PS2, DS Real Console War Winners

Paradox writes in with a link to an MSNBC article that shouldn't be too surprising for anyone: the real winners of the console war are the DS and the PS2. Boasting numbers unmatchable by the johnny-come-lately next-gen consoles, the PS2 and Nintendo DS each sold about 1.5 Million units last December. Article author Kristin Kalning points out the reality: given the high quality of gaming in general nowadays, the low prices and rich libraries of these 'venerable' systems will see them in circulation for some time to come. Given the success of last-gen consoles, what are your plans regarding gaming systems? Are you holding out for price drops, or considering buying one of the older systems now that they're considerably less expensive?

Comments

DS Not Last-Gen

[SighKoPath]

Given the success of last-gen consoles, what are your plans regarding gaming systems?

The DS is not 'last-gen.' It's a current generation handheld. Last-gen would be the GBA.

Re:DS Not Last-Gen

[bym051d]

And IIRC, the GBA also had a pretty good Christmas. It sold 850,000 in December. http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?i d=155061

Re:DS Not Last-Gen

[revlayle]

I would argue NONE of the consoles are next-gen. It's kinda like the "tomorrow's a day away" saying.... once the next-gen console becomes a reality and on the market, it is NOW current-gen, it's predecessor is last-gen.

of course, i MAY be splitting hairs a wee bit

XBox used games glut = happy gamers

[Jtheletter]

I'll admit that Halo 2 sucked me in for way too long, to the exclusion of other titles. But now there's so many original XBox games turning up in the used market I've more than doubled my game library on the cheap! Keep up those trade-ins next-geners, those of us who don't ride the bleeding edge are still getting plenty of use out of these games. :)

Re:XBox used games glut = happy gamers

[matt328]

Amen. My girlfriend and I just found the first Lego Star Wars for PS2 for $15 used the other day and can't put it down. I have a Gamecube as well, and Zelda aside, I've never paid more then $15 each for any of the games I have for it.

DS support

[the dark hero]

The DS is still going strong. There's enough titles from square-enix alone to make a fanboy salivate. This isn't surprising news as many people are content with the previous generation of systems and titles available for it. I know plenty of games from the last generation that i haven't even gotten around to playing yet.

Re:DS support

[Osty]

The DS is still going strong. There's enough titles from square-enix alone to make a fanboy salivate. This isn't surprising news as many people are content with the previous generation of systems and titles available for it. I know plenty of games from the last generation that i haven't even gotten around to playing yet.

There is no "next generation" for handhelds yet. The DS and PSP are both "current generation", and it's disingenuous to talk about the DS "still going strong" because there's no "DS 2" or "GameBoy SuperAdvance" to compete with it yet.

To me, the interesting thing about the PS2's continued dominance is what it says about the PS3. The Gamecube is dead because the Wii is much better while still being affordable. The Xbox is dead because the 360 is much better and just barely in reach of being affordable. The PS2 is still alive and thriving because while the PS3 may be technically better, it's completely unaffordable (and unlike the Wii, you can actually find PS3s in stores so lack of sales at this point has nothing to do with supply and everything to do with demand). Maybe Sony's hit on a great new idea, segmenting the console market into high-end (PS3) and low-end (PS2), similar to how the A/V market works (for example, at first DVD players were high-priced and high-end. Then they dropped in price and were more available, but the high-end was still expensive and had features like progressive scan. Then progressive scan players dropped in price and were more available, but the high-end was still expensive with features like upconverting to 720p or 1080i/p. And currently, upconverting players are rapidly dropping in price but the high-end is still there and expensive with HD-DVD and Blu-Ray).

Maybe I'm seeing thoughtfulness and insight for something that was fundamentally a blunder by Sony, but it'll be interesting to see how the high-end/low-end split works out for them.

Graphics don't matter!

[PresidentEnder]

I've been saying for years that graphics don't matter to me, being mocked by my roommates for playing the Ur-Quan Masters (an open source version of Star Control) while they played battlefield 2.

Past a certain point, though, graphics really don't matter. Sure, the N64 was grainy and the Gamecube is easier to see (and thus play). Now that we have the current level of graphics, scaling more and more textures and pixels until you can see the warts on the orc's nose is foolhardy and wasteful. I'd like to see more attention paid to AI and gameplay elements in the future.

Re:Graphics don't matter!

[the dark hero]

I'd like to see more attention paid to AI and gameplay elements in the future.

I agree, but the problem is convincing the devs to use the "all-mighty power" of the PS3 to give us some amazing AI over graphics. It wont happen. The game won't sell because it isn't "HD" enough.

Shocker!!

[HappySqurriel]

This is a shocker, inexpensive systems with lots of reasonable quality games released for them outsell expensive systems with no games ...

In general, the number of people who are willing to spend more than $200 on a gaming system is small and the number of people who are willing to spend that much money without (at least) a handful of games they want being readily available is tiny. The PS2 is still attractive to people because you can (essentially) spend $100 on the system, and $20 per game, and have access to more entertainment then you could on your $400 XBox 360 or $500/$600 PS3.

In Other News....

[twistedsymphony]

The DS isn't a home console and the PS1 outsold the PS2 when it first came out.

I'm not sure the point the article is trying to make... new console adoption is always slow going despite launch day sales numbers... the NES outsold the SNES for a while, the SNES outsold the N64 and PS1 for a while, the PS1 outsold the PS2 for a while, and **SHOCK*** the PS2 is outselling it's replacements... say it aint so!

The DS IS a next gen hand held... it's outselling it's last gen counterpart the GBA... but it's also not a recently released console... when it was it was being outsold by it's cheaper last gen cousin. Even still the DS while a game machine is a completely different market then home consoles. That's like being surprised that the iPod is outselling BluRay players... no really?

Re:I'm waiting for Linux (or a price drop) on the

[AKAImBatman]

I'm waiting for Linux (or a price drop) on the Wii

I doubt you'll be seeing either Linux or a price drop anytime soon. How about News and Weather instead? :P

Personally, I'm outright shocked that it's February and it's still incredibly difficult to get a Wii. With Nintendo's sizable shipments of the console, I would have thought that they would have been available from day one. Instead, demand seems to be increasing before Nintendo has a chance to catch up with the current demand. It's scary to think what will happen when Nintendo actually starts advertising this thing.

BTW, if you do plan on getting a Wii, I highly recommend shopping the Gamecube deals now. There have been a lot of great clearance sales of both used and new games for the system. One of these days, however, retailers are going to figure out that demand for the old GCN stuff isn't tappering off with the sales of the Wii. So start stocking up while you can still get the games for under $10.

I wonder how many of these PS2s...

[JoshDM]

...were purchased by exasperated grandparents who gave up trying to find a PS3?

Re:You = Everybody else?

[MemoryDragon]

The average consumer seems to be happy being fed year after year with the same EA game ...

What are the profits?

[LoverOfJoy]

Both the DS and PS2 sold great but how much profit does Nintendo and Sony make from each sold?

The PS2 is probably old enough technology that it's very cheap to make nowadays. DS came out later but Nintendo is known for making a profit right out of the gate on units. It'd be interesting to hear the actual numbers.