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1 Million PlayStation 3s Shipped
The word from Gamasutra is that Sony is boasting 1 million PS3s shipped. They hope to have 6 million units out the door by the end of this year. This came from Sony's CES press conference, which only touched briefly on their new system. Hints were, though, that they'll be rolling out an IPTV system for many of their consumer electronics via the Xross GUI already in use on the PSP and PS3. From the article: "According to the company, the majority of new Sony televisions -- starting with several Bravia flat-panel LCD TVs this spring -- will accept an attachable module that can stream broadband high-definition and other Internet video content with the press of a remote control button. The module will be available this summer, and content will come from sources including AOL, Yahoo! and Grouper, now part of Sony Pictures Entertainment, as well as Sony Pictures itself and Sony BMG - however, none of this streaming video content has yet been confirmed for the PlayStation 3."
prolly 100k sitting on the shelves, the wii turned out to be more popular in the end
I would still like to know how many they have sold! not shipped, a product can ship 7million units for all i care, but how many did they sell?
WulframII - Free Online Mutiplayer 3D Tank Shooting Game
When will companies start saying how many units were sold, instead of shipped? We are not really interested in their plants manufacturing capability.
The year is the *fiscal* year that, for Sony, ends in March
The data is still not entirely complete (there are some game sales missing for the final week in December) but the yearly chart for Japan has the PS3 at 446,750 units sold; being that the Japaneese statistics are far more accurate than American statistics you could assume that Sony shipped about 500,000 units in 2006.
They have ohhh...
Until the end of March I'd say. All snark aside, there's some reality to that statement. The reason there is a "console wars", is because the console that makes the best business model for 3rd party developers gets the most exclusive games and the best ports. It's as simple as that.
The business model that Sony presented this generation, is one of the highest development costs, for a variety of reasons, but they hoped to balance that by selling 100 million systems again this generation. Which would work pretty well. Except for the selling lots of systems part it seems. So their whole business model they're presenting breaks down. For this reason, you'll see a sparse line-up this holiday season, which results in less sales. It's a negative feedback loop, and the stronger it is, the more they'll need to do to counter it. (An AAA+++ title or a huge price cut or both)
Just to go a bit further. The 360 has a more comfortable programming/design environment and better tools provided, lowering costs, and has a large and very active American and European fanbase, plus online handled through XBL, the possibility of demos and new content, and microtransactions (even though we all hate them). It's a good model.
Nintendo is offering a very low development cost system, that focuses more on controller interaction than pushing polygons. And it looks like Nintendo will be combining this with a very large world-wide installed base. (The Wii will probably be the #1 system worldwide by middle of the year) It's a very good model.
It all comes down to the games. Before the launch of the PS3, people were saying they wanted it because they wanted the same experience they got with the PS2 and the PS1, namely the huge library that had games in every genre and even created a few new ones. But it's looking more and more like that experience is going to be on a non-Sony system.
So if Sony can't start selling systems, it's not going to get the games. And if it can't get the games, it'll probably end up like the GameCube..making games for it's core audience, but little beyond that. And I liked..no loved the GameCube. But a lot of people didn't. (Mostly people who didn't have it..but anyway) Or they perceived it to be a failure.
So it sounds like this only works on Sony units, and only certain specific Sony units at best -- yet another Sony proprietary product to waste their resources upon. Can't they see that a seperate unit which works with any HDTV would be better for both them and customers? But, this is Sony we're talking about.
{ - Generic Guy - }
That's one million PS3s shipped TO THE US and only in 2006. One million does not include consoles shipped after the new year and consoles shipped to Japan at any date.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6163828.html
Amid concerns that some of the consoles are just "sitting" on the shelves, I'm sure that this is posing an addtional loss for Sony.
/.'ers but I'm 26. I've played a fair number of video games. I've had a Gamecube and PS2 for over 3 years now. Only three games on the console have "wowed" me to the point I wish all games were like it: Zelda Wind Waker, Metal Gear Solid 2 and MGS3. Otherwise, all games to me, are now boring, repetitive, not story driven and/or too time consuming (don't have time for RPGs anymore). Sorry to say to the console makers and I think I'm not alone: part of my demographic won't shell out mega-bucks when we have rent to pay when all the games look, feel and play the same! And I'm not buying a PS3 just for MGS4 (might rent to play it). And time wise I don't think I'm buying a Wii (I already have a better one anyways ;) )
I say this because I'm sure they get better prices for parts on a Quarterly on Monthly basis. If something didn't sell which you didn't have to produce and your cost goes down = loss.
I also wonder if there is lower adoption because the higher quality Blu-Ray (and who "wouldn't" want it to play movies) really needs an HDTV to take full advantage of the system. This means system price + cost of HDTV. Ditto for X360.
Aside but relevant:
I don't know about most
When a system has to depend on 2 games that won't reach American shores for a good 1-2 years, you can definitely sense trouble. No one spends $600 for 1 game. That's lunacy. The way I see it, it's going to be real hard to get the PS3 out of this rut unless it finds a way to cut costs. It can't have developer abuse anymore, not when the system with the most units right now is also EASIER to develop for as well. If I were a developer, there's no way I wouldn't put a game on the Xbox 360 unless the game was designed for the Wii in mind. Even more, a publisher only thinks of profits, and right now the PS3 is a huge sink in which money must be thrown in before any will come back out.
I had not really bought into the idea of "needing" a next gen console. I predominantly game on the PC. The day after x-mas I'm at a friends house for Poker and the wife goes into the other room and plays on the Wii they picked up. I am immediately informed that this device is on the "must acquire NOW, why didn't you get me one of those for xmas?!?!?" list.
So after xmas I start a ritual on my remaining vacation of checking stores around the DFW area for a Wii. Took a week and a day before I scored one (at a WalMart) and ever place I checked I got a familiar refrain...
"We have no Wiis in, we aren't sure when we'll get more. But we have these PS3's , wouldn't you like one of those?"
I also don't hear buzz amongst friends who have xbox 360's or PS3's about one game or the other, but everybody I know with a Wii raves about how much fun they are. I would say the leader out of the gates for this holiday is the Wii, with Xbox 360 out in front due to getting an early (by MONTHS) start.
Add in that Sony loss leads with the cost of production of the console being above retail. but Nintendo makes a profit on every console and you have a strange formula which actually says Nintendo is doing better. But I'm sure Sony will save the day for themselves with some well though out proprietary product that uses a standard or media format which they are the only really proponents of. That's how it works, right?
I'm a fiscal conservative, it's a pity we don't have a political party anymore
Built in HDTV output, digital audio, small nice looking box, DVD... It has a lot of nice options +++ I get to use it as a game machine too. MythTV is cool on old hardware if you are doing older standard def content .. I am doing DigitalTV recordings (straight off the air in the new HDTV ATSC format) .. so I need a front end with enough horse power to seamlessly decode HDTV content.
I'd have to disagree with that... after the initial excitement of getting a Wii wore off I've been quite bored with it. Zelda is a great game but quite similar to the experience I had on the N64 titles, Not to mention after playing the GC version, I'd rather use that controller if only for a better camera. Red steel is a terribly generic shooter thats only interest is in it's controller interface, which is so buggy it's horrible to play. Trauma Center is a cool title but it's identical to the DS version save a couple of newly added levels, Monkey ball, pretty much the same as the GC and Xbox versions I've already played, Excite Truck and Wii sports are fun for an hour or two with friends but they become quite boring after that... there just isn't enough depth to them beyond their initial impression. Elebits looks interesting but I haven't played it yet so I can't really comment on that title.
When you look at the 360 it's got Gears of War which is a very fresh shooter the game play is quite different and very unique in comparison to the many other shooters I've played, in terms of multiplayer/co-op the game has enough depth to provide much lasting appeal. Also Viva Pinata gets my pick for the most innovative game this holiday, it's what I'd image the results would be if Nintendo made Spore. Then of course there are older titles like Dead Rising which is akin to the melding GTA, Resident Evil, and Shenmue... and Test Drive Unlimited (the first MMO Racer).
Honestly I played nothing but the Wii for most of December, I wouldn't consider most of the games all that innovative, particularly as someone who's owned all of Nintendo's consoles. So far the games that truly utilize the Wii remote are horribly shallow and don't serve as much more then a way to impress your friends for an hour, other games that have the necessary depth that you'd expect from a modern game don't use the Wii remote in any real unique ways, they just replace pushing the analog stick with waving the remote around.
The Potential is there, and I'm excited to see what will come out in the next year or so but as of right now, the Wii is collecting dust and I've started playing the 360 again, the controller might not be anything new but the current crop of games are far more interesting in my opinion.
Collector's Edition
I'm not going to rehash the same pro/con fanboi arguments in this here post.
What I will offer up is my humble opinion.
They are meeting demand faster than the 360 due to the system not selling out as fast.
The cost is still too high and they won't see big sales numbers until they lower the cost. They can't lower the cost, at present, due to losing money out of the gate. It's also a lost cause because MS/Nin can still low ball them if they decide to drop the cost. I think if they came in around 360 premium price, they would see better market penetration. They should also consider releasing a non-BR version with wifi for $299 and I bet it'd sell the shit out of the present choices they are offering up.
The PS3 was, pretty much, a paper release. I say this because they didn't have enough units, on hand, very few games, an incomplete gaming network, etc. I think they released and hoped to get the early adapters and such, but to this point, I think it's been a disappointing release, for them, no matter what they say. The truth is the cost is the single biggest issue holding them back. Everyone is piling on, now, so unless they pull something huge out of their asses, things aren't going to improve until they drop the price.
$600 is way too much for a video game system for the avg family, period. All the spoiled children who want to say it's not, obviously don't earn a living, so they have no valid appreciation for how much $600 is. I can afford a PS3, no problem, but I am unmarried and I don't have children. My low cost subsistence of free pr0n, boca burgers, and no debt make things more affordable:D I finally bought a 360, after a year of trying to justify it, because I could at least modularize it, which does make it cheaper. That's the simple truth.
You aren't free to do anything, until you've lost everything.
I don't doubt that 1 million unit have shipped to USA but, I'll be honest here I am a PS3 fan, a big one, but I don't see how they will ship or sell 6 million units by march. Its £549 in the UK (when released), thats double what Americans have to pay. I can justify £300, perhaps a little more, I still think the £200 cost of my PSP was worth it. Yet its the only console which will offer true versitility, I get my Gran Turismo,GTA, Tony Hawk, etc... fix and I can play Guitar Hero,Buzz and Singstar with friends. But is it worth £549?
The Xbox360 isn't in the same market, After a year there are almost enough games to make me interested in getting a Xbox360, but the limited hard drive lack of blu ray/HD DVD, crappy expansion slots and most importantly lack of any singstar,buzz,Guitar Hero type of games which puts me off the console.
The you have the Gimmick or Wii as it prefers to be known which has Wii sports, while I'm sure it will suck in many people with Wii Sports (heck we do have a 30 person strong waiting list for Wii's) I can't help but see it as anouther gamecube which will end up with two games I like and the rest of the game library sucking hugely. I'm not saying Wii Sports isn't fun, but it is the type of game which doesn't stay fun after the tenth time you've picked it up (kinda the same way a singstar/buzz game loses enjoyability over time.)
What does a gamer do? On one hand you have a console which sells based on a Gimmick (Wiimote) which looks set to sell hugely, one console which is limited in games for the non hard core gamer (which has sold well(Xbox360)) and the only console which looks like it could cover both is so incredibly expensive that I couldn't justify buying it (as well as the company showing increasing signs of evilness.)
They have a single unit that can be in all places and in all times at once. Sometimes it looks like a big scary black bird.
At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
Because PlayStation 2 Slimline is still selling like hotcakes.
Because the basic shape of the PlayStation family controllers hasn't changed since the Dual Shock was introduced back in the mid-PS1 era.
I've never fallen into the groupthink that states that in order for a game to be good it must be original, or vice versa. I've played many excellent games that were not original at all, and many original games that were crap. By this reasoning no sequel has been, or ever will be, good.
This is not to say that new and innovative games can't be good or that we don't need any innovation in the industry. However, it really bothers me the way people seem to want to do away with every great series and genre that brought us to this point.
While it may be off topic, are your claims on console sales alone, or the fact that Sony and Microsoft have lost money? If the latter, it may be in part to the fact that they deal in many other areas of electronics, not just video game consoles. Sources would be great.
-- jchenx