May NPD Numbers: 50% Rise Overall

[bapenguin]

GameDaily.com (http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=16507) has last months NPD numbers available. Overall the industry is doing very well with sales soaring to 815 Million. Nintendo holds 4 out of the 5 top in software sales with Pokemon leading the way.

On the hardware front things stayed pretty stagnant over last month. The exception of that would be the PSP which boosted sales. The Wii sold 338K units in May, while the 360 sold a disappointing 155K. The PS3 meanwhile dropped from 82K last month to just 81K sold (81,604 units to be exact, according to SCEA). At least the PSP sold a healthy 221,120 units, according to SCEA.

Not too surprising really, even though the PSP is doing well Sony must be disappointed with the PS3 sales. Microsoft is also probably a bit disappointed that the first full month of the Elite didn't boost sales more.

Sony was the first to chime in on the numbers. Wheel-of-fortune!!!
SCEA's Sr. Director, Corporate Communications, Dave Karraker issued us the following statement: "According to NPD data, May 2007 showed a 27.5% increase in total retail dollars generated year-over-year by the PlayStation brand in North America with total sales of $284 million.

[automaton]

MS disappointed with the sales of the Elite, Sony disappointed with the sales of the PS3. What does that tell me? Consumers are resoundingly saying that this shit is just too expensive. DROP THE FUCKING PRICES!

[Philonious]

Sony is probably just happy that PS3 numbers didn't drop again... If they keep steady until the games arrive in August (please?) it might not be their DOOM after all. The PSP is outselling the 360!? I though it was a failure?

[bone_matrix]

Meanwhile, everyone at Nintendo is rolling in cash, laughing at Microsoft and Sony!!!

Looking at the link, it looks like the DS sold about the same as the 360, PS3, and PSP combined! There is no stopping the power that is DS.

As far as the Elites go, are they hard to find in everyone's area? At my Target, we've had about 5 total to sell since they launched, and we've sold them all. Maybe people waiting to get ahold of them accounts for the low sales?

[BlackPete]

MS disappointed with the sales of the Elite, Sony disappointed with the sales of the PS3. What does that tell me? Consumers are resoundingly saying that this shit is just too expensive. DROP THE FUCKING PRICES!

QFT.

The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 10 characters.

[IrishWhiskey]

increase in total retail dollars generated year-over-year by the PlayStation brand in North America with total salesIs it just me, or is the spin for these numbers becoming increasingly convoluted?

[Metal]

Meanwhile, everyone at Nintendo is rolling in cash, laughing at Microsoft and Sony!!!

And PS3 / Xbox 360 owners are laughing at Nintendo Wii owners everytime they see the huge gap in graphical fidelity between the platforms.

[Virtuoso]

As far as the Elites go, are they hard to find in everyone's area? At my Target, we've had about 5 total to sell since they launched, and we've sold them all. Maybe people waiting to get ahold of them accounts for the low sales?

Same at my Best Buy. We get Wiis way more often.

[bone_matrix]

And PS3 / Xbox 360 owners are laughing at Nintendo Wii owners everytime they see the huge gap in graphical fidelity between the platforms.

Does that mean I am laughing at myself???

Of course, without an HD tv, one cannot really see huge the difference between the games.

One last thought; graphics equals fun now?

[Trazzlo the Magnificant]

SCEA's Sr. Director, Corporate Communications, Dave Karraker issued us the following statement: "According to NPD data, May 2007 showed a 27.5% increase in total retail dollars generated year-over-year by the PlayStation brand in North America with total sales of $284 million.
The Wii brand is infinitely higher than it was last year though. Darn thing didn't sell at all last year.

[xcalibur]

And PS3 / Xbox 360 owners are laughing at Nintendo Wii owners everytime they see the huge gap in graphical fidelity between the platforms.


Somehow I think MS and Sony would rather be able to laugh about making more money than Nintendo rather than only being able to laugh because their graphics are more l33t.


-X

[Kamalot]

I can't wait to see what Microsoft and Nintendo say.

Sony's response is that Sony is beating Sony from a year ago, and is completely oblivious to the overall market.

[Wolfgang]

360 owners are also laughing at the Wii's as they are Virtual Console systems.

At work there are 5 people who have them. No one plays them. One lady played hers exactly once and offered to sell it to me for $200.

They are the must have toy that everyone gets -- then quits playing.

[DaXIthR]

People keep saying Sony needs to wake up... but they've been in a spiral for well over a year and they show little sign of getting out of it.

(The only positive thing I've seen is LittleBigPlanet.)

Seriously, how could Sony be doing any worse? How could be crashing and burning with a bigger thud? Did anyone think the PS2 wouldn't be a earner at this point?

[agentgray]

I look forward to this post every month. Currently, even though only Sony has spoken, my post in this thread is preemptive.

http://www.nintendaddio.com/img/spindoctors.jpg

[Johan]

One last thought; graphics equals fun now?

You didn't get the memo? ;)

Sony's response is that Sony is beating Sony from a year ago

And they pointedly said "in total retail dollars."

I would be careful when discussing this if I worked for Sony as well, because it's not good to brag on billion-dollar losses, even if your "total retail dollars" are higher than the previous year! :D

[Tyrant]

I figured the release of the Elite would put a dent in 360 sales.

It may have been due to a shortage of Elites for people to purchase or the limited time addition of a new SKU, which resulted in consumers holding back on the purchase of the console. I'm just assuming that it's only available for a limited time, considering the PR confusion when it was first announced.

[Skyelan]

Hey, guys, I think Sony's got a point. PS3 gamers have good reason to be celebrating. The PS3 outsold their closest competition this month.

The GBA.

[fps fanatic]

I look forward to this post every month. Currently, even though only Sony has spoken, my post in this thread is preemptive.

http://www.nintendaddio.com/img/spindoctors.jpg
Funniest s**t I've seen all day! Spin Doctors FTW! I guess I could have been #4 in that 81,604 tally for May, since I bought the PS3 near the end of May. Sir Howard Stringer has actually brought up the point of price recently (can't remember were I read about it, I think ******). They HAVE to lower the price soon, in spite of losing even more on every console sold. They have to go the Gillette way, take a loss on the razors, make it up with the blades. And those sharp blades could possibly be Heavenly Sword, Lair, Uncharted, MGS4, Haze. Of course they'll probably lower the price not too long after I've bought mine. I'm just lucky like that...

[Kamalot]

Sir Howard Stringer has actually brought up the point of price recently (can't remember were I read about it, I think ******). They HAVE to lower the price soon, in spite of losing even more on every console sold. They have to go the Gillette way, take a loss on the razors, make it up with the blades. And those sharp blades could possibly be Heavenly Sword, Lair, Uncharted, MGS4, Haze. Of course they'll probably lower the price not too long after I've bought mine. I'm just lucky like that...
Every time a Sony exec mentions 'price adjustment' they send a clear signal to potential customers saying, "PS3 is too expensive., Don't buy it, we'll eventually lower the price." That's a terrible message to be sending to potential customers. Sony should know that, being experts on 'potential'.

As for the 'razor and blades' approach, Sony is already losing a large sum on every console. If they drop the price, they will lose more with every console manufactured. Meanwhile, there is nothing to stop the competition from dropping the price as well, reaping the benefits of a lower price point while still maintaining a large price gap between the PS3.

[KingGorilla]

I am not wowed by retail revenue in an era of games costing 60, 70, 80, or more dollars. The same as I am not wowed by theater revenue in an era of the 12 dollar ticket.

[Schnoogs]

One last thought; graphics equals fun now?

Not really...but good games equals fun which is why my 360 rarely sees a break from me playing it.

[Twigz'N'Berries]

MS needs to take the price cut NOW. If their premium sku was nearer to the wii, i think they might steal a few sales. But more importantly, they need to grow their marketshare over PS3. We all know that production costs for the PS3 have started to go down. MS needs to change their pricing while it will hurt Sony more to drop their price. Force them to eat a bigger loss on each console or concede more marketshare. Since the 360 has been out for quite awhile, their manufacturing costs have decreased....just go for the throat!!

[DaXIthR]

Not really...but good games equals fun which is why my 360 rarely sees a break from me playing it.

I guess, but these numbers aren't terribly optimistic for the 360. You're offering individual anecdotal evidence on what you observe in your home, which is hardly useful in this thread.

It's more useful to think in terms of trends and sales comparisons.

Regarding you point, I think the 360 library a year ago was less diverse than the Wii's currently. And we probably conclude from the trend over the past few months that gamers in NA and Japan expect to have more fun with their Wii than with a PS3 or a X360.

People seem to be holding Nintendo to a higher standard.

[Uniqueusername]

MS needs to take the price cut NOW. If their premium sku was nearer to the wii, i think they might steal a few sales. But more importantly, they need to grow their marketshare over PS3. We all know that production costs for the PS3 have started to go down. MS needs to change their pricing while it will hurt Sony more to drop their price. Force them to eat a bigger loss on each console or concede more marketshare. Since the 360 has been out for quite awhile, their manufacturing costs have decreased....just go for the throat!!

I agree. Personally, I think they should have dropped the price at the start of the year to help prevent the other consoles getting any traction.

However, now they have waited this long, they probably want the extra $$$ from a Halo 3 release with a full price console...

[JimmyDanger]

I foresee an MS price drop around - say the 20th of September?

I'd been considering an Elite for a while now..basically for a second system, with an extra (needed for PES/WE) controller - and a bigger HD - and the option of system linking my two consoles to capitalise on my 2 TV's when friends are over - but they haven't even got a date for release down here...

Now - if they've been selling out of Elites in the US, with a lower than expected May NPD figure - and still no EU/AU release scheduled - what does that tell us?

MS should make a fuckton more elites and release them at Premium prices just before H3 drops...

[Stryfe01]

Does that mean I am laughing at myself???

Of course, without an HD tv, one cannot really see huge the difference between the games.

One last thought; graphics equals fun now?

I'm not going to sit here and hate on the Wii. I'm happy for Ninty. But I can't enjoy mini-game after mini-game. I love my 360, because of the fun and great looking games. Now for me, when the Wii brings out something other that Zelda that can engage me, great. But from where I sit with plenty of adults that have bought the Wii, non-gamers, I can't see them picking up more tha 1 or two games a year. I do think overall it will end up hurting Nintendo. But I'm no analyst.

[Vandenh]

Pretty "meh" numbers for 360 but I am sure they are happy with the sofware numbers:


6. Forza Motorsport 2 [Xbox 360] - 217.000
7. Guitar Hero II [Xbox 360] - 184.000
8. Spider-Man 3 [Xbox 360] - 140.000
9. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars [Xbox 360] - 138.000

[bapenguin]

Forza sold incredibly well. 217,000 in 5 days? That's pretty damn good.

[shnastybiznastic]

Just a little question, why should MS drop the 360 price?

They have a huge chunk of the overall market, game sales are great, and they dominate a whole section of the market, and soon they will be making money on units sold. In addition, the only competitor for that specific segment of the market has priced themselves out of range of the prospective audience.

While they might see Nintendo as a threat down the road, not only do they offer a completely different service and value-add, they cater to different market segments. Also, Nintendo has recently been fine with a section of the market that allowed it to be profitable, in effect agreeing to a pact to not actively try to really crush everyone else out of the market. They have already done everything that needs to be done for a console to be successful, and are seeing the sort of output that confirms that they are succeeding. Why change things now, right as it's about to get monier?

[Mdot23]

Beta = only forza 2 purchased.

Either way: MS, drop your fucking price tag in conjunction with the Fall. Mark my words. Come next generation, MS is going to be bitching about how they fucked up by letting Nintendo stay at such a low price point with no answer to them, just like they complained about how they were too late to the market to compete with the PS2. Well, we've been telling you for months to drop the price and take over, but you have to be stubborn about it. The games division is in the red anyway, so take the bigger hit and at least grab the majority of the market share for the future. clowns.

[Yeti2005]

Just a little question, why should MS drop the 360 price?

They have a huge chunk of the overall market, game sales are great, and they dominate a whole section of the market, and soon they will be making money on units sold. In addition, the only competitor for that specific segment of the market has priced themselves out of range of the prospective audience.


I agree with this. Yes, it would be nice if MS dropped the price which would drive more sales right now. However, if you worked for MS and you went to an executive with the idea to drop the price how are you going to justify it when you're doubling the sales of your competitor (PS3) month after month?

But what about the Wii? The Wii is a competitor but their demographic is very different than the PS3 and 360. The MS would love to go after the Wii's demographic but currently Viva Pinata and XBLA games aren't cutting it.

[roboninja]

Yeah, the 360 does not need a price cut, it has an insurmountable lead :rolleyes:

[court12b]

yeah.. the minigames... although I did finally play Tanks for the first time. N, if you guys bring me a full game based on that gameplay all will be forgiven.

[Fartacus]

And PS3 / Xbox 360 owners are laughing at Nintendo Wii owners everytime they see the huge gap in graphical fidelity between the platforms.

And Xbox360 / Wii owners are laughing at PS3 owners for buying $600 consoles that will end up being paperweights due to a lack of games.

[Skyelan]

And Xbox360 / Wii owners are laughing at PS3 owners for buying $600 consoles that will end up being paperweights due to a lack of games.

And gamers who have better things to do with their time than laugh at anonymous people on the internet because they aren't flaming fanboys of the same systems are laughing at all of you morons.

And the N-Gage owners are laughing at- No wait, sorry, that was insensitive. People who bought an N-Gage can't feel joy or mirth anymore.

[Fartacus]

And gamers who have better things to do with their time than laugh at anonymous people on the internet because they aren't flaming fanboys of the same systems are laughing at all of you morons.

And the N-Gage owners are laughing at- No wait, sorry, that was insensitive. People who bought an N-Gage can't feel joy or mirth anymore.

I'm a PS3 hateboy, not a fanboy.

[Gorvi]

I'm a PS3 hateboy, not a fanboy.
Which is incredibly sad, and just as bad as being a fanboy.

[Gott]

Sony is probably just happy that PS3 numbers didn't drop again... If they keep steady until the games arrive in August (please?) it might not be their DOOM after all. The PSP is outselling the 360!? I though it was a failure?

I believe that the PSP just had a price cut right?

[Fartacus]

Which is incredibly sad, and just as bad as being a fanboy.

Oh, it's not sad at all. I'm quite happy, in fact. With PS3's impending doom I'll never be roped into having to develop for PS3 to get a publishing deal. With the last generation of consoles, it was extremely difficult to get a game published without leading on PS2 (or simultaneous release). And I'd rather roll in broken glass then take a dip in a pool of alcohol than develop for another screwed up Sony platform.

[Estarriol]

Which is incredibly sad, and just as bad as being a fanboy.

I think it's far worse.

[TheFlyingOrc]

And PS3 / Xbox 360 owners are laughing at Nintendo Wii owners everytime they see the huge gap in graphical fidelity between the platforms.
Just like the Xbox guys did against the PS2, and we saw how that turned out.

[TheFlyingOrc]

I am not wowed by retail revenue in an era of games costing 60, 70, 80, or more dollars. The same as I am not wowed by theater revenue in an era of the 12 dollar ticket.
I own a Wii - what are these 60 dollar prices you speak of? :)

[jpublic]

Oh, it's not sad at all. I'm quite happy, in fact. With PS3's impending doom I'll never be roped into having to develop for PS3 to get a publishing deal. With the last generation of consoles, it was extremely difficult to get a game published without leading on PS2 (or simultaneous release). And I'd rather roll in broken glass then take a dip in a pool of alcohol than develop for another screwed up Sony platform.

You're the 5th (or 6th?) programmer I've heard say this about the Sony platforms.

What made/makes each Sony platform (PS1, PS2, PS3) so much more difficult to program for than its contemporary competition?

[Trazzlo the Magnificant]

Howard Tringer from Sony (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=25821) is "tweaking" the price of the PS3, and when the president says it then it will probably happen. When is the question, and whether MS will lead or follow.

They are both competing with the Wii as well, and right now the Wii is outselling the PS3 and the 360 combined, plus 100,000 units. Enough that the PS3 could double sales, and the Wii will still outsell PS3+360 combined sales.

I think Sony could force MS's hand here. Most likely, MS wants to have a quiet summer, with an explosive fall. They could really focus all of their market strength and money on Sept-Dec sales, and they certainly have the games for it. But right now they probably don't want to move so many units. They cut back on manufacturing and short term expectations. My guess is that it is because they are doing the revision to 65nm plus a redesign to solve the 360 technical issues.

That leaves them weak for a few months. If Sony had done a short term sale from June to end of August, they might have had 3 months in which MS wasn't interested in matching the price drops. Why wouldn't they? Because they might not want to build more of the consoles with the old issues, for which they are covering long term warranties plus shipping. Selling fewer short term might not be a bad thing, plus they can save up the marketing money for a big, big bang.

Those 3 months of sales might have given the SP3 the lift it needed so that developers/reviewers start to feel more at ease with its installed base ... before going in to xmas season and the fall selling season.

Sony has to act fast, and push MS into building more hardware that they don't want to sell, and do so at a lower price. Alternatively, MS could lose out on market share or have PS3 sales equal to (or better than) 360 sales for a few months, which might have changed the attitude toward the PS3.

[Karmakin]

You're the 5th (or 6th?) programmer I've heard say this about the Sony platforms.

What made/makes each Sony platform (PS1, PS2, PS3) so much more difficult to program for than its contemporary competition?

Not a programmer, but I've heard the same thing from multiple sources. At least for the PS2/PS3 (from what I hear the PS1 was much much better)

The reasons are two-fold:

#1. Using very complicated processors that are powerful, but need to be channeled very carefully to get good results

#2. A lack of support from Sony for said complicated processors.

I've heard that from multiple independant sources, so I tend to believe that there's some truth to it.

[Fartacus]

Not a programmer, but I've heard the same thing from multiple sources. At least for the PS2/PS3 (from what I hear the PS1 was much much better)

The reasons are two-fold:

#1. Using very complicated processors that are powerful, but need to be channeled very carefully to get good results

#2. A lack of support from Sony for said complicated processors.

I've heard that from multiple independant sources, so I tend to believe that there's some truth to it.

You've summarized it very well. I didn't develop for consoles during the PS1 / N64 generation (I was working on PC games), so I can't comment on that. What it really boils down to is that Microsoft and Nintendo develop hardware and tools that enable developers to create very efficient workflows for content creators and game programmers. Sony develops hardware that does not foster efficient workflows, and that results in more cost and effort of development. And efficient workflow is becoming more and more important with the growing size of games and development teams.

[Kamalot]

Oh, it's not sad at all. I'm quite happy, in fact. With PS3's impending doom I'll never be roped into having to develop for PS3 to get a publishing deal. With the last generation of consoles, it was extremely difficult to get a game published without leading on PS2 (or simultaneous release). And I'd rather roll in broken glass then take a dip in a pool of alcohol than develop for another screwed up Sony platform.
I'm interested to learn about how you REALLY feel.

[Fartacus]

I'm interested to learn about how you REALLY feel.

I think I need to see a therapist about my inability to express my feelings. I've been told that bottling them up like I do is extremely unhealthy.

[Zanzibar]

Not a programmer, but I've heard the same thing from multiple sources. At least for the PS2/PS3 (from what I hear the PS1 was much much better)

The reasons are two-fold:

#1. Using very complicated processors that are powerful, but need to be channeled very carefully to get good results

#2. A lack of support from Sony for said complicated processors.

I've heard that from multiple independant sources, so I tend to believe that there's some truth to it.
This is the absolute truth. The Sony systems aren't developed by game programmers; they're developed by hardware engineers. Sony has a very very short-sighted way to get the most bang for the buck out of the system hardware: make the GAME DEVELOPERS THEMSELVES be the guinea pigs on finding all the hardware 'gotchas' and creating workarounds to overcome them, then share those workarounds amongst the other devs. The PS1 had its own share of bad hardware gotchas, but the Sony team was a lot more useful back then.

On that note, I can't say enough good things about the Microsoft dev support. Nintendo only comes in second because we had a few bad Gamecube experiences due to bad memory I/O design.

[Trazzlo the Magnificant]

Is it impossible for the PS3 to support HD DVD as well as Bluray? One other possibility is that if the PS3 supported both formats, it would be a reasonably priced DVD/HD-DVD/Bluray player plus gaming.

From what I recall the disks are fairly different though, but then there are a few dual format players hitting the market. I assume there is a physical issue with adapting the drives to read HD DVD as well as the royalties and codecs, etc.

If MS came out with a Bluray add-on as well as the HD DVD drive, or a combo drive then that would be a massive plus. MS only uses it for movies too, so the implementation would be easier than having to support gameplay on the HD disks.

[cool8man]

MS disappointed with the sales of the Elite, Sony disappointed with the sales of the PS3. What does that tell me? Consumers are resoundingly saying that this shit is just too expensive. DROP THE FUCKING PRICES!
I don't think MS is disappointed with sales of the Elite, the Elite is sold out everywhere. It is impossible to find. Microsoft has two problems:

1.) They are not manufacturing enough Elites to meet demand.
2.) The Core and "Pro" 360 are too expensive and demand for them has decreased because of the Elite.

Sony has two major problems as well:

1.) The PS3 is way too expensive.
2.) The PS3 needs a system seller.

[BlackPete]

Howard Tringer from Sony (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=25821) is "tweaking" the price of the PS3, and when the president says it then it will probably happen. When is the question, and whether MS will lead or follow.

Here's yet another article (http://cooltech.iafrica.com/technews/969088.htm) where Howard Stringer discusses how they're exploring ways to cut the PS3 price.

My only question is -- Stringer himself is acknowledging that the Wii is a tremendous competition for the PS3, so why are the SDF folks still trying to argue that the Wii is "not" competing with the PS3?

[Kamalot]

Here's yet another article (http://cooltech.iafrica.com/technews/969088.htm) where Howard Stringer discusses how they're exploring ways to cut the PS3 price.

My only question is -- Stringer himself is acknowledging that the Wii is a tremendous competition for the PS3, so why are the SDF folks still trying to argue that the Wii is "not" competing with the PS3?
When has reality had any bearing on what the SDF says?

Every time a Sony exec mentions price cuts, they end a clear message to potential customers to NOT buy the PS3 right now.

[Trazzlo the Magnificant]

They need to send out a clear message that they are dropping the price soon. MS is going to have a pretty strong fall, since they are kicking off with Halo.

MS is coming up to Christmas #3 for 360. There are lots of games, and many can be found used now, or discounted, or bundled. The online is better, even by Sony's words. Rumor is they might have 65nm by fall, and more reliability. And strong potential of a price drop.

Since the bluelaser was supposed to have been a large part of Bluray cost on PS3, it's reasonable to assume that MS is building the HD DVD add on for a lot less (compared to last year). So, there could be a substantial price drop on that item.

If MS also offered a dual HD DVD/Bluray player add-on, given the price of blue lasers has dropped so much and software support isn't that much different (they already do the HDCP, codecs, etc) this might still come in at $200 or so.

It's not impossible that MS supports both formats, they said in the past they are not married to HD DVD. All they have to do is decide that both formats are viable for the next few years, and make the 360 HD-player agnostic.

MS has also said they think the "sweet spot" is $199. They might target Core for that, and Premium for $299 and Elite for $399. After all, most of those SKUs are 2 years old now and never had a price drop.

It means that MS could have a dual format HD movie player plus disk games plus online games for a very competitive price ... if they want to. The cost of making a dual player probably isn't that much more than the parts for one. And, the parts are much less expensive now than last year.

Sony has some serious competition, at least potential competition. If Sony can talk about the potential of PS3, then the potential of the competition is also fair game.

[BlackPete]

They need to send out a clear message that they are dropping the price soon. MS is going to have a pretty strong fall, since they are kicking off with Halo.

To paraphrase Kamalot...

The only message Sony should be sending right now is either:

1) There are no price cuts. Buy a PS3 now.
2) We are cutting the price by $100 effective immediately. Buy a PS3 now.

Anything else will cause customers to not buy a PS3 thus screwing with Sony's bottom line.

[MrChaz]

Thought ya'll might enjoy the graph of the NPD figures i've knocked up - feel free to draw what ever conclusions you like :)

http://chazums.shackspace.com/Sales.png

[BlackPete]

This is the absolute truth. The Sony systems aren't developed by game programmers; they're developed by hardware engineers. Sony has a very very short-sighted way to get the most bang for the buck out of the system hardware: make the GAME DEVELOPERS THEMSELVES be the guinea pigs on finding all the hardware 'gotchas' and creating workarounds to overcome them, then share those workarounds amongst the other devs. The PS1 had its own share of bad hardware gotchas, but the Sony team was a lot more useful back then.

That's pretty much the situation we have today.

Experienced developers are pretty sick of going through the whole re-inventing the wheel process every time a new platform comes out, and they have to shift focus away from game content and onto the hardware itself to try and figure out how to get the most bang for the buck. Hence the shitty quality of most launch titles.

Developers are pretty freaking tired of going through this cycle. Yes the PS3 is powerful. Yes you can do awesome things with it. Yes it's going to take time and money to eventually exploit that. And yet, Sony made a conscious decision to make a break from previous technology just as developers were (finally) able to max out the PS2, and now they have to start over again with the PS3.

Yeah they're going to have to suck it up and spend that time and money maxing out the PS3 potential, but you know what? It still sucks having to go through that again for the 8th time (or more, I'm losing count now).

[agentgray]

If the Wii is selling that well with almost no games, what's it going to be like when there's a good or large library of games?

I'm just blown away.

[Kamalot]

Thought ya'll might enjoy the graph of the NPD figures i've knocked up - feel free to draw what ever conclusions you like :)

...chart...
Sweet chart. Next time, can you render it as a smaller size? This one does not even fit on my desktop screen. I can't imagine what it'll look like on my OQO.

[MrChaz]

Sweet chart. Next time, can you render it as a smaller size? This one does not even fit on my desktop screen. I can't imagine what it'll look like on my OQO.
I'll do my best - it's a little crowded as is

how about this one? Graph (http://chazums.shackspace.com/SalesSmall.png)

[Trazzlo the Magnificant]

The reports (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=25842) from Japan are about the same as usual as well with Nintendo cleaning up again handily last week.

[KingGorilla]

Looking at those PS2 numbers, Sony must really be kicking themselves for not holding off for a year.

[Schnoogs]

IYou're offering individual anecdotal evidence on what you observe in your home, which is hardly useful in this thread..

Actually I was responding to somebody elses post about graphics vs fun so perhaps you should send him your theories about what is and what is not useful in this thread.

[Twigz'N'Berries]

Just a little question, why should MS drop the 360 price?

They have a huge chunk of the overall market, game sales are great, and they dominate a whole section of the market, and soon they will be making money on units sold. In addition, the only competitor for that specific segment of the market has priced themselves out of range of the prospective audience.

While they might see Nintendo as a threat down the road, not only do they offer a completely different service and value-add, they cater to different market segments. Also, Nintendo has recently been fine with a section of the market that allowed it to be profitable, in effect agreeing to a pact to not actively try to really crush everyone else out of the market. They have already done everything that needs to be done for a console to be successful, and are seeing the sort of output that confirms that they are succeeding. Why change things now, right as it's about to get monier?

In all due respect (and I do respect your argument) MS is in a pretty important period right now. To rest on their position could easily spell disaster later. The PS3 has only two major gripes right now, its too expensive and there is no library. Thats it.
If PS3 were to drop their price to $450, the 360 would only have the larger library and with some of the games coming down the pipe, that advantage would not last long. The PS3 would be an obvious better choice due to the included tech on each system.
-BR player included
-larger HD
-Perceived better graphics
-built in HDMI
-free online service which should get better in time
-BC to the most popular selling system of all time

Plus, the Sony loyalists who have been waiting for a price drop may finally take the plunge. Then the PS3 sales would probably match and/or surpass the 360's on a regular basis. The Wii is the niche product which is dominating the market right now. Most hardcore gamers will buy the Wii AND another console. They arent really competing with Sony or MS as the product is vastly different. So if Sony were to start outselling the 360 on a month to month basis, then the outlook for the 360 getting more exclusives and sustaining enough share to be the relevant console this generation would be low.
But if the price on the premium 360 was lowered to $299, it would be in the driver seat. Those who can't afford $399 may pony up the extra $50 to upgrade from buying a Wii to a 360. The 360 has a stronger library, a HD, a superior online offering and HD graphics and dvd player built in. Plus, with the 360's availability they may catch consumers tired of waiting for a Wii in an impulse moment.
With the reduction in manufacturing costs and availability in parts, the 360 can afford to take a $100 hit. I do not believe that Sony can do that without hurting their bottom line significantly. Just as importantly, if developers see the 360 sales tripling the PS3 you can pretty much guarantee games will stop being developed for them exclusively (and in some cases at all).

Thats just my thought process on the matter. If MS really wants to win this thing and get their boxes in more homes, this is a move they need to make. You cannot let Sony hang around and expect to be dominant 1-2 years later. As soon as they bring the cost below $400 Sony is going to be a serious threat...unless the other two consoles have a significant headstart.

[DaXIthR]

Actually I was responding to somebody elses post about graphics vs fun so perhaps you should send him your theories about what is and what is not useful in this thread.

I saw the post you responded to. It was related to Sony's response to NPD numbers and the recent blog entries by Sony's execs.