Its not like sales cut have linear scaling. $100 price cut from 400 to 300 will do much more for sales than 500price cut to 400.
NPD December 2008
- Thread starter RobertR1
- Start date
Its not like sales cut have linear scaling. $100 price cut from 400 to 300 will do much more for sales than 500price cut to 400.
DuckThor Evil
Legend
Wii and X360 sold less than I expected... I thought the 360 would do about 1.55M and the Wii +2.5M. I wonder if the Wii was supply limited as it didn't do very well against its November numbers. PS3 did pretty much I expected, atleast until Tretton was making those 130% increase speeches...
I get what you're saying. You're saying its not significant when you take the relative install base into account.
I'm saying outselling a bunch due to raw numbers. In the end though, the publishers really only care about the raw numbers. I get that this isn't true in all cases, but it is enough to give the overall perception that multiplat titles sell better on the 360.
If the PS3 is going to be make in-roads, they not only need to sell more hardware, but software as well and not just relative to their install base.
After all, other than Nintendo, digital distribution and DLC, isn't this where the console makers make their money?
Sorry about the confusion.
Relative install base is meaningless. Xbox360 tends to outsell the PS3 2:1 for multiplatform games. Sure, if there were more PS3s out there, it would probably be closer, but there aren't more PS3s out there right now. If I were a dev, I'd be focusing on the 360.
Edit: Actually, I'd probably try to be focusing on the Wii.
Edit: Actually, I'd probably try to be focusing on the Wii.
Sure, but the PS3 is 1/3 of your sales. They have to consider if selling 1/3 less for exclusives is worth the cost of a port.
IMO that stance is so illogical it renders me inarticulate.edit
Ok, I've recovered from my astonishment over that statement and what I'm thinking is this -
Publishers have sales expectations for any given title, and those forecasts will be based on (amongst other things) IP recognition, pre release coverage/hype annnnd ... installed user base. To imagine that publishers don't take into account relative user base in their sales projections is IMO pure folly.
Last edited by a moderator:
Agreed, although almost none of the games on the Wii interest me at all. I've bought the Wii and about $400 worth of games and peripherals only to return it to Best Buy 2-3 days later unopened. Luckily she was happy to only play the Gamecube version of the last Zelda.
The only reason for me to get a Wii is for my wife and her Zelda obsession. I'll wait for the next release and hopefully a price drop though. I do like that it's fully backwards compatible, because by then I can finally retire my Gamecube which is starting to act a little bit wonky.
MGS4 was at 4.3m at the start of November, according to Konami.
Pretty sure Konami means shipped to retailers as compared to sold to gamers.
Wii was way under my expectations but still great of course. 360 was a little bit less (I expected 1.5) PS3 was a little lower than expected (predicted 790k). Underestimating the PS3 user base who only (mostly) use it for Blu Ray movies when evaluating these numbers, is a mistake IMO. Of course GAMES sell 360 systems and 360 has the game sales to prove this as well as good price points. Let's not forget as well that many of those 360s were sold at $299, not all 360s sold were $199.
Ps3 needs a price cut to sell more but more than that, their window for making PS3 THE gamer's choice in this generation (especially in NA) has closed. This holiday is evident that they underestimated how MS's strategy would impact their plans. The release of every online service on LIVE ahead of any similar service on PS3, (DL movies/tv, NEtflix, parties, custom soundtracks, achievements, in-game chat) the expeditious and continual release of quality games and old "sony" franchises. exclusive DLC, a graphical experience in line with and sometimes exceeding those produced by PS3 etc, etc all have rendered Sony the 2nd choice for hiDef game machine in NA (MS is making strides worldwide as well)
You say that, and Metacritic says that, but the customers are voting with their wallets. Of the 2008 exclusive list, only MGS4 sold in a quantity that would improve console sales. Clearly these games missed the mark. Consumers flocked to the console for MGS4, regardless of the console's price. If these later exclusives were as good, then a similar effect would have occurred at Christmas. It didn't. So I think there is more to the story than just price.
In December NPD? It sold 58% of what the X360 sold last year. Overall, we have to wait and see. I think both consoles were on track to beat the 360's worldwide 2007 numbers.
What I mean is, if a PS3 game sells a higher percentage relative to the install base it still doesn't matter if the 360 outsells it 2:1 or 1.5:1. You're still going to put your focus on the platform that sells the most copies, regardless of whether it is selling at a lower rate relative to the install base.
Of course you can't completely ignore the ps3 because it is still 1/3 of your sales if you decide to go multiplatform, but there's no denying that the 360 will likely be 66% of your revenue.
Exactly. Price is a strong factor ofcourse but it's not the only one. The way you offset the price is by making your library more appealing. MGS4 was clearly appealing to the masses at a price point that sold consoles during what's considered a slow sales period. Had LPB/R2/MS2 gained mainstream appeal and buzz as MGS4 or other popular titles, it's safe to assume it would have translated to higher console sales during the holiday season. The benefit for Sony clearly being, higher sales without having to take the hit of a price drop.
Anectodal info: one my pals who's been a hardcore PS fan (he had one of the first PS2s in Hungary) is giving up on the PS3 in favor of the X360.
Reason: he wants a console and he considers mandatory HDD installs a PC feature.
perhaps this belongs in the COD thread
but why is the COD franchise selling so good?
it is easily the biggest selling shooter franchise + not the more hyped ones eg halo/resistence/UT/gears/killzone etc
Over the last couple of years from what Ive seen to the question
Q/ 'what games dont u want to see more of?'
A/ WW2 FPS's
yet ppl buy it in spades
hint - look at other non english speaking countries top10 lists (true each single market is not as big as the US but taken as whole PAL are just as important as NA)
I believe the truer split figure would be ~55:45 (in favour of xbox360)
but why is the COD franchise selling so good?
it is easily the biggest selling shooter franchise + not the more hyped ones eg halo/resistence/UT/gears/killzone etc
Over the last couple of years from what Ive seen to the question
Q/ 'what games dont u want to see more of?'
A/ WW2 FPS's
yet ppl buy it in spades
Ill deny it + so do the game companies financial figures, which they release every so often
hint - look at other non english speaking countries top10 lists (true each single market is not as big as the US but taken as whole PAL are just as important as NA)
I believe the truer split figure would be ~55:45 (in favour of xbox360)
Not that it's any great insight, but the whole problem with PS3 is that there's no compelling reason for it to exist, not from the consumer's standpoint. It's kind of like the Gamecube and Xbox last-gen, which weren't different enough from the PS2 to matter. They both came out late and weren't enough of a jump in power for many customers to care. The Xbox ultimately differentiated itself with Live (giving it a new lease on life), whereas the Gamecube just kind of faded away. Outside of hardcore fans of Sony's 1st-party franchises (Gran Turismo, and, uh...Ratchet & Clank?) and the handful of exclusive 3rd party games, there's just not a whole lot of motivation for the average HD consumer to get a PS3, and it shows.
At this point, all PS3 accomplishes is cannibalizing part of the HD market, which just forces development costs up for the vast majority of titles, since PS3 ports don't write themselves. It's just not economical.
At this point, all PS3 accomplishes is cannibalizing part of the HD market, which just forces development costs up for the vast majority of titles, since PS3 ports don't write themselves. It's just not economical.
djskribbles
Legend
I never said price is the only factor, I said it's the bigger factor. I also said that I think the 360's higher numbers are probably more because of the price cut rather than Gears 2 and Fable 2 etc. I still think the PS3's library is good enough to appeal to many gamers, it's just too expensive.
maybe so but there should be no debate that GoW2, Fable2 Left 4 Dead had a big impact on the desirability of that system at that price. Sony, even at $299 like 360, would be hard pressed to have the same kind of impact as 360 without those games in it's library. It is evident just looking at the sales of game numbers compared to the user base.
True, we can not jump to conclusions that GoW2 or Fable or L4D would have sold more systems had they been on PS3 but I contend they would have sold more copies than most of sony's games - because they are arguably more compelling than sony's current library.
either that or a lot more Ps3s are being used primarily as blu Ray movie players than game machines than we think.
