Sony Claims Game Sector is 'Weak' 71
GamesIndustry.biz reports on comments from Sony CFO Nobuyuki Oneda, saying that the company's dip in profits is due to a 'weak' games industry. "Speaking at a news conference, Oneda said that without the battery recall and PS3 costs to contend with, 'We would have been on track with the midterm plan, or more than that. But the game segment is weak and is the major challenge for us now,' he added. PS2 software shipments during the quarter were down by 3 million units to 47 million, but the figure for PSP software rose from 9.9 million to 12.9 million units. PS2 and PSP hardware shipments rose to 5.02 million and 3.89 million respectively. However, both hardware and software sales were down overall, with sales and operating revenue standing at YEN 170.3 billion (EUR )." In other parts of the 'weak' market, Microsoft is hopeful that they'll hit their 10 Million target by the end of the year. If they do, they're going to have to scramble. Current projections put them at 6 Million sales so far.
Gears of War will sell those 360's... (Score:3, Informative)
market shrinking? i think not.. Just the Playstation domination haseth cometh to its endeth
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- dated technology...inferior to other available consoles...and latest PCs
- the company that sells it has been hyping its replacement for the last two years
I may need to consult NSA to decode this puzzle.
Re:Gears of War will sell those 360's... (Score:4, Insightful)
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Gears of War - Exclusive
Phantasy Star Online
Call of Duty 3
Xbox 360 HD-DVD Addon
Viva Pinata
R6: Vegas
few more other games.. Remember the HD-DVD addon will be out, Windows vista with media center will push some 360 as an extender and general growth/demand from holiday sales which was 3+ million at luanch should still be there.
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10 Million is ridiculious of Microsoft to say, but I'll assume they mean by this time next year. The only chance microsoft has of hitting that is Blue Dragon and Japan. Other then that it's not going to jump.
That being said there's a shot with Blue Dragon, we'll see.
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If not for anything the 360 will sell as vista gets released to be a media center front end as well.
If GOW sells 2 m
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Also on the PS3 and PS2 (Score:2)
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Wii is Next Gen (Score:2)
The ability to make the game a system draw on the 360 then depends on the value to the consumer only of the "Next Gen" aspect of the game, where the gameplay is going to otherwise be the same between the 360 and the PS2... except that a cheaper way to get that "Next Gen" flavor also exists, the Wii. Nintendo should be able to have a lot more units available.
On the PS3 and Wii you'll be able to use motion control in the controls for the game, which
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Absolutely true, however:
School is still in session (Score:1)
The PS3 and Wii will be out soon enough that the time delay difference does not matter much for people who want to wait for the PS3 or Wii versions (both of which offer motion controlled enhancements to gameplay).
Fall Of Man PS3's main title (Score:2)
Kind of funny that the two big system movers both end up being futuristic combat titles.
Hard to say the domination of the Playstation has come to an end when month to month the PS2 still outsells the 360, that's more people buying up games they may eventually run on a PS3. Nintendo will obviously do very well with the Wii, as they always have.
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Kind of funny that the two big system movers both end up being futuristic combat titles
It is not really funny but makes a good argument for people who say that the videogame industry is becomming far more generic as development costs increase.
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I'd say it's more an example of tastes just changing, and maybe a short memory on the part of some slashdotters.
Pre-crash "system movers" were simple arcade ports like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. 8-bit "system movers" were platformers i.e. Mario 3. The 16 Bit Gen s
Is generic the right term? (Score:2)
I think I know what you mean but is generic really a good term? It seems the plethora of militarily-themed combat games is getting more specific and pigeon-holed, not generic...
I'm not saying I don't like them but it does seem like an awful lot of a very few games types compose the majority of system games.
I really think the online games from both the PS
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More like from the excuses-excuses-excuses dept (Score:4, Insightful)
Hey Oneda, how exactly do you need to "contend with" PS3 costs when that is something that's entirely within your control?
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If we're talking total handheld units sold, that is true. Consoles, its not even remotely close. There's about 10x as many PS2s in the world as there are GameCubes.
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A handheld gaming console is a gaming console is a console.
And considering the amount of PS2's that died after warranty, making people buy a new one, I don't trust Sony's number. Sure they sold a whole lot of millions of PS2, but not all of them are still in use/still usable.
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Ok, fair enough.
Its not a matter of 'trusting Sony's number'; the # of retail units sold comes from - surprise! - retailers.
Anyways, your point doesn't stand at all.
Nintendo
Total DS units sold: 26 million
Total Gamecubes so
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You forgot to mention the very thing I was refering to:
Nintendo:
Total GameBoy Advance units sold: 76.79 Million
Also, the current PS2 figure is: 106.23 Million units SHIPPED, not sold. There is no figure on units sold that I can find.
Nintendo's total console unit sales are 127 Million, and Sony's are 128 Million. So, yes, I was a bit off sugggesting Nintendo's total sales were higher, but if they are behind, it's not by much.
But I do agree, that getting into a discussion about how many PS2 units f
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Well that's not fair - the GBA launched years before the PSP, Sony had no portable at that time :)
But your larger point is well-taken. Price won't kill Sony, but they will take a well-deserved pounding for it.
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Re:More like from the excuses-excuses-excuses dept (Score:4, Informative)
No, what he's saying is that Sony's game sector is weak at the moment. Look at the context. They would have been on track but the battery recall cost them over 400 million dollars, and they know that SCE is precarious just before a console launch because of development costs and the fact that the PS2 is ancient (and competing with newer hardware).
Now the gaming industry is the scapegoat? (Score:2, Funny)
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Sensationalistic Headline (Score:5, Insightful)
While this may be an appropriate characterization, I don't think so. From the article it's not clear that's what he's saying. It seems to me more like he's saying that Sony's game division is weak. Just read the quote:
He's not saying that the "games market" is weak. He's saying "the game segment". Segment of what? The market? The company? He doesn't specify.
Now, maybe he said this stuff in Japanese, and this is a translation? In which case, how accurate is the translation? Perhaps what he actually said was that the game market is weak, but this article doesn't tell us that. Perhaps he definitively said it was Sony's game division that was weak - the article simply doesn't give us enough information to say and there is insufficient context to even draw any kind of well-supported conclusion. Or even poorly supported.
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Sony's chief financial officer, Nobuyuki Oneda, has warned that the games sector "is weak" and presents "a major challenge" after the company posted a drop in profit of more than 90 per cent.
The article seems to be referring to the games sector as a whole, not just Sony's games division. Don't blame Zonk, he's just reposting what that article said. The article may be misquoting or deceptively qu
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Really Sony...? (Score:2)
Game Sector Claims Sony is 'Weak' (Score:2)
-Rick
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-Nietzsche
"Nietzsche can wait."
-Sony
"The N64- & GC-era rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated."
-Nintendo
"360 should be enough for anyone."
-Microsoft
Down? (Score:2)
Yep. "The industry is dying." I'm sure this is COMPLETELY different from every other time game sales drop off before a new console launch. And I'm sure the PS2 isn't down because everyone and their brother owns one, or the fact that Sony has been hyping a $600 console for over a year (so if you want one... SAVE UP). I'm sure the PSP hasn't grown much because no one is buying stuff, not because Nintendo is stealing all their sales. I'm sure Microsoft having the 360 out NOW has had nothing to do with the PS2'
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GAH!!! Why do I even try? Zonk has really managed to turn the games section on
It is time (Score:1, Funny)
Tip for Sony. Suing Lik-Sang was a bad move. (Score:2)
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In unrelated news, I agree fully with what you intended to say.
Weak right now, sure (Score:2)
The games market is in transition, but I wouldn't say it's "weak."
This is some over-paid CPA bitching that people aren't buying their current products while also lining up with cash in hand for their new products. It's the same old shit, "People aren't giving us enough money!"
Zonked again. (Score:4, Insightful)
Of course it's a weak games industry! (Score:1)
(and sheesh, if you already have your copy of Ridge Racer, what more do you need? RIIIIDGE RACERRRR!!!!!)
Weak sales? (Score:1)
Be fair, guys (Score:2)
Sony'd been denying this for a long time, and it finally swam up and bit them in the ass this quarter. Good for them, they finally get it. The rea
is the used market saturated? (Score:1)