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NPD March 2012 Sales Results [Up3: ME3 Total, Binary Domain]
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
Do we actually have numbers for the Vita?
Sho_Nuff82
Member
Were you not paying attention to sales in the beginning of this gen?
Gabe Newell in 2007:
"The PS3 is a total disaster on so many levels, I think it's really clear that Sony lost track of what customers and what developers wanted," said Newell. "I'd say, even at this late date, they should just cancel it and do a 'do over.' Just say, 'This was a horrible disaster and we're sorry and we're going to stop selling this and stop trying to convince people to develop for it.'"
Wall Street Journal in 2008:
Hope Fades for PS3 as a Comeback Player
If Sony doesn't close the gap with its rivals, it could risk making the PS3 an afterthought to game publishers, who focus most of their resources on the machines with the most users. At the end of September, the Wii had a wide lead with nearly 35 million units sold since its launch in 2006 compared with about 22 million Xbox 360 consoles and 17 million PS3 machines. Nintendo last month sold 2 million Wii machines in the U.S., while Microsoft sold 836,000 Xbox 360s and Sony sold 378,000 PS3s, according to NPD.
Bobby Kotick in 2009:
I'm getting concerned about Sony; the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don't make it easy for me to support the platform," said Kotick to The Times. "It's expensive to develop for the console, and the Wii and the Xbox are just selling better. Games generate a better return on invested capital on the Xbox than on the PlayStation.
Kotick estimated that his company paid half a billion in royalties to Sony Computer Entertainment last year and he thinks it might not be worth the investment if the PS3's house is not put in order. They have to cut the price, because if they don't, the attach rates [the number of games each console owner buys] are likely to slow. If we are being realistic, we might have to stop supporting Sony, he said. When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console and the PSP [portable] too.
CadetMahoney
Member
James Sawyer Ford
Member
In terms of disaster mitigation, it is an acceptable outcome.
Sony released 1-1.5 years later than the competition, and at one point was selling roughly 80k per month according to NPD.
That isn't just last place, that's losing out massively to the competition world wide.
The story that Sony made huge mistakes with the PS3 isn't anything new. But they came out of that disaster and in the later part of the generation are now the ongoing, current world wide global leader and will presumably remain in that position for the foreseeable future.
They took a lemon and turned it into lemonade. So long as they can avoid the serious pitfalls of the PS3 when developing the PS4, they are in a good spot, momentum wise, going into next-generation.
CadetMahoney
Member
Nokia alone sold 2 Million Windows phones from Jan-Mar 2012. That doesn't include the new Lumia 900 that seems to be selling well.
Wickerbasket
Member
Because a lot of people replace their time spent playing portable consoles with gaming on their phones. I spend more time playing pick up and play games on my phone than I do my 3DS. It's also more convenient as I always have my phone in my pocket anyway.
They're definitely competing for the same peoples time and money.
Oh wow, I don't know what to say to this madness... Have you seen the numbers or are you just guessing?
James Sawyer Ford
Member
Q1 numbers (US + Japan). Doesn't even include Europe, where PS3 has a known advantage.
3DS: 1900k (660k + 1240k)
PS3: 1310k (890k + 420k)
360: 1090k (1070k + 20k)
Wii: 720k (560k + 160k)
Vita: 640k (440k + 200k)
Wickerbasket
Member
Just curious, what's your source for those numbers? Not that I doubt them.
Yep, because Q1 of 2012 is 'the latter part of the generation', which makes them 'the current world wide global leader', right? GTFO with this madness.
The 360 does all its damage against the PS3 in the US during the 4th quarter. During that time it will outsell the PS3 by close to 2 Million units.
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
Wait, people are serious with the 'PS3 is the success story of the generation' stuff?
James Sawyer Ford
Member
Those numbers were posted earlier in this thread. They are a combination of NPD figures (US) + Media Create (Japan).
Yep, because Q1 of 2012 is 'the latter part of the generation', which makes them 'the current world wide global leader', right? GTFO with this madness.
I was speaking of global leader from the perspective of ongoing, current sales. Not total LTD sales, which they obviously can't mach what the Wii has done, at least anytime soon if ever.
In the US, yes, I don't think anyone is going to be taking that territory from Microsoft anytime soon. I was speaking globally, however.
Who is claiming that? Wii was the success story of the generation, but PS3 managed to come out doing well even after a huge disaster early on. That was my point. Going forward, Microsoft/Sony seem much better poised for success than Nintendo for next-generation unless Nintendo can somehow manage to have lightning strike twice with the casual crowd.
Sho_Nuff82
Member
Some of the most popular and profitable modern games are exclusive to portable phones. Sony now has phones that carry the playstation branding, and MS has specifically stated that Windows Phone 7 is their mobile gaming platform.
viciouskillersquirrel
Member
Let me give you some free advice - when you have to reach a little and play around with the numbers like what you're doing in order to get a favourable outcome for your favourite console (often in a measure that's different to the accepted standard, in this case current WW sales rates vs LTD sales), you usually make yourself look like a bit of a fool.
When you notice yourself wanting to move the goalposts even just a little, you've likely already lost the argument.
bigtroyjon
Member
Ongoing sales only includes the last 3 months? Why not make it the last 5 months and see where we are at?
The US is part of the globe.
You posted Quarter 1 Japan + US sales. My point is that the 360 will easily outsell the PS3 in those 2 countries combined.
4th Quarter 2011 Japan + US
360 27035(JP) + 3823000(US) = 3850035
PS3 496285(JP) + 2099000(US) = 2595285
bigtroyjon
Member
Combine the 2 and in the last 6 months of ongoing sales we have
360- 4940K
PS3- 3905K
James Sawyer Ford
Member
I'm looking at console sales right now from a forward looking standpoint. Yes, the PS3 had an awful first few years, yes the Wii had an absolutely phenomenal first few years, but now the roles aren't the same going forward. Wii is selling roughly half what the PS3 is selling so far this year in just US and Japan alone.
All of those previous years of success and/or failures don't mean much in the current market environment, unless these companies manage to invest their earnings from previous years reasonably, or learn from their previous mistakes as they've incurred losses. But as of right now? Nintendo's position isn't enviable at all compared to where Sony and Microsoft sit. They sold a lot of Wii systems in the past, but is that going to matter when they aren't selling many systems or units of software right now?
We can look at the last few years.
2011:
360 - 14.9 million
PS3 - 14.1 million
Wii - 10.32 million
2010:
Wii - 17.2 million
PS3 - 14.4 million
360 - 12.1 million
Obviously, massive drop off in Wii's business. Fairly reliable business by Microsoft and Sony. Microsoft needing Kinect's influence to put them only marginally above Sony, going forward I'm not sure how reliable that is. It's worth noting that 2011's figures from Microsoft reveal that they overshipped consoles in the last quarter of the year. And even their own fiscal report says that sales were disappointing. They shipped 8.2 million units that quarter, a massive number, but the sell through was roughly the same as a year earlier. This discrepancy will prove out in the coming quarters as the shipment numbers should be significantly less due to ample channel supply.
They've been profitable in their gaming division the past two years to the tune of ~400 million per year. Sony's losses have been from TV's.
Microsoft of course has been massively profitable, so in terms of the industry leader from a profitability standpoint, they are clearly winning.
So to prove your statement that Sony is the current and future global leader you posted numbers showing that Nintendo was the current leader. ?
You mean CoD? That's pretty much the reason both systems are doing well.
viciouskillersquirrel
Member
Teehee
Eh not only that, thought it certainly plays a big part in the west. It's more the sum of the entire multi-plat library.
Plus don't forget about kinect on 360
IrishNinja
Member
Lik is a good person.
...man, even you don't know what you want here.
garbage post from a garbage poster - this guy is the worst. HURRR why cant sega and the market be like it was in 2000
*edit - oh even better, a GFWL fan who doesn't care about industry jobs:
I can't comment cause i didn't play ORC, but yeah, this doesn't feel like justice. +1 to hoping it finds a home on PC soon, i intend to double dip.
i recall segabits telling me there was a promo on the XBL dashboard for free MS points, BD related...i got home from work late and was hoping to just see a BD ad, if nothing else.
no dice, it was a page full of ME3 ads. heh.
lunchwithyuzo
Banned
Er, I think you meant technically less than 1 year after one of their competitors and before the other.
Xbox 360: 11/16/05
PlayStation 3: 11/11/06
Wii: 11/19/06
this gen was all kinds of bizarre.
Thunder Monkey
Banned
I agree.
I just... wow.
Sony forfeits their market leader status over the course of a generation. Currently sitting 3 million units behind one competitor, and 30 million behind the other... but they are the market leader going forward?
Yikes... just yikes.
Oh yeah, Sony's got some great momentum going forward! PS3's just hitting its stride!
bigtroyjon
Member
If the PS3 started off really bad then what do you call the 360's start? Time to end this bullshit thought that the PS3 was doing terribly it's first few years and had to turn things around.
First 2 years on the market(8 quarters)
PS3-16.6 million
360-13.4 million
First 2 years on the market(8 quarters)
PS3-16.6 million
360-13.4 million
Truespeed
Member
Wow, you try to make it sound like the PS3 really needed all of those bad 360 ports to survive when in reality the publishers just wanted to make as much money as possible.
Thunder Monkey
Banned
You both are arguing it backwards.
Publisher wanted to make money. Sony needed a wide range of games to continue relevancy. The quality of those games isn't exactly important unless they make up almost all of the library.
Truespeed
Member
You just repeated what I said, really.
Thunder Monkey
Banned
With a slight deviation.
Sony did need those titles to maintain relevancy. Without them... the PS3 would have been boned.
Yeah, 360 was widely believed by GAF throughout 2006 to get 'dreamcasted' once PS3 would come out (not much momentum, Sony promising PS3 to be the second coming of Jesus etc.). And then the Wii happened and both HD consoles had to pretty much start from zero.
Thunder Monkey
Banned
If it's any consolation the Wii needed those games too, to pad out the software library. Unfortunately it never got them, and once Nintendo couldn't keep up the pace the entire thing fell out from under them.
This would have been the PS3's fate without the port support it got. Except much worse because of it's slow rise in the first place.
This would have been the PS3's fate without the port support it got. Except much worse because of it's slow rise in the first place.
Wait what? I don't see how those two points are mutually exclusive.
RukusProvider
Banned
Sony didn't have a choice. Their appeal at $499/$599 was very poor.
This was compounded by fact the exclusives during this time were not well received.
Ultimately, they had no choice but to aggressively cut price. Not only did this increase market share it asleep ensured that developer support would be there.
OldJadedGamer
Banned
The PS3 was riding the coattails of the success of the PS2 which gave it a leg up with developers, publishers, and gamers before the gen even started. Had the PS3 been made by any other company, it would have bankrupt them.
The PS4 will be interesting since it will have to stand on it's own two feet and face competition that people aren't writing off before the first systems are sold. Each system next gen will start off 100% equal and it will be epic.
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
March is much closer to 210 than 225
shinra-bansho
Member
Hindsight is 20/20.
What did the PS3 have going for it at launch?
What did the PS3 have going against it at launch?
The turning point would be around Q3 2009 imo; the PS3 Slim essentially relaunched the product, $299, titles like Uncharted 2 and LittleBigPlanet were earning praise, PSN had become far more functionally comparable. (I also consider the launch of the 360S a significant moment in the 360's timeline - it firmly shed the build quality perception from the RROD debacle).
Are people saying that the PS3 as it is today is the same as it was at launch? Or are people saying the Playstation brand is the only reason the PS3 has survived?
What did the PS3 have going for it at launch?
- Playstation brand
- Nominal third party support
What did the PS3 have going against it at launch?
- $599
- Architecture developers hated
- Lack of compelling software
- Highly inferior online infrastructure
- Releasing a year later than its most comparable competition
The turning point would be around Q3 2009 imo; the PS3 Slim essentially relaunched the product, $299, titles like Uncharted 2 and LittleBigPlanet were earning praise, PSN had become far more functionally comparable. (I also consider the launch of the 360S a significant moment in the 360's timeline - it firmly shed the build quality perception from the RROD debacle).
Are people saying that the PS3 as it is today is the same as it was at launch? Or are people saying the Playstation brand is the only reason the PS3 has survived?
SapientWolf
Trucker Sexologist
Sega needs to figure out how to make games that sell around 1 million copies profitable. And then they need to get Platinum to make a lot of those games.
bigtroyjon
Member
People are saying that the PS3 had it's sales constantly rise after launch as the price lowered and there was no specific point where things turned around. The exact same thing has happened with the 360 but instead of constantly lowering the price, they have constantly added value to the product.
There was no "turnaround" point because there was no point when the sales pattern changed. (until the most recent Sony fiscal year where sales will have slightly fallen off from the year prior signifying a turning point downward from the peak.)