Price cuts have hit every major console platform, but in Japan the PS3 has seen one of the most positive upswings as a result of the new 29,980 yen price. Now, Enterbrain [thanks Kotaku] is reporting that the system has seen a 707 percent increase in sales since the September 3 price cut through to October 11.
Between the PSP-3000's price reduction to 16,800 yen and launch of the PSPgo, the system as a whole has seen Japanese sales increase 126 percent over the same period. With the 5,000 yen reduction for the Wii down to 20,000 yen total, Wii sales have increased by a more modest 29 percent as of October 11. Despite an Xbox 360 Elite price drop down to 29,800 yen and an small surge in sales, Xbox 360 sales were down 70 percent in Japan during the time period.
This shows that there was a lot of pent up demand for the PS3 in Japan and the anticipation coming for Final Fantasy XIII (which will be exclusive to the system in Japan). We're pretty sure that after this lead up to Final Fantasy XIII's launch, the PS3 will build an insurmountable lead over the Xbox 360 in Japan.
2 Comments
October 26, 2009
Well it's Japan and they are historically known not to support any American made video game systems, even the few good ones like the 360.
October 27, 2009
Microsoft's given the good college try, pushing more games on the 360 specifically for Japan, but ultimately no "game changing" titles came to the Xbox 360 that convinced the majority of the Japanese gaming public that they "needed" an Xbox 360. We're talking something along the lines of an exclusive Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest release here, folks - the Xbox 360 never got something of that caliber and now it's too late.