European HW figures were already solid. Did we expect a 600% increase like in Japan? That would mean 450k units sold just in the EU this week.

As for software, this is fine. As I've said, I think MGS4 will slightly better than MGS3. This is a series with a well defined, essentially unchanging fan base that isn't growing much but is very loyal.

 exactly. It's a lot easy to get bigger % increases when you have a smaller number.

7% of 100 is 7 but 7 of 50 is 14%

Bingo. PS3 has been selling 350k a month in "others" per month in the slowest months of the year. You just have to check the PS3 US sales to realize that the PS3 EU sales are already bloated and therefore games are not going to produce big boosts above already bloated sales. If the PS3 can maintain 90-100k leading into August-September they will be in a excellent position for a very good christmas season.

I don't think the PS3 sales went back down from the GTSP boost, they have been maintained though and a long term 20-30k boost is much better than a big boost which only lasts for 1-2 weeks before back to normal and you will see exactly what I mean by keeping in eye on Japan's sales.

To further my point, the PS3 was only selling 26k per week this time last year...

From this site alone, there apear to be many people who have never considered getting MGS in the past have got 4 (including myself) because the title has been designed so you can play it mostly as an action game

Wait are those numbers from March/April. I thought the PS3 was close to those numbers back then. Anyhow when did ChartTrack actually come out and say the 360 was over 2 million. Are those old numbers or something from their side, not the VGC numbers.

The huge boost that we got in america is a mix of many things coming together at the right time. 1 mgs4 bundle duh lol no brainer there and even without the bundle we would have probably seen a increase anyway as sony has been advertising this game since way back in the early days of the ps3 life span. Then we have the 80gig model making a come back(who knows for how long or how long the bundle will go on for) many people have been waiting for this one. The last and I think the one that might be the most improtant is the $100 walmart deal that was in effect for a week. Remember this alone would boost sales of the ps3 add all that I have mentioned above and we get a big increase. EU have had bundles coming out nearly all year so we really shouldnt expect a big boost there. Japan is the star where mgs4 is HUGE there and the bundle sony introduced over there gave reason for people to purches a ps3. The intaresting thing will be to see how much the ps3 drops next week. I see "others" droping just slightly back down to the 90k while america will see a huge drop back down to around the 50k(ps3 bundles are all sold out everywhere and no more walmart deal while others thinking of getting a ps3 who missed out on the deals will wait to see if there will be more bundles). I see japan droping down to but still seeing the best continues increase.

this is only for 1st week, mgs4 will sell till xmas, at xmas 2008 ps3 consoles will fly off shelfs with a copy of mgs4

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/01/xbox-360-hitting-two-million-sales-in-uk/ here is the link.

Remember they said it will pass 2 million next week so 360 passed the mark around April 7 of 2008. And PS3 passed the mark of 1 million on 13 february.

I'm sure you're aware that anecdotal evidence on an internet forum is a bad place to gather data. Most of the reviews I've read begin with "if you liked MGS before..." and more importantly, it looks like MGS4 is on pace to sell approximately what MGS3 did (if it's 1.5 million first week, for a hardcore title, we're unlikely to see that number more than triple LTD).

So, getting reviews saying "this is for MGS fans" and a game on pace to sell about what its predecessor did does not suggest the audience is expanding for this title. The problem isn't the action for many, it's the story; many people are put off by it.

 If MGS4 significantly outsells its immediate predecessor (say, selling 5.5 million or more), then I will admit I was wrong on this one, but based on prelimary data I don't appear to be. Of course, that still puts the sales data well below MGS1 and MGS2; it just means the series has stopped declining in popularity.

@ioi,

Well i was wrong in PS3 case but it seem 360 sales are not adjusted down. They are not shipped units becasue it was confirmed by Chart-track it self.