PS3 has flown past the 3 million mark!

by Nick Doerr { Apr 2nd 2007 at 10:00AM }

Upon the European launch, we wrote up an article about the "before" sales of the PlayStation 3 and let you guys guess where the numbers would land, given another week. Well, we had a very professional brain fart (in the form of multiple tests, group presentations, and an annoying large paper) and decided to let the "after" post come... today. What did we find? Good stuff.

At least, according to VGCharts, the PlayStation 3 has surpassed the 3 million mark. What's neat, too, according to the same chart, is that the PS3 has sold more in Europe in the course of two weekends than it has sold in Japan in four months! We've got more good PS3 sales news as the day progresses, but it almost seems like a slow news day right now. When do you guys think the PS3 will break 4 million, now that things will slow down?

Tags: PlayStation 3, Playstation3, PS3, Sony

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Darko @ Apr 2nd 2007 11:07AM

Im going to go ahead and be the jerk who rains on your parade... The wii sold 5 million faster :P Sorry I had to. But really, until they sell another 7 million ... who cares?

hyperbugger @ Apr 2nd 2007 11:12AM

Not unless they manage to pirate ps3 games. Only piracy or cheaper games will improve asian ps3 sales. btw any news on the paradox iso loader?

mccomber @ Apr 2nd 2007 11:14AM

With games like Lair and Heavenly Sword on the horizon, and MGS4 and FF13 not too far behind, I think up is the only direction those sales will continue to go in... or something. Me no good sentence construction in morning.

Kenneth H. @ Apr 2nd 2007 11:14AM

I will be buying a Wii eventually...its so cheap...why not?? But is it going to be my main system...Absolutely not!! In any case, does anybody know the best deal on the PS3....I want to buy one soon but I want a major deal. If I buy on Amazon I don't have to pay taxes....any other options??

ndoerr @ Apr 2nd 2007 11:18AM

@ Darko -- this is going to be a completely business/monetary side of the argument, but if you make the price conversions, each PS3 is approximately two Wii's. So, in that situation, the two companies aren't far behind one another from a financial perspective (except for Sony's perpetual loss-per-system conundrum).

TheSh0wstopper @ Apr 2nd 2007 11:20AM

Yo Nick,
this might be a bit off topic but I gotta ask your opinion. I am a hugeeee RPG fan (such as yourself). And I own ALL of the Final Fanstasy games and love all.. errr most (8 and 9 were a bit of a let down). I got the collectors edition of 12 the day it was released but did not play it much because I didnt have time when it first came out and then i sold my ps2 when i got a 3 and it looked like complete crap on 3. This weekend one of my friends told me a trick to get ps2 games to look good on 3, so I immediately started playing FF 12. OMG!!! this game is amazing (so far at least). I might be jumping the gun but this seems like it can potentially be the best one. Up to date my favorite is 3 followed by 2 then 7 (american numbers). I wanted to know your opinion on it in comparison to the others (im assuming you beat it by now and know the full story). Also what are your top 5? I saw you list your top rpgs a while ago and was suprised ff3, 2, and 7 wasnt on the list.

Thanks,
TheSh0wstopper

Xiru @ Apr 2nd 2007 11:25AM

Of course the Wii sold faster. Its like 10 bux. :) Just kidding, but it is cheap and thats why its selling so fast. The PS3 is doing better than most people expected while the Wii is doing as expected. There are 2 huge games coming out next month in the UK for the PS3 which will boost sales. I'm not sure when the next big Wii game comes out. 360 is almost at 10 million! Bah! I see PS3 catching up in mid to late 2008.

Hyperbugger @ Apr 2nd 2007 11:30AM

in asia, a modified X360 costs around USD 342. Each pirated game costs USD 5.7. Unless sony can beat that, x360 will take over the asian market.

360FANBOY @ Apr 2nd 2007 11:31AM

HAHAHAHHAHAHA only 3 MIL

Kagari @ Apr 2nd 2007 12:06PM

Kenneth, GameStop and EB Games are offering $100 off a PS3 if you trade in a PS2, extra controller and memory card.

seedaripper @ Apr 2nd 2007 12:06PM

@360fanboy....
i bet your getting worried eh mate ;)
i am now the (very) proud owner of a PS3!!!
god damn its so f*ing cool it makes me swell with pride...ahhhh...just downloaded everything from PSN (tekken is mint!) as is flow...played it with my bro this morning-liking the tilt controls on it too....(p.s speaking of my bro-he has a Wii,and he says it blew it out the water!!! R.I.P Wii!!!)
i got resistence/motorstorm and VF5 (methinks the best of the bunch)
if anyone wants to add me my PSN i.d is...

seedaripper1973

(lowercase)
see you online guys...just setting up my psp to do remote play for now!! ;)
boy am i a happy camper!!!

UK Mike @ Apr 2nd 2007 12:22PM

Just read on Engadget that new 360 Elite only supports HDMI version 1.2 and not 1.3!!! how dumb are you MS!!
Gonna get me a PS3 soon with all that future proofing, extra colour palette goodness that 1.3 offers on top of True Dolby/DTS digital sound.

OrganicShadow @ Apr 2nd 2007 12:30PM

PS3 won't start showing any serious sales numbers in Japan until later this year when Japanese-developed games start churning out at a more steady pace. Gundam, AC4, and other are a good start but not enough to keep the PS3's moving off shelves for more than a few weeks at a time.

PS3 needs more JP games to give the JP audience a reason to place one next to their Wii.

SKI @ Apr 2nd 2007 1:15PM

@Darko

According to VG Charts, the Wii is at 6 million.

Kiteless @ Apr 2nd 2007 1:24PM

Being a lowly consumer, I can not really say. It is nice to see the unit selling well over all despite all the "haters" out there. THe PS3 has a lot of potental abd features that most poeple do not talk about, especially when being compared to an XBOX, like it's very open accessory market (anything bluetooth), and also open multimedia funtionality. Of course the XBOX is more established, MS is doing a great job on the console and the online aspects of the unit are very well done. I would like to see Sony where the XBOX is by this time next year, with it's online capabilities.

I think the best thing sonly can do is continue to mature the console with features and get the price down. I know they are loosing money on each unti sold, but to get it into more homes, they have to get the price down.

- Kiteless

seedaripper @ Apr 2nd 2007 1:50PM

sorry ive posted this before...but its doin my head in now!!!
can anyone help me out here?? i try and set up a remote play settings with my psp but it says i need to upgrade the version??? im in the uk so i tried the uk site first and got 3.11….didnt owrk…so i went to the yank site and now have ver 3.30….stilll doesnt work??? anyone now if the feature hasnt been implemented into the uk version?? or any one else had problems??? pls let me know lads…
p.s when i goto the WWW tab on my ps3 it just goes staright to the ps3 site..i try search (as i do on my psp-and i get joy) but not on this??? when i say search for ign or msn its says not found??? can you access normal webpages via the WWW tab or do i need linux…..phewww…any help would be much appreciated…thanks
see

SuicideNinja @ Apr 2nd 2007 2:05PM

If truthful, then this is what "correct" supply grants. Hopefully we won't have to deal with "shortages" in the future. I'm glad Sony set the bar for something that good. What's good for Europeans is that their launch period doesn't have to compete with other areas of the world.

I just wish this information made the PS3 more fun to play...=(

@"Kenneth H." - If you are patient, Gamestop/EB Games will probably have some sort of deal with a trade in. A couple of months ago they were giving $100 off a PS3 if you traded in a worthless PS2 with two controllers. Tax is also pretty hefty on $600, so buying via amazon alone would be beneficial. Or trade in a bunch of games you'll never play...that would help, too.

mushiking @ Apr 2nd 2007 2:34PM

"HAHAHAHHAHAHA only 3 MIL"

HAHAHAHAHA in 4 months at 600 dollars

and as for japan, i really don't think anyone cares. they will be forced come when MGS4 and FFXIII release anyway -mulplatform or not. Japan has become irrelevant to the next generation. just ask Microsoft.

Next-Gen-Gamer @ Apr 2nd 2007 2:44PM

"So, in that situation, the two companies aren't far behind one another from a financial perspective (except for Sony's perpetual loss-per-system conundrum)."

No shit. Anything looks good if you ignore it's faults, problems, etc. The gap between Sony and Nintendo (financially) is huge with these new consoles. The Wii may only be half the price of the PS3, but because of that, one company is making profit, and the other one isn't.

MGS4 and FFXIII will can (and might) determine the PS3's fate. If those games hit, and sales don't boost enough to catch-up to even come close to the second-place console, then it's over. Until then, it's not looking good.

Next-Gen-Gamer @ Apr 2nd 2007 2:45PM

Edit: FFXIII can*

mccomber @ Apr 2nd 2007 2:54PM

"in asia, a modified X360 costs around USD 342. Each pirated game costs USD 5.7. Unless sony can beat that, x360 will take over the asian market."

Yeah, because developers and manufacturers are all fighting to get their slice of that pirate market...

TheSh0wstopper @ Apr 2nd 2007 3:13PM

"HAHAHAHHAHAHA only 3 MIL"

It would not be fair to compare these #'s to 360 #'s. Considering that it "only" launched in 2 territories during its first 4 months and Europe a week ago. The 360 had a simulateous worldwide launch.

TheSh0wstopper

Szu @ Apr 2nd 2007 3:45PM

Wait a sec, didn't Sony say that by the end of March that they would have sold 6 million? So they only met half of their mark.

Or maybe they meant it as shipping 6 million. But if that's the case, where are the other 3 million?

WTangoFoxtrot @ Apr 2nd 2007 3:54PM

the website says the 360 has sold less than 10 mil.

makes you wonder about its sources........

alienclay @ Apr 2nd 2007 4:06PM

i know the 360 had supply issues (MS does software, sony knows how to build electronics.) but where was 360 at in sales at this month last year? if it was less than 3 mil, esp with 4-5 extra months in europe, i wouldn't be laughing.

alienclay @ Apr 2nd 2007 4:08PM

sony counts shipped and sold as the same thing.

Kenneth H. @ Apr 2nd 2007 4:26PM

@Kagari and Suicide Ninja....

Good lookin really appreciate it...however I don't have a PS2...this will be my first attempt at console gaming in several years. I will be buying def. before the summer...I may just have to bite the bullet and benefit from not having to pay the sales tax thru Amazon...won't be able to wait till the end of the year even if there is a price decrease.

Sorry to say it....while innovative in a way the Wii is a FAD....and next-gen doesn't start till Sony says so....now Sony get to workin overtime to get us them bomb ass games that we know the Cell is capable of.

Next-Gen-Gamer @ Apr 2nd 2007 4:42PM

"It would not be fair to compare these #'s to 360 #'s. Considering that it "only" launched in 2 territories during its first 4 months and Europe a week ago. The 360 had a simulateous worldwide launch."

That's like saying it's not fair that the 360 launched before the PS3. That's just one of many reasons Microsoft launched the 360 a year early. However, if you want to be "fair", you could always compare the Wii to the PS3. Two of the three main territories saw a PS3 launch BEFORE Wii. That being said, the Wii is not only ahead (and crushing the PS3 in Japan), but it's momentum is a lot high than that of the PS3 (some still say it's on-track to surpassing the 360 by the end of the year).

Are you going to tell me that--that's not fair also? I would hope not, because the PS3 is getting left behind, and you calling something unfair doesn't miraculously change that.

JesseJames @ Apr 2nd 2007 4:56PM

Sony is starting to flex some serious muscle! All of Microsofts money and negative propaganda against sony is doing absolutley nothing to stop the PS3 onslaught!

Microsoft made the mistake in trying to make Sony look like it was failing; and in doing so they turned it into the underdog (which everyone roots for in the end) and that underdog is actually a Goliath/Juggernaut that simply will not be stopped or outdone!

3,000,000+..........................

It's game over for Microsoft! Sony and Nintendo were meant to be long ago; I don't mind them being two seperate entities; there simply isn't room for a third (Microsoft - Sega)

Darko @ Apr 2nd 2007 6:04PM

@JesseJames

Um.... what part about Sony still isn’t doing that well do you not understand? Sony wanted to sell/ship 6 million by the end of March.... Well it’s April and they only managed to hit half of that mark. So yea... Sony selling half of what they intended = victory? Don’t claim that its game over for the #1 and #2 selling consoles this generation (360 and wii). Until Sony surpasses both its not over... no where near. Honestly the ps3 is in a distant 3rd place right now...

I have but one question.... this applies to both blu ray and the PS3... What on gods green earth has Sony done to deserve such loyalty? I mean Toshiba owned the DVD empire last generation, and when it comes to video game consoles I have no loyalty at all I go with whats best and has the best games (I’ve owned everything from genesis, Saturn, n64, dreamcast, ps2, gamecube, xbox, xbox 360, wii.... no ps3 yet... because i have no need for it)

Iridium @ Apr 2nd 2007 10:29PM

Well those numbers look good. After reading through everything on VG charts it looks like the PS3 is on its way to 4 million by the end of April.

What really makes me wonder is Microsoft's sales number for last December. The spike in the sales graph is way out of whack and looks to be very suspect to me. It is possible that they sold 1.4 million consoles in the US during that time but based on the sales history it really doesn't make sense. I don't put it past Micrsoft to purchase 500,000 consoles or more themselves to inflate their numbers. They wanted to surpass 10 million for thier stockholders and were dead set to do so. After December Microsoft restated their hardware shipments and I wonder if that huge sales spike was totaly artificial. VG charts and others still have Microsoft below 10 million on actual consoles sold. This is odd because it has been this way for the past 3 months.

I remember at the end of November MS was barely at 8 million and then the December numbers came out and they nearly tripled Novembers sales. There really looks like there was some funny business there. You can't trust Microsoft accounting.

Broadside @ Apr 2nd 2007 11:12PM

"I remember at the end of November MS was barely at 8 million and then the December numbers came out and they nearly tripled Novembers sales. There really looks like there was some funny business there. You can't trust Microsoft accounting."

I would say that was just the usual Christmas sales spike. Anyway a month ago I thought PS3 was in serious trouble, since then they have turned this around. I am fairly confident they will eventually win the battle against the 360, as for the Wii I don't know, I don't quite see them in the same market segment as 360 / PS3. I bought a 2nd hand 360 but will eventually get a PS3 as I think it is the superior system when it eventually reaches its potential. Has more untapped potential than the 360.

seedaripper @ Apr 4th 2007 4:18PM

'I have but one question.... this applies to both blu ray and the PS3... What on gods green earth has Sony done to deserve such loyalty? I mean Toshiba owned the DVD empire last generation, and when it comes to video game consoles I have no loyalty at all I go with whats best and has the best games (I’ve owned everything from genesis, Saturn, n64, dreamcast, ps2, gamecube, xbox, xbox 360, wii.... no ps3 yet... because i have no need for it)

Posted at 6:04PM on Apr 2nd 2007 by Darko

i am at a loss, as to what your remarks refer too?? do microsoft deserve such loyalty too?? (xbox1/360/elite?) in the space of 5 1/2 yrs...when the PS2 STILL outsells them???
do i need to go on about the monopolising of the markets and negative propoganda AGAINST anything they dont hold sway too....you cuss sony against LIK-SANG/indys etc....jeez why dont you look around at the REAL innovators out there...not just fuckin sony or nintendo...
microsoft are nothing more than some american (no offence there 'true' americans and not some flag wavers)globalising cunts,driving true innovation into the ground (unless they can buy them) ;=)