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PlayStation 2 Outselling Xbox 360 in U.S.
Aviran Mordo writes to mention an Ars Technica article about the sales struggle between the PS2 and Xbox 360. Since the launch, the PS2 has managed to maintain the lead. April was the first month Microsoft's new console eeked out Sony's old one, possibly as a result of the ramp-up in production. From the article: "I should note that we caution against putting too much weight on these sales estimates, especially in a comparative sense. The PS2 and the Xbox 360 are at opposite ends of their 'console lifecycles,' and the two are priced quite far apart as well (e.g., $129 vs. $299, PS2, Xbox 360 Core respectively). We are impressed, however, by the PS2's continually strong sales, even as many gamers turn their eyes towards the next-generation. These sales will help keep Sony strong and stable, even in the face of a disappointing PlayStation 3 launch, should fate take that turn." These sales may be bolstered as the year moves on by the releases of God of War 2, Final Fantasy XII, and Okami, all of which are for the PS2.
Hardly a far comparison when you look at price point. I would rather spend 129 then 600 any day for a system that is still a decent gaming system.
I can't believe its not butter!
I'm curious about how Sony will be able to translate the PS2 popularity into PS3 sales. The 100% backward compatibility promise is a great start, but I think that to sell the PS3 to all the people who don't have a HDTV, you need something better than 'this $500 machine does everything your $100 does'. No more memory cards, wireless controllers, possibly faster load times are all nice, but not enough. And I don't see consumers flocking to HD movies either. I own a HD projector, and HD movies _do_ look better on it than plain DVDs, but it is by no stretch the same landslide change that VHS->DVD was.
A boatload of highly desirable PS3 excluisives to popular PS2 franchises would possibly seal the deal. But most of the upcoming sequels, like Gran Turismo HD, seem more like HD versions of the same game. That won't sell any consoles to the non-HD consumers, which are still the majority, even in the early adopter bracket.
Try out fish, the friendly interactive shell.
This same conversation has been going on at Ars (and to a slightly lesser degree, here at /.) for months now. The threads are usually fairly amusing but for every useful and informative post there's 10 that are just blind fanboyism. Not that those can't be fun as well...
I think the reason for the fanatic dedication to a particular console brand is the need for consumers to justify to themselves the huge investment they made in their purchase. All of the consoles are expensive, and with a halfway decent selection fo games and accessories you're looking at several thousand dollars invested. Nobody wants to feel as though they made a "mistake", and that the other guy's product might have been the better choice.
When it comes down to it, however, other than a few total bombs in the past, all of the current generations of consoles have a lot going for them, not the least of which includes a ton of quality, enjoyable games. I just wish we could remember that when we engage in these occasional console-wars threads.
As consoles age, the quality of their games get better and better. That's because the programmers learn all the ways to wring out performance. When I look at my oldest games (GTA 3 and the Sims, both state of the art at the time) and compare them to some of the newer games (Shadow of the Colossus, the Warriors, and Dragon Quest VIII), it's clear the quality of the animation has improved.
On the other hand, game play seems to be more static. I haven't seen proof that Xbox 360 games are any better 'games', just better looking.
So, since the game play is a wash, and PS2 games are the best-looking they've ever been, it boils down to extra money for the promise of future performance.
My father is a blogger.
Judging from the number of times my friends have had to replace their PS2 (usually from a failed DVD drive), I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of the PS2 sales are to replace consoles. The PS2 is by far the most prone to breaking in its current generation, and it is probably only now that people may hold off on replacing their broken PS2 in anticipation for picking up a PS3 in November. Heck, at the $130 price point, I imagine that a number of PS2 owners will still bite the bullet and by a new PS2, even with the PS3 on the horizon.
I think the 360 finds itself in a similar situation to the Dreamcast. It has a substantial market lead, and early adopter are really enjoying it, but it doesn't have a killer app yet that is driving people to buy it over the much cheaper previous generation.
Oddly enough, sales of the 360 might be better if the PS3 was out. As it is, it's a situation where the 360 is nice, but is it really worth almost 3 times as much as a PS2? However, if the PS3 was out, the comparison would be, the PS3 is nice, but is it really worth $200 more than the 360? Because it's at the top, the only thing it gets compared to is what's right below it, which, although previous generation, still has a great games selection, and costs much less.
Having said that, I think Microsoft knows how to market the 360 much better than Sega did the Dreamcast, and I think sales will pick up.
I don't think Microsoft manufactured a shortage, or if they did, they horribly screwed it up, as you want a slight shortage right at release, and then blanket the world during December. (Did you notice how many more units are sold in December?)
They finally solved the supply issue, and sales peaked, and went back down.
But I don't think this is an Xbox 360 VS PS2 issue, but more indicative of a high priced next-gen console VS low cost current gen console; the PS3 will probably have similar issues as its price is even higher. The Wii stands to compete well in this range, however.
Fellowship 9/11
Why do you buy any object that delivers content? The quality of the content.
Why'd you buy a DVD player? The movies on DVD with their superior audio/video quality and that the movies YOU wanted to watch were available in this format. Otherwise we'd have stayed with VHS.
Why do you choose an operating system? The applications. If my customers send me msword docs all day long, i should be running windows as I'm in the best position to have 100% compatibility with their documents. Windows is more expensive to purchase than linux, but if I cannot run Outlook/excel/word/whatever then the cost of windows is a necessary and mandatory cost.
Why is PS2 sales still high? It's not the cost of the game machine, but that there are HUNDREDS of games available for it. With a large variety in the type of games available, any new consumer is more likely to find a game they want to play on the PS2 than on the xbox360 which still has only a few games.
If PS3 is backwards compatible with the PS2, it will be a slam dunk as people can still play their old games, if PS3 is not backwards compatible it will suffer from the same problems as the xbox360
The number of defective 360s was grossly over-reported. Even slashdot had articles on that subject. The PS2 also had major hardware issues at release and with all of the brand spanking new and untested technology in the PS3 you think this will be any different? I've had my 360 since day 1 with no problems and I know at least 5 friends haven't had issues with theirs either. With the "staggering number of defective 360s" you'd imagine at least one of us would have had a bad one.
MS may not have landed much in the way of new IP but they broke down some old barriers. You saw your first Final Fantasy on Xbox finally (though much later, however it still happened). You'll be seeing GTA4 out day 1 for 360 with downloadable content exclusive to the 360. There are some very nice titles coming out that will be only on PC or 360 like Gears of War, Huxley, etc.
Sony's online service may be "free" but there is little to no details as to what to expect from it.