Sony: 100K PS3s Selling Out Every Week in US; Wii is Just an "Impulse Purchase"

VesceySux · Feb 1, 2007

hotballa said:

typical PC gamer elitist attitude. =P
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Maybe, but that doesn't make it any less true.

hotballa · Feb 1, 2007

VesceySux said:

Maybe, but that doesn't make it any less true.
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if by hardcore, you mean willing to spend at least 3-4k on a decent gaming rig, then yes.

emjohn · Feb 1, 2007

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9136575504838642038

UTweezer · Feb 1, 2007

VesceySux said:

This argument is r****ded. Hardcore gamers play PC games, not consoles. As far as I'm concerned, EVERY console is for casual gamers, including the all-powerful "hardcore" PS3. Get back to me when you've logged a 6-hour Molten Core run in WoW with 40 people all acting in unison to defeat a boss. $599 for a console? Puh-lease. Try $599 for just a video card.
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thats pretty hardcore

Chicken Boy · Feb 1, 2007

MR. MEOWGI said:

Someone stated here already that their wife uses the Wii weather channel every morning. People here have started threads here of how to get women interested in gaming. This is it. They wouldn't do that with a standard remote or controller.
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Great point. What's the percentage of male:female gamers btw?

If they come out with Katamari or Okami for Wii...look out. I worked at Gamestop awhile ago, pretty much every woman who came in walked out with one of those games.

hotballa · Feb 1, 2007

Chicken Boy said:

Great point. What's the percentage of male:female gamers btw?
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On the Wii? Probably a helluva lot higher than you'd think.

The Pink DS Lites were going for $200 on Craigslist during Christmas, so there must be a market there.

RC Cola · Feb 1, 2007

Chicken Boy said:

Great point. What's the percentage of male:female gamers btw?
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http://www.theesa.com/facts/top_10_facts.php

Thirty-eight percent of all game players are women. In fact, women over the age of 18 represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (30%) than boys age 17 or younger (23%).
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There is a lot of interesting facts on that site actually.

Coach AI · Feb 1, 2007

Chicken Boy said:

Games on handhelds have always generally been either play on the go type things, or stripped down ports of established home console franchises. Regardless of capability.
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I think you may be out of touch with what's on handhelds now (no offense). That stuff's there, but in general when a library is full of only that it doesn't do well.

Classic games (which I still consider 'real' games), original games and games with long playtimes are very much a part of handheld gaming.

Chicken Boy said:

I was about to sh_t my ass I was so excited to play the new Zelda. Put it into the shiny new Wii...crappy graphics, horrible camera...whatever, it's Zelda, its bound to get better right? Well kinda...not really. Everything I've seen or played up to this point has kinda been underwhelming, and had this sense of been-there-done-that. Just my opinion. When I think epic, I think Final Fantasy or Halo.
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Graphics are lacking, but other than that I disagree completely. Of the 3D Zeldas, the new one may be the best. I think a good majority of review sites and gamers feel that way as well.

Hotballa does have a point, though...you can't really complain about 'been there done that' and then point to Final Fantasy and Halo as your counter examples (which are both still excellent games BTW).

Hell, FF12 is practically FFXI, but offline.

RC Cola · Feb 1, 2007

FFXI didn't have Balthier.

RC Cola · Feb 3, 2007

Regarding the issue about demand for the 20GB PS3 in the UK:
http://www.mcvuk.com/Give-us-the-20Gb-PS3

‘Give us the 20Gb PS3’

Leading games retailers have told MCV that they do want to see the ‘basic’ PS3 hardware launched in the UK – while consumers have already begun petitioning Sony to make the lower-priced unit available.
In its European PS3 launchplan (MCV Newsflash 24/01), Sony revealed that the decision to only launch with a 60Gb model only was down to “retail and consumer demand”.

But retailers have told MCV that they would welcome the 20Gb SKU, whilst conceding that rolling out a single version at launch may prove a wise move.

Senior product manager at Gamestation Anna Downing told MCV: “When you take into consideration the high price point of PS3, along with software and technology to support its full potential, there is definitely room for the 20Gb SKU in the UK market. However, early adopters will choose the 60Gb model, as was evident with the 360 launch.”

Senior buying manager of games at Tesco Dan Cook agreed. “The split we have seen on Xbox 360 suggests that a later launch of a ‘core’ product is not a bad idea,” he told MCV. “But launching with one SKU makes things easier for retailers like us.”

Console and video games manager at Amazon James Schall added that he would have liked to be able to give customers the option from launch: “I like the concept of allowing the consumer to choose his entry level into next-gen gaming.”

And it’s not just retail – consumer forums discussing the 20Gb PAL no-show are full of disgruntled fans.

A 20Gb-themed thread on ‘semi-official’ PS3 blog Three Speech includes comments such as: “Yet another time that the UK gets ripped off”, “20Gb, I’m waiting for you” and “Pre-order cancelled”.

Eurogamer’s forum even encourages members to sign a petition for Sony to launch the system.

One user posted an email he sent to Sony on the site, which reads: “I see you plan to release the less expensive 20GB based on ‘demand’. Well, I demand that you release it.”
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Didn't want to bump this thread just for that, so I'll post 2 other things...

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2173857/sony-loses-6bn-ps3

Sony PS3 loss 'to reach $2bn' by March

Sony's games division losses will be worse than expected and could exceed $2bn for the fiscal year ending in March, vnunet.com can reveal.

Executives told reporters and analysts in Tokyo today that they blamed a shortfall in sales of the costly PlayStation 3 video games console and the PlayStation Portable (PSP).

Sony's net profit fell more than five per cent to $1.3bn in the last three months of 2006. The games division suffered an operating loss of $455m during the quarter, a fall of almost $1bn from the previous quarter, according to Sony.

"This deterioration was primarily the result of the loss arising from the sale of the PS3 at strategic price points, as well as other charges associated with preparation for the launch of the PS3 platform," the company announced.

"In addition, operating income from the PS2 and PSP businesses fell due to sales declines."

Sony has been shocked by the strong sales of Nintendo's much cheaper Wii console, according to analysts, and has had to fight the entrenched strength of Microsoft's Xbox 360, which was launched more than a year ago and now has a wide range of games.

Sony's predicted loss on the first six months of PS3 sales now exceeds the $1.3bn Microsoft is estimated to have lost on Xbox 360 sales over the same period of that console's life-cycle.

Analysts have suggested that Sony will be able to cut PS3 manufacturing costs and retail prices later this year when it revamps the console with smaller ver sions of the Cell CPU and RSX graphics chip.

"How and when the company intends to address the problem of weak demand for PS3 hardware remains unclear. In our view, making the PS3 profitable will not be an easy task," said Eiichi Katayama of Nomura Securities in a briefing to clients.

Sony executives are now saying that the games division loss for the financial year ending in March will exceed earlier predictions of $1.65bn, and might go as high as $2.05bn, according to sources present at a Sony investor briefing in Tokyo today.

Nomura's analysts have stated that they expect the results to be even worse.

Despite the bad news from Sony's games division, better than expected results from its consumer electronics products had helped offset the loss, Katayama said. Sony highlighted TVs as a strong seller during the Christmas season.

Although media attention has focused on the high-profile PS3, older games products are also giving cause for concern at Sony.

"We think that a critical stage is approaching for the PSP, which in our view occupies an ambiguous market position as a game console and a multi-purpose audiovisual machine," said Katayama.
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If my math is right, that's means they'll lose about a billion dollars in one quarter (3 months) if they end up losing ~$2B for the FY (they're at ~$1B now I believe). I think their math was a little off (SCE made a loss in Q2, so their loss in Q3 was only like <100M more, not 1B), so I don't if that effects anything (assuming my numbers are right...they're coming from Sony's quarterly results, so they should be). I think the 360 numbers might be wrong too, but I'm too lazy to look that up.

And more PR from Sony:
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3156907

Sony Fights Back: Jack Tretton Defends the PS3
The PS3 is under attack and Sony defends it in EGM.

"Because we're in that leadership position, there are a lot of expectations thrust upon us and some of them are a little unrealistic. If we were a distant third in the platform race, people would have a warm spot in their hearts for the good old days of PlayStation and they'd actually root for us to get back on top. But I don't know if we want to pay the price to get that kind of [love]." -- Jack Tretton, CEO and President, Sony Computer Entertainment America President in Issue 213 of Electronic Gaming Monthly

The cover of EGM's March issue boasts a PlayStation 3 stained with the red smear of a tomato that's been lobbed at the console and the word "BattleStation!" -- the article looks at what went wrong when the market leader entered this console cycle, and more importantly, SCEA's Jack Tretton explains Sony's side of the story.

In November, due to shortages, Sony sold roughly half as many PlayStation 3's as they'd expected to. But, Sony's PlayStation 3 steadily continued a seemingly uphill climb in the next-gen Gen Now console cycle -- selling 687k units before the end of the calendar year according to NPD figures. Sony has been the market leader for over 10 years. The PlayStation 3's forebears both sold over 100M systems worldwide and the PlayStation 2 was the top-selling gaming machine in December. Yet, the PS3 has faced tremendous amounts of scrutiny, both from mainstream and enthusiast press alike.

Sony's new system has been called a Trojan horse, designed as another way for proprietary technology, like the UMD format or betamax, to infiltrate living rooms and eclipse DVD as the standard disc format.

EGM: Do you believe the PS3 can push the Blu-ray format?

Jack Tretton: I believe we can complement the Blu-ray format. I don't think we can single-handedly drive the Blu-ray format. It's up to the consumer electronics companies; one of the [misconceptions] is that it's Sony's efforts. I don't know that we feel we can or should single-handedly carry Blu-ray on our back. I see it as an asset, though. Blu-ray is a great value for consumers as a movie format, but most importantly [it's of value] to the gamers. Blu-ray does wonderful things for the development community and what they can bring to consumers on Blu-ray ... that's something that no other machine offers.

The perceived loss of exclusives (think Assassin's Creed and more recently, Virtua Fighter 5) precludes discussions on the rising costs of development. Can third parties develop exclusively for platforms before the install bases reach a critical mass?

EGM: How do you nurture innovation when the financial risks are greater than ever?

JT: You better be [Resistance developer] Insomniac, and be a very proven entity if you want us to invest upwards of $30 million and give you three years to develop a game for our platform. I don't think that's a realistic opportunity for somebody right out of college, but conversely, we definitely have development opportunities on PS2, PlayStation Portable and online [downloadable] games, where we are absolutely interested in smaller houses or people that are in the early stages of their development careers.

If somebody asked me, "I wanna get into the games industry. What field is the most wide-open?" I'd tell you it's development. That is the biggest investment we've made in employees on a worldwide basis ... because at the end of the day, you need that compelling software to make your hardware relevant.

Is this console cycle a two-horse race? Nintendo's belief that mainstream involves a brand new way of playing games, and Sony and Microsoft reinforcing the type of gaming experiences gamers have enjoyed since the PlayStation-era, who is Sony's competition this cycle?

EGM: How do you view the Xbox 360 as a competitor?

JT: Well, I wish we had no competition, on one hand. On the other hand I think the competition is good because, as we certainly saw in Japan, we had the whole market to ourselves and that put a lot of pressure on the PlayStation brand. There's not only competition within the games industry, there's a lot of competition in entertainment in general that's going to take [consumers] away, so we want to keep people in gaming. If our competitors get people in the aisle, looking at gaming, reading gaming magazines, we feel that's in our best interest -- we've pulled them away from other forms of entertainment.

EGM: But how do you view the 360 specifically as a competitor?

JT: I think we've got a better machine, I think we've got a better business model, and I think we're going to win in the long term. I'm extremely pleased that we're selling more PS2 units than they are [360 units]. That's something that quite frankly surprised me. But while early indicators are not completely irrelevant, you can't completely ignore them, and I'd be a little concerned if I were them. On the other hand, what concerns me is if the Xbox 360 is being rejected, are the consumers on board with [next-generation] technology and is there enough [demand] there.

EGM: Sony CEO Howard Stringer once ... admitted that the price of the PlayStation 3 is very high, but what we're really paying for is potential. Why can't we pay $600 for something that's worth the price right off the bat?

JT: What have you historically paid or would look to pay? Let's say $299 because that's what you paid for the PS2 when it came out or because that's what the low-end 360 costs. OK, if we're asking you to pay $600 for the high-end PS3, I would point out a couple of things. Historically our platforms have staying power. Not three years, not five years, but 10 years. So are you making an investment for the next 45 days, the next year, the next five years, 10 years? Because that would have a little bit of determination as far as the value.

I understand your point about, OK, the potential is there, but what's there day one? I would say that the PS3 has the best gaming experience of any platform that's ever shipped day one. [You're getting] the combination of great gaming, free online play, Blu-ray movie playback, being able to go online and surf the Internet, the ability to download your pictures, download your videos, rip your music to it ... and that's all stuff that I as a consumer experienced firsthand. If you want the ultimate gaming experience and you value all of those other experiences, all of a sudden 599 bucks doesn't sound like a whole lot of money.
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Sony: 100K PS3s Selling Out Every Week in US; Wii is Just an "Impulse Purchase"

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Sony: 100K PS3s Selling Out Every Week in US; Wii is Just an "Impulse Purchase"

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