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PlayStation 2 Sales Double Following Price Cut
Thanks to GamesIndustry.biz for its article discussing significant PlayStation 2 sales increases following the price cut to $149 last month. The piece quantifies: "Data released this week by Sony Computer Entertainment America shows that the console's sales rose by some 216 per cent in the week immediately following the price cut, with an increase of 141 per cent over the full period since the cut", and this means: "The increase in sales will have propelled the PlayStation 2 well past its console rivals, after Sony's platform slipped behind the Xbox in monthly sales for the first time since the launch of the Microsoft console." It's also explained: "The increased sales noted since the price cut have actually pushed year on year sales of the PS2 upwards, with 26 per cent growth on the same period last year - and should hopefully help to slow the overall decline in hardware sales which has hit the USA so far this year."
Well I really can't speak for anybody besides myself, but the main reason I'm interested in maybe getting a PS2 is GTA San Andreas. Price cut is icing.
"Derp de derp."
I believe they are referring to the Xbox price cut from 179 to 149, which was in April.
...before any of the initial screenshots were released. I may buy another PS2, insert GTA:SA and weld the tray shut.
TakeTwo Interactive: Your team at R* deserves even more cash bonuses. Keep up the great work.
Yea, I sound like a fan-boy, but there's just something about the recent GTA games (>=GTA3) that I can't let go of. They've become theraputic after a long day at work.
This one gang kept wanting me to join cause I'm pretty good with a bo staff.
Is it just me, or is that a little bit...strange? They cost $180 before the price drop, and then they cost $150 afterwards. It's not that much of a difference, is it? Certainly not enough to merit twice as many people rushing out and buying one...what kind of consumer thinks, ooh, I'd always wanted a PS2 but, y'know, they were just thirty dollars too expensive for me? I guess this is the same mentality that wouldn't hesitate to buy something that costs $19.99 but would flinch at anything costing a flat $20, because it's too expensive.
I had a teacher once who was very adamant on that point. We don't need pennies, he would say. Pennies are a waste of metal. We need to take pennies out of circulation. Someone would invariably ask about things that cost $19.99. Well, we'd raise their price to $20, fool, he would say. This makes sense to me--and it made sense to him, but I imagine that a lot of people wouldn't be able to handle it. The economy would collapse. A very large segment of the population considers $19.99 to be a hell of a lot cheaper than $20. On the PS2 front, these same people are ecstatic about the gigantic price drop and buy twice as many of the things as they bought before.
This could be a very interesting pricing strategy for video game console manufacturers:
1. Debut the console at a price point of something like $300.
2. Every three to six months thereafter (the timeframe could easily be extended or shortened) drop the price by, say, $10.
3. Laugh as sales nearly double right after doing this.
4. Repeat until console has saturated market.
This reminds of the GameCube thing that happened a while ago. I believe it was last summer that Nintendo had a deal going with the Cube:
Buy a $150 GameCube, and you get a free $50 game.
Well, this was quite a deal, but sales were stagnant. Some months later, the marketing geniuses at the big N decided to adopt a new tactic:
Buy a $100 GameCube, and you don't get anything for free.
Lo and behold, sales shot up. Why? Well, obviously, because now it's fifty dollars cheaper!!! Never mind that you have to buy a game to play the stupid thing, it's just a better deal.
It's interesting to think about this stuff.
How stupid is the average shopper?
How many people are buying new ones just to replace old ones? I had a bum unit that was repaired - $80. When it happened again, it was more cost effective to trade in the old one for $100 credit toward getting a new one. Perhaps more people are doing this now
This is crazy. How can selling more consoles ever cure a slump in hardware sales? Consoles cause the slump in hardware sales. You buy a PC, a monitor. Costs a little more than a console but you get a much better product. And you might buy a new HDD, a new video card after a year or so. You don't have to, but upgrading a PC is usually cheaper than buying a new console, and it adds to hardware sales.
Buying a console - you buy the console. Then you go spend your money on a big screen TV, new couch, and because console games usually last much less in terms of playability than a PC game, you buy a lot more games than you would on a PC to get the same "fix".
Consoles do not help any aspect of the IT industry. Never.
I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me. -- G.I.R.
"in the April this year"
.biz site is worthless.
Anything from a