Kotaku
Bit of an up-and-down month for Sony. The fact the PS3 couldn't quite repeat last month's performance, and slid back behind the 360, must sting in some sensitive places at Sony HQ, but then the strong performance of the PSP and the continued staying power of the ol' PS2 go a long way towards making up for that.
In terms of today's victory spin, Sony's decided to take a slightly different approach, and rather than relying on combined, Predaking-esque sales figures has instead invoked the terrible power of the Sony brand name itself, with SCEA's Jack Tretton saying "It is proof that, in these economically challenging times, consumers recognize the long-term value of our platforms and the tremendous heritage of our brand in delivering the best entertainment experience".
PS3 Sales Up Nearly 100% Year-Over-Year; PS3 Momentum ContinuesTotal PlayStation Hardware Unit Sales Top 770,794
PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) continued the strong momentum with 257,120 units sold in March. (according to NPD March 2008 sales data). This represents a year-over-year sales growth of over 98%. More than 1.9 million software units were sold for PS3 in March, representing a year-over-year growth of 139.2%.
* The Season of Monster Titles Has Begun: The April releases of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Grand Theft Auto IV kick off the waterfall of blockbusters coming to PS3 this year, including the exclusive titles Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2 and SOCOM: Confrontation to name a few. These mega hits combined with enthusiasm for Blu-ray promise to further drive PS3 sales throughout 2008.
* PLAYSTATION®Network Continues to Thrive: In North America, there are over than 3.7 million registered PLAYSTATION Network accounts and more than 67 million pieces of content have been downloaded from PLAYSTATION Store to date.
PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) continued to boast strong sales with 297,011 PSP hardware units sold in March, up 22.1% over the previous month and representing a sales increase of 65% growth year-over-year. Sales were fueled by the of recent exclusive blockbuster releases of God of War: Chains of Olympus and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, the two best-selling handheld games in the month of March.
PlayStation®2 (PS2) also had an excellent month in March with hardware unit sales reaching 216,485 units. The PLAYSTATION exclusive hit title MLB® 08 THE SHOW™ debuted as the top-selling title for PS2 in March.
Power of the PlayStation PortfolioThe PlayStation brand continued to generate impressive sales, earning $552.2 million in March.
* Year to date (Jan-March), the PlayStation brand generated over $1.55 billion in revenue, representing an increase of nearly 13% for the same period last year.
* PlayStation total hardware revenue was $186.2 million in March, representing a year-over-year growth of over 23%.
* PlayStation total software revenue in March was $304.7 million, representing a year-over-year growth of 25%.CEO Perspective
"Our sales momentum continues to defy what is traditionally a sluggish sales month. PS3 continued the strong momentum with a year-over-year sales growth of over 98%. It is proof that, in these economically challenging times, consumers recognize the long-term value of our platforms and the tremendous heritage of our brand in delivering the best entertainment experience. PSP expanded the portable market with more than 297,011 in hardware sales this month, driven by the monster releases of the two best-selling handheld games in March, God of War: Chains of Olympus and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. This further proves the trend that 2008 is the year for PlayStation."
- Jack Tretton, president and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment America
Comments
Noooo galvatron
Hooray for Galvatron, a slightly less annoying Megatron
"PS3 couldn't quite repeat last month's performance, and slid back behind the 360, must sting in some sensitive places at Sony HQ"
5,000 units.....
Woo Leonard Nimoy!
+ Watch video
I'll be buying a PS3 and PSP soon..
@Kyle81: "My power is everything. Defeat is absurd"
@DigitalHero: Could have been by a single unit, they still went from in front of the 360 to behind it.
Hey. They're only 5000 down this month, with no real killer titles in the US. I'd still call that a win.
5000 units. Someone get the seltzer and pez dispensers. There's a party over at MS HQ.
No Blofeld for the pic? :-p
1.9 million software units? Congrats!
Sorry, but Galvatron and Rodimus were poor replacements for Megatron and Optimus.
@Jechticknight: Where's that machine on American Dad that turns water into cocaine?
I love these articles just for the titles. Can't wait for Microsoft!
I hope Microsoft is Skeletor...
Wait a second are you sure this press release wasn't sent out by Nintendo? It talks about momentum...
Bah-weep-grah-na-weep-ni-ni-bon Sony.
@Len Bias Cocaine Surplus:
Microsoft: "Is that you Megatron?"
Sony: "Here's a hint!"
Couldn't resist =P
GALVATRON PWNS ALL!!
@DigitalHero: Sony is after the Microsoft Matrix located deep within the chest of Bill Gates.
@DigitalHero: lmao
@Len Bias Cocaine Surplus:
The matrix of leadership has been passed to Steve Ballmer since Bill left. We'll just take the maxtrix after Steve croaks from heart failure.
People sneering at Microsoft for enjoying a 5000 unit lead, but wasn't it a big deal when the PS3 pulled ahead by a few thousand units early this year?
GALVATRON!!!
@DigitalHero: So does that make him Ultra Magnus or Rodimus?
I can't wait until some mad human scientists try to reanimate the corpse of Bill Gates and he uses that Matrix to save us from the angry virus... man I watched waaay too much of that show. Although with the internets as they are, that anger virus is looking more and more plausible.
@fearing:
We can hope Ballmer is Ultra Magnus but in reality he is probably Rodimus...
"Aw s*** what are we going to do now!?"
a low attach-rate and no GTA IV exclusive episodic content ... hmmm, so in other words, its still a cheap Blu-Ray player? right, no thanks.
seems like both camps are running low on exclusives lately so now it will really come down to who has the better machine and better online-play.
@Lanhoj:
A better machine is one that doesn't die on you.
As if PS3 owners will enjoy GTAIV any less...Blu-Ray storage space, 1080p output, hard drive install feature, and bonus six axis controls.
I'd be more sorry for Wii owners. A totally handicapped, loser Rock Band, no GTA IV period, no Iron Man, no Soul Calibur IV, the list goes on..and on..and on...I guess that's the price you pay for another round of Smash Brothers.
Everyone knows in the lost episode of Transformers the Sonycons conquer Cybertron and Earth.
I have always thought this guy luke was a ps3 hater. Everytime I read a ps3 article and the ps3 gets bashed I always bet it's luke when I go see who the person is that wrote the garbage.
Luke is a Ps3 hater
@ DigitalHero: Zing!
ahh, good old sony, doing the will of unicron
lol galvatron.
Wow, Sony sold 5000 less PS3 units than Microsoft did 360. I guess the war is over now. To be honest though, what the fuck was there in March to buy a console for anyway?
At least they have been growing year over year. Not the other way around.
I'm betting the reason behind PS3 sales is because of the new bundles and "limited" MGS4 themed PS3 that should be comming out soon... just maybe.
@Sparx:
Megatron >>> Galvatron
>:O
It's funny how he repeats the word "monster" several times. I wonder if that's their new marketing term.
"PS3...It's a MONSTER!"
Strong Momentum? Ha.
I guess i'm one of the stats. I just bought me a psp last week or so. Nice integration with the ps3 and decent games.
these number mean nothing to the games (for real) all this does is feed the fanboy mobile. Even if SONY got ubove 360 sales for the rest of the year for consoles the 360 will continue to out sell all platforms together in software and periphial sales. So everyone wins. Why should a fanboy care if any one company does better or worse than each other. The thing we should be watching is the dwindling game quality in games and the price of games that semm to only go up and not down. There you go fanboy mobile that should help put some fuel in da tank you know with the price of fuel these days every lil bit counts. lol
Kinda funnny that 360 outsold PS3, since the Target I work at has sold one 360 in about 3 months.
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