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Playstation 2 Outsells both Xbox and Gamecube
Laurens writes "Despite various claims of both Microsoft and Nintendo, this article by the Los Angeles Times has the first independant salesfigures on all 3 next-gen consoles. And it seems the good ol' PS2 sold best this holiday season." I'm an hour into FFX and don't foresee turning my PS2 off much this week. Can't talk now. Must see Lord of the
Rings, and then play more FFX. Is this a great time to be alive, or what?
The only reason the GameCube hasn't sold more than the PS2 is because the PS2 has been out longer. Around here in Rochester, and at home in Connecticut, you're lucky if you find a GameCube in store. PS2s are a plenty because Sony's been making them for a long time, and there are lots of game choices. The PS2 is good, I'm not putting it down. But look where the PS2 is now, then see where the GameCube is in how many months.
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This article doesn't count major retail stores like Walmart and is basically disregarded in the retail community because it is totally off. Nintendo broke ALL console sales records and currently leads all the consoles regardless what others may believe. They have told their investors this is their STRONGEST year EVER - Meaning they're doing better than when the original NES came out, which is saying a LOT.
Sony's marketroids have ALWAYS given them the advantage in the console arena, even when facing off against superior consoles.
Of course, it kinda helps that the PS2 catalogue is HUGE, compared to the relatively meagre selection offered by the other two.
Backwards compatibility has its advantages, in terms of brand loyalty. Nintendo had the right idea by making the Game Boy range backwards compatible. Suddenly all the money and time invested in the previous console's games hasn't wasted. That's a huge selling point, especially when parents are deciding what to buy their offspring.
To say "it's been out longer" as though that's not a good reason to buy a console misses the point. It would be more meaningful to say, "it's been sucessful after a year and change". At this time last year, dreamcast had been out longer than PS2, by about the same amount, but had few big games on the horizon, and had been losing 3d parties left and right. And you can talk about the reasons for this, but the fact is that, not only has sony got a lead, they've made good given that lead -- just as the new systems hit the market, you get GTA3, FFX, MGS2, and all sorts of other games that may or may not be associated with acronyms.
What i think it *is* fair to say is that the fact that PS2 is outselling either of the 2 new systems isn't symptomatic of the futures of either of those systems. Nintendo always has a slow start, but they're in it for the long haul, and they've shown a consistent ability to milk their franchises. And Microsoft, well, whatever, they'll probably just release the next version of office only for xbox so all their corporate customers have to buy them, so they're ensured of success.
god is just pretend.
Console wars are fought over who can get the best games that appeal to the masses out there. I've been seeing ads for NFL 2K2 and NBA 2K2, which are both being developed for all platforms by Sega. Sega wants to reach as many customers as possible with this strategy, but I feel that the real winner will be the platform with exclusive rights to a game that appeals to the masses. Sony has Squaresoft and the Final Fantasy series of games, and Nintendo has all of it's trademarked characters appearing on the Game Cube and Gameboy Advance. I haven't been following the X-Box too closely, so I do not know what's exclusive there.
To the PS2's credit, there is quite a nifty selection of games to choose from in Sony-land. GTA3, GT3, Devil May Cry, etc. But this is a far cry from this time last year, when most of the PS2 games were mediocre at best. Give the Gamecube a year to pick up steam.
You'd think that the PS2 would have lost its flash since the other consoles have newer technology. Technology moves quickly (think about computers one year ago..)
But it seems to be about the games, quantity and quality that is driving sales.
Also the figures are for the holiday shopinging season 2002. In total units shipped sony is way ahead.
Competition is good though.. Better systems and games no matter what unit you choose.
Programming anything good or original is hard. That's the way it is. Use the same tools/techniques/engines/libraries as everyone else and you get the same result.
"Under the iron bridge, we fist" - The Smiths, Still Ill
Om the other hand. If people really want Xbox or Gamecube they would wait for more units to ship wouldn't they? Playstation 2 has the advantage of being old and available. Those other to have the advantage of being new and cool.
You're missing the point. If the Gamecube and the Xbox are sold out, and the PlayStation 2 was out early enough to capture a significant share of the market, then those are all reasons why Sony's strategy has worked better for them.
It's not much use to say "you should compare them all things being equal", because good strategy relies exactly on what is not equal.
Last Christmas, it was the Dreamcast that was the incumbent leader outselling the upstart PlayStation2, with far more Dreamcast games and peripherals on the shelves than PS2 stuff. Now the Dreamcast is floating belly-up in the top of the bowl and PS2 is king.
A lot is going to change between now and X-mas 2002.
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A console's success is based on the games it supports. The Playstation 2 has been out for a year and as a result, has a great library of games. The XBOX and Gamecube are brand new, and as a result, only have a handful of games each. If you want to compare capabilities of hardware, then the GPU of the XBOX is superior to that of the PS2. If you want to compare portability, then the Gamecube trumps them both. If you want to compare number of systems owned, then the PS2 wins ... but take a look at the picture a year from now ... when the XBOX and Gamecube have matured to the level that the PS2 has reached and those are the numbers that really count.
Is that the *only* complaint you have seen about the PS2?
I can think of a lot of things I don't like about it.
The lack of 4 controller ports..
The lack of any really fun multiplayer games (aside from GT3, some fighting games and sports games). Almost no 4 player games.
The fact that it has been out for so long yet it hardly has more fun games than the newer systems. (Yes there are a lot of *decent* games, but not a whole lot of really good ones)
When a game is released for multiple systems it always looks the WORST on the PS2 or has the least amount of features. (Max Payne, Tony Hawk, etc)
If you watch too many dvd movies or play too many music cd's your motor will burn out and you have to take it in to get it fixed. (Not sure if that was fixed in the newer versions or not)
The fact that it is harder to develop for means that developers have a hard time taking full advantage of the system, AND makes them want to write their games for OTHER systems instead. Almost like what happened with the N64 (although there were other things like space issues with that system)
Should I go on?
The only reason I even keep mine around is because I love GT3 and a few of the shooting games (Time Crisis) that I have.. Oh and GTA3, but I'm sure the X-Box version will be better.
BTW if you are curious.. I DO have all 3 systems and the one me and my friends play the LEAST is the PS2.
Xbox has about all the games the PS2 does. Hell, even an enhance FFX, untrue MGS2"X", completely unconfirmed GTA3 in severe doubt right now, no release date and Rockstar has pulled all mention of it from its website and all the ea sports titles and everything else is coming over..
XBox doesn't have Gran Turismo. It doesn't have Devil May Cry. It doesn't have Jak & Daxter.
Not to mention Xenosaga, GrandiaX and a whole host of RPGs coming out first half of next year for PS2...
I wish I had a kryptonite cross, because then you could keep Dracula and Superman away.
A number of people have pointed out that the newer consoles are in short supply so they don't have as much of a chance to sell.
Yet, if you check eBay XBox and Gamecube systems are going mostly at cost at this point (the ones that are selling at all). I personally think that XBox and Gamecube sales figures are bound to be a touch inflated at this point by MANY people who bought extra to sell on eBay, so there might be a bit of a soft market for both systems for a month or two.
I don't know if it's because there were two systems released this year or what, but at no point of either the XBox or Gamecube had the eBay demand the PS2 did last year. I'm not saying that means the PS2 is a better system or that it means anything about who will come to dominate in the future - just noting that demand for each new system is simply not nearly as high as the PS2 demand was (though they also had a more limited supply than the GameCube or XBox, I think).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley