A Million PS3s Sold in Japan

Reuters is reporting that the PlayStation 3 has reached 1 million units sold in Japan. The article notes that the eight months the console took to reach this mark is roughly four times slower than it took the Wii. Of course, the 360 has only managed to eek out 420,705 units sold in a much longer timespan. To put things in perspective, an aging news report suggests that the PlayStation 2 sold 1 million units the first weekend it was released in Japan. Even the Wii didn't hit that, though that may have been an issue of supply rather than demand. Do you think there is a specific reason the PS3 isn't selling as well as the PlayStation 2 did, or is the market just a different place than it was 7 years ago?

The numbers

[MeanderingMind]

The last numbers reported on Japanese hardware sales: July 2nd - 8th [gamesarefun.com]

That would mean in the past 10 days, at least 24,129 PS3s were sold. That is approximately 16,890 PS3s last week, and 7,239 so far this week.

For comparison, the Wii was at 2,949,774 units sold the week before last. Given that they've been consistantly selled 70k+ per week, the Wii probably surpassed 3 million consoles last week. The Xbox 360 has yet to break 400k units.

Re:

[AuMatar]

The truely interesting thing to me on that list is the DS. The lifetime Japan sales of the DS are showing as 18M, and PS2 is 20M. If thats right, the DS is about to surpass the PS2 in number of units sold!

Re:The numbers

[meringuoid]

The truely interesting thing to me on that list is the DS. The lifetime Japan sales of the DS are showing as 18M, and PS2 is 20M. If thats right, the DS is about to surpass the PS2 in number of units sold!

DS did that long ago. Look again at the chart: eighteen million is the figure for 'DSL', while lower down the chart you'll see that something called 'NDS' has sold 6.5 million.

Between the DS and DS Lite, Nintendo have shifted nearly 26 million in Japan. That's about one in five of the entire Japanese population.

Re:

[AuMatar]

I missed that. Its absolutely insane. The best selling console in Japan of the generation was a handheld. It makes me wonder if eventually consoles won't go the way of the dodo.

Re:

[LKM]

For comparison, the Wii was at 2,949,774 units sold the week before last. Given that they've been consistantly selled 70k+ per week, the Wii probably surpassed 3 million consoles last week. The Xbox 360 has yet to break 400k units.

Even more astonishing: The Wii is only constrained by production, not by demand. Nintendo could probably sell about twice as many if they managed to get production capacity up.

Re:The numbers

[poot_rootbeer]

the simple fact that the 360's hardware is better suited for games

I don't know that this is justifiable as an opinion, much less a "simple fact".

It may be true that the 360's Xenon CPU may be more familiar to developers than the PS3's Cell, but I'm not sure that translates into being "better suited for games". There's no reason that a game written to take advantage of the Cell architecture could not be better than one written to take advantage of the Xenon.

Re:

[Zeussy]

that a game written to take advantage of the Cell architecture

Thats the problem right there. Sure there are going to be some developers that will write a game to take advantage (I am thinking good old dependable Square Enix), but will most common developers take the time to utilize it? The one thing Microsoft has some experience with is making software, and they know its hard, so they designed a console with quite a lot of power, but easy to develop for with a good toolset, therefore easier to utilise that

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[The One and Only]

"Look at me! I pretend that technical terms don't have slightly different meanings in different contexts!"

Re:

[MeanderingMind]

It depends. Any given PC setup, or console, is a balance of a number of limiting factors. Usually each one crops up in rare or specific circumstances, with GPU issues being the most common. However, similarly common are memory and CPU issues.

For example, my PC is perfectly capable of running WoW in Outland at 30+ fps. However, if I also run Ventrilo and Skype, my framerate can drop (depending on how active the conversations are, or the number of Skype participants) to as low as 10FPS. Skype and Ventrilo are

Re:

[iainl]

Indeed. Codename of that '3x PowerPC on a single die' chip? Xenon. So you're both right.

Re:

[MikeBabcock]

You overlook a big issue in Japan -- the PS3 is huge. Did I mention its pretty big? Or heavy? Or huge?

The Japanese have less space to work with in their living spaces and tend toward small slim and lightweight devices. The PS3 is none of the above. The DS which is selling well is portable and small. The Wii is also small.

Re:

[aadvancedGIR]

I see a major flaw in your point: you need quite a lot of room to truly enjoy the Wii with your friends, which is the main reason to own a Wii in the first place.
I think there are several other reasons:
-It is expensive (Very true in Europe, where the decided to bundle 2 last year games instead of dropping the price, but not that much in Japan).
-It is power ungry.
-It doesn't have many appealing games yet, it will be better for next christmas.
-You need an expensive TV set to really appreciate the graphic impr

Re:

[donaldm]

- Expensive is what you can't afford.
- The PS3 runs at approx 200W but talk to any hard core gamer and power is not even an issue.
- The PS3 standby mode is very much less than 1W.
- The current PS3 game offerings are not that great from my perspective but the other console games are equally unappealing from my perspective. Of course if you don't mind playing upscaled PS2 games and there are plenty of those the PS3 has the most games.
- You can get away using a SDTV with both the Xbox360 and PS3 but a HDTV

Re:

[MikeBabcock]

I have an original PS2 and a PS3 next to it right now. Trust me, the PS2 is noticeably smaller in every dimension.

That aside, people have had all their other electronic devices get smaller, not bigger, from micro stereo systems to thinner TVs to smaller notebooks and cell phones.

It took a minute to look up, but here are your comparison sizes:

The PS2 was 301 mm (W) x 182 mm (D) x 78 mm (H)
The PS3 is 325mm (W) x 274mm (D) x 98mm (H)

Re:

[shoemilk]

Yeah, and a lot of people here use some no-name OS, Doors I think it's called? I dunno, anyway I asked once and they said it was made by some American company called macrosoft.

No idea

[eln]

Do you think there is a specific reason the PS3 isn't selling as well as the PlayStation 2 did, or is the market just a different place than it was 7 years ago?

No, we have no idea why the PS3 is not selling well. There has certainly not been countless posts complaining about the price on any of our thrice-weekly PS3 vs. Wii vs. 360 Slashdot threads. None of us have any idea why this is happening, and it has caught us totally off guard. No one on Slashdot ever predicted that the PS3 would have a hard time selling, and there was certainly never any speculation that the price was too high.

This is all entirely new and interesting information. I'm sure we will have a lively and enlightening discussion where multiple new and logically sound theories based on solid economic and sociological data will be presented.

Re:

[Goaway]

There have, however, been countless posts about how the PS3 will "do well in Japan anyway".

Of course, none of the people making those posts had any clue about the Japanese market in the first place, and were just parroting something they'd heard on the internet.

Meanwhile, the Japanese were making fun of the price just as much as us westerners, if not more so. More hilariously, at least.

Re:

[Guppy06]

"I'm sure we will have a lively and enlightening discussion where multiple new and logically sound theories based on solid economic and sociological data will be presented."

Your mother!

Yes

[rob1980]

Do you think there is a specific reason the PS3 isn't selling as well as the PlayStation 2 did, or is the market just a different place than it was 7 years ago?

Playstation 2 launch price: ¥39,800
Playstation 3 launch price: ¥49,980 (basic), ¥59,980 (premium)

That might have had something to do with it.

Re:Yes

[Anonymous Coward]

What is that Y with the lines through it?

Is ¥ anime for $?

Re:

[Virak]

No, ¥ is anime for \.

Shortage at launch

[Nazmun]

While the ps2 had 1,000,000 units it's first weekend the ps3 had a few thousand and it was shared with oversea's buyers and the homeless. In addition to that online auctioneers. The result, actual japanese gamers and american gamers didn't really get their hands on it to spread any hype. Everything seems to have been botched.

THe "worldwide launch aka u.s./japan" just meant retarded shortages at launch since they didn't make enough.
The ridiculous price.
The lack of good games at launch to justify the price

reasons?

[Thanatos69]

Do you think there is a specific reason the PS3 isn't selling as well as the PlayStation 2 did, or is the market just a different place than it was 7 years ago?

If this isn't a setup for a flame war, I don't know what is.

Re:

[jZnat]

Only if anyone on /. gave a shit about the PS3 in the first place could I agree with that. After the PS3 flopped, there aren't any more supporters of it here...

Re:

[thebonafortuna]

I'm a supporter! I think the Playstation 3 actually has wonderful potential to be the top notch gaming system in the next couple of years, once developers have learned to better utilize its hardware. It's price point is a turn off, sure, but that will come down...and developers will still be making games for it at that point.

That being said, although I really respect Nintendo for taking a different course and building a new, innovate gaming platform, I am frankly not very impressed with the end resul

Re:

[LKM]

I'm a supporter! I think the Playstation 3 actually has wonderful potential to be the top notch gaming system in the next couple of years, once developers have learned to better utilize its hardware. It's price point is a turn off, sure, but that will come down...and developers will still be making games for it at that point.

But the thing is, if there are no killer games on the PS3, people won't buy it, so there's no incentive for developers to learn how to program it correctly. I think for the foreseeable future - and maybe for the entire lifetime of the system - most really good games will come out of Sony's own dev studios. The PS3 seems to become this generation's Gamecube.

I think its great that games developed for the Wii probably won't be ports from other systems (in the future), because the control scheme is simply too different...

Yeah, most probably won't be, but interestingly, some ports arrived with really great results - Godfather, for example.

I think its just going to take a while for developers to really make this new way of playing games work.

...as seen with the DS.

That being said, the activity involved isn't a real selling point for me. While I can't speak for anyone else on Slashdot, I suspect I'm not alone when I say I get enough physical activity on my own for said activity to be required when I want to sit down and game.

toolbox

[LKM]

You do not, I repeat loudly, DO NOT have to move and flail and point and swing like you see in the commercials, nor do you have to move like you're really swinging a tennis racket, etc.

Actually, you do not have to do that, but really, you want to do it.

You can play that way. But it makes you a fucking toolbox. [penny-arcade.com]

Re:

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"If this isn't a setup for a flame war, I don't know what is."

Well I suppose you have a point. Afterall, there are actually people here that think Zonk caused Sony's bad PR.

Maybe...

[rbarreira]

Maybe the reason is that people only have one job? Those slackers...

shipped != sold

[sidb]

Sony typically reports the number of units shipped to retailers, not actually sold through to consumers. If there as many PS3s stacked in Best Buys in Japan as here, it may be a few more weeks (or possibly months) before a million PS3s are actually hooked up to Japanese TVs in people's homes.

Re:

[AndyG314]

Most companies report the number of shipped units rather than the number of units sold there are a few reasons for this: 1) Shipped is a bigger number, there is always a few more shipped than have actually been sold. 2) Shipped is way easer to estimate, as you know how many you have sent out the door, it's very difficult to get sales estimates from the countless different realtailers. 3) Shipped is good enough.

Re:

[FinchWorld]

Thats always been a sticking point with consoles, and more of late with sony. 1) Because Nintendo always reports sold units as oppossed to shipped. 2) Because Sony tries to pass off shipped as "They are selling like hot cakes!", coupled in with the unsold PS3 bounty they did (Find a PS3 on the shelves and we'll pay you $$$, causing most gaming sites to post pictures of local shops with PS3's stacked on shelves, Sony became quiet about the bounty).

Nintendo may count console warranty activations

[tepples]

Shipped is way easer to estimate, as you know how many you have sent out the door, it's very difficult to get sales estimates from the countless different realtailers.

Nintendo seems to have no trouble reporting sold figures. I don't think it would be that hard to count the console warranty activations when retailers scan the console's serial barcode.

Re:

[badasscat]

Sony typically reports the number of units shipped to retailers, not actually sold through to consumers.

This is counting units sold, not shipped. Sony can report whatever number it wants, but there are third party organizations and companies devoted to counting units sold at retail, and Enterbrain (where this number is coming from) is one of them.

All manufacturers, not just Sony, count units shipped and announce those numbers. MS does the same (they just announced 11.6 million Xbox 360's shipped, not sol

Re:shipped != sold

[rlp]

As long as Wii manufacturing is not meeting demand, for Nintendo: shipped == sold.

Re:

[MeanderingMind]

Beyond the point of the sibling post, Nintendo has consistantly reported the units they sell rather than the units they ship for years. The "shipped" numbers are only cited by them in as far as they inform the public of what kind of volume to expect (i.e. Announcing there will be 4 million Wiis shipped to stores by March '07, later announcing the actual sales come March).

Re:

[Deliveranc3]

Agreed, this trend with Console's taking a loss is also problematic. Should metrics get back to the gaming aspect of this and look at the number of games shipped (As well as the top selling game which should indicate the total number of gaming systems in use?)... These PS3's are likely sitting around as Blu-Ray players or sitting in stores, these metrics should mean nothing to game developers and without developer interest no console can survive.

Re:

[bogjobber]

Right, but those PS3's stacked in Best Buys are being sold, they're just not being sold faster than they can restock them. Shipped numbers can be misleading, but as long as PS3's are not being returned it's a fairly accurate count.

HD TV is a big reason

[Kohath]

The PS2 worked on your old TV. The PS3 does too, but you might as well buy a PS2 if you're running on old TV -- or wait on consoles altogether and save your money for a new TV.

If there were as many HDTVs now as there were SDTVs when the PS2 was released, the PS3 would probably have sold as well as the PS2.

Re:

[tzhuge]

"but you might as well buy a PS2 if you're running on old TV"

That's really just not true. There's still worlds of difference between a PS3 on a SDTV and a PS2 on a SDTV. Certainly there are other things to recommend the PS2 (price and the huge games library), but this notion that this new crop of consoles isn't any better than the previous generation on SDTV is just plain false.

Re:

[GeckoX]

It's not an exclusive argument though, but of course, this is /. so I must forgive the expected assumption that all is binary.

The PS2 had extra selling features that for those with a PS2 and a SDTV already, the PS3 just doesn't offer. The PS2 was the first DVD player for a LOT of people, and that worked with their SDTV as well.

Most people do NOT have HDTV's, so those people do not care about BluRay being a feature. People also tend to feel that they'd be missing out on the game experience if they were to pl

Re:

[jZnat]

You could say the same thing about the 360 regarding HDTV (have you tried playing Xbox 360 games on an SDTV? good luck reading the text if you don't have an enormous TV in the first place).

Re:

[Raenex]

have you tried playing Xbox 360 games on an SDTV? good luck reading the text if you don't have an enormous TV in the first place

Yeah, that really pisses me off. There's no excuse for it, yet nearly every damn game suffers this problem. No quality control from Microsoft.

It's the games, stupid

[nuzak]

For what it can do, the PS3 is not at all too expensive for me -- I'll qualify that I'm an American, I know that Europeans are getting a raw deal -- but there's a simple reason I still don't have one: no games. Seriously, take a look at ebGames, and virtually every title is scheduled for the end of the year or next year. And the titles that are out frankly don't do much for me.

Perhaps I'll get one in 2008, but by then I bet I can pick up newer-generation XBox360 and a ton of used games for it. Viva Pinat

Re:

[ShadowsHawk]

Overlord has been released on the PC.

Re:

[IpalindromeI]

Honestly hwo the wii's selling i'm not sure, doesn't have a library,

It doesn't have a library for gamers, you mean. Many of the people buying Wiis are those that haven't owned consoles in the past. They don't play through a game in two days and need something else. They'll be happy playing the same two or three games in half hour stints for a couple months. Believe me, if you're a casual gamer, there are more than enough good Wii games out right now. Only "hardcore" gamers are complaining of a game drought

Re:

[Knara]

Ah, the oft-mentioned but rarely quantified "casual gamer".

Re:

[powerlord]

yes, but how many games are the "Casual Gamers" going to buy?

I know quite a few people who thought their Nintendo GBA was a portable Tetris machine ... and nothing else.

Sony parallels nintendo

[Squarewav]

The same thing is happening to sony that happened to nintendo during the N64 generation. Both companies had 2 generations of market dominance (nes.snes, ps1,ps2). Then they got cocky and thought the fan base would overlook obvious flaws, with nintendo it was carts on the N64 and sony its the price tag, lack of innovation in the controller (really now how long is sony going to hang on to the dual shock disgn) and lack of any major exclusive games at launch.

Re:

[Dan Ost]

really now how long is sony going to hang on to the dual shock disgn

Sony managed to design a great controller early on. Why change it if they can't improve on it?

In my opinion, it's the best controller design out there. It's comfortable to hold, none of the buttons are awkward to hit, and I can play it for hours without getting cramps or stiffness in my hands. I can't say that about any other controller (especially the 360 controller...something about it makes my left hand hurt after an hour or so of play).

Re:

[Squarewav]

I suppose its a matter of opion. I personaly cant stand the spot the analog stick is, I find it hard to hold my thumb that far down for long periods of time esp after using a 360 or even gamecube controller. If the analog stick was ware the d-pad is and vice versa I would like it alot more. The dual shock was pritty much a hack to add analog sticks to the original ps1 controller w/o changing the button layout for older games.

Cue Tom Waits...

[sokoban]

Tom Waits
"Big In Japan"

I got the style but not the grace
I got the clothes but not the face
I got the bread but not the butter
I got the winda but not the shutter

But I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan But heh I'm big in Japan

I got the house but not the deed
I got the horn but not the reed
I got the cards but not the luck
I got the wheel but not the truck

But heh I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan

I got the moon I got the cheese I got the whole damn nation
On its knees I got the rooster I got the crow
I

599 reasons

[mapmaker]

Do you think there is a specific reason the PS3 isn't selling as well as the PlayStation 2 did?

No, there isn't a single specific reason. It's a combination of 599 reasons.

Re:

[Doctor_Jest]

I guess that means there's 499 reasons why the 360 hasn't sold in Japan like the PS2. :)

I need R&C on my PS3 ....

[OldHawk777]

I don't enjoy the realistic simulations/games to fycking depressing ... I am good at FPS.

I have all the PS2 R&C and want another R&C for the PS3 before I upgrade to a 32in WQXGA monitor.

!HAVEFUN!

Ask and ye shall receive...

[Intellectual Elitist]

Here you go. [insomniacgames.com] Better start saving your pennies...

Re:THANKS, Ask and ye shall receive...

[OldHawk777]

Dear 31!7!57,

You are so 5W337 for giving me that link .... I have been looking out for the PS3 R&C for far to long. I was beginning to wonder (@+55yo) if I would be dead before the next release. I am comforted to know that I only need to survive until winter (I'll need a little playtime). Then again ... if the new R&C is really good ... it may give me a good reason for trying to survive for another decrepit year. I know, I should get a life, but I did not know who William Shatner was until I saw "Bo

Re:THANKS, I need R&C on my PS3 ....

[OldHawk777]

Dang, I didn't know that, but until I get my new R&C game in the fall "!HAVEFUN!" is very eloquent (I think?).

at +55yo, I don't know why I (for sure) like the goofy R&C. I played all the DukeNukem, Wolfenstein, and DOOM on PC (well the last Wolf* was on PS2), but now the more realistic (DOOM, HalfLife, ...) FPS games put me in a foul mood for hours. I seek the more entertaining artistic/comical (less dark) FPS/Adven games. I have never seen apocalypse now, full metal jacket ... to much to think abou

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Price + DVD + no competition = more sales

[llZENll]

The PS2 when it came out was almost half what the PS3 costs, all things else being equal that should equate to more than double the PS3 sales right there, add in the fact that the PS2 was a cheap DVD player when people actually needed a DVD player, add in a whole bunch more sales. There was little to no competition for the PS2 when it was released, add in even more sales. Sony had not released a rootkit or 50 new memory formats for people to balk at.

My guess is the 2 biggest problems for Sony in Japan is

Re:

[ivan256]

You better put on your asbestos clothing, 'cause that "No competition" comment is about to get you roasted by all the Dreamcast fanboys out there.

Anyway, I think the two biggest problems really are #1 the lack of HDTVs, and #2 the lack of franchise titles.

I just bought...

[Deliveranc3]

a PS2, I was waiting for the PS3 (I wanted backwards compatibility never having owned the earlier consoles) but was disapointed.

I have $3000 I don't know what to do with but I've decided to hold off on a $400 purchase to go with a $100 purchase (Ps2 Craigslist, 1 wireless controller memory card, 40 games) I just didn't want to subsidize Microsoft and the other consoles haven't consolidated yet (:P).

The PS3 kicks ass for 1 reason, downloadable free content, tonnes of demos and previews. Once you get beyo

It's the lack of games.

[MaWeiTao]

The problem with the PS3 is not price. The iPhone costs as much as a PS3 and people are happily spending money on that. I'd argue that the PS3 provides more value for the money. Well, except for one big problem. There are few good games available for the PS3 and virtually no great games. That is why the PS3 isn't selling. I guarantee if the library of games were stronger we'd see far fewer people complaining about price.

Re: Question...

[Fallen Kell]

"Do you think there is a specific reason the PS3 isn't selling as well as the PlayStation 2 did, or is the market just a different place than it was 7 years ago?"

Ummm... PRICE? In 2000, the PS2 released with a price of 39,800 Yen (with an exchange rate of 106.31 Yen to US Dollar), which made it ~$375 US. The 60GB PS3 (the only one with full functionality) launched at a price of 62,800 Yen. So not quite double the launch price, but that is pretty high.

Re:

[king-manic]

Ummm... PRICE? In 2000, the PS2 released with a price of 39,800 Yen (with an exchange rate of 106.31 Yen to US Dollar), which made it ~$375 US. The 60GB PS3 (the only one with full functionality) launched at a price of 62,800 Yen. So not quite double the launch price, but that is pretty high.

Both currencies have dipped int he last several years so it's a bit of an unfair comparison. For the cash of value of a ps2 you would have spent on other stuff in 2000 you can get slightly more (20-30%) for the value of

Is there a SPECIFIC reason it took so long?

[WillAffleckUW]

Hmm, other than Price ...

Let's see, only one good release game, tons of time wasted on graphics and close to zilch on game play, being stuck with Blu-Ray which means little if you are one of the two-thirds with 480i or lower TV reception, ...

Nope, can't think of anything.

Everyone has DVD players now

[CokoBWare]

Nuf said... I think that's why the PS2 was popular. Now that DVD players are cheap as dirt, nobody cares about the XBox platform or the PS3 in Japan. DVD is way more compelling a switch than Blu-Ray, considering everyone emptied their pockets on the DVD generation. It's going to take quite a few more years yet to inspire people to switch to the high-def formats and equipment.

There's two big reasons

[Talgrath]

1. The PS3's price is too high for some people, mind you, I have a PS3 and didn't mind paying the price (mind you, I didn't mind paying a mere few hundred bucks for the PS3, but others do). 2. When the PS2 shipped, it was the cheapest DVD player out there; if you look at the initial statistics on what people were playing on their PS2, the top discs played were DVDs. To be honest, people aren't nearly as excited about Blu-ray and HD-DVD as they were about DVDs (with good reasons).

Re:

[rbarreira]

Maybe nerds want to see Sony die for their stupid remarks, and oh, I think I have something here... a rootkit!

Re:

[LordKronos]

What self respecting nerd was affected by the rootkit debacle?

How about every self respecting nerd who has the decency to ensure that their close family/friends have properly functioning computers and had to waste time cleaning up the mess sony made?

Re:

[c_forq]

Because the PS3 is made by Sony, and the division in control of it has demonstrated extreme arrogance. The Slashdot Groupthink is strongly against arrogance, which is why it is so slanted against Microsoft, Sony, IBM at time, Sun at times, Apple at times (although the Apple fanbase here lessens the effect), and even Nintendo in the past. The Slashdot Groupthink loves the Wii because Nintendo is actually putting its money on what the Slashdot Groupthink has been saying for years (gameplay is more important

Re:

[amyhughes]

The Slashdot Groupthink is strongly against arrogance

Is that supposed to be a brain-explodey kind of thing, like saying "I'm lying?"

Re:

[c_forq]

Yes and no. I don't think the Slashdot Groupthink evaluates itself, so the issue never really comes up. I think you are correct when participants of the Groupthink evalute it though, as is seen by my modding (currently I see my view as 1 Informative, with 50% informative, 30% Overrated, and 20% Troll, so it appears to be imploding rather than exploding, but still caught in a zero-sum game).

Re:

[the_tsi]

We are at war with Sony. We have always been at war with Sony. 2+2=5.

Re:

[edwdig]

You care how many sales a given system has because it determines what games get made for it. It also determines the quality of the games you get. On multi-console games, generally the system with the highest userbase gets the best development team on it.

Re:

[Boogaroo]

Because everyone wants to see their brand win. Ostensibly it is because whichever one sells more will be the one to get the games, saving you money since you know which one to buy. In reality, it's just a way to stoke the fanboy ego.

Look at Ford vs. Chevy, etc... Very easy to understand why people care about this sort of thing.

Re:

[the_humeister]

Look at Ford vs. Chevy, etc... Very easy to understand why people care about this sort of thing.

Actually, it puzzles me even more why people care about such things...

Re:

[Kelbear]

Console war news is like sports news for geeks.

Re:

[AuMatar]

I own Nintendo stock, it matters to me.

Re:

[meringuoid]

Could somebody please explain to me why the Official Slashdot Groupthink(tm) hates the PS3 and loves the Wii?

For about a year now Sony have been top of the Slashdot shitlist, displacing Microsoft, the RIAA, and France. This is because of the rootkits they put on music CDs.

Re:

[WIAKywbfatw]

To hell with the rootkits on their CDs. That was a screw-up, but it's not the reason why the PS3 gets such bad press.

The reason the PS3 gets such bad press, here and elsewhere, is that Sony has managed to screw up every way possible whilst pretending that everything is hunky-dory.

If Sony had been less boneheaded, or at least more honest about things, then it wouldn't have received half as much bad publicity. But as it's made one stupid move after another, and compounded that stupidity with an unswerving ina

Re:

[tbannist]

As far as Sony goes, there's a variety of reasons:

1) Nintendo fanbois
2) Microsoft fanbois

These two groups have slagged the PS3 as an overly expensive piece of junk since it was announced. There hatred for anything that doesn't belong to their chosen company is nothing new.

3) Sony's bad behaviour

Sony's been a bad company recently, the copy protection software that hides itself on your computer is a prime example of a related area that has offended many more people that were actually affected by it. General

Re:

[rjung2k]

Because the Wii is more fun than the PS3 (IMO), so the better the Wii does, the better the odds that more fun games will come out for it. Simple as that.

Re:

[king-manic]

Because the Wii is more fun than the PS3 (IMO), so the better the Wii does, the better the odds that more fun games will come out for it. Simple as that.

Fun is subjective. Wario ware + wii sports + rayman all RPGS ever made for any system. However I have a thousand dollar game library and multiple systems she has a wii, wii sports a game cube and mario party 6. Time will tell which market is more profitable. I hope to Odin it's US because I can't stand wario ware.

Re: Even Sony thinks the Wii is more Fun...

[trdrstv]

I love the "more fun" claim being brought up in any conversation regarding consoles. As near as I can tell, "more fun" really means "more nostalgic" or more concretely "more franchises that I remember liking as a kid" or even more concretely "more franchises that I remember being popular as a kid".

It's hard to not come up when even Sony claims the Wii is more fun. [gizmodo.com]

Re:

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"Could somebody please explain to me why the Official Slashdot Groupthink(tm) hates the PS3 and loves the Wii?"

They kept at least half an eye open over the past year.

Re:People aren't making enough to spend enough....

[VGPowerlord]

I don't know about in Japan, but in the US, it's not just more expensive, it's twice as (or 100% more) expensive as the PS and PS2 were at launch (PS: $299; PS2: $299; PS3: $599).

By comparison, the Wii launched for 25% more than the Game Cube, which itself launched at the same exact price as all of Nintendo's previous console systems (NES, SNES, N64, GC: $199; Wii: $249). The XBox 360 launched for 33% more than the XBox (XBox: $299; XBox 360: $399).

Seriously, though, the PS3 launched for $200 more than the already overpriced console that had been out for a year. That's seriously dumb.

Re:

[ShibaInu]

If I remember, the PS2 launched right smack in the middle of the dot com era as well. There were many a young geek flush with internet dollars willing to drop a couple hundred on a game machine.

Re:

[king-manic]

I don't know about in Japan, but in the US, it's not just more expensive, it's twice as (or 100% more) expensive as the PS and PS2 were at launch (PS: $299; PS2: $299; PS3: $599).

By comparison, the Wii launched for 25% more than the Game Cube, which itself launched at the same exact price as all of Nintendo's previous console systems (NES, SNES, N64, GC: $199; Wii: $249). The XBox 360 launched for 33% more than the XBox (XBox: $299; XBox 360: $399).

Seriously, though, the PS3 launched for $200 more than the

Re:

[laffer1]

I haven't computed the numbers, but I find it difficult to believe that inflation has caused the price to DOUBLE in seven years. The value of the dollar isn't so hot, but Japan isn't the booming economic paradise it once was either. I agree with the rest of your statements.

What has doubled in the US in the last seven years is gas prices. In 2000, I paid $1.50/gal. Today it is over $3/gal. Consumers don't have the $599 for a game console and the $300-$3000 for an HDTV to enjoy it on. The Wii has very l

Re:

[king-manic]

I haven't computed the numbers, but I find it difficult to believe that inflation has caused the price to DOUBLE in seven years. The value of the dollar isn't so hot, but Japan isn't the booming economic paradise it once was either. I agree with the rest of your statements.

What has doubled in the US in the last seven years is gas prices. In 2000, I paid $1.50/gal. Today it is over $3/gal. Consumers don't have the $599 for a game console and the $300-$3000 for an HDTV to enjoy it on. The Wii has very limited

Re:

[rbarreira]

Who cares about revenue? Profits are what matters, and the way things are going, the PS3 won't have them for a few years, if at all...

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[rbarreira]

Well, I haven't seen anyone claiming the contrary. Noone!

Re:

[nutshell42]

If it helps:

Using advanced business analyzement systematics, nutshell42, principal analyst of the nutshell42 Group reached the conclusion that Sony Corp leverages a synergistic profit of $40 on every PLAYSTATION 3 sold. The costs break down as follows:

Cell: $85
RSX: $92
256MB GDR: $25
256MB sthDR: $28
Blu-Ray drive: $101
Mainboard and Cooling: $32
Harddrive: $18
I/O, Bluetooth, etc: $15
WiFi: $23
SIXAXIS, various: $11
Case, Assembly and Shipping: $30
Total: $459

.

The nutshell42 Group helps businesses

Re:

[rbarreira]

Straight from the horse's mouth:

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?st ory=14849 [gamasutra.com]

Re:

[ProppaT]

Now do the rest of the math...

Nintendo profits off of every Wii sold. Sony (apparently) looses money on each PS3 sold, as does Microsoft with the 360. So it looks to me that the only console that's in the green is the Wii.

Re:

[king-manic]

Now do the rest of the math...

Nintendo profits off of every Wii sold. Sony (apparently) looses money on each PS3 sold, as does Microsoft with the 360. So it looks to me that the only console that's in the green is the Wii.

The Wii is undeniably profitable. The PS3 is "thought" to be sold at a loss but they said the same thing about the PS2 and they were wrong. According to several announcements, outside of the first month the PS2 was making money but "analysts" predicted a long long period of selling at a lo

Thus the solution

[patio11]

Somebody needs to flip the price on its back and hit it for massive damage. I think whacking 200 HP off of it might make it worthwhile to buy... sometime... pending a game I actually want to play on it. As it is, I can get a new Wii game and have great fun for a month without blowing half of my discretionary income for the month on it.