December NPD: PS3 sells 726k, 2008 sales up 40%
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Jan 15th 2009 at 7:30PM }
The price of PS3 has been discussed repeatedly over the past few months. Is it strange to see such a direct correlation between price and units sold between PS3 and Xbox 360? PS3 costs twice as much and has sold almost exactly half as many systems as the 360. Here are the numbers:
Hardware Sales for December 2008:
- DS - 3.04 million
- Wii - 2.15 million
- Xbox 360 - 1.44 million
- PSP - 1.02 million
- PS3 - 726K
- PS2 - 410K
Top 10 Games of December 2008:
1. Wii Play w/ remote - Wii – Nintendo – 1.46 million
2. Call of Duty: World at War - Xbox 360 – Activision – 1.33 million*
3. Wii Fit w/ balance board – Wii – Nintendo – 999K
4. Mario Kart Wii w/ wheel – Wii – Nintendo – 979K
5. Guitar Hero: World Tour - Wii – Activision – 850K*
6. Gears of War 2 - Xbox 360 – Microsoft – 745K*
7. Left 4 Dead - Xbox 360 – Electronic Arts – 629K
8. Mario Kart - DS – Nintendo – 540K
9. Call of Duty: World at War - PS3 – Activision – 533K
10. Animal Crossing: City Folk - Wii – Nintendo – 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
Top three downloaded games in December:
- Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
- Soldner-X: Himmelssturmer
- Linger in Shadows.
- The Dark Knight
- Step Brothers
- Get Smart
"The PlayStation brand has had a solid calendar year with total PS3 hardware sales up 40% and total PS3 software sales up 115%. We remain confident in our momentum into 2009 as we continue to deliver to our consumers the best entertainment content and technology out there. And we delivered on that promise this past year with one of the best software line-ups in the industry, a dramatically expanded PlayStation Network with the launch of the video delivery service and the beta of PlayStation Home, as well as extended hardware offerings with the PSP 3000 and Uncharted 160GB PS3 bundle. We also hit a remarkable milestone for the PlayStation 2 platform in North America with 50 million units sold. It's truly an amazing testament to the power and legacy of our brand."
-- Peter Dille, Senior Vice President of Marketing and PlayStation® Network, Sony Computer Entertainment America
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
DeforMAKulizer @ Jan 15th 2009 7:34PM
2008 was great, 2009 simply PWNS!!!!!!!!!!!
Jack Tretton @ Jan 15th 2009 10:01PM
Remember the good old days when slobbering Sony fanboys posted idiotic comments like this:
"2007 was great, 2008 simply PWNS!!!!!!!!!!!"
You don't? Pepperidge Farm does.
The_Punisher @ Jan 15th 2009 10:51PM
Maybe you buy some of these Milano cookies....maybe Pepperidge Farm simply forgets all about it....
gillyy0 @ Jan 15th 2009 7:38PM
Respectable numbers indeed.
ithilis @ Jan 15th 2009 7:39PM
Those software sales are.. ouch!
PSN: Aggie_CEO @ Jan 15th 2009 7:42PM
I never would have thought that Guitar Hero: World Tour would have sold so much on Wii......wow......
But The PS3 did fairly well.......this year is gonna be even better.....
il_duce620 @ Jan 15th 2009 10:06PM
It's because Harmonix insists on gimping Rock Band 2 wherever possible on the Wii, so Guitar Hero has a much stronger following. I'm not surprised at all...
(...and if I cared at all about rhythm games, I'd get World Tour...)
FeaturePreacher @ Jan 15th 2009 7:42PM
Seems the U.S. is close to becoming the mirror opposite of Japan with the 360 and PS3.
ithilis @ Jan 15th 2009 7:46PM
Except that the U.S. numbers are actually relevant when it comes to impacting the global market.
FeaturePreacher @ Jan 15th 2009 8:03PM
@ithilis
Tell me about it. Too bad Sony doesn't realize this and put features into the PS3 that this important audience wants.
jarhead906 @ Jan 27th 2009 9:29AM
So what important features are missing from the PS3 that you can find on the Xbox 360 that the 'important audience' wants?
Because, as far as I know, the only thing PS3 users are missing out on are the Cross Game Chat and Party system functionalities. And 360 users JUST received the Party system.
Congratulations. I can play the same Call of Duty 4 and have the same amount of fun on either system.
nintendodsrulez @ Jan 15th 2009 7:53PM
ok so at least the ps3 is beating ps2, that would be bad if ps3 sales were below ps2 so WE PS3FANBOYS ARE MAKING PROGRESS!
mikec @ Jan 15th 2009 8:07PM
ok america and japan are not a mirror image, ps3 outsells 360, true but not by this large of a number ever, since consoles in japan dont sell as much per month as in america, so 360 selling twice as much in america is alot worst then in japan, since both systems sells alot more in america then they do in japan, same goes for america, and ouch at the software sales, 360 and wii gamers buy games, what are we doing....true i only have 7 ps3 games..maybe its partly my fault to lol
anyway im still rooting for sony but i wont spin this like a fan boy.
DarthNemesis @ Jan 15th 2009 8:31PM
You forget that the PS3 dominated the 360 for a full 8 months in 2008 and the 360 had to drop it's price to even compete with the PS3 in America.Now the 360 is competing with the Wii at it's price range and is still being beat by it's primary competitor.At $400,no one can expect the PS3 to sell as good as either console during the holiday season,but to sell that much with a higher price tag just shows the potential growth when the console is more affordable.
Popfrogs @ Jan 16th 2009 1:05AM
Wow, Darth got voted way down for telling the truth. I wonder if our favorite neighbors are tp'ing the trees tonight.
OnToGlory @ Jan 16th 2009 8:59AM
Actually Darth is way wrong. The PS3 outsold the 360 in January, when there were shortages of the 360 hardware, May, June and July. All the month were within around 20k of each other except June when MGS4 releases.
That would be four months, not eight and the only 'domination' was when the platform's biggest title released.
Ah, fanboy memory - seeing the past thru blu-tinted glasses.
OnToGlory @ Jan 16th 2009 7:26AM
No, Darth was not accurate. The PS3 outsold the 360 in January (when there was a hardware shortage of the 360), May, June and July. The numbers between systems were on average within 15k units except for June when MGS4 released.
That is four months, not eight.
Ah, fanboy memory - seeing the past through Blu-tinted glasses
acedoh @ Jan 15th 2009 8:09PM
I really think SONY is competing with itself as of right now. They know that they have no way to compete with either console at their price point. So set goals and hope you hit them. 700k is in no way bad for December when you look at the number by itself.
NotoriousJnX @ Jan 15th 2009 8:17PM
As good as 2008 was and as great as 2009 is looking, I hold more love for 2007 just because of the greatness of Uncharted, Ratchet and Clank, Warhawk, and All-Pro Football (the anti-Madden). It's only going to get better, my PS3 is my most played system out of all 3 I own. And it's my system of choice on multi-platform titles.
Iridium @ Jan 15th 2009 8:32PM
No not really. The 360 sold that many units because of the $199 price point that will result in about as many games sold as a Wii.
When mommy sees that she bought a game machine for her kid that has about 5 games they can play she won't be too happy. She also won't be happy that she needs to spend and extra $150 or so to get any online fuction out of the thing.
OnToGlory @ Jan 16th 2009 2:33PM
Wow, I made a perfectly civil rebuttal - fact filled in fact - and my comment was deleted.
fanboy censorship ftl
FeaturePreacher @ Jan 15th 2009 8:38PM
Did it ever, especially being the more expensive console according to this link:
http://playstation.joystiq.com/2009/01/07/playstation-press-release-breaks-down-the-real-price-of-consoles/
Maybe the ps3 should start working on adding features like mandatory custom soundtracks as was done with trophies, cross-game voice chat, cross game invites, and mandatory game launching for all ps3 games.
Carlos @ Jan 15th 2009 8:39PM
This is remarkable. They sold half of the quantity 360 did, also, the price was doubled. So if SONY can cut the price, I think that in 09 the ps3 will surely catch up to the 360 sales. Economy is bad, people losing jobs, no money, and none of my friends have money. But, ALL of my friends want a Ps3!!
I think that a price cut will improve the ps3 sales by a large portion.
Dirty @ Jan 15th 2009 8:41PM
@Iridium
How about when mommy finds out she can go to walmart and but 13 months of live right now for $29.99, then plug the ethernet cord into the 360 and away you go. You sound like an idiot
bknight @ Jan 16th 2009 12:51AM
If a pricecut happens i am sure that alot of 360 owners will buy a PS3.
Popfrogs @ Jan 16th 2009 1:08AM
Part of me hopes they do, part of me hopes they don't. So far the PSN is nice and peaceful and it's mostly older, mature gamers that can afford the system that are playing online and chatting it up.
If a $300 price point brings all the maniacal kids from Xbox Live over to the PSN and we get the same screaming and yelling from them, I'm gonna be disappointed.
jj @ Jan 16th 2009 10:19AM
popfrog, I'm not sure how you'd know as I've never heard anyone on voice on the PSN! But that is bad with the 360, unfortunately you have to build up a reasonably large friends list and try to use that to buffer you from the screaming little kids. Most annoying is that they are usually kicking our mature butts! However I still haven't paid for a headset for PS3 since I have very little in the way of games/friends on there now.
With KZ2 I hope there's a decent multi - I may be looking for someone to play with, and maybe even break down and pay yet another tax on this system to get a headset.
roadkill @ Jan 15th 2009 9:01PM
Once Sony makes a price cut so will MS because they can afford it.
Tyler @ Jan 15th 2009 9:43PM
lol. That is 629k more people who will be mad that they have to pay for DLC that PC owners (like myself) get for free!!
All M$ fault on that one... Maybe EA?
Draco @ Jan 16th 2009 8:45PM
by free DLC do you mean free games, because that's piracy
tboy123 @ Jan 16th 2009 9:32PM
uh... no... I mean DLC... wow... I bought the game. The DLC is stuff like:
1. More campaigns
2. More zombies
3. More weapons
M$ will be the reason people on 360 will pay for it. PC will not.
If I meant piracy I would have said:
"stupid 360 owners bought a game that PC users can get for free!! HAHA"
Mattchewie @ Jan 15th 2009 9:54PM
The last paragraph sums up my feelings on these numbers. That number, while not BLOWING off roof tops shows that there is consumer demand for the product and as Carlos said, a price nut is sure to surge sales.
So, If I was sony. I say cut the price, quickly but not hap hazzardly put in community features such as direct voice chat, party chat, game lanching all from the xmb and then ZERG the hell out of the TV and just cram the message down peoples throat. Its cheap, it rocks and there is community.
TV + SHAMELESS PROMOTION = PROFIT!
Arno @ Jan 15th 2009 10:21PM
Xbox 360 outsells PS3 2:1 and it gets spun as increasing sales from the year past? Com'on..
The hand to the Face @ Jan 15th 2009 10:47PM
DarkNemisi- It's called a business plan. MS had the price cut in there pocket. They dropped it right before Madden came out. It was genius. They were holding on to it. Remember the price cut was heavily rumored when the PS3 dropped. They waited. Went head to head and then smacked Sony in the back of the neck with a wet roll of toilet paper when they advanced.
Acedoh: I agree with you. At this point they are competing against themselves. They really need to complete there vision for the PS3. Which was to make this your all entertainment system. I still see the PS3 doing just fine in the years to come. Once Blu Ray completely replaces DVD I could see a PS3 in everyone's house once they go below 299.
I know they can get this machine to do more.
The shame of it all is that they may have created a system that was before it's time.
bknight @ Jan 16th 2009 1:19AM
Once Blu Ray completely replaces DVD?
I cannot see this happening for a long time and by that time the PS4/PS5 will be out
nakedatthecomp @ Jan 15th 2009 11:31PM
personally, A LOT of my 360 friends are now taking a look at the PS3 after it's had all the really awesome exclusives, it's certainly starting to look pretty enticing to a lot of hardcore gamers (and Blu-Ray enthusiasts!)
I think it's pretty funny when the "xbot trollz" come over here and start leaving comments because they're really interested on what new stuff is coming out for the PS3 - I don't think too many "ps3fanboys" (i hate that word) are going over there to do the same thing... i, personally, couldn't care less with what happens with the 360. gets a new interface? awesome. sells 10 million more units? good for them. i like the security of my machine not bricking and taking 6 weeks to come back in the mail
jackeofnar @ Jan 16th 2009 12:33AM
I am really over fanboys (360 and PS3).
There are alot of 360 owners would don't hate the PS3 and would like one but for some reason they cannot afford one at the moment but instead of PS3 owners trying to get them to pick up a PS3 they just call them trolls.
jj @ Jan 16th 2009 10:12AM
Wrong. The first response to this same post on 360fanboy was from a ps3 nutjob, wasted the whole first page with people feeding the troll.
I got my PS3 primarily for Blu-ray last fall (name a standalone player that will be supported/updated for the next ten years), but I hope they do better than this eventually - KZ2 looks great for instance. The funny thing is, the part I bought the PS3 for is what kills them in this generation. Sure I have a 60" 1080p plasma, a nice 7.1 yamaha system with real freaking speakers etc., but DVD is nowhere near dead as that's what it takes to really appreciate the Blu-ray.
Now suppose Sony had gone DVD this gen. A speedy DVD drive means it doesn't need to have an install process for games to make them playable, so the hard drive can be optional, and not waiting for Blu-ray to mature allows them to get out of the gate at about the same time as the 360. So now you have a PS3 with a larger Sony fanbase, probably competing at nearly the same price as the 360. Who are the devs going to focus on, even if the 360 has a better SDK? So now you have better quality games as well. Shortly after this, the RROD fiasco becomes major news, and tips the balance even further in Sony's direction. Sure there's still a slight advantage to 360 for online play, but not as much now that more people are on the PSN instead of Live (which MS now has to throw in for free to stem the tide), and obviously a lot of people have a tough time figuring out what is 'better' about Live unless they buy it - but they're all on PSN in this scenario ;-) .
Basically, it was Sony's decision to put Blu-ray first and foremost that really killed them. Works for me, as I get the Live environment and good games and generally an edge in the console interface from the 360, and now have the PS3 at about the price of a good Blu-ray player at the time that also may have some nice exclusives. Not so great for Sony or the rabid fanboys. The PS3 is also a great upconverting DVD player btw, while the 360 is horrific - no reason for this since the HD-DVD looked fantastic but for DVD it doesn't match the cheapest knock-off DVD players out there.
At this point having both systems but most friends on Live, I don't really care what happens to the pricing of the hardware, but hope that Sony makes a good show and pulls off some great exclusives like LBP and KZ2 to add a little gaming spice and make sure my blu-ray player investment is protected...
Vcize @ Jan 16th 2009 10:42AM
JJ summed it all up pretty nicely. The only thing you're missing is that even thought adding Blu-ray likely hurt them badly in the console wars, it did help propel that format to victory.
I'm not sure where Sony stands on whether or not sacrificing a generation of the console wars was worth getting their optical disc format out there, but I'd imagine it was something they were willing to do if they had to.
andriy @ Jan 16th 2009 2:10AM
i never knew ps3 sales sucked that much
OnToGlory @ Jan 16th 2009 2:32PM
@Iridium
No, that's not accurate. The 360 does have the most diverse library of the three and there are plenty of 'kid' games; heck the system comes w/two very good games for that demographic. Then you have Cars, Spiderman series, several other Pixar titles, several other Lego games, Viva Pinata 1&2, GH/Rock Band series, Banjo, DDR etc.
And $150 for 'any online function' isn't accurate either - the network adapter is not necessary and you do not need a Live subscription to download games and movies.
'As many games sold as the Wii' - if you could take a second to do basic math you might notice the 40% of the top ten titles for the year are Wii games, 40% are 360 games followed by 10% PS3 (that's one title) and 10% for the DS.
Any way you spin it Sony is regulated to last place this gen. Bad decisions w/ worse pr spin has cost them their market share.
OnToGlory @ Jan 16th 2009 2:44PM
Sorry if that is out of context. I made it as a reply to Iridium early this AM where it posted but was mysteriously deleted.
Uh, Mr Yoon (I am addressing you since I don't know if you are the moderator or just the editor/author) am I not allowed to express an opinion on the subject in a civil and factually based manner? Is it practice to censor those comments on this site?
If the deletion was an anomaly then my apologies, sicerely.
lookhappy @ Jan 16th 2009 7:02AM
It is slightly upsetting that casual gaming has gotten so popular, because although it's fun for a minute, things like wii bowling get boring after a 20 minute session. If only people realised that you can do the same things on ps3 with the motion sensitive controller, but you don't ALWAYS have to look silly and can play proper games too.
It just seems to me that the wii limits itself to one type of gamer. And xbox, a rushed product made cheaply by microsoft, just seem to market as aggressively as possible just to keep up with the wii.
Though both are good consoles and people should enjoy whatever they choose, but for me, the PS3 is a sexy and more discerning machine. I love that there are good games on the PSN.
Has anyone played LocoRoco CoccoReccho yet? It's the best £2 I've spent on there! I love their singing voices!
nastysquar3d @ Jan 16th 2009 9:23AM
I disagree that you can do the same things with a PS3 controller that you can do with a Wii controller. Technology wise, sure... accessibility wise, not a chance.
I own both a Wii and a PS3 and my girlfriend / sister / parents will all play the Wii from time to time but getting them to touch a PS3 controller is out of the question. They'll play Buzz! TV and occasionally rock band but those use their own, fairly simple controllers.
Casual gaming has it's place. Sure it's only fun for twenty minutes to half hour but that's about how long people want it to be. My g/f or sister or parents sitting down to play a game for 5+ hours is out of the question... let alone a 10+ hour session like I did the other day with Fallout3.
So casual gaming might not be right for you, but it's getting a ton of people to pick up a remote control that have never touched, or wanted to touch, one before and that's never a bad thing.
lookhappy @ Jan 16th 2009 9:53AM
I guess you're right - it is a good thing that these people are playing games when they wouldn't have before.
And Kudos to the epic fallout 3 session! that game was awesome!
Moris @ Jan 16th 2009 9:44AM
I remember when the PS2 had this same problem :) Look at it now. I'm confident they'll pull through.
Rick @ Jan 16th 2009 10:11AM
Here's the solution.. make an "Arcade" version of the PS3 like the XBox has.. take out the hard drive, take out Wi-Fi and make wired controllers (hence, cheaper).. sell it for $199 and soon enough, XBox no more..
Rick @ Jan 16th 2009 10:21AM
also, they have to advertise everything the PS3 does (besides gaming).. it's an awesome machine.. people need to learn that it's not just a gaming machine.. once i told my parents all the things you could do with it, they went out and purchased one.. they don't use it for gaming, but all the other media related stuff it does..
jj @ Jan 16th 2009 10:22AM
See my other post. Too late for this at blu-ray speeds, developers have been guaranteed a drive as well so there's probably a lot of games that wouldn't even play - besides there's a required install for them. Maybe including some onboard storage, but honestly drives are so cheap right now this is not what is killing them in the pricing, they just use the capacity to make some extra money - the difference between the low and high end systems is much larger than the difference in the cost of the drives.
Rick @ Jan 16th 2009 10:52AM
@jj
you're absolutely right, prices of HDDs are low, the main reason I threw it in there was to try to match the XBox (arcade) and have more stuff on the list.. :D