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PlayStation (Games) Entertainment Games

PlayStation 2 Sales Double Following Price Cut 67

Posted by simoniker from the inevitable-yoyo dept.
Thanks to GamesIndustry.biz for its article discussing significant PlayStation 2 sales increases following the price cut to $149 last month. The piece quantifies: "Data released this week by Sony Computer Entertainment America shows that the console's sales rose by some 216 per cent in the week immediately following the price cut, with an increase of 141 per cent over the full period since the cut", and this means: "The increase in sales will have propelled the PlayStation 2 well past its console rivals, after Sony's platform slipped behind the Xbox in monthly sales for the first time since the launch of the Microsoft console." It's also explained: "The increased sales noted since the price cut have actually pushed year on year sales of the PS2 upwards, with 26 per cent growth on the same period last year - and should hopefully help to slow the overall decline in hardware sales which has hit the USA so far this year."
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PlayStation 2 Sales Double Following Price Cut More

PlayStation 2 Sales Double Following Price Cut

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  • Price cut or E3? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by NanoGator ( 522640 ) on Tuesday June 15, 2004 @07:37PM (#9436542) Homepage Journal
    Well I really can't speak for anybody besides myself, but the main reason I'm interested in maybe getting a PS2 is GTA San Andreas. Price cut is icing.
    • A bit hasty aren't we? Especially since it'll be Xbox and PC bound just as soon, and look much better.

      • Re:Price cut or E3? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by NanoGator ( 522640 ) on Tuesday June 15, 2004 @08:07PM (#9436785) Homepage Journal
        "A bit hasty aren't we? Especially since it'll be Xbox and PC bound just as soon, and look much better."

        No, and no. They have not announced when XBOX or PC versions will comeout, and I don't want to wait another 8 months like I did with Vice City. B'sides, there are other bargain bin PS2 games I wouldn't mind having.
        • Oh, I don't know about that. I suspect I'll be too busy with Doom 3, Half Life 2, Halo 2 and Far Cry Instincts to worry about another GTA game that really doesn't yet sound like it's done that much to the gameplay. I'll change my mind if there's a solid online mode, but I haven't heard good noises about that yet.

      • Re:Price cut or E3? (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Recoil_42 ( 665710 )
        Just remember that sony still has that deal going on with Rockstar for a timed exclusivity... The Xbox and PC versions will come months later...
    • Well my first PS2 went away to greener pastures about a year after I bought it. And my second one has started to choke on discs even after cleaning. If it gets bad, and adjusting the laser doesn't solve it, I might need to get another one and a price cut softens the blow a little bit.

      If you don't have a PS2 but you have an X-box I would save your money and just wait for the Box version. I would be willing to bet a kidney that there will be a port within a year. The last 2 looked a lot nicer on the x-box an

      • Re:Price cut or E3? (Score:2, Interesting)

        by karnal ( 22275 )
        Thankfully, I've not had too much problem with Sony hardware.

        I still have an original PS-1 (with the AV outs on the back.) Sure, a glass of water spilled on it, requiring me to find a vendor to sell me a power supply, but that was it. Still plays discs fine.

        I also bought a PS2 when I knew that Soul Calibur 2 would be out for it. Now, it's relegated to playing DVDs to my el-cheapo home theatre (old business projector and blackout cloth screen.) Never missed a beat.

        I've also got a Sony STR-DE935 receiv

    • ...before any of the initial screenshots were released. I may buy another PS2, insert GTA:SA and weld the tray shut.

      TakeTwo Interactive: Your team at R* deserves even more cash bonuses. Keep up the great work.

      Yea, I sound like a fan-boy, but there's just something about the recent GTA games (>=GTA3) that I can't let go of. They've become theraputic after a long day at work.

    • I'm sorry, but I can't get it up for San Andreas. Looking forward to GTA: Flint, Michigan. Should be a hoot.
  • since the ... "launch of the Microsoft console in the April this year." April? Is it just me or has MS been shipping Xboxes for a few years now?
    • I believe they are referring to the Xbox price cut from 179 to 149, which was in April.
    • Not just any April - the April. They've been waiting for precisely the right April 2004 to arrive. After much preparation and waiting, they found one - one so obscure and subtle that it is not only absent on existing 2004 calendars, but can only be found in a totally seperate date several years in the past

      . I'm struck dumb at the finesse. Or maybe the dumb of the statement strikes me, one or the other...

      -PS

  • RIAA (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    If only the RIAA would pay attention to things like this. It would be even more effective for them as their profit margins on each sale are so much larger. But they'll probably just continue whining about dropping sales in a poor economy and suing people who sell eyepatches and parrots.
  • Surprisingly enough, products sell better when they're cheaper. Who would have ever thought?
    • Hey pal, what do you think this is? This is slashdot, that's what. You better not try and explain basic economic principles to people if you know what's good for you or your karma. Try complaining about the USA PATRIOT act, the DMCA, outsourcing, the crappiness of Microsoft, and the Personal Suckiness of George W. Bush instead of pointing out basic economics.

  • Interesting. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ajutla ( 720182 ) <ajutla at gmail dot com> on Tuesday June 15, 2004 @08:51PM (#9437122) Homepage
    Is it just me, or is that a little bit...strange? They cost $180 before the price drop, and then they cost $150 afterwards. It's not that much of a difference, is it? Certainly not enough to merit twice as many people rushing out and buying one...what kind of consumer thinks, ooh, I'd always wanted a PS2 but, y'know, they were just thirty dollars too expensive for me? I guess this is the same mentality that wouldn't hesitate to buy something that costs $19.99 but would flinch at anything costing a flat $20, because it's too expensive.

    I had a teacher once who was very adamant on that point. We don't need pennies, he would say. Pennies are a waste of metal. We need to take pennies out of circulation. Someone would invariably ask about things that cost $19.99. Well, we'd raise their price to $20, fool, he would say. This makes sense to me--and it made sense to him, but I imagine that a lot of people wouldn't be able to handle it. The economy would collapse. A very large segment of the population considers $19.99 to be a hell of a lot cheaper than $20. On the PS2 front, these same people are ecstatic about the gigantic price drop and buy twice as many of the things as they bought before.

    This could be a very interesting pricing strategy for video game console manufacturers:
    1. Debut the console at a price point of something like $300.
    2. Every three to six months thereafter (the timeframe could easily be extended or shortened) drop the price by, say, $10.
    3. Laugh as sales nearly double right after doing this.
    4. Repeat until console has saturated market.

    This reminds of the GameCube thing that happened a while ago. I believe it was last summer that Nintendo had a deal going with the Cube:

    Buy a $150 GameCube, and you get a free $50 game.

    Well, this was quite a deal, but sales were stagnant. Some months later, the marketing geniuses at the big N decided to adopt a new tactic:

    Buy a $100 GameCube, and you don't get anything for free.

    Lo and behold, sales shot up. Why? Well, obviously, because now it's fifty dollars cheaper!!! Never mind that you have to buy a game to play the stupid thing, it's just a better deal.

    It's interesting to think about this stuff.
    How stupid is the average shopper?
    • It matters because there a a sweet spot in a lot of peoples budgets where a expense is not a major expense. For me anything below 50$ I grab at anytime without a thought. 50-100 requires some budgeting. 100-150 requires saving. 200+ requires multi-paycheck saving. I make a okay amount but I'm a saver so I will not spend more then 300$ a paycheck on games or gadgets. I ussually spend only 50-100 a paycheck on games.

    • Re:Interesting. (Score:3, Insightful)

      by newbiescum ( 190145 )
      Many people were expecting a price cut to be in effect a few weeks before E3, or at least be announced during it. Sales may have just slowed down because people expected this, and now they are picking up again which is "doubling" sales.

    • Re:Interesting. (Score:3, Informative)

      by bigman2003 ( 671309 )
      I was in the military (US) stationed in Germany.

      We didn't use pennies on post. It was very convenient.

      They just priced things normally, and the only time it mattered was with your final total at checkout.

      They just rounded the total. So if your total was $15.48, you just paid $15.50. $15.46, and you paid $15.45.

      So, there were no pennies really in circulation there. But for some strange reason, the US mint (whoever is in charge of money supply) moved a crapload of Susan B. Anthony dollars, and $2 bill
      • $2 bills; that's interesting. When was this?

        • Re:Interesting. (Score:3, Funny)

          by Buran ( 150348 )
          He definitely wasn't going to Taco Bell, then.

        • Re:Interesting. (Score:3, Interesting)

          by bjb ( 3050 ) *
          Actually, $2 bills never really went out of circulation or print, they're just not that popular.

          Every dozen-or-so years, the mint prints up a bunch of $2 bills. The last run was in 1995, and before that, 1976. Before that, something like 1959. Banks and most shops just hate the things because they don't have special drawers for them (typical cash registers have 4 slots: $1, $5, $10 and $20+).

          The hard part is finding them. I have one bank that I know of where I can find the things, and whenever I make my

      • We called them cents and they were removed from circualtiuon ages ago (back when we still had our own currency). Cents cost more to produce then they were worth. So basically the same deal (1,2 becomes 0 3,4 becomes 5) was introduced and it did take some getting used too and I remember people in the beginning shopping so they would get the best deal (1,2,6,7). But this lasted only a short time.

        Now we got the euro and the cent is back. Although it is now worth a bit more the amount of hazzle makes me wish t

    • Actually most retailers are offering the PS2, with network adapter, and one game (I forget which one) all for $149. If you take into account those two extra's it is a great deal and I can see why people are picking them up. kvn
    • Well, we'd raise their price to $20, fool, he would say. This makes sense to me--and it made sense to him, but I imagine that a lot of people wouldn't be able to handle it. The economy would collapse. A very large segment of the population considers $19.99 to be a hell of a lot cheaper than $20.

      If we got rid of pennies, I bet that store would lower their price to $19.95, not raise it to $20. The same psychology that applies to selling stuff for 1 cent less would apply to selling stuff for 5 cents less.
      • If we got rid of pennies, I bet that store would lower their price to $19.95, not raise it to $20. The same psychology that applies to selling stuff for 1 cent less would apply to selling stuff for 5 cents less.

        That's exactly what happened in Australia. We got rid of our 1c and 2c coins ages ago (maybe 2 decades). Prices went from $xx.99 to $xx.95.

    • Why? Well, obviously, because now it's fifty dollars cheaper!!! Never mind that you have to buy a game to play the stupid thing, it's just a better deal.

      Used games can be had for $20 quite easily. If you look hard enough and are patient enough you can have them for cheaper than that.

    • Re:Interesting. (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Chris Mattern ( 191822 )
      > Is it just me, or is that a little bit...strange? They cost $180 before the price
      > drop, and then they cost $150 afterwards.

      Actually, no. You can get the PS2 w/ online adapter for $150--those cost $200 before the price cut. I bought my first PS2 myself because of the price cut.

      > This reminds of the GameCube thing that happened a while ago. I believe it was last
      > summer that Nintendo had a deal going with the Cube:
      >
      > Buy a $150 GameCube, and you get a free $50 game.
      >
      > Well, this
    • Their sales for the week after the price cut were twice the sales of the week before.

      So if three people bought the thing when it was $180, that means only six necessarily bought it when it was $150.

      How impressive is that? Not very, I think. Every vendor will get a quick increase in sales as soon as they lower the price. The question is whether the increased sales rate will last.

    • Is it just me, or is that a little bit...strange? They cost $180 before the price drop, and then they cost $150 afterwards. It's not that much of a difference, is it? Certainly not enough to merit twice as many people rushing out and buying one...what kind of consumer thinks, ooh, I'd always wanted a PS2 but, y'know, they were just thirty dollars too expensive for me? I guess this is the same mentality that wouldn't hesitate to buy something that costs $19.99 but would flinch at anything costing a flat $2

  • One think I'm curious about (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Tikiman ( 468059 ) * on Tuesday June 15, 2004 @09:42PM (#9437508)
    How many people are buying new ones just to replace old ones? I had a bum unit that was repaired - $80. When it happened again, it was more cost effective to trade in the old one for $100 credit toward getting a new one. Perhaps more people are doing this now
    • Wow, sucks for you. I had to send in my PS2 about... wow, over a year ago now. I had had it for JUST over the 1-year manufacturing warranty, but I called them up and the guy I talked to... well, I didn't have a receipt and I said it was about a year ago, he was cool with it and I shipped the thing off and they sent it back to me pretty fast, repairs and return shipping covered. I haven't had any problems with it since then.

      So I've had it for about 2.5 years now without any major issues (when I sent it
  • I am happy to see the price come down, perhaps it will lead to the Xbox and Gamecube to continue to actually be competitive. Competition is good for consumers. :-)
  • This is crazy. How can selling more consoles ever cure a slump in hardware sales? Consoles cause the slump in hardware sales. You buy a PC, a monitor. Costs a little more than a console but you get a much better product. And you might buy a new HDD, a new video card after a year or so. You don't have to, but upgrading a PC is usually cheaper than buying a new console, and it adds to hardware sales.

    Buying a console - you buy the console. Then you go spend your money on a big screen TV, new couch, and
    • The story was referring to a drop in PS2 hardware sales. Not hardware sales in general.

      Ok so you buy upgrades every year. People don't buy new consoles every year. Usually it's about every 5 years unless you're a gaming enthusiast.

      What? You don't have a couch and TV already?

      I don't know where you got the idea that console games "last much less in terms of playability" because it most certainly isn't the case.

    • 1) RTFA 2) What the hell are you babling about 3) The price of a decent HDD or good video card is generally comparable or a little more then the initial purchase price of a console. For example here is Australia a 9600pro is about 270 to 350 dollars where as the price of a PS2 Xbox or GC is 199 to 270. 4) You obviously dont like consoles, and to be honest that is fine I dont like pink donuts but I dont go around bitching about it.

    • Re:Slump in hardware sales? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by fr0dicus ( 641320 ) on Wednesday June 16, 2004 @03:32AM (#9439536) Journal
      As far as I can see, the latest graphics card costs twice as much as a new console...

      I don't think I've ever purchased a new TV or couch because of my console, but if I did I'd have the benefit of something decent sized to watch films and TV on too, not really a major drawback, I'd certainly rather have a 42" TV than an 18" monitor for my PC.

      In terms of games numbers, maybe I would have more games on the PC if that many good games ever came out for the damn thing; and there are plenty of console games with massive longevity that is there for a good reason, as opposed to having to go there in order to prop up the PC gaming industry in the monthly gaps between decent releases.

      Consoles help programmers, as they're a much bigger market for them to sell to. The PC hardware market has been up its own arse for so long selling unnecessary incremental upgrades (I'm talking massive 66Mhz rises in CPU speeds, releasing 4 different graphics cards within 10% of each other, Hard drives with 5% more storage than the last model), that it deserves to be in a slump. Finally they're innovating now, I feared we'd be stuck with Megahurtz, PCI and AGP for far too long. Face it, anyone using a PC for mainstream tasks don't need the extra 2Ghz that Intel want to sell them, they're bringing it on themselves.

  • Microsoft drops the price of xbox. Sony drops the price of playstation. Time passes.

    Microsoft drops the price of xbox. Who is going to buy a playstation now, knowing that Sony is likely going to drop the price to meet it? Once Sony does the expected, people who were waiting make the purchase.

  • Hold on... (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    until it hits $99
  • M$ is loosing $50 on every XBox, the word is Sony is able to sell PS2 with profit. I wonder why ?

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