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Arstechnica commentary.

Arstechnica wrote:The projected sales numbers for the month of January are now available, and they show an expected turnout for the first month of the post-holiday season. Next-gen.biz reports that the Wii sold just shy of 500,000 units in January, while the Xbox 360 sold 294,000 units, and the PS3 sold 244,000 units.

The high sales figures for the Wii are hardly surprising. Demand for the console is at an extremely high level and shows no signs of letting up as new shipments are still being sold out almost instantly. The 360 also enjoyed a healthy post-holiday month, which is surely a side effect of the strong holiday lineup of software. The margin between the PS3 and the 360 is small but noticeable, as the PS3 follows closely in third place.

I'm personally surprised that the 360 is still selling so well. At its retail price, it's still a pretty expensive machine that's not really within the realm of an impulse buy. Plus, given that it's been out for a year, you'd think sales would be showing signs of slowing. Then again, the current roster of software is fairly expansive; pretty much everything is covered thoroughly except maybe the RPG genre. The PS3 is bound to see some sales increases throughout the year, especially come the second half of 2007 when the AAA titles are unleashed, though, the same can be said about the Wii and 360. How will this year pan out based on these early Q1 numbers?

Next-gen commentary.

next-gen wrote:Nintendo Wii sold 436,000 units in January according to NPD, with Xbox 360 selling 294,000 units and PlayStation 3 hitting 244,000.

The numbers were released to various news outlets by Microsoft, and have not been officially verified by NPD. Microsoft says it is targeting cumulative sales of 12 million by the end of June, suggesting average numbers of around 200K a month.

Perrin Kaplan (pictured), vice president of marketing for Nintendo said, “I do think that we're selling to additional and different customers," compared with the Microsoft and Sony consoles. We've had an incredibly healthy start and we think there's going to be a pretty long tail on this product."

A Microsoft spokesperson said the company had enjoyed “a fantastic January," with Xbox 360 boosted by Lost Planet. Sales of Xbox 360 are up 18% compared with the same month a year ago. The company will be happy that Xbox 360 beat PS3, with few shortages of either machine. On the other hand, the cheaper Wii did suffer shortages in January, but still managed to trounce the competition.

For Sony, third place will be a disappointment, but the company’s bigger play must come later in the year, if and when the Blu-ray factor kicks in.

And here I thought Wii sales were slipping.

Needs software top 10 sales too:

1. 360 LOST PLANET: EXTREME CONDITION 329k
2. PS2 GUITAR HERO 2 W/GUITAR 224k
3. 360 GEARS OF WAR 212k
4. WII WARIOWARE: SMOOTH MOVES 201k
5. WII LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS 189k
6. PS2 MADDEN NFL 07 156k
7. GCN LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS 144k
8. PS3 RESISTANCE: FALL OF MAN 144k
9. 360 TOM CLANCY'S RAINBOW SIX: VEGAS 135k
10. NDS NEW SUPER MARIO BROS 125k

Ossus' thread needs more love. Here's a non-flamebait version of what I posted at NGW:

NDS: Letdown total, mainly because NOA didn't restock their supply for *2 weeks*, the first two weeks after Xmas to boot. It was probably a wise decision on NOJ's part to let Japan have the bigger allotment, since the Japanese definitely appreciate the platform more. Still, it would have been useful to help with the Nintendomination that's going to take place this year. Still, not all bad news for Nintendo, since they also have the...

GBA: Definite boost to the aging hardware from the lack of DS supply. FFVI Advance couldn't have hurt either. Beat my expectations, and it would have been funny if just a few more people had been impatient and made a quick settlement purchase and it had beat the...

PSP: O lordy. With an attach rate that's still below 1, hackers constantly assailing the firmware and beating the SCE programmers at their own game, okayish but totally unspectacular sales, and the massacring going on in the rest of the world, this platform is in dire need of a price cut. Upcoming software might give a little boost, but there's only so much Castlevania can do. Okay, now let's talk about home consoles, starting with...

GCN: Much like the GBA, this old trooper was helped out by the total sellout of Wiis that went on throughout the entire month. Software sales for the platform are also still solid, with TP showing some legs and staying charted for another month. Much more interestingly, Nintendo apparently has quite a sizeable stock of these around, which means that they could still eventually steal last gens #2 spot from Xbox1. However, this gen Nintendo can make a very respectable play for the #1 spot with...

Wii: Nintendomination am total. Come and show me your bitter tears, HD gamers, that I might drink of them and laugh. The Wii has posted a post-launch January 70% higher that anything in the last decade (yes, this includes PS2). This while STILL being under heavy shortage, with shipments selling out within minutes of arrival. If anything, the mainstream buzz is growing every day. It's possible that analysts like Pachter might continue to cling to their wistful hopes and carry on shilling for Sony, but devs know where the money is, and devs want that money. Speaking of Sony...

PS2: Last-gen is over. I thought (as did many others), that the PS2 could keep it's home-console supremacy for another 1/2 year or so, but I guess everyone is ready to move on. Maybe GoW2 will spike sales in March, maybe it won't, but it's been a solid long innings for the little Emotion Engine that could, which are now at an end. Sadly, the same can't be said for...

PS3: Ouch. Outsold by both competitors just out of launch, and with ample supply. Sony needs to work out *one* strategy for this console and stick to it. I'd personally stick with the Blu-Ray trojan approach for the big $$$, which means axing one SKU, packing another movie or two in, and working the studio release domination over HD-DVD even harder. Or, if they want to try and retain dominance in the gaming sphere (not happening), they need to slash prices, work more closely with devs, moneyhat some quality exclusives, and show some damn games already. However, with Stringer managing the impossible feat of turning Electronics around, maybe this bizarre decade-long experiment will end, and they'll return to the core competences they once had.