Global Hardware 16 March 2019

[DonFerrari]

Shiken said:

Rob5VGC said:
Japan has been the reason why Switch has been selling more than PS4 for weeks this year. It is the difference maker. Take it out or make the Switch numbers equal with PS4 and PS4 would be outselling it every week.

Note: I don't care for the PS4. Just stating the obvious that this is more impressive for PS4 with how old it is.

The problem with that logic is that it is not different than me saying, "well if you take europe out and only look at US, the Switch is constantly ahead of PS4 even without Japan."

It is all or nothing, there is no other way.  Yes it is impressive how well the PS4 is doing going into its 6th year, but that does not change the fact that the Switch is normally ahead of it this year.  You say you are not pro PS4, but you comment is one that would only be made by someone who is teying to downplay Switch sales as it is irrelevant information.

Way to go and make it like an attack on other user and stealth accusation of fanboyism.

Bofferbrauer2 said:

DonFerrari said:

These are certainly much better examples, still that is basically the norm for PS4 if look at it.

Also the bigger games will still release at the end of the year. Anyway as I said I find it hard to happen Switch 20+M and PS4 15-M for this year (next year that is pretty much a given).

There may be better examples, but The Division 2 was the biggest of the bunch this week, and it certainly also helped that it got some tailwind from DMC 5. But, yeah, like Zorg said, it's just an example.

Switch currently competes against a PS4 with all those game releases with nothing and still come out on top most of the time. What do you think will be the situation in Summer and Fall when the positions are switched around and Switch is getting all the games, but not the PS4?

Division 2 could have been the biggest of the week, that is irrelevant, just show that the week hadn't any title to push PS4 HW.

End of the year certainly Switch will sell more than PS4, the point I made is that I think it hardly will be a 5+M gap.

zorg1000 said:

DonFerrari said:

These are certainly much better examples, still that is basically the norm for PS4 if look at it.

Also the bigger games will still release at the end of the year. Anyway as I said I find it hard to happen Switch 20+M and PS4 15-M for this year (next year that is pretty much a given).

The YoY decline will continue at a similar rate in Q2. Days Gone has the potential to be a solid system seller but I doubt it comes close to what God of War did last April. May has Rage 2 & Crash Racing in June vs Detroit & The Crew 2 so expect those those months to be down as well.

What big games are confirmed for the 2nd half of the year? The annual sports and Call of Duty are coming but their console moving ability gets smaller each year as these will be the 7th entry of those titles.

Some safe bets are Doom 2 from Bethesda vs Fallout 76 last year, Borderlands 3 from Take-Two vs Red Dead 2 last year, Watch Dogs from Ubisoft vs Assassin's Creed last year, Star Wars from EA vs Battlefield V last year, Last of Us 2 from Sony vs Spiderman last year.

Let's say it's a tie overall when it comes to big games in the 2nd half of the year, that likely means a notable decline as it's harder for titles to sell consoles when you get late into a consoles cycle.

15 million for PS4 requires a ~17% YoY decline and 20m for Switch requires a ~22% increase which shouldn't be too hard to imagine since PS4 is currently down by over 20% and Switch up by about 28%.

Are we going to assume none of the 3 most expected games for PS4 won't release this year? TLOU, Death Stranding and Ghost of Tsushijima.

I expect PS4 to be about 16M and Switch 19M.

MasonADC said:

DonFerrari said:

These are certainly much better examples, still that is basically the norm for PS4 if look at it.

Also the bigger games will still release at the end of the year. Anyway as I said I find it hard to happen Switch 20+M and PS4 15-M for this year (next year that is pretty much a given).

I would think 20 million for switch is much more likely to happen this year than next 

I didn't mean it is more likely that Switch will be 20M next year, I meant that 5M gap is almost certain next year.

Shiken said:

Nate4Drake said:

We continue to compare apples with oranges, and this will keep going for ever.  PS4 is an old Home Console, Switch a reletavely new portable from Nintendo. Can people realize that it is silly to compare sales of PS4 and Switch in 2019 and 2020 ? This is much more silly than reiterating what I have just said; Switch is the new Nintendo gimmick, it belongs to its own generation, and it's not even competing directly with Playstation, as it offers a completely different game experience, and absolutely almost nothing new to play lately;  it can sell very good just because of the hardware, it is considered a Toy by many american people who are buying it for their kids. Parents can play together with kids, and many people do not even have enough time to sit on a comfortable sofa and play videogames.  Some can just play in their spare time, during the lunch break, or between lessons at school or University.  In a place like Japan it is a lot related to their life style and "Social side".  Is it so important to waste pages and pages about the amount of gap Switch and PS4 will have in 2019 ?  1M, 2M, 3M, 4M ?  Are you playing "selling numbers" or Videogames ?  I do play videogames, and everytime I turn on my PS4, I don't know what to play because there are so many new Great games, I'm not kidding, it can take 10 minutes before being able to choose the Game to play. My Switch is collecting dust, there is nothig to play, and I don't give a fook about Japanes sales figures; I'm from Italy and I do play videogames.  What about you? (in general, not referring to you in particular). 

For the Gap between the two, it depends on PS4 price cut; the price will be cut to $249 ? $199 ? And when, around E3 Time, or 1st of September ? And what about a price cut for Switch or a new revision ? Do we have a crystal ball ? I do not have one personally, so I prefer to not waste my time giving figures I have no idea, 'cause they depends upon factors we don't know yet. I personally prefer to play Video Games, and now it's time to go back to Sekiro ;)

There is a lot wrong with this post.  Right off the bat, it is worth noting that the Switch has offered more to play in less than two years than the PS4 did in two entire years.  So the whole, "offering nothing new to play" notion is a joke.  I still remember defending the PS4 during the "indie station 4", "PS3.5", and "PS4 has no gamez" days that Sony fans seem to forget about.  Most of what it offered was cross gen ports for the longest time, and the first real notable exclusive was Bloodborne ,over two years after the PS4 was released.  Meanwhile the Switch has given us several high quality exclusives already, two of which were GotY contenders, and one of which WON GotY 2017.

The Switch is a home console that can be taken on the go.  This is why it has home console 3rd party games such as DOOM, Wolfenstein, Dragonball FighterZ, Mortal Kombat, Crash, etc.  And of course this is complemented by the fact that it also recieves all of Nintendo's home console titles as well.  Many people use it exclusively docked as well, which changes how the console functions as it is more than jist an HDMI out.  As for the "Nintendo Gimmik" comment, that does nothing but scream downplay on your part.  Unless you are willing to admit that remote play, VR, PS Now and the like are just Sony gimmiks (even more so than the hybrid console concept in fact), which makes the PS4 far more gimmiky than the Switch.

You claim the Switch is a toy for kids, but the main demographic buying and playing it is adults.  This has been pointed out time and time again, but I guess that bothers you so you cling to a past stigma about Nintendo like a crutch and refuse to see it for what it is.  What you play is up to you, but I play my Switch far more than my PS4, and all of the games I play on it are new.  In the past six months I played Starlink, Wolfenstein 2, Dragonball FighterZ, Smash, Ys VIII, Valkeria Chronicles 4, and Yoshi on my Switch alone.  On my PS4 I have played RDR2 (most overrated game I have ever played), DMC5, and REmake 2.

I have the same options as anyone else, but my Switch gets more attention while my PS4 collects dust at times.  There are plenty of options on both sides, but you seem to ignore that and base things on your personal preferences alone.  It only hurts your argument in the end however.  Instead of downplaying a successful Nintendo console just to white knight for console that frankly does not need it just to discredit any logic you may or may not have had due to how ridiculous you sound, try acknowledging what both devices have to offer while discussing the pros of both.  Personal preference has no place in a sales discussion, as sales are just that...sales.  Maybe then your posts may eventually be taken seriously by anyone without the same bias as yourself.

Just my 2 Rupees.

So Switch had more to play in the 2 years than PS4? Then we have to go back to a lot of threads that on aligned sales had the "but Switch didn't had a noteworthy game in the last 6-12 months".