By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Arkaign on 29 May 2015
Edit Thread
Mummelmann said:
Ninsect said:

I honestly expected PS4 to be down YOY at this point. The Witcher 3 and Batman will now help it being up still. Then it will be interesting to see if MGSV can boost PS4 more than Destiny did last year


Yeah, there really isn't any proper, logical reason in conventional market movements for why the PS4 is showing growth for this quarter. I think it mostly comes down to the fact that the others are still performing pretty poorly and the PS4 has become the go-to console for developer and customer alike, it maintains its own momentum by having secured a huge lead and reaping the benefits from "it" status.
Once more, as it was in the 6th gen, when someone says "video game" or "console", average consumers associate these terms with "playstation".

Those who say that is "only selling on hype" are partly correct in some ways, but they are wrong in thinking that the sales will die down or even decrease if and when this hype dies; Sony has as of yet done next to nothing to help the PS4 along, they have been more or less handed the win by the utterly ridiculous decisions made by the competition since before the consoles were even announced. But it has its own legs to stand on, more and better software will help and the first price cut is sure to invigorate the market near the holidays.
Unlike the Wii, which relied solely upon hype, or the euphemism vgchartzers chose; viral marketing, the PS4 has a life to live besides this bubble and we'll see a lot more stable sales curves, not unlike the PS3 but with less growth in later years and insane longevity and without the immense speed of the Wii's initial years.
Let's just hope Sony doesn't get too lazy or too timid, the PS3 should have been the only lesson the needed.

That's my belief anyway.

I agree with this. I do think the PS4's exclusive library is meh (I prefer the WiiU overall for exclusives so far), but of course in the mass market multiplats are basically all that matters when there are so few of them for PS4 and X1. If the exclusives start REALLY piling up like I think in 2016+, then something could change in that regard.

But the biggest change in the gen is going to come with $299 and below, by far. Dropping to the sub $300 range exposes a HUGE percentage of the marketplace that won't buy at beyond that number no matter how good the deal is. I think a $299 PS4 with NO games would outsell a $349 PS4 with 4 games. And it wouldn't even be close. Consumer buying patterns are bizarre but pretty easy to observe. Hot item + psychologically 'fair' price = BOOM.

That will be the difference between 90m and 120m global sales imho, whether or not they cut the price first to $299 soon enough, and then go further to $199 by year 5 at the latest.