All purpose Sales and Sales Rumors and Anecdotes [2016 Edition]

[Rangers]

Sales ratio 3:2 in UK
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-03-23-playstation-4-and-xbox-one-uk-sales-pass-5m-mark

Hmm, this doesn't seem right, or at least conflicting. I had it guesstimated at ~3m PS4 2.5m XBO at end of 2015 based on this http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/the-year-that-was-2015-in-numbers/0161201

Which had PS4+XBO=5.5 million, and software share at PS4 36.3%, XBO 29.7%. (applying that software rato to 5.5 million hardware comes out roughly 3m, 2.5m respectively, likely a good guesstimate.)

The MCV numbers seem more trustworthy to me.

 

[Rangers]

No. People aren't that dumb to think a PSVR is required.
Because it was forced at launch. Yeah, if Sony forced PSVR on everyone and only sold a $900 PS4+PSVR bundle, there'd be a problem!
Without affecting the fortunes of the console proper. PS3 didn't die out when Move failed to be a runaway success. If PSVR crashes and burns, PS4 will still go on as the most popular console option. It'll be competition that'll challenge PS4's spot (NX!).

Like Sony forced $599 Blu Ray PS3 on everyone?

Sony had Move bundles, didn't they?

I guess this requires Sony to never bundle PS4+PSVR then. I wouldn't be 1000% sure this will never happen...

PS4+PSVR (w/Move, eyetoy) bundle=just $699 ($300 PS4, $400 PSVR, bundle volume discount) in a little while?? If you think you have a compelling product, why wouldn't you offer it as a bundle as well?

I think PSVR could be a pretty huge sales DRIVER for PS4. I can easily imagine myself in the market for a new console, and making the decision based on one of them having a VR upgrade path. I'm just saying, there's been next to no discussion of the other side of the coin, "what if things go wrong", as they frequently (always?) have for add ons. I've seen a GAF post about it here or there only...and then you couple that with PS4 dominating as is, it seems a little dangerous to stir the pot. Is VR likely to significantly harm PS4? I think no. Is it possible? I think, yes.

 

[bunge]

Is VR likely to significantly harm PS4? I think no. Is it possible? I think, yes.

How?

 

[Egmon83]

Could the successful Kinect harm Xbox360? yes it certainly did!
It appeared successful, so MS shifted EVERYTHING towards Kinect.
As a result, from .. 2010? Xbox 360 was a much much worse machine looking at core gamer oriented content.

Not only that, it completely tanked the Xbox One and destroyed MS' chance at the number one position for a generation.

VR could be the same:
if VR is the next big thing on Oprah; even having an exclusive Oprah PS VR themed PS4: you can sit front row at Oprah.. and Sony shifts everything towards it, not green lighting/(co)funding TLoU2, GT7, Ace Combat 8, FF XVI, and so on.
PS4 will become as bare as Xbox 360 post 2010... then when the PS5/Xbox Two generation hits, and Oprah has an item on how PS VR causes brain cancer in unborn babies... Xbox Two will take the lead, leaving the 899 dollar PS5 with mandatory PSVR2 in the dust.

 

[goonergaz]

so the suggestion is Sony will have seen the car-crash XBO with mandatory Kinect and want to replicate that giving the advantage back to MS next gen?

I come to this forum to escape the GAF mentality

 

[Shortbread]

How?

Lots of mental gymnastics going on in this thread, and a few others.

 

[function]

Could the successful Kinect harm Xbox360? yes it certainly did!
It appeared successful, so MS shifted EVERYTHING towards Kinect.

They moved everything to Kinect! .... everything except any attempt at game development for it.

VR is gaming driven. Its success would only encourage Sony to focus on games. Unless Playstation gets taken over by an exec with a boner for TV and casual games all it's going to do is cement the requirement for performance in future consoles.

 

[MrFox]

Analysts firms IHS, DFC and Macquarie Securities made some prediction for PSVR and it's impact on PS4 ecosystem.

IHS:
"1.6 million PSVRs will be sold by the end of the year. This is partially as a result of supply constraints at launch."

"Despite those constraints, PSVR is expected to seize a 64 percent share of the VR headset market’s installed base for 2016."

DFC:
“Sony's is the only model we see as having an opportunity to attract mainstream consumers."

"Combine that with a major price advantage and it is hard to see how a Vive or Rift competes beyond the early adopter stage who pre-order systems."

“At the least we think that just having the option to upgrade to VR will be a major driver of continued PlayStation 4 sales and could help cement Sony’s lead as the market leader for this generation of consoles.”

Macquarie Securities:
"A big open question is, what will Microsoft do to respond? With Hololens still years away and focusing on enterprise, how will Microsoft Xbox compete with PlayStation VR in the near term? Without a response, we would expect Sony to utterly dominate the rest of the console cycle"

NeoGaf:
"PSVR is the Ice Burger that will sink the PS4 !!!!!!!!" [sic]

 

[Egmon83]

The early success of the Kinect turned out to be the demise of Xbox as the leading core console, in both mindshare, market share as well as game content.

My conclusion: putting a lot of emphasis on something which might be short lived, or a fad, could be dangerous. Xbox and Mario learned the hard way.

 

[function]

The early success of the Kinect turned out to be the demise of Xbox as the leading core console, in both mindshare, market share as well as game content.

My conclusion: putting a lot of emphasis on something which might be short lived, or a fad, could be dangerous. Xbox and Mario learned the hard way.

The early success of Kinect was evidence of a desire to interact with games in a way that went beyond (but did not replace) existing joypads.

Fuckwits with an agenda (willfully) misinterpreted this as an excuse to invest billions into a shitty subscription remote for TV TV TV SPORTS because they desperately desired to be the low-density turd that floated atop the milky foam of populist TV TV TV SPORTS.

Sony as they currently exist are incapable of the kind of dickfuckshittery that MS indulged in prior to the start of this generation.

 

[temesgen]

I don't see a lot of similarities between Kinect and PSVR, for starters Kinect was introduced well into the life cycle of the 360 and moved many units. This was likely due in part because the platform was not doing much to attract and service non-core and younger gamers and Kinect did a good job of driving interest in the platform with those demographics which had not previously shown as much interest in 360 compared to Wii, tablets and phones. MS made several mistakes with XB1 but I think the most critical was not price or Kinect but the relative power of XB1 in contrast to PS4 and perhaps even more so the statements surrounding the unveiling at and after E3 which IMO harmed their relationship with consumers who previously were entrenched with the Xbox brand.

PSVR will likely be marketed to the core for several factors most importantly the cost and the type of content which will be made available. As consumers get more familiar with the technology things might change but for now it's pretty disruptive which suggest it will be early adopters and core that are willing to invest that sort of money. That said I think its fair to say the more projects Sony adds to it's plate will inherently make it more difficult to stay focused and manage resources.

BTW FWIW - MS's XB1 designers were not wrong to include Kinect in the original vision of XB1, in fact if you really consider where the excitement was surrounding the 360 at the time XB1 was being envisioned its rather hard to see how anyone sitting in those meetings who said "do we really need a new Kinect?" would have been taken seriously. Add in the arrogance that comes with winning and you can see how a long list of must haves results in a system somewhat under-powered compared to its competitor due to having many different divisions with competing priorities all having a say in the final design. PSVR might blur things a bit for Sony's management but not exactly in the same way.

 

[temesgen]

How?

By confusing consumers still recovering from their memory-card-post-traumatic-sales-syndrome with another event that required reading and common sense.

 

[-tkf-]

Come on, kinect 2 was incredible, you could control your TV! Talk to your console, do all the cool stuff that has nothing to do with games!

Today it still blows my mind how a company that totally understood what they needed to bring to market with a 360 could mess up so hard. Sony on the other hand is doing everything so freaking right. Vr headset that is cheap, even with the camera that some even have to begin with, a controller that from the start was designed with vr in mind!

Next chance for Sony to mess up is with the ps5 when they price it to hard because they include a vr set.

The psvr is a masterpiece and will help the entire vr industry.

 

[Rangers]

Macquarie Securities:
"A big open question is, what will Microsoft do to respond? With Hololens still years away and focusing on enterprise, how will Microsoft Xbox compete with PlayStation VR in the near term? Without a response, we would expect Sony to utterly dominate the rest of the console cycle"

IF VR is huge you can bet MS can pivot quickly. I bet they can have some sort of VR copycat system out in a year.

Although at that point they may be best suited to wait just a bit more and tie it to a new hardware generation.

NeoGaf:
"PSVR is the Ice Burger that will sink the PS4 !!!!!!!!"

Have you ever been to Neogaf? They trumpeted Move like crazy and PSVR will be twice as much (maybe warranted now).

I'm just saying it's a thought I've had for a while. And that the only place I've really seen it is a comment or two among thousands, maybe a short lived thread IIRC, in Neogaf. I'm surprised it doesn't get at least a little more play.

 

[bunge]

I'm just saying it's a thought I've had for a while. And that the only place I've really seen it is a comment or two among thousands, maybe a short lived thread IIRC, in Neogaf. I'm surprised it doesn't get at least a little more play.

How?

 

[DrJay24]

Sony had Move bundles, didn't they?

I guess this requires Sony to never bundle PS4+PSVR then. I wouldn't be 1000% sure this will never happen...

PS4+PSVR (w/Move, eyetoy) bundle=just $699 ($300 PS4, $400 PSVR, bundle volume discount) in a little while?? If you think you have a compelling product, why wouldn't you offer it as a bundle as well?

I don't understand your point, I are saying an optional PSVR bundle will hurt the PS4?

 

[DrJay24]

White QB console with game and Alan Wake for $299? I'm not sure why it's only #110 on Amazon hourly a day before release. Seems like a good deal and it looks nice compared to the black VCR look.

 

[Egmon83]

It would be funny if the QB console was modelled like the cover. So that it appears disintegrated, but suspended in mid-air It will be a cool casemod!

 

[iroboto]

White QB console with game and Alan Wake for $299? I'm not sure why it's only #110 on Amazon hourly a day before release. Seems like a good deal and it looks nice compared to the black VCR look.

I feel like the marketing for this game is mainly non existent. Dunno if it's a factor. It could
Be that many games are being released and people are strapped for cash.

 

[DrJay24]

I feel like the marketing for this game is mainly non existent. Dunno if it's a factor. It could
Be that many games are being released and people are strapped for cash.

The game is doing fine, it's #5, but I guess most of the people interested might have a console.