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Forums - Gaming - Sony's Missteps In North America

rolltide101x said:
Samus Aran said:

I consider Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze to  be a flop for the Wii U.

I would say DK done fairly well, better than I would have expected.

Disagree, the previous installment sold over 5M (not counting 3DS). It's really disappointing to see these sales. I hoped for at least 1M+ by the end of the year, but doesn't seem likely. 



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viewjet said:

Microsoft is shooting in their proverbial foot.  You know, something that I haven't seen written about is how Microsoft's huge discounts in North America is looked at from abraod.  If I were in Europe (not including the UK), for example, I would be ticked off at the preferential treatment MS gives to the U.S.  My guess is that this will drive an even larger wedge in attitudes for those who live ioutside  NA.  It now seems clear that the X1 is not a global product,  but more of a provincial one.  It seems to me that MS is further isolating their sales base around the world.  China is the wild card, but I think even there the perception is that the PS4 is the more global console system.  Yes, Sony will eventually do a price reduction but at the right time and will do it globally.

This was true last gen with the 360 as well, the 360 did not do that well outside of NA and the UK. Xbox is fine with those 2 markets



Samus Aran said:


It's not going to have the same legs with those mediocre reviews and buggy game glitches. And it's probably more expensive than Bayonetta 2 yes. I never said Bayonetta 2 would sell more or profit more. It's a Japanese niche game for crying out loud. LBP is supposed to be one of Sony's biggest franchises. 

Bayonetta 2's attach ratio is a lot higher. And that's pretty impressive for a Japanese niche game on a Nintendo console (where third party and "mature" games usually don't sell well at all). 

So we got.

Opinion, opinion/lies, more opinion, irrelevent (ratio), and more opinion.  

Awesome posts homie.  



Samus Aran said:

I consider Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze to  be a flop for the Wii U.

...your point being?



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Samus Aran said:
rolltide101x said:
Samus Aran said:

I consider Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze to  be a flop for the Wii U.

I would say DK done fairly well, better than I would have expected.

Disagree, the previous installment sold over 5M (not counting 3DS). It's really disappointing to see these sales. I hoped for at least 1M+ by the end of the year, but doesn't seem likely. 

So you expect nearly 3/4ths of the Wii U base to buy it? 200k more would magically make it a success?



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Samus, just admit that you're really reaching. I don't want to bother with this argument anymore. LBP3 is in no way, shape or form a flop and it's selling comparably to how its predecessors did.



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viewjet said:

Microsoft is shooting in their proverbial foot.  You know, something that I haven't seen written about is how Microsoft's huge discounts in North America is looked at from abraod.  If I were in Europe (not including the UK), for example, I would be ticked off at the preferential treatment MS gives to the U.S.  My guess is that this will drive an even larger wedge in attitudes for those who live ioutside  NA.  It now seems clear that the X1 is not a global product,  but more of a provincial one.  It seems to me that MS is further isolating their sales base around the world.  China is the wild card, but I think even there the perception is that the PS4 is the more global console system.  Yes, Sony will eventually do a price reduction but at the right time and will do it globally.


Well they have watred down the value of the X1, damaged the brand in all markets but 3.  And have conditioned the fanbase to expect freebies to sales units and to expect little to nothing all year and wait till the holidays.

YAhh foot was shot.  



Ninsect said:
Samus, just admit that you're really reaching. I don't want to bother with this argument anymore. LBP3 is in no way, shape or form a flop and it's selling comparably to how its predecessors did.


Shhh to much sense in that post not enough whiny fanboyism.  



Ninsect said:
Samus Aran said:

I consider Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze to  be a flop for the Wii U.

...your point being?

Game sold over 5 million on the Wii

Now only 800k



Arkaign said:
At this point I don't even think Sony is concerned about being tied with MS in the US/UK. Globally the gen is set in stone, and they will command a huge lead throughout the gen. More consoles are sold outside of the US in total than are sold in it, so they have already succeeded far more than they ever thought they could.

I also have a new theory that I am closer and closer to feeling is 100% accurate :

It's EXPENSIVE to launch a flagship console. I mean it's crazy huge investment to do one. The profits on console gens always come after the initial costs are covered for R&D, initial marketing, legal, yadda yadda, and as time goes on, costs lower considerably, until by the later years money is piling in from the large install base + subscriptions/accessories/etc. So it's in Sony's best interest for gen8 to last as long as they can make it.

Now what happens if Sony gets too focused on crushing Microsoft everywhere? Say they drop the PS4 to $299 with a game. PS4 would annihilate the X1 in the US and UK, and probably drive the X1 completely out of stores in the rest of the world. That would actually be a huge gamble based on Microsoft's response to completely losing gen8. Microsoft might exit the gaming market, which would be a huge victory for Sony, but a couple of other possibilities might threaten Sony more. Gaming PCs are more common outside of the US than in it, so one Microsoft response could be to move Xbox to PC. All the big IPs, maybe a partnership or buyout of Valve, if Microsoft wanted to, they could even sell Xbox-branded PCs, and it wouldn't cost much to do.

But the even more likely scenario is that Microsoft, who is never too hesitant to waste money, would fast-track a gen9 console, and sell it at a huge loss in order to try to get back in the game. With x86 arch, they could even make it backwards compatible with X1 games. If Microsoft was successful in forcing a quick end to Gen8 just to see the world burn, then Sony would have a huge problem on their hands.

The PS4 is pretty much aimed directly at 100M consoles or more by staying the course. Price cuts will come, but they're not out to be a loss leader or try to win purely for the sake of winning. If they do things right, they can make this the most profitable console gen of all time for themselves. PS2 gen wasn't that long, and they didn't have online fees. PS4 should get close to PS2 install base numbers while having a higher profitability along the way.

So that's how I see it. I think Sony actually does better by splitting the US/UK with Microsoft and owning the rest of the world than trying to bully their way into total global domination. If Microsoft can see a ~50m generation for the X1 over 5-7 years and easy profits, I think they stay the course. Sony will have 100-120m total, and everyone wins. But if Sony turns the screws and makes it more like a 35-40m generation for the X1, then that may convince Microsoft to hot-launch gen9 early, and that screws everyone. And in a 'screw-everyone' move, Sony has a lot more to lose.

I agree with this. The impression I have with Sony is that they are aiming to sell the PS4 efficiently. Yeah, it got outsold by about 400K in the US last month, but it still enjoyed one of the best Novembers in console history. Andrew House said that they're meeting expectations for December in the US while struggling to meet demand in Europe. So while Sony can cut the price and "end the console war", it's not an efficient way to sell a lot of systems.