Yeah, a co-worker who is on the hunt for a wii keeps coming back empty handed but with stories of PS3s in stock.

Just my anecdotal experience - in my ventures around during and after Christmas, I have on several occasions spotted PS3's, but never once saw Wii in stock, though PS3 is supposedly more limited in supply.

The big problem is the way the companies report sales.

Microsoft reports a unit as sold when a retailer takes the deed for the good and thus possession of it.

Sony reports a PS3 as a sold unit as soon as it rolls off the manufacturing floor. While it may be sold at some point in the future, it inflates the numbers.

I'm unsure of how Nintendo reports sales, but Id be willing to guess that its similar to Microsoft.


Most of us think of units sold as when we (the consumer) actually purchase them, since consoles are not sold on consignment this is not the case.

If I were nexgen wars Id adjust the 360 and PS3 down and leave the Wii as is until it reaches a stable number in stores constantly, then Id adjust it down.

Just because...for example, Microsoft says it sold 100,000 360's this week doesnt necessarily mean that all 100,000 are in the hands of consumers, retailers just took them.

These numbers are great and all, but there are other factors to look at. From what I've heard and seen, the ps3 60gb is selling out fast; it's the 20gb version that's around for a while. Which makes sense, because people shelling out that much want the full experience. The wii may be selling really, really well, but it's attracting more casual gamers that won't end up buying as many games. My parents are looking to get one, and they're only looking at wii sports right now. I don't see too many other games coming out that they'd consider. That being said, I really like the wii, and I hope it does well.

These numbers are really useless until anyone can walk into a store and look at all 3 consoles and choose which one he/she wants.

Then sales numbers will start meaning EVERYTHING. I have a feeling this generation will be the closest since Genesis-SNES

That attach rate (number of games sold per console) is not as important to Nintendo as it is to MS or Sony.

Nintendo makes money on every Wii sold, any liscensing fees they get from 3rd party developers or money from their own 1st party games is just extra.

MS and Sony both lose money on their consoles (currently) and make up the cost difference with royalities from 3rd party game sales.

That being said, its more important for those two to sell a large number of games per console and not *AS* important for Nintendo. Microsoft at least owns a few development studios like Bungie and Rare, where as Sony has no 1st party IP to fall back on at all.

The most disturbing part right now is that you can actually find PS3s in stores now, if you call around to enough major retailers and small game stores in your area, odds are you will find some (both 60s and 20s).

The Wii however is still very very hard to find, and I suspect it probably will remain so for the next month or two no matter how much Nintendo is able to expand production.

I've actually heard that Microsoft may no longer be losing money on each console sold, which would be great for them because I don't think the original xbox ever did that.

I also just recently saw that Nintendo has surpassed 3 Million Wii's sold already. That is great news for them, lets hope they can deliver some great games to live up to the hype.

LOL, seriously? thats gotta be a sad day for a parent...."I found you a PS3!" "return it, its crap" "ok...[small part of parent dies inside]"

I think Sony's sales was hurt alot by not having more good games out. Also I think they made a big mistake when they left out upscaling for the 1080i sets already existing in many many homes.

These numbers are very suspect, unfortunately. I can't wait to see the real retail sale numbers for December later this month.