Despite going on sale in Japan three weeks after the PS3, Nintendo's Wii outsold the PS3 in both companies' home territory by more than two to one, according to this story in the New York Times (login required), quoting Japanese estimates.
Enterbrain, a Tokyo-based video game magazine publisher, released sales estimates in Japan today that showed Sony fell far short of its goal of selling one million PlayStation 3 consoles here last year. Sony sold 534,336 units between their debut in Japan on Nov. 11 and Jan. 7, Enterbrain said.
By contrast, Enterbrain reported that rival Nintendo sold 1.14 million units of its less expensive new game console, Wii, by the same date, despite going on sale three weeks after PlayStation. Microsoft's Xbox 360, which has had limited success breaking into the Japanese market, has sold 311,053 units since arriving in December 2005, Enterbrain said.
...The Japanese sales estimates came just days after Sony announced that it had met its goal of shipping one million PlayStation 3s to the United States by the end of last year. That announcement was made on the opening day of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where Sony is showcasing PlayStation 3.
However, analysts point out that the American figure only reflects shipments to retailers, not actual purchases by consumers.
And that last could be important. The Wiii has terrific word-of-mouth. It pulls in people who wouldn't be in the least interested in a games console. Which means a potential buyer if that person is an adult. Tell me, how would you sell the PS3 to an adult who's not interested in games? With Blu-ray? But who's going to hitch their horse to a high-def format that's not a winner and whose discs cost tons more than a DVD?
Let me add my own perspective here. Nobody is ever going to mistake me for a rabid console maniac (even though my first computer programming was to write a game on a Commodore PET - so, guess my age). But I think the Wii defines the next generation of console. It doesn't matter how powerful your product is if it doesn't do what it needs to.
That's why I compare the Wii to Wi-Fi. I first tried out Wi-Fi in September 2000, when most of us (including me) were on dialup connectivity. What, disbelievers asked, was the point in having a wireless Ethernet when your internet connection was running at one-twentieth the speed? But wireless, and the freedom it confers, is a boon in itself, and as the rest of the technology catches up, wireless becomes even more useful. Once you've used it, you don't want to go back.
The comparison struck me when I was trying out the Nintendo Wii with its Bluetooth- and infrared-control remotes, which let you "play" games such as tennis, golf, baseball and bowling by doing what you'd really do — move your arms and body about. Many gamers say dismissively that Nintendo's audience are "just kids".
But the Wii instantly makes the PS3 and Xbox 360 look like the mainframes of the past, stuck in an old paradigm. And today's kids, of course, are tomorrow's console buyers too.
If I were at Sony, I'd be rather worried, and have a crash team working on lending the PS3 some Wii-ness, to go on sale right away. And if there isn't someone out there writing a Star Wars game for the Wii, complete with light sabre duels, I'd just like to say: start now and you'll make a killing next Christmas.
(Sorry, a problem where people couldn't comment on this now fixed, I hope.)
