“Statistics published by top game developer Tose show that with 42 million the total number of PS3s sold globally have exceeded the Xbox 360 by a million units.

The statistics come by way of a presentation by Tose (a prolific Kyoto-based game developer best known for not being known, as their games as usually credited exclusively to the company outsourcing the work to them, most often Nintendo) at the Kyoto Cross Media Experience 2010, published by Famitsu.”

• Wii: 74,000,000
• PlayStation 3: 42,000,000
• Xbox 360: 41,000,000

Source:  http://www.famitsu.com/news/201011/08035343.html

Thanks to the continued Slim Effect™, PS3 has been dominating sales charts across the globe.  So much, in fact, that Sony is predicting massive shortages throughout 2010.

As you can see Heavy Rain, Final Fantasy 13 (PS3 version) and PS3 Slim are currently topping the charts with no sign of slowing down.   The inferior 360 version of Final Fantasy 13 is barely in the Top 30 currently sitting at #29. One would guess the exclusive avatar gear isn’t exactly setting the video game world on fire.

Neither Activision or Infinity Ward  could possibly imagine the true impact of The Slim Effect™ until they released Modern Warfare 2 for the PS3.   The amount of gamers playing MW2 on PSN has been so great that it’s bringing Activision’s servers to its knees.   Many have speculated that the PS3 version has actually outsold the notably inferior 360 version in many countries.

The Slim Effect™ MW2 patch is expected on Friday.  Until then, please be patient while Infinity Ward triples their PS3 server capacity (possibly even taking servers away from the disappointing 360 version).

It’s coming time for the Holiday launches of anticipated multiplatform sequels — and new data provided to Gamasutra by OTX’s GamePlan Insights finds that many sequel-buyers might be switching platforms, defecting from Xbox 360 to PlayStation 3 for more than one major release.

In addition to identifying the cash-strapped consumer’s most-wanted games for the holiday season, GamePlan Insights previously examined “franchise lineage,” or gamer intent to purchase sequels to favorite games.

According to OTX analyst Nick Williams, data on franchise lineage highlights an interesting trend between the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 SKUs for Modern Warfare 2 and Assassin’s Creed 2, the two top-ranking titles on the latest purchase intent charts — and also two of the titles with the strongest franchise lineage.

OTX data shows that 15 percent of those who plan to buy the PS3 version of Assassin’s Creed 2 own the Xbox 360 version of the original, while only 7 percent of those who plan to buy the Xbox 360 version own the original game on PS3.

The data highlights a shift, at least among fans of Assassin’s Creed, in favor of the PS3 — a “sizable portion,” according to Williams, of players who plan a console defection for the second installment.

Moreover, the trend for Modern Warfare 2 is the same, according to OTX. “The PS3 seems poised to shift the ratio of Xbox 360 to PS3 sales for most major multi-platform releases in its favor among dual owners,” Williams tells us.

Nintendo’s earnings report today showed the first drop in profits the company has seen in four years. For the six month period ending September 30, the Kyoto giant’s operating income fell 58.6% from the same period last year to 104.3 billion yen. The Wii platform took a major hit, its sales falling 43% from last year to 5.75 million units. Nintendo ended up lowering its Wii sales forecasts for the full year from 26 million units to 20 million units.

Mainichi Shimbun reports that Iwata, speaking at a press conference in Osaka today, said “We failed with the Wii. We were unable to continually release strong software, and let the nice mood cool.”

Sankei Shimbun, covering the same press conference, reported Iwata as having said “We were unable to show a new game to become ‘the next thing.’ In the game market, once you’ve lost the momentum, it takes time to recover.”

It does seem that Iwata has a positive outlook for the Wii, though, thanks to the September price drop. According to a Reuters report from the press conference, Iwata said of the decision to lower Wii’s sales targets, “With the price drop, sales returned to a certain level, but they just did not reach the level of last year around this time. We decided that it would be difficult to sell enough to recover from the poor performance of the first half of the year.” On the new 20 million target, he said, “In order to reach it, we’ll have to move quite a large quantity, but it’s a figure we released after having felt the momentum returning [based off the price drop].”

The Slim Effect™ has taken hold worldwide and now even Nintendo is admitting defeat.  Very interesting turn of events…  expect SDF to dive deeper into this in the coming weeks.

Even Netflix couldn’t ignore The Slim Effect™ and has no choice but to add their streaming services to Playstation 3 or face losing out on a huge chunk of revenue.

With this major bomb dropping, one has to wonder what the point is of paying for Xbox Lag anymore.

Source:  http://www.netflix.com/NRDInfo/PS3

Hardware:
PlayStation 3 491.8K
Wii 462.8K
Xbox 360 352.6K

Software:
1. Halo 3:ODST (360)
2. Wii Sports Resort (Wii)
3. Madden NFL 10 (360)
4. Random Mario Game (DS)
5. Madden NFL 10 (PS3)
6. The Beatles (360)
7. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (360)
8. Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3)

The PS3 beat Xbox 360 and Wii last month in U.S. console sales.  This means the U.S. is now inline with the rest of the world where The Slim Effect™ has taken hold and the PS3 is outselling both 360 and Wii on a weekly basis.  Also worth noting is even 3rd party releases like Batman: Arkham Asylum are selling better on PS3 than Xbox 360.

Sony continues to boost PS3 sales to new heights.   Nintendo and Microsoft are going to have to scramble this Christmas to keep up with this momentum.  Are they up for it?

From Sony:

Sony Computer Entertainment America Annouces New 250GB PlayStation 3 System

Following the successful launch of the slimmer and lighter PlayStation®3 (PS3™) system with 120GB hard disk drive (HDD), Sony Computer Entertainment America today announced that a new PS3 system with a 250GB HDD will be available on November 3 for $349.99 (MSRP). Launching in time for the holiday season, the 250GB PS3 system provides consumers with plenty of storage capacity to download more games, movies, and TV shows from PlayStation®Network, as well as to store their personal media files, including music, photos, and videos.

The 250GB PS3 system offers the same form factor and functionality as the current 120GB system, which achieved retail sales of 1 million units worldwide in the three weeks since its launch on September 1. Both models will be available at retail this holiday, providing both gamers and gift-givers with the opportunity to choose the PS3 system that’s right for them.

“The PS3 platform is poised for a tremendous holiday season,” said Scott A. Steinberg, vice president, product marketing, SCEA. “We kicked things off early with the new price point and sleek form factor and have continued the momentum with this week’s launch of the universally acclaimed exclusive, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The new 250GB PS3 provides consumers with another compelling hardware option and speaks to the growing consumer appetite for digital content from the PlayStation Network – particularly high-def content that showcases the power of the PS3 system.”

More than 600 million pieces of content have been downloaded from PlayStation Network as of September 2009, and in conjunction with the launch of the 250GB PS3 system, PlayStation Network will continue to expand with a broad range of original games and blockbuster entertainment content for download this holiday season. Exclusive downloadable games launching soon on PlayStation®Store include PixelJunk Shooter, Gravity Crash, and Hustle Kings.

In addition, PlayStation Network’s video delivery service, which offers downloadable movies and TV episodes for rental or purchase, will soon add Star Trek, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Bruno, and other summer blockbusters to its movie lineup. The PlayStation Network currently offers 2,300 movies, one-third of which are available in HD format, as well as more than 13,300 TV episodes.

Our source:

“Just rang them about my order. Whilst I was waiting for someone to answer the phone my order was still in processing on the website. But as soon as someone picked up it changed to dispatched and completed the guy apologised and blamed the ‘biggest release of the year’ Uncharted 2 for the delay in sending out my order“

Also, the PS3 Slim is showing no signs of slowing down in Japan and it is still tracking #1 across all U.S. sales charts:  original story

The Slim Effect™ is really taking the world by storm.

Keep your browser pointed to SDF for all the latest, unbiased and unfiltered sales data.

Not only is Halo 2.5: ODST already being discounted $10 but Forza 2.5 has failed to gain any momentum despite being weeks away from release and the 360 Elite Modern Warfare 2 “meh-gaton” seems to be a complete failure.

The year of the PS3 continues…

Keep your eyes on SDF throughout the holiday season for unbiased, real-time sales data.