Is the PS3 already a dead duck?

[Anthony1]

Wow. I knew things were going to be rough for Sony, but this is a bit ridiculous. The PS3 sold only 82,000 systems in April. You would have thought with the arrival of Motorstorm in late March, that Sony's numbers were going to pick up considerably in April, but it didn't happen. Here is Sony's NPD numbers for US Sales since launch (NPD numbers do not include Wal-Mart)


November: 197,000
December: 490,700
January: 243,554
February: 127,000
March: 130,000
April: 82,000


Looking at the numbers over it's last 3 months, it's only averaging 113,000 per month. That's pretty damn horrible, considering it's still a new product, and should have alot of hype and excitement surrounding it. Apparently, the phrase "Money Talks, Bullshit Walks" is a pretty true statement. Money is talking. And it's saying that the PS3 is just too damned expensive for the vast majority of gamers. Heads are gonna roll over these numbers. You can try all you want to spin why only 82K units sold, but there really is no way to spin that. That's downright laughable. Now all the analysts out there are calling for a price drop. They are practically demanding a price drop. Even third parties are starting to talk about needing a price drop. The problem is, I just don't see how they can really afford to drop the price. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place. They can't afford to drop the price, yet they also can't afford not to. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Even if they do drop the price a cool C-note, I don't think that will do all that much. They need to actually drop it by $200, and there is no way in hell they can afford to do that right now.

Alot of Sony supporters are blaming it on the lack of exclusive software. No question about that. Right now there really is only 3 compelling pieces of software for the unit. Resistance, Motorstorm and Virtua Fighter 5. I think all 3 of those games are outstanding, but it appears that none of them are enough to get people to fork over 700 beans to get a PS3 and one of those games. What's worse, is that there doesn't really appear to be much relief in sight. The only exclusive content worth a damn coming before September is Ninja Gaiden Sigma. That game does look extremely pimp, but afterall, it is a remake of a old Xbox 1 game. Lair and Heavenly Sword have been delayed till September, but with only 82,000 units sold in April, you have to wonder if Sony won't force one of those (or both) games out before they are really ready, because they are desperate for some interest in PS3.

How the mighty have fallen.

[Snapple]

Not with Final Fantasy XIII exclusivity.

[Anthony1]

Not with Final Fantasy XIII exclusivity.

Yeah, exclusive before Square/Enix got the NPD report, lol.

[studvicious]

I don't think that it's a dead duck but they really do need to do something. A price drop wouldn't hurt but I really can't imagine them doing that until November-ish. (If AT ALL this year)

[7th lutz]

It is nothing to be concerned about yet, unlike sony's gaming deparment loosing 2 billion dollars in a fiscal year. This will be concern if the sales of the ps 3 hardware are still struggling in November . and December of this year along with Final Fantasy 13 doesn't sell sell well.

That's nothing compared to Japan right now. For the week of 5/7/07 to 5/13/07: the ps 3 sold 8,839 ps 3 units. Remember also, that spring is here now, and at times spring and summer are slow months for game sales in America. The price of ps 3 would turn consumers off during the summer if they have money to go on planned vocations like traveling by airplane or by car and van to go out of the state the person going on vocationing will go to.

It is too early to call it a dead duck. If sony's gaming division looses another 2 billion dollars in a fiscal period, then the ps 3 would be considered to be very close to be a dead duck or Spiderman 3 would cut down the losses for sony. If other divisions of sony can off set whatever losses the game division has, then the ps 3 will be safe. Sony's other divisions can cover so much of losses by one division unlike Microsoft.

I'll be shocked if Sony's gaming division gets a 2 billion dollar loss in the next fiscal year.

[ProgrammingAce]

Just remember, Sony took out a half a billion dollar loan in order to finance the production costs. They're playing with borrowed money...

[RCM]

It's not dead yet! Sony reminds me of Sega back when the Saturn launched: in complete denial...at least publicly.

Word is that only two (2) PS3 titles will be released this month and they're both multiplatform licensed trash.

I'm tempted to pick up a PS3 for Heavenly Sword but cannot until they lower the price of admission. I'm currently boycotting the PS3, although I've played just about everything the system has to offer.

If and when Microsoft finally drops the price of the 20 gig 360 Sony and Nintendo will be in trouble, Sony more so.

Sony isn't dead, but they're in big trouble. It's too bad, they've done a lot for gaming like it or not.

[Buyatari]

I don't think it has so much to do with price as it does the stiff competition. If it were the same price as the Wii and the 360 I'd still buy it 3rd. Is the best reason to own a PS3 the blue-ray drive? I'm happy with DVDs and I'm not sure we need a new format just yet. Compile a list of the top 5 reasons you should buy a PS3 right now. I can't come up with much. For a $600 machine thats not good enough.

Sony needs to tie some up some A+ exclusives and do it quick. If you grab the right games and have enough of them Sony could raise the price and still be #1.

[ProgrammingAce]

..........

[Berserker]

How the mighty have fallen.

AND How you changed your tune pretty quick there, bro.

[Damaramu]

I guess it's too late to just pull the blu-ray from the PS3 and make it an optional add-on?

Regardless, sucks to be them. Even the Golden Week sales were weak for PS3.

[jcalder8]

..........

This picture reminds me of Monty Python and the holy grail which leads me to say this about sony: their not quite dead yet.

[Damaramu]

Actually, I think that is a screenshot of The Holy Grail, IIRC.

[Xizer]

The PS3 is fucked. There's really nothing else Sony can do to fix it. They're already losing hundreds of dollars on every system sold - dropping the price on the system will move more units, but Sony is going to be losing like $400 on every one.

FF XIII is not going to be exclusive. We all know it will be brought to the Xbox 360, along with MGS 4.

The PS3 just doesn't offer anything the Xbox 360 doesn't. The Xbox 360, on the other hand, has a 10 million strong lead and a great game library already while being $200 cheaper.

The Wii offers a variety of games that are significantly different from the PS3, so it too offers something the PS3 doesn't.

The only thing the PS3 offers is a hurt wallet.

[PallarAndersVisa]

Sony can't die. They are making millions in other areas selling TVs, entertainment systems, audio gear, car electronics, home appliances, portable devices ect ect. They'll always be in the green, just like Microsoft. The gaming business is only one facet of their income, so they'll be just fine for a while.

[Richter Belmount]

If you think ps3 is doing bad the latest sales show only 8000 ps3s being sold in japan.

[jcalder8]

Actually, I think that is a screenshot of The Holy Grail, IIRC.

I thought that it might be but I watched a quick video of the scene and it didn't look like it.

[Anthony1]

AND How you changed your tune pretty quick there, bro.

Huh? Explain?


I currently own all 3 consoles, and enjoy all 3. They each have their positives and negatives. Right now, if I had to recommend a console to a person who could only afford one, I would tell the person to wait for the Xbox 360 price drop, and then buy a Xbox 360. I did a post awhile back where I said the 360 was going to win the console war. Seeing the NPD numbers for the Nintendo Wii, kinda makes me wonder if my predicition is going to hold true. Fear of a Wii Planet is a very real thing. The Wii continue to sells like gang busters month in and month out, even with a super crappy selection of games. Just imagine when the Wii actually gets some decent games. It's only a matter of time before they do. I still wonder when people are going to get tired of playing games with graphics from 2002. If the Wii actually dominates this cycle, I wonder what developers like Infinity Ward and Rockstar North are going to do? I doubt they are excited about making the Wii the lead sku for their future projects, but if Wii Continues to outsell the others like it has been, eventually they will have no choice but to put their best efforts on the Wii. That is going to be very strange indeed. I guess we will just have to wait and see how all this plays out. Here is my general take on the 3 consoles:


Nintendo Wii: Fun to play with my little kids, and also a great system to fire up when we have a group of people over the house (non hardcore gamers). I'm enjoying Paper Mario and some of the other games are fun in brief sessions. The graphics are pretty lame for this system, but luckily, I have the other 2 systems, so I don't depend on this to handle all my gaming needs. Looking forward to Mario Galaxy, Metroid and even the RE4 Wii-make. I only played RE4 briefly when it first came out, so it will be nice to experience more of it on the Wii.

Xbox 360: This is my go to system for hardcore gaming. Right now, Crackdown is my favorite game. I also love to check out all the demo's and try out a few other games. I'm still playing some old 360 games like Oblivion and COD2. Looking forward to some of the heavy hitters coming later this year.

Playstation 3: I do like Resistance, VF5 and Motorstorm, but that's it. If it wasn't for those 3 games, I would have nothing to play on this. I'm absolutely loving the Blu Ray player. If it wasn't for the Blu Ray player, I would probably be a very upset PS3 owner. My PS3 is used alot for Blu Ray movies on my projector. Watching a movie like "The Prestige" on blu ray, on a giant screen, is a true treat. Unchartedrake's Fortune is probably my second most wanted game of 2007. The first is probably GTA IV for 360. I'm also very interested in Ratchet and Clank. I'll definitely be checking out Heavenly Sword and Lair when they finally come out.

[LAGO]

No...

[RugalSizzler]

No...

The PS3 is still a SNES fighting the good fight against Nintendo but the only diffrence is the PS2 is still selling like hotcakes and people have become too smart.

Also the Wii is a Tv game toy and looks futuristic.

In a perfect world the PS3 would be going up against the GCN and X-Box.

Pesonally I would get a PS3 if they would just reshape it into something smaller.

The PS3 is probably going to be like the Saturn.

I would also compare SONY to Zero 1 like in the Matrix. They wont stop the roboy revolution.

[jajaja]

The PS3 is not dead. PS3 is definitly hurting at the moment, but its not like its going to be $599 forever and no new games from now on. Sony Gamers Day(s) were earlier this week, it shows that many cool and great looking games are comming. FF13 and MGS 4 are also comming. Technology is also getting cheaper. Already the diods for BR have dropped alot in price and when they start (they probly have started) to massproduce CELL processors the price will also go down. As all technology, its getting cheaper and cheaper as time goes. PS3 is no exception.

The real question is, when the PS3 is down to like $399, will it be too late or will we see PSX and PS2 sales?

If you think ps3 is doing bad the latest sales show only 8000 ps3s being sold in japan.

Not to be picky, but the numbers are actually closer to 9000. 8,839 to be precise (Media Create numbers). Still pretty low, but almost all consoles dropped last week in Japan. Like Wii went from about 100k to about 50k.

[skylark]

What are the big announced PS3 releases? I don't have the system, so I don't follow the news, but it doesn't seem like they've really released their system sellers yet (aside from Resistance, which hasn't lit up the scence quite like GOW managed). Until they get those titles on the shelves, I don't think we can call it dead. That's assuming they're in the pipeline. For me, there's enough of interest soon to be released on the 360 to keep my attention diverted at the moment.

Whatever. I do think we can safely say that Sony is going to be sharing a lot more of the market this generation, but there are still analysts who predict Sony will be the long-term winner. Don't ask for links. I don't care enough to find them.

[gepeto]

This is crazy I have been saying this since before the launch. Way overpriced. Now the damage has been done people see what your about and it is getting to the point where it will be too late to reinvent themselves.

I never need the ndp to reveal the satistics neither could fanboys overhyping the joys of there 2 games good games the system offers nore screenshots of ratchet and clank convince me otherwise. it was common sense the facts don't lie.

Companies could save alot of money just listening to common folk. If it were up to me drake and the ngage would have never went into production. Someone has been doing some mass lying and over selling at the boardroom.
If standard dvd was installed from the get go we wouldn't be having this discussion. There online interface is clunky and not as smooth as live.

What can they do?
You would have think they would have learned with the psx debacle. At this point I don't think there is anything they can do. The horses have left the gate. Even if you package in resistance and motorstorm drop the price to 400.00. The damage has been done people are not excited.

Look at gamestop they are giving ps3 buyers 100.00 credit when the trade in a ps2 system and memory. trying to move stock.

Here is a question. When the dreamcast and the gamecube went through similar issues people screamed dead duck developers got scared. leading to a way premature death and 3rd party abandonment. Why should sony be any different? How long can the sony stand on the legs of fanboys?

I don't care what anybody says fans get tired of playing motorstom and resistance and hot titles are way overdue.

As far as release good games and they will come. Think of it this way if you were looking to buy a house and the house has been on the market for along time you would start to think that there is an underlying problem as to why the house isn't selling and most buyers would shy away from it. No different here.

Oh and a quote from someone in the ratchet and clank oh my giznod thread.

All I know, is after looking at those pictures, if that is real, if that is actual gameplay, then bye bye 360, lol

I know it was a joke but it was funny anyway. I really want everyone to do well but I have no answers for sony. Will the ps3 become the gamecube of this generation?

[kainemaxwell]

Sony's realizing how bad they shot themselves in the foot with the inclusion of the Blu-Ray in the PS3, which jacked the price up now...

Now if they made a PS3 without it (if its possible), then maybe the numbers would change for the better.

[jajaja]

Sony's realizing how bad they shot themselves in the foot with the inclusion of the Blu-Ray in the PS3, which jacked the price up now...

Now if they made a PS3 without it (if its possible), then maybe the numbers would change for the better.

Bigger issue is the games, even Sony admited that. Nintendo and MS was much better at this with Wii and 360, pushing out good games in a nice flow, not months and months of wait like for PS3. Its not possible to remove the BR player now. That would mean that the people who bought the newer model without BR wouldnt be able to play games that already are out on BR.