Three million units sold?
by Jason Wishnov 
{ Dec 27th 2006 at 5:36PM }
VGCharts, the "premier source for videogame sales charts on the internet", has totaled worldwide Wii sales now in excess of three million units. The same list has Xbox 360 at 7.74 million, and the PS3 at a rather stunted 1.18 million. By comparison, other-unofficial-internet-tallying site NexGenWars has the three consoles at 9.18 million for the 360, only 2 million for the Wii, and 800,000 for the PS3.
Which should you believe? We're inclined to roll with VGCharts, which seems to have a very meticulous method of gathering numerical data. The competition uses an arbitrary "unit sold every x seconds" formula until the site owner can alter the data manually after press releases and official data; in the first week of sales, the Wii inexplicably went from 700,000 to 400,000 in the blink of an eye.
We all know that Nintendo promised four million worldwide by year's end, but over 75% delivered isn't such a terrible let-down. And hey! There are still five days left! C'mon, Nintendo, you can do it!
[Thanks, Richard!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dan @ Dec 27th 2006 7:46PM
Looks like the 360 really wasted its year-long headstart.
Josh @ Dec 28th 2006 6:50PM
I'd have to agree. VGCharts does look quite a bit more accurate. Also, as for the 4 million Wiis thing, it could just be that sales data for the other .8 million Wiis hasn't been found by VGCharts yet. Or perhaps Nintendo really didn't ship 4 million after all...
In any case, until we get official sales numbers, VGCharts seems to be the best bet.
Mr. Khan @ Dec 28th 2006 1:21PM
North America (and Europe) need an institution like Media Create Japan
Then we could keep track of this easily
Instead, we get the NPD group that rounds to the nearest thousand
(I would think the EU has an institution that keeps track of consumer affairs, but im not sure, anyone help me out here?)
Mr. Khan @ Dec 28th 2006 1:21PM
Oh, and i feel more inclined to believe nexgenwars
MS having 9 million sold seems more in line to what MS says
800k seems about right for Sony's disparaty (and the fact that they can't seem to sell them as much)
2 million seems right in the area for the Wii
Gozan @ Dec 27th 2006 10:02PM
There's also http://consolewars.free.fr/en/index.php and http://www.gamergauge.net/report.php for further comparisons.
Mabui @ Dec 27th 2006 10:00PM
Yeah, according to this 360 hasn't made much headway, though serves to prove that price matters to the bulk of gamers out there that won't eat up a console worth more than 300 dollars.
For me, I'd like to buy an Xbox 360. I think the controller is very well designed but the reality for me is that there isn't enough games to really pull my interest and when there is, it's just that one game and by the time another game releases I've lost interest in the first.
boo @ Dec 27th 2006 10:10PM
the 360 has sold just under 10 million. According to nearly every website other than vgcharts the 360 has sold around 9.5 million. How is it that the 360 has only sold 7.7 million when the last official release by microsoft stated that theyd sold over 8 million? And that was like 2 months ago. VGCharts has their facts wrong WITH THE 360. i think they have it wrong with wii aswell.
Pedro @ Dec 27th 2006 10:28PM
VG charts is bullshit.
1.3 milllion PS3s? So in the space of a week it sold like half a million? Bullshit.
I realize market data doesn't include many large retailers, but for sony to have sold that much, when you can still walk into a store and find a ps3, is utter crap.
Ryan @ Dec 28th 2006 1:33AM
Um the PS3 didnt even manage to ship 1/4 of a million its first week, so I dont see where you get your 1/2 million sold in the first week stats from.
But yes alot of these are way off, mainly because some of them go buy the ammont shipped instead of what has just sold.
thebigL @ Dec 28th 2006 2:06AM
I had a friend whose parents walked into a gamestop and bought a PS3. No reservation, and no camping. I think sony is screwed.
DonWigs @ Dec 29th 2006 1:37AM
I think MS released shipped numbers.
They may have only sold close to 8 million by now.
I think the Wii may be able to do it. I hear that Nintendo World Store has been getting shipments twice daily. If other retailers are getting supplied in these last few days. Nintendo may get close.
As for the PS3. The Walmart down the street has 4 or 5 on their shelves right now.
judith @ Dec 28th 2006 5:41AM
Good to hear you're not working them on X-mas :D
vidGuy @ Dec 28th 2006 9:08AM
These numbers seem way off. 360 is higher than that. PS3 is much lower than that. Wii, I'm not sure about. If there's been 3 million at retail, than I'm sure that many has sold, but I couldn't even guess what Nintendo is pushing out the door.
thebigL, the main talk around Joystiq is that in most towns and rural areas (under 100,000), the PS3 is readily available on store shelves. I live in a central-Illinois town of 20,000 and there's still a dozen PS3s on the shelves of GameStop and Walmart (combined). When a line of 25 forms outside of GameStop every time the Wii comes in, but 7 PS3s still sit on their shelf, something's not right for Sony.
Kicks @ Dec 28th 2006 4:12PM
I'm not sure if the figures are based on numbers shipped to retailers or units actually sold to end users. I thought it was the former before but the way you guys are talking its the latter.
thebes @ Dec 28th 2006 4:04PM
MS says they sold 9 million? well they may have shipped 9 million, but they aint selling it to joe public. i see lots and lots of 360 just sitting there in stores. no one wants a crappy console that breaks down in a year.
Gears+Halo ;yawn;
Bill @ Dec 29th 2006 2:28PM
I was just in Long Island and saw a ton of Wii's on the shelf, nobody bought them. Weird for me. No PS3's though. I think it's all where you go.
TexRob @ Dec 31st 2006 10:55AM
Believing VGcharts just because it suits you is amusing. For the record, I own a Wii and X360, both are great for totally different reasons. That said, you all should also take note these charts on vgcharts are worldwide sales. Worldwide is good for companies, but if you live in the US, what's important is how the consoles are selling here, as the 360, even with Blue Dragon, sells horribly in Asia. VGcharts seems to be way off there too though. They claim 3.5m 360s in the US, and 500k Wiis.