Wii outsells the PS3 4-to-1 in Japan, Sony execs “not psyched”
Friday, February 29th, 2008Posted Feb 29th 2008 4:53AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Gaming
Sony, we know you’re trying hard, which is why we think it must sting all the worse when you wake up to sales figures like this. According to a report, the Wii outsold PS3s in Japan 4-to-1 in the month of February, and its games dominated bestseller lists. What does that look like in cold, hard numbers? Nintendo moved 331,627 consoles over the month, while Sony only managed 89,131 units in the same time. But wait, there’s more: in January, the ratio was 3-to-1, which means that Nintendo’s lead seems to be growing as the year moves forward. Still, Sony could have it worse, the Xbox 360 only scraped up a paltry 14,079 Xbox 360 sales in that same span of time.
What’s that? You didn’t take the risk and upgrade your PC to some crappy Intel-based machine Microsoft may or may not have known wouldn’t run Vista as promised? Well, at least now you can get in on the latest version of Windows a little cheaper than yesterday: Ultimate full looks to be officially headed down to $320 from $400, and the upgrade is down to $220 from $260; Home Premium is now at $130 from $160. Will the dip be enough to entice plenty of new OS upgraders? Perhaps, but we think most of those that haven’t already upgraded will probably just wait until their next PC so they can get Vista “free”. But if you’re looking to buy it boxed though, give it a bit for the new prices to propagate through the retail network — not even Microsoft’s site reflects the new Vista price points.
Looks like Apple has started to ship its Time Capsule - the newest external hard drive from Cupertino which is just about the only solution available for those who want to perform wireless Time Machine backups from your notebook. The Time Capsule debuted at Macworld, being an 802.11n Wifi base station that was equipped with a choice of 500GB or 1TB hard drive, enabling you to back up files to the drive or share files across a network without having to hook up to a cable. The 500GB and 1TB model will retail for $299 and $499, respectively. Sounds pretty interesting? There’s more after the jump.
Sintex Industries’ aptly-dubbed biogas digester is most certainly not the first of its kind, but it is somewhat commendable that its maker is making no bones about this thing’s purpose. Destined to “solve India’s energy and sanitation problems in one stroke,” this concoction can convert “human [waste], cow dung, or kitchen garbage into fuel that can be used for cooking or generating electricity.” Reportedly, a one-cubic-meter digester would sell for around $425, but could pay for itself in energy savings in under 24 months. Excrement to energy — now there’s a concept.
High-end home audio speakers may be a bit bigger than your typical gizmo, but this is certainly welcome news for you audiophile geeks out there.
gadgets to spy on other people are easy to find, right? But how about finding gadgets to spy on the people that are spying you?
Who says a mouse can’t be trendy?
We don’t know if Jeffrey Katzenberg got a text message, fax, e-mail or smoke signal indicating the format war was over, but Video Business has confirmed Paramount and Dreamworks Animation will (rather abruptly) to stop releasing HD DVDs after next week. If you were looking forward to Bee Movie on March 11, Sweeney Todd on April 1 or the just announced There Will Be Blood, those are cancelled. Into the Wild and the appropriately-named Things We Lost in the Fire will be Paramount’s last reminders of its exclusive agreement. Not specifically mentioned was Star Trek: TOS Season 2, but don’t hold your breath. Blu-ray release plans are still up in the air but we wouldn’t be surprised to hear something soon. As far as hd dvd movies still scheduled, that leaves two from Universal (for now) and twelve from Warner Bros, who may have been the first to leave red, but will apparently be the last major studio out the door.
