In the week up to Christmas, the 17 times as many PS2’s were sold than Xbox 360’s. That’s 97,000 PS2’s sold and 5,600 Xbox 360’s sold.

That’s pretty bad.

Gosh, I wonder why? Maybe because Microsoft doesn’t have any of the games Japanese gamers like? Nah, that can’t be it!

360 Insider - Only 5,600 Xbox 360s sold in Japan last week

Microsoft has announced an external HD DVD player for the Xbox 360. Price was not revealed, and it will go on sale later this year. I’m unsure of why anyone would want an external HD DVD drive. Instead, Microsoft should scrap the core Xbox 360, and instead make the current HDD 360 the core system. Then add an HD DVD player to that, which would then become the expanded system.

Make sense?

PRNewswire - Gates Outlines Vision for the Digital Lifestyle and Showcases New Products and Technologies From Microsoft

From my HDBlog.net article:

Finally we’re starting to get an inkling about what kind of Blu-ray content will be launched with Blu-ray players this year. Here’s a list of some of the initial Blu-ray titles. I’ll try to find a complete list when available.

Sony

• Hitch
• The Fifth Element
• Legends of the Fall
• House of Flying Daggers
• The Bridge on the River Kwai
• Black Hawk Down
• Bram Stoker’s Dracula
• Desperado
• For a Few Dollars More
• The Guns of Navarone
• A Knight’s Tale
• Kung Fu Hustle
• The Last Waltz
• Resident Evil: Apocalypse
• Robocop
• Sense and Sensibility
• Stealth
• Species
• SWAT
• XXX

Fox

• Fantastic Four
• League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
• Behind Enemy Lines
• Kiss of the Dragon
• Ice Age

Lionsgate

• See No Evil
• Lord of War
• The Punisher
• The Devil’s Rejects
• Saw
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day
• Reservoir Dogs
• Total Recall
• Dune
• Rambo: First Blood

Paramount

• Four Brothers
• Sahara
• Aeon Flux
• Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
• Mission: Impossible 1, 2, 3
• The Italian Job
• Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
• U2: Rattle and Hum
• Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow
• We Were Soldiers
• The Manchurian Candidate

So what do you think? Are these titles buy-worthy?

Interestingly, two of Sony’s titles will be 50GB dual-layer, to be released in the summer: “Black Hawk Down” and “The Bridge on the River Kwai”. So much for 50GB BD discs being ghosts!

Reuters - Four studios unveil Blu-ray hi-def lineups

Unless Sony is lying throught their teeth to keep the wraps on some secrets, it looks like there won’t be any PS3 related announcements at this year’s CES.

Major bummer.

TG Daily - Sony: No PlayStation 3 announcement at CES 2006?

PodCast #9 is up!

Gavin today released his PS3 Countdown podcast #9, about CES, the controller, UT, next generation sizes, and more.

A great listen.

PS3 Countdown - PS3 Countdown 009

There has been a lot of talk that Sony can’t possibly release the PlayStation 3 this spring. GameSHOUT says that they’ve received another confirmation from Sony that the PS3 is indeed on track to ship this spring.

Now, of course Sony would say that, wouldn’t they? But time is running out. If we don’t get some details soon, it’ll be a good indication that Sony doesn’t have anything to show. If indeed Sony is launching this spring (which is five months away at the latest) they should have pretty final hardware by now and the games should be in the polishing off stages. But we haven’t seen any indication of this, so I’m anxiously awaiting what CES will bring us.

Delay? Or not? Hmmm… maybe I should make that the poll question.

GameSHOUT - Sony PS3 delay is pure speculation

I’m back from a nice Christmas break, and I’m getting psyched about CES. Will Sony be showing something off? Or will we be searching in vain for PS3 news tomorrow?

I’ve added a poll to my site. Just take a look at the sidebar and voice your opinion. I know - it’s a lame question. I’d love to hear of any better ones you may have.