PS3 flops in US (March) - what now?

[johnlucas]

Bonafide732 said:
i think he was just being sarcastic... ps3 isnt flopping people calm down.. i could say the 360 is slowing down alot sales went down from the month before

Guys, guys, guys. The Europe/PAL launch was Sony's last chance. Not only has dominance been lost but now survival might be as well.

1st party didn't save Nintendo's console spot and it is by far the best 1st party around. I cannot stand to see people delude themselves. It forces me to broadcast reality.

Three Fronts Sony's fighting on:

Japan- Lost to Nintendo entirely. WiiDS Phenomenon strongest there. XBox 360 non-factor here luckily for Sony.

USA & the Americas- Facing the prospect of the oft-talked about Wii60 combo.

Europe- This is NOT living. The only true battleground left and Sony's losing ground here as well surprisingly to Nintendo which has historically flubbed this region. XBox 360 still somehow hasn't made its mark here yet. Microsoft monopolies must scare the Europeans off. They must anti-trust it or something.

Then the rest:

Australia- A smaller populated region where Sony faces off once again against the Wii60 combo.

New Zealand- OK Sony rules here.

Rest of World (Africa, West Asia, Non-Japan Asia, India, Antarctica, Greenland, etc.)- either PC games, don't buy games, buy "new" gamesystems from 10 or 15 years ago, or bootlegs. Nobody really wins here except...*gasp* Counterfeit Jeans.

So in all that and the time we've seen from the systems (it's almost been half a year now) how in the Gargamel does anybody think Sony can turn this around short of a miracle of divine intervention???

They'll have to see the Virgin Mary or something in the shiny finish of the PS3 for them to come out of this now.

At best they'll hang on until gen is over losing lots of money but still able to go for a PS4...MAYBE. That's best case scenario now. They have made terrible business decisions and public relations decisions and have thrown away their brandpower. It's nice to hope but don't delude yourselves. Just look at what is happening.

PS3 & Wii launched at virtually the same time. The gulf is only going to widen. In Japan they had almost a whole month headstart. It was foolish not to TRY to put together PAL region launch. That was a fatal move and I saw that coming a mile away. This is not 1985 anymore. There is an internet now and people can get feedback listening to people from other regions. It can damper desire for a product.

It's all about your suppliers. More now than ever before. Games are harder to make and more complex so it takes more time and more money. You need volume to fill in the gaps between releases. Sony will need those 3rd party suppliers or they will be in quite a N64 kind of way. And I remember those days. I lived through 'em. They were not fun when it came to waiting for games.

The 3rd party suppliers are loyal only to the dollar/yen/euro. Whoever they feel can make them the most bank they will get behind. Microsoft might YET pick up a little in Japan if 3rd party gets behind them. If that happens where does that leave Sony? If the Japanese 3rd party split the difference between Sony in the East and Microsoft in the West, Sony STILL loses out. Not enough volume and it will stagnate sales which in turn aggravates 3rd parties.

I'm sorry to tell you but it's only going to get worse. There's a reason you hear Sony publically rethinking their strategy now. There's a reason people are resigning and folks are getting laid off. I'd like to think it's just coincidence and unrelated but it's not. A company on the rise either maintains workforce or expands it. Whole depts. & staff don't just get dropped like that. They either get reassigned or redesigned. Individuals getting laid off is different. But marked staff getting dropped in the midst of bad news is always a sign of things not smelling right in Denmark.

This is not a bash. This is reality. And someone has to break the news to you.

Sony's best bet now is to figure out how to hang on and see if they got enough to put together a PS4. Because life will be short for the PS3. If they keep playing Microsoft's game, we may be seeing Sony's last days in the gaming business.

John Lucas