All of the figures come from Amazon. Has anybody done a comparison of the column from past weeks to see how closely Amazon sales reflect trends in the broader market? Are Amazon sales a reliable indicator of how well something is selling in general? If somebody has the time, that would be a great thing to find out.
I don't see why people in the US would suddenly rush to buy either the 40gb or 80gb model. Sony hasn't a game yet with the same buzz level as Halo 3. Sure, the price on the 80gb model was lowered, but it's not as if that deal is going away. There will still be 80gb models next year, at the same or even lower price. And the 40gb sku is not that exciting at all. It is cheaper, but for a good reason. In the EU things are different, as the current sales spike is being fueled by a run on the last ...
I also think Sony can "win" this generation, because at this stage the console race can still go either way. But I don't think any of you has thought about what a "win" by MS or Sony really means. Even if the PS3 overtakes the 360's installed base in a year (not likely), what will that change? There won't be a sudden flow of 3rd party PS3 exclusives, because developers are never going to abandon the 360 now, not after the software sales numbers we saw last month or the mon...
The writer of this article knows jacksh!t about what he is writing, and sadly, none of you commenters know much more than he does. If you want a more intelligent discussion of the financial issues behind Sony's recent decision to pull out of cell chip manufacturing, check this article out:
http://www.eetasia.com/ART_...
Under Kuturagi, Sony made money on its consoles by manufact...
"In the fullness of time (once the games are developed), the PS3 will be as dominant as its predecessor."
I wonder about that. People that say this tend to cling to similiarities but ignore crucial differences between then and now.
I would agree with your post except with respect to the Japanese market. The Xbox brand is too deeply stigmatized in Japan, so marketing the 360 under a different name can't hurt. I think a Toshiba branded machine that can play 360 games will help the Xbox gaming platform gain deeper penetration in Japan. It may not help HD-DVD much, but it will help MS.
This machine, if it's real, will not supplant the standard 360 skus. Based on the preliminary list of features, it will probably cost more than an ordinary 360 when it comes out in late 2008-2009. And by that time, the Elite 360 will probably cost less than a wii does today.
If it is branded Toshiba, I wonder if it could gain more acceptance in Japan.
Graphically speaking, I have not yet seen a PS3 game that made me say "wow, the 360 can't do that." I have seen LAIR (ugh), Heavenly Sword, and the latest Metal Gear demo at E4all. Up close and in HD. I've also seen the KZ2 vids. None of them look like something the 360 can't do. So tell me what's coming up on the PS3 that looks better than any of those games I just mentioned. And it has to be something waaaay better. Otherwise STFU already with this inferior 360 graphics crap becau...
You are right in that only time will tell. But if you are going to make predictions, at least base them on actual sales numbers instead of wishfull thinking. At this point, it's useless for 360 doubters to argue about the console's install base because, as these NPD figures prove, there are already enough 360s in the wild to support monster game sales even for exclusive titles. Numbers like these latest figures from the NPD will only encourage developers to keep pumping out games for the 360...
Halo 3 was out during only the last week of that reporting period. I'd say 250K units is a good number of units to get moved by a game that was out for one week. Besides, is it not stupid to give a game just a week, or even just a month before calling it a system mover or not? Halo 3's 1st month sales, impressive as they already are, may not even be more than half its total sales for 2007. Wait until the NPD report for December is out, then we'll know for sure.
Read the comments of NPD's own Anita Frazier to see why what you say is probably not correct.
Hahaha. Lighten up monkeyboy. I knew that comment would make you flip out, so I couldn't resist pressing the button. Zing!
Looks kinda...French, oui?
I like his avatar, it's funny. My only complaint is it shows more burgers grilling than there are good games on the real thing.
During the first three quarters of the year I would guess 90% of all game sales are direct purchases by the end-user. That means gamers spending their own money to buy games for themselves. But during the fourth quarter, the average gamer's spending power is augmented by several sources. First, most working gamers are paid their year-end bonuses at the year's end (duh). Second, a large portion of software sales will be games purchased as gifts for the gamer by somebody else, or by the gamer b...
The Sony ponies will be just as bad, if not worse, when next week's numbers come out. It's like a sporting event. People taunt the other side whenever their team scores.
I haven't used my wii much since Zelda TP. It used to get heavy rotation when my GF was playing wii play/sports, but even she doesn't use it much anymore. Nowadays the only time my wii gets any kind of action is when guests who don't own any consoles come over, but they always want to play the same old casual crap that I got sick of months ago. It's so bad I want to disconnect the wii and hide it before people showed up. I am looking forward to the new Mario, but I will wait until I can get a...
PS3 fanboys have been singing this song and dance about value for over a year now. Nobody except the fanboys fell for it, and even Sony stopped toeing that line months ago. The 60 gb model was a good value but not many people wanted it, so now it's history. You can focus on getting maximum value for money only when you have unlimited cashflow. If your cashflow is limited, like 99% of the people on earth, you need to make compromises. That's what the 40 gb model is trying to be: a compromise. ...
You forgot to add an announcement that the 40 gb has been phased out and there won't be any more once supply runs out.
I think the rumour has more to do with Japanese developers defecting to the wii rather than western developers giving more love to the 360. I suspect this has a lot to do with Capcom's recent decision to move Monster Hunter to the wii. This was especially bad because Monster Hunter 3 had already been announced for the PS3 before Capcom did a very public about-face. In the recent past, once a developer had publicly promised a game to Sony, it was pretty much locked in, because taking the game ...