| mario64 said: @Dianko : The PS3 didn't lose Japan at all, it sold 3 million there vs only 1 million Xbox 360, and it even outsold the Wii multiple weeks this year. Last time I checked the Wii seemed to loose steam in worldwide weekly sales, while still being easily on top. The casual gamer crowd is on Wii though, and they're more numerous than core gamers. Warning ! I don't say at all that Wii has no core game / core gamer, games like Mario Galaxy or Zelda or Madworld are those games. But I say Wii has the casual gamers too, which puts it obviously on the top of the sales. I don't understand what you say about the PS3 price cut. You say it would increase sales by 200 % (which I think is possible) then you say it wouldn't have effect in the long run. This second part doesn't make much sense for me. For example, when MS cut the 360 price last september, it increased sales hugely and put the 360 in front of the PS3 in weekly sales, where it was constantly outsold. To this day (on the long run), it hasn't changed back. I mean I think price cuts have permanent effects... If you think PS3 sales will increase by 200%, there's no reason to think on the long run it won't change anything on sales. It did for the 360. |
Forgive me, I was both exagerrating my point and not being clear enough. I don't think it'll go up 200%. It wasn't hard for the 360, sales were so pitifully low 200% merely put it at an acceptable niche range.
What I meant in regards to the PS3 is that absolute sales are so low that it won't make a huge difference worldwide even with a large percentage increase here.
In regards to Japan, I stand by my statement that the PS3 lost Japan. Put a fork in it, it's done. It's not a matter of price, it's a matter of image and demand. The PS3 isn't as bad as the 360 in either regard, but it's pretty much slightly better than GC level. I repeat, there isn't enough interest here for it. I see it pretty often. I see it in the stores, in the games that my students talk about, that they are interested in. Sony has lost that vital demographic, because the trend in Japan was already moving away from the PS2 era successes many years ago and Sony didn't move to capitalise on it. Nintendo did. That's why my students are playing and giving a shit about the DS, and the Wii to a lesser extent. A price cut can only do so much when the appeal of the console is so limited to a particular demographic. The 360's price cut worked because the right software came out with the right price for that demographic, which is largely the same one that wants a PS3. A low priced PS3 with FFXIII and GT5 is not going to make the mountain of gamers put down their DS's and Wii's to drop 37000 yen for a cheaper PS3 with a game.
