How to sell next-gen consoles, Marketing, Positioning, and Pricing [2020]

[cheapchips]

So looks like FFVI isn't that exclusive. "six months full exclusive and 12 months console exclusive"

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-09-17-final-fantasy-16s-exclusivity-is-a-mess

 

[chris1515]

So looks like FFVI isn't that exclusive. "six months full exclusive and 12 months console exclusive"

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-09-17-final-fantasy-16s-exclusivity-is-a-mess

I expect all Square Enix japanese games to release between 12 to 24 months of console exclusivity on PS5.

 

[AbsoluteBeginner]

Yes. I think also MS needs that asap and in between can a bit lower the price of the regular XSX.

If MS stays on gamepass road, its hard to justify 100$ drop for them. I don't expect many to stand in line waiting for 80 euro digital releases from them.

 

[AbsoluteBeginner]

PlayStation brand is so powerful. Therefore if Ms just uses the same strategy then they probably repeats the result of this generation again
(less than half of PS sales). The only way is to try some different strategy.

Its a bit of an Apple in gaming world, yes, only with more deceiving. MS went a bit head on and too honest into this, got alot of flak for what seems to be great strategy for customers, and got burned.

 

[PSman1700]

Its a bit of an Apple in gaming world, yes, only with more deceiving. MS went a bit head on and too honest into this, got alot of flak for what seems to be great strategy for customers, and got burned.

Lol, just made the same Apple reference in the PS5 thread

 

[AbsoluteBeginner]

I think MS has one more (or two) trump cards to play - drop Gold and 60$ games.

That would be huge for MS, as PS5 DE is good value only on wikipedia pricing section, everywhere else you are paying more given 80 euro digital games are about to drop on Europe, while I expect XSX to have palpable performance lead in 3rd party games over PS5 (and XSS to clean up low range for people not into 4K and fridge size consoles under their TVs).

 

[RDGoodla]

yea but spiderman is a cross gen game. I thought no one wanted cross gen games. So the ps5 doesn't really have a good launch title then. Or are cross gen games good now since sony is doing it ?


Anyway I think your going to be surprised at how much the xss sells.

Just recall Zelda Breath of the Wild, which is a cross-gen launch game, but pushed NSwitch sales to very high.


Xss reminds me WiiU, which is also $299, $100 cheaper with lower spec, and it totally failed.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

He explains well the situation. The problem is the communication, Microsoft was honest at least. But Sony marketing guy are clever, setup the preorder just after the conference.

I don't get some people. Making some 1st party titles crossgen isn't the problem. Why would that be the problem?
Why would anyone be upset that a PS5 game is also coming to the PS4? Is it some kind of sadistic wish that some PS5 early adopters have for PS4 owners not to be able to play their games? It's not even a console from the competition!

And now of course we have the typical opportunistic articles (one from Eurogamer) claiming that people don't trust Sony because.. #shuffles cards#.. they're launching a game of PS4.



The problem only exists if the new-gen versions of crossgen titles suffer in image quality / features / immersion /etc. from also being developed for a lower performance base platform.
3 months ago we all saw Horizon Forbidden West trailer and it's one of the very few demos with gameplay that actually show a "next-gen" jump in visuals. Why would that change from a PS4 announcement?
For all we know, the difference between Forbidden West's PS5 and base PS4 versions could be like the Witcher 3's difference between the Switch and the PS4 versions.

On the other hand, we also all thought a completely different thing when Microsoft showed Halo Infinite. The concerns were materialized on that demo.

Yes i was critizing sony more then MS there

No!
Really?
I'm shocked.

 

[AbsoluteBeginner]

Just recall Zelda Breath of the Wild, which is a cross-gen launch game, but pushed NSwitch sales to very high.


Xss reminds me WiiU, which is also $299, $100 cheaper with lower spec, and it totally failed.

XSS is superb console for money and for people wanting to play XSX and PS5 games on lower resolutions without having to remove their furniture to fit it there.

It is also amazing for GP+EA access, probably considerably cheaper option then PS5 DE + 80 euro game (which is absurd).

 

[steveOrino]

I think MS biggest issue is (once again) the lack of compelling software for their new platform but I also believe thats just part of their strategy of unifying all their platforms in to one homogenized blob. They aren't concerned if the xbox consoles sell as much as Sony or Nintendo but more so how many people they can get into the eco system among all platforms.

 

[AbsoluteBeginner]

I think MS biggest issue is (once again) the lack of compelling software for their new platform but I also believe thats just part of their strategy of unifying all their platforms in to one homogenized blob. They aren't concerned if the xbox consoles sell as much as Sony or Nintendo but more so how many people they can get into the eco system among all platforms.

I think MS will have good software once people see new Obsidian RPG and Fable in action. These new studios cannot deliver the goods in 2 years, well not AAA goods that is.

 

[iroboto]

I don't get some people. Making some 1st party titles crossgen isn't the problem. Why would that be the problem?
Why would anyone be upset that a PS5 game is also coming to the PS4? Is it some kind of sadistic wish that some PS5 early adopters have for PS4 owners not to be able to play their games? It's not even a console from the competition!

And now of course we have the typical opportunistic articles (one from Eurogamer) claiming that people don't trust Sony because.. #shuffles cards#.. they're launching a game of PS4.

I mean, it's not really fair to people taking a stance on this.
The situation as we read it is that people (PS fans) felt misled by the marketing of PS5 and equally (Xbox fans) that misleading marketing was used unfairly against their competition as they are doing the exact same thing.

So it's not really fair that in one way, you can't tell these people who are misled to just shut up, because they are rabid fanboys for doing so and they should know what to expect from console transitions. They were told something else.
And if they do shutup, then Sony can do whatever they please, because you're saying people should not be surprised by being misled. So it's a lose-lose situation here.

It's sort of like saying, it should be illegal to protest.

People if they were misled and upset by it the marketing around PS5, should stand up and say something, otherwise Sony will just continue on this path with impunity. This is just between them and Sony. MS has no control over how the PS population feels or what actions they take, they just got a raw deal and need to work on their messaging so that they are not being blind sided terribly like this.

some choice quotes with this article here:
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/artic...ing-that-can-only-be-enjoyed-on-playstation-5

One way to keep PS4 users engaged would be to make upcoming PS5 games playable on the older machine, just like Microsoft is proposing with its Xbox Series X games being playable on Xbox One. Yet Ryan says that's not something PlayStation is interested in doing.

"We have always said that we believe in generations. We believe that when you go to all the trouble of creating a next-gen console, that it should include features and benefits that the previous generation does not include. And that, in our view, people should make games that can make the most of those features.

"We do believe in generations, and whether it's the DualSense controller, whether it's the 3D audio, whether it's the multiple ways that the SSD can be used... we are thinking that it is time to give the PlayStation community something new, something different, that can really only be enjoyed on PS5."

 

[Xbat]

In a year or so, games will be built around the PS5 tech, so some of the limitations that came from the PS4 legacy will go away. It's the same as literally every generation

Exactly.
The only thing where I can see confusion is Microsoft isn't going to release any next gen only game in the launch window and that's different and then because of that Sony worded there pr regarding generational shifts the opposite and because of that some people might of thought every new game was going to be PS5 only.

I mean if we look at in regards to previous generations it could be one of the best first years of next gen in a long time concerning the quality of titles coming out.

 

[eastmen]

Just recall Zelda Breath of the Wild, which is a cross-gen launch game, but pushed NSwitch sales to very high.


Xss reminds me WiiU, which is also $299, $100 cheaper with lower spec, and it totally failed.

I was making fun of sony for their we believe in generations spew.

Also your thinking of the Xss as its own thing. The wii u launched by itself. There was no bigger console that was more powerful than the other systems. The Xss and XSX are one and the same. The software will run on both. MS is trying to get earlier adopters in from the start.

 

[Deleted member 86764]

XSS is superb console for money and for people wanting to play XSX and PS5 games on lower resolutions without having to remove their furniture to fit it there.

It is also amazing for GP+EA access, probably considerably cheaper option then PS5 DE + 80 euro game (which is absurd).

It's arguably the most expensive console out of all of them, proportionally speaking. The $/tflop ratio is WAY higher than the rest, same for storage space, memory, etc.

PS5 DE has best overall value, XSX has best value on the higher end.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

I think if MS did this, people would have arranged several social media gatherings to bring them down for lying. And the backlash as you said isn't as great as it should be.

MS has been lying for years(remember E3 2016, E3 2017, E3 2018 etc. never mind the amount of times Spencer said the games would be great then weren't ala Halo) and it still has a base. I find it funny that you think people will arrange media gatherings to bring them down. Must be a new thing.

 

[cheapchips]

XSS is superb console for money and for people wanting to play XSX and PS5 games on lower resolutions without having to remove their furniture to fit it there.

Having a thing fit in your living room is an overlooked feature! Despite it's size, the PS5 does fit in my TV unit. I can't help but feel MS took more of a risk with the X's 15.1cm height when horizontal. I'm pondering if drilling holes in the back of a drawer will give enough ventilation for it.

PS5 DE has best overall value

The DE has the best purchase price to tflop value. That's not the same thing as overall value by a long shot.

The diverse propositions between the four console variants look pretty healthy to me. They all have their 'value' niche for early adopters.

 

[Deleted member 86764]

Having a thing fit in your living room is an overlooked feature! Despite it's size, the PS5 does fit in my TV unit. I can't help but feel MS took more of a risk with the X's 15.1cm height when horizontal. I'm pondering if drilling holes in the back of a drawer will give enough ventilation for it.



The DE has the best purchase price to tflop value. That's not the same thing as overall value by a long shot.

The diverse propositions between the four console variants look pretty healthy to me. They all have their 'value' niche for early adopters.

XSS does not have the best value, unless you're talking, purely, "which is cheapest?"

$ to power ratio; it's the most expensive (by far):

XSS = $75/tflop
PS5 = $49
XSX = $41
PS5 DE = $39

XSX is second cheapest as far as I can tell. The same applies to all other metrics that I can see.

Edit: regardless, I bought the second most expensive one proportionally. *shrugs*

 

[iroboto]

MS has been lying for years(remember E3 2016, E3 2017, E3 2018 etc. never mind the amount of times Spencer said the games would be great then weren't ala Halo) and it still has a base. I find it funny that you think people will arrange media gatherings to bring them down. Must be a new thing.

Sure, and they got a hell of a ripping for it.

 

[function]

XSS does not have the best value, unless you're talking, purely, "which is cheapest?"

$ to power ratio; it's the most expensive (by far):

XSS = $75/tflop
PS5 = $49
XSX = $41
PS5 DE = $39

XSX is second cheapest as far as I can tell. The same applies to all other metrics that I can see.

Edit: regardless, I bought the second most expensive one proportionally. *shrugs*

Flips on its head if your talking about CPU performance per dollar though (the gameplay critical component)!