PSP-3000 tops 140,000 in first week -- EnterbrainSystem sees seven times sales spike.
The release of the PSP-3000 appears to have given Sony's portable gaming business a major boost at retail. Famitsu.com, citing sales figures from its parent company Enterbrain, reports first week sales totals of 141,270 units for the hardware revision following its release on the 16th.
The firm did not provide breakdowns across the various color and bundle variations. Sony released the system in Piano Black, Pearl White, and Mystic Silver variations, both as standalone units and as part of Value Back bundles that include a four gigabyte Memory Stick and other accessories.
In addition to the 141,270 units for just the PSP-3000, the older models of the system combined to give PSP hardware total sales of 155,720 units for the week covering 10/13 to 10/19.
This total figure represents a huge boost for the PSP, which in the past few weeks has been hovering between the 20,000 and 25,000 marks.
Total domestic hardware sales for the PSP stand at 10,357,481 units, according to Enterbrain.
http://www.andriasang.com/e/articles/2008/10/21/psp_3000_initial_sales_figures/
Xbox 360 Growth in Japan Has Topped All Platforms from March to September
The Xbox 360 has grown its unit sales more than 157% over the last seven months in the Land of the Rising Sun. The latest lifetime platform sales within...
While we've reported on the Xbox 360 continually outselling the PS3 in Japan in recent weeks, what we weren't aware of was just how much growth Microsoft's platform has experienced across the Pacific for a good chunk of 2008. According to the latest Famitsu Marketing data received by GameDaily BIZ, for the period of March to September, the Xbox 360 has actually enjoyed more unit sales growth year-over-year than any other platform.
While the PSP has surged with 132 percent growth, the Xbox 360 grew 157.1 percent during the seven-month span. That said, it's important to recognize that there was far more room to grow with the Xbox 360 to begin with given its still comparatively low unit sales. During the March-September period, the Xbox 360 sold 138,740 units compared to 88,292 during the same time a year earlier. Conversely, the DS Lite, which has already sold a whopping 17 million in Japan, grew only 37.1 percent. The PS3 meanwhile grew 88.5 percent, the Wii 68.2 percent, and the PS2 57.1 percent.
Even with the 360's improving sales in Japan, the console has yet to break a million units in its lifetime. Here's how the lifetime sales (in units) stack up for the major platforms in Japan:
Xbox 360: 748,992
PS3: 2,369,484
DS: 6,449,206
DS Lite: 17,080,747
Wii: 6,826,612
PSP: 10,181,888
PS2: 21,454,325
http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/n...-all-platforms-from-march-to-september/?biz=1
Gears of War 2 Possibly Not Hitting Japan
Re-Emergence Day may never happen for gamers located in Japan.
Microsoft has actually managed to accumulate some semblance of success in Japan recently with the Xbox 360, thanks to titles like Tales of Vesperia. Early in September, Microsoft held a media briefing in Tokyo where they outlined goals for the 360 in Japan, announcing price cuts and showing off a number of games. From what we're piecing together, however, it seems like Gears of War 2 won't be one of those games releasing in Japan -- which is utterly bizarre considering that even Madden NFL 09 was released over there.
A recent entry on a user blog at unofficial Gears of War website Gearheads of War by Michael "3Suns" Guenter claims that a local retailer in Japan didn't have the game listed in its computer and an employee managed to only find the game on Xbox.com with no announced release date. But that's not all:
"The story isn't over. As I am walking out of the store, I notice the Xbox 360 2008 Autumn Catalog (Take Me I'm Free). So, I thought, this is great! At least maybe I can get some info out of the promotional literature. Guess what? Gears of War 2 is not listed ANYWHERE in the book. NOWHERE! Not even in the back index. They have games ranging from Too Human (old), Infinite Undiscovery (released a couple of weeks ago), to Star Ocean (2009). Even Gears of War the original is listed in there, but no Gears of War 2."
It's a peculiar omission, regardless of the location we're talking about. We contacted Microsoft regarding this issue, but they didn't have much to say: "We have no announcements to make about Gears of War 2 releasing in Japan at this time." Depending on how you look at that, you could simply get the impression of your typical 'no comment,' or or you could read it as a suggestion that there are no plans to release Gears of War 2 in Japan.
You're free to draw your own conclusion, but based upon what we currently know, Guenter probably summed it up best: "I guess Japan is just SOL."
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3170788