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Forums - Sony Discussion - Are too many Americans just using their PS3 as a Blu-ray player?

Rainbow Yoshi on 13 March 2012

The Blu-ray player is much lower in price now, so the incentive to get a PS3 just for the Blu-ray player is less likely. Blu-ray is in no way a hindrance to video gaming on the PS3 but a very suitable add-on. I have so far only watched one Blu-ray on the PS3 and that was Senna.



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SickleSigh on 13 March 2012
cmeese47 said:

Each week when I look at the software numbers, I ask myself what is up with PS3 fans. Okay I realize there is a 14 mil console difference for 360 but some of these sales numbers are just baffling. For example Mass Effect 2 and 3 sales. Mass Effect 2 has yet to reach a mil WW. Yes I know that it was released late but the PS3 had a ton of DLC included for free and still not even 1 mil in over a year. This week looking at the Mass Effect split 360 sold over a mil in America and PS3 sold 280k. Why Playstation fans? If you have a 360 and bought all the games on there I understand but these numbers should be better.

More though than Mass Effect, and other poor multi plat splits PS3 have not been supporting their own exclusives. 

Twisted Metal is awesome but it will likely barely sell a million units.
Resistance 3 sold so poorly Insomniac will no longer be developing games for the series.
There are many more examples that make me wonder whats up. 

Does anyone have an explination for Sony's failure to move software consistantly in America?

I do not want to hear Sony sucks, Microsoft is better etc. But if my sales expectations are unrealistic or you have a legit reason please let me hear it.


You chose 3 very specific examples each with a clear reason to their poor sales.

Mass Effect was seen as a Xbox exclusive and the decision to port ME2 late and for full price on the PS3 when other versions were significantly cheaper was a insult to PS3 owners. The lack of ME1 on the system made it unclear if they could jump in the series at the sequel.

Resistance was a launch title that competed with virtually nothing for 1.5 years. Main competition was piss poor ports and the infamous "Haze". When R2 came out it changed the core gameplay that was established in R1, alienating fans of the first and failing to attract buyers when Killzone 2 hype was at peak levels and CoD reigned supreme. R3 was simply a finishing storyline.

Twisted Metal was a franchise that gained popularity in Ps1 days when I was a kid. Most people with a Ps3 don't know what it is, don't see a demolition derby game with unrealistic and awkward driving controls fun. The franchise lost it's fanbase in the 15 or so years since Twisted Metal was relevant.

At least thats my opinion as to why lol.



PrimeBigTime on 13 March 2012
cmeese47 said:
PrimeBigTime said:

We have two PS3 systems in our house (one is already broken with the flashing red light) and neither are used for games.  I use mine for Blu-Ray and DLNA for streaming, that's it.  I think we have five games total between the two of them.  I have 3 friends with PS3 systems and only one of my friends uses it for gaming.  We made this decision early on based on the following:

  • User interface was not intuitive
  • Xbox came out first so there was a natural migration towards playing xbox
  • I have about 40 friends on Xbox (and like I said, only five people with PS3s)
  • The controller on PS3 is horrendous - don't know why Sony basically just copied the PS2 controller but the Xbox one just fits perfectly in your hands (personally this was my biggest gripe and really put the final nail in the coffin)
  • Once I started getting achievements on Xbox I decided to stick with it
  • I don't like that every time my PS3 remote falls off the bed or my dog steps on it, it auto turns on
  • There was no cross-game (or even in-game at the time) chat to make games more fun

I know you said no PS3 bashing, but you have to look at the facts as to why some people migrated to, and ended up sticking with, the Xbox.  This post isn't bashing, it's just pointing out some reasons why people may have decided to stick with Xbox over PS3.  I was really excited about the system when it first came out, but too many small things just added up to ruin the experience for me.  Now we have four Xboxes in the house and over 150 games for them, while the PS3s gather dust.  Then again, the Wii's we have are used even less!

Honestly, I was not concerned why people chose the 360 over the PS3 but more so on why the PS3 owners seem to not support certain gaming franchises as much as 360 gamers.


Okay, well the title of your thread implies a different question, so I was addressing this:

"Are too many Americans just using their PS3 as a Blu-ray player?"

And for me and my friends, that answer is "yes".



Zuhyc on 13 March 2012

Why would I buy Mass Effect 2 and 3 when I can't even play the first one? It's like Xenosaga II, they released it in Europe without even releasing the first one!



NintendoPie on 13 March 2012

What's wrong with that? Also... why did you narrow it down to Americans? (I know you mentioned SW sales but I doubt that has anything to do with it, America is just more pro M$ and Nintendo than Sony.)



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thekitchensink on 13 March 2012
pezus said:
thekitchensink said:
In Mass Effect's case, no one's going to buy it on PS3 if they have ANY other viable option. Since your save files for all three games tie so heavily together, they are like one continuous game. Since the first Mass Effect is not available on PS3, it's like missing out on a third of the game. So, no one with a 360 or gaming-ready PC is going to by ME3 on PS3.

To answer the question you posed in the title: I'm Canadian, not American, but our sales still count in the 'Americas' sales category. I know a couple of people (myself included) who tend to only use the PS3 for Blu-Rays and its exclusive games.

Sony brought it on themselves, really--at the beginning of the generation, it was pretty much marketed as a Blu-Ray player that could also play video games.

The bolded tells us that this is not the people you are talking about do not represent a very big portion of the PS3 base, given that third-party games are capable of selling much more than PS3 exclusives in America.

True enough.  I was just making my own personal observation based on the question in the OP.



Could I trouble you for some maple syrup to go with the plate of roffles you just served up?

Tag, courtesy of fkusumot: "Why do most of the PS3 fanboys have avatars that looks totally pissed?"
"Ok, girl's trapped in the elevator, and the power's off.  I swear, if a zombie comes around the next corner..."
cmeese47 on 13 March 2012
cmeese47 said:
Well there have been some logical arguments made on this thread, which is a nice change.

I would tend to agree that gamers have different preferences and that the divide for PS3 vs 360 on Mass Effect probably can be attributed to the PS3 missing Mass Effect.

In addition, I was surprised to see that the PS3 attach rate is so high and with the large amount of exclusives on the system it is logical that people are spend their gaming budget on a broader spectrum of games than 360 owners.

It would also seem that with hardware sales being as low as they are that people have stopped purchasing the PS3 as primarily a blu-ray player.

It seems that Sony has not attracted the casual soccer moms with the same success as Wii and 360 so that likely explains why the 360 moves a lot more hardware but the software attach rate is slightly higher on the PS3.

It makes sense but it is still quite annoying as a Sony fan to see a great franchises like Mass Effect, Borderlands and Dragon Age sell 1/4th to 1/2 as much as the 360.


I feel this post has been lost in the shuffle. 



Dgc1808 on 13 March 2012
Khuutra said:
Dgc1808 said:

I'll let you in on a little secret: I downloaded ME2 in it's entirety via PS+ Full Game Trials. After the hour of play, I didn't feel the need to go further. Maybe if it wasn't 60$ I would have... but I doubt though.

I also never cared for Resistance. It seems like such a bland series and just never grabs my interest.

A physical copy of ME2 is $20, though.


Not at the time I did this. At the moment, I'm less interested than ever.



4 ≈ One

TadpoleJackson on 13 March 2012

Too be honest, had I not purchased a large amount of blu-rays I would have sold my PS3 a while ago. But since I have it I still pick up a game every once in awhile. I bought one in November!



Xxain on 13 March 2012
cmeese47 said:
cmeese47 said:
Well there have been some logical arguments made on this thread, which is a nice change.

I would tend to agree that gamers have different preferences and that the divide for PS3 vs 360 on Mass Effect probably can be attributed to the PS3 missing Mass Effect.

In addition, I was surprised to see that the PS3 attach rate is so high and with the large amount of exclusives on the system it is logical that people are spend their gaming budget on a broader spectrum of games than 360 owners.

It would also seem that with hardware sales being as low as they are that people have stopped purchasing the PS3 as primarily a blu-ray player.

It seems that Sony has not attracted the casual soccer moms with the same success as Wii and 360 so that likely explains why the 360 moves a lot more hardware but the software attach rate is slightly higher on the PS3.

It makes sense but it is still quite annoying as a Sony fan to see a great franchises like Mass Effect, Borderlands and Dragon Age sell 1/4th to 1/2 as much as the 360.


I feel this post has been lost in the shuffle. 

Playstation was bulit on Japanese IP's. When you think PS you think Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Tekken ext

JRPG's, Fighters, Racers, platformers and action games were the most dominate genres in the PS1 PS2 age

Western/PC games are more in line with XBOX brand..so if they are western or games that have roots in PC or both they will always sell more on the XBOX . Period.

As for SONY's own IP's. They dont understand their fanbase at all and are making the kinda games that XBOX owners would love..why most of PS fanbase ignores them.