Supposely Nintendo is upping the production from 1mil a month to 1.5 mil as of this month.
NPD March 2007
- Thread starter Hardknock
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Supposely Nintendo is upping the production from 1mil a month to 1.5 mil as of this month.
Sony sure needs to drops the prince of PS3 in EU!
€600 ≠ $600 !!!!!!!
€600 = 790,32$ (Nice rip-off from EU loyal playerbase)
$600 = €455,51
They should at least match the price in $ and lower EU price in ~ €480 range
But the worst PS3 problem is ...
... complete lack of quality games.
Motorstom, Resistance and Virtua Fighter 5 don't cut it!
I thought it was 1.2 million. Will that be enough to match demand ? We shall see. After all, even after upping DS production to 2.3 millions per month, Nintendo is still supply-constrained at times for the DS in EU and US, and every week in JP... If Wii is still supply constrained after the bump in production, then Nintendo will sell about 3.5 millions consoles each month (+ whatever the GBA sells those days), each of them profitable out of the box. Scary.
Most EU countries have a hefty VAT, though. The PS3 EU price is far from the ripoff the PS2 was.
Disagree. The PS3 has a good number of quality games already, including the games you dismiss. What it lacks is system sellers. I still can't imagine a game that would singlehandly sell a $600 system, though. I don't think PS3 sales can take off on a price drop or on good SW alone. It will need both, and the sooner the better.
Dont forget the MSRP for the UK, £425, which is $850.
Further, whats up with our game prices? Americans pay $60 for "next-gen" games right? Why do we have to pay $100?
Nintendo upped production to 1.5 million during March, so we should see the full effect of the increased production when April NPDs are posted.
I posted this Businessweek article on the increase a month or so ago in this forum, but I don't remember where.
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/apr2007/gb20070405_879933.htm
Businessweek said:
[EDIT]
Fixed grammar issues.
Thanks for the correction. A 50% increase in production is pretty impressive.
quest55720
Regular
I think the game libraries of each system will be so close price will matter. This is not like the last 2 gens were sony had pretty much every good franchise locked up as an exclusive. Heck right now the MS userbase is single handedly keeping next gen viable for 3rd parties. God help any 3rd party with a big budget game that is a ps3 exclusive that is not money hatted. I think in the end the Wii will have the most exclusives thanks to its unique controller.
This generation is probably the first time we see a co-existant of a tier system. As long as EA continues to make maddan/Need4Speed for the PS2, as long as Guitar Heo (which btw has PS1-level graphic) continue to be released on the PS2, as long as developers keep porting big PSP and Wii games to the PS2, I don't see the PS2 ever going away. At lease not for the next 2-3 years. Pass that it depends on Sony.
American like cheap consoles. One only need to take a look at the GBA sales and know PS2 hardware/software sales aren't going anywhere. Sony can even rapackage it in fancy color and bundle a LCD screen to make it more "portable" and kid friendly.
Of course, Sony has made a couple of mistakes in markting PSP so I don't know if they will market the PS2 right in the future.
I have yet to see the Wii getting the spiritual successors of the big PS2 franchises (GTA/GT4/MGS/FF/Kingdom heart/WW2FPS) I will give you Madden and N4S however I think X360 Madden outsold Wii Madden.
Micheal Pachter said before the PS3 launch in an interview he excepted each console will take turn to take the lead in market share, and Wii will be perceived as the winner in late 07-early 08, I agree with him.
Erm, OK let's get something straight:
1) PS3 is generally £400 in the UK (OK, you can argue £425 if you like...but that included a free film and HDMI lead from almost all stores). But the UK price includes tax.
2) £1 is NOT $2, it's rarely that good. More often it is around the $1.75 mark (tho at the moment around $1.90).
Taking these points on board the prices are:
US ~$650 which is around £370. So 'technically' we're paying ~£30 over the odds...in fact 'today' the 'actual' difference is around £50 ($95 - about half of what you posted).
Likewise for games, £40 ($75 - not $100!) is the top price whereas in the US it's ~$65 (add the tax!).
I hope people are finally clear on this.
scooby_dooby
Legend
Actually, I really think that the console space is one that breeds brand loyalty, even back in the SNES vs Genesis days, there was extreme brand loyalty among me and my friends, and you over hear it all the time in game shops, it's the nature of the console space for some reason.
So, I do believe there are a huge mass of Ps2 owners that will buy only the next Sony, want to play those IP's, aren't interested in an xbox, and will wait until PS3 drops into their pricerange.
Assuming that Xbox now has equal appeal among mainstream gamers, would be a big mistake for MS. They're getting there, but they still have a ton of work to do, and a relatively short time span to get it done. Once PS3 hits <$300 I think you'll see it's mainstream appeal come to life.
Of course, if MS is aggressive, and has the premiium at $199 by then, they don't have much to worry about. MS's ace in the hole is the price advantage, but have to be aggressive with it, not complacent, if they want to hold the lead.
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heliosphere
Newcomer
At the moment £1 is $2 - £1 = $1.99896 (as of 2007-04-24 18:28 UTC (GMT))
Interesting, i'd always felt the opposite was true, and that console buyers were some of the least loyal people about. This explaining so many different console companies leading with at least one console. I think a lot of people outside of the hardcore (god I hate that name but anyway) will go with the flow and buy what their friends are buying, and what the general public perceive to be the console of choice. For this reason, I think the high praise for Wii and the less than stellar media reaction to the PS3, certainly in the UK, means that most casuals will buy into the Wii and we'll see that do really well.
Anecdotal I know, but I think the following illustrates fairly well what i'm saying. I listen to the radio morning show on the way into work each day. My radio station of choice is Radio 1, fronted at that time of day by Chris Moyles. Back when the 360 was due for release, they had a long 10 minute section where one of the co-presenters revealed they'd managed to get hold of one for him before the release date, then dropped it. Of course it was a dummy console, but the point is the fuss made over it. He was thrilled to have one and he regularly mentions in passing that he was playing his 360 etc etc. Over a year later, and the PS3 is released. It made the morning news, mainly due to the price, but Chris just didn't seem keen. I don't think i'm going too far when i say most people probably consider Moyles to be fairly typical of the age group the console manufacturers target, and in talking about it, he is effectively giving his approval to thousands of potential casuals who don't have the time, energy or inclination to go and see what is the best console for them, they just buy what others are buying, and what is deemed cool.
That is why i disagree. Like you I have only anecdotal evidence to back it up, and maybe to a limited extent, we're both right, i'm sure there are loyal and unloyal people in all sorts of markets, but I do think a sizable amount of people who bought PS2 bought it because it was the cool console, and I don't think PS3 is the same
This is the interesting part. I agree with the overall thought process and in a typical console generation, I believe this formula/theory would still work. This gen though, Sony threw the formula away. This in and of itself isn't a big issue as long as all other players involved follow suit on the new formula adopted by Sony. As we know though, they haven't.
As it sits currently, it is a race against the clock for Sony. The same userbase that bought ps1+ps2 did so at a significantly different price point than what ps3 is currently selling for. These same people will/would likely do the same at a similar pricepoint as they already paid previously, but when ps3 will hit this point is an unknown. At the same time they are hoping to maintain their ps1+ps2 userbase, they must also retain their ps1+ps2 3rd party support.
Exclusivity has already been tossed aside for the vast majority of these 3rd party developers. This in and of itself again isn't a big deal. But again, the competition is not following the same formula as Sony this gen.
I think they will lose a significant share of these ps2 users to xb360 or Wii this gen simply due to time. These users will only wait for affordability so long on their platform of choice and every day that goes by, another familiar ps2 game is announced or shipping on xb360 or Wii which are much more affordable. As this shift continues there will come a point of no return for developer support, mass media and market acceptance, and general mindshare.
Of course, the other players in this game would have to capitalize on this opportunity and thus far, both have dragged their feet. (Nintendo with manufacturing capacity, and MS with delayed (and psuedo reversed) price drops) With each mistake these competitors make it seems Sony feels a duty to mirror their own, but they still have an opportunity at this point to regain their dominance.
Brand loyalty at this point I feel still does exist and there are a lot of ps1+ps2 users out there. They just need to adjust their price in time to capture their ps1+ps2 users before they get the itch to switch to a nextgen box. Killer software announced/demonstrated can act as an anti-itch creame for them but must be shown soon. With E3 right around the corner, I expect Sony to come out swinging for the fences. If they outscore Nintendo and MS, (who will also be looking to swing for the fences) then they can delay this itch to switch. Whether they can delay it long enough is another question.
scooby_dooby
Legend
It's funny, because everyone assuems PS3 will take a long time to drop price, what if it doesn't? What if they shave off $200 by this Xmas and have a console at $399? And agressively pricedrop through 2008?
They are already claiming cheap BR diodes to come in June, the drop to 65nm is close, and the EE can be removed from future models, this adds up. Once the cost of BR and CELL come down, there's really not alot seperating these machines in production cost.
All of a sudden ms's $300 advantage will be $50.
I still think it's a huge mistake for MS to be sitting back doing nothing...
They are already claiming cheap BR diodes to come in June, the drop to 65nm is close, and the EE can be removed from future models, this adds up. Once the cost of BR and CELL come down, there's really not alot seperating these machines in production cost.
All of a sudden ms's $300 advantage will be $50.
I still think it's a huge mistake for MS to be sitting back doing nothing...
DuckThor Evil
Legend
But they are doing lot's of stuff right now. They are much cheaper right now and the game line up for the rest of the year looks great, that's a lot imo. MS can still drop to 199 easier than Sony at a later time.
I've said this time and time again: it is selling, in decent numbers so why cut the profit margin now? It's the classic monopoly rent setup - people who will buy a 360 now are willing to pony up the cash, those that don't can wait. If they cut the price, those who can afford it now will still buy it, but they won't pay as much *and* those who haven't brought it will get one too. By making those who won't pay wait, MS can make far more money in the immediate term. And, with no real competitor at their price point, this makes sense.
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