Quantifying the DS Lite's Japanese Dominance 84
kukyfrope writes "According to the data trackers at Media Create, for the week of May 29th through June 4th the DS Lite sold 135,614 units in Japan, easily beating out the PSP (24,595 units), PS2 (18,513 units) and Xbox 360 (just 1,245 units). New Super Mario Bros. for DS also sold 334,208 units, putting total sales at about 1.2 million, in just 2 weeks. 'From the end of last year up until right now the sales of DS and DS Lite in Japan have been simply explosive. It was unprecedented in the Japanese game [industry] history for there to be that kind of incredible demand for one platform,' said Nintendo President Satoru Iwata."
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:2)
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:3, Insightful)
As for DS vs PSP- be very careful. Sony only reports units shipped- the number of units sent to stores. Nintendo reports sales, the number of units in customer hands. Sony is claiming 16 million shipped, Nintendo is at 16 million sales, which probably puts the DS well ahead in actual sales. I personally don't know anyone with a PSP, but
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:2)
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:3, Interesting)
I've heard of retailers being purposely overstocked by software vendors for the same purpose. I don't know if Sony does the same, but I'm sure they have the means to do so. It's called channel stuffing.
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:3, Informative)
I've worked in distribution centers and I can tell you this much: Wal-Mart makes it a condition of buying that they can return items for credit. If you don't agree, you don't get your product on Wal-Mart's shelves. Since they're the single largest retailer in the world, they drive the market. They set the standards, so to speak.
I would expect (because it's just common practice in the industry) most retailers are
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:2)
1. Inventory bought and paid for by the store owner, not returnable except under special conditions such as defective).
2. Inventory perhaps tacitly bought and paid for by the store owner, but because of expected returns, actually owned by the manufacturer who is 'renting' the shelf space, with 'rent' paid by the markup on any units that sell, all remaining units returned to manufacturer
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:2)
In essence, all goods (essentially) are perishible, and I belive the system works more as a hybrid of the two models you describe. Namely, the retailer buys the products with the understanding that the manufacturer will take back and give credit for
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:1, Interesting)
For a handheld that is about 100 dollars more expensive that is a pretty close race if you estimate it somewhere in the 16 million DS vs ~13-14 million PSPs sold.
The stuff Sony has planned for PS3 PSP integration sounds very cool and will probably get me to buy a PSP. I wish the PSP would fit more easily in one hand and function like an iPod though. Some sort of PSP/iPod/Cellphone would be the ultimate.
Playing my friends DS is
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:2)
Using the PSP as a mirror for Ridge Racer?
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:4, Funny)
Fixed that up for ya.
GIANT ENEMY CRAB (Score:1)
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:2)
Yes, because the nGage did so well. You may be an exception, but most people don't want an all in one uber convergence device.
Playing my friends DS is a lot of fun every once in a while, but I don't know if the games are anything I would want to invest in to play all the time.
Mario Kart DS, Metroid Pinball, Advance Wars, Trauma Center- all pretty good. Does the PSP have any games other than poor PS1 ports (which for the most part I didn't want to play
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:2)
$500 for a PS3 and a PSP? THe low end crappy PS3 alone is $500. Put the crack pipe down.
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:1)
I'm never seen a debate handled with such skill. My hat is off to you, sir. Your masterful use of collectives communicated an undeserved condescension in ways I've never dreamed of seeing. I bow to you in amazement.
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:1)
It's a bit better, with some new strategies (dual screen battles, dual strike powers)... and I already beat Advance Wars, so Dual Strike was a welcome game for me!
I'd also recommend New Super Mario Brothers (it's great!) and Age of Empires for the DS...
I have yet to find a PSP game I'm interested in enough to justify buying it. The GTA game has gotten lukewarm reviews and, honestly, I'm pretty GTAed out. I hope GTA4 adds some cool new dimensions to the experience,
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:2)
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:2)
Yes. Yes it does.
I think the DS Lite kicks ass, but the PSP also has some very cool games. Liberty City Stories alone makes it worth getting, if you like the GTA series.
(Warning: Play it with headphones if you are out in public. The language in that game would make the cast of The Sopranos blush.)
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:1)
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:2)
The nGage was a spectacular failure because it was a piece of crap. You had to take the battery out to change the game cart. People don't mind convergence devices - Treos are selling pretty well from my understanding - they just don't want shitty products. That shouldn't be real surprising. Unfortunately, by their nature, convergence devices are more likely to be shitty products
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:2)
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:2)
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:1, Interesting)
Yes, the 360 still hasn't sold through its initial 150k shipment to Japan. I think they are only up to around 130k or so last time I checked. Sales have been slowing declining for the 360 in Japan, so I don't know if the system will ever actually make it through the initial batch.
The 360 is doing about half the rate of the first Xbox in the U
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:1)
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:1)
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:2)
I have a DS, my wife has a DS (though - only to play Animal Crossing), my nieces, nephews and both brother-in-l
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:2)
Obviously the PSP is doing better over there than the Nintendo fanboys would have you believe.
Over here, my brother, myself, and one other person are the only PSP owners I know of. The DS seems to be a bit m
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:1)
Some hard #s:
May 29 - Jun 4, 2006 [the-magicbox.com]
System - Units Sold - Total Sold (Current Year)
Nintendo DS Lite - 135,614 - 2,056,107
PSP - 24,595 - 823,958
PlayStation 2 - 18,513 - 671,928
GameBoy Advance SP - 4,364 - 150,734
GameBoy Micro - 1,270 - 97,487
Xbox 360 - 1,245 - 51,488
Nintendo DS - 1,159 - 868,537
GameCube - 798 - 51,374
GameBoy Advance - 30 - 2,747
Xbox - 43 - 1,523
As you can see, the DS + DS Lite has sold (this year so far) about 3 and a half times the a
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:2)
Thats not entirely true. Check out DS Homebrew project wiki [pocketheaven.com]
I recently became interested in it after discovering projects that could enable SNES emulation of my old games on the DS.
Of course this may or may not require jumping through a few hoops since you have to use the GBA slot, but some of the fellows have done a few interesting project (besides emulation) such as web browsers, PC game ports such as (Hexen [telefragged.com]), and VOiP.
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:2)
dsdev.org vs. PSP firmware upgrades (Score:2)
That's not the impression that I get from reading dsdev.org [gbadev.org]. Just 210 USD plus shipping [pocketheaven.com] gets you a fully homebrew-capable DS. The PSP, on the other hand, has that firmware 2.01 through 2.60 that require a specific M-rated game (which is actually banned in a few countries) to launch homebrew, and 2.70 and later that can't run homebrew at all.
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:1)
This is true. Japan likes japanese products. But IMO that's not why the xbox has failed in Japan; Microsoft just doesn't have a clue about the japanese market. The original xbox demonstrated that with its enormous footprint. Most japanese people live in tiny little apartments. Why do you t
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.gamegossip.com/comment.php?id=17452 [gamegossip.com]
Re:Xbox 360 - 1,245??? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Just replacing a regular DS? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Just replacing a regular DS? (Score:2)
You missed the biggest reason -- the screen on the Lite is much brighter and can even be set to different levels of brightness. If you try to use the original DS outside it's often surprising how dim the screen is.
Besides, the original DS really is too big; most people don't realize this but it is bigger by volume than the PSP. This really limits where I can take mine.
Of course, don't miss out on the fact that once I replace my original DS with the Lite, I won't throw the or
Re:Just replacing a regular DS? (Score:2)
The screens though, of course is what sells the sy
Re:Just replacing a regular DS? (Score:4, Interesting)
There's that, but there is also a whole new segment of usually non-gamers buying DS Lites to play the non-gamers games (such as Brain Age, Nintendogs or Animal Crossing). This is supported by the fact that, on the opening of the stores for the launch of the DS Lite (on launch day and all) you could find women and elders heavily represented, while these launch-day queues are usually filled only with "young" (15-30) men.
I haven't seen numbers, but I've seen some pictures when the DS:L launched and quite a lot of reports on that.
Re:Just replacing a regular DS? (Score:1)
Not that I misunderstand your point, it is valid. But these are not non-gamers games. Just because they are not the games you grew up with or the kind you like to play, does not mean that they are not played by gamers. They are actually closer to the sort of "games" people played before video games came around, and the kinds that peopl
Re:Just replacing a regular DS? (Score:2)
Uhm I obviously meant "non-gamer" as a shortcut for "not a member of the demographic groups that are traditionally seen playing video games", not as a shorcut for "populations who never play".
The Japanese are heavily indoctrinated into buying (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Just replacing a regular DS? (Score:1)
They must be doing something right... (Score:2)
BTW... I want one, but since I already have the red Mario Kart DS... I'll wait for other colors first.
Re:They must be doing something right... (Score:2)
With this and the upcoming Wii, I'd say Nintendo is gearing up for a hilarious revenge to the
Re:They must be doing something right... (Score:1)
Re:They must be doing something right... (Score:2)
Considering my PS2 library greatly eclipses my Gamecube games, one might consider me a Sony/PS2 fanboy... but after seeing (and buying) the new DS, Nintendo has finally made me
Blue? Blue! BLUUE!!!11 (Score:2)
Does Brain Age recognize the word "blue" more consistently when running on the Lite?
Re:Blue? Blue! BLUUE!!!11 (Score:2)
They did move the3 microphone, so maybe that has something to do with it.
Re:Blue? Blue! BLUUE!!!11 (Score:1)
In fact, I've taken to referring to my denim pants as "LOOOOO jeans."
And I just love all the colors of the rainbow: ROY G LIV.
Re:They must be doing something right... (Score:2)
I totally get it. (Score:5, Insightful)
I have owned every game boy model released in the US except for the Micro and I totally get why the DS Lite has sold so well. I just bought one two or three days ago to replace my DS (which worked fine).
Let's ignore that it's smaller, sexier, fixes the top-heavy problem, etc. There is only one thing that matters about the DS above all else...
The screen is amazing.
It's on par with the PSP for clarity (although I realize the resolution is lower). It is an AMAZING step up. It's like going from the original GameBoy to the Pocket. Remember playing a GB after the pocket? It looked so muddy and blurry and such you wondered how you could ever use the thing. The difference with the Lite is just night and day. The lowest brightness setting is about equivalent to the what the DS looks like. But with the settings on the Lite you can play anywhere. Is it dark? You can see great on the lowest setting. Out in the sun? You can see great on the highest setting. It's possible to play the DS Lite outside on sunny days in the shade, where the DS was basically unplayable there.
But it gets BETTER. It's so much sharper and crisper (partially due to the brighter backlight, I'd think). I've been playing Trauma Center and it looks like a different game. I wish I hadn't sold so many of my DS games so I could stick them in to see just how much better they look. It's an AMAZING difference.
People complain about Nintendo doing things like this because "it's the same system", but the difference is night and day. I dare anyone to look at both and like the DS's screen over the Lite's. About the only way I could see you complaining about the Lite is the buttons (they have a different feel and if you had large hands I could see it being uncomfortable).
The thing is selling that well for a reason. It's just that good.
Re:I totally get it. (Score:1)
Re:I totally get it. (Score:2)
It really is a huge difference.
How did this turn intto a 360 discussion? (Score:1, Troll)
M$ only invested about $20 in advertising the system in Japan. Many gamers over there aren't even aware the system exists. Gamers are going to the store to buy an Xbox1 not even knowing there is a 360 out.
In the United States it is still doing well, both in consoles sold and games sold/console. Here is the wrap up of last weeks games sold in the US.
6 Xbox 360 games.
2 Gamecube games.
1 DS game (New Super Mario Brothers, which was #1 on the list).
1 PS2 ga
Re:How did this turn intto a 360 discussion? (Score:1)
So the Xbox 360 lounge [kotaku.com] was what, about $15 of that?
Re:How did this turn intto a 360 discussion? (Score:1)
It's like saying that GSM1900 doesn't do well in Europe.
Japan has its customs and traditions, and usually products made by Japanese companies sell much better than imported goods.
Re:How did this turn intto a 360 discussion? (Score:1)
Where are you getting these figures? There is no central US game sales figures that I know off... most sites use either figures from best buy or ebgames, or amazon... all of which are useful, but none are really comprehensive.
Re:How did this turn intto a 360 discussion? (Score:2)
Re:How did this turn intto a 360 discussion? (Score:1)
Re:How did this turn intto a 360 discussion? (Score:2)
No, this isn't true. I live in Japan and I've seen tons of xbox360 advertising. There was an initial advertising blitz during the release, and even now, I see lots of prime-time TV ads for the 360 (they seem to sponsor lots of TV shows). in fact, I've seen far more TV advertising (here in Japan) for the
Re:How did this turn intto a 360 discussion? (Score:2)
1 - New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
2 - Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)
3 - Brain Age: Train Your Brain In Minutes a Day (DS)
4 - God of War (PS2)
5 - Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Xbox 360)
6 - Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Xbox 360)
7 - MLB '06: The Show (PS2)
8 - Guitar Hero (with Guitar) (PS2)
9 - Grand Theft Auto: San
Different Demographic (Score:5, Insightful)
When I see 4 girls in a movie theatre, before the show starting, laughing and giggling out loud with a DS in each of their hands playing a multiplayer game wirelessly, Nintendo has done something right.
When I see a mom and her 5 year old daughter (well she looked around that age), playing with their DSes wirelessly together, obviously Nintendo has done something right.
Re:Different Demographic (Score:2)
Nintendo is the only game company (Score:1)
DS upgrade is excellent viral... (Score:2, Informative)
My old DS was given away to a college-age girl who never was really interested in games. Now I hear she's pretty addicted. S