Wii beats PS3 by large

[T2k]

Wii sales in Americas top 600,000 in first week

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

REDMOND, Wash. -- Nintendo Co. said consumers in the Americas snapped up more than 600,000 of its Wii video game systems in eight days, totaling about $190 million in sales as it competes with Sony Corp.'s new PlayStation 3.

Sales of both long-awaited systems are not expected to meet demand until next year. The Wii launched Nov. 19; the PS3 made its U.S. debut Nov. 17.

Sony Corp. has said it will have about 1 million PS3 systems for North American stores by the end of the year. Nintendo said it will have shipped 4 million units.

"We've shipped retailers several times the amount of hardware the other company was able to deliver for its launch around the same time - and we still sold out," Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said in a statement.

Source: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Wii_Sales.html

 

[T2k]

Gamers say Wii has PS3 beaten
By Mike Snider, USA TODAY

Since their debuts more than a week ago, two new game systems earn good grades from consumers — but the underdog Nintendo Wii is the early favorite over the pricier, sexier Sony PlayStation3.

Both sold out on Day 1: Nov. 19 for the $500-$600 PS3 and Nov. 21 for the $250 Wii. But Nintendo seems to be reaping the benefits of a better supply.

Overall, Sony is estimated to have shipped between 125,000 and 175,000 PS3s to stores, says American Technology Research analyst P.J. McNealy; the target had been about 400,000. Nintendo shipped between 425,000 and 475,000, he says.

GIFT GUIDE: Games for all ages

Nintendo's launch "has been probably a little better than expected and Sony's has been a little bit more disappointing," McNealy says. "If you have to rank on who won this holiday so far, Microsoft is first, Nintendo a close second and Sony a distant third, which is a rare statement."

Many gave up on getting a PS3 and opted for the Wii, according to New Media Strategies, a research firm that monitored Web activity related to the systems. And 38% who sought a PS3 and were subjected "to sleep deprivation, lost wages, missed classes, the elements and even muggings came away from the experience with a bitter taste in their mouths," the report says.

About 49% of online discussions were favorable to Wii, compared with 27% for PS3. Says the firm's Sam Huxley: "The hype machine went too far."

The Wii, says Bryan Clute, 26, of Silverdale, Wash., rates an A because the new remote-shaped wireless controller is "something I haven't been able to experience before. It really adds to gameplay" in the bowling game that is included with the system. Clute, who waited in line at a GameStop store to reserve a system, says, "It was well worth it."

David Nieves, 26, of Philadelphia gives the Wii an A-. "Nintendo has definitely gotten it right." He and friends spent most of the first day golfing, boxing, bowling and playing baseball. The games "were a blast."

Assessments were harsher for the PS3. Ray McLean, 34, of Brooklyn, N.Y., rates the PS3 an A but gives the games a B "because many of the launch titles were pushed back to later dates." He wanted to see aerial combat game Warhawk, for one, because it would take full advantage of the motion-sensitive controller. But connected to his 42-inch HDTV, "I'm surprised at how good (the games) look, given that they are first-generation games."

Brett Conlon, 26, of Fairfax, Va., gives the PS3 a B- because of the system updates needed before playing games, going online and playing multiplayer games. "I will say, however, that Resistance: Fall of Man shows a lot of potential. The Blu-ray player has amazing clarity (compared with) a regular DVD."

On its website, Entertainment Weekly gave the Wii a B+ and PS3 a B. "The Wii slightly edges out the PS3 in our head-to-head because it has a blockbuster Zelda game at launch and a very attractive price point," Geoff Keighley says. But in the long run, "the race will get even tighter."

VOICES AROUND THE USA

"I waited in line at Wal-Mart all night to get a Wii. It has been a delight. Our 2-year-old loves it. It gets us off the couch and active. The tennis game in Wii Sports really gets you breaking a sweat. The price, fun factor and the motion technology make this system a slam-dunk for Nintendo."

-- Andrew, 35, and Marcie Tomb, 30, Kansas City, Mo.

"I was lucky enough to get my hands on a pre-ordered Wii on Sunday (Actually, my wife surprised me with the pre-order receipt for my b-day) and have fallen in love all over again -- with Nintendo. I love the simple interface, which allowed my wife, my in-laws, even Grandma to have a quick go at it. The graphics were fairly simple, but we are from the old school, growing up playing Mario and Pac-Man: who needs photorealistic graphics when you have insanely fun game play?"

-- Juan Pablo Rojas, 25, Orlando, Fla.

"I love how much power the PS3 has, but on second thought … I saw the PS3 as just another powerful computer, (rather) than something I know I will have awesome experiences with. The Wii, however, touched a portion in my game-oriented mind that made me wonder as to how it could revolutionize the constant button smashing I have been doing for many years. The price, the fun and the thought that was shoved in the Wii for gamers is the winner this next generation, hands down. Apparently for Sony engineers, the next-gen consoles are ‘powerful computers.'"

-- Timothy John Z. Garcia, 17, Surrey, British Columbia

"I have played the PS3 and it is much better than I thought it would be. I don't like the motion sensing in the controller. I do enjoy the graphics and game play. The browser is sub-par. The Sony Online website to download content looks like it was made by a 12-year-old. The product itself seems well-built (even though it collects dust profusely) and I love playing it. Also online play is very fun."

-- Orpheus Vazquez, 24, Nashville, Tenn.

Here: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2006-11-27-wii-ps3-war_x.htm

 

[T2k]

Nintendo Sells More Than 600,000 Wii Units in 8 Days (Update2)

By Michael White

Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Nintendo Co. sold more than 600,000 Wii video-game consoles in the Americas during the product's first eight days on the market as the company battled to take sales from Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3.

Sales of consoles, games and accessories totaled about $190 million, the company said today in an e-mailed statement. The Wii went on sale Nov. 19, two days after PlayStation 3.

Nintendo has positioned the $250 Wii as a simpler, cheaper alternative to the PlayStation 3, which has a more powerful processor and sells for $499 and $599. Nintendo plans to ship 4 million worldwide by the end of the year and has told retailers it can replenish supplies at a rate of 250,000 a week.

``Whatever Nintendo is shipping is still being gobbled up,'' Mike Hickey, an analyst with Janco Partners in Greenwood Village, Colorado, said in an interview. ``There's huge demand for these things.''

Sales include 454,000 copies of the game ``The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess,'' Nintendo said.

Shares of Kyoto-based Nintendo rose 100 yen to 26,430 yen today in Japan. They have gained 85 percent this year. Sony American depositary receipts fell 95 cents to $38.68 as of 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading and have dropped 5 percent this year.

At the suggested retail price of $250, Wii comes with five Nintendo sports games. Some retailers are bundling in additional games, pushing the price much higher.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, sells the console and a total of 13 games including ``Madden NFL 07'' on its Web site for $648.38. A PlayStation 3 with 12 games cost $1,421.98. Toys 'R' Us Inc.'s Web site listed the Wii console and selections of four to six additional games for $489.94 and $589.92.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at Mwhite8@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: November 27, 2006

Source

 

[T2k]

Yahoo: Wii is a massive hit

Wii is a Massive Hit
Monday November 27, 6:10 pm ET

600,000 First-Week Purchases Attracting Veteran and New Gamers

REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Built on a foundation of pure fun, Nintendo's new Wii(TM) video game system sold through to more than 600,000 consumers in the Americas in just its first eight days of availability. That's a rate of nearly one per second continuously since the Nov. 19 launch. Including just first-party software and accessory sales, Wii instantly has become a $190 million business in the Americas.

During the Thanksgiving holiday shopping weekend, there was plenty of conversation across the nation about the high demand for the Wii system, with the acknowledgment that if you see one, you'd better buy it.

"Even with sales already in excess of 600,000 units, demand continues to exceed supply, as it's clear this is one of the 'gotta-have' products for the holiday season," says Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "We've shipped retailers several times the amount of hardware the other company was able to deliver for its launch around the same time -- and we still sold out. Given the inclusive nature of Wii game play, we're seeing this new form of video gaming is already a huge hit with gamers and newcomers alike. It continues to be a phenomenal launch."

The system also is succeeding in its stated mission of reinvigorating current players, while attracting new ones. Every Wii system includes the five-game Wii Sports(TM) software, which is the talk of the Internet, featuring countless reports on how previously devout non-gamers have suddenly been converted via the amazing new way games are experienced using the system's remarkable controller. At the same time, the masterful The Legend of Zelda®: Twilight Princess, a favorite of avid gamers, already has achieved sales of more than 454,000 units in the Americas, representing more than 75 percent of all hardware purchasers.

Licensees, pleased not only with the sales performance of the Wii, but also its creative development capabilities, are publicly sharing their comments:

"Madden NFL 07 is a great example of how the Wii gives players a whole new experience on their favorite games," says EA Studio President Paul Lee. "EA's creative teams are working to build more Wii features into some of our most popular franchises."

"The creativity we've been able to unleash on the Wii system with our game Red Steel has been eye-opening for our development teams," explains Ubisoft President Laurent Detoc. "Having the opportunity to design and develop entirely new game-play experiences using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk is both exciting and rewarding."

Classic games also are proving to be a hit on Wii, which offers downloadable access to 20 years of the best of Nintendo®, Sega Genesis® and TurboGrafx16(TM) hits via the system's Virtual Console(TM) feature.

The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii(TM), Nintendo DS(TM), Game Boy® Advance and Nintendo GameCube(TM) systems. Since 1983, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.2 billion video games and more than 387 million hardware units globally, and has created industry icons like Mario(TM), Donkey Kong®, Metroid®, Zelda(TM) and Pokemon®. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's Web site at www.nintendo.com.

 

[T2k]

PS3 vs. Wii @ PopMatters

PS3 vs. Wii

by Victor Godinez
The Dallas Morning News
28 November 2006

So, who won the launch? Nintendo, without a doubt. Granted, it’s just the first battle in a long war, but it’s hard to deny that Mario stomped the competition over the launch weekend. According to American Technology Research, for example, Sony probably had anywhere between 125,000 and 175,000 PlayStation3 consoles in stores for the launch. And that includes 15,000 systems used as in-store demo units. Nintendo, on the other hand, pumped between 425,000 and 475,000 Wii consoles onto retail shelves.

ALL ABOUT THE GAMES: Wii buyers also purchased more games, which is where the real profits are. On a conference call last week, officials with GameStop, the country’s largest games retailer, said each Wii console buyer in their stores during the launch weekend also purchased three Wii games, on average. PS3 buyers, on the other hand, bought 1.5 games on average, an attach rate that the executives deemed “low.”

PS3 AND EBAY: One reason few PS3 games were sold - other than that most were mediocre launch titles or rehashes of Xbox 360 games - is that many buyers had no intention of taking their systems out of the box. The research firm Lazard Capital Markets estimates that between 10 percent and 15 percent of the first batch of PS3s, about 20,000 consoles, have been resold on eBay. Once those systems filter into the hands of actual game players, game sales will probably pick up.

ROUND 2: The next stage is the period between now and Christmas. Microsoft has officially said it still expects to reach 10 million 360s sold worldwide by the end of the year, thanks to its one-year head start. But some industry experts think it might come up a little short. American Technology Research originally predicted about 2 million PS3s worldwide by the end of the year but has said those numbers are “now under review.” Finally, Nintendo is expected to ship 1.5 million to 2 million Wii systems to North America alone by Jan. 1. Translation: You’ll have better luck finding a Wii than a PS3 before Christmas.

LONG TERM: So Microsoft will have a solid but not insurmountable lead going into 2007, while Nintendo has stolen a march on Sony. Whether those positions hold once all the supply problems are ironed out and consumers can buy any console they want is another matter. Still, Microsoft and Nintendo have to be thrilled right now.

XBOX 360 JUKEBOX: Microsoft launched its movie and TV show download service for the 360 this week, and you can now buy and rent a variety of high-definition and standard-def offerings. No word yet on a larger hard drive to store all those videos, but it’s got be in the pipeline. This is a really cool idea whose time has come. But you have to wonder why Microsoft bothered releasing a separate HD-DVD movie drive just a few weeks ago. If the future of video is digital downloads, why design and sell a physical disc drive on the verge of obsolescence?

 

[T2k]

Wii profitable from day one

by GamesIndustry.biz

20/11/06 17:00

Nintendo of Canada exec Pierre-Paul Trépanier has told our sister site GamesIndustry.biz that the company is already raking in the cash following yesterday's launch of the Wii.

"We make a profit on the system itself," Trépanier said. "Unlike our competitors, we don’t have ulterior motives; we’re not in it to sell HD TVs, or to become the operating system in the living room or anything like that.

"We’re in the gaming business, and we have to make money from everything we sell - and we are making money from day one on the Wii."
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According to Trépanier, Nintendo is still on track to meet shipment targets for the Wii - and he confirmed that North America will get the lion's share.

"We have 4 million units ready to go, which is something our competitors have struggled with... Historically a bit more than half of our worldwide shipment would go to North America, I think that’s probably a good estimate."

But despite the healthy stock supply, Trépanier conceded, the Wii is still likely to sell out this Christmas: "We do estimate there will be supply issues within the first few weeks."

However, he continued, "We’re receiving a constant supply. Every week there is a flow of product to the marketplace. The extremely complex and sophisticated supply system ensures that product will be delivered quickly to the stores that need it.

"We have a good supply management system that evaluates fairly well the demand and pull from each individual store depending on its size, class, location, seasonality and things like that," Trépanier explained.

"We’re not putting fixed numbers for stores; we really assign quantities based on historical pull."

Trépanier went on to defend Nintendo's decision to launch the Wii just two days after PlayStation 3, stating, "The timing is great as it’s pre-Thanksgiving, which is a very important commercial consideration in the United States, and it’s great for the holidays.

"And the great news is the feedback we’re getting from media and consumers and all of our research is that the Nintendo Wii really is the pretty girl at the party this year."

Trépanier's comments came at a Wii launch event held at the Ontario Place theme park. Members of the press, public and games industry were all invited to attend, and the response was positive despite long queues to play the most highly anticipated titles (with Ubisoft's Red Steel proving particularly popular).

Trépanier declined to put a figure on the number of Wii units shipped to Canada, but did say that the territory represents "about ten per cent" of the North American market. Analysts have estimated that as many as 200,000 consoles were available in Canada at launch.

"Canada is more important than its actual market size," Trépanier said.

"Not only is Canada 10 per cent of North America, which is significant, but the Canadian subsidiary of Nintendo is widely regarded as one of the best subsidiaries in the world on a whole bunch of measures including profit per employee and market share."

The Nintendo Wii will launch in Japan on December 2, six days ahead of the European release.

Eurogamer

 

[Stargazer]

I was thinking last year when the XBOX 360 came out that the Wii would be successful to many because of the lower price and many people do not care as much about the graphics as they do price and playability, maybe even more successful as a result. I did not think that the PS3 would do that bad though. I was reading another thread not along ago where someone from Atari, I believe the head guy, was stating that he predicted that the PS3 wouldn't do well/flunk! I remember people saying a while back that they thought that PS3 would be the one that would do XBOX 360 and Nintendo in. Perhaps its time for Nintendo to make a comeback.

 

[Heavie]

I really don't care, who win. Winning console wars don't benifit me. I want them all to do well and I hate for any to fail. Loseing video game manufactures hurts all real gamers.

 

[T2k]

I really don't care, who win. Winning console wars don't benifit me. I want them all to do well and I hate for any to fail. Loseing video game manufactures hurts all real gamers.

You're confused: none of these would quit the race if they fail with their current console. It would finally stir some changes at Sony if they would fail with PS3, however.

 

[mikley28]

You're confused: none of these would quit the race if they fail with their current console. It would finally stir some changes at Sony if they would fail with PS3, however.

hey dude, check this one out!!

Sony shuffles senior execs

This goes to show you, if you are incompetent at your job then you get promoted.

Or how about this one...


Analyst: "I cannot imagine a PlayStation 4"

and

EA: 500k-800k PS3s in US in '06

This one can be good or bad depending on how you look at it.... Good that they plan on shipping more to North America... Bad that they STILL are under the projected number in North America... I definately see their target number slipping through their fingers.

 

[korsjs]

i don't even think they will ship the 500k-800k they are talking about. they had less than 200k for launch and that is with months of build time. i think 400k is more correct.

 

[mikley28]

i don't even think they will ship the 500k-800k they are talking about. they had less than 200k for launch and that is with months of build time. i think 400k is more correct.

I know... I just didn't want the Sony Police (you know who I am talking about... ) coming after me on these forums saying that I only post bad stuff about Sony. But it is hard to post good articles about Sony when there aren't many.

 

[Stargazer]

Nintendo was wise this time around by offering more supply for the demand at a lot cheaper price. If I read correctly in another thread, it stated that Nintendo was going to make a profit off of the console which is different than PS3 losing money on each unit sold. There are always lessons to be learned.

 

[T2k]

hey dude, check this one out!!

Sony shuffles senior execs

This goes to show you, if you are incompetent at your job then you get promoted.

Or how about this one...


Analyst: "I cannot imagine a PlayStation 4"

and

EA: 500k-800k PS3s in US in '06

This one can be good or bad depending on how you look at it.... Good that they plan on shipping more to North America... Bad that they STILL are under the projected number in North America... I definately see their target number slipping through their fingers.

To me it rather sounds finally they have realized Kutaragi switched from coke to strong hallucinogenic acid and must be removed from daily business things, hence the 'chariman and ceo' BS position.

 

[T2k]

2000 people in a line in Japan for Wii - by Reuters: http://today.reuters.com/news/artic...T_0_NINTENDO-WII-PICTURE.XML&rpc=66&type=qcna

Japan gamers brave frosty weather for Nintendo Wii

By Kiyoshi Takenaka

TOKYO, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s (7974.OS: Quote, NEWS , Research) game console, the Wii, went on sale in Japan on Saturday, greeted by thousands of shivering but exhilarated game enthusiasts who had lined up through a wintry night to bring home the latest machine.

"My friends and family called me a fool. They don't see a point of rushing to a store on the launch day when you can get it much easier a while later," said Junpei Ito, a 24-year-old company employee.

"But joining the line like this is part of fun," said Ito, one of about 2,000 people in a queue besieging electronic retailer Bic Camera Inc.'s flagship shop in central Tokyo.


The Wii, which competes head on with Sony Corp.'s (6758.T: Quote, NEWS , Research) PlayStation 3 (PS3) and Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile , Research) Xbox 360, features a motion-sensitive controller that allows players to control the game by swinging the device like a tennis racket or wielding it like a sword.

Nintendo, known for such game characters as Mario, Donkey Kong and Pokemon, sells the Wii for 25,000 yen ($216.6) in Japan, making it the lowest-priced game gear among the three.

"The most fascinating thing about the Wii is the control scheme, the way of playing the game ... Now there are Xbox 360 and PS3, but the Wii is, like, completely different," said Sam Thomas, 32, also in the Bic Camera queue.

Thomas, a vice president of a Tokyo-based placement agency for the game industry, waited for nine hours before the store opened its door to the Wii crowd at 7:00 a.m. (2200 GMT Friday).

Before the official store opening, its inventory of about 3,000 units had already been committed to around 1,000 customers who placed pre-orders and the other 2,000 in the queue.

For the Japanese launch, which followed its North American debut on Nov. 19, Nintendo has shipped about 400,000 units, supplying four times as many consoles as Sony did for its PS3 launch in the nation on Nov. 11.

SECOND GROWTH ENGINE

Nintendo, which dominates the handheld game sector but lags behind Sony and Microsoft in the console market, aims to repeat the success of its DS portable machine with the Wii, bringing both of the game maker's two growth engines to full throttle.

Sony packs the PS3 with its cutting-edge technology including a Blu-ray player and the Cell microchip, dubbed a "supercomputer on a chip", to guarantee lifelike graphics and speedy downloading of game software and video clips.
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But the advanced functions and components drove up PS3's manufacturing costs. The basic model of the PS3 costs twice as much as the Wii.

In contrast, Nintendo focused its effort to offer innovative, but easy-to-play games to broaden the overall gaming population, a strategy that helped the DS far outsell Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld machine.

Nintendo in October raised its sales forecast for the DS to 20 million units from 17 million for the year to March, while Sony slashed its PSP shipment target for the same period by 25 percent to 9 million, boding well for the Wii.

Robust DS sales and growing expectations for the Wii have boosted the Nintendo share price by 91 percent so far this year, outshining a 4-percent decline in Sony, which was hit by a recall of 9.6 million notebook PC batteries.

Nintendo aims to sell four million units of the Wii in 2006, while Sony, which was forced to postpone PS3's European launch by four months to March due to a production glitch, plans to ship two million units of its new game gear by December.

The Wii will go on sale in Europe on Dec. 8 for an estimated 249 euros. ($1=115.43 yen)

Let me repeat this: 2000 people on line for the Wii at a single store in Tokyo.

Japanese are nuts, period.

 

[T2k]

Store manager - from AP via WaPo - says it was more than 3000 people:

Nintendo's Wii Hits Japanese Stores


By HIROKO TABUCHI
The Associated Press
Saturday, December 2, 2006; 6:36 PM

TOKYO -- Nintendo's Wii video game system hit Japanese stores Saturday with long lineups and shortages, following its sellout U.S. launch last month.

More than 3,000 people braved frosty weather to line up at downtown Tokyo electronics retailer Bic Camera, hoping to get their hands on the console, said store spokeswoman Naoko Ito.


Student Kentaro Watanabe, in a papier-mache controller, receives a bag containing his Wii video game console as he becomes one of the first customers to obtain Nintendo's much touted console at the Yurakucho shop of electronics retailer Bic Camera in Saturday morning, December 2, 2006. Two weeks after it first went on sale in the U.S., the game playing gadget made its debut on the Japanese domestic market. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
Student Kentaro Watanabe, in a papier-mache controller, receives a bag containing his Wii video game console as he becomes one of the first customers to obtain Nintendo's much touted console at the Yurakucho shop of electronics retailer Bic Camera in Saturday morning, December 2, 2006. Two weeks after it first went on sale in the U.S., the game playing gadget made its debut on the Japanese domestic market. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi) (Shizuo Kambayashi - AP)

____________

Student Kentaro Watanabe, in a papier-mache controller, receives a bag containing his Wii video game console as he becomes one of the first customers to obtain Nintendo's much touted console at the Yurakucho shop of electronics retailer Bic Camera in Saturday morning, December 2, 2006. Two weeks after it first went on sale in the U.S., the game playing gadget made its debut on the Japanese domestic market. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi) (Shizuo Kambayashi - AP)
____________

The store started turning people away at 5:40 a.m. local time _ more than an hour before doors opened _ and Wiis were sold out "for the foreseeable future," Ito said.

Earlier, crowd-control staff at the store, trying to avoid a stampede, used megaphones to urge shoppers to stop pushing.

Short supplies were reported elsewhere in the capital.

With the Wii, Kyoto-based Nintendo Co. _ which brought the world the mustachioed plumber Super Mario, and Game Boy hand-held game machines _ hopes to challenge the dominance of Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. in the game console market.

Unlike its rivals' high-powered consoles, Nintendo's Wii puts simplicity above fancy graphics and computing horsepower.

Wii's remote-control wand can be swung like a tennis racket, fishing pole, or orchestra baton in easy-to-play games the company hopes will appeal to a wider audience than the traditional young male demographic.

That will be especially crucial in Japan, where a graying population has made the game industry's growth sluggish in recent years.

Wii has a price advantage at US$250 _ about half of PlayStation 3 at roughly US$500 or US$600, depending on the model.

The Xbox 360, which launched last year, sells for US$300 to US$400.

Nintendo also has more machines for sale. Nearly 400,000 Wiis were available for the Japan launch date. U.S. shoppers snapped up more than 600,000 of its Wii video game systems in the week after its launch there on Nov. 19.

Sony had just 100,000 PS3s in Japan and 400,000 consoles in the U.S. when they debuted last month.

Production problems have pushed PlayStation's European launch back to March.

Analysts expect Wii to mount a serious challenge to Sony's 70 percent market share, which it built with previous PlayStation consoles.

Sony has sold more than 200 million PlayStation series machines over the years.

Nomura Securities Co. analyst Yuta Sakurai said last month he expected Nintendo to sell 40 million machines, compared with 70 million PlayStation 3 consoles in the next five years.

More critically, the profit is also likely to be better for Nintendo, while Sony is losing money for every PS3 console it sells until it gets a return on its huge investments.

Sony is expecting to rack up 200 billion yen (US$1.7 billion) in red ink in its game unit for the fiscal year ending March 2007, much of it in startup costs for PlayStation 3. By contrast, Nintendo is forecasting profit of 100 billion yen (US$845 million) for the fiscal year, as Wii buoys earnings in the second half.

This last sentence is also revealing - I have already predicted this very dire financial future for Sony, the question is whether they can bring in more "attachments" because currently PS3 owners only 1 gmae versus Wii owners who buy at least 3 games like me... Nintendo's step was genius, it seems after taking over the entire mobile gaming console market they have just created another cash cow among desktop gaming consoles.

 

[T2k]

N sold 400k on Japanese debut:

Japan's Nintendo's Wii game console sells out on first day

OSAKA, Japan (XFN-ASIA) - Nintendo Co Ltd rolled out its new video game console, the Wii, Saturday, prompting thousands of enthusiasts to line up for hours in front of electronics stores across the country before they opened, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.

The newspaper, without identifying any sources, said in a report in its online edition over the weekend that nearly 400,000 machines had been sold the first day, with many places running out of stock by around noon here Saturday.

Yodobashi Camera Co distributed 1,500 tickets to people waiting at its Akihabara outlet in Tokyo the night before, indicating that the store had sold all its consoles even before it opened Saturday morning.

Similarly, online bookseller Amazon (nasdaq: AMZN - news - people ) Japan KK took orders for the Wii on Nov 17, before the machine was released, and its entire allocation was quickly snapped up.

Nintendo (other-otc: NTDOY.PK - news - people ) shipped nearly 400,000 consoles, about four times as many as Sony (nyse: SNE - news - people ) Computer Entertainment Inc did for its first shipment of PlayStation 3 machines, but it failed to meet the strong demand, the Nikkei said.

 

[mikley28]

N sold 400k on Japanese debut:

Then add the 600k here in the US alone.. Definately not a bad start... MS and Sony should learn a lesson from Nintendo.

 

[T2k]

Then add the 600k here in the US alone.. Definately not a bad start... MS and Sony should learn a lesson from Nintendo.

Yeah and Europe will launch within 3 days with anothe rhalf million... 1.5M Wii within two weeks is far the best start we have seen in recent years.
Now I can really see what N is saying: 4M by the end of this year... that'll be something. Half the 360's install base in 6 weeks!

 

[T2k]

Sony Australia's GM admits "Wii... is a more fun... product":

#
Sony's Foster: Wii is "a more fun, intuitive sort of product"

In an attempt to downplay potentially negative effects the PlayStation brand may see in Australia thanks to the machine's high price and its release delay in that region, Sony Australia & New Zealand general manager Nic Foster inadvertently praised the machine's competition. Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Foster suggested that consumers will be able to identify the PS3's many entertainment functions. "Gamers are extremely aware of what they're after and what they want," he said. "So gamers will already have a very good understanding of what PlayStation 3 offers versus what Wii offers and many of them will probably have both devices." When it came to outlining what distinguishes the PS3 and Nintendo's Wii, however, Foster was surprisingly charitable to his company's opponent. "Wii is a core gaming device. It's a more fun, intuitive sort of product to pick up," he said, "where the PS3 is a broader entertainment solution." Foster went on to point out the PS3's various multimedia functions such as Blu-ray movie playback, and access to photos and music.

PlayStation 3 will launch in Australia in March 2007 at a retail price of AU$829 (US$654.58) for the 20GB model and AU$999 (US$788.81) for the 60GB model.