There are two ways apparently to look at these figures. Either you can dismiss them for the simple reason that they do not serve your purposes, or you can choose to use them to further your understanding of a given situation. The reality is that regional performance does indeed matter.

In this context as far as American retailers are concerned the PS3 deserves the same level of support given to the GameCube. Which does not bode well for the consoles future prospects. Right now the PS3 in this particular region accounts for seventeen percent of hardware sales, and sixteen percent of software sales for consoles. That is before portables and last generation consoles are taken into consideration. At most the consoles sales warrant a single door.

That is a poor image for public consumption, and is probably only going to exacerbate over time. In other words it will get worse as more hardware on the other side of the equation demands more retail space. Due to the fact it will move disproportionately more software. The result is that the PS3 is getting squeezed in the retail space.

Simply put poor performance in a region may not kill off a product. The 360 after all is sticking it out in Japan with eight percent of the hardware, and ten percent of the software. However how many think at this late point that the 360 in Japan has powerful sales potential. The opportunity for break out has come and gone. While it is not that bad for Sony in America its not impossible that the console can find itself in that same quagmire.

I have said it before if the PS3 slips below fifteen percent of the console market in America for any length of time, and you can bid the console fond farewell as it slips into anonymity. Which is what really happened with the GameCube. At the very back of the store in a small case. With a surprising lack of games for me to choose from. There is nothing like looking for a good game, and seeing all of twelve to choose from.

That is what these numbers mean. How the console performs in Japan or Europe has little bearing on how its treated by retailers in America. They are interested in selling to their immediate customers. These numbers matter a lot whether they are inconvenient or not. To me the only thing that matters is whether Sony can hold its ground. Right now its close, but still on the safe side of the line. It still gets a full door for its console.

Last week the PS3 accounted for twenty percent of the hardware market, and sixteen percent of the software market. Strange as it sounds Sony is winning by not losing as badly as it was. That is up from sixteen percent for hardware and software. Perhaps that is the hard bottom for the console. Anyway its still a run against the clock. Time also has a bearing on what market share one needs to justify retail space allocation.

ps3 is doing well. gamecube no.

Except Nintendo made a huge profit off the gamecube (I believe they beat Sony's game division that gen in terms of profit), while Sony's losing billions.

That's the only thing that matters.

Ehm, sure. In what terms exactly? Since I'm absolutely sure Sony would love for the PS3 to make the amount of money that Gamecube did or that its 1st party software sells like Nintendo's games on Gamecube. There's only one goal for releasing a console: making money. So Gamecube is a far bigger success than PS3.

PS3 is trending exactly like Gamecube in Japan and the US (60% of the current gen console market), really the only thing that assures 3rd party games is the fact that HD development is very expensive and developers see the PS3 and 360 as a single platform.

Looks like another PS3 is doomed thread :) But this analogy won't work like that - there's zero chance for Wii to steal hardcore audience from PS3/X360 side becouse hardware wise they are in completly diffrent league.

Can you show me any proof that Nintendo made large sums of money off the GC.  Nintendo made money many different ways during the GC era then with the GC.  There is no breakdown from what i know that shows the profit from the GameCube.

PS3 is nearing worldwide GC sales which were somewhere between 22 to 23 million and the PS3 is not even 3 years old. That is excellent considering the PS3 is like $399 and the GC was $199 and $99 most of the gen.

WW sales count more than regional sales.

In terms of sales, it is nice, but the fact that it's also losing Sony billions hurts the accomplishment. It does show the Playstation is still a strong brand, but Sony squandered it.

Nintendo stated they sell their systems at a profit because their business does not support selling at losses. So they had to have made some money off of every Gamecube, even just a little.

The only systems they actually lost money on were the Virtual Boy (because it was discontinued so fast, not because it sold at a loss) and the Famicom in the first year (due to a recall).

Yea like how the 64 and GC supposedly ended Nintendo?

Point is you never know what console will win this time or the next. Everybody loses at some point. It is not the first time or the last time.

But I can say this as a gamer, the PS3 line up of games(present, past and future ones) are far better what the Wii is offering right now.

So the Wii sales 300 million LTD with all those shovelware on the system, will it make it better than the other systems that actually have pretty decent games? No.

IMO, the GC was much better than the Wii and it is a shame customers cant see that. They would rather have Wii Play and Wii Fit instead of some stellar game like Star Wars Rogue Squadron 2 or MGS: TTS.