These numbers are not as important as they used to be in my opinion. All the consoles are selling well, so its not like there is a story that one is dying out and will no longer get support. Also, you can buy every game on every console (Bar a handful of titles) so its not like there is some advantage there either. Buy any of them and you're getting a good product that will do the job for you. The Wii is a little different and more kid friendly which I'm sure helps their sales. Its like the best selling DVD titles are all time, they are usually kids movies. I guess all these figures show is that these days, there is enough money for three major players and they are all doing just fine. The console wars are OVER!
I'm kind of glad that PS2's still not dying out. The graphics are still quite fine, IMO. And there's no reason not to stop making games for it. The sales pretty much indicate that casual gamers don't really care about high specs.
what if Sony released a wii-like remote. Not for ps3, but for ps2? Sell it for 50 bucks and they would have their answer to the wii. Same graphics. Better online. More games. And cheaper. Wii would have some intense competition
Would the PS2 be able to do that? If it could, and they threw it in a new box......they would give Nintendo headaches.
And headaches for themselves, since they are heavily invested in the success of the PS3, and Blu-Ray. In all likelihood a "wii-mote" wouldn't work with the existing game library... so the best reason to own a ps2 isn't much help. That said, the ability to make a PS2 on the cheap helps keep the gaming division at Sony from tanking into complete oblivion.
That was pretty much the case with the PS1 too. I don't know how it sold after the PS2 came out (although I'm guessing it didn't sell as well as the PS2, which Sony did a much better job with), but it did get a lot of sales and support. IIRC, Madden 2005 or 2006 was released on it, which is pretty crazy when you think about. No doubt that the PS2 will follow a similar trend, although probably with better results partly due to what Sony is doing with the PS2 and partly due to the market itself. Don't think this would really hurt the PS3 too much since anyone who buys this system would not likely buy a PS3 right now and vice versa...basically like current PS2 sales. Although if they wanted to, they could integrate some PSN stuff into the system which would help out in some ways (more profits for PSN stuff, a familiar interface for casual gamers which might lead them to "upgrade" to a PS3 later on, etc.). I figure if they were to do it, it will still be playable with PS2 games. I don't think they'd get rid of traditional controls (Nintendo hasn't, so why would Sony). So if you want to buy a $99 system and get a bunch of great games for $10-$15 each, the system offers that. Or if you want to pay $99 for a system that offers a unique experience, the system would offer that as well. I suppose they could just push the Eyetoy with the system instead of a Wii-like remote (or a combination of the two), which would result in a bunch of Eyetoy games already being available. FWIW, I don't think this is all that likely. I think if they were going to do it, it would need to have been released already, possibly a year or so ago. No point in releasing it if it won't be out until 2009-2010 IMO (especially since PS3 will probably be <$300). Even then, I think Sony would be too spread out to really support it all too well. They're much bigger than Nintendo and Microsoft (in terms of their gaming divisions), but they'd be strongly supporting 3 platforms here, at least one of which generally requires large teams. I think they'll have enough problems trying to strongly support the PSP and PS3. I think even at its best, it probably wouldn't be putting up Wii-like numbers, but as mentioned, it probably wouldn't have been a bad source of profits for Sony. Of course, at its worst... It helps, but I don't think it is that much of a factor, unlike the first 12-18 months or so. PS3 is still creating some losses, but it is starting to minimize those. It will probably start creating some profit in the 2nd half of this year unless they decide to drop the price some more (although even then, profits might not be out of the question). It is a bit early, but if trends continue, the gaming division will most likely be fine, regardless of what the PS2 does, although it could certainly help...along with the PSP, which probably doesn't get as much credit as it deserves.
I was just thinking if the Wii is selling so much, and you have so many PS2's out there, why wouldnt Sony jump on the bandwagon and try and steal some of the Wii's market share. I know if they came out with something for the PS2 I'd buy it. I wouldnt but a Wii though. They could easily port it to the PS3 as well. Make as much money as you can in as many different areas. If Sony came out with something for the PS2 I'm sure Nintendo would not be too happy about it.
Nobody ever really goes 'backwards' like that, though. Nothing having to do with the PS2 is going to make a dent in Nintendo's grip on this gen. Sony should (and rightfully so) continue to make progress/focus on the PS3.
The thing is though....pretty much everyone has a PS2. The sales of the Wii are based on casual gamers who just want to have a muck around on a system. If The PS2 put out a game for all those PS2 owners out there that made the system do what a Wii does now.....why would casual gamers buy a Wii when they could just buy a game for their old PS2?
Casual gamers are already buying a Wii. They are selling like crazy. We both know the regular gamers have moved on to the new systems (Wii included) but the casuals as a whole have as well. That cat is already out of the bag at this point. Worse yet, the casuals know only general information about the systems and what's going on - so all they would hear is 'some add on for the old PS2 to try and copy the Wii' and it wouldn't have much of an impact. Really, the audience you are talking about is even more basic - only have a PS2, probably don't follow games much, haven't bought any of the new systems, probably buying for the kids - and they are not going to be moving huge numbers or at least not enough to make a difference at this point. Sony wouldn't like it because it would take away resources/focus/public attention from the PS3. Third parties wouldn't pay much attention because their studios are focused on current systems. Most of the gaming crowd wouldn't like it because they want to move on to the new gaming experiences. It just wouldn't make much of a difference.
