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Sony Claims One Million PS3s Sold in EU / AU

GamesIndustry.biz reports that one million PlayStation 3s have been sold in the European and Australian markets. This breaks the record for Sony console sales in those sectors, as they've reached that number in only nine and half weeks. "Although released in Japan in November last year, the console has so far sold just under a million in the region, with 910,737 units sold, according to data from Media Create. The last hardware sales figures released by NPD in April showed that PS3 sales had reached over 1.3 million units in North America. According to Sony, Resistance: Fall of Man has sold 600,000 units in Europe, with MotorStorm reaching just over 500,000 sales."

67 comments

  1. wow by nomadic · · Score: 5, Funny

    No snide comments thrown in the slashdot story denigrating Sony? What is this, a neutral, legitimate news site now or something??

    1. Re:wow by Lisandro · · Score: 3, Informative

      Well, i feel almost obliged now (source)...

      Nintendo DS:

      Global: 40 million
      Europe: 11 million
      Britain: 3.1 million

      Nintendo Wii:

      Global: 5.84 million
      Europe: 1.3 million
      Britain: 438,000

    2. Re:wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, really. They didn't even quote how many Wii and XBox360's had been sold. It's almost like they didn't realize it was a "we hate Sony"-type week.

    3. Re:wow by rherbert · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This is actually pretty surprising... 1.3 million Wiis have been sold in Europe, while 1 million PS3s have been sold in the EU/AU? That seems pretty impressive for a machine that costs more than twice as much.

    4. Re:wow by kinglink · · Score: 1

      I'm almost definite that the European numbers there are reflecting Europe. While as the PS3 numbers are reflecting Europe and Australia. Apparently there's a large amount of Australian gamers, I know IGN just recently opened a AU branch.

      I could be wrong, but that's probably a little more likely considering the other numbers from the Wii.

    5. Re:wow by JamesRose · · Score: 1

      Just thought you may like to know, Britain is actually part of europe.

    6. Re:wow by moderatorrater · · Score: 1

      Assuming Europe is the same as here for availability, the number of Wii's sold is roughly equal to the number produced (since they get bought within hours of being put on the shelf). Is this true for Europe and can the same be said for the PS3?

    7. Re:wow by AKAImBatman · · Score: 1

      In this case (FTFA), Britain's figures are separated from continental Europe. To save space, it's shortened to just "Europe" in the table of numbers. Thus the total European sales are actually 1.78 million units. Australia probably has another 100-200K to add to that, as the AU division of Nintendo has been seeing record sales. Which is pretty impressive considering that Nintendo hasn't shipped them any games. :-/

      (Australia has something like 7 games for the Wii. Even worse, they didn't get Turbografx-16 games on their VC until a week or two ago.)

    8. Re:wow by Ashmantle · · Score: 1

      I'd rather attribute it to the extreme shortage of Nintendo Wii. Some local EBGames stores around here only get a couple now and then, while they're fully stocked with PS3.

    9. Re:wow by harlows_monkeys · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This is actually pretty surprising... 1.3 million Wiis have been sold in Europe, while 1 million PS3s have been sold in the EU/AU? That seems pretty impressive for a machine that costs more than twice as much

      It's not impressive at all when you consider that the PS3 is widely available...so widely available that stores are cutting prices to make it move. The Wii, on the other hand, generally still requires giving up your firstborn and your soul to find.

    10. Re:wow by Deag · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The hype about the Wii that has been in the States is not the same as in Europe. There has been a certain extent of hype but none of the old ladies and dead people buying them rush that has been in North America (well that is the impression I get on slashdot.)

    11. Re:wow by antek9 · · Score: 1

      No, as far as I can see (anecdotal only, mind you), the Wii is available here at European retail stores. Maybe the market is saturated already, maybe there's not enough games impressive enough. Who knows? The PS3 isn't exactly sold out, either, but people seem to be more excited about that one, even if they haven't got the cash lying around to purchase it. The only thing that's sitting on the shelves like rusting metal is the 360.

      People that are in the market for a system at that price point (360 or PS3, whatever) tend to be better informed these days. They know: the xbox360 is noisier, gets hotter to the point of overheating, and is occasionally dying on people. They hear nothing comparable to that about the Playstation, just, you know, that it's more expensive. People are also used to buying the more expensive car if it's more secure, offers more mileage and comes with air condition. People with small children OTOH buy the cheaper car, knowing that it will have to be replaced two years sooner, but then it doesn't matter if the kids wreck and soil the seats, and so on.

      Cheaper cars are fun as well, just like the Wii, so no offense!

      --
      A World in a Grain of Sand / Heaven in a Wild Flower,
      Infinity in the Palm of your Hand / And Eternity in an Hour.
    12. Re:wow by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      I doubt the part about buying the more expensive one since those 200€ don't come out of thin air and these days you get the 360 with all kinds of extra stuff thrown in (bundles I've seen were Kameo, PGR3 and a racing wheel or Guitar Hero 2 and guitar controller, both packs for 400€ each). I'd expect the PS3 to sell better right now because it's new and there's still more demand, not because it looks like the better option.

      Either way, the sales of both the PS3 and 360 have been described as insufficient in Europe. Seems like the big game companies are really unhappy with those consoles.

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    13. Re:wow by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      Stores aren't really cutting prices from what I can see, they bundle some crap with it and raise the price (though I think the bundles are cheaper than the parts individually), I'd assume the margins are too small to do any pricedrops.

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    14. Re:wow by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      Usually businesses mean Europe, Africa, Australia and pretty much everything else that isn't Canada, the US or Japan when they say Europe.

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    15. Re:wow by Some_Llama · · Score: 1

      I have a Wii with several downloaded virtual games and retail titles included and 4 Wiimotes with nunchucks. I'm thinking poopsicle for a first name. when can we make the trade?

      I'll come back for the soul.

    16. Re:wow by harlows_monkeys · · Score: 1
      No thanks. I got mine on launch day, after a grueling 40-minute wait in line. :-)

      I got up early launch morning, just to drive around to the major stores (Best Buy, Target, Circuit City) to see how big the lines were. I didn't expect to get one. I was just curious.

      After that, it occurred to me that I had not checked K-Mart. I had driven by K-Mart the night before, and no lines were forming, and I wasn't even sure K-Mart was participating in the launch. I was curious to see if there was a line there, but not curious enough to drive there without knowing if K-Mart was a launch store.

      Around 7:00, it occurred to me that since I'm in GMT-8, and K-Mart is a national chain, I could call a K-Mart in GMT-5 that had been open for a couple hours, and ask if they had carried Wiis. I did this, and found that they had. I now knew that K-Mart was participating in the launch, so there was a chance my local store had some. So, for completeness, I drove to K-Mart to see how big the line was. It was two people, so what the hell, I figured I'd give it a try. It turned out those two were together, only buying one Wii, so if there were at least 2 in that store, I'd have one.

      The store had 2.

    17. Re:wow by kyrre · · Score: 1

      I was in Madrid early may and noticed that every game store I went to had lots of Wiis available. I was quite surprised by this as in my native norway they are quite rare. Though I have seen some in stores. Equally weird is that there where no Wii demo machines. Every one had XBox 360 and Playstation 3.

    18. Re:wow by miro+f · · Score: 1

      well I know vgcharts is a taboo word here, but they have Europe at 2.10 million Wiis currently with Australia making up a lousy 90k of those (we were never a Nintendo nation).

      They appear to be the best (freely availably) tracking source for Europe, they had PS3 at .95 million when this announcement went out, and considering Sony is likely to overestimate, I think it's pretty decent.

      --
      being vague is almost as cool as doing that other thing...
    19. Re:wow by Some_Llama · · Score: 1

      Nice,

      It took us a few tries to get one, about a month after the intial launch we picked up 2, one for us and one to sell on Ebay, hehe just kidding (I hate those jerks) the second one was for my brother who lives in southern cal. towards the end of our search stores wouldn't even tell us if they had any, i guess the number of people calling was crazy by then.

    20. Re:wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe its different in Hamburg but here in the Netherlands Wii's are hard to get. PS3's and X-Box 360's can be bought everywhere.

      I'm amazed at the reaction to the Wii. My sister in Law got one after seeing and playing Wii Sports for 1 hour. They are very strict and don't allow game consoles in the livingroom until the Wii that is. She had to call a lot of stores for weeks before she could buy hers so in some European countries Wii's are hard to find.

      The Dutch game forums I read are full of reports of guys returning their dead X-Box 360 (some are on their 2nd or 3rd refurbished console). No way I'm going to buy that one. PS3 is missing the games I tend to play (lets wait for Final Fantasy).

      I'm still in the market for an extra console to supplement the Wii. Maybe a PS3 after a pricedrop or a remodeled improved X-Box 360. Maybe wait even longer until the Blue Ray / HD DVD waris decided. I can wait still have the Wii games to entertain me.

  2. And the lord did grin... by Mockylock · · Score: 1

    and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals and fruit bats and large chu...

    Or something.

    --
    "Please, shut up. Just when I think you can't say anything more stupid, you speak again." -Archie Bunker.
  3. Err.. that "RTFA" link is wrong by McNihil · · Score: 2, Informative

    its about Final Fantasy

  4. Uh, the story's about Final Fantasy? by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's great when the summary is about EU sales figures for the PS3, but the story link goes to a discussion of the next Final Fantasy game.

    WTF?!

    1. Re:Uh, the story's about Final Fantasy? by eln · · Score: 4, Funny

      You've stumbled upon the fabled Secret of Slashdot: The editors know no one actually clicks the links, so they have an automated script that just make stories up in the summary, and links to random pages on the Internet for the "articles".

      They came up with this idea when, back in early 1999, CmdrTaco posted a story about a new company offering to sell gravel over the Internet with free shipping. However, instead of posting to the Wired article about the new company, he accidentally posted a link to goatse. Strangely, the only emails he got about the story were people raving about how cool it would be to finally be able to buy gravel over the Internet. NOT A SINGLE PERSON commented on the goatse link! No one was reading the articles!

      Ever since then, the editors have been spending most of their time blitzed on rum on a Caribbean beach while the script runs Slashdot.

      For years, trolls have been commemorating this event by posting goatse links in the comments. However, most people don't realize the significance of these tributes, and quickly mod them down.

    2. Re:Uh, the story's about Final Fantasy? by Elsan · · Score: 1

      I can buy gravel over the net!? ZOMG!

    3. Re:Uh, the story's about Final Fantasy? by TheMadcapZ · · Score: 1

      I remember this fabled article. I was new to the net at the time, so young, so naive. I just wanted some gravel. Heard I might get a good deal over the internet. I clicked the link to see what types of gravel were available. Little did I know what horrors I would witness. I vowed to never order gravel after I saw the method for delivery. Though high capacity, I didn't want ass gravel under my new patio.

    4. Re:Uh, the story's about Final Fantasy? by Some_Llama · · Score: 1

      The gravel is actually pretty cheap, but the shipping is how they get ya...

    5. Re:Uh, the story's about Final Fantasy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's really bizarre is that at the same time there's this slashdot cliche that the sites are "slashdotted" - that so many people try to read the article that even the beefiest server chokes immediately. Everyone knows that this is supposed to happen, and many people use it as an excuse for why they haven't personally read the article, but as everyone participating and reading slashdot can testify, there is no evidence whatsoever that anyone actually has ever clicked the story link. Where does the legend of "slashdotting" originate? No one knows - although some people contend that it is an old Yakov Smirnoff skit from the days he was still working the stand-up circuit in Soviet Russia.

  5. Here's the correct story link by AKAImBatman · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 25649

    ^^ In case you're more interested in TFA rather than Square Enix "clarifying" their position on Final Fantasy.

    1. Re:Here's the correct story link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank you but I'm willing to bet anyone remotely interested in sales figures will be even more interested in the way final fantasy is going to go.

      The article states that they try to keep things single-platform and switching to 360 would probably mean dropping the PS3. Not decided yet. This would mean about 1 Million less sales for the PS3 in the future (my estimate).

      FF is the only game in the queue that makes me even remotely interested in a PS3.

      But yes, the article should be corrected.

    2. Re:Here's the correct story link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Slashdotter, I served with Batman; I knew Batman; Batman was a friend of mine. Slashdotter, you're no Batman.

    3. Re:Here's the correct story link by KDR_11k · · Score: 1
      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  6. Availability by EMeta · · Score: 1

    Any idea how many PS2 consoles were available in stores in Europe in the first 10 weeks of distribution? I'm too lazy to check, but I bet it's less than the million they have available now.

    1. Re:Availability by Cryect · · Score: 4, Informative

      Was way more than a million they had available. PS3 has been in common supply in Europe and in fact in several places the stores had to try to discount the consoles a fair bit underneath MSRP to move overstock.

      Few articles for you on that
      UK Retailers dropping the price below MSRP http://www.joystiq.com/2007/04/05/uk-retailer-drop s-playstation-3-price-25/
      82% sales drop http://www.joystiq.com/2007/04/03/playstation-3-sa les-plunge-82-in-uk/

      Also considered they sold 800k on the first day so that means took them 10 weeks more to sell 200k more so about 20k a week which while a little over twice as good as its selling in Japan is not very good (Japan for reference sold less than 9k PS3's last week according to MediaCreate http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16168 3> and they are way past the launch period). The issue comes down to the PS3 just is selling pretty awful and worst than the GameCube sold in the previous console generation.

    2. Re:Availability by Cryect · · Score: 1

      Clarification apparently the 800k number was for the first week not first day.

    3. Re:Availability by Cryect · · Score: 1

      Oh found out the number available. There was 1.62 Million Shipped to PAL Countries according to Sony's annual report and thats 9 weeks ago... So yes, supply is no issue for PAL countries.

    4. Re:Availability by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was in my local Media World (electronics/media/software/games) in Italy and while I saw they have stacks of DS/PSP/PS2/360 and even Wii consoles they don't have any PS3s on display. They do have a demo unit and PS3 games, accessories, blurray movies etc etc.

      Anyway, my point is that either it's sold out (!) or they're selling so few they can't justify isle space. Of course, selling out might not mean that they've actually sold that many, though they did have a huge pile (of display boxes at least) at launch.

  7. Population differances: by spocksbrain · · Score: 1

    2007 estimates:

    Austria 20,982,000
    Europe 710,000,000
    Japan 127,433,494

    European PS3 sales don't seem all that impressive to me for 2.5 months.

    1. Re:Population differances: by NonSequor · · Score: 1

      The size of the European console games market isn't proportional to Europe's population.

      The size of Japan's console games market is roughly the same size as the console games market in North America. Europe and Australia together have a console games market a little smaller than North America or Japan. So considering the late launch, 1 million is actually better than they're doing in Japan and North America. PS3 is still a bit short of 1 million in Japan and their sales have fallen to about 10,000 per week. In North America they're a bit under 1.5 million and their sales are down to about 15,000 per week (it's struggling to outsell the GBA each week).

      So Sony may be slightly less weak in Europe and Australia, but even there I don't think they're still WAY behind the 360 and Wii. Any PS3 fans thinking that Europe and Australia may save Sony are sorely mistaken.

      --
      My only political goal is to see to it that no political party achieves its goals.
    2. Re:Population differances: by NonSequor · · Score: 1

      So Sony may be slightly less weak in Europe and Australia, but even there I don't think they're still WAY behind the 360 and Wii.


      That should be:

      So Sony may be slightly less weak in Europe and Australia, but even there they're still WAY behind the 360 and Wii.
      --
      My only political goal is to see to it that no political party achieves its goals.
    3. Re:Population differances: by hibiki_r · · Score: 1

      The North American market has been bigger than the Japanese market for years. Just look at the figures: XBOX360: 0.39m Japan 6.34m America Wii: 2.64m Japan 3.21m America PS3: 0.94m Japan 1.47m America Even if we remove the 360s numbers, since the Japanese don't really seem to want the console, the Wii and the PS3 are selling better in America by a similar ratio. Japan has more DSs, but that's as much of a cultural issue as the low 360 sales. Without the DS fever, the market's size difference would be very significant. No wonder even japanese companies like Capcom and Nintendo are releasing new games catering mainly to the US market directly.

    4. Re:Population differances: by ex_ottoyuhr · · Score: 1

      s/Austria/Australia/

      That was extremely confusing for a moment...

  8. Mod parent up! by spocksbrain · · Score: 1

    He owes me a new keyboard!

  9. Heh... by Kabuthunk · · Score: 1

    Well... looks like Sony's definitely got a Blu-ray stronghold around there. I wouldn't mind seeing what HD-DVD to Blu-ray sales have been doing for the past few months in that area.

    And as an added note, I don't know whether to see it as funny or not... but directly under TFA, under "related information", was a link on Wii sales, putting it at 1.6 million :P

    --
    Planet Zebeth - Metroid with a twist
    1. Re:Heh... by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      Let's not forget that HDTV penetration is much lower in Europe than the US (mainly because it arrived here later) so HD media may not be such a big seller.

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  10. Am I the only one.... by DesertBlade · · Score: 1

    Who read TFA? Read it three times says nothing about selling 1 million units. Talks about Square Enix clarifies position on Final Fantasy for 360.

    --
    Half of writing history is hiding the truth.
    1. Re:Am I the only one.... by DesertBlade · · Score: 2, Informative

      Found the real article here: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 25649 Still don't buy it, but ok.

      --
      Half of writing history is hiding the truth.
  11. Sony sales by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sony brought on their own problems, all by theirselves with hype, arrogance, and smack talk.

    Bottom line is that they're dead last by a significant margin, and the hype machine has broken down.

    There is really no need to comment any further any longer, as it's like making fun of that mongoloid down the street. It may be fun, until you realize that they're too stupid to understand.

    1. Re:Sony sales by DrXym · · Score: 1

      Funny but the hype for the Wii was massively greater than the PS3. In fact appears to be the only reason why people are getting so worked up about an ostensibly last generation system with a new controller. Sony certainly came out with some idiotic statements though.

    2. Re:Sony sales by stratjakt · · Score: 0

      The PS3 started up their hype machine years before I ever heard mention of the Wii.

      The Wii hype seemed to build momentum, more "organically", as people actually talked about it, rather from contrived xxx-treme web trickery.

      Yeah, when did I hear about the revolutionary cell "supercomputer" that would make fantasy worlds real, for the first time?

      --
      I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
    3. Re:Sony sales by Kelbear · · Score: 1

      There was a lot of people excited about the Wii on the internet. And as such, it was hard to tell if all the excitement is from just a dense distribution in that particular niche of the web, or real excitement in the market. I also noticed that there wasn't very much advertising for either the Wii or the PS3. None at all until just a week or two before the consoles launched in stores.

      I do however find myself running into Xbox360 ads everywhere I turn, on TV, in movie theatres, posters, etc. etc.

      Wii commercials have grown to be commonplace now, featuring those two polite little japanese guys hauling fun around the country.

      PS3 commercials feature a PS3 console. Of the 3-4 that I've seen on TV, 3 of them just feature a box admist some freakish surreal chaos without much explanation for what it has to do with the PS3(Presumably to create enough curiousity to push consumers to inquire for more). A baby doll crying tears of blood with images of armageddon reflecting in its eyes...pan out to...a PS3?

      Only one actually attempted to describe why the PS3 is good, and actually using words. I've also seen the European advertising campaign, "This is living". I really have no freaking clue what the hell any of the clips have to do with the PS3. However, I will say that the mercenary "Kovac" gave a /superb/ performance in his clip, though it seems he was really just advertising for a bar of chocolate.

      The blonde advertised that copying others is lame and originality should always be pursued(which isn't something you should advertise about motion-sensing and six-axis...). The blonde also had breasts and was sitting on a toilet.

      Black guy tapdanced on a desk and sweated.

      Soccer/football guy wearing only a jockstrap fapped to a soccer/football game (I am not kidding or exaggerating, go watch for yourself).

      I think the PS3 would have done better if Sony had tried to make some of their own hype with a competent advertising campaign. Theirs has been creatively bad, it must have taken a great deal of effort to make something so terrible, I doubt it could have been achieved simply by accident.

  12. As impressive as that sounds.... by rsanta74 · · Score: 1

    ... PS3's getting creamed elsewhere. In Japan alone, as of last week, Wii is outselling PS3 8:1. http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_conte nt&task=view&id=5913&Itemid=2 That might say more about the Japanese buying tastes than those of the Euro crowd, but it's still highly indicative of Sony's "hard sell", uphill battle with the PS3. 1mil units in the EU/AU market might sound nice, but we have to really look at the bigger picture. Since the article link is wrong, is this actually 1mil sold through to customers or to retailers. Totally different scenario.

    1. Re:As impressive as that sounds.... by El_Muerte_TDS · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The bigger picture is nice. But as long as Europeans, don't know about Australia, is treated like a different species, the bigger picture doesn't say much.
      Europeans are not treated like North Americans and not as Asians... resulting is retarded late releases of games, gaming hardware, movies, etc. Or resulting in fucked up releases because "we don't understand it" (-- reference to the Grindhouse bullshit).

      So for all it's worth, the PS3 might be successful in the EU and not in the rest of the world. (but probably not because Sony screwed us over even more and told use to like it).

    2. Re:As impressive as that sounds.... by Doctor_Jest · · Score: 2, Interesting

      "creamed" isn't likely a word I would use (unless I relished the insinuation that Sony wasn't doing so "hot")... It's a $600 (or so) console v. a $250 console. Apples to Oranges (no pun intended)... and I for one am happy it's selling faster than previous generations, in spite of the price. That alone is impressive to me, a platform agnostic... This sort of news (8:1 ratio) isn't going to make my toast suddenly not come out right, or my milk to spoil... so in reality, if someone needs this information to make themselves feel better about Excite Truck, have at it. (I'm not saying you are... I am using the "royal you" ... so to speak.) There's simply far too many people being nutjobs about the franchise wars that it's becoming tiresome....

      It's sold to customers, actually (from what I've read at other sites about this... since Slashdot has the case of oops! right now.) Now whether or not _that_ is true is yet another story. ;)

      --
      It's the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
    3. Re:As impressive as that sounds.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I own a Wii and PS3 ... I will take the PS3 over Wii any day.

    4. Re:As impressive as that sounds.... by LKM · · Score: 1

      There's no reason anyone would need external justifications for liking Excite Truck. It was an awesome game, and I kept coming back to it for about three times as long as I played Motorstorm.

    5. Re:As impressive as that sounds.... by Doctor_Jest · · Score: 1

      I love Motorstorm much more... It's not as expansive in unlockables as say, Burnout, but it's fun and when I play it... it feels next-gen, looks next-gen, and is damn fun to play with the sixaxis motion sensing on......

      I used excite truck as an example because it was for a while the only racer for the Wii proper.... (at least as I remembered it)... and even then, it seemed like Madden O6 on the 360... rushed to market and missing some features. I thought that was a travesty for the football franchises (and a byproduct of EA being, at the time, the ONLY game in town) Madden 07 was a similar featureless fest for the PS3 (so I hear)... but by then, I was only interested in the 2k8 sports football coming. ;)

      Now, anyone who loves Barbie's Horse Prancing Show Pony Dress up... they need help.. not just justification.

      --
      It's the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
  13. Correct linky by rsanta74 · · Score: 1

    http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 25649 Hmmm.... Says nothing about selling through to actual customers. Then again, it says "sold" instead of "shipped". Could be actual sell through.

  14. inquiring minds want to know by rubberbandball · · Score: 1

    since no one reads TFA, and TFA has nothing to do with T actual FA, is this like the "1 million zunes sold" article where there were 1,000,000 units sold to vendors, or are there actually 1,000,000 units in homes?

    --
    oh marmalade.
  15. Came too quickly by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm surprised it didn't take them longer considering nobody wants this overpriced piece of junk.

  16. Re: Wii Suppy is increasing... by trdrstv · · Score: 1

    It's not impressive at all when you consider that the PS3 is widely available...so widely available that stores are cutting prices to make it move. The Wii, on the other hand, generally still requires giving up your firstborn and your soul to find.

    Things are improving though. Now getting a Wii only requires giving up your firstborn or your soul.

  17. Nine and a half weeks? by checkyoulater · · Score: 1

    I'm sure that Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke are pleased...

    --
    Is that a real poncho? I mean, is that a Mexican poncho or is that a Sears poncho?
  18. Excite Truck vs. Motorstorm by LKM · · Score: 1

    I think the issue is that Motorstorm and Excite Truck can't really be compared. While they are both Arcade Offroaders, that's where the similarities end. Excite Truck is a lot faster, with huge jumps and boosts. You just try to go through the course as quickly as possible, barely touching the ground at times. There's no simulation or reality involved. It's a kind of Offroad Mario Kart.

    Motorstorm, on the other hand, requires you to read the ground. It moves much slower and, despite of clearly being an Arcade game, there is a lot of physics simulation and planning on the part of the driver involved. There's even a kind of tactical component in which car you choose and which course you take. It's also much harder than Excite Truck.

    So whether you like the one or the other is probably more a result of your own taste, and less of the games' qualities. I like them both, but I like the mindless adrenaline rush of Excite Truck better.

    Both of these games are, however, clearly unfinished and were rushed to meet the console's launch date - Excite Truck has no online component and only two-player split screen. Motorstorm has no split screen at all, and far too few tracks. The Japanese version of Motorstorm doesn't even have an online component!

    So while most of the Wii's launch titles seem rushed and unfinished (especially Red Steel, which could have been absolutely awesome with only a few months more), the same is clearly true for the PS3. Even Resistance is not finished. Insomniac has actually kind of apologized for the game's graphics and said that while they had wanted to implement texture streaming, they did not have enough time, but that it would be in their next game - Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction.

    1. Re:Excite Truck vs. Motorstorm by Doctor_Jest · · Score: 1

      I think most launch titles have a little bit of "greenness" on them. I am surprised there's no local MP splitscreen for Motorstorm as well... That being said, I don't mind that a little, but MAdden 06 was unacceptably shortchanged. (and 07 for the PS3)

      You know the mindless adrenaline rush I get is from Burnout Revenge. It is one of the few racing games that gives me a sense of speed... (and it's fabulously hilarious!)

      Wow.. I didn't realize that Resistance devs apologized.. :) I think it's a gorgeous game... albeit damn hard. ;)

      I really am having second thoughts about my second thoughts. :) I might have to give it a shot... when I can find a Wii. :)
      I probably won't use it for the VC, but who knows? :)

      --
      It's the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
    2. Re:Excite Truck vs. Motorstorm by LKM · · Score: 1

      Agree about Burnout. While - in my opinion - it had some duds (Revenge), it's generaly an awesome franchise, and I can't wait for a real next-gen entry. Burnout Racing + Motorstorm Car Destruction == Pure Awesome.

      I probably won't use it for the VC, but who knows? :)

      I bought some multiplayer games. Love how you can play 5-player games with four Remotes and a Gamecube pad. 5-Player Bomberman and Battle Lode Runner rule.

      Also, Zelda and ActRaiser :-)