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Hirai Expects One Million PS3s By End of Year
Despite lower-than-expected launch numbers for Sony's next console, in an interview with Next Generation Kaz Hirai says he still expects a million units to be available by the end of the year. He goes on to discuss other elements of the launch, and Sony's expectations for this momentous event. From the article: "For launch day there is going to be a bit less than 20. For the launch window there is going to be a bit more. We are looking at the portfolio of the third party publishers for the launch day, and we are asking them which titles are going to be available for the second week, which ones are going to be available for the third week, and which titles are going to be for the end of the year. Basically we are managing the portfolio of the software titles everybody has, once this process is done we are deciding which titles are going where, and then we are going to have the final list of the launch titles for the US launch."
The summary says there will be a bit less than 20, in the context of the number of playstation 3's sold. What it really means is that there will be about 20 games available. Thanks for not making that clear at all.
I submitted this story last night, and it didn't get posted.
heh
"For launch day there is going to be a bit less than 20"
Good thing thats about the number of games, at lest they arnt trying to do a MS and hold the consumers to ransom on avalbility.
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You know half of them will be Madden games or Lee Caravillo's Putting Challenge.
I don't understand what benefit is gained by releasing a game the week after launch day. At that point, is that one week really going to make a difference in game quality? And if it would, why not then wait a month and get the game perfect?
"For launch day there is going to be a bit less than 20."
Well, at least Sony is keeping their goals realistic.
One million units by the end of the year? I can't help but compare that to the reports that Nintendo expects over a million Wiis to be available on launch day alone and at least four million by the end of the year. Sony's numbers are underwhelming me.
The word "sold".
ANd just HOW many millions of Wiis will Nintendo have made by then?
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Hopefully Sony will have the goods come the 3rd and 4th week of november. While a launch day sellout would impact price and scarcity greatly, it is up to Sony to deliver on their promise. Neither the PS2 or the Xbox 360 came through on their "promise" for prompt replenishments of supply. If Sony could pull it off it would make many a merry christmas. While I still have hope, I'm not that confident, those unforseen externalities always bite you in the ass at the last minute.
That is the conservative number. Reports based on parts shipped to Nintendo indicate a possible six million by the end of the year.
Originally, Nintendo had plans to release 6 to 8 million Wii's by year end. Sony had plans to release between 2 and 4 million by year end.
Both have scaled back their numbers. Sony mostly due to real and artificial supply constraints (they decided to ship more Blu-Ray players, which undercut the number of Blu-Ray components for the PS3, for example). Nintendo mostly due to quality and manufacturing utilization reasons.
However, this also artificially pumps up demand, as the original numbers were based on market research of probable purchases. The numbers will continue to fluctuate depending on factory outputs and shipping constraints.
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to be taken out of the gene pool.
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=212
What sound do people on rollercoasters make? Hint: it's not Xbox 360.
Nintendo originally claimed 2 million worldwide at launch and 6 million worldwide by March 2007.
Nintendo has never given any numbers other than those. Sony has delayed the European release to March 2007, reduced their allotment to 2 million worldwide this year, but still claims they can have 6 million worldwide by the end of March 2007. The 1 million in this article is for North America alone.
Reports say Nintendo will have more than 4 million units available this year, but there has been no official word from Nintendo other than what was announced back in May around E3. So while you can expect however many units you want from them, they've only commmitted to 2 million units so far.
just some guy
Given Sony's track record this past year or so, Kaz should probably concentrate on getting the 500,000 or so he's promised into stores before he starts promising more than that.