Xbox 360 still beating PS3 in Japan – and Sony is happy about it
Oh my, it’s still happening. Yes, the Xbox 360 has again outsold the PS3 in Japan, making it four weeks in a row. Granted, the margin is tiny, the PS2 outsold both the Xbox 360 and PS3, and the Wii is still miles ahead, but no one can take this victory away from Microsoft, or the three that have preceded it.
Friday has become my ‘Xbox 360 wins again in Japan’ day, as for the last four weeks, that is the story I have trotted out. It’s hard to ignore what is happening though, as it marks the first time that Microsoft has really been accepted in Japan. And the fact that it keeps happening is surprising me week after week.
This week’s figures are interesting on a couple of different levels. They show how healthy the handheld market is in Japan. The DS and PSP are the two leading consoles, even beating the Wii. Sales of the DS have dropped this week though, probably as a result of the new DSi being announced – Japanese gamers looking to buy a DS may as well now wait a month for the new model.
On the home console front, the Wii is still massively ahead of the PS3 and Xbox 360. The 360 has managed to eke out a fourth consecutive win, but the margins now are minuscule, and are likely to be even closer in weeks to come. And both current gen consoles were beaten by the PS2, which despite being eight years old, was still bought by more than 8,000 gamers last week.
Hardware sales for the week ending September 28th:
DS – 42,385
PSP – 26,045
Wii – 25,330
PS2 – 8,618
Xbox 360 – 8,271
PS3 – 7,232
You’d expect Sony to be spitting feathers at coming last in terms of hardware sales in its home country, but Shuhei Yoshida, President of Worldwide Studios, told GI.biz that he actually wants the Xbox 360 to succeed. He said:
I like to see people here in Japan showing interest in high-definition gaming and more sophisticated gaming experiences.
In terms of realistic-looking graphics and smarter AI, they haven’t really shown the appetite for what this generation of gaming can offer. I’d really like to see both PS3 and 360 succeed here.
What Microsoft is offering and what we are offering are closer, compared to what other platforms are offering. Because of that commonality, the new games coming out on 360 and PS3 help to get consumers more interested in this generation of gaming.
The man has a point, because even a cursory glance at those sales figures reveal how uninterested the Japanese seem to be in current gen consoles and graphically astounding, high performance machines. The PS2 is certified last gen, and the Wii isn’t really much better on the technical side of things. But still, Sony backing the Xbox for success? Wonders will never cease.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has responded to the increased sales of the Xbox 360 over the past few weeks by raising its sales forecast in the country. Stuff.co.nz reports how due to recent hardware shortages as demand outstripped supply, Microsoft is raising hardware shipments to Japan.
Sony supporting Microsoft. Xbox 360 big in Japan. Did someone put something in my drink?
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16 Responses to “Xbox 360 still beating PS3 in Japan – and Sony is happy about it”
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October 10th, 2008
WHAT THE FUCK!!!
TEKKEN 6 ON XBOX!!!
DAMN YOU!!!!
Take a lesson from Microsoft and start taking over their exclusives too Sony… I WANT GEARS OF WAR ON MY PS3… and Fable 2… FUCKING HELL!!!
October 10th, 2008
Tekken any good these days? Last tekken game I played was tekken tag and its hugely outclassed by soul calibur.
October 10th, 2008
@SW
Are you high!!! Tekken is no King of Fighters but Soul Calibur is just a button masher for people who can’t play fighting games.
October 10th, 2008
darkwhitehair:
The first 2 Gears of War 2 are only for Xbox 360 and FABLE II is own by Microsoft.Plus Tekken 6 is nothing big. PS3 has way better exclusives plus the most Xbox 360 has 3 that can brag a lttle PS3 has over 100+
October 10th, 2008
Couldn’t care less about Tekken
This being said, about the article “Nothing can take that away from Microsoft”? Wut ?
Constant sales decline since the release of UI and the price cut, and it’s .. good?
You do realise that it’s only because the PS3 has had like 0 releases this past few weeks (and at its worse last week in Japan – MS buying exclusives has helped, that’s for sure) that the Xbox is still (slightly) ahead, right?
Everything is geared to get right back to normal as early as next week, exactly as I thought
With the arrival of the new 80Gb models soon, the 40Gb model’s price (in japan) being slashed, and LBP + WKC coming soon, it’s almost done and over for MS in Japan
Their last hope: The Last Remnant (not an exclusive, jsut releasing first) and SO4 (2009 – status unknown).
Who are we kidding though. With the FFXIII Blu Ray demo in March, it’ll all over
October 10th, 2008
The numbers don’t scream to me that the 360 is being accepted in Japan.
They scream the 360 isn’t dead, but is still only twitching, and the PS3 is dieing.
The DS is in first, with the PSP in second, and neither have the graphics of the Wii, which is in third, but the DS isn’t as high tech as the PSP. Then the Wii is the least high tech of all the current gen consoles, and the PS2, the worst of the bunch, is ahead of the big boys.
And this trend doesn’t exist exclusively for Japan.
That should tell everyone what direction the next generation will go.
October 11th, 2008
All this tells me is that the PS3 didn’t have any great exclusives for Japan in Sept.
Do the fanboys really believe that games like Tales of Vespia and Infinite Undiscovery will come out every month on the 360?
I’m very interested to see what happens in Japan after Oct 31st (LBP comes out).
Those Japanese are all about customization….just look at all the custom maps for Echochrome!!!!!
October 11th, 2008
dammit… DAMN YOU TO HELL!!!
look at it this way… a coupla months ago… we were worried that the PS3 doesnt have enough shooters… now it has TOO MUCH SHOOTERS!!!
look at the games coming out…
Socom
World at war
Resistance
while the 360 releases like 5 J RPGs and make a truck load-a sales in Japan… confrontation shouldve been out 6 months ago… now theres a glut…
Dammit… I wanna play Gears 2…
Sony… grow a pair and start sniping exclusives…
October 11th, 2008
i hate sony why cant they cut the damn price it is $749 thats way more than usa i hate sony but im still buying a stupid ps3 coze wiis graphics suck x box 360 has hardware problems and ps3 is the only good one but its a fuken ripppoff
October 11th, 2008
Yeah Sony needs to cut their price to be competable, but then again they wont make money
October 11th, 2008
Now, now, no need to get exited – everybody repeat after me: it is only a toy, it is only a toy. My life is not better because PS3 of Xbox manage to sell more titles.
Now repeat 20 times and then go outside and get some fresh air.
October 11th, 2008
Wise words, Rimmer, but the fanboys would never admit that their console is a toy (only the Wii is a toy to them).
Never mind its something you PLAY with, and its sold in Toys R Us with Barbies and G.I. Joe. It’s not a toy.
October 11th, 2008
FUCK YOU SONY!!!
I dont care bout the price… I WANT MY FUCKING BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY!!!
or maybe you can release Ps2 games on the PSn marketplace… Im trying to go legit in games now… how can I if I cant play Ps2 games in my Ps3… you want me to buy ANOTHER PS2!!!
Fuck it… Im gonna play on my modded ps2…
October 11th, 2008
@darkwhitehair.
I hear ya. The lack of BC in the newer PS3’s is the one reason for a couple of my friends not buying the PS3. They keep hearing rumors of a BC model…so they wait.
October 13th, 2008
@darkwhitehair
People still buys PS2 that is why there are never going to be backward-compatible games for you. Sony still earns money with PS2, i doubt it with PS3 (that is why they can’t afford a price cut right now). MS decided to kill the first Xbox right away for the 360. It is funny because that just last night I’m playing an original xbox game and now I saw your post!!
October 13th, 2008
I know this is an old conversation, but I just wanted to say that I like both Tekken AND Soul Calibur, and I thought it was pretty universally accepted that Tekken is more of a button masher than Soul Calibur. As much as I play Tekken, most any of my button mashing friends can take me down with some regularity. But on Soul Calibur, my button mashing friends scarcely get anywhere.
-Arvis