More games have higher penetration levels on Xbox 360, PS3

[mike_intellivision]

More games have higher penetration levels on Xbox 360, PS3

 

Another way to look at sales is the penetration level.  In this context, “penetration level” is defined as the percentage of console owners who own a particular game.

By looking at the numbers this way, it is possible to compare sales on a relative basis across the three consoles. It should also be noted that these numbers change each week – both in the numerator (game sales) and denominator (console sales)

According to VGChartz on sales through Dec. 20, 2008 – the Wii has 15 games with at least a 5% penetration level. Meanwhile, the Xbox 360 has 46 games with at least a 5% penetration level and the PS3 has 23 games with at least a 5% penetration level.

Comparing this to the million sellers list (Xbox 360 has 61, Wii has 37, PS3 has 22) reveals several things. First, the one-year head start of the Xbox 360 has given it an edge in software sales . Second, the large install base of the Wii makes it easier to sell a million units, but also means over 2 million in sales are needed for a 5 percent penetration level. Third, because there are less than 20 million PS3s, less than one million in sales are needed to get a 5% penetration level.

Taking this down to the 2% level, the numbers are similar. The Wii has 44 games with a penetration level of at least 2%. Meanwhile, the Xbox 360 has 115 such games and the PS3 has 88.

 Thus, there have been more relative blockbusters and strong sellers on the Xbox 360 and PS3 – even if they don’t all have the absolute level of sales seen on the Wii.

Interestingly, all three consoles have nine (9) games with at least a 10% penetration level – super blockbusters. But the Wii has four (4) with at least a 25% penetration level, while the Xbox 360 has two (2) and the PS3 has one (1).  The four super-duper blockbusters on the Wii are Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Fit and MK Wii.  For the Xbox 360, it is Halo 3 and COD4 (GTAIV is within half a percentage point). For the PS3, it is GTAIV.  

Thus, the Wii has more “everyone has” games. Some might say that these are because of packaging and pack-ins. But over 45% of Japanese Wii owners have paid full price for Wii Sports – so it would still be in that category, even if it were sold separately.  And Wii Fit is the most expensive (JPY 8300, USD 90, UKP 70, EURO 90) major seller ever.

One final consideration is that the Wii has far more games released than the other two systems. There are 737 Wii games in the VGChartz database, compared to 517 for the Xbox 360 and 382 for the PS3. Thus, game sales can be more distributed across a greater number of titles.

However, in a relative sense, once you get past the biggest sellers, more games on the Xbox 360 and PS3 have sold to a greater proportion of the install base than on the Wii. Thus, those consoles are doing as much as they can to maximize software sales. And it would be expected that Xbox 360 and PS3 titles would benefit greatly from increased hardware sales.

 

Mike from Morgantown