Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console sold just under 44,000 units in its first two days on sale in Japan, a market research company said Friday.
The Xbox 360 was launched in Japan on Saturday and Media Create Co., which collects data from point-of-sales systems at major retailers, estimated weekend sales totaled 43,970 units. Software sales were 47,191 units, it said. That compares unfavorably to the 2002 launch of the original Xbox console which attracted sales of 106,867 consoles and 156,601 units of software at launch, said Media Create.
The company said the initial software line-up and particularly the postponed launch of “Dead or Alive 4” affected opening weekend results. The console launched with six software titles. Media Create said it expects hardware sales to grow significantly once DOA4 is available. The software will be released on Dec. 29, according to maker Tecmo.
The sales data was provided in Media Create’s weekly game hardware and software ranking, which covered the period from Dec. 5 to Dec. 11.
For the week Sony Computer Entertainment’s PlayStation 2 sold 45,893 units. In the handheld gaming space Nintendo’s Nintendo DS sold 299,328 units and SCEI’s PlayStation Portable sold 86,403 units.