Sony’s answer to motion control went on sale on September 15 in Europe, September 16 in Australia, September 17 in North America and the UK, and finally saw the light of day in Japan on October 2010. Today Sony reports that 4.1 million PlayStation Move units have been sold worldwide in the more than two months since launch, or a little under one for every ten PlayStation 3 systems (41.6 million according to the press release) sold since the console’s launch in 2006.
Sony says the number indicates a successful launch for its motion sensing controller, with positive momentum carrying it through the holidays and into 2011.
Those are impressive numbers indeed, selling slightly slower than Microsoft’s Kinect but definitely making a strong showing. It does bear noting, however, that those numbers take into account customers that purchased multiple Moves for one PlayStation 3, while only one Kinect is needed per Xbox 360.
Hopefully the big numbers will get publishers interested in releasing some big name titles with Move support in the future.
Braaains
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 10:01 AMAll this talk about units sold by Sony vs units sold by MS… pointless.
Lets talk about the stat that matters – decent Move games vs decent Kinect games. I make it Sony 1 (Tumble) vs Microsoft 1 (Dance Central).
That’s a 1-1 draw i.e. they’re BOTH losers.
matt30822
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 11:13 AMSo you are saying that all the launch titles sucked from a “hardcore” perspective? That is true. However it is still important to talk about the sales of the hardware itself as it determines the amount of resources and money that goes into FUTURE software. Sure, some of that may be aimed at the casual audience as well but sooner or later, if Sony/Microsoft believes that they have got the casual audience then they will try to win over the hardcore with some decent software and a possible price drop (I’m talking in about 1 year).
In relation to this Move news specifically – Hardly a surprise that they have sold that many since some games require two move controllers, navigation controllers and some of the software demands it be played co-op, which means more controllers. Would be interested to see if that figure takes into account the navigation controllers sold or just the move controllers.
Anyway to me it seems quite low since as was said in the article, generally if someone is going to buy move, they are going to buy a second (third and possibly fourth) controller like everyone did with the wii, since most of the games are aimed at the casual audience. That makes the attachment rate per console that much smaller.
Braaains
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 12:29 PMAccording to Eurogamer, it doesn’t take into account standalone navigation controllers / cameras, just Move controllers (presumably including standalone Move controllers as well as those bundled with camera/navigation controller).
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-11-30-sony-over-4-1-million-moves-sold
Benjamin
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 11:28 AMI think more importantly for Kinect is not what games it has but more what the community it doing with respect to hacking the device for more useful purposes.
ravennoir
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 11:50 AMTumble isnt the only good game for Move (although it is great)
hristinho18
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 11:57 AMOuch. But Move has also been shortstocked in many places several times. Kinect… um… doesnt have that problem. Anywhere. In the world.
Denaz
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 12:22 PMKinect is miles ahead of Move. Move is good, but its just a more accurate Wii. Kinect at least has a wider range of abilities, with voice control, facial recognition, and so on.
Regarding the game, I don’t really think either has released a decent one yet. Its really only the crappy sports games that are any good
CloneTrooper
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 12:24 PMAlso, as with most Sony data, they report Shipped Units, not just Units sold through to customers.
Where the Kinect figures are 2.5 million sold through to customers, its 4.1 million units of Move Shipped to retailers…doesn’t actually say how many were actually sold to customers.
At least thats what I’ve been hearing from other sources and outlets….
Ian Uniacke
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 2:08 PMyes spot on. And also what they’re failing to point out is that the average number of moves per user is around about 2 so you could say an equivalent figure would be “2 million move sets” shipped to stores.
Steve M
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 3:15 PMGiven that this is 4.1 million units shipped, not sold*, and many – if not most – consumers are buying more than one unit, I think it’s fair to say that Kinect has made a bigger splash in the market so far. That said, assuming that the actual sales figure isn’t too far behind the number of units shipped, the Move is certainly doing well.
*It’s been confirmed by a Sony representative that, despite their explicit use of the word “sales” in their press release, this number is, in fact, units shipped, not sold.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/30/sony-ships-4-1-million-playstation-move-controllers-to-retailers/
plmko
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 4:25 PMData only tracks bundles, not individual controllers.
Doogan
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 7:48 PMI’d definately expect Kinect to sell more, they have had the 500million marketing campaign. I am yet to see one move advertisment or bundle with tv etc. In fact i havent seen a move in australia yet.
Just got a kinect, the misses loves dance central. After so long trying to get her to play xbox I am now happy even if i have to look like an idiot dancing with her.
Doogan
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 7:49 PMGod bless easy mode.