy-xiii-until-2010)

[Big Fo]

FF fanboys and fangirls across the country are either weeping or looking to sign up for Japanese lessons.

[stevew]

The DS has massive supply issues around the holidays usually as well. Assuming sales for the DSi count towards the DS totals, the thing could easily do 60 million.

[SirFozzie]

So let me get this straight.

The Wii out sells the 360 2-1
The 360 out sells the PS3 2-1.

Yet the PS3 is making a triumphant comeback and turns the corner in 2009.

Zat right?

[SackAttack]

So let me get this straight.

The Wii out sells the 360 2-1
The 360 out sells the PS3 2-1.

Yet the PS3 is making a triumphant comeback and turns the corner in 2009.

Zat right?

Even better, the Xbox 360 sold as many units in December as the PS3 sold in December and November combined.

Where's that screencap of Arthur and the Black Knight?

[sabotai]

FF fanboys and fangirls across the country are either weeping or looking to sign up for Japanese lessons.

I might do both.... :(


Actually, I still have FF12 to play, plus the Xenosaga series, plus the Kingdom Hearts series... I also never finished Assassin's Creed or Mass Effect. Lots of unfinished games I don't really have the time to play.

[Tasan]

December numbers and top ten are out. NPD figures are USA only as always.

Hardware: ....... December ..... November.... Lifetime

Nintendo DS .......3.04M........1.57M.. ... .... ... 27.4m
Wii .................2.15M...........2.04M...... ..... 17.6m
Xbox 360 ..........1.44M..........836k... .... ... 13.8m
PSP ..................1.02M......... 421k........... 14.2m
PlayStation 3 .......726k.........378k........ ... 6.8m
PlayStation 2 .......410k........206k..... ...... 43.4m


How many kids woke up Christmas morning and whined "Mooooom, I said PS THREE, not TWOOOOOO". Apparently about 600k or so.

[SackAttack]

Even better, the Xbox 360 sold as many units in December as the PS3 sold in December and November combined.

Where's that screencap of Arthur and the Black Knight?

Actually, just, damn.

Xbox 360 sold 1.44 million units in December. Nothing compared to the Wii, but still respectable.

Here's how far back you have to go with the PS3 to get that:

December: 726k
November: 378k
October: 190k
September: 232k
Total: 1,526,000

if you take 75% of those September sales, add 'em to the rest, you get 1,468,000 which is about as close as I care to try and get. So basically, Microsoft shifted as many units in one month as Sony did in 3.75 months.

2009 is going to be ugly if something doesn't change in a hurry, either economically or price-wise.

[stevew]

The thing that pisses me off is how Nintendo will take a game like Mario Kart and suck it dry for 5 years and never need to upgrade it. I enjoyed the hell out of the DS version and would love to have a new one. But it doesn't make sense for them when the old one does so well. Just very frustrating as a consumer to me.

And the new Pokemon comes out in March. It should do some huge numbers. Especially since its only one game instead of the normal 2 versions.

[Cringer]

Actually, just, damn.

Xbox 360 sold 1.44 million units in December. Nothing compared to the Wii, but still respectable.

Here's how far back you have to go with the PS3 to get that:

December: 726k
November: 378k
October: 190k
September: 232k
Total: 1,526,000

if you take 75% of those September sales, add 'em to the rest, you get 1,468,000 which is about as close as I care to try and get. So basically, Microsoft shifted as many units in one month as Sony did in 3.75 months.

2009 is going to be ugly if something doesn't change in a hurry, either economically or price-wise.

Why act like this is some kind of break news story though? You could buy a 360 for half the price during that whole time. Full year numbers aren't that far apart from each other (they are I guess, but I thought the gap was wider since the 360 fanboys toot their own horns so much) to me.

[Big Fo]

REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Before 2008, no video game system had ever been purchased by ten million Americans in a single year. But according to independent sales data released today by the NPD Group, the Wii™ console from Nintendo did just that, even during these economic times, with 2008 unit sales of 10.17 million. The Nintendo DS™ portable handheld system came in a close second, with 2008 unit sales of 9.95 million. Each of them broke the previous yearly unit sales record set in 2007 by Nintendo DS with sales of 8.52 million.

Consequently, Wii represented 55% of all next generation home console sales in 2008, while Nintendo DS claimed 72% of all portable system sales in 2008.

“Our type of entertainment has now moved to the point where there is no longer a question that if you offer consumers an expanded definition of what a video game can be, and deliver that idea with quality and affordability in mind, millions of new people will start playing video games,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Concepts like Wii Fit, Guitar Hero, and Rock Band never would have seemed feasible just a few years ago, and now they’re driving growth for our the entire industry.”

NPD data released for December and all of 2008 also included the following:

* The industry’s top 4 selling games of 2008 were: Wii Play™ at No. 1, Mario Kart™ Wii at No. 2, Wii Fit™ at No.3, and Super Smash Brothers™ Brawl, at No. 4.
* Industry annual revenues jumped 19% in 2008 over 2007, and Nintendo products were responsible for 99% of those additional retail dollars.
* Nintendo DS set another industry record for system sales in any month, with 3.04 million units sold in December.
* Wii broke its own monthly record, set in December 2007, by selling 2.14 million units last month.
* In December, Nintendo titles filled 20 of the top 30 spots on the best-seller list. Six games made for Nintendo systems placed in the top 10, including Wii Music™ for Wii (No. 9), which has now sold 865,000 units following its launch in October 2008, and Mario Kart DS for the Nintendo DS (No. 7), which has sold a total of 4.3 million units 38 months after launch.
* Activision’s Guitar Hero® III: Legends of Rock and Guitar Hero® World Tour, and MTV Games/EA’s* Rock Band Special Edition Bundle all sold more units on Nintendo platforms than any other platforms in 2008.
* More 3rd party units were sold for Wii than any other home consoles in December for the 2nd consecutive month.
* For the year, more than 132 million games were sold in America for play on Nintendo systems.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e323/HylianTom/Dec_NPD_Chart.jpg

:eek: :eek: :eek:

The thing that pisses me off is how Nintendo will take a game like Mario Kart and suck it dry for 5 years and never need to upgrade it. I enjoyed the hell out of the DS version and would love to have a new one. But it doesn't make sense for them when the old one does so well. Just very frustrating as a consumer to me.

I'm not sure I really want Nintendo working on yearly (or even every other year) sequels to Mario Kart, as much as I love the series.

Then there's the people who complain that Nintendo is already too reliant on Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, etc.

I do wish they had enough internal storage to support patching some of their games (like Brawl's laggy online) or downloadable tracks for Mario Kart or things like that.

[Big Fo]

A little different, top tens by revenue instead of unit sales:

December:

1. Wii Fit – Wii
2. Guitar Hero World Tour – Wii
3. Wii Play w/Remote – Wii
4. Call of Duty: World at War – Xbox 360
5. Mario Kart – Wii
6. Gears of War 2 – Xbox 360
7. Rock Band 2 – Xbox 360
8. Left 4 Dead – Xbox 360
9. Call of Duty: World at War – PlayStation 3
10. Rock Band 2 – Wii

2008:

1. Rock Band – Multiple Platforms
2. Wii Fit – Wii
3. Guitar Hero World Tour – Multiple Platforms
4. Grand Theft Auto IV – Multiple Platforms
5. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock – Multiple Platforms
6. Mario Kart – Wii
7. Madden NFL 09 – Multiple Platforms
8. Wii Play w/ Remote – Wii
9. Call of Duty: World at War – Multiple Platforms
10. Super Smash Brothers: Brawl – Wii


Why act like this is some kind of break news story though? You could buy a 360 for half the price during that whole time. Full year numbers aren't that far apart from each other (they are I guess, but I thought the gap was wider since the 360 fanboys toot their own horns so much) to me.

One of these consoles was preceded by the XBox and the other was preceded by the PS2. This is a big part of why people are still blown away by the 360's success relative to the PS3. Even after their disastrous launch and 2007 I don't think many folks anticipated the 360 not only padding it's lead over the PS3 but doubling them up in the crucial holiday season.

Heck, as of June the PS3 was ahead for the year. The price drop to $199 was huge for Microsoft.

Xbox 360: 4,735,400 (1,341,000 in the first half and 3,394,400 in second half)
PlayStation 3: 3,544,900 (1,608,100 in first half and 1,936,800 in second half)

[sabotai]

Compare the numbers to last year's holiday season

Wii (Nov 2007, Dec 2007) 981k + 2.47mil = 3.451mil
Wii (Nov 2008, Dec 2008) 2.04mil + 2.15mil = 4.19mil
A gain of 739k

360 (2007) 770k + 1.26mil = 2.03mil
360 (2008) 836k + 1.44mil = 2.276mil
A gain of 246k

PS3 (2007) 466k + 798k = 1.264mil
PS3 (2008) 378k + 726k = 1.104mil
A loss of 160k

The PS3 is the only one down for both holiday shopping months, and the one month the Wii is down was more than made up for by the other.

(A look at the DS vs. PSP shows the same. DS sold more than last year, PSP sold less than last year)

[sterlingice]

The thing that pisses me off is how Nintendo will take a game like Mario Kart and suck it dry for 5 years and never need to upgrade it. I enjoyed the hell out of the DS version and would love to have a new one. But it doesn't make sense for them when the old one does so well. Just very frustrating as a consumer to me.

And the new Pokemon comes out in March. It should do some huge numbers. Especially since its only one game instead of the normal 2 versions.

I'm with Big Fo. I'd rather Big N not turn into EA- I'm ok with 1 release of each major franchise per generation. The Mario Kart numbers really did stand out on that list as it came out before Christmas of '05 (14.2M LTD, up to 22nd all time) and it's still on the top 10 for 2008. But it really is that good- snaking aside, it might have the best play control of any in the Mario Kart series and some great tracks.

As long as generations are 5-7 years long, the most I want to see a game per generation is 2- one early-ish and another as the last games of the gen, like what the N64 did with Zelda or the original XBox did with Halo. That way each is a quality game- quality not quantity is what matters.

Also, Pokemon is not a "new game", per se. It's an enhanced version of the last set of 2 so it won't do insane numbers, just big ones. If you want comparisons:

Red/Blue(/Green) 31.3M
Yellow 14.6M

Gold/Silver 23.1M
Crystal 6.39M

Ruby/Sapphire 15.4M
Emerald 6.3M

Diamond/Pearl 17.4M
Platinum ?? (2.3M in Japan, so far)

SI

[gstelmack]

Why act like this is some kind of break news story though? You could buy a 360 for half the price during that whole time. Full year numbers aren't that far apart from each other (they are I guess, but I thought the gap was wider since the 360 fanboys toot their own horns so much) to me.

We're just throwing it back in the face of you-know-who and all the analysts he quoted saying how Sony would catch Microsoft in worldwide sales this year, and how they continued to do so as Sony stayed behind the curve of how much more they had to sell to meet those goals, and then just got really quiet when Microsoft cut the price and jumped right back on top and buried Sony. Even AFTER Blu-Ray won the war. That's all. Just a bit of "we told you so" and "cut the spin, k, 'cause you're full of it?" I think.

[Eaglesfan27]

He'll still spin it as just a price issue. Nevermind that he didn't qualify his remarks about the Tsunami that the PS3 was going to become in any way. Also, most people are not buying the arcade version and therefore most are paying much more than "half" of a PS3 when they buy their 360.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

Did he ever check that final polling data?

[Big Fo]

In last month's thread someone brought up a PS3/Gamecube comparison.

26 months after launch:

Wii: 17.54m
X360: 9.12m
PS3: 6.79m

PS2: 12.99m
Xbox: 7.68m
GCN: 6.73m

GBA: 14.71m
NDS: 9.13m
PSP: 7.41m


Did he ever check that final polling data?

:lol:

Although that thread is dead, it still lives on in our memories. Only 22 more months until midterm elections!

[wade moore]

In last month's thread someone brought up a PS3/Gamecube comparison.

26 months after launch:

Wii: 17.54m
X360: 9.12m
PS3: 6.79m

PS2: 12.99m
Xbox: 7.68m
GCN: 6.73m

GBA: 14.71m
NDS: 9.13m
PSP: 7.41m


That is a startling compirson considering what an epic failure the GCN was considered to be by many (altough I think that was a bit overblown).

[Cringer]

We're just throwing it back in the face of you-know-who and all the analysts he quoted saying how Sony would catch Microsoft in worldwide sales this year, and how they continued to do so as Sony stayed behind the curve of how much more they had to sell to meet those goals, and then just got really quiet when Microsoft cut the price and jumped right back on top and buried Sony. Even AFTER Blu-Ray won the war. That's all. Just a bit of "we told you so" and "cut the spin, k, 'cause you're full of it?" I think.

Yes, I actually knew this well when I asked the question.

anti-MBBF guys = MBBF

[KWhit]

Yes, I actually knew this well when I asked the question.

anti-MBBF guys = MBBF

So that's like saying:

If MBBF = x

Then

-x = x

Which I think if we solve for x means:

x = 0

MBBF is a zero.

Gotcha.

[MJ4H]

it was my understanding there would be no math

[SirFozzie]

we're text sim grognards. OF COURSE THERE WILL BE MATH!

[SackAttack]

Why act like this is some kind of break news story though? You could buy a 360 for half the price during that whole time. Full year numbers aren't that far apart from each other (they are I guess, but I thought the gap was wider since the 360 fanboys toot their own horns so much) to me.

I don't know if I'd call it a breaking news story.

What it is, on the other hand, is a little bit startling to me. I knew that the PS3 was lagging the 360, even on a month-to-month basis. I have not expected that the PS3 was going to imminently close that gap, and for a while I've sort of treated the situation as one where Sony was making up the global gap over in Japan, although more slowly than they needed to.

What IS news to me is the idea that Microsoft sold as many units in one month as Sony did in almost four. That's not "Xbox 360 outsells PS3, old news," that's "holy crap, in the busiest period of the year, that was the best Sony could do?"

And yes, price and economy and all of that, but still. Sony needed four months to match Microsoft's December, and MSFT got to throw the rest of that holiday season in the bank, essentially. Is that news? No, maybe not.

But is it startling? I sure as hell think so. That's a gap growing at a much faster rate than I would have ever guessed.

[sterlingice]

That is a startling compirson considering what an epic failure the GCN was considered to be by many (altough I think that was a bit overblown).

Still made Nintendo a profit which is more than Microsoft could say last generation...

SI

[SirFozzie]

Let's not forget that PS3 complete domination of Xbox 360 in Japan is no longer a given. The XBox 360 outsold the PS3 for six straight weeks in Japan through the end of October

[wade moore]

Still made Nintendo a profit which is more than Microsoft could say last generation...

SI

Agreed. Like I said, I think the ide that the GCN bombed was overblown.

[Big Fo]

Top 20 and top 10 by platform (even GameBoy Advance):

Top 20 Games of December 2008

1. WII PLAY W/ REMOTE WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA
2. CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR* 360 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
3. WII FIT WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA
4. MARIO KART WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA
5. GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR* WII ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
6. GEARS OF WAR 2* 360 MICROSOFT
7. LEFT 4 DEAD 360 ELECTRONIC ARTS
8. MARIO KART NDS NINTENDO OF AMERICA
9. CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR PS3 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
10. ANIMAL CROSSING: CITY FOLK* WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA
11. WII MUSIC WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA (488k)
12. NEW SUPER MARIO BROS NDS NINTENDO OF AMERICA
13. PERSONAL TRAINER: COOKING NDS NINTENDO OF AMERICA
14. FALLOUT 3* 360 BETHESDA SOFTWORKS
15. CLUB PENGUIN: ELITE PENGUIN FORCE NDS DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS
16. LINK'S CROSSBOW TRAINING WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA
17. GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR* PS2 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
18. MADDEN NFL 09* 360 ELECTRONIC ARTS
19. CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR WII ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
20. SHAUN WHITE SNOWBOARDING: ROAD TRIP WII UBISOFT

(all are >150k since that's what Rock Band 2 sold on Wii this month but couldn't chart)

Top 10 Wii Games

1. WII WII PLAY W/ REMOTE NINTENDO OF AMERICA
2. WII WII FIT NINTENDO OF AMERICA
3. WII MARIO KART NINTENDO OF AMERICA
4. WII GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR* ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
5. WII ANIMAL CROSSING: CITY FOLK* NINTENDO OF AMERICA
6. WII WII MUSIC NINTENDO OF AMERICA
7. WII LINK'S CROSSBOW TRAINING NINTENDO OF AMERICA
8. WII CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
9. WII SHAUN WHITE SNOWBOARDING: ROAD TRIP UBISOFT
10. WII NERF N STRIKE ELECTRONIC ARTS (>150k)

Top 10 Xbox 360 Games

1. 360 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR* ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
2. 360 GEARS OF WAR 2* MICROSOFT
3. 360 LEFT 4 DEAD ELECTRONIC ARTS
4. 360 FALLOUT 3* BETHESDA SOFTWORKS
5. 360 MADDEN NFL 09* ELECTRONIC ARTS
6. 360 GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR* ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
7. 360 MORTAL KOMBAT VS. DC UNIVERSE* MIDWAY
8. 360 ROCK BAND 2* MTV GAMES/ELECTRONIC ARTS
9. 360 FABLE II* MICROSOFT
10. 360 PRINCE OF PERSIA* UBISOFT

Top 10 PlayStation 2 Games

1. PS2 GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR* ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
2. PS2 MADDEN NFL 09 ELECTRONIC ARTS
3. PS2 KINGDOM HEARTS RE: CHAIN OF MEMORIES SQUARE ENIX INC
4. PS2 WWE SMACKDOWN VS. RAW 2009 THQ
5. PS2 ROCK BAND* MTV GAMES/ELECTRONIC ARTS
6. PS2 ACTION/ADVENTURE BUNDLE MULTIPLE VIDEO GAME MANUFACTURER
7. PS2 SONIC UNLEASHED SEGA OF AMERICA
8. PS2 LEGO BATMAN WARNER INTERACTIVE
9. PS2 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR FINAL FRONTS ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
10. PS2 GUITAR HERO AEROSMITH* ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

Top 10 PlayStation 3 Games

1. PS3 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
2. PS3 MORTAL KOMBAT VS. DC UNIVERSE* MIDWAY
3. PS3 LITTLE BIG PLANET SONY
4. PS3 PRINCE OF PERSIA* UBISOFT
5. PS3 GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR* ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
6. PS3 RESISTANCE 2* SONY
7. PS3 MADDEN NFL 09* ELECTRONIC ARTS
8. PS3 FALLOUT 3* BETHESDA SOFTWORKS
9. PS3 ROCK BAND 2* MTV GAMES/ELECTRONIC ARTS
10. PS3 NEED FOR SPEED: UNDERCOVER ELECTRONIC ARTS

Top 10 Game Boy Advance Games

1. GBA ACTION/ADVENTURE BUNDLE MULTIPLE VIDEO GAME MANUFACTURER
2. GBA YAHTZEE/PAYDAY/GAME OF LIFE DESTINATION SOFTWARE INC.
3. GBA HOT WHEELS: ALL OUT DESTINATION SOFTWARE INC.
4. GBA RISK/BATTLESHIP/CLUE DESTINATION SOFTWARE INC.
5. GBA UNO 52 DESTINATION SOFTWARE INC.
6. GBA DISNEY PRINCESS: ROYAL ADVENTURE DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS
7. GBA PUPPY LUV: SPA & RESORT ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
8. GBA DISNEY'S ENCHANTED DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS
9. GBA DISNEY'S LITTLE MERMAID: MAGIC IN TWO KINGDOMS DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS
10. GBA MOUSETRAP/OPERATION/SIMON DESTINATION SOFTWARE INC.

Top 10 Nintendo DS Games

1. NDS MARIO KART NINTENDO OF AMERICA
2. NDS NEW SUPER MARIO BROS NINTENDO OF AMERICA
3. NDS PERSONAL TRAINER: COOKING NINTENDO OF AMERICA
4. NDS CLUB PENGUIN: ELITE PENGUIN FORCE DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS
5. NDS KIRBY SUPER STAR ULTRA NINTENDO OF AMERICA
6. NDS POKEMON RANGER: SHADOWS OF ALMIA NINTENDO OF AMERICA
7. NDS BRAIN AGE 2: MORE TRAINING IN MINUTES A DAY NINTENDO OF AMERICA
8. NDS MARIO PARTY NINTENDO OF AMERICA
9. NDS GUITAR HERO ON TOUR DECADES* ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
10. NDS BRAIN AGE: TRAIN YOUR BRAIN IN MINUTES A DAY NINTENDO OF AMERICA

Top 10 PSP Games

1. PSP MADDEN NFL 09 ELECTRONIC ARTS
2. PSP WWE SMACKDOWN VS. RAW 2009 THQ
3. PSP LEGO BATMAN WARNER INTERACTIVE
4. PSP MIDNIGHT CLUB: LA REMIX TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
5. PSP STAR WARS: THE FORCE UNLEASHED LUCASARTS
6. PSP IRON MAN SEGA OF AMERICA
7. PSP NEED FOR SPEED: UNDERCOVER ELECTRONIC ARTS
8. PSP NBA LIVE 09 ELECTRONIC ARTS
9. PSP GRAND THEFT AUTO: LIBERTY CITY STORIES TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
10. PSP GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY STORIES TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE

Top 10 Accessories

1. WII NUNCHUK CONTROLLER NINTENDO OF AMERICA
2. WII REMOTE CONTROLLER W/ JACKET NINTENDO OF AMERICA
3. WII REMOTE CONTROLLER NINTENDO OF AMERICA
4. PS3 DUALSHOCK 3 WIRELESS CONTROLLER SONY
5. WII CHARGE STATION NYKO
6. WII WHEEL GRIP NINTENDO OF AMERICA
7. WII PERFECT SHOT GUN GRIP NYKO
8. 360 LIVE 12 MONTH GOLD CARD MICROSOFT
9. 360 WIRELESS CONTROLLER MICROSOFT
10. 360 WIRELESS CONTROLLER BLACK MICROSOFT

Platform breakdown:

Wii - 9
360 - 5
NDS - 4
PS3 - 1
PS2 - 1

Going by Nintendo's PR, seven of the 21-30 ranked games are on DS or Wii.

[MizzouRah]

I cringe when I see Madden 09 on any of the charts.

[Mustang]

Well, when the January numbers come out, I've added one to the PS3 totals tonight. (picked one up from Dell) So, that completes the trifecta...

[sterlingice]

I don't get why Link's Crossbow Training made the list, but I am glad to see some decent 3P numbers on the Wii at 8-10 (and, of course, GH:World Tour)

SI

[SackAttack]

I don't get why Link's Crossbow Training made the list, but I am glad to see some decent 3P numbers on the Wii at 8-10 (and, of course, GH:World Tour)

SI

The 'easy' answer is that LCT is bundled in with the Wii Zapper, and that we had a run on those at Best Buy in December.

WHY we had a run on them in December, I'm not sure. Cheap, easy accessory to add for families who already had a Wii might be part of it. Enough teens/young adults came in looking for them as well that I'm curious whether there might not be some kind of system exploit related to the game, although I can't find anything along those lines using almighty Google.

[cartman]

Amazon is selling 12 month Xbox Live Gold memberships for only $30. That is a pretty good deal for those looking to upgrade.

Amazon.com: Used and New: Xbox 360 Live 12 Month Gold Card plus 1 Month Bonus (http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000B9RI00/ref=pd_bbs_sr_olp_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1232408936&sr=8-1)

[rjolley]

Thanks cartman. Been looking for a good deal on a Live membership and that's very good.

[Mustang]

My PS3 came yesterday (purchased Stargate at Wal-mart on Blu-ray for $10 and The Show 08' and Metal Gear 4).

My initial reaction was I felt like one of the apes from Space Odyssey with the 1x2x3 black monoliths. I was picking it up and looking around thinking "Where the F is the damn eject button!"

My initial thoughts on Blu-Ray. While I don't think it is a huge step forward from VHS to DVD, I think it does result in a nice cleaner image. Maybe if images were side by side I'd see a huge difference, but I was playing Stargate on a regular DVD and on Blu-Ray and hopping back and did see the difference. Although, I don't have it hooked to HDMI right now. Also, Stargate didn't have any bells and whistles to it and was just a pretty basic disk.

[Cringer]

My PS3 came yesterday (purchased Stargate at Wal-mart on Blu-ray for $10 and The Show 08' and Metal Gear 4).

My initial reaction was I felt like one of the apes from Space Odyssey with the 1x2x3 black monoliths. I was picking it up and looking around thinking "Where the F is the damn eject button!"

My initial thoughts on Blu-Ray. While I don't think it is a huge step forward from VHS to DVD, I think it does result in a nice cleaner image. Maybe if images were side by side I'd see a huge difference, but I was playing Stargate on a regular DVD and on Blu-Ray and hopping back and did see the difference. Although, I don't have it hooked to HDMI right now. Also, Stargate didn't have any bells and whistles to it and was just a pretty basic disk.

You can see the difference, I did that as well. Also, once I hooked up an HDMI (via my TVs DVI connection) I flipped from the RCA connection to the HDMI/DVI connection and saw a nice difference. Even without doing that I saw a huge difference on my one game when I hooked up the HDMI.

[SackAttack]

My PS3 came yesterday (purchased Stargate at Wal-mart on Blu-ray for $10 and The Show 08' and Metal Gear 4).

My initial reaction was I felt like one of the apes from Space Odyssey with the 1x2x3 black monoliths. I was picking it up and looking around thinking "Where the F is the damn eject button!"

My initial thoughts on Blu-Ray. While I don't think it is a huge step forward from VHS to DVD, I think it does result in a nice cleaner image. Maybe if images were side by side I'd see a huge difference, but I was playing Stargate on a regular DVD and on Blu-Ray and hopping back and did see the difference. Although, I don't have it hooked to HDMI right now. Also, Stargate didn't have any bells and whistles to it and was just a pretty basic disk.

Are you at least hooked up via component video to an HDTV?

If you aren't, you're going to be viewing it at 480i, which is going to make it tough to see any difference.

[MizzouRah]

The ps3 comes with composite cables I believe.. so if you haven't went out and purchased an HDMI cable yet.. run! Then you'll see a difference!

[stevew]

Buy an hdmi at wal mart and then order one at monoprice. When it arrives, return the HDMI back to wal mart. They take back anything.

[SirFozzie]

This just in: Kaz Hirai is smoking the good stuff and won't share with anyone.

"This is not meant in terms of numbers, or who's got the biggest install base, or who's selling most in any particular week or month, but I'd like to think that we continue official leadership in this industry," Hirai told Official PlayStation Magazine.

"It's difficult to talk about Nintendo, because we don't look at their console as being a competitor. They're a different world, and we operate in our world - that's the kind of way I look at things.

"And with the Xbox - again, I can't come up with one word to fit. You need a word that describes something that lacks longevity," he added with a laugh.

"We don't provide the 'easy to program for' console that [developers] want, because 'easy to program for' means that anybody will be able to take advantage of pretty much what the hardware can do, so then the question is what do you do for the rest of the nine-and-a-half years?" explained Hirai.

[Daimyo]

Well, I guess if you exclude Nintendo and Xbox360 from the discussion, then the PS3 is leading the industry by default (as long as you also exclude portables and last generation consoles too).

[gstelmack]

At least we finally get an admission about how hard it is to program...

[Phototropic]

This just in: Kaz Hirai is smoking the good stuff and won't share with anyone.

"We don't provide the 'easy to program for' console that [developers] want, because 'easy to program for' means that anybody will be able to take advantage of pretty much what the hardware can do, so then the question is what do you do for the rest of the nine-and-a-half years?" explained Hirai.[/b]

That is one the the dumbest quotes I've ever read.

[SackAttack]

That is one the the dumbest quotes I've ever read.

I can't be the only one who had the line from Billy Madison running through his head when he read that:

What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

[sterlingice]

Also one of my favorite quotes from a movie- has so many uses :)

SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

We're just throwing it back in the face of you-know-who and all the analysts he quoted saying how Sony would catch Microsoft in worldwide sales this year, and how they continued to do so as Sony stayed behind the curve of how much more they had to sell to meet those goals, and then just got really quiet when Microsoft cut the price and jumped right back on top and buried Sony. Even AFTER Blu-Ray won the war. That's all. Just a bit of "we told you so" and "cut the spin, k, 'cause you're full of it?" I think.

I realize that this post is relatively useless as gstelmack isn't interested in full discussion of the topic, but this post shows just how long he has not been paying attention to the conversations in these threads. Much of what was said in regards to sales predictions earlier this year was based on the common sense ideal that Sony would capitalize on the momentum that it had in the first 7-8 months of this year and move to cut the price of the system by $100, bottom line be damned. Most of those predictions were relatively spot on. Their faulty assumption was that Sony would make a good decision to further the PS3 sales and influence. They did the exact opposite.

Sony is talking a lousy game right now. The recent comments by Hirai only further emphasize the executive disconnect with the consumers. Those comments were all kinds of stupid.

[wade moore]

But that's part of the problem. Factored in with the skepticism of the predictions was Sony's unwillingness to make the hard decisions when it came to price cuts. The only thing that Sony has shown this generation is an ability to screw up. We all thought it was pretty silly to make predictions that were centered around that completely changing.

[chesapeake]

It certainly seems like Sony is entirely tone deaf in their pricing of the PS3, but is there any solid business reason for Sony's apparent obstinance?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

It certainly seems like Sony is entirely tone deaf in their pricing of the PS3, but is there any solid business reason for Sony's apparent obstinance?

Well, the 2 billion $ loss last quarter would be sound reasoning, but at some point, you have to spend money to make money. It doesn't matter whether you overengineered your console resulting in a high price point. The console DESPARATELY needs a $100 price cut.

[gstelmack]

But that's part of the problem. Factored in with the skepticism of the predictions was Sony's unwillingness to make the hard decisions when it came to price cuts. The only thing that Sony has shown this generation is an ability to screw up. We all thought it was pretty silly to make predictions that were centered around that completely changing.

Yup, we all thought the predictions and their basis were pretty silly at the time, and were told it would be different this time in no uncertain terms, and told we were silly for questioning it.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Yup, we all thought the predictions and their basis were pretty silly at the time, and were told it would be different this time in no uncertain terms, and told we were silly for questioning it.

Again, this point is somewhat irrelevant as he has missed a lot of the conversation, likely including my last post. No one said that anyone was 'silly for questioning it'. It was based on sound reasoning, but as Wade Moore correctly pointed out, sound reasoning has been proven to be foreign to the Sony execs up to this point. The basis wasn't faulty at all. The reliance on Sony to follow through and make sound business decisions was the downfall of those analysts.

[wade moore]

Again, this point is somewhat irrelevant as he has missed a lot of the conversation, likely including my last post. No one said that anyone was 'silly for questioning it'. It was based on sound reasoning, but as Wade Moore correctly pointed out, sound reasoning has been proven to be foreign to the Sony execs up to this point. The basis wasn't faulty at all. The reliance on Sony to follow through and make sound business decisions was the downfall of those analysts.

I started to do a search, but there's just too much to go through.

You definitely at least "implied" that anyone that didn't believe Sony was going to make big strides was being "silly" (or should I say, "stupid"). You were called out directly or indirectly as to why we should believe this based on the track record of the PS3.

Again, that's the thing you're not getting - back last year when everyone argued about this the point was - we don't buy it. Sony will find a way to screw it up. And they did. And you were so sure they wouldn't.

[Samdari]

It certainly seems like Sony is entirely tone deaf in their pricing of the PS3, but is there any solid business reason for Sony's apparent obstinance?


Isn't Sony the leader in stand-alone Blu-Ray players?

I think the business reason for not lowering the PS3 price is to prevent there from being no reason to buy a Sony BR player.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Again, that's the thing you're not getting - back last year when everyone argued about this the point was - we don't buy it. Sony will find a way to screw it up. And they did. And you were so sure they wouldn't.

I agree with that at some level. They made a good move with the last price drop and had the cart headed in the right direction again, but then failed to keep that momentum moving forward. At some level, the analysts gave Sony too much credit for that one move and assumed that reasoning would continue, which it obviously didn't. A price cut in September of $100 would have been enormous for Sony from a sales perspective, but it would have also added to their losses on the bottom line.

[Cringer]

hxxp://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10146849-17.html?tag=TOCmoreStories.0

Console longevity article, with nice details about the production life of each gens leader. I was surprised to see how long Nintendo built the NES and SNES in Japan, that is crazy. I am one of the guys who pretty much agrees with the author. A console like the PS2 has been dead to me for years now. The PS3 could be around a long time for me, but if the next XBox has what the PS3 has and more, and it's out in 3 or 4 years from now, then the PS3 gets the back seat in my house most likely. I have no idea what could be added to the PS3 to make it better, but I am sure companies will think up plenty of stuff down the road to have in a new console.......

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

hxxp://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10146849-17.html?tag=TOCmoreStories.0

Console longevity article, with nice details about the production life of each gens leader. I was surprised to see how long Nintendo built the NES and SNES in Japan, that is crazy. I am one of the guys who pretty much agrees with the author. A console like the PS2 has been dead to me for years now. The PS3 could be around a long time for me, but if the next XBox has what the PS3 has and more, and it's out in 3 or 4 years from now, then the PS3 gets the back seat in my house most likely. I have no idea what could be added to the PS3 to make it better, but I am sure companies will think up plenty of stuff down the road to have in a new console.......

Price point is going to be EXTREMELY important in the next generation.

[spleen1015]

Price point is going to be EXTREMELY important in the next generation.

There's no telling what will happen or what will be the driving factors. No one saw the Wii coming. No one saw the PS3 being this generation's GameCube.

[sterlingice]

There's no telling what will happen or what will be the driving factors. No one saw the Wii coming. No one saw the PS3 being this generation's GameCube.

I think someone already mentioned this, but the Gamecube only sold slightly less than the XBox and turned a profit for Nintendo, which is more than Microsoft can say.

SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

There's no telling what will happen or what will be the driving factors. No one saw the Wii coming. No one saw the PS3 being this generation's GameCube.

Totally disagree. The Wii has set a precedent that will likely be followed by the other companies. The days of consoles being released as a loss leader with the software being expected to make up the difference are over for the foreseeable future. The increase in length of this current generation only furthers the theory that the companies are leery of releasing a costly console in the next generation. They're content to wait another year or two to allow the cost of the console's parts to drop to a lower mass production price.

[gstelmack]

The days of consoles being released as a loss leader with the software being expected to make up the difference are over for the foreseeable future.

Well, unless of course someone tries to use it to differentiate themselves. We'll see. But I don't think anything has changed: folks learned that you can't sell a $400 console and hope to lead the industry. $300 is okay for initial launch, but it isn't until it starts hitting $199 that things really take off. And that was true of the last generation as well, so there were no big surprises, other than Sony and Microsoft trying to get away with pushing that top envelope and failing. Microsoft is doing okay because they were first, cheaper than Sony, and have brought their price down quicker.

[SackAttack]

I think someone already mentioned this, but the Gamecube only sold slightly less than the XBox and turned a profit for Nintendo, which is more than Microsoft can say.

SI

For what it's worth, I think when people reference the GameCube, they're referencing the *perception* of what the GameCube was. The reality is obviously more complex than that.

[sterlingice]

For what it's worth, I think when people reference the GameCube, they're referencing the *perception* of what the GameCube was. The reality is obviously more complex than that.

I know you know better, but I just like giving people some perspective on their perspective. We hear this so often, the "I didn't own one and no one I know owned one" is just anecdotal evidence and shows how little one can see past their own nose. Just because you didn't get it, doesn't mean it's an abject failure. Again, Nintendo made money on the Gamecube whereas Microsoft lost a lot of money on the XBox- so who really won that battle?

Here's the "final" numbers on the XBox and Gamecube as neither are selling a decent number right now (the PS2 still is selling quite a bit). A gap of a couple of million when you're talking about 21.5 vs 24.2 isn't a crushing victory, particularly when you take the other economics of the situation into account.

<table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr bgcolor="#cccccc"><td>Console</td><td width="60" align="center">XB</td><td width="60" align="center">GC</td><td width="60" align="center">PS2</td></tr><tr bgcolor="#f5f5f5"><td>Total
</td><td align="right">24,189,847
</td><td align="right">21,515,337
</td><td align="right">124,297,090
</td></tr><tr bgcolor="#e9e9e9"><td>America
</td><td align="right">15,933,077
</td><td align="right">12,741,437
</td><td align="right">49,766,782
</td></tr></tbody></table>

FYI, here's are this generation's charts so far:

<table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr bgcolor="#cccccc"><td>Console</td><td width="60" align="center">Wii</td><td width="60" align="center">PS3</td><td width="60" align="center">X360</td></tr><tr bgcolor="#f5f5f5"><td>Total
</td><td align="right">46,413,573
</td><td align="right">19,925,912
</td><td align="right">27,934,391
</td></tr><tr bgcolor="#e9e9e9"><td>America
</td><td align="right">21,355,355
</td><td align="right">7,635,329
</td><td align="right">16,025,604
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr bgcolor="#cccccc"><td>Console</td><td width="60" align="center">PSP</td><td width="60" align="center">DS</td></tr><tr bgcolor="#f5f5f5"><td>Total
</td><td align="right">43,846,992
</td><td align="right">98,111,115
</td></tr><tr bgcolor="#e9e9e9"><td>America
</td><td align="right">15,742,440
</td><td align="right">32,247,660
</td></tr></tbody></table>

SI

[Cringer]

I am not really arguing one side or the other, just pointing this out..... The GameCube was from an established console manufacturer, were as M$ was the new kid on the block. Nintendo may have made money from the GC, but it had to have been a huge disappointment selling fewer units then the new comer. The PS3 is similar in that way because Sony was the reigning king who is now on the bottom in sales.

[Eaglesfan27]

I am not really arguing one side or the other, just pointing this out..... The GameCube was from an established console manufacturer, were as M$ was the new kid on the block. Nintendo may have made money from the GC, but it had to have been a huge disappointment selling fewer units then the new comer. The PS3 is similar in that way because Sony was the reigning king who is now on the bottom in sales.


I agree the comparision works in that regard, but with the fact that Nintendo at least made money on the Gamecube and Sony is in a bloodbath of loss with the PS3 while losing massive market share, I'd say the Sony situation is even worse.

[Daimyo]

I am not really arguing one side or the other, just pointing this out..... The GameCube was from an established console manufacturer, were as M$ was the new kid on the block. Nintendo may have made money from the GC, but it had to have been a huge disappointment selling fewer units then the new comer. The PS3 is similar in that way because Sony was the reigning king who is now on the bottom in sales.

The PSX outsold the N64 102 million to 33 million so it couldn't have been that surprising that Nintendo was outsold again by so much in the PS2/GCN generation. I don't remember anyone really touting the GCN as a sales challenger to the PS2, but a lot of people were excited for the Xbox and thought it could challenge the PS2.

Nintendo's model hasn't depended on selling the most consoles in a long time... they make good profit even when they sell at GCN levels. Xbox and Sony have different models and they get killed if they sell at GCN levels.

[Samdari]

Nintendo's model hasn't depended on selling the most consoles in a long time... they make good profit even when they sell at GCN levels. Xbox and Sony have different models and they get killed if they sell at GCN levels.

Your first statement being true (and I agree that they have steered away from the model of losing money on each system, hoping to make it up in licensing fees) does not mean that Nintendo was not disappointed with sales of the game cube. Seeing their console sales go down in three straight generations, while the total number of consoles sold skyrocketed (thus seeing their market share go from dominant to insignificant) had to disappoint them.

I think the fact that they moved away from counting on their well known software properties to sell systems for the first time indicated that they were, in fact, disappointed with the way things were going, and they needed to do something different.

[Big Fo]

Nintendo also had GBA + DS to profit from in the GameCube years.

[Cringer]

Your first statement being true (and I agree that they have steered away from the model of losing money on each system, hoping to make it up in licensing fees) does not mean that Nintendo was not disappointed with sales of the game cube. Seeing their console sales go down in three straight generations, while the total number of consoles sold skyrocketed (thus seeing their market share go from dominant to insignificant) had to disappoint them.



That is basically my point above. Like I said, I am not trying to make a comparison, nor argue against it. All I am saying is that in the big picture though, the comparison isn't downright awful. One was the king then wasn't, and the same is true now. That's it.

When you compare any two things you will always be able to pick at the comparison, beause they are still two different things. /Mr. Obvious

[Daimyo]

I'm not saying they were thrilled to be third, only that they have a low risk model that allows them to still do well even when they finish third. Really they had have no choice but to do that... they don't have the other product lines of a Sony or Microsoft to allow them to absorb large console losses.

[Daimyo]

That is basically my point above. Like I said, I am not trying to make a comparison, nor argue against it. All I am saying is that in the big picture though, the comparison isn't downright awful. One was the king then wasn't, and the same is true now. That's it.

Except that on the dawn of the GCN/PS2/Xbox generation it would be extremely difficult to make a case that Nintendo was the king. Certainly their position was no where close to Sony's position entering this generation.

[Cringer]

Good grief. I give up. It's just a simple f'ing comparison. You guys take consoles way too serious for me. I honestly don't care that much. :)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Ah, this should quell any concerns about the PS3 sales. Thanks, Sony!

The PS3 Is Still On Target, Supposedly - Loot Ninja (http://loot-ninja.com/2009/01/31/the-ps3-is-still-on-target-supposedly/)

[SirFozzie]

seriously, do they have blinders on? Did they hire the Iraqi Information Minister to run their PS3 department?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

seriously, do they have blinders on? Did they hire the Iraqi Information Minister to run their PS3 department?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the PS3 probably gets a $100 price cut in mid-March, which will create a sales increase just before the fiscal year ends at the end of March, allowing them to meet their sales goal. They'll then say, "See, we told you so!". Just a hunch.

The news actually isn't all bad for Sony. Nielsen released its latest sales numbers for DVD/Blu-ray sales. Blu-ray now accounts for 17% of all movie sales, which is a very significant increase from only three months ago, when they only accounted for 9% of all movie sales. It would appear that the bargain stand-alone players may be having a very positive effect on the HD movie market.

[Eaglesfan27]

With the current economy, I wonder if a price cut even generates much in additional sales anytime before the holiday season.

[wade moore]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the PS3 probably gets a $100 price cut in mid-March, which will create a sales increase just before the fiscal year ends at the end of March, allowing them to meet their sales goal. They'll then say, "See, we told you so!". Just a hunch.

You may be right, but around this time last year (I saw it when I was looking stuff up based on the discussions earlier in this thread) you were predicting the same thing for I think Sep/Oct of '08.

What you say makes SENSE, but that doesn't seem to have any tie to the likelihood of Sony doing it.

[cartman]

Blu-ray now accounts for 17% of all movie sales, which is a very significant increase from only three months ago, when they only accounted for 9% of all movie sales.

I'm guessing you are basing this flawed statement off of this info:

High-Def Digest Forums - View Single Post - 2009 Blu-ray Sales Metrics Stats: Nielsen/Videoscan/HMM Charts/Ratios/Bestsellers Etc (http://forums.highdefdigest.com/1386529-post4.html)

That 17% figure was for one week, and it was Blu-Ray's share of the Top 20 units, not all movie sales. As a percentage of overall revenue, Blu-Ray is still mainly in the 8-12% range. The explosive growth predicted for this past holiday season never really materialized.

[Logan]

Think I mentioned this in another thread, but I have two roommates who bought PS3s in the past 4 months. Collectively, they own exactly one game for it...Rock Band 2. Probably about 10 Blu Rays among them.

Is that good or bad for Sony?

[SackAttack]

I am not really arguing one side or the other, just pointing this out..... The GameCube was from an established console manufacturer, were as M$ was the new kid on the block. Nintendo may have made money from the GC, but it had to have been a huge disappointment selling fewer units then the new comer. The PS3 is similar in that way because Sony was the reigning king who is now on the bottom in sales.

Actually, if I'm not mistaken, the PS1/N64 generation was pretty close to a 50/50 split. Maybe even a slight edge to Sony. Nintendo lost a lot of third parties by sticking with cartridges when everybody else switched to cheaper-to-manufacture CDs, and Sega totally shat the bed with the Saturn.

Just in googling, I found a message board from back in 2004 and 2005 comparing GameCube sales to N64 and PS2 to PS1, and in 2005, worldwide sales of the PS1 were around 100 million, 40 million of which were sold in the US. The N64 had worldwide sales in 2004 of 32 million, 20 million of which were domestic.

Now I know a year makes a difference, but it doesn't make 68 million units worth of difference, or 20 million units domestically.

Until the Wii, I don't think Nintendo was a 'reigning king' since the days of the SNES.

[Big Fo]

A month or two ago the old third party sales on Nintendo platforms debate showed up once again and we knew there were at least 12-15 third party games that sold over a million on the Wii. Nintendo's Third Quarter Financial Results Briefing had some updated numbers:


According to Iwata, 30 third-party Wii titles had shipped more than a million units worldwide by the end of last year. That's 18 more than just nine months earlier; suggesting that third-party developer performance on Nintendo's market-leading home console was accelerating.

For the DS, Iwata trotted out a similar drastic increase from 28 third-party million sellers at the end of last March to 49 by the end of last year. That's 21 new million-selling DS titles in just nine months.

Nintendo World Report (http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=17649)

There were also updated worldwide sales numbers for some of Nintendo's own games:

Nintendo DS million-sellers
Brain Age - 16.82 million
New Super Mario Bros. - 17.63 million
Mario Kart DS - 13.79 million
Nintendogs - 21.67 million
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness - 4.4 million
Brain Age 2 - 13.27 million
Pokemon Platinum - 2.4 million
Kirby Super Star Ultra - 2.19 million
Mario Party DS - 5.49 million
Pokemon Diamond/Pearl - 16.48 million
Rhythm Heaven - 1.71 million
Personal Trainer: Cooking - 1.68 million
Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia - 1.8 million
Super Mario 64 DS - 7.16 million
Animal Crossing Wild World - 10.57 million

Wii million-sellers
Wii Sports - 40.50 million (includes bundled units in US and Europe)
Mario Kart Wii - 13.67 million
Wii Fit - 14.01 million
Wii Play - 20.91 million
Super Smash Bros. Brawl - 8.1 million
Animal Crossing: City Folk - 3.22 million
Wii Music - 2.5 million
Link's Crossbow Training - 3.44 million
Super Mario Galaxy - 7.66 million
Mario Party 8 - 6.28 million
Mario Super Sluggers - 1.21 million

(note: these focus on more recent games, and there are other million+ sellers not listed like Zelda: Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, Super Paper Mario, etc.)

Nintendo's Third Quarter Financial Results Briefing (http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2009/090130e.pdf)

From the same document it appears that Punch Out Wii will be released in the first half of the year.

It warms the heart to see Super Mario Galaxy sell that much. Best game ever.

Considering when they came out, it's quite possible that the Wii Fit installed base could pass the PS3's lifetime sales this year or the next.

[Daimyo]

The news actually isn't all bad for Sony. Nielsen released its latest sales numbers for DVD/Blu-ray sales. Blu-ray now accounts for 17% of all movie sales, which is a very significant increase from only three months ago, when they only accounted for 9% of all movie sales.
Do they count Wal-Mart yet in their sales data?

[Cringer]

Think I mentioned this in another thread, but I have two roommates who bought PS3s in the past 4 months. Collectively, they own exactly one game for it...Rock Band 2. Probably about 10 Blu Rays among them.

Is that good or bad for Sony?

About average I would guess, to me anyways. I have had mine for 4 months or so, and have 2 games (a 3rd traded in for a discount on one of my current owned games) and no Blu Ray movies. I am not the best judge here though, since I have had a 360 for years and have 6 games, two of which are my daughter's Viva Pinata games, one a game I got for free, and one 3 years old.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I'm guessing you are basing this flawed statement off of this info:

High-Def Digest Forums - View Single Post - 2009 Blu-ray Sales Metrics Stats: Nielsen/Videoscan/HMM Charts/Ratios/Bestsellers Etc (http://forums.highdefdigest.com/1386529-post4.html)

That 17% figure was for one week, and it was Blu-Ray's share of the Top 20 units, not all movie sales. As a percentage of overall revenue, Blu-Ray is still mainly in the 8-12% range. The explosive growth predicted for this past holiday season never really materialized.

I'll grant you that it's of the Top 20 movies, but my numbers were consistent. The percentage was 8-9% in November-December. It's now much higher in January, averaging over 14% for the month. Your comment regarding explosive growth is obviously incorrect as well. There was substantial growth in the installed base. I already posted those holiday numbers in a previous thread.

[sterlingice]

It warms the heart to see Super Mario Galaxy sell that much. Best game ever.

I was just thinking the same thing about New Super Mario Bros. Not necessarily best game ever, but damn good and 17+ M. That's good for 11th all time. Nintendogs is 7th ever.

The DS vs PS2 LTD numbers are kindof similar.

DS: 97M install base; 7 with 10M (Nintendogs, NSMB, Brain Age, Pokemon: DP, Mario Kart, Brain Age 2, Animal Crossing
PS2: 124M install base; 4 with 10M (GTA:SA, GT3, GTA: VC, GTA3)

SI

[sterlingice]

Actually, if I'm not mistaken, the PS1/N64 generation was pretty close to a 50/50 split. Maybe even a slight edge to Sony. Nintendo lost a lot of third parties by sticking with cartridges when everybody else switched to cheaper-to-manufacture CDs, and Sega totally shat the bed with the Saturn.

Just in googling, I found a message board from back in 2004 and 2005 comparing GameCube sales to N64 and PS2 to PS1, and in 2005, worldwide sales of the PS1 were around 100 million, 40 million of which were sold in the US. The N64 had worldwide sales in 2004 of 32 million, 20 million of which were domestic.

Now I know a year makes a difference, but it doesn't make 68 million units worth of difference, or 20 million units domestically.

Until the Wii, I don't think Nintendo was a 'reigning king' since the days of the SNES.

Wiki has the following numbers, so, yeah, sounds like you were just about right on:

"The North American version officially launched on September 29, 1996 with 500,000 Nintendo 64 units sold in the first four months.[14] Benimaru Itoh, a developer for EarthBound 64 and friend of Shigeru Miyamoto, speculated in 1997 that the N64's lower popularity in Japan was due to the lack of role-playing video games.[15] As of March 31, 2005, the N64 had sold 5.54 million units in Japan, 20.63 million in the Americas, and 6.75 million in other regions, for a total of 32.93 million units."

"On March 31 2005, the PlayStation and PS one reached a combined total of 102.49 million units shipped,[6] becoming the first video game console to reach the 100 million mark.[9] As of July 20, 2008, the PlayStation has sold 102 million units.[5] Sony ceased production of the PlayStation on March 23, 2006, over 11 years since it was first produced.[10]"


SI

[Big Fo]

I was just thinking the same thing about New Super Mario Bros. Not necessarily best game ever, but damn good and 17+ M. That's good for 11th all time. Nintendogs is 7th ever.


It's been a few years and NSMB was such a big hit, I'm surprised Nintendo hasn't made or announced another 2D Mario platformer for the DS.

[RainMaker]

I'll grant you that it's of the Top 20 movies, but my numbers were consistent. The percentage was 8-9% in November-December. It's now much higher in January, averaging over 14% for the month. Your comment regarding explosive growth is obviously incorrect as well. There was substantial growth in the installed base. I already posted those holiday numbers in a previous thread.

Isn't percent still a bad statistic since movie sales are falling off the face of the Earth? Increasing market share in a dying industry isn't exactly "explosive growth".

[cartman]

Isn't percent still a bad statistic since movie sales are falling off the face of the Earth? Increasing market share in a dying industry isn't exactly "explosive growth".

Not to mention the November and December percentages as being lower than the October percentages. How could I have missed such explosiveness when the numbers were lower. :rolleyes:

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Good news for European PS3 owners. They'll be getting the Killzone 2 demo early. It will be on the Euro PSN on February 5th. U.S. owners won't see the demo until February 26th.

Really excited to pick up this game. The early reviews have been between 9.0 and 9.5 thus far. Toss in The Show and the next month or so should have some great gaming available.

[Big Fo]

EA lost $641,000,000 in the most recent quarter. Ouch.

The Sims 3 coming out in June will probably ease some of that pain.


morningstar.com (http://news.morningstar.com/newsnet/ViewNews.aspx?article=/BW/20090203006591_univ.xml)


* EA was the leading publisher in North America with approximately 20 percent segment share according to NPD.In Europe, EA was number two behind Nintendo with an estimated 16 percent segment share.

* EA had 13 titles rated 80 or above in calendar 2008 – up from seven a year ago.

* FIFA 09 was EA’s best selling title with 7.8 million copies and charted at number one across all platforms in Europe in the holiday quarter.

* Rock Band was the number one title across all platforms in North America for calendar 2008, based on NPD data.

* Need for Speed Undercover sold 5.2M copies. For fiscal year 2010, the Company will launch three separate versions of Need For Speed (NFS), NFS Shift for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, NFS Nitro for the Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ and NFS World Online for the PC.

* LITTLEST PET SHOP sold 2.8 million copies on the Nintendo DS, Wii and PC. In the holiday quarter, it was a top-five title on the Nintendo DS in Europe and North America, based on NPD data.

* Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning®, an MMO from EA’s Mythic Entertainment studio, ended the quarter with over 300K paying subscribers in North America and Europe.

* EA’s digital direct-to-consumer revenue, which includes online and wireless, was $313 million year-to-date, up 27 percent year-over-year.

* Pogo™ achieved an all-time high of 1.7M paying subscribers in the quarter.

* EA Mobile™ is the world’s leading publisher of games for phones – with revenue of $50 million in the quarter – up 28 percent year-over-year.

[SackAttack]

Good news for European PS3 owners. They'll be getting the Killzone 2 demo early. It will be on the Euro PSN on February 5th. U.S. owners won't see the demo until February 26th.

Really excited to pick up this game. The early reviews have been between 9.0 and 9.5 thus far. Toss in The Show and the next month or so should have some great gaming available.

The beta is still sitting on my PS3. I wonder if it's still accessible.

[SackAttack]

Wiki has the following numbers, so, yeah, sounds like you were just about right on:

"The North American version officially launched on September 29, 1996 with 500,000 Nintendo 64 units sold in the first four months.[14] Benimaru Itoh, a developer for EarthBound 64 and friend of Shigeru Miyamoto, speculated in 1997 that the N64's lower popularity in Japan was due to the lack of role-playing video games.[15] As of March 31, 2005, the N64 had sold 5.54 million units in Japan, 20.63 million in the Americas, and 6.75 million in other regions, for a total of 32.93 million units."

"On March 31 2005, the PlayStation and PS one reached a combined total of 102.49 million units shipped,[6] becoming the first video game console to reach the 100 million mark.[9] As of July 20, 2008, the PlayStation has sold 102 million units.[5] Sony ceased production of the PlayStation on March 23, 2006, over 11 years since it was first produced.[10]"


SI

as much as I'd like to take credit for being 'right on,' those were numbers I grabbed from a Google search. Still, nice to know I didn't grab completely wrong numbers.

[Ryan S]

Good news for European PS3 owners. They'll be getting the Killzone 2 demo early. It will be on the Euro PSN on February 5th. U.S. owners won't see the demo until February 26th

Anyone in the US can register a european PSN account. I have had a US account since I got my PS3 to download NCAA and MLB demos. Once you have downloaded and installed the games, it should work on all of your PSN profiles.

Basic instructions here - How To: Create a PSN Account For a Foreign Region - PS3Forums (http://ps3forums.com/showthread.php?t=45397&highlight=honkong+account)

[RainMaker]

EA lost $641,000,000 in the most recent quarter. Ouch.

The Sims 3 coming out in June will probably ease some of that pain.


morningstar.com (http://news.morningstar.com/newsnet/ViewNews.aspx?article=/BW/20090203006591_univ.xml)

Tough to blame anyone but themselves. They've destroyed football gaming and are miles behind in Basketball. Many other games were half-assed and sloppy. Sure the economy is tough, but they have left too many customers on the table. A game like Madden should be selling 20-30% more than it does.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

It appears that even Nintendo isn't immune from the economic downturn. They cut their forecasted profit by 33% and cut their forecasted shipments for this year by 1 million units. I'm sure no one will be crying any tears for them, but a bit of a surprise to see this news given their success overall this generation.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/090130/index.html

[Big Fo]

It's more to do with the yen's appreciation than lower projected sales. 85% of their revenue comes from overseas.

Still, $2.5 billion in projected profit is acceptable imo.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/090130/img/slide/06.jpg
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/090130/img/slide/07.jpg






Also, in a conference call after those EA financial results came out there were a few announcements:

Dead Space for Wii - will be out this year and sounds like it will support the Motion Plus controller add-on coming out in a few months. Not sure if it's a port or spinoff. joystiq.com link (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/03/ea-announces-dead-space-for-wii/)

Mass Effect 2 (1Q 2010) - "multiplatform." Unclear if that means 360/PC or 360/PC/PS3 or something else.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (1Q 2010) - no platform listed. Likely 360/PS3 as the first one was.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

It's more to do with the yen's appreciation than lower projected sales. 85% of their revenue comes from overseas.

Yes, but that's the point. Their overseas revenue is projected to increase even more over the coming year with Japan in a console quagmire. Given that the economic issues aren't expected to improve, that will still be an issue next year. The shipped unit forecast reduction obviously is related to the stagnant Japanese market.

Mass Effect 2 (1Q 2010) - "multiplatform." Unclear if that means 360/PC or 360/PC/PS3 or something else.

Mass Effect 2 will be on the PS3. That's been rumored for months. Any title that is 360/PC would be listed as a '360 exclusive'.

Balking at paying for third party exclusives is one of the few good moves that Sony made this generation. Sony has a good stable of first party games and the lack of big sales by 360 and PS3 has forced many publishers to go multiplatform to maximize profit.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Video from a couple of big upcoming games.

Killzone 2

<div><object width="420" height="339"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x88igo" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x88igo" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="339" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always"></embed></object><br /><b><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x88igo">Killzone 2 - Multiplayer Maps Preview</a></b><br /><i>by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/dpadmagazine">dpadmagazine</a></i></div>

Halo Wars

<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437" height="288" id="viddler"><param name="movie" value="http://www.viddler.com/player/2dfd4c23/" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"/><embed src="http://www.viddler.com/player/2dfd4c23/" width="437" height="288" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" name="viddler" ></embed></object>

Edit: Here's a link for Halo Wars in case the embed didn't work properly.....

http://loot-ninja.com/2009/02/03/halo-wars-get-the-vibe-dev-documentary/

[gstelmack]

Oh noes, Nintendo will "only" ship 26.5 million instead of 27.5 million. The sky is falling, the sky is falling!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Oh noes, Nintendo will "only" ship 26.5 million instead of 27.5 million. The sky is falling, the sky is falling!

I love how I note in my post that no one will shed a tear over the change, then everyone posts that I'm suddenly Chicken Little and predicting the demise of Nintendo. :D

[Big Fo]

Killzone 2 vid

I got a chuckle out of the new Penny Arcade comic this morning:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2009/20090204.jpg

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I got a chuckle out of the new Penny Arcade comic this morning:

Took a slash at both sides. It's less actual funny and more about stirring up both sides to increase viewing of their stuff. They're not much different than talk radio hosts in that regard.

[gstelmack]

I love how I note in my post that no one will shed a tear over the change, then everyone posts that I'm suddenly Chicken Little and predicting the demise of Nintendo. :D

That's because you did your typical "here is horrible news for Nintendo" ("Nintendo isn't immune from the economic downturn", "but a bit of a surprise to see this news given their success overall this generation") emphasizing the 1 million fewer units shipped and the 33% profit reduction and posting the CYA bit you mentioned above. I'm just putting that 1 million units into context here as being less than a 5% drop in projected sales. A 1 million unit drop in projected sales would be a much bigger deal with Microsoft or Sony.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

That's because you did your typical "here is horrible news for Nintendo" ("Nintendo isn't immune from the economic downturn", "but a bit of a surprise to see this news given their success overall this generation") emphasizing the 1 million fewer units shipped and the 33% profit reduction and posting the CYA bit you mentioned above. I'm just putting that 1 million units into context here as being less than a 5% drop in projected sales. A 1 million unit drop in projected sales would be a much bigger deal with Microsoft or Sony.

Tossing out your assumptions and dealing with the context, a 5% drop in sales is a significant number. I do agree that it would obviously be a much bigger deal with the other two consoles.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

New game announcement......Red Dead Redemption for the PS3/360......Fall 09. Loved the first game. Looking forward to the sequel.

News: Rockstar unveils Red Dead Redemption - ComputerAndVideoGames.com (http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=207421)

[Cringer]

I may have to get that. Looking at Red Dead Revolver, I may have never played it. I am not sure, I remember the name of it like I did but the screenies don't ring any bells. Rockstar and open world is always nice for me though.

[SackAttack]

It appears that even Nintendo isn't immune from the economic downturn. They cut their forecasted profit by 33% and cut their forecasted shipments for this year by 1 million units. I'm sure no one will be crying any tears for them, but a bit of a surprise to see this news given their success overall this generation.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/090130/index.html

It's not the recession.

If I have to explain that, you're being deliberately obtuse.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Hey! You don't see this too often. A honest and candid interview from a Sony exec where they don't say anything stupid!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/feb/05/david-reeves-sony-europe-losses

[Ryan S]

If anyone is interested, the killzone 2 demo is up on the UK PSN store. if you follow the instructions I linked to in a previous post you should be able to create a UK account.

All you need is a UK address and an email account you have not registered with PSN.

[spleen1015]

Does Sony have a set time of the day that they make stuff available on the Store? I don't see the MLBtS demo out there yet.

[Logan]

Tossing out your assumptions and dealing with the context, a 5% drop in sales is a significant number.

"What I would give to only be experiencing a 5% drop in sales." - 99.9999999999% of CEOs in America.

[Ryan S]

Does Sony have a set time of the day that they make stuff available on the Store? I don't see the MLBtS demo out there yet.

The UK - Euro store updates at around 4pm GMT, so I would imagine that the US update would be late afternoon EST.

[SackAttack]

The UK - Euro store updates at around 4pm GMT, so I would imagine that the US update would be late afternoon EST.

I know that it was early afternoon in California but it's been late afternoon/early evening in Wisconsin.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Does Sony have a set time of the day that they make stuff available on the Store? I don't see the MLBtS demo out there yet.

It usually gets updated around 3-4 PM every Thursday.

[Ryan S]

If anyone is interested, the killzone 2 demo is up on the UK PSN store.

The NHL 3 on 3 demo is also available on the UK store.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

The NHL 3 on 3 demo is also available on the UK store.

Forgot about that. I think the 360 version of the game was delayed a week if I remember correctly.

[Ryan S]

The 3 on 3 demo is short (2 minutes of gametime) but it looks promising. It does not look like much of a single player game, but it could be a great multiplayer game. I will wait and see what others say about multiplayer before I buy.

[Eaglesfan27]

A good deal on Xbox Live, a 12 month card for only 29.99:

Xbox Live 12-Month Gold Card for Xbox 360 - Microsoft - Toys "R" Us (http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2315301)

[SackAttack]

A good deal on Xbox Live, a 12 month card for only 29.99:

Xbox Live 12-Month Gold Card for Xbox 360 - Microsoft - Toys "R" Us (http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2315301)

That's been going on at a few different retailers for the last few weeks. Either Microsoft is using a "rolling thunder" campaign to get people in the doors at retailers (who also sell their games), or else they're getting ready to drop the price to $30/year, but they're getting the visibility of the service up first.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

That's been going on at a few different retailers for the last few weeks. Either Microsoft is using a "rolling thunder" campaign to get people in the doors at retailers (who also sell their games), or else they're getting ready to drop the price to $30/year, but they're getting the visibility of the service up first.

It's probably going to be announced as standard right before the PS3 price cut, hoping to take away some of the noise surrounding that PS3 announcement.

[Big Fo]

January NPD estimate:

Wii: 550,000
360: 275,000
PS3: 225,000

vg247.com link (http://www.vg247.com/2009/02/09/pachter-us-estimates-275k-360-225-ps3-in-january/)

Dead Rising 2 announced for 360/PS3/PC, not being made internally

kotaku.com link (http://kotaku.com/5149650/dead-rising-2-its-real-and-its-spectacular)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Good deal on Blitz II: The League. It's actually a pretty good game and a great value at $19.99.....


PS3:

http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=71297

360:

http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=71299

[Cringer]

Since these are pretty much the video game news threads.....

Call of Duty: World at War DLC Map Pack comes out in March on all platforms (except Wii). Three new MP maps plus a new Nazi Zombie map. The new maps sound cool, Berlin at night with fires as the only light, bombed out underground train station, and a Japanese village one.