Lest We Forget: PS3 Hit 1 Million Pre-Orders, Too

GenGAME writes: "Sony’s touting PlayStation 4 pre-orders as being “breathtakingly high,” with 1 million consoles currently pre-ordered worldwide. They’re also saying that pre-orders are currently set at 'way over and above and beyond the pre-order number at launch day.' Don’t believe them.

"PlayStation 3 hit one million pre-orders, too, despite the system being delayed in Europe – its biggest market and one they’re putting higher priority on for PS4′s launch – into March 2007."

[jahcure]

what's the point of this "realization"? sooo it hit 1 mil preorders and is currently the second highest selling console of this gen..

[golding89]

Article makes a valid point about Pre-orders numbers for any consoles

[Mario18]

@golding

Yes your right. Hmm I wonder if your favorite upcoming console even reached half of a million

[BitbyDeath]

@Mario, it's said to be trailing at a 4:1 ratio which means it's around the 250k area

[legendoflex]

Sony said PS4's 1 million pre-orders are higher than PS2 or PS3. That's simply not true; PS3 hit 1 million pre-orders, too, and in a much shorter time (1 month after pre-orders opened), at a higher price point ($599 vs. $399), with Europe (their biggest market) getting the console four months later than they are now.

What about this sounds like a good place to be pre-order-wise, given how PS3 did out the gate?

[Muerte2494]

I think the "1 million" has to be from North America, Canada, and UK. I know for a fact it's almost impossible for track number in other territories.

[legendoflex]

Sony announced "worldwide" at Gamescom.

[The_Sneauxman]

Sounds like a desperate attempt to deflate any positive news coming out of the sony camp

[CGI-Quality]

Of course it is. But then, you can't blame them, not everyone will be happy that things have been nothing but positive for a company they don't favor. Just the nature of the Sour Puss. ;)

[yellowgerbil]

it's hit 1million and still has 3 months till release. If they open pre orders up they will see probably another million before launch.

Worst case scenario PS4 sells equally lifetime to PS3 (probably 90mil by discontinuation)
Worst case for MS, repeat of the original xbox (around 25-30mil by discontinuation)

[ABeastNamedTariq]

That could actually be true. :0 It's only been two months since they opened preorders!

[iamnsuperman]

There are other factors to consider though. Core faith from the PS2 era moving forward but it was only that to begin with. There is much more positive press towards Sony this time around. 1 million is good for any console even with stiff competition. It doesn't mean the PS4 will go the way of the PS3's start.

[ABeastNamedTariq]

Methinks someone is trying to downplay Sony's success. Tisk, tisk!

[thechosenone]

1mill+ in about 2 1/2 months is pretty damn impressive. And we still have several months to go. But have you noticed how MS hasn't officially announced any numbers at all yet? lol

[legendoflex]

PS3's 1 million in one month was more impressive.

[iamnsuperman]

But lets not forget that generation went from the PS2 era (hugely successful). That carry a lot of weight. This (new pre-order number) is more impressive as they have just come from a scrap of a generation. You can't ignore that fact. Sony had to fight hard to get into second place (only recently). There are other factors to consider as well (rise of mobile gaming which is taking the market share and continuity with online services and achievements)

[torchic]

a typical video gaming journalist's article.

move along and stuff.

[Mikeyy]

Lol if they want to talk Down ps4's preorders like that then Xbox ones numbers must be abysmal.

[vigilante_man]

Someone's got out the wrong side of the bed today!

That article was shockingly childish. Like a brat in a mood. He'll get over it..

[Sevir]

Ahhh I was waiting for one of these articles... Yes, the PS3 had a million preorders but here is the caveat to that, Sony also slashed their unit shipping forecast to half and delayed the PS3 in Europe by 4 months, and that was already after they delayed it from Spring 2006 to begin with... Why? Because bluray diode shortages and the fact that they themself didn't start manufacturing the Cell processor from their own factories till early January when they finally broke a million units sold.

The PS3 launched with production issues because new tech simply wasn't ready at the time they launched, they Launch with 400k units in North America on Nov 17th 2006, and 100k units in Japan on Dec 8th and by the time March 23rd 2007 Rolled around they shipped 2 million units to 32 European markets and sold through 1.5 million in launch month, and that was after Bluray diode yields and in house manufacturing of the cell was addressed in late January 2007... By Comparison MS launched the 360 1 year before with known manufacturing issues like a bad heat sink and faulty hdds, with each region a week behind each other, they scooped up a million units rather quickly because their machine didn't have new or exotic parts that weren't even ready.

This Year, Sony has been on top of their game, they announced first, cleared FCC in July and started manufacturing the same time. They arent the ones who delayed more than 2/3rds of Europe markets to 2014. 2 bluray diodes are in abundance as well as HDMI, and the highly custom PC GPU and CPU that's going into it. Further More APUs from AMD have been available in great yields from a few years so when this project started in 2008 it made manufacturing a console without the headaches of the PS3 that much more feasible without delay...

So this downplay falls flat, the PS4 at launch will ship with damn near close to 2 million units across NA, UK, EU, and AUS markets... MS won't have but a 1/3rd of that given the manufacturing issues they have right now. Lets all stop trying to down play Sony's positive press and outlook.. after E32006, MS became the front runner for next gen gaming... 7 years later both consoles launch within mere days of each other and the PS4 rises as the console most want, accept that the rolls have switched, MS is now what Sony was in 2005-2006, arrogant and making blunders everywhere and it's going to take them a few years to wash off that dirt just like Sony has with the PS3. Does this mean that the Xbox One will not be successful, absolutely not, what it means is that they will have much more stern competition launching with their biggest competition who's value is perceived better than their own offerings, and it's why they are having to rewrite their history after 2 tremendous blunders and a series of murky, ambiguous, and unclear policies and messages towards the developers, gamers and market they are competing for.

In anycase PS4 preordered and waiting... Nov 15, 2013!!!

[hkgamer]

I always thought that the PS3 did quite good at launch. Just that they had more supply than demand since they didn't properly control the supply market properly.

PS3 didn't do as well because consoles need to sell out to hit headlines, having more stock/supply doesn't generate more hype.