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aLkaLiNE on 07 January 2017
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Nem said:
aLkaLiNE said:

Why would Sony want to artificially create demand by intentionally low balling PSVR shipments when a) each VR unit sold will be sure to move X amount of software which generates more profit/revenue for Sony and b) they have a need to create as big a install base as quickly as economically possible to show developers that there is money to be made? In the case of Amiibo Nintendo only generates income once off the sale of each Amiibo. Sony generates revenue with each VR unit sold, probably for a profit, and then they also sell software off the back of that which generates even more revenue/profit. I don't think it makes sense for any hardware platform to intentionally under ship, and I can't say that I remember the last time a gaming company did that. Did Sony intentionally under ship Ps4? Did Nintendo intentionally under ship the Wii? What about the PS2? It makes absolutely no sense to assume that they would want to actively constrain the headset.

 

Sony has mentioned previously that supply is being constrained by how fast they've been able to produce OLED screens. They said that they were experiencing better than anticipated sales and that capacity would be further expanded at the end of 2016. There are numerous analysts saying that PSVR has sold roughly equivalent to the Vive and Rift.... Combined. In half the time. We know that the headset is constantly out of stock online, which isn't anecdotal (check yourself, look on Amazon, eBay, check your local retailers) (my anecdotal experience at GameStop and bestbuy tells me that the units are selling as fast as they're coming since they've been sold out every time). Positive buzz/reception is there just about anywhere you see consumer reviews. Because you are oblivious to it doesn't change the fact. PSVR holds a 4.5 rating on Amazon by confirmed buyers, i.e. Not paid reviewers.

So by what metric is PSVR a failure? What data do you have to back it up? Everything we have suggests that they're selling what they can make.

I think you'll notice the ammounts of undershipping are very different and the costumer reception is also very different. I don't think Sony undershipped much. But had they had bigger demand they would've placed bigger orders to their suppliers. I think the demand simply isnt there and they are trying to talk their way out of this one before it becomes apparant that it isn't the sucess they would have us believe.

I also totally believe it sold more than the other VR sets. But, so did the Vita.

The thing is... for this to be sucessful it has to achieve mass market. I don't think it has a chance in hell to achieve that. Actually do you know of any peripheral with a sucess story in the games market?

750k in 3 months from a marketable pool of 53 million people for an accessory platform that costs $400+ is pretty fucking good if you ask me. And again, you can't meet market demand if you can't produce OLED displays any faster. They can, and have already upped capacity once which was the end of 2016. And regarding your last sentence, peripherals have varying degrees of success based on the companies vision. Guitar hero was an amazing success at one point, and rock band (harmonix) has managed to thrive with a self published 4th release that is constantly moving DLC purchases (coming from having to be funded by EA the first 3 games). Logitechs racing wheel has been profitable enough to warrant continual release. The only things I know to have died in recent memory are the 7th gen motion controls. But VR as a whole is different. The constant release of games means that the user base will grow, never at any point remaining static and as that happens we will see developers devote bigger budgets and more resources toward titles. As it stands there is compelling software now and there is more in the pipeline. RIGS in particular looks like something I need in my life. And if we are to assume that PlayStation will be backward compatible moving forward due to the x86 architecture, then it's reasonable to figure that the same will apply to their VR headsets.  It really is the next generation and where I think games are going.