iclim4 said:
|
Wait, you mean when aligning to launch, PS2 numbers only include Japan for the first 30 weeks or so? Because they definitely include Others' sales. The problem is that the PS3 has been out in NA 4 months longer, Others 2 months longer, and Japan similar length of time. The problem with this is that Japan is the smallest market, while NA is the largest, closely followed by Others. With 4 extra months of NA sales, and an extra month of Other sales, of course the PS3 is going to be close to PS2 sales. Hell even the GameCube came close to PS2 sales after 4 months (see here), which then followed by the release of the PS2 in NA, causing the PS2 to jump way far ahead.
Comparing each region aligned to launch in that region produces different results.
Japan: After 65 weeks: PS2 - 4.53 million; PS3 - 1.90 million
NA: After 65 weeks: PS2 - 8.34 million; PS3 - 3.91 million
Europe: After 47 weeks: PS2 - 3.32 million; PS3 - 3.72 million
Total: PS2 - 16.19 million; PS3 - 9.53 million
I don't use Total Other because the PS3 was released in a few "Other" markets when it was released in Japan, so the Total Other doesn't align up very well. It's obvious that Others is the PS3 strongest market.
So in the same timeframe the PS3 and PS2 have similar sales, but the PS3 has a unfair advantage of having the largest market for 4 extra months (the entire time), and it's strongest market for two extra months (roughly 8 weeks longer), while the PS2 only had Japan for half of the time period (30 weeks).
I will give credit to the PS3 for having a remarkable turn around, but I don't think it deserves credit for outselling the Wii simply because the Wii is supply constrained. I'll give it credit for outselling the 360 because Microsoft shouldn't even be having supply issues, so I don't think that's a good enough excuse. Now the real competition can begin!
Edit: As always, link to PS2 data, link to PS3 data. I always back up my stuff with data. ;)
