MC 2008-12-01 and Famitsu 2008-11-24: Things of Note

Based on the latest Famitsu hardware numbers...
PSP comparisons: After 208 weeks, PSP is where PS2 was at 155.6 weeks (February 20, 2003), where DS was at 92.4 weeks (September 6, 2006), and where GBA was at 141.3 weeks (December 2, 2003).

X360 comparisons: After 156 weeks, X360 is where GCN was at 15.2 weeks (December 24, 2001), where PS3 was at 20.4 weeks (March 28, 2007), and where Wii was at 4.2 weeks (December 25, 2006).

PS3 comparisons: After 108 weeks, PS3 is where PS2 was at 24.5 weeks (August 16, 2000), where PSP was at 54.8 weeks (December 24, 2005), where GCN was at 111.7 weeks (October 31, 2003), and where Wii was at 26.4 weeks (May 30, 2007).

Wii comparisons: After 105 weeks, Wii is where GBA was at 91.2 weeks (December 16, 2002), where DS was at 71.6 weeks (April 13, 2006), where PS2 was at 101.7 weeks (February 8, 2002), and where PSP was at 157.1 weeks (December 9, 2007).

DSi comparisons: After 5 weeks, DSi is where GBASP was at 6.5 weeks (March 27, 2003), where GBM was at 57.2 weeks (October 16, 2006), and where DSL was at 5.0 weeks (April 2, 2006).

Based on the latest Media Create hardware numbers...
DS vs PSP: Weekly shares of 71.7 / 28.3 bring total shares to 69.0 / 31.0. If DS stopped selling and PSP continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 245.6 weeks (August 23, 2013).

X360 vs PS3: Weekly shares of 24.8 / 75.2 bring total shares to 24.0 / 76.0. If PS3 stopped selling and X360 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 171.4 weeks (March 21, 2012).

PSP vs Wii: At this week's rates, Wii catches PSP in 1,998.5 weeks (March 28, 2047). If PSP stopped selling and Wii continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 67.7 weeks (March 26, 2010).

PS3 vs Wii: Weekly shares of 34.8 / 65.2 bring total shares to 26.0 / 74.0. If Wii stopped selling and PS3 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 152.4 weeks (November 9, 2011).


Week over week it's good to be Nintendo and bad to be HD, but really DS is the only thing with a significant change.



Famitsu Software Stuff
Kirby Super Star Ultra Deluxe (3265) stops its week-doubling streak, but it's still more than 100K above other Kirbys at the same age. This week it has passed up Kirby Air Ride's (1209) LTD.


Animal Crossing City Folk (3281) falls behind Wild World in its second week, but not by much. This week it passes up GCN's Animal Crossing e+'s (1192) LTD.


New software groups:
Professor Layton
The third in the series, "and the Last Time Travel" (3293) has the best opening yet. This one released almost exactly a year since the previous game (2673), so any seasonal bumps or dips might be expected to behave similarly.


Rune Factory
Wii's Rune Factory Frontier (3302) is the series's weakest opening yet by far.


Now that Chrono Trigger is in its second week, let's take a look at how it's performing relative to other major ports/remakes from Square Enix on GBA and DS. In short it's doing far better than any of the Final Fantasy Advance ports, but not as well as any of the DS remakes.

MC 2008-11-24 and Famitsu 2008-11-17: Things of Note

Based on the latest Famitsu hardware numbers...
PSP comparisons: After 207 weeks, PSP is where PS2 was at 154.6 weeks (February 13, 2003), where DS was at 92.0 weeks (September 3, 2006), and where GBA was at 140.2 weeks (November 24, 2003).

X360 comparisons: After 155 weeks, X360 is where GCN was at 15.1 weeks (December 24, 2001), where PS3 was at 19.7 weeks (March 23, 2007), and where Wii was at 4.1 weeks (December 25, 2006).

PS3 comparisons: After 107 weeks, PS3 is where PS2 was at 23.9 weeks (August 12, 2000), where PSP was at 54.6 weeks (December 22, 2005), where GCN was at 109.3 weeks (October 14, 2003), and where Wii was at 25.9 weeks (May 26, 2007).

Wii comparisons: After 104 weeks, Wii is where GBA was at 91.0 weeks (December 15, 2002), where DS was at 71.4 weeks (April 12, 2006), where PS2 was at 101.0 weeks (February 3, 2002), and where PSP was at 156.6 weeks (December 6, 2007).

DSi comparisons: After 4 weeks, DSi is where GBASP was at 5.8 weeks (March 22, 2003), where GBM was at 23.6 weeks (February 23, 2006), and where DSL was at 4.4 weeks (March 29, 2006).

Based on the latest Media Create hardware numbers...
DS vs PSP: Weekly shares of 67.4 / 32.6 bring total shares to 69.0 / 31.0. If DS stopped selling and PSP continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 242.7 weeks (July 27, 2013).

X360 vs PS3: Weekly shares of 24.6 / 75.4 bring total shares to 24.0 / 76.0. If PS3 stopped selling and X360 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 148.1 weeks (October 3, 2011).

PS3 vs Wii: Weekly shares of 41.2 / 58.8 bring total shares to 25.9 / 74.1. If Wii stopped selling and PS3 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 131.3 weeks (June 7, 2011).

Week over week, there's really no constant pattern to the changes. PS3 doubling is the biggest obvious difference this week.

Famitsu Software Stuff
Kirby Super Star Ultra Deluxe (3265) continues its double-weeking streak. Its first week was bigger than any other modern Kirby's two week total. Its two week total was bigger than any other modern Kirby's four week total. Its third week total is now bigger than any other modern Kirby's six week total. It's doubtful this can be maintained; it would need to sell 290K copies next week to match Squeak Squad's weeks 7 & 8.


Animal Crossing City Folk (3281) doesn't have quite the first week number of Wild World (95), but since it had fewer days on the market in its first week it may have been more successful for that smaller time period. In the case of this image it gives its line segment a slightly steeper appearance. Also worth noting that this is the third biggest first week for a Wii game, behind Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii.

Japan: Square Enix 2008 Unit Sales Down Nearly 63%* (UPDATED)

Japan - The seismic effects of market shifts and economic gloom in combination with a rather short release list have made a significant impact for Square Enix. In 2007, eighteen releases spread across five systems (DS, PSP, PS2, Wii, 360) added up to a shockingly huge 4.5 million units sold.

In contrast, Square Enix's 2008 effort of ten releases across four systems (DS, PSP, Wii, 360) resulted in a far lesser 1.7 million units sold.* This is a 2.8 million unit difference and is a eye-popping 62.48% decline from 2007.

click to enlarge

2007___________________________________________________
[PSP] Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - 729,459
[NDS] Dragon Quest IV - 601,737
[NDS] Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings - 500,543
[WII] Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors - 453,445
[NDS] Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fate - 363,030
[NDS] Itadaki Street DS - 361,558
[PS2] Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+ - 301,830
[PSP] Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions - 282,770
[NDS] Final Fantasy Tactics A2: The Sealed Grimoire - 259,364
[NDS] Subarashiki Kono Sekai: It's a Wonderful World - 171,629
[PSP] Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition - 117,689
[PS2] Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System - 104,287
[NDS] Heroes of Mana - 82,865
[PS2] Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess expansion data disk - 82,597
[PSP] Final Fantasy II Anniversary Edition - 45,627
[NDS] Front Mission - 17,715
[360] Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess expansion data disk - 12,927
[360] Final Fantasy XI: Vana'diel Collection - 3,212
_______________________________________________________
18 TITLES THROUGH 11-19-07, TOTAL: 4,492,284



2008___________________________________________________
[NDS] Dragon Quest V - 1,152,229
[PSP] Star Ocean: Second Evolution - 141,218
[NDS] Valkyrie Profile: The Accused One - 118,374
[360] Infinite Undiscovery - 96,197
[NDS] Cid and Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon: The Labyrinth of Lost Time DS+ - 46,362
[NDS] Sigma Harmonics - 42,552
[NDS] Nanashi no Game (The Game with no Name) - 41,481
[NDS] Front Mission 2089: Border of Madness - 32,917
[WII] Soul Eater: Monotone Princess - 8,198
[NDS] DS Bookkeeping, Level 3 - 6,044
_______________________________________________________
10 TITLES THROUGH 11-19-08, TOTAL: 1,685,572


Analysis
This isn't all doom and gloom though, unless you're a PS3 owner still waiting for a Square Enix product after two full years. Chart Get! correctly pointed out that 2008 would be a slow year for Square Enix but it wasn't yet apparent just how slow it would be.

Look at this chart from our recent past (right). One can observe a cyclical pattern emerging that this analyst believes is directly related to the age of the applicable generation. Another significant factor is the proximity of the first Final Fantasy main-line release for the generation.

This cycle should point to increased releases in 2009, and assuming FFXIII is one of them (hopefully not too large of an assumption at this point, right?), a significant increase in sales is due as well.

* It should be noted that Chrono Trigger DS and The Last Remnant have both just released and may change the scope of these results slightly, but not enough to significantly alter the analysis.

Source = Famitsu Historical Data

=================
Update:

Scrutiny is the best peer review, right? I had a ton of feedback on this article, both positive and negative based on my method. Some of it was relevant (the captured data compared in similar time periods), and some of it was not (calendar vs. fiscal).

I adjusted the dates of the 2007 data to exclude the second half of November and all of December, a difference of almost 2 million units. I also corrected a data-collection oversight that included 2008 data for games released in 2007, a 207k difference.

The result is data collected by a better method and only a slightly less shocking title.

I'd like to tip my hat to my friends and colleagues Joshua J Slone and Donny2112 of NeoGAF for their guidance and support on this one. Thank you very much. - PL

MC 2008-11-17 and Famitsu 2008-11-10: Things of Note

Based on the latest Famitsu hardware numbers...
PSP comparisons: After 206 weeks, PSP is where PS2 was at 153.3 weeks (February 4, 2003), where DS was at 91.7 weeks (September 1, 2006), and where GBA was at 137.9 weeks (November 8, 2003).

X360 comparisons: After 154 weeks, X360 is where GCN was at 15.0 weeks (December 23, 2001), where PS3 was at 19.0 weeks (March 18, 2007), and where Wii was at 4.0 weeks (December 24, 2006).

PS3 comparisons: After 106 weeks, PS3 is where PS2 was at 23.6 weeks (August 10, 2000), where PSP was at 54.4 weeks (December 21, 2005), where GCN was at 107.7 weeks (October 3, 2003), and where Wii was at 25.6 weeks (May 24, 2007).

Wii comparisons: After 103 weeks, Wii is where GBA was at 90.9 weeks (December 14, 2002), where DS was at 71.2 weeks (April 10, 2006), where PS2 was at 100.5 weeks (January 31, 2002), and where PSP was at 156.2 weeks (December 3, 2007).

DSi comparisons: After 3 weeks, DSi is where GBASP was at 4.7 weeks (March 14, 2003), where GBM was at 11.8 weeks (December 2, 2005), and where DSL was at 3.7 weeks (March 24, 2006).

Based on the latest Media Create hardware numbers...
DS vs PSP: Weekly shares of 63.7 / 36.3 bring total shares to 69.0 / 31.0. If DS stopped selling and PSP continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 217.4 weeks (January 24, 2013).

X360 vs PS3: Weekly shares of 47.0 / 53.0 bring total shares to 24.0 / 76.0. If PS3 stopped selling and X360 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 107.8 weeks (December 18, 2010).

PS3 vs Wii: Weekly shares of 33.1 / 66.9 bring total shares to 25.8 / 74.2. If Wii stopped selling and PS3 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 262.5 weeks (December 5, 2013).

Week over week, PS2 and PS3 are pretty flat, but everything else is ramping (or bumping) up.

Wii passes 7 million.



Famitsu Software Stuff
Last week the new Kirby (3265) did better than any other modern Kirby through two weeks. Now after two weeks it's doing better than any other modern Kirby through four weeks, and just barely misses making it five. It also passes up Canvas Curse altogether.


Through its first few weeks, Wii Music was holding on to a greater percent of its opening sales on a weekly basis than last year's Super Mario Galaxy, but that changes with week five. Though SMG launching slightly later in the year, its week five is further into the normal holiday bump.


Some new software groups:
Way of the Samurai
Way of the Samurai 3 (3272) opens with a first week just slightly below the original (1434), and well above Way of the Samurai PSP (3189) and Samurai Western (2070).


Shiren
Shiren DS 2 (3274) opens nearly 40% lower than its predecessor from last year (155), though last year's game has an advantage being a late December release. Also a slightly weaker opening than this June's new Wii Shiren (2984).


Resistance
Resistance 2 opens up with a much stronger first week than the original. I'm sure having a userbase of more than 90K this time around helps.


Mega Man Star Force
Mega Man Star Force 3 (3273) starts out just below the original (218) and the second (2665). The second ended up doing far less than the original, though, so it's hard to say where 3 will go from here.

UK Loves Call of Duty, Footy, Nintendo

United Kingdom - The latest Chart-Track software chart is in and Call of Duty: World at War takes the top spot for the second week in a row.

Rounding out the top 10 are 4 Nintendo games and 3 Football (soccer!) games, leaving just enough space for the panned Need for Speed: Undercover and everybody's favorite jiggler at 9th.

Chart-Track Sales 11/17 - 11-23 (UK)
1. Call of Duty: World at War
2. FIFA ‘09
3. Mario Kart Wii
4. Need for Speed: Undercover
5. Wii Fit
6. Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training
7. Football Manager 2009
8. Pro Evolution Soccer 2009
9. Tomb Raider: Underworld
10. Wii Play




Note:
I'd like to announce this will be a regular feature from here on out; expect the UK Top Ten to be posted every Monday. Unfortunately, no numbers are available so the colorful graphs and chart opportunities are few, but still. If I find something that I can graphically represent you will be the first to know!

Enjoy! :)

MC 2008-11-10 and Famitsu 2008-11-03: Things of Note

Based on the latest Famitsu hardware numbers...
PSP comparisons: After 205 weeks, PSP is where PS2 was at 152.5 weeks (January 29, 2003), where DS was at 91.5 weeks (August 30, 2006), and where GBA was at 136.3 weeks (October 28, 2003).

X360 comparisons: After 153 weeks, X360 is where GCN was at 14.9 weeks (December 23, 2001), where PS3 was at 18.5 weeks (March 15, 2007), and where Wii was at 4.0 weeks (December 24, 2006).

PS3 comparisons: After 105 weeks, PS3 is where PS2 was at 23.2 weeks (August 7, 2000), where PSP was at 54.2 weeks (December 20, 2005), where GCN was at 106.0 weeks (September 21, 2003), and where Wii was at 25.2 weeks (May 22, 2007).

Wii comparisons: After 102 weeks, Wii is where GBA was at 90.7 weeks (December 13, 2002), where DS was at 71.0 weeks (April 9, 2006), where PS2 was at 100.2 weeks (January 28, 2002), and where PSP was at 155.8 weeks (December 1, 2007).

DSi comparisons: After 2 weeks, DSi is where GBASP was at 3.0 weeks (March 2, 2003), where GBM was at 4.5 weeks (October 13, 2005), and where DSL was at 3.1 weeks (March 19, 2006).

Based on the latest Media Create hardware numbers...
DS vs PSP: Weekly shares of 70.0 / 30.0 bring total shares to 69.0 / 31.0. If DS stopped selling and PSP continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 347.7 weeks (July 18, 2015).

X360 vs PS3: Weekly shares of 31.4 / 68.6 bring total shares to 23.8 / 76.2. If PS3 stopped selling and X360 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 208.7 weeks (November 16, 2012).

PS3 vs Wii: Weekly shares of 39.4 / 60.6 bring total shares to 25.8 / 74.2. If Wii stopped selling and PS3 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 261.3 weeks (November 19, 2013).

Week over week, there's again no overall trend. DS coming down from the DSi bump is again the most noticeable thing.

DS passes 24 million.


Should've noticed this two weeks ago, but PSP has already topped its previous best yearly total.


This is also true for X360 as of this week.


Famitsu Software Stuff
New software group: Kirby
The new Kirby has started off stronger than any within the scope of my database. Actually, its first week is bigger than any other game's two-week total. It's also worth noting the two top Kirby games here were also late October or early November releases.


Chocobo's Dungeon + (3255) on DS is doing worse than both the Wii original it's based on (2695), and DS's Chocobo Tales (148). Those two were both mid-December releases, though.

MC 2008-10-20 and Famitsu 2008-10-13: Things of Note

Based on the most recent Famitsu hardware numbers...
PSP comparisons: After 202 weeks, PSP is where PS2 was at 149.9 weeks (January 11, 2003), where DS was at 90.7 weeks (August 25, 2006), and where GBA was at 131.1 weeks (September 21, 2003).

X360 comparisons: After 150 weeks, X360 is where GCN was at 14.8 weeks (December 21, 2001), where PS3 was at 17.5 weeks (March 7, 2007), and where Wii was at 3.9 weeks (December 23, 2006).

PS3 comparisons: After 102 weeks, PS3 is where PS2 was at 22.1 weeks (July 30, 2000), where PSP was at 53.6 weeks (December 15, 2005), where GCN was at 102.6 weeks (August 28, 2003), and where Wii was at 24.1 weeks (May 13, 2007).

Wii comparisons: After 99 weeks, Wii is where GBA was at 90.3 weeks (December 10, 2002), where DS was at 70.7 weeks (April 6, 2006), where PS2 was at 99.1 weeks (January 20, 2002), and where PSP was at 154.8 weeks (November 23, 2007).

Both the PS3-GCN and Wii-PS2 crossovers were barely avoided this week, but should definitely happen the next.

Based on the latest Media Create hardware numbers...
DS vs PSP: Weekly shares of 27.5 / 72.5 bring total shares to 69.0 / 31.0. At this week's rates PSP catches up to DS in 346.9 weeks (June 21, 2015). If DS stopped selling and PSP continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 215.1 weeks (December 11, 2012).

X360 vs PS3: Weekly shares of 66.6 / 33.4 bring total shares to 23.7 / 76.3. At this week's rates X360 catches up to PS3 in 413.4 weeks (September 28, 2016). If PS3 stopped selling and X360 continued at this week's rate it would catch up in 206.2 weeks (October 9, 2012).

PS3 vs Wii: Weekly shares of 13.9 / 86.1 bring total shares to 25.4 / 74.6. If Wii stopped selling and PS3 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 1,159.8 weeks (January 18, 2031).

Week over week, everything is down. DSL down in anticipation of DSi. PSP down from its PSP-3000 launch high. The others just a little down.

Famitsu Software Stuff
Two Kanji blasts from the past have reappeared on the Top 30, and their new LTDs show that they continue to have legs.

Kanji Brain 2 + Dictionary last appeared on a Top 30 in April, and last had an LTD update at the middle of this year.

Zaidan Houjin Nippon Kanji Nouryoku Kentei Kyoukai Kounin: Kanken DS2 + Jouyou Kanji Jiten last appeared on a Top 30 in December, but also had an update in the mid-2008 lists.

Pokémon Platinum continues outpacing Emerald, and is now about at the point where Emerald was after nearly two years.

Currently Platinum is the #3 release of 2008. It will soon best Mario Kart Wii and become #2, but it's then a pretty big jump to Monster Hunter Portable 2G at #1.

Note that this includes only 2008 releases. Wii Fit is in MK Wii / Platinum sales territory for 2008.

MC 2008-10-06 and Famitsu 2008-09-29: Things of Note

Based on the latest Famitsu hardware numbers...
PSP comparisons: After 200 weeks, PSP is where PS2 was at 148.5 weeks (January 1, 2003), where DS was at 89.6 weeks (August 17, 2006), and where GBA was at 127.4 weeks (August 26, 2003).

X360 comparisons: After 148 weeks, X360 is where GCN was at 14.7 weeks (December 21, 2001), where PS3 was at 17.1 weeks (March 4, 2007), and where Wii was at 3.8 weeks (December 22, 2006).

PS3 comparisons: After 100 weeks, PS3 is where PS2 was at 21.9 weeks (July 29, 2000), where PSP was at 53.5 weeks (December 14, 2005), where GCN was at 102.3 weeks (August 26, 2003), and where Wii was at 23.9 weeks (May 12, 2007).

Wii comparisons: After 97 weeks, Wii is where GBA was at 90.1 weeks (December 8, 2002), where DS was at 70.5 weeks (April 5, 2006), where PS2 was at 98.6 weeks (January 16, 2002), and where PSP was at 154.3 weeks (November 19, 2007).

Based on the latest Media Create hardware numbers...
DS vs PSP: Weekly shares of 57.2 / 42.8 bring total shares to 69.4 / 30.6. If DS stopped selling and PSP continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 551.3 weeks (May 8, 2019).

X360 vs PS3: Weekly shares of 57.5 / 42.5 bring total shares to 23.4 / 76.6. At this week's rate X360 catches up in 800.7 weeks (February 16, 2024). If PS3 stopped selling and X360 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 209.3 weeks (October 16, 2012).

PS3 vs Wii: Weekly shares of 20.0 / 80.0 bring total shares to 25.4 / 74.6. If Wii stopped selling and PS3 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 787.9 weeks (November 19, 2023).

So putting bits from the last two together, if Wii stopped selling while X360 and PS3 continued at this week's rates, PS3 would become the top current-gen console on November 19, 2023, but lose the crown to X360 a few months later on February 16, 2024.

Week over week, everything is down somewhat. It's most noticeable with DSL, again presumably due to the announcement of DSi being the week before and the launch of DSi being only weeks away.

Famitsu Software Stuff
Dragon Ball Origins (3186) is doing better than any other GBA/DS/PSP Dragon Ball game through three weeks. However, it will soon fall under DS's DBZ Supersonic Warriors 2 (131) which was a bit hit in holiday 2005.


Unsurprisingly, PS2's Dynasty Warriors 6 Special is starting off significantly worse than previous PS2 entries, the last main title of which was released 3.5 years back.


Super Robot Wars Z is doing decently, though. PS2 games can still do well, and not being a year-late port helps.

UK Top 10 (Week 41): FIFA Still On Top

UK Top 10

1. FIFA 09
2. LEGO BATMAN. THE VIDEOGAME
3. WII FIT
4. STAR WARS. THE FORCE UNLEASHED
5. BROTHERS IN ARMS. HELL'S HIGHWAY
6. MARIO KART WII
7. WII PLAY
8. TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 09
9. FAMILY TRAINER
10. BIG BEACH SPORTS

11. CARNIVAL. FUNFAIR GAMES
12. GUITAR HERO III. LEGENDS OF ROCK
13. DR KAWASHIMA'S BRAIN TRAINING
14. GRAND THEFT AUTO IV
15. MARIO & SONIC AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES
16. WALL-E
17. CALL OF DUTY 4. MODERN WARFARE
18. BEN 10. PROTECTOR OF EARTH
19. SUPER SMASH BROS. BRAWL
20. THE SIMPSONS GAME

Read the breakdown HERE.

MC 2008-09-22 and Famitsu 2008-09-15: Things of Note

Based on the latest Famitsu hardware numbers...
PSP comparisons: After 198 weeks, PSP is where PS2 was at 148.2 weeks (December 30, 2002), where DS was at 89.2 weeks (August 14, 2006), and where GBA was at 126.4 weeks (August 19, 2003).

X360 comparisons: After 146 weeks, X360 is where GCN was at 14.6 weeks (December 20, 2001), where PS3 was at 16.7 weeks (March 1, 2007), and where Wii was at 3.7 weeks (December 22, 2006).

PS3 comparisons: After 98 weeks, PS3 is where PS2 was at 21.6 weeks (July 27, 2000), where PSP was at 53.4 weeks (December 13, 2005), where GCN was at 101.6 weeks (August 21, 2003), and where Wii was at 23.6 weeks (May 10, 2007).

Wii comparisons: After 95 weeks, Wii is where GBA was at 89.7 weeks (December 5, 2002), where DS was at 70.2 weeks (April 3, 2006), where PS2 was at 98.0 weeks (January 12, 2002), and where PSP was at 153.6 weeks (November 15, 2007).

Based on the latest Media Create hardware numbers...
DS vs PSP: Weekly shres of 69.3 / 30.7 bring total shares to 69.4 / 30.6. If DS stopped selling and PSP continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 512.3 weeks (July 25, 2018).

X360 vs PS3: Weekly shares of 57.7 / 42.3 bring total shares to 23.1 / 76.9. At this week's rates, X360 catches up to PS3 in 539.7 weeks (February 1, 2019). If PS3 stopped selling and X360 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 144.2 weeks (July 5, 2011).

PS3 vs Wii: Weekly shares of 23.9 / 76.1 bring total shares to 25.5 / 74.5. If Wii stopped selling and PS3 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 541.7 weeks (February 15, 2019).

PSP vs Wii: Weekly shares of 49.4 / 50.6 bring total shares to 60.4 / 39.6. At this week's rates, Wii catches up to PSP in 5,565.3 weeks (May 29, 2115). If PSP stopped selling and Wii continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 136.0 weeks (May 8, 2011).

Week over week, most things are slightly down. The exception is PS2, which gets a small bump from having the week's #1 software title.

Famitsu Software Stuff
After two weeks, the game Pokémon Platinum seems to be behaving most like is Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen. That pair eventually went on to reach 2.9 million.


Trusty Bell PS3 starts out lower than its X360 predecessor.


Wii Play is having its lowest weeks ever. It didn't appear on last week's top 30, though from this week's data we can tell it was #31 and calculate what the missing week of sales was. Here are Wii Play's weekly sales from launch to present, capped at 20K so we can see the lower weeks better. At first one might be tempted to think the game is finally dying away, but given its abnormal quality of coming with a wiimote, I imagine it will pick up again when Wii hardware sales do. It's still on a slow overall downward trend, though.

Actually, adding on Wii Sports to that image, we can see a similar dip. It didn't jump out to me the same way since it remained well in the Top 30.

MC 2008-09-15 and Famitsu 2008-09-08: Things of Note

Based on the latest Famitsu hardware numbers...
PSP comparisons: After 197 weeks, PSP is where PS2 was at 148.0 weeks (December 29, 2002), where DS was at 89.0 weeks (August 13, 2006), and where GBA was at 125.9 weeks (August 15, 2003).

PS3 comparisons: After 97 weeks, PS3 is where PS2 was at 21.5 weeks (July 26, 2000), where PSP was at 53.3 weeks (December 13, 2005), where GCN was at 101.0 weeks (August 16, 2003), and where Wii was at 23.5 weeks (May 9, 2007).

Wii comparisons: After 94 weeks, Wii is where GBA was at 89.5 weeks (December 4, 2002), where DS was at 70.1 weeks (April 2, 2006), where PS2 was at 97.8 weeks (January 11, 2002), and where PSP was at 153.2 weeks (November 12, 2007).

Based on the latest Media Create hardware numbers...
DS vs PSP: Weekly shares of 68.1 / 31.9 bring total shares to 69.4 / 30.6. If DS stopped selling and PSP continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 457.6 weeks (June 29, 2017).

PS3 vs Wii: Weekly shares of 21.4 / 78.6 bring total shares to 25.5 / 74.5. If Wii stopped selling and PS3 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 547.4 weeks (March 20, 2019).

X360 vs PS3: Weekly shares of 62.8 / 37.2 bring total shares to 22.8 / 77.2. At this week's rate X360 catches up to PS3 in 290.1 weeks (April 14, 2014). If PS3 stopped selling and X360 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 118.4 weeks (December 29, 2010).

PSP vs Wii: Weekly shares of 48.9 / 51.1 bring total shares to 60.4 / 39.6. At this week's rates Wii catches up to PSP in 2,870.2 weeks (September 25, 2063). If PSP stopped selling and Wii continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 119.6 weeks (January 7, 2011).

Week over week, things are incredibly flat with the exception of X360 coming down from the height of its bump.

Famitsu Software Pie
DS: 77.4
Wii: 7.7
X360: 5.8
PS2: 4.0
PSP: 2.9
PS3: 1.9
Other: 0.3

An interesting week here for two reasons. One, X360 software outsold the software for each individual Sony system. For another, first-place DS sold ten times as much software as second-place Wii.

Famitsu Software Stuff

Pokémon Platinum starting off much bigger than Emerald.


It also creamed the rest of the top 30 combined.


Mario Kart Wii reaches 1,719,388. Though I don't have pre-PS2 games in the database to create a graphical comparison, the last known Mario Kart 64 total was 1,711,661, so MK Wii has beaten its N64 predecessor, which was also the best-selling N64 game in Japan. It's also worth noting that MK64 had significant legs. As of the end of 1997 (13 months on the market), MK64 was only up to 1.2 million.