Sony PS3

[SilverStar]

Man! Everywhere I go I find PS3's sitting in the shelves. The dude at Gamestop said their few in stock have been sitting there a few days. And I just stopped in Wal-Mart; they had two. (Yet I can't find a singly Wii...)

Are they making a ton now? Or is it just not as popular?

If they've been sitting on shelves for days, that would indicate that they're not selling. If they're not selling, they're not as popular as they should be, less than 2 months after launch. If they had hit equilibrium, they'd be rotating through their stock so none would be able to be considered as "sitting there" for more than a day.

[Baleshadow]

Just yesterday I saw two PS3s at Best Buy. I almost picked one up, but then I came to my senses. With a new semester starting in little over a week, it would be entirely irresponsible of me to blow $600 on a console I wouldn't have time to use.

Maybe in a month or so, after my savings recover from Christmas.

[The Damned]

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/07/gamestop-pulls-out-creative-stops-to-move-ps3s/

More and more, stories and reports of PS3s not selling come up. People are reportedly returning the ones they bought, as well. It seems that those that bought them with hopes of selling them online for a tidy profit have been screwed. And when people are returning your product unopened... ouch.

The interest for a system should not wane so soon after its launch. This is a bad sign. Only with a major price drop this year will we see sale pick up again.

But a price drop on a system that is already being sold at a loss of hundreds of dollars? Sony may want people to buy PS3s and get that installed base, but with their massive losses this last year and the various problems they've had as well... I can't see how they could afford it. Back when the PS2 was king and they had money everywhere, they could afford the price drops. But the money they sunk into the PS3, combined with their stock falling to almost having it taken off the market, and then the battery recall, and the government hearings and investigations into their alleged selling of computer chips to foreign powers. They just don't have the means to do a major price cut.

It's going to hurt Sony a lot this year, I think. They will see losses and lose ground to the competition, and only with a few years of sacrifice (and possibly layoffs, to save enough money to keep the PS3 going) will they regain some of their past territory.

I predict hard time for Sony. Hard times, indeed.

[MkVaff]

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/07/gamestop-pulls-out-creative-stops-to-move-ps3s/

More and more, stories and reports of PS3s not selling come up. People are reportedly returning the ones they bought, as well. It seems that those that bought them with hopes of selling them online for a tidy profit have been screwed. And when people are returning your product unopened... ouch.

The interest for a system should not wane so soon after its launch. This is a bad sign. Only with a major price drop this year will we see sale pick up again.

But a price drop on a system that is already being sold at a loss of hundreds of dollars? Sony may want people to buy PS3s and get that installed base, but with their massive losses this last year and the various problems they've had as well... I can't see how they could afford it. Back when the PS2 was king and they had money everywhere, they could afford the price drops. But the money they sunk into the PS3, combined with their stock falling to almost having it taken off the market, and then the battery recall, and the government hearings and investigations into their alleged selling of computer chips to foreign powers. They just don't have the means to do a major price cut.

It's going to hurt Sony a lot this year, I think. They will see losses and lose ground to the competition, and only with a few years of sacrifice (and possibly layoffs, to save enough money to keep the PS3 going) will they regain some of their past territory.

I predict hard time for Sony. Hard times, indeed.

Well I don't know if it's all that bad really, but working at a retailer (which as of late has been receiving a steady supply of PS3's) I'll say that they haven't been moving nearly the same way they were in December. Through a Thurs - Sat period (in a busy store nontheless) it took nearly the full 3 days to sell out of 18 consoles. What's really sad, almost everyone just ends up getting NBA or Madden for the console (some of the more educated consumers purchase Resistance, but those are actually much fewer and more far between than one might imagine).

But shit, to their credit, at least Sony is actually sending out systems. I haven't been able to find anyone locally who has found a Wii (or any of their damn controllers) on any store shelves in the past 3 weeks or so, which is just crazy. I know they sold out during the holiday season and all, but dammit they should've been able to secure some replenishment by now - instead of nothing.

[Nario]

Well I don't know if it's all that bad really, but working at a retailer (which as of late has been receiving a steady supply of PS3's) I'll say that they haven't been moving nearly the same way they were in December. Through a Thurs - Sat period (in a busy store nontheless) it took nearly the full 3 days to sell out of 18 consoles. What's really sad, almost everyone just ends up getting NBA or Madden for the console (some of the more educated consumers purchase Resistance, but those are actually much fewer and more far between than one might imagine).

But shit, to their credit, at least Sony is actually sending out systems. I haven't been able to find anyone locally who has found a Wii (or any of their damn controllers) on any store shelves in the past 3 weeks or so, which is just crazy. I know they sold out during the holiday season and all, but dammit they should've been able to secure some replenishment by now - instead of nothing.

Wiis are sold out because people keep buying them. Most stores get 15-20, and they're normally gone within the same day. Nintendo has hit the target with its number of titles and Sony hasn't. Combined with Sony's financial troubles, the lack of worthwhile exclusive titles for the PS3, the experience that Xbox 360 has gained throughout the market, and the gameplay delivered by the Wii - along with its semi-great number of exclusive titles - Sony will have to do more than just get more games out onto their console: they'll have to climb out of this financial pit of quicksand without the help of ex-loyal developers.

Seriously, though, Capcom has basically switched over to Microsoft, Ubisoft is being split between Nintendo and Microsoft, Mistwalker (what could be considered the modern "Square" company) is with Microsoft, Assassin's Creed will be ported to Xbox 360 due to the fear of PS3 not selling well, and Metal Gear Solid 4: Gun of the Patriots could do the exact same thing, even though Hideo Kojima is/was loyal to Sony.

PlayStation isn't looking too good, Nintendo Wii is selling like hot cakes, and Xbox 360's library of titles is absolutely amazing and would be over-looked by someone who has no reasoning (such person has no right to use "it doesn't have my kind of games on it" for the Xbox 360 because it has something that the original Xbox didn't: variety. The titles for Xbox 360 have opened to a wider audience now, thus giving no one the right not to want one. The same could be said about the PlayStation 3, only if it had games for it. ). No one knows how this'll end, but if Sony doesn't get their act together then PS4 may be their last console (Sega Saturn;PS3/Dreamcast;PS4).

[atmuh]

Wiis are sold out because people keep buying them.

actually you're wrong

my store has gotten no wiis since the day after christmas and we have gotten PS3s

[parasoul]

(such person has no right to use "it doesn't have my kind of games on it" for the Xbox 360 because it has something that the original Xbox didn't: variety. The titles for Xbox 360 have opened to a wider audience now, thus giving no one the right not to want one. The same could be said about the PlayStation 3, only if it had games for it. ).

It doesn't have Smash.

[Fire in the Hole]

actually you're wrong

my store has gotten no wiis since the day after christmas and we have gotten PS3s

We've gotten a few shipments of Wiis and they do sell out instantly.

One day I was there when we opened with a shipment of 6 PS3s and it took until 2:30 for the last one to be sold. Someone bought a 20GB and returned it not two hours later.

[Bigfoot]

Our store has Wii's on order.

Someone else just returned a 20gb PS3 again today.

[Bahamut]

I bet now people feel really stupid for buying the 20 GB PS3.

[SilverStar]

Wiis are sold out because people keep buying them. Most stores get 15-20, and they're normally gone within the same day. Nintendo has hit the target with its number of titles and Sony hasn't. Combined with Sony's financial troubles, the lack of worthwhile exclusive titles for the PS3, the experience that Xbox 360 has gained throughout the market, and the gameplay delivered by the Wii - along with its semi-great number of exclusive titles - Sony will have to do more than just get more games out onto their console: they'll have to climb out of this financial pit of quicksand without the help of ex-loyal developers.

Seriously, though, Capcom has basically switched over to Microsoft, Ubisoft is being split between Nintendo and Microsoft, Mistwalker (what could be considered the modern "Square" company) is with Microsoft, Assassin's Creed will be ported to Xbox 360 due to the fear of PS3 not selling well, and Metal Gear Solid 4: Gun of the Patriots could do the exact same thing, even though Hideo Kojima is/was loyal to Sony.

PlayStation isn't looking too good, Nintendo Wii is selling like hot cakes, and Xbox 360's library of titles is absolutely amazing and would be over-looked by someone who has no reasoning (such person has no right to use "it doesn't have my kind of games on it" for the Xbox 360 because it has something that the original Xbox didn't: variety. The titles for Xbox 360 have opened to a wider audience now, thus giving no one the right not to want one. The same could be said about the PlayStation 3, only if it had games for it. ). No one knows how this'll end, but if Sony doesn't get their act together then PS4 may be their last console (Sega Saturn;PS3/Dreamcast;PS4).

I believe there was a mention on Kotaku about an interview with Kojima and he had nothing but gushing praise for the Wii, and bitched out both Sony and MS for trying to push the whole HD issue. He honestly doesn't like the idea of HD graphics being mandatory..

[Dervish]

Personally I like my PS3 (got it first day to keep, not sell). I went into buying one knowing that it would be just like any other new console launch - there would be 1 or 2 games worth buying, and nothing new that's really great for at least 7-8 months. You know, just like the 360 last year. Or ... well ... ANY system launch in the past 10 years or so. Frankly I'm pleasantly surprised with the system's launch games - Resistance is a ton of fun, and pretty much all the sports games are also fun to play, and comparable to their 360 counterparts.

What kinda irks me is that people almost universally are looking at the PS3 as it is FIRST LAUNCHED and comparing it to a system which has been out for MORE THAN A YEAR. As far as a launch is concerned, from a software and graphical standpoint, the PS3 launch has been pretty good! Much better than 360's, in fact. Yet people feel compelled for some reason to compare the two incorrectly, and then totally rag on Sony. I don't quite get it, to tell you the truth. Give the system a year of development and *then* compare the two, don't do it right off the bat. It's like when Xbox came out to challenge PS2. There was no contest at the time! Why? PS2 had many many months of development time under its belt by the time Xbox released! It's the same situation here, yet for some reason people this time are hating on Sony where they did not hate on Microsoft for the same issues in the last console launch.

As a side note, I just installed Linux on my PS3 and am loving it. And boy howdy is that thing a BEAST! My buddy came over to help me set up the kernel and after some tweaking and testing we're pulling down like 256 gigaflops! My PC is lucky to pull down *2*. ~whistles~

[Cecilff2]

Yeah, PS3's just aren't selling as fast it would seem. I checked in with the local gamestop every day Monday through Friday when I was Wii hunting and on Thursday they got a shipment of six PS3s. The next day they got 3 Wii's and there were three of us waiting there to see if they'd get any in. The employees were saying they still had 2 PS3's left.

[Ero Elohim]

What kinda irks me is that people almost universally are looking at the PS3 as it is FIRST LAUNCHED and comparing it to a system which has been out for MORE THAN A YEAR. As far as a launch is concerned, from a software and graphical standpoint, the PS3 launch has been pretty good! Much better than 360's, in fact. Yet people feel compelled for some reason to compare the two incorrectly, and then totally rag on Sony. I don't quite get it, to tell you the truth. Give the system a year of development and *then* compare the two, don't do it right off the bat. It's like when Xbox came out to challenge PS2. There was no contest at the time! Why? PS2 had many many months of development time under its belt by the time Xbox released! It's the same situation here, yet for some reason people this time are hating on Sony where they did not hate on Microsoft for the same issues in the last console launch.

That's a completely illogical way to compare the consoles. It's impossible to compare the ethereal "future PS3" to the currently-1-year-old XB360. All we can do is compare two available products at present and examine which one holds more value. Right now, it's undeniably the 360.

Besides, if we waited a year to compare them, then the arguement would be "Why are you comparing a 1-year-old system to a 2-year-old system?" Also, the Wii seems to have little problem selling despite the 360's lead. If one system released a year late can compete directly with the dug-in competition, why must we coddle and baby the other?

Aside: My EBGames currently stocks about eight PS3's. We sell about one a week. We've recieved about three shipments of Wii's, with three systems per box. They sell as soon as they come in, and we get at least five to ten people a day calling/walking in and asking when our next shipment is.

[SilverStar]

That's a completely illogical way to compare the consoles. It's impossible to compare the ethereal "future PS3" to the currently-1-year-old XB360. All we can do is compare two available products at present and examine which one holds more value. Right now, it's undeniably the 360.

Besides, if we waited a year to compare them, then the arguement would be "Why are you comparing a 1-year-old system to a 2-year-old system?" Also, the Wii seems to have little problem selling despite the 360's lead. If one system released a year late can compete directly with the dug-in competition, why must we coddle and baby the other?

Aside: My EBGames currently stocks about eight PS3's. We sell about one a week. We've recieved about three shipments of Wii's, with three systems per box. They sell as soon as they come in, and we get at least five to ten people a day calling/walking in and asking when our next shipment is.

Here's the big thing you should be considering..

If the PS3 will finally be "worth" buying in 1 year, why would the 360 suddenly not be? It'll have just that much more time to grow. With a few AAA titles hitting over the next 12 months, it's possible that MS will see another 10 million units sold(particularly with their new generation of 360 that has just been announced).

Sony is late to the game for the same market MS is already catering to. If they didn't have their heads up their asses, they could have launched it in the spring and turned the 360 into a footnote. Instead, they just couldn't have the product ready.

If you want a fair comparison, look at launch-period games instead.

[Ero Elohim]

Why did you quote me? I agree with you.

[Cecilff2]

I'm guessing he meant to quote you and the quote you quoted but there's no quoting another quote by quoting a post.

Also q count +6.

[SilverStar]

I quoted you, to add an extra argument as to why Sony failed right out the gate.

If, however, MS and Nintendo didn't come out with ANY new games for their systems.. then Sony might be able to catch up to sales and expectations.

[Bahamut]

I quoted you, to add an extra argument as to why Sony failed right out the gate.

If, however, MS and Nintendo didn't come out with ANY new games for their systems.. then Sony might be able to catch up to sales and expectations.

Well, there are also the heavy rumors (supposedly leaked news) of a new version of the XBox 360. It looks like Microsoft is being quite aggressive this generation.

[SilverStar]

Well, there are also the heavy rumors (supposedly leaked news) of a new version of the XBox 360. It looks like Microsoft is being quite aggressive this generation.

You mean like this?

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/iptv-xbox-360/microsoft-unveils-iptvenabled-xbox-360-226832.php

Personally, I'd like it a touch more, if it had a built-in tuner device, so that you could record shows like an HTPC or DVR, instead of just downloading them in the background.

[PriZm]

It's obvisouly way too early to be declaring a winner just yet. Yes, the PS3 had a weak launch, they still sold a million units worldwide and are consistently producing new ones.

The Wii outselling the PS3 is mainly due to its cheapness and, you know, Zelda as a launch game. I think the truth is that neither of us know what's gonna happen, and all we say is pure speculation.

Like, I know for a fact that Sony did not lose as many exclusives as it appears. Many of the games it supposedly 'lost' were never said to be exclusives and were scheduled to appear on the 360 too. The only reason why they didn't say that when they announced the game was too strenghthen business relations with Sony.

[chucky90]

I agree. the ps3 will surely have better titles later this year that will take full advantage of the hardware. Maybe other people will realize the value of the PS3 as a blu-ray player, as well as a computer (rumors of third-party OS support are running amok!). Wii's are fun as hell though.

[The Damned]

You can talk about how great a value the PS3 is because it plays Blu-Ray movies until you pass out. There's just one giant, glaring problem with that value: the format war is very young, and there are massive hurdles to overcome first.

1. Studios will decide which format they want to publish their movies on. They want the format that will be the most available to their market. This will depend upon which one has the cheaper player. And if Sony has to underprice their own system with a Blu-Ray player in it for hundreds of dollars just to keep it in the reach of the average consumer (which is still a little high), while MS can just throw a (what is it? $50?) add-on drive that does the same thing, I think we know where people and their wallets are looking.

2. You can also talk about how much better the picture is on which ever format. Thats great. If you're some sort of super high-tech fetishist. Too bad such "hardcore" people are the minority. They are, don't try to argue it. Go into any electronics store and watch the people there. They buy all kinds of stuff that would make technophiles gag. Companies make money selling to the masses, not the elite. Look at the iPod. It's not the "best" player out there. There are several other models that exceed it in features, battery life, storage size... but the iPod is still the player of choice.

The point is that Blu-Ray may have such and such features and bandwidth and whatever other technical terms you can throw around, but at the end of the day, people don't know or care about that stuff. Beta had better image quality, and yet it lost out to VHS.

3. Major stores, especially Wal-Mart, don't want to carry more than one format. They would have to divide their shelve space to accommodate the different formats. They want to have one format taking up their shelves. Wal-Mart is a major company. They sell DVDs just as much, if not more than, everyone else. They will demand that studios pick one over the other (there was even a press announcement earlier this year about this. I'd have to go find it, but I do remember it). So there's another concern. If push comes to shove, the big distributors will start throwing their weight around.

The whole point is that there is no "value" to the PS3 as a movie player. In the next year, we might see HD-DVD win by a landslide. Or we may see the opposite. Or we may see a mostly even race. It's only when Blu-Ray wins as the format of choice and becomes widely accepted will this phantom value become real. Until then, don't tell me how great it is that I don't have to pay those extra $400 for a player. A player that might end up being useless in the future,

[Bahamut]

Hm? The XBox 360 HD-DVD drive is $200.

[The Damned]

Really?Then someone really missed that typo in the page I got the price from. And I'm reading some articles I searched for on the price, and I see anywhere from $100 to $150.

But still... $200, versus how much for the Blu-Ray drive? And regardless of which is the better deal, again, the preferred format hasn't been chosen yet. So, until one wins over the other, any value the PS3 may have as a movie player is, at best, tenuous.