Amazon Game Room's Blog

I have never posted a comment on a blog before, but this one was so sill to me, I had to. This post was from yesterday, not last year, yesterday......so I found it interesting that:
A search "right now on Amazon and you'll see what I mean. 20 months in the market and you can't find one anywhere. " resulted in 107 results. A search on Ebay results in over 5000.
Ps3 sold 1 million units in 8 months more than 4 times as long as WII, yet somehow because we outsold PS3 last month it is now domination?
The 80 gig PS3 came out in August, so why right around the corner?
IN the same study by NPD Group, it stated that ONE PS3 game (metal gears latest) sold more then three of the top WII games......that is far from domination.
I guess blogs are simply someones opinion, not necessarily facts?

Your title is misleading, though not technically wrong. The Wii is "now" the best selling console, but it has also been the best selling console ever since it came out. The "news" is that it's now the console which has sold the most units since initial release. The installed base is bigger than XBOX 360, overcoming the XBOX's 18 month head start.

One thing to check is to see how many of those E-Bay results are asking, in combination with shipping and handling, for an amount equal to or greater than the MSRP (Currently about $250 for the Wii). Those are the scalpers trying to make a buck off the scarcity. The fact that there are a large number on EBay currently means that there is a demand for Wii consoles, and a grey market for supply. Unfortunately for those that are trying to get a wii, Scalpers artificially decrease supply accessible by normal means (stores), increase the price (sometimes in insane amounts, such as in the initial weeks of release), and actually give you less value (No store to go back to if there's any issue with your purchase).

I'd also like to see what data you're reading from, particularly cumulative amounts. If the PS3 sold 1M in 8 months, and the Wii sold 800K in those months, then that's a net of 1.6M units. A nice amount, yes. If the PS3 then dropped down to 100K sold, and the Wii has been selling 500K for several months... they'd only need 4 months to wipe out that lead. Several sites are reporting that the sales for April of '08 has 714.2K Wii units sold, versus 187.1 PS3 units sold; that's a net of half a million. Another site has May '08 sales of 675.1K Wii vs. 208.7K, a net of about 450K. The gap shortens in June, at 666.7K Wii vs. 405.5K PS3, but the Wii is still selling steadily, in excess of the #'s for the PS3. The total # of Wii sold in the US is double that of the PS3, as well, and is close to the XBox 360's total sales, even with the 360's year-long lead in the US.

This is despite the release of a game that has been long-awaited since the initial release of the PS3. Yes, MGS4 reached the #1 spot this month. It's quite possible to be in #1 next month as well, if it was released late in June and didn't have the full 30~ days to enjoy sales. MGS4, however, was one of the key games considered a system seller. The problem with that is that those kinds of games are front-heavy. They do give a nice boost to system sales, and the games hit high sales, but they're short-lived, lasting about a month or less. There's no lasting tail to keep selling the game, as those that want the game usually get it early on. After that, it drops off heavily. With the Wii console outselling the PS3 with such a big game coming out, that says a lot about the Wii

Blogs are generally that; peoples' opinion. Opinions do usually rely on facts to get their points across and to convert the opinions of others. At the minimum, it'll show that someone's point is at least valid. The blog entry does note some of these facts, and he makes his side more clear than your own position.

Well, nice to see that someone is reading what I periodically dibble on to these pages. It looks as if clarification has already been made for me, but for closure sake I'll make said clarifications myself as well.

Of course me saying that Wiis are not available is not technically accurate. You can buy a Wii right now on Amazon, Ebay and other online sellers, but these would be via a reseller. The Wii retails for around $250, but if you are willing to go through one of these second party sellers you will pay a hefty markup. Using Amazon as just one example, the best price for a new Wii as of 30 seconds ago was $334 and change. I'm a cheapskate, so $80 plus tax and shipping probably means more to me than others I guess. Regarding units sold, when I say that Wii is "#1" in the US market I'm referring to install base, that is the total number of units that are in use in the US. Month to month console sales most definitely vary and are certainly driven in large part by hot titles and/or bundles, but if the NPD's numbers are to be believed--and these are being published throughout the gaming press--this means that the Wii has surpassed the long-time leader the 360 and now has the largest install base in the US. Finally, as mentioned the 80GB PS3 version that I referred to will be priced at $399. That's $100 cheaper than the 80GB bundle available now with MGS4 and yes, available around the corner in Sept '08.

Thanks for reading and feel free correct me any time.

--Hobson's Choice

Huh. I thought this happened a year ago:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/23/total-wii-sales-surpass-the-xbox-360-worldwide/

But I guess it took the US a year to catch up to the rest of the world?

bitmaelstrom

My original posting was more in response to the original posting by S. Tharp, so please pardon any misconceptions. Posting numbers are always good, though, and noting any important caveats (such as numbers being specific to the US) do help to clarify things. Noting what I was responding to would have made my own comments more clear.

It will be interesting to see what the upcoming/in-progress changes to the various SKU's will do for sales. Nintendo cleaned up with the DS when they re-released it as the DS Lite, yet are also selling the Wii as-is in large amounts without any changes to either the system itself, to pack-in features, or even the price point.

No misconceptions in your original posting "G" and thanks for your last points as well.

--Hobson's Choice