Console Sales and Debate Thread

[Viper]

so basically numbers are meaningless

Not entirely. Just be sure if you are comparing sales that you use the same source to compare with. You can't compare Famitsu vs MC numbers because the samples are different.

Both are respectable, just depends on the source you prefer.

[cliffbo]

Not entirely. Just be sure if you are comparing sales that you use the same source to compare with. You can't compare Famitsu vs MC numbers because the samples are different.

Both are respectable, just depends on the source you prefer.

for all we know though the Wii could have actually outsold the PS3 over the last three weeks... it works both ways. it would be hypocritical of me not to point that out, being a fanboy and all that lol...

[cliffbo]

Fanboy fodder to argue about, since they just can't play their games without attacking the competition. Right Cliff?

Best.Post.Ever.

? i guess this will never stop

in my experience, those that feel it necessary to point out someone thinks they're always right, is someone who can't handle being wrong

[Viper]

This is very true but considering the speculative nature and the fact that we now have 3 sources that state 2 of the past 3 weeks has had PS3 in the lead, it's pretty safe to accept Wii was beat.


In fact, that's another thing to bring up. Having more than one source validates each other. If you had just 1 tracking source, you'd never know how far off they could be. Having 2 sources with similar numbers adds credibility to each other because the chances of both of them always being way off is unlikely. Toss in a 3rd firm and you see where I'm going.

You can average out the 3 to get an aggregate total which probably isn't a bad idea.

[cliffbo]

This is very true but considering the speculative nature and the fact that we now have 3 sources that state 2 of the past 3 weeks has had PS3 in the lead, it's pretty safe to accept Wii was beat.


In fact, that's another thing to bring up. Having more than one source validates each other. If you had just 1 tracking source, you'd never know how far off they could be. Having 2 sources with similar numbers adds credibility to each other because the chances of both of them always being way off is unlikely. Toss in a 3rd firm and you see where I'm going.

You can average out the 3 to get an aggregate total which probably isn't a bad idea.

if i agree with you, will that make me a fanboy? lol... i'm more interested in the PS3 doing well than in the console war. as long as the PS3 equals the sales of the Wii, i'll be happy. i'd sooner see a PSWii situation than a Wii60 one because at least Nintendo have imagination and that can only be good for gaming.

[frosty]

I don't care so much about ps3 beating out wii in the long run, but in the short term it is something I deem important as right now the system really needs to grow it's install base in order to continue to have the industry leading developer support that the brand name has enjoyed for so many years (nearly a decade now...). PS3 needs it's games and this is the one way it will continue to get them.

[Viper]

Fanboys are just fans with no regard for logic and reason.

I don't think agreeing with me makes you a fanboy one way or the other.

[cliffbo]

I don't care so much about ps3 beating out wii in the long run, but in the short term it is something I deem important as right now the system really needs to grow it's install base in order to continue to have the industry leading developer support that the brand name has enjoyed for so many years (nearly a decade now...). PS3 needs it's games and this is the one way it will continue to get them.

with all consoles it seems that 6 million sales is the point at which devs get serious, so it's all good from here on

[FantasyGhost]

Things looking up for Sony as PlayStation 3 sales pick up - analysts

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Things seem to be looking up for Sony Corp. After a tough first year, sales of the PlayStation 3 (PS3) are finally gaining momentum while the company's new flat television is reviving its reputation for innovation.

The iconic Japanese company, recovering from a profit slump, is enjoying brisk sales of digital cameras and other electronic goods and expects its operating earnings to soar more than six-fold this year.

Since Howard Stringer, a Welsh-born US citizen, took over in 2005, Sony (nyse: SNE - news - people ) has axed thousands of jobs, floated its financial arm on the stock market and struck a deal to sell its advanced semiconductor operations to Toshiba Corp. (other-otc: TOSBF.PK - news - people )

Even Middle East investors, flush with petrodollars, have taken note, with a Dubai fund recently buying a substantial stake in the group, helping its shares to rocket up 14 percent over the past week.

Adding fuel to the rally, the company announced that PS3 sales in North America had more than tripled in the crucial Thanksgiving holiday week after a 100 US dollar price cut.

The icing on the cake came on Friday when magazine publisher Enterbrain reported that the PS3 video games console had finally outsold Nintendo Co Ltd (other-otc: NTDOY.PK - news - people )'s Wii in Japan in November.

The upturn in sales came after Sony cut the price of the PS3 by 10 percent in Japan and launched a new slimmed-down version, ratcheting up the competition with its rivals ahead of the crucial year-end sales period.

A better line-up of games compared with a year ago is also making the PS3 more attractive, analysts said.

Sony is 'making up lost ground,' said Hiroshi Kamide, an analyst at KBC Securities.

'Going forward another 12 months or so I'm sure we'll see better titles turning up as well. I wouldn't say Sony's back on form and everything is going to be OK now but it feels like the proper launch (for the PS3) this year,' he said.

Sony put the emphasis on chip power and ultra-realistic graphics for the PS3, but since its release a year ago it has trailed badly behind Nintendo's cheaper, user-friendly Wii machine that aims to appeal to a wider audience.

Analysts said that although the PS3 might not maintain its lead over the Wii in Japan for long, the company should be able to gradually cut its losses in its game division as it sells more consoles and reduces production costs.

'It's certainly a sign that the momentum of the PS3 business is improving,' Macquarie Securities analyst David Gibson said of the recent sales upturn.

'The PS3 and the games business is past the worst in terms of financial losses and the sales momentum is improving because of the price cut and the new model,' he said.

Sony sold 183,217 PS3s in Japan in the four weeks to November 25, while Nintendo sold 159,193 Wii consoles, according to Enterbrain.

'The PS3 has already seen the worst and finally you are seeing sales rebounding,' said an analyst at an investment bank who asked not to be named.

'The fact that you are seeing the PS3 already gaining traction in Japan and also putting a lot of pressure on Nintendo I think is significant,' he said.

Sony, which changed the way the world listens to music with the Walkman, is now fighting back after being caught off guard in recent years by innovative new products such as Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) Inc's iPod and Nintendo's Wii.

The iconic company is trying to regain some of its reputation for cutting edge technology, and this weekend launched the world's first organic light emitting diode (OLED) television.

By sandwiching a very thin layer of organic material between two plates, the television is said to use less power and offer brighter images and wider viewing angles than liquid crystal display panels.

With the group's fortunes apparently improving, Dubai International Capital, a fund owned by the oil-rich emirate, announced last week that it had bought a 'substantial' stake in Sony without disclosing the value.

The purchase 'does to some degree confirm that value players see some opportunity in the company and we would agree with the idea that at these prices the shares are attractive,' said Macquarie's Gibson.

[Diresu]

Good press for Sony? Its official, world ends tommorow.

[CreativeWriter]

This is very true but considering the speculative nature and the fact that we now have 3 sources that state 2 of the past 3 weeks has had PS3 in the lead, it's pretty safe to accept Wii was beat.


In fact, that's another thing to bring up. Having more than one source validates each other. If you had just 1 tracking source, you'd never know how far off they could be. Having 2 sources with similar numbers adds credibility to each other because the chances of both of them always being way off is unlikely. Toss in a 3rd firm and you see where I'm going.

You can average out the 3 to get an aggregate total which probably isn't a bad idea.

Yes, of course, unless each source uses the other sources to estimate their own sales figures. Without careful study of sample size and tracking methodology it's possible that an error in one source can skew the entire field's perceptions... With the NDP blackout and the discrepancies between MC and Famitsu tracking seems more an art than a science at this point...

[EvilTaru]

The key is that PS3 is gaining a lot of momentum in Japan, and improving significantly in NA, that puts pressure on companies like Capcom to stop and think about their lead platform priorities as well as how they will approach their platform choice in terms of their next set of games to be released. More importantly the strong sales of Winning Eleven showed Konami that the PS3 is a viable platform for their franchise in Japan and not the 360. If only Capcom and Koei would realize this. I wonder if we'll see anymore Ace Combat 6-type situations in terms of how much longer Namco would like to see their franchise tank despite MS subsidizing them.

[Hisham]

^To be real, Capcom didn't pull anything from the PS3, they just made RE5 and DMC4 multiplatform. That statment would be valid only if they pulled support away. Now I dunno about Koei's situation, but I am pretty sure all there games are also multplat and I don't remember hearing anything about pulled support.

[frosty]

not to mention, as cpiasminc pointed out, it's very likely these games were meant to be multiplat from the start but they simply did not announce the other version(s) of the game until a later date (possibly for strategic reasons, such as MS wanting them to wait until just the right time for the announcement to have maximum impact).

[Segitz]

Well,

Capcom didn't really play fast and loose. No Dead Rising, No Street Fighter (PSN), No Lost Planet (on time, that is), No Ghouls and Ghosts...

What DID Capcom release up until now? That would be ONLY Super Puzzle Fighter II (and NO, it is NOT HD, that is a BAD joke, not one sound was remade, the "fighter" neither, the menu was, but that was about it).

It's not like Capcom is near bankruptcy other something like that, I mean they do release 360 games.

[amuront]

^To be real, Capcom didn't pull anything from the PS3, they just made RE5 and DMC4 multiplatform. That statment would be valid only if they pulled support away. Now I dunno about Koei's situation, but I am pretty sure all there games are also multplat and I don't remember hearing anything about pulled support.

Monster Hunter 3

[Hisham]

Well,

Capcom didn't really play fast and loose. No Dead Rising, No Street Fighter (PSN), No Lost Planet (on time, that is), No Ghouls and Ghosts...

What DID Capcom release up until now? That would be ONLY Super Puzzle Fighter II (and NO, it is NOT HD, that is a BAD joke, not one sound was remade, the "fighter" neither, the menu was, but that was about it).

It's not like Capcom is near bankruptcy other something like that, I mean they do release 360 games.

Super Turbo HD is still comming out, and wasn't Dead Rising annouced for the 360 even before the 360 was released? DMC4, RE5, Super Turbo HD, Bionic Commando, Rocket Man, and some other games are still comming to the PS3, so MH3 is the only "offically" pulled game. I am tired of people saying Capcom is so pro 360 when they have always been a multi-platform developer (with clear support for Sony last gen) and they have as much comming out for the PS3 as they do for the 360. It is only Dead Rising and the SF HF XBLA game that the PS3 owners didn't get. It doesn't matter in any case because Super Turbo HD will be better than SFHF. And Bionic Commando will probaby turn out better than Dead Rising anyways.

[Segitz]

Super Turbo HD is still comming out, and wasn't Dead Rising annouced for the 360 even before the 360 was released? DMC4, RE5, Super Turbo HD, Bionic Commando, Rocket Man, and some other games are still comming to the PS3, so MH3 is the only "offically" pulled game. I am tired of people saying Capcom is so pro 360 when they have always been a multi-platform developer (with clear support for Sony last gen) and they have as much comming out for the PS3 as they do for the 360. It is only Dead Rising and the SF HF XBLA game that the PS3 owners didn't get. It doesn't matter in any case because Super Turbo HD will be better than SFHF. And Bionic Commando will probaby turn out better than Dead Rising anyways.

Well, they "come"... But they are not out, especially games like SF2 or GnG, which take a day to make^^

I am not saying Capcom is pro 360 or anti Sony, I was only trying to say, Capcom cannot complain about lacking PS3 sales, if they don't release much. And I know Capcom since my Amiga and C64 days, so they do have some sort of warm spot in my heart.

What does Bionic Commando have to do with Dead Rising? Only because the C64 game was great doesn't mean, the new iteration will be too. I would have gotten Dead Rising for the PS3, I really looks wicked^^

But somehow I feel, Capcom is losing ground fast ever since the PS2 era. They didn't have too many new IPs (ok, two already this generation, but look back) and most of their old IPs are starting to get stale (imho only except RE4)

[cliffbo]

i doubt if this month is any real indication of a trend but it is nice to be roughly on a par with the Wii in sales (remember it was outselling the PS3 6 to 1 at one point!)

[Hisham]

Well, they "come"... But they are not out, especially games like SF2 or GnG, which take a day to make^^

I am not saying Capcom is pro 360 or anti Sony, I was only trying to say, Capcom cannot complain about lacking PS3 sales, if they don't release much. And I know Capcom since my Amiga and C64 days, so they do have some sort of warm spot in my heart.

What does Bionic Commando have to do with Dead Rising? Only because the C64 game was great doesn't mean, the new iteration will be too. I would have gotten Dead Rising for the PS3, I really looks wicked^^

But somehow I feel, Capcom is losing ground fast ever since the PS2 era. They didn't have too many new IPs (ok, two already this generation, but look back) and most of their old IPs are starting to get stale (imho only except RE4)

Honestly, I thought Dead Rising was a 7.5 game. And yeah it was fun, but I don't think it was GREAT. Atleast not on the level of there last gen games, and that is probably because of the getting used to "next-gen" hardware that every company needs to do. And about SF2 or GnG, do we really need those on PSN? Hell, I haven't even bought SF2 HF for the XBLA because I've been waiting for Super Turbo. I really doubt it would be worth the effort for Capcom to put those games on PSN, when they have so much stuff already comming out. And what do you expect by that first statment. Any good game takes atleast 2 years in development, and great games ususally take more, so the best we can do is sit tight untill the games are released. I'd rather that, then a shitty game being rush released.

And I don't necessarily think anything is getting stale (with the exception of Mega Man) but yeah, I do agree they haven't been making "ub3r" games as of late. I am hoping that will change when DMC4 drops.