Hello and welcome to the eighteenth edition of the VSM, the monthly article where we cover highlights of the past month of PlayStation gaming, as well as upcoming releases for the PS3, PS4, and PS Vita, as well as other semi-interesting things! But enough about me, let's talk about Sony.


Hardware Sales*

As always, we'll be covering the sales of all consoles from the last two generations, as well as the PlayStation Vita, however starting this month the 3DS will also be appearing in the sales reports.

Now, on to the numbers.

December 20th - 26th:
PS4 - 1,113,153 (+11%)

Xbox One - 595,123 (+7%)

Wii U - 352,635 (+13%)


PS3 - 40,184 (+22%)

Xbox 360 - 50,949 (+11%)

Wii - 1,867 (-7%)


3DS - 520,163 (+11%)

PS Vita - 196,972 (+23%)


With the last week of Christmas shopping upon us, system sales inevitably rose to their peak, with the PS4 moving over 1.1 million units - that's somewhere in the neighborhood of 8% of yearly sales in a single week -, the Xbox One selling nearly 600,000, and the Wii U putting up over 350,000 sales.

Meanwhile in last gen sales where the race has been closer for a few months now, the Xbox 360 surpassed the PS3 in weekly sales by nearly 11,000, while the Wii came up roughly 38,000 shy of the 360.

And in handheld land, the 3DS is still killing it, selling just over half a million. While the PS Vita closes out on an up week just shy of 200,000 units sold.


December 27th - January 2nd:
PS4 - 553,386 (-50%)

Xbox One - 188,492 (-68%)

Wii U - 151,334 (-57%)


PS3 - 27,358 (-32%)

Xbox 360 - 17,552 (-66%)

Wii - 844 (-55%)


3DS - 229,450 (-56%)

PS Vita - 155,887 (-21%)

And with the end of the holiday season, system sales begin their ritual of sales declines. The PS4 drops fifty percent this week, but still manages over 550,000 sales, while the Xbox One drops nearly seventy percent to just under 200,000, and the Wii U loses fivty seven percent, selling roughly 150,000 systems.

And in last gen, we have the PS3 dropping thirty two percent to 27,000, the Xbox 360 going down by sixty six percent to 17,500, and the Wii dropping by fifty five percent to just under 900.

The 3DS loses fifty six percent and moves just shy of 230,000, and the PS Vita drops by twenty one percent to 155,000.


January 3rd - 9th:
PS4 - 278,250 (-50%)

Xbox One - 86,305 (-54%)

Wii U - 61,036 (-60%)


PS3 - 15,905 (-42%)

Xbox 360 - 7,793 (-56%)


3DS - 105,533 (-54%)

PS Vita - 74,935 (-52%)


And as expected, the drop in sales continue this week (spoiler: they strike next week too) with almost every system from each generation dropping by half or more. The PS4 puts out nearly 280,000, the Xbox One 86,000, and the Wii U 61,000.

By way of last gen, the PS3 leads the Xbox 360 with over double it's sales, the systems moving just under 16,000 and just below 8,000 respectively.
My apologies for the lack of Wii sales reports for this week. I made a bit of an error.

The 3DS sells 105,000, with a drop of fifty four percent, while the PS Vita sells just under 75,000 with a drop of fifty two percent.


January 10th - 16th:
PS4 - 275,658 (-1%)

Xbox One - 82,128 (-5%)

Wii U - 46,451 (-24%)


PS3 - 11,504 (-28%)

Xbox 360 - 6,721 (-14%)


3DS - 75,842 (-28%)

PS Vita - 45,043 (-40%)

And finishing off the month, the PS4 has managed to stop the bleeding, or at least reduce it, losing one percent and moving 275,000 units. Meanwhile the Xbox One drops only five percent to 82,000, and the Wii U comes down by twenty four percent to 46,000.

Last gen sales saw the PS3 leading with 11.5 thousand sales and the Xbox 360 putting up just under 7,000.
And again, a lack of Wii sales reports this week. My apologies.

Finally the 3DS closes out with just under 76,000 units sold, and the PS Vita ends the month with a total of roughly forty five thousand sold.


*totals are estimates only, and do not include used system sales



Software Sales*

And on to the games.

December 20th - 26th:
PS4 - 9,685,287 (+10%)

Xbox One - 5,230,143 (+6%)

Wii U - 2,244,236 (+6%)


PS3 - 5,557,568 (+9%)

Xbox 360 - 4,699,090 (+3%)

Wii - 2,513,590 (-2%)


3DS - 3,404,307 (-4%)

PS Vita - 1,598,432 (+18%)

The last week of Christmas shopping hit software sales with a final boost for the most part as well. The PS4 sold 9.6 million games this week, while the Xbox One sold 5.2 million, and the Wii U moved 2.2 million games.

Last gen games had the PS3 selling 5.5 million games, the Xbox 360 selling 4.6 million games, and the Wii nabbing it's fair share of the profit with 2.5 million game sales.

And then the handhelds. The 3DS sold 3.4 million games this week, while the PS Vita saw just under 1.6 million games leaving the shelves.


December 27th - January 2nd:
PS4 - 4,407,034 (-54%)

Xbox One - 2,313,992 (-56%)

Wii U - 925,502 (-59%)


PS3 - 2,527,600 (-55%)

Xbox 360 - 1,941,949 (-59%)

Wii - 1,028,167 (-59%)


3DS - 1,601,944 (-53%)

PS Vita - 845,635(-47%)

And much like the systems, games saw a sharp decline, with the PS4 moving 4.4 million games, the Xbox One moving 2.3 million, and the Wii U selling just shy of a million.

PS3 lead the way by roughly half a million while the Xbox 360 and it's 1.9 million passed the Wii by just over 900,000.

And in handhelds, the 3DS drops fifty three percent to 1.6 million, while the PS Vita drops forty seven percent to 845,000.


January 3rd - 9th:
PS4 - 2,141,699 (-51%)

Xbox One - 997,366 (-57%)

Wii U - 451,040 (-51%)


PS3 - 1,194,406 (-53%)

Xbox 360 - 855,638 (-56%)

Wii - 482,783 (-53%)


3DS - 769,853 (-52%)

PS Vita - 416,835 (-51%)

This week the PlayStation 4 outsold the second place Xbox One by roughly 1.2 million, while the One outsold the Wii U by about 546,000.

The PS3 lead last gen on the week, passing the Xbox 360 by roughly 300,000, while the 360 passed the Wii by just under 400,000.

And the 3DS puts up 769,000 game sales, while the PS Vita moves just under 417,000.


January 10th - 16th:
PS4 - 1,533,534 (-28%)

Xbox One - 718,364 (-28%)

Wii U - 290,514 (-36%)


PS3 - 782,624 (-34%)

Xbox 360 - 575,295 (-33%)

Wii - 316,830 (-34%)


3DS - 526,651 (-32%)

PS Vita - 307,383 (-26%)

And the PS4 passes the Xbox One in the final week with over twice as many games sold, as it moved well over 1.5 million games. The Xbox One moved 718,000 putting it over 400,000 ahead of the Wii U's 290,000.

And PS3 leads the way in last gen game sales with a lead of just over 200,000, while the Xbox 360 passes the Wii by roughly 259,000.

Finally the 3DS sees 526,000 games sold, while the PS Vita sells over 307,000.


*totals are estimates only, and do not include used game sales


Upcoming PS3 Games
Another change to the VSM: Region specific details for each game (NA and EU only) as well as physical and digital availability listings for each game. We tried this out last month, and this month we're going full on with it.


March 11th
Samurai Warriors 4 Empires (Digital. EU, March 15th in NA)


March 15th
Aegis of Earth: Protonovus Assault (Physical and Digital. NA)


March 29th
MLB 16 The Show (Physical and Digital. NA, Digital only in EU)


Exact date not specified
The Walking Dead: Michonne Episode 2 ‘Give No Shelter’ (Digital)


Upcoming PS4 Games

March 1st:
Alekhine’s Gun (Physical and Digital. NA)

Battlefield Hardline ‘Betrayal’ DLC (Premium members. NA&EU)

Broforce (Digital. NA&EU)

Don’t Die, Mr Robot (Digital. NA)

Heavy Rain (Digital NA, March 2nd in EU)

Ironcast (Digital. NA, March 2nd in EU)

McDroid (Digital. NA&EU)

Mortal Kombat XL (Physical and Digital. NA, March 4th in EU)

Mortal Kombat X ‘Kombat Pack 2’ DLC (NA&EU)

Screencheat (Digital. NA&EU)

Square Heroes (Digital. NA&EU)

The Witch and the Hundred Knight: Revival Edition (Physical and Digital. NA, March 4th in EU)

March 2nd
Gunscape (Digital. NA&EU)

The Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls Collection (Physical. EU)

March 8th
Action Henk (Digital. NA&EU)

Assault Android Cactus (Digital. NA&EU)

Blast ‘Em Bunnies (Digital, Cross-buy. NA, March 9th in EU)

Just Cause 3 ‘Sky Fortress’ DLC (Expansion Pass owners. NA&EU)

Kholat (Digital. NA&EU)

Rocket League ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Car Pack’ DLC (NA&EU)

The Division (Physical and Digital. NA&EU)


March 9th
Casey Powell Lacrosse 16 (Digital. NA&EU)

Dreii (Digital, Cross-buy. NA&EU)


March 11th
Hitman ‘Intro Pack’ (Digital. NA&EU)

Samurai Warriors 4: Empires (Physical and Digital. EU, March 15th in NA)


March 15th
Aegis of Earth: Protonovus Assault (Physical and Digital. NA&EU)

Battlefield Hardline ‘Betrayal’ DLC (NA&EU)

EA Sports UFC 2 (Physical and Digital. NA, March 17th in EU)

Just Cause 3 ‘Sky Fortress’ DLC (NA&EU)

Sébastien Loeb Rally EVO (Physical and Digital. NA)

Senran Kagura Estival Versus (Physical and Digital. NA, March 18th in EU)


March 18th
Paragon (Early Access. NA&EU)


March 22nd
Alienation (Digital. NA, March 23rd in EU)

Republique (physical and Digital. NA, March 25th in EU)

Trackmania Turbo (Physical and Digital. NA, March 25th in EU)


March 23rd
101 Ways To Die (Digital. NA&EU)

The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited ‘Thieves Guild’ DLC (Digital. NA&EU)


March 29th
MLB The Show 16 (Physical and Digital. NA, Digital only in EU)

Nights of Azure (Physical and Digital. NA)

Resident Evil 6 (Digital. NA&EU)


March 31st
MXGP 2 (Physical and Digital. EU)


Exact date not specified
Day of the Tentacle Remastered (Digital)

Fallout 4 ‘Automatron’ DLC (Digital)

Letter Quest: Grimm’s Journey Remastered (Digital, Cross-buy)

Organic Panic (Digital)

Star Wars Battlefront ‘Outer Rim’ DLC

The Walking Dead: Michonne Episode 2 ‘Give No Shelter’ (Digital)


Upcoming PS Vita Games

March 1st
Pirate Solitaire (Digital. NA)

Royal Defense: Invisible Threat (Digital. NA)


March 8th
Blast ‘Em Bunnies (Digital, Cross-buy. NA, March 9th in EU)


March 9th
Dreii (Digital, Cross-buy. NA&EU)


March 11th
Samurai Warriors 4 Empires (Digital. EU, March 15th in NA)


March 15th
Aegis of Earth: Protonovus Assault (Physical and Digital. NA)

Senran Kagura Estival Versus (Physical and Digital. NA, March 18th in EU)


Exact date not specified
Day of the Tentacle Remastered

Letter Quest: Grimm’s Journey Remastered (Digital. cross-buy)


PS4 Update 3.50

The new PS4 update is officially being beta tested, and Sony has given us some insight into the features it offers, including the following:

•Online friend notifications
•Ability to set status to offline
•Ability to schedule events with friends
•Remote play on PC and Mac
•Ability to Livestream to Dailymotion

There were also more details leaked by the beta testers, but those details have not yet been confirmed by Sony.


No Man's Sky Release Date Announced

It's finally coming out. That's right, the highly anticipated Indie-game-gone-AAA is finally preparing to launch. The official release date is scheduled for June 21st in North America, and June 24th in Europe.

Well, after what's it been? Two or three years? We're finally going to be playing in just three and a half months -theoretically. How do you feel about that? Will the game be amazing or disappointing? I personally love exploring in games, so a game that let's me explore literally infinite amounts of areas without having to worry (much) about any interruptions sounds incredible. Now let's just hope they can get a fully functional, bug free, no-patch-needed version of NMS out without a release date delay.

Additionally, the game was listed at $60. This surprised many people because that's much higher than the average Indie game, but let's face it: this game isn't indie anymore, and it hasn't been for a long time now. Long ago Sony stepped in and began helping Hello Games with NMS and will also (I believe) be publishing the PS4 version of the game.

Eirinn's game education 101: Indie games
Indie = Independent
Independent = done without any assistance
Help from another company with development or publishing = not independent
Not independent = not indie
NMS is not indie, confirmed.
Man I love math.

Besides, this game's map is going to be literally endless according to Hello Games, and if they can follow through with this promise, the game will be infinitely larger and deeper than any game to date. Can we really say $60 is unreasonable?



PS+ To Offer Discounts On Everyday Living Costs?

While it isn't official yet, it looks as though PlayStation+ subscriptions may soon begin offering discounts not only on digital games, but also on several other things, such as:

•Discounts on PS hardware and accessories, (controllers, and headsets)Monthly

•PS+ contests with prizes

•PS+ knowledge base (Forum for PS+ members)

•Discounts on Sony products (TV’s, cameras, smartphones)

•Discounts on lifestyle products (newspaper subscriptions, movie tickets, fast food, travel fare.)

•PS+ gaming tournaments with prizes.

•Free movies every month.

•Discounts on popular streaming services (Netflix, HBO Nordic, Spotify)

The above list was copied from an email sent to a beta tester of the upcoming PS4 update, and from there was copied (by me) from Dualshockers.

Also of note is that programs such as this already exist in some countries, but it appears that said services may soon be extending to other countries as well.


An Deireadh!

And so it is with a few highlights from the world of PlayStation, and a writer who is running out of creative ways to say the article is concluding, that we're calling it a wrap. I hope you've enjoyed the article, as well as the new features.

Be sure to drop by next month when we'll cover
-Hardware and Software sales
-PS+ deals
-Product reviews
And more!

And until next time, keep on gaming, and keep it Sony.

Yeah, our monthly dose of Sony is already here!

Screencheat has got my attention. Suggests something incredibly different, and to a degree difficult to pull off. If only my friends upgraded to PS4 I would totally get this game. Bloodily fun.

I'm not that much interested in any other game this month, despite the incredible amount of releases. Maybe I'll change my mind once I see them in detail, like happened with Screencheat, so time will say.

I like the updates to PS+. If they ever become official, I'll subscribe to it. The benefits it includes right now mean almost nothing to me, but that list has a few interesting things. Also, I wouldn't have to worry anymore for social games like NFS (which I'm finally not getting, it's absolute rubbish).

Let's see what more we get the next month! Also, big thanks for listing the regions, now I don't have to worry about not finding games in local stores that haven't been released here yet.

EX Palen : Yeah I feel like that's a big problem with the game community setup: we see one or two games pushed to the forefront and everything else is overlooked. Now I understand people can't play everything since there are so many games coming out these days (which is wonderful), but I can't help but think it really isn't necessary for every other article writer, reviewer, etc. to write about the same game. How many reviews do we need on the same thing? And better yet, why make them when you could easily pick a game no one had heard of and you would be one of the few sources that cover it instead of one of the thousands that reviewed that one game? With that in mind I plan to start buying lesser known games and writing about them on here after I get a good enough income to do so. Also I plan to have screenshots and such returning in next month's VSM.

As for this month's releases, I actually am interested in a number of them. Namely the following:
Assault Android Cactus
Samurai Warriors 4: Empires (especially this one)
Gunscape (has potential despite my dislike for shooters)
Alienation (assuming it's the one I'm thinking it is)
Casey Powell Lacrosse 16 (haven't played a Lacrosse game since the N64)
MLB The Show 16 (only just though)
And potentially Letter Quest. I'd like to try it because it's like nothing I've played before, so I want to give it a shot once.
Nothing just amazing except Samurai Warriors 4: Empires, but several interesting prospects that I want to try out eventually.


And I'm really hoping those PS+ benefits become a reality since I already am a plus member as it is That would be a nice extra. And dare I hope it might make people stop complaining about plus? Almost certainly not, but oh well.

I hear you there, man. It's okay to write about something famous if you want people to notice your first work and give you the feedback to improve before you go out on your own, but after that it's not necessary at all. Except if you attempt to write something that hasn't been covered yet, it's better you forget about it.

I hope I could relate to some of your gaming interests, but sadly I'm not. Any kind of shooter or Beat 'Em Up isn't made for me (except Screencheat, that game is absurd and nuts and I love that), lacrosse and baseball aren't of my interest, and the kind of game I'm expecting Samurai Warriors to be doesn't attract me either. 

It's good we will see screenshots returning for next month, it adds substance to the article. Either if they are directly added or simply linked, they will be very welcomed.

Oh, and what's your opinion on Dreii? It seems quite an interesting concept, even more being able to translate your conversation to another language for everyone else to understand you. I don't know how good will it work (can't be worse than Google Translate, for sure) but it seems it has received several awards that should be a guarantee of a well done job.

EX Palen : Shooters definitely aren't my kind of game, but I do enjoy GOOD cover based TPS (Win back is the best ever I think). Gunscape is just one of those games that makes me willing to go out on a limb and try it anyway. Kind of like Marvel Vs. Capcom on the PSX made me willing to try a fighting game despite the genre being one of my most disliked (probably for a lack of skill in it honestly). Every once in a while a great game pops up in every genre I think. And screen cheat looks interesting in concept. Though honestly it seems more like a bonus mode in a normal shooter than a stand alone game concept to me.

As for sports games, there's a bigger story behind that than I could list in a post, but suffice to say that my brother and I were extremely close growing up despite the six year age gap, and he was a HUGE sports fan (namely Baseball and American Football, with some Basketball once in a while). As such he always loved sports games, and once they began getting advanced enough to have realistic manager modes in the games, he really got big into them. I saw that and developed an appreciation for them in turn, even though I don't like sports (except Golf, Soccer/Football, Tennis, and a little Hockey, but I don't watch any of them). That and my immense addiction to managing. The MLB game would be partly because of memories and bonds of the past with my brother (though I would play alone) and partly because I am quite fond of managing games and would be interested in that game's management mode.
As for Lacrosse, I played a Lacrosse game on the N64 as a kid out of curiosity and enjoyed it, and now I that I see a new Lacrosse game all these years later I would like to try it again.
Finally, Samurai Warriors is essentially a hack 'n' slash game with strategy elements thrown in once in a while. Almost pure hack 'n' slash though. It's just fun to grab a game where you can mindlessly smash buttons once in a while to relax. Lol But yeah, to each their own.

And now that I've learned how to resize images, I should be able to include the screenshots directly in the article which will be a nice bonus. I hated linking them.

Dreii is an interesting concept, and something that I'm glad someone tried. Still I'm not a puzzle fan, and it's a rare thing for me to really get interested in a puzzle game. As such the game doesn't appeal to me, but the communication aspect does. I would LOVE to see this idea implemented in a more action oriented game like Dynasty Warriors, or even an action RPG like The Legend of Zelda. It's a great idea, and reminds me vaguely of Wander's approach to player communication. It used symbol input instead of word input and thus would translate to each gamer in their language (assuming the game supported multiple languages. Not sure if it did). Both are great ideas that I hope we see more of. In a day when games are becoming more and more focused on bringing people together, this feature is long overdue.