Strong PS3 and XBOX 360 Add-On sales reported

ppltd · 11-20-2006, 11:24 AM

This should be a shot in the arm for both camps.

Quote:

As expected, the debut of Sony's Blu-ray-driven PlayStation 3 last Friday boosted the format's installed base expotentially -- though Microsoft is also reporting strong numbers for the HD DVD add-on drive for rival Xbox 360.
First numbers for PS3 and XBox add-on

While the actual reported deliveries has been stated to be between 150,000 to 400,000 PS3's, (it is probably somewhere between the two extremes), it is certianly just what the doctor ordered for these two formats. Exciting times in the HD arena.

Ryan-G · 11-20-2006, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ppltd

This should be a shot in the arm for both camps.

While the actual reported deliveries has been stated to be between 150,000 to 400,000 PS3's, (it is probably somewhere between the two extremes), it is certianly just what the doctor ordered for these two formats. Exciting times in the HD arena.

I don't find PS3 sales impressive, as Gates said earlier today, Sony could paint "PS4" on a load of bricks and people would line up to buy 80,000 of them.

The add-on though, that's different. No console add-on has ever sold well.

Regardless, I don't think it matters much anymore. Might just give HD-DVD the nudge it needs to woo some more studios, and that'd be a critical turning point...

Either way though, if the format war doesn't end soon, Uni Players will make it a moot point. It's not long before they appear given the rumblings I've been reading.

Grant H · 11-20-2006, 08:33 PM

However many Sony released to retailers, that's how many sold. You can be damned sure of that. Amazingly, no numbers actually given in that story about the PS3 OR the add-on.

ppltd · 11-20-2006, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan-G

I don't find PS3 sales impressive, as Gates said earlier today, Sony could paint "PS4" on a load of bricks and people would line up to buy 80,000 of them.

Neither do many news reporting agencies Wedbush Morgan Securities. This is just one of many reports analysing the market for the next few months, and while things are looking up for MS, the WII might well be the big winner.

Ryan-G · 11-21-2006, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ppltd

Neither do many news reporting agencies Wedbush Morgan Securities. This is just one of many reports analysing the market for the next few months, and while things are looking up for MS, the WII might well be the big winner.

Wii's not going to be a winner, it's got too many problems...

1. It's main selling point is it's motion sensing controller. Problem is, it's main selling point is it's main drawback. Most teenagers wouldn't be caught dead bouncing around in front of a TV to play a game, they do their utmost to look "Cool", waving a small stick at a TV doesn't look "Cool". Same problem extends into the other age groups. The only age group that isn't going to have an issue with the whole concept is the children. It might work for a party game like Mario Party, but outside of that, appearances takes over.

2. Nintendo's library is very casual and child oriented. They've improved on it slightly over the past few years, but their reputation is very much one of being the "Kiddie Console".

3. Wii is essentially an upgraded Gamecube. Which is a major problem for the next 12-24 months. It's graphics are simply not going to hold a candle to the other Platforms and I wouldn't be surprised if the shift to HDTV's make it look worse.

Wii's riding a wave of "Lookie new!", but after the shine wears off I suspect Wii will actually end up exactly where Nintendo's been for years, Kiddie Market.

Don't get me wrong, Nintendo's been hands down the best innovator for input devices over the years. But as rushed as the PS3 is, IMO, the Wii is worse because it really doesn't include any kind of significant graphics upgrade. All it'll take is for MS to drop the price of the 360 and their only market advantage is gone, and since MS has used USB ports on the 360 there's no reason why they can't dust off the old sidewinder plans and take over Wii's only game advantage in very short order.

Although I do have to give Nintendo major props for being smart enough to leverage their enourmous back library. It's a dark horse, but if the price point gets low enough, this factor and real controllers could endear the Emulation/Nostalgia crowds. ~$100 and ~$5-10 per old title and Nintendo could gather some significant sales as the "Backup" box.

**HTF Ads**

TravisR · 11-21-2006, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan-G

Wii's not going to be a winner, it's got too many problems...

1. It's main selling point is it's motion sensing controller. Problem is, it's main selling point is it's main drawback. Most teenagers wouldn't be caught dead bouncing around in front of a TV to play a game, they do their utmost to look "Cool", waving a small stick at a TV doesn't look "Cool".

My friend has a Wii and watching him play it, he was moving his hand slightly to control it. Not jumping around like a jackass (a la Wii commercials).

ppltd · 11-21-2006, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan-G

Wii's not going to be a winner, it's got too many problems...

Don't get me wrong, Nintendo's been hands down the best innovator for input devices over the years. But as rushed as the PS3 is, IMO, the Wii is worse because it really doesn't include any kind of significant graphics upgrade.

I am not sure how rushed these consoles were, at least the PS3. The system was basically completed over a year ago, and has experienced delay after delay, not for issues surrounding the core system, but for the lack of the Blu-Ray drives. This adds to the confusion I have on the dismal quality of all but one of there release games (Resistance), and the 360's "Gears of War" far outpaces "Resistance" both graphically, and gameplay.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan-G

All it'll take is for MS to drop the price of the 360 and their only market advantage is gone, and since MS has used USB ports on the 360 there's no reason why they can't dust off the old sidewinder plans and take over Wii's only game advantage in very short order.

Most analysts feel, with the reduced production costs of the 360, a price reduction will probably happen after the holidays.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan-G

Although I do have to give Nintendo major props for being smart enough to leverage their enourmous back library. It's a dark horse, but if the price point gets low enough, this factor and real controllers could endear the Emulation/Nostalgia crowds. ~$100 and ~$5-10 per old title and Nintendo could gather some significant sales as the "Backup" box.

Nintendo's real strength are twofold: Number one is price, and number two is supply. They will probably deliver 2 to 3 times the console that Sony will, and certainly might be an acceptable replacement for the PS3 for the holidays.

Ryan-G · 11-21-2006, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ppltd

I am not sure how rushed these consoles were, at least the PS3. The system was basically completed over a year ago, and has experienced delay after delay, not for issues surrounding the core system, but for the lack of the Blu-Ray drives. This adds to the confusion I have on the dismal quality of all but one of there release games (Resistance), and the 360's "Gears of War" far outpaces "Resistance" both graphically, and gameplay.

IIRC you work in the computer field, so I'm going to be a bit technical here.

While the core design was completed a year ago, the Cell needed at least another year to mature and possibly even a die shrink. It's a large chip(110nm? 130nm?) compared to pretty much all other chips on the market today(~65nm-90nm). Making it an expensive chip to make, with poor yields. Another year, probably would've knocked $100 off the price tag, and eliminated large numbers of production problems. Sony says there's a "Blue diode" shortage, and I'm sure there is. But even without it, I doubt they could've done much better because of the problems with Cell manufacturing. I also doubt they'll mention it. IBM's gone on record as saying PS3 quality chips are about 10-20% yield.

But the biggest problem is that the final development kits and real hardware to test on didn't go out to studios until early this year, Q2 IIRC. It's really hard to program for a machine that doesn't exist and that you can't test on. Sony needed to get this stuff out at least 6 months earlier than it did. As such, Developers had to play it "extra safe" because they couldn't try pushing the boundaries without hardware to test on. Resulting in mediocre titles at launch, more mediocre than normal for a launch.

Sony needed another 12 months for a good PS3 launch, but MS made sure they didn't have it. Now Sony's dealing with exorborant production costs and lackluster titles because of the short timeframe they had.

Quote:

Nintendo's real strength are twofold: Number one is price, and number two is supply. They will probably deliver 2 to 3 times the console that Sony will, and certainly might be an acceptable replacement for the PS3 for the holidays.

I agree that Nintendo has a very significant advantage over Sony.

But IMO, Nintendo's real strength is it's ability to create fun, gamer-neutral, games. By that I mean titles like Mario Party, Smash Brothers, and the Mario series which pretty much everyone can(And often do) enjoy. Even today there's not a single competing title for Nintendo's Mario Party series, which I've personally seen everyone from a gaggle of college girls having a field day playing, to a group of frat boys turn it into a drinking game, to 30-something adults hanging out playing.

On a side note, Emulation's not a little thing anymore either, as MS has proven with it's Live Arcade games. At the right price point, the Wii is a heckuva' good deal for many across the age groups, because with their back-library, they can sell what amounts to 3-4 consoles in one box. Heck, put it at ~150$ U.S. and bundle either the Mario(the platformers) Series or the Zelda Series and it'll fly off the shelves with massive micro-payment income as people look for old faves.

These guys have the right ideas, Microsoft and Nintendo. They can sell alot of boxes with the Emulation built in.

Shawn Perron · 11-21-2006, 08:08 PM

The Wii's big problem at the moment is that they really don't have much in the way of games coming any time soon. Zelda is definitely thier biggest series at this point and it was released at launch. The console is so much less powerful then the other 2 that most 3rd party games will not be making it there. Nintendo's only hope is to maintain whatever lead they manage to get over Sony before the year is out. If they can maintain a lead for the next 12 months, they will get a lot of 3rd party support. If Sony manages to pass Nintendo, then Nintendo is going to be releagated to a distant 3rd like this generation. The main reason for this is that between the lack of ram and the less powerful processor/video card, the Wii will need it's own developement team to even port titles from the other 2 consoles over. Specific developement just for the Wii will cost a lot of money. If the Wii falls too far behind, there just won't be many games outside of Nintendo's own titles.