| Space20man said: Why do people always have to flip things? The numbers show the PS3 sold more than the xbox 360 in the same time period. Even with PS3 price cuts it still was the most expensive system on the market and it still out-sold the xbox 360. Good for Sony |
I don't get this either. This really DOES show "fanboyism" or bias. The PS3 sold more during the equivalent time period. Period. Price cuts, earthquakes, whatever, DON'T MATTER! Doesn't matter as to why it sold more and doesn't matter as to why it DIDN'T outsell the Wii for that matter.
What I DO find more impressive is the fact that it DID outperform the 360 during the equivalent time period DESPITE facing a lot of negative press and having a distinct pricing disadvantage, besides the normal console start up issues of a dearth of games. That shows SOMETHING about it's sales, regardless.
The other thing I find funny is, when all these products aren't being launched together and are competing against each other, why do they have to equal each others sales numbers? It's like comparing the 2006 Chrysler Voyager's sales against the 2007 Toyota Sequoia. With over a year separating releases...sure they're competing, but going head to head with units sold life to date is just plain STOOPID. :) The only way to really compare the unit sales is to either go through their WHOLE LIFECYCLE at the end of it, or compare over the same period from availability. Crowing that the 2006 model has sold a whole lot more than the 2007 is just dumb unless it's qualified in those terms. Yet, fanboys do it with their consoles all the time!
Also, now I hear that the Xbox with about 25 million sold in 4 years was a disappointment and not a success? Ok, maybe compared to that freaky beast that was the PS2 and it's 100 million PLUS that have been sold, but the Xbox was NOT a failure. It had a good, healthy library. Now, even if a console "only" sells 20-30 million in a four year period, it's going to have a good library and it will be healthy. Obviously 100 million or more is a great thing, but that can't be counted on, and it certainly shouldn't be seen as the norm.
I do think that if anything, it does look like the Wii may attain that type of success. I think the Xbox 360 and PS3 will top out anywhere from 30-60 million a piece. I don't think that will be a "failure" for either company although it may not be the "threepeat" for Sony or the numbers MS would WISH for. Still, each will have strong library's, a large by any standard user base, and a solid foundation to build their next platform for.
The only question in my mind that still has to be answered definitively, is if Sony's PS2 user base will migrate or not, at least in a majority. Human nature is to go with what you know and that DOES give Sony the advantage as they look to convert that massive PS2 user base to the PS3 like they did in going from PS1 to PS2. The challenge for Sony is in making the platform attractive enough to those users. There's a good percentage of those users that have come on board during the past couple of years with the PS2 being around or less than $200. So price is obviously a large factor for a not extremely small segment of the market.
So, the question is, can Sony reduce the price of the PS3 over time and fast enough to capture a good percentage of their former users? I think that $400 is not a BAD price level, but it isn't great. If the PS3 was $200 today, it would be game over, but it's not. I think as Sony and IF Sony is able to reach $350-$300 and lower, but really starting at $350, they have a better chance to capture a good chunk of their former PS2 user base. If they're not able to do that at all, or not in a reasonable time frame, then they stand to lose that user base more completely. Time will tell. However, it's clear that Sony, while not succeeding wildly so far like the PS2 did, is by no means "failing" with their current product and has at least a great bit of potential.
MS looks poised to at least better the success of the original Xbox with the 360 by a good degree. The question with them is if MS is going to cut their current user base off at the knees after 4 years like they did with the Xbox. If so, I think that stands to hurt them with the consumer market. I don't think that's an action they can afford to repeat this soon. I think people took it once, but twice.....would be irritated with and it could cost them. The 360 is good enough to last for longer than 4 years in any case, at least the models with hard drives in them.
As for Nintendo, the question is just how long the "Wii-mania" will last. It could keep going and end up eclipsing the PS2, or it could fade. Again, time will tell. Nintendo has definitely shown the magic of the right price point and unique functionality however, and also that graphics alone don't matter so much at least to a lot of the market. We'll see how far that goes.
