PS3 Sales THE TRUTH!

[dnyce]

I couldn't stand sports games untill i got a Wii. The new controles really make sports games alot more enjoyable then just pressing a button to swing ect...

I used the SIAXSIS motion to play MLB 2K7 on PS3 once and hated it. I almost spilled my beer! Maybe I'm just old fashioned.

Right now if you are not going to be watching Blu Ray movies it makes sense to buy a 360 and wait for PS3's prices to come down. 360 has more games right now and is cheaper.

If you want a video game system that is a Blu Ray player that can store pics, video and music. Not to mention 'Home' coming later this year a very cool online community that will be light years ahead of XBox marketplace and FREE! I would say pony up the dough and "Play Beyond" Corny I know LOL

 

[shanewalker]

I've long owned a PS2 and have enjoyed every second of it. A wide range of games and it was the undisputed leader of its generation. There was never any doubt, the most impressive library of excellent games--and the solid titles keep coming (FF XII, God of War II, Okami, to name three very different examples).

I own a 360 Premium w/ the HD-DVD add-on and it's great. A little loud and my internal optical drive went belly-up 7weeks in, but overall, I'm w/ Scott--its a nice multifaceted media machine. Kudos to Microsoft.

My assistant/co-worker just bought a 360 after hearing me talk about my experience w/ it. Note that he's younger than me and had an original X-Box and did a fair amount of PC gaming--in short, he's done a LOT of real time strategy and first person shooter playing, ala Halo etc.

His reaction to the 360 and its game library was the same as mine--its rather thin on range. Its "meathead", to quote him. If you want to be a Marine, either historical, modern or in space, it's your system. Otherwise, you're gonna have to hunt for other types of games to play via one or two other stand-outs, legacy catalog or Live Arcade. That may change w/ titles like 'Mass Effect' and others coming out, and Microsoft has stated that they want to expand beyond their base 'hardcore' (read "meathead") gamer marketshare...but that's where things stand now.

I, personally, look to the day when Sony has a bit more momentum in their PS3 software library to suggest an echoing of what they had w/ the PS2--a more eclectic, broader range of gaming styles and sensibilities, but next gen. With its more polished hardware (it's got built-in HD disc and its quiet--that's all I'm going to say), it's definitely the superior machiine. With software to match, it's going to be hard to stop it from being the bar for this generation.

As for the Wii...I've no doubt its fun. I've been tempted to pick one up just for Zelda and maybe the upcoming Mario Galaxy. But in the era of the multi-purpose HD centerpiece that is this next-gen world, it'll be the final indulgence. The Wii is just that--a toy. And personally, I can't justify a simple toy in my A/V rack...at least not until all the other hardware is in place.

I've been through the mass naysayer thing before--they have dogged Apple for years. The fact that you have a history of being the forward-thinking leader in a field doesn't seem to have currency with some folks--they're all FUD without much perspective. I appreciate the ray of sunny 'fact' creeping in w/ this comparison to the 360 lauch. May my faith in what Sony's trying to do, and the fact that many of us have already been vindicated in the face of a all the knee-jerkers who skoffed at the idea of HD playback on a game console being a smart thing to do as an early adopter (just check out the pubs, including the new "Widescreen Review," which caters to such snobbery--though I love the mag, it can be nauseating in these regards. They gave the PS3 an absolutely glowing review), prove this to be the beginning of the end of the endless Sony trolling.

 

[mwgiii]

This is why PS3 sales are disappointing.

Here are the Media Create hardware sales from Japan for the week of 4/9-4/15 (These are actual hardware units sold):

Hardware - This Week | Last Week | YTD | LTD
1. NDS - 133,471 | 110,935 | 2,174,697 | 16,180,376
2. WII - 75,759 | 52,583 | 1,170,417 | 2,090,060
3. PSP - 24,850 | 31,503 | 740,904 | 5,273,033
4. PS2 - 12,872 | 14,234 | 285,807 | 20,440,666
5. PS3 - 11,948 | 14,520 | 380,291 | 837,849
6. 360 - 2,900 | 2,963 | 84,876 | 349,578
7. GBA - 1,297 | 1,357 | 32,165 | 15,330,244
8. NGC - 167 | 255 | 5,936 | 4,175,404

The PS3 just had its worst week ever at 12k units (previous worst LAST WEEK) in Japan.

The PS3 has never, once, outsold the Wii in Japan.

March NPD hardware numbers for the US:

• Nintendo DS: 508K
• Sony PlayStation 2: 280K
• Nintendo Wii: 259K
• Microsoft Xbox 360: 199K
• Sony PSP: 180k
• Nintendo Game Boy Advance: 148K
• Sony PlayStation 3: 130K
• Nintendo Gamecube: 22K

Life to date hardware for US:
XBox 360 - 5.3 million
Wii - 2.1 million
PS3 - 1.2 million

Software sales are even worse. Last week NPD console software top 20:
XBox 360 - 6
Wii - 5
PS2 - 7
PS3 - 2

Most people who are buying the PS3, are buying it for a cheap Blu-Ray player and not a game machine. This is starting a bad sales trend which is forcing software companies to move PS3 exclusive games to multi-console, which will further erode sales support.

Is the PS3 dead? Nope, but it is taking a hell of a beating right now.

 

[IcEWoLF]

The real question now is, will the Wii exist 2 years from now?

 

[thowe21]

I bought the kids a Wii last month and a PS3 for myself last week. I find myself playing the Wii more than the PS3, especially Wii Bowling, which is real addicting. Just went online via Virtual Console with the Wii and had a flood of memories with all the old school games: Excitebike, Super Punch Out, Super Mario Bros., etc.. Since I spent some serious scratch on the PS3, I'm pretty much stuck to downloading all the demos right now and trying them out. But I have to say, Motostorm is sweet. I am not a big off-road fan but this game is really entertaining. I also tried MLB2k7 and I immediately turned off the SixAxis control swing and went back to the classic swing. SixAxis has a long way to go before catching up the Wii Remote's technology. If Sony started to develop some more kid/family friendly games than I believe the PS3's numbers would improve. So far the only real alternative for a kid is Sonic the Hedgehog on PS3.

 

[mewilsie]

I definitely agree on how cool Motorstorm is. Tried it out at the PS3 display at Target, and I had to force myself to leave.(I was shopping with my wife).

As for the sales of the PS3, I think they'll pick up with the realeases of GTA IV and God of War 3, not to mention more family friendly titles, as previously stated. I know GTA IV will be on 360 too, but GTA has always been a big hit for PS.

I'm pretty sure I'm getting a PS3 before the year is out, does anyone know how the backwards compatibility is coming along?

 

[dnyce]

The PS3 has never, once, outsold the Wii in Japan.

Exactly my point. Wii will always outsell te PS3, just like the Camry will always outsell the 5 series. It is a cheap alternative without all the bells and whistles.

You did make allot of good points however. Keep in mind PS2 is still HUGE. Once hardcore PS2 fans are ready to upgrade where do you think they will go??

 

[CochiseGuy]

Sony has a stockpile of MILLIONS of unsold PS3's

The good news - if you've been waiting to buy a PS3- analysts don't see how Sony cannot lower the price this year.

The bad news - for Sony - is they & retailers have between 2 to 3 million unsold PS3 inventory. The difference is whether you believe Sony's claim that it has shipped 6 million, or analysts view that Sony probably shipped only 5 million.

Sony PS3 price cut expected. Sony has mountain of unsold consoles in supply chain.
By John Mace - Fri, 04/13/2007 - 07:36.

Skeptical analysts are still predicting a price cut for the PlayStation 3 this year. “We think Sony will find it hard to get through the financial year (which began this month) without cutting the price of the console, and expect further game segment losses of over $1 billion during that period”, commented researchers from leading Japanese investment firm, Nomura, in a private briefing to clients this morning.

Sony has sold only half of the six million PS3s it has manufactured to date, Nomura estimates. Other sources estimate the number of units shipped out of Sony's factories somewhat lower, at five million, but concur on the sales data.

Source: http://www.texyt.com/Sony+PS3+price+cut+expected+058

Might be a good clearance sale later this year.
Save up those CC Reward Points, Navychop.

 

[BobMurdoch]

I don't care one way or another how any of these consoles do. But the PS3 numbers are considered "bad" for two reasons.

1) The PS3 is trying to live up the the legacy of PS2 domination. The expectations for the 36 were not nearly as great.
2) The 360 numbers were "low" because of supply issues while the PS3 numbers are "low" because of demand issues. We can't really know how much higher the 360 numbers would be if it was not constrained through that period.

But, whatever. They both will be with us for the long haul.

I've said the same thing a half dozen times as well, but they keep ignoring the point. Thanks for doing it for me this time.....

 

[IcEWoLF]

Most people who are buying the PS3, are buying it for a cheap Blu-Ray player and not a game machine. This is starting a bad sales trend which is forcing software companies to move PS3 exclusive games to multi-console, which will further erode sales support.

Is the PS3 dead? Nope, but it is taking a hell of a beating right now.

Well i stopped there.
Forcing is too strong of a word...I golfclapped at ya when you said that.

 

[mwgiii]

Well i stopped there.
Forcing is too strong of a word...I golfclapped at ya when you said that.

I can't believe you missed my brilliance then.

Look at it from a developers point of view. You are spending 10-20 million on a PS3 exclusive game, how are you going to explain to your shareholders why you aren't spending a little extra money and port the game over to the 360 which has a much larger installed base? You are basically "forced" to make the port, unless Sony is making up the difference.

I hope the PS3 does well. My point though is if it doesn't start picking up momentum soon, it could become the GameCube of this generation. An excellent game machine with great 1st party games and not much else.

 

[JamesJ]

I can't believe you missed my brilliance then.

Look at it from a developers point of view. You are spending 10-20 million on a PS3 exclusive game, how are you going to explain to your shareholders why you aren't spending a little extra money and port the game over to the 360 which has a much larger installed base? You are basically "forced" to make the port, unless Sony is making up the difference.

I hope the PS3 does well. My point though is if it doesn't start picking up momentum soon, it could become the GameCube of this generation. An excellent game machine with great 1st party games and not much else.

you are wise beyond your years with this statement

 

[JoeSp]

While I will agree that the PS3 sales are not as strong as Sony would like, they are not bad. The PS2 did not really take off until the 2nd Xmas season it was out. And all the FUD stated that the Emotion Engine was way too hard to program for and that Sony had no middleware to help game designers with the PS2 hardware. And we know what history has turned up on those complaints. 110 million sold and still selling strong with the largest and most diverse library of games of any video game system ever sold (not talking about handhelds here).

As for the XBOX360's dismal first few months out of the gate -- it had nothing to do with supply. It had everything to do with faulty product. M$ put a hold onto shipments until they could fix a few of the problems that was shutting down 360's everywhere. And once again we know how history has shown how those fixes have worked. Anybody seen the lastest posts on the 'three rings of death'. At least M$ extended their waranty to a year and offered to pay back folks who had paid to get a system repaired that wasn't even a year old.

Both these companies are losing millions of dollars to get us into their gaming camps and are trying to figure out a way to make money. So far in the gaming business only Nitendo and Sony have made money in the gaming system market. Maybe with the PS3 Sony will join M$ and have to look for other ways to make money to keep their product on the market. At least with Sony they have BluRay movies and right now that seems to be what is selling the PS3 and making Sony some of their investment back. This coming XMAS season is going to be real interesting for the big boys Sony and M$. I think Nintendo might steal this XMAS too.

 

[Sapient]

As for the XBOX360's dismal first few months out of the gate -- it had nothing to do with supply. It had everything to do with faulty product. M$ put a hold onto shipments until they could fix a few of the problems that was shutting down 360's everywhere.

That IS a supply problem. MS could not provide enough consoles to satisfy demand. Sony's problem was the opposite. They could prove enough units, but did not have enough demand to have higher sales. Would the 360 have sold far more units in its first months if it had far more available? There is no way to know.

But since the 360 and PS3 had similar sales numbers, are you saying the demand for PS3's is "dismal"?

 

[Derwin0]

That IS a supply problem. MS could not provide enough consoles to satisfy demand. Sony's problem was the opposite. They could prove enough units, but did not have enough demand to have higher sales. Would the 360 have sold far more units in its first months if it had far more available? There is no way to know.

But since the 360 and PS3 had similar sales numbers, are you saying the demand for PS3's is "dismal"?

Considering that the PS3 has sold more units than the 360 in the same period of their lifespans, leads me to think that if Microsoft had as many units ready as Sony did, than they'd have a bunch sitting around then as they do now.

 

[riffjim4069]

I have two, a co-worker purchased one when they released Splinter Cell, another co-worker picked one up last night after receiving his tax refund...and two others are waiting for a $50-$100 price drop and/or after they get a few more games on the shelves. There is no shortage of potential buyers in my small office.

 

[duckydan]

I also feel it was supply that hurt 360 and if they had the product out they would have sold. Ebay search for a PS3 and many of them are selling for under retail. People were still paying 700-800 for xbox 360s in march and april of last year. Also the xbox 360 failure rate was about the same as the PS2's (I still have my first xbox 360 in running condition since day 1)

 

[Sapient]

Considering that the PS3 has sold more units than the 360 in the same period of their lifespans, leads me to think that if Microsoft had as many units ready as Sony did, than they'd have a bunch sitting around then as they do now.

According to the first post in this thread, the PS3 sold slightly less than the 360 over the same period of time. But I don't know how you can know how many 360s would have sold, since everyone that was available at the time was snatched up. Maybe their supply exactly matched demand. Maybe demand was twice as high. We don't really know.

 

[Derwin0]

Maybe demand was twice as high. We don't really know.

Exactly my point, we'll never know.
I think it took over a year for the PS2 to knock off the PS1.
The original XBOX sold out for the first couple of months, but never came close to the PS2.
It's still too early to call a winner.

 

[duckydan]

Another point to add that I found out this weekend... many stores are receiving a lot of PS3 returns as it seems people are still buying them to attempt to turn a profit or just changing their minds in the end. The local gamestop told me they have gotten 1-2 per week for the last month, something the 360 also didn't have a problem with (Though why can't people return Wii's... I still can't find one of those)