It is the monthly sales we would like to see though. The PS3 probably got a major sales boost in Europe and the difference may change.
SCEA announces holiday sales figures (PSP: 1.4m, PS2: 1.3m, PS3: 1.2m)
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It is the monthly sales we would like to see though. The PS3 probably got a major sales boost in Europe and the difference may change.
That number needs some rather lengthy exposition of context to be meaningful (it at all). Over the nest two quarters MS shipped/sold (to retail) about as many (or less) consoles worldwide (going by their financials) as they sold at retail in NA alone (going by NPD). Those shipment also include the introduction of the Elite, so it seems pretty obvious that those 10 million from last year were heavy channel stuffing yielding a combination of being a nice round PR number as well as giving them a lull in which to introduce the Elite and start transitioning to the new motherboards.
Sony going to have to drum up some major demand for the PS3 in US. 1.2 mil is not a lot of consoles for a holiday season, the xbox regularly did 1.4 and above with only falling under that number when the 360 was launched. I don't think the PS3 will come close to the 360 in the US unless its marquee 2008 titles really turns things around or it gains price parity with the 360.
I don't think Sony can wait till holiday season 2008, it better be able to keep up if the 360 slashes it price during the spring of this year.
Luckily, Sony is doing much better in the PAL markets and seems to be actually outpacing the 360 overall. For the 360 to increase PAL sales it going to have to create a bigger price gap than the one that currently exists.
I don't think Sony can wait till holiday season 2008, it better be able to keep up if the 360 slashes it price during the spring of this year.
Luckily, Sony is doing much better in the PAL markets and seems to be actually outpacing the 360 overall. For the 360 to increase PAL sales it going to have to create a bigger price gap than the one that currently exists.
The PS3 really isn't struggling when put in a global context. I don't think it'll ever catch the 360 in the USA unless it's on the shelf for a much longer time period, however I can certainly see Japan being it's leg-up over the 360 in the "HD" space pushing it ahead globally.
It's a bit of a pity for Sony's PR department that America has the most gaming press, where it's firmly in the #3 sales slot compared to its peers. People love looking at what they can measure.
It's a bit of a pity for Sony's PR department that America has the most gaming press, where it's firmly in the #3 sales slot compared to its peers. People love looking at what they can measure.
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Can't wait for NPDs
I am waiting for NPDs to say much... I do find the "Sales in first 12 months" comparison interesting in the US. Sony pulled out all the stops this holiday: large price drop, free game, free Blu-ray movies, free online play, a number of exclusive titles, and so forth.
@ Laa-Yosh: thanks for those numbers!
I think that's the crux of the situation. The US really is hugely important purely because such a vast majority of games are made for American gamers, which is why so much emphasis is put on NPD's over the GKF and Famitsu/MC numbers.
I dont see Western publishers ignoring the PS3 because it isnt selling aswell as 360 in the US, especially with its EU sales being better. As its userbase gets bigger, thats surely even less likely to happen. Best-case scenario is that 360 is used as the lead platform during development.
Surely Japanese presence is good for Sony, because Japanese publishers are much more likely to ignore the 360, than US ones are likely to ingore PS3?
Surely Japanese presence is good for Sony, because Japanese publishers are much more likely to ignore the 360, than US ones are likely to ingore PS3?
quest55720
Regular
I think the downplay of the MC is because of hand helds are crushing the consoles in japan. Even the Wii before Wii fit and holidays came was settling at 30k a week. While the DS is always 100k + a week with like 60% of the top 30 games.
We have no real game sales number for europe that is why that is ignored. If we could get some real conisstant numbers on software units sold it would make discussion a lot more interesting.
While we get less data than before in the NPD it is still gives real number in hardware and just as important these days software.
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quest55720
Regular
Hell hardly any console games are selling well in japan outside a couple of Wii titles like Wii sports,play,fit. It has been a few years now that console games have been selling very poorly in japan. Probably why a few smart companies like capcom jumped on the 360 bandwagon since it moves software.
Shrink further? That suggests that there has been a trend of the gap closing in the US. The closest they got was in July (price drop) where the ps3 was behind by 11000 units. However that gap widened to 146k the following month and has been larger than 146k every month since. I don't know the actual december numbers but I'll eat my hat if the 360 didn't best the ps3 by more than 200k (in reality its probably more like 500k+).
Aside from a tapering off after the Halo3 surge I'd suggest the overall gap has been getting bigger not smaller in the US.
quest55720
Regular
I don't know why you would think that yet. We have heard that same line from the sony group for a year now. Wait for motor storm, wait for the price cut, wait for the new model,wait for lair, wait for HS, wait for ratchet, wait for uncharted. Every time is the same result a small spike and business back to normal. Sony has played a ton of cards this year just to stay with in 2 to 1. MS still have cards in the pricing they will play out later this year. We will see the same this this year as last a price drop with a huge franchise last year madden this year GTA4. We have not seen the 360 2008 games yet. MS has been smart and showing the 2007 line up over and over and over. Come in the next few months we will learn that the 360 will have coming.
Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, finally an acceptable price(which could come down again), bluray(likely to put the final nail in hd-dvd's coffin this year.).
lair, hs, and uncharted were new ips which could've bombed, sold spectacularly, or somewhere inbetween. Ratchet while an established ip doesn't approach the likes of gran turismo. Microsoft's biggest salvo halo already came out.
with two of the biggest 2k8 games being exclusive, a nice price, definite-hd-format, and nothing of similar ip strength exclusive elsewhere. I do think it's likely to close or reverse the gap.
Pricing can only move you so far, we saw that with the gamecube last generation. Also, if I recall correctly, the 360 sold about 9 million units in 2006, in 2007 they sold about 7 million, despite halo+price drop( I believe it is possible the numbers will be smaller still for 2008).
quest55720
Regular
399 dollars for the gimped model is hardly an approachable price. 2 games while nice are not going to win over the public. What are you talking about pricing can only take you so far? Since the price cut in august MS has completely dominated sony. Price cuts work for systems that sell well they don't work for those that don't. Speaking of the game cube how close is the PS3 to selling less than it in its first year? The general public could careless about HD movies at all that is not going to sell systems to people who actually purchase games.
Sony had a price drop/new model/2 AAA exclusives this Nov/Dec and still could not beat the 360. A 360 that was under shipped(premium/elite) this holiday season to add insult to injury. When are the stars going to line up like that again any time soon?
Being AAA doesn't mean it will mean much in the market unless it's either a very strong established ip or a new ip that becomes a hit.
The pricing thing is real though, look at the 360, If I'm not mistaken it sold less worldwide this year compared to last year despite a price drop. Gamecube wasn't helped much by continuing to drop the price. Once you reach a 200~ price point you're pretty much were most consumers will take the bait.
I also believe it's likely that the ps3 will consolidate into just one model.
360 doesn't need HALO every year. Games like Dead Rising, Crack Down, CoD4, etc proves that the system can sell games. And looking at past history, GeoW 2 will move on the 360.
So far, we have seen that exclusives on the ps3 aren't doing too well against multiplatforms.
True, hence that's why with the PS3 only $50 more than a 360, it still doesn't move as fast as 360.
So exclusively, pricing, new ip vs established ip isn't that moving more 360 than ps3. Maybe MS is right with being the first to market to capture the synergy of your friends own a 360, so you would want one.
It's a hype/hip factor that's why Nintendo Wii doing so well, because when you compare Wii vs PS3. The Wii is overpriced junk (when you consider the Wii is only 150 cheaper than PS3), that's outselling the ps3 3 to 1 in japan.
quest55720
Regular
The 360 is not 200 dollars yet and might not even get there in 2008. 200 dollars is where the mass market starts to jump in and price cuts still jump sales of a successfull console. The PS2 and PS1 all got geat sales spikes for each price drop sub 200 dollars. 200 dollars is where the game starts not were it ends for the mass market.
World wide sales don't really matter yet. PS3 software hardware does not sell enough to really mean anything in japan. Handhelds have taken over the japanese market. The DS and PSP control the market with a little Wii sprinkled in here and there. The PS3 and 360 are no significant right now there. That just leaves sales in the west were MS owns the 2 biggest markets US/UK sony has a few markets in europe but since we have no software sales numbers we don't know how many games they are selling.
You mean Uncharted and UT3? Never mind what the Sony group says, but do you honestly think these games are in the same caliber as MGS4, GT5 and FFXIII? Because I sure as hell don't.
Sony postion right now should be gaining market acceptence in America. And it does look that way. With 1.2 million sold from Black Friday through the end of the year they should not be worrying that the 360 has done better then them. 1.2 million has actually exceeded Patcher and most analyst predictions. As long as big publishers like EA, Ubisoft, Capcom, etc. can make a decent profit on the PS3 and support it, the PS3 should be taging along fine when the real heavy hitters come in 2008. It does have Europe in it's back.
While I didn't follow the belief of the Sony peers saying "wait for this game or price drop of 07", I do believe Sony have the right stuff coming out in 2008 that consumers are very much looking forward too.
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