First of all i'd like to say i think vgchartz does a pretty good job with the numbers overall as there have been plenty of times vgchartz numbers have been spot on when various sales numbers have been annouced by game companies or sales firms. However in recent times i always thought that the hardware numbers were a bit off but i thought i'd wait till the end of the year when shipment numbers and other official sales trackers released their numbers before i say anything. As things stand vgchartz has these hardware numbers compared to shipment numbers as of the end of 2008:

(first number is the shipment number, second number is vgchartz number)

ps3
21.300,000 / 19,414,815 = 1,885,185 on store shelves

wii
44.960,000 / 44,486,827 = 473,173 on store shelves

xbox360
28.500,000 / 27,274,809 = 1,225,191 on store shelves

ds
96,220,000 / 95,905,550 = 314,450 on store shelves

psp
49,600,000 / 43,210,776 = 6,389,224 on store shelves

Now to some those numbers might seem plausible but when compared to chart track, gfk and npd there is a large difference.

Gfk recently released total french hardware ltd's and compared to vgchartz numbers we get:

(first number is vgchartz numbers, the second number is gfk's numbers)

France
Wii - 3,136,930 / 2.8 million = +336,930

360 - 1,170,618 / 1.155 million = +15,618

PS3 - 1,307,027 / 1.271 million = +36,027   
 
DS - 6,792,764 / 6.625 million = +167,764

(no up to date psp french gfk hardware numbers available)

As you can see the 360 and ps3 numbers are roughly the same but vgchartz wii and ds numbers are much higher.

Next up we have chart tracks uk numbers:

(first number is vgchartz numbers, the second number is chart track's numbers)

Uk
Wii - 5,024,310 / 4.9m = +124,310

360 - 3,221,094 / 3.2m = +21,094

PS3 - 1,879,122 / 1.9m = -10,878   

DS - 8,936,069 / 8.8m = +136,069

PSP - 3,193,512 / 3.2m = -8,488

Again as you can see the 360, ps3 and this time the psp numbers are roughly the same but vgchartz wii and ds numbers are much higher.

Lastly we have npd's american numbers. Npd have released usa and canadian numbers but not south american numbers. South america is estimated to be just 2% of the american gaming market so an extra 2% has been added to npd's numbers.

(first number is vgchartz numbers, the second number is npd's numbers plus 2% for south american sales)

America
Wii - 20,245,458 / 19,434,060 = +811,398

360 - 15,845,397 / 15,317,053 = +528,344

PS3 - 7,510,093 / 7,624,417 = -114,324

DS - 31,813,098 / 30,427,620 = +1,385,478

PSP - 15,620,775 / 15,579,480 = +41,295

This time we see the psp's number is roughly the same, the ps3 vgchartz number is lower and the 360's, wii's and ds's numbers are significantly higher.

If you take the difference in sales for those 3 regions and add them together and compare them to vgchartz numbers you get:

Total:
wii = +1,272,638
360 = +565,056
ps3 = -89,175
ds  = +1,689,311
psp = +32,807

Then if you take those numbers and adjust vgchartz numbers to match you get the following shipped to sold through comparison:

(first number is the shipment number, second number is my vgchartz adjusted number)

Adjusted shipped to vgc sales difference
ps3
21.300,000 / 19,503,990 = 1,796,010

wii
44.960,000 / 43,214,189 = 1,745,811

xbox360
28.500,000 / 26,709,753 = 1,790,247

ds
96,220,000 / 94,216,239 = 2,003,761

psp
49,600,000 / 43,177,969 = 6,422,031

Using chart track's, gfk's and npd's numbers gives a better balanced and a far more plausible result in my opinion. The only exception to this is the psp's numbers which must have some tracking issues in mainland europe combined with sony stuffing the channel. So in a nutshell the wii and ds are over tracked in france, the uk and america, the 360 is over tracked in america and the ps3 is under tracked in america. I hope this data helps with reaching the most accurate hardware totals.

We have had endless discussions on this, look them up in the forums.

No combined sales thread detailing the differences has been done like the one i have made, i have already looked.

I don't really understand what you're getting at with this?

ps3
21.300,000 / 19,503,990 = 1,796,010

wii
44.960,000 / 43,214,189 = 1,745,811

xbox360
28.500,000 / 26,709,753 = 1,790,247

Are you trying to say the Wii, PS3 and 360 have the same amount of stock sitting on store shelves?

Yea, I'm not catching everything here. A good way to gauge it is that wii's are hard to find... so there sellthrough should be close to their shipments numbers. PS3 aren't hard to find, so there should be a gap.

Using chart track's, gfk's and npd's numbers combined with vgchartz japanese, mainland europe and 'others' numbers then each of the consoles would have roughly the same amount of stock unsold.

LOL, just no ...

That is not how it works. Sony stuffed the channel and there are more PS3's on shelves than Wiis and 360's!

Do you honestly think all the hoopla about Wiis not being in stock and 360's flying off the shelves at christmas was fake?

It would have had to have been to support your theory.

The wii is not at all supply constrained in japan or europe, wii's are only hard to find in america. Secondly and this is something most people don't even consider, the wii and ds sell significantly more than there competitors each week so there for each week more wii's and ds's are sat on shelves compared to the ps3/360 and you need a much higher stock of them to do this, so there for more wii's and ds's will be left unsold in the short term. On top of that, again because more wii's and ds's are sold each week, more wii's and ds's need to be in major stores distribution warehouses and more of them need to be in transit (road,sea,air) and there for they are not sold to consumers either.

How about LOL just yes.....that is how it works. You say sony stuffed the channel, where is your conclusive proof that they have done this? People can be so narrow minded, at a guess you live america because you are talking about what happened in america for the wii and 360 like it happened for the entire world when the fact is outside of america the wii and 360 are not supply constrained at all. So what do you think is more likely, chart track, gfk and npd which are all multimillion companies that have far bigger samples of data to work with, have many more years worth of experence of working out sales are infact all wrong because vgchartz with limited sales data and limited years worth of sales experence have different numbers and the only way they 'work' is if sony stuffed the channel to which you have no proof of them doing.

Actually I live in the UK

And honestly you're blowing hot air, to me this is all crap and its not going to change anyones mind.

I wonder whos Sony fanboy alt account you are? hmm