Pachter: PS3 outsold 360 in March

[Shrygue]

via Computer and Video Games


PlayStation 3 outsold Xbox 360 for the third month in a row, but the Nintendo Wii overshot the combined sales of its rivals, according to Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter.

Ahead of March's NPD Group sales data, due to release this Thursday, Pachter forecast PS3 sales of 365,000 units, edging out sales of 310,000 for Xbox 360.

In a Monday investor note, Pachter predicted that Nintendo will come out on top for yet another month, with Wii sales of 700,000 during March's five-week retail period.

Pachter believes that Wii and DS supply improved during the month, adding that the Wii supply situation has "made forecasting unit sales quite difficult." Pachter said a weak US dollar may have driven Nintendo to give a larger piece of the 1.8 million Wiis produced monthly to Europe at the expense of the US market.

the company likely shipped the U.S. its "'air share' in the month of March, particularly in light of Nintendo's need to support the launch of Super Smash Brothers Brawl."

He said that Wii demand is "expected to outstrip supply well into 2008."

The simExchange virtual stock exchange forecast Wii sales of 593,000, and PS3 and Xbox 360 sales of 301,000 and 296,000, respectively.

Software will also likely the be the big story for March, as Pachter expects console software sales of $850 million, a 47 percent rise at US retail.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl from Nintendo is expected to be the top game for the month. The title, released on March 9, sold over 1.4 million units in the US in its first week. Pachter believes the title sold 2 million during the entire month.

Other top sellers may include Army of Two, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Major League Baseball 2K8 and catalog titles such as Wii Play, Guitar Hero III and Rock Band.

[stevo11185]

i dont really care about the console waqrs anymore i only use handhelds and im sick of hearing fanboys say crap like XX sold more than XX

[jdnation]

Well fanboys aside, these results do matter. Investors care, the blu-ray consortium cares, Movie studios care, game developers care, marketers and promoters and manufacturers from every area inside and outside the gaming industry care etc. etc. Numbers show trends and such things are important to know for good economical and research reasons which is why analysts are paid to predict this stuff. It's not going away, and neither are fanboys. Everyone loves to be on the winning team. The only problem with this really is when every thread or discussion on unrelated topics gets derailed into this one...

[<><fishman><>]

it probably sold more than xbox 360 this month because everyone already has their xbox

[mcdougall57]

meh.... doesnt really bother me, ive got an xbox therefore i will play it. No point bitching about the ps3. I was thinking about getting one for blue ray, MGS4, GT5 ect. i had the money but decks appealled to me more i mean who needs another console when i already have a wii and an xbox.

[Triv1um]

Nice too see the good old PS3 is holding its own.

[watupgroupie]

meh.... doesnt really bother me, ive got an xbox therefore i will play it. No point bitching about the ps3. I was thinking about getting one for blue ray, MGS4, GT5 ect. i had the money but decks appealled to me more i mean who needs another console when i already have a wii and an xbox.

Completley agree with you there. I have a wii and 360 too. I got my 360 because I like the games for them and the ps3 was expensive then. I actually like the ps3, it has some great things for it but buying a ps3 with the consoles I already have consumes alot of money. Plus I have to choose a lot between the 3 if I had them and I hate doing that. I already have to choose wisely between wii and 360 and adding another console would just be stupid. Its not like I hate sony either, I play my psp everyday .

[Veskgar]

Well after now owning both, I do think the PS3 is better if you are going to use it for all it can do. The only thing my 360 gets turned on for nowadays is Halo 3. I've yet to play a better online multiplayer shooter.

So its good to see that both the PS3 and the PSP are showing great strength.

[jdnation]

it probably sold more than xbox 360 this month because everyone already has their xbox

You mean that as a good or a bad thing? If 'everyone' already has their 360 by now then it's bad news for Microsoft... but off course they're still selling a lot every month, it's just that the PS3 will be selling to more people overtime if this trend continues...

[Gene]

Well after now owning both, I do think the PS3 is better if you are going to use it for all it can do. The only thing my 360 gets turned on for nowadays is Halo 3. I've yet to play a better online multiplayer shooter.

So its good to see that both the PS3 and the PSP are showing great strength.

Call of Duty 4 takes my cake. but I'm glad that there is a fair amount of competition between all of the consoles. this keeps prices low, keeps developers busy, and companies challenging themselves for better products, and more services.

Capitalism much?

I've actually seen this as best buy, the ps3 and 360 probably sell close to the same, numbers wise. Plus the ps3 does have an edge because it has the built-in blu ray player. That, and it's the cheapest way to high definition multimedia, gaming, and badassness