Almost two months after the debut of the refreshed Xbox 360, it appears that sales may be calming down. Bestseller lists published by Amazon and Toys’r’us indicate that the 120 Gb version of the PS3 is currently the most popular new game console in the U.S. However, sales of the Move controller system aren’t exactly brisk and trail interest in Microsoft’s Kinect.
Playstation 3
Given the buzz Microsoft created around its new Xbox 360 and Kinect, the effects were rather short lived. We have been keeping close track of online bestseller lists published by Amazon, Walmart and Toys’r’us and found that especially the PS3 is showing recovery and is apparently selling better through those online channels than Microsoft’s Xbox 360.
In the video games category of best sellers, the PS3 120 GB currently ranks 11th at Amazon, 36th at Toys’r’us and 9th at Walmart (“PS3 customer choice bundle”). In contrast, the new 250 GB Xbox 360 lists at 12th at Amazon, is not among the top 50 at Toys’r’us and not among the top 20 at Walmart. Neither Toys’r’us and Walmart list any Xbox 360 version in their top seller ranks.
Amazon, however, has the Xbox 360 Halo Reach Bundle at #61 and the Final Fantasy XIII edition at #77. The 250 GB PS3 version ranks at #78 at Amazon. What surprised us quite a bit is that the new 4GB entry level version of the Xbox 360 is not selling very well and, in fact, is the least popular current console on the market, at least as far as Amazon’s bestseller list indicates: The 4GB console ranks 156th. The Xbox 360 4GB / Kinect bundle is shown at #194.
The pre-order excitement following the Kinect / Move announcement has died down considerably, but the Kinect sensor maintains its edge over Move. Kinect is listed at #73 at Amazon and at #18 at Toys’r’us. The Move starter bundle can be found at #182 at Amazon, the Move controller at #216, the Navigation controller at #284 and the PS3 Move starter bundle (including a PS3 console) at #1720.
What about the Wii? The black Wii package lists 14th at Amazon and 41th at Toys’r’us, which is behind the 120 GB version of the PS3 in both cases. However, the Wii still dominates the ranks at Walmart, thanks to a few special bundles. The family Fun bundle is ranked at #3, the Wii – WiiFit bundle at #12 and the Starter bundle at #18. It appeared that Microsoft was pitching the 4 GB Xbox 360 as a rival to the Wii, which makes sense as it is priced on one level with the basic Wii and Kinect could potentially provide a more advanced gaming experience. However, that message may not resonate with consumers yet. Interestingly enough, we found that some retailers are charging a premium for the 4 GB Xbox 360: Buy.com. for example, sells the console for $232.99 instead of the MSRP of $199.
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