GTA IV helps PS3 overtake Xbox 360 in Japan
The Xbox 360 experienced a sudden sales spike during the past month. However, in a surprising turn of events, the PS3 managed to make up for the ground lost in a matter of a week. According to reports, the PS3 sales in Japan apparently surged by 900 percent. What may be even more surprising is the reason for the sales increase of the PS3.
As mentioned in our previous story the Xbox 360 has been experiencing a sales gain in Japan. According to Japanese sales tracking site, Media Create, the PS3 sold 39,587 in a matter of a week compared to the measly 4k units the previous week. Apparently the PS3 sold more than the Xbox 360, Wii and PS2 combined.
The culprit as to why the PS3 sales increased dramatically is mainly said to be due to three games released recently. The biggest seller for the week was Grand Theft Auto IV. The reason why this is so surprising is due to the poor sales performance of the Grand Theft Auto series in Japan.
Historically, Grand Theft Auto games have sold poorly in Japan mainly attributed to the lack of appeal for random and senseless violence. However, I believe GTA IV may be the turning point for Rockstar. GTA IV vastly improves upon its predecessor by developing an engrossing story that provides a sense of meaning for what the main character Niko, experiences.
The game also creates situations where the choice is left to you to kill a mission target or to let them go. The story also provides an alternate ending depending on the gamers’ moral decisions made throughout the later half of the game.
Other notable top PS3 games for the week were LittleBigPlanet and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue: Spec III. Despite high sales for both games, it seems as though GTA IV is the primary winner.
It seems as though this is another case where platform exclusive downloadable content did not make an impact on platform sales. Despite the PS3′s sales comeback, the sales figures will probably fluctuate again in the near future.
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12 Responses to “GTA IV helps PS3 overtake Xbox 360 in Japan”
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November 7th, 2008
JRPGs is what the ps3 needs right now.
November 7th, 2008
AYE BOURNE!!!
How the hell do I add MGO fwends in MGO?? also… the reward thingy… the free points they are giving away… dont know how to get it… I tried it via my PC… it says “Unable to log in”… I tried it throught the PSN… same thing… and through the game… it says to input my age… and then it redirects to road runner search engine…
WTF!!!
November 7th, 2008
you guys really need to just exchange emails or something…..
November 7th, 2008
…. mine doesnt do that… and im not actually sure how to add friends hahaha. Well just add me on psn: Anihal8r then we’ll discuss MGO. The reward exchange usualy works on mine straight away, not sure why its not working with you. Usually it just takes me to the MGO website via the internet browser. Its a bit slow but i’ve never seen the road runner thing.
November 7th, 2008
I still haven’t seen one TV advertisement for LBP. What is Sony waiting for. I always figured the game would sell by word of mouth, but I was under the impression that they were pushing sackboy to be the new mascot…
These numbers just prove that for the last 7 weeks people in Japan were just waiting for the new PS3 to come out.
November 7th, 2008
Come on all you xbots, where are you now? Miniscule victories of a couple weeks and you have much to say about PS3 is dead, yet now we see PS3 trounce x360 almost 10:1 and you are silent. Too busy crying in your tea, or are you all off on XBL collaborating and what your next attack should be?
November 7th, 2008
David: You are absolutely right. Every week the 360 beat out the PS3 in Japan, it was splashed all over the internet with the xbots spreading the propaganda of Sony’s demise. Now…. absolute silence. LMAO it’s typical. Mark Japan and Asia off as a definitive win for the PS3.
November 7th, 2008
Maybe it’s because no one cares and were all playing Gears of War 2!!! If it was not for work I could care less about coming here. I’m itching to go home and play. GOW2 is like crack.
November 7th, 2008
watch comedy central… its filled with game advertisements… INCLUDING Gears 2… but I like the mirrors edge one better… its looks cool…
I heard THAT was gonna be a PS3 exclusive too… goddammit…
November 7th, 2008
I think they were only looking for Exclusive DLC for Mirrors Edge. Not sure if thats happening or not. Not really a fan of Exclusive content. To me it’s like the company is paying to keep stuff off of their competitors console and its downright crooked business practice.
November 7th, 2008
@ phranctoast:
I’ve only seen one ad, about 15 minutes ago. It was really short and I think only showed one ’10 out of 10′ review. Lasted like 25 seconds…
Oh and I didn’t like the Mirrors Edge demo.
Gears not my cup of tea either. But ill have a go at the single player tonite, see how it handles. Suspect it will be getting deleted in a short time tho, put fable 2 back.
November 7th, 2008
CAD,
Not that you care, but I’m in sort of the same boat as you. Gamefly sent me Valkyria Chronicles and I’m dying to sink my teeth into that game.
When you get a new game that you love, and everything else just sort of fades into the background while you’re playing… I love that feeling.
Anyways, have fun with Gears2 and Resistance2 this weekend, everyone!
-Arvis