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PS3 Missed Ship Targets, Loses Exclusives 173

Posted by Zonk from the man-these-guys-cannot-catch-a-break dept.
Sony's having a rough week. After shootings on launch day and a harsh review from the New York Times, Bloomberg is now calling Sony out as having completely missed its shipping targets. The analyst company says there may have been as few as 50% of aimed-for units available, and that the company may only get about 200,000 units to stores by the end of the year (something Sony flatly denies). PS3 fans now also have to deal with the fact that Koei is cross-platforming two previously exclusive titles. Fatal Inertia and Bladestorm are now in development for the 360 as well, marking the latest in a string of titles that have slipped away from Sony. There is some consolation for the company to take away from this week, though. They did better than Microsoft last week in Japan, with around 81,000 PS3s, 19,000 PSPs, and 16,000 PS2s sold to a mere 4,000 Xbox 360s and ... 4 Xboxes.
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PS3 Missed Ship Targets, Loses Exclusives More

PS3 Missed Ship Targets, Loses Exclusives

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  • Why don't we get USEFUL numbers. Sony launches a console, Microsoft has a console that's been out for a year. Why do we expect Microsoft's console to sell as many?

    In america the amount of consoles Microsoft sell weekly isn't that many (probably 5 digits on a good week, but not much more)

    Of course it wouldn't be 1up article if it was biased in some random direction.

    Then again Microsoft's numbers are picking up in preperation for Blue Dragon, only a couple monthes ago they were barely breaking 1K units. Ho

    • Re: (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      >Why don't we get USEFUL numbers. Sony launches a console, Microsoft has a console that's been out for a year. Why do we expect Microsoft's console to sell as many?
      Wait, what about the PS2 number which is a 4:1 ratio with the Xbox/Xbox360's number? The PS2 has been out for how long, 5 years, why is it outselling the xbox360's number with a huge ratio still?
      • See that's a completely valid question (though the other side is, there's more games for it). However acting like this is useful data in showing that the PS3 is better than the 360 is pointless. Bill Gates said it, and I hate to quote him or paraphrase him but he nailed it on the head. "Sony can make 80,000 bricks, and people would buy them."

        While the data is completely valid, the conclusions someone might draw from them are not, and when 1up is saying the ps3 is doing better, it's not even technically va
      • I'm just surprised that anyone still has the old xbox's for sale in Japan. I'd have thought they'd have buried all the leftovers in a landfill somewhere.

      • >Why don't we get USEFUL numbers. Sony launches a console, Microsoft has a console that's been out for a year. Why do we expect Microsoft's console to sell as many?
        Wait, what about the PS2 number which is a 4:1 ratio with the Xbox/Xbox360's number? The PS2 has been out for how long, 5 years, why is it outselling the xbox360's number with a huge ratio still?

        That's not really a fair comparison to make. The newer, slim PS2 costs around $130, where as the xbox 360 is $400 or more. Also, a lot of the older PS

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by SQLz ( 564901 )
          Kids have to worry about enough these days without getting beat up at school because they don't have the latest console.
    • http://www.the-magicbox.com/topten.htm [the-magicbox.com]

      For 2006 through the end of October, 84,949 360s sold in Japan. 81,639 PS3s sold at launch.

      From what I can find, there were 100K 360s sold in Japan in 2005.

      So it looks like somewhere around 190K 360s vs 82K PS3s in Japan currently with Microsoft's 1 year head start.

      Value Japanese sales in the greater scheme of things as you please.

    • 360 numbers in Japan are lower b/c of Blue Dragon (Score:5, Insightful)

      by jchenx ( 267053 ) on Wednesday November 22, 2006 @04:09PM (#16956234) Journal
      First of all, I totally agree that the numbers from Japan are useless, in comparing PS3 to 360 (as many sites are reporting). Of course the PS3 is going to do well in it's first week! That said, I did want to point out one thing ...

      Then again Microsoft's numbers are picking up in preperation for Blue Dragon, only a couple monthes ago they were barely breaking 1K units. However now it's much more.
      Actually, I'd say it's quite the opposite. I would fully expect 360 sales numbers in Japan to be lower than usual because of Blue Dragon. It makes sense and here's why.

      We know that there's surprisingly a lot of interest [1up.com] in the Blue Dragon 360 bundle, set to release in December. It also recently took over the #3 spot on Famitsu's list of most anticipated titles [joystiq.com]. So, if you know there's a bundle coming out in December, why on earth would you buy a 360 now? It's akin to buying a system when you know a price drop is going to happen in a few weeks.

      The numbers will be most interesting a week after the game and bundle launches. (The week it actually ships will see an artificial bump of 360 sales, similar to the PS3 one. I fully expect, "wowzers, 360>PS3 lolololezr" articles then as well) Then we can start tracking trends to see if MS will actually have a chance in Japan, or if it's going to be more of the same.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Mr. Samuel ( 950418 )

      Why don't we get USEFUL numbers. Sony launches a console, Microsoft has a console that's been out for a year. Why do we expect Microsoft's console to sell as many?

      This is an excellent question, and I can only assume the answer is one of two things:

      1. For some reason, gaming site users have an insatiable appetite for fuel to the "console war" fire, perhaps with little regard for the accuracy of said fuel.

      2. See #1.

      Imagine what the world might accomplish if the energy we put into worrying about which

    • Sony launches a console, Microsoft has a console that's been out for a year. Why do we expect Microsoft's console to sell as many?

      Granted it bucks the trend, but the DS Lite has been selling over 100,000 units per week in Japan since Nintendo has been able to make over 100,000 systems per week for Japan.

    • Surely more are sold through 2nd hand dealers, or even small shops.

      Maybe sony counts all machines out of factory for that week.

      Again, surely there are more than 4 people in a land of 180 million that would buy an xbox-1, its not like
      they ALL are rich, there are smaller cities, and poor people everywhere.

      What are xbox sales in korea like? I thought they hate the Js and would never touch a Sony console.

  • Sony Style Store just had some (Score:5, Informative)

    by mihalis ( 28146 ) on Wednesday November 22, 2006 @03:38PM (#16955700) Homepage

    I was just in the Sony Style store at 550 Madison Avenue (Sony's US headquarters) and they were selling PS3s. There was a line of about 15 people (ok, men) at the checkout, which is highly unusual in my experience (I shop there regularly) and the staff behind the desk had some PS3s sitting on the floor ready to be handed over. The boxes go out in a distinctive black bag with PS3 graphics on it.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by antifoidulus ( 807088 )
      So basically the bags are mobile adverts that scream "mug me!"

    • Re: (Score:1, Redundant)

      by Overzeetop ( 214511 )
      The boxes go out in a distinctive black bag with PS3 graphics on it.

      Does it also say "Steal Me!" in bright graphics, too?

    • Re:Sony Style Store just had some (Score:5, Funny)

      by Fozzyuw ( 950608 ) on Wednesday November 22, 2006 @05:22PM (#16957332)
      The boxes go out in a distinctive black bag with PS3 graphics on it.

      It could be worse... they could buy it from Target!

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by CelticLo ( 575344 )
      I was in the Hong Kong sony Style store looking for more games two days after launch. (They only had Tiger Woods and Genji only, no other stores had software.) I saw the same thing as you, people buying PS3s after the launchday, I went over to enquire to find out this was people picking pre-orders and using their credit cards to confirm identity.

  • Bet They're feeling Blue (Score:5, Insightful)

    by gt_mattex ( 1016103 ) on Wednesday November 22, 2006 @03:41PM (#16955758)

    If I'm correct the original PS3 was set to be built without the BluRay.

    I'm willing to bet that is the root their delays.

    At some point some marketing exec sat down at a global strategy meeting and predicted that to make BluRay work they would need to inject using their most popular gadget.

    Won't it suck for that exec if it turns out BluRay killed the PlayStation...or at least crippled it regardless of majority share of the market.

    • Won't it suck for that exec if it turns out BluRay killed the PlayStation...or at least crippled it regardless of majority share of the market.

      I think you mean "Wouldn't it be Apropriate if it turns out that Blu-Ray Killed the PlayStation?"

      and Yes it would.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Fozzyuw ( 950608 )
      Without Blu-Ray, PS3 would still cost about $600, only Sony wouldn't loose the rumored $300 a system they sell.

      Though, they probably would have more stock, which would have helped their cause.

      Cheers,
      Fozzy

  • Loosing exclusive titles hurts (Score:4, Interesting)

    by jfclavette ( 961511 ) on Wednesday November 22, 2006 @03:42PM (#16955774)
    I'm not usually a Sony doomsday prophet, but if something can kill the PS3, it's this. They need their RPGs. They need Koei and Squeenix. If those juggernauts start to slip away, then Sony is in big, big trouble. Most switches will lean in the 360 direction because of comparable specs and input mechanisms. If the exodus reaches some sort of critical mass, where companies don't believe that the PS3 will sell anymore, that whole situation might end very badly for Sony, and very well for MS and, to a lesser extent, Nintendo.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Possibly Malignant ( 933521 )
      I agree entirely. Pressure from a few of Sony's powerhouse studios already resulted in the Japanese price drop. Konami & "Squeenix" felt the high price point would result in a smaller installed base, resulting in lower sales for their titles. If studios are concerned that titles like Metal Gear and Final Fantasy won't sell, there could be trouble ahead for Sony.

      • Re:Loosing exclusive titles hurts (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Babbster ( 107076 ) <aaronbabb&gmail,com> on Wednesday November 22, 2006 @04:29PM (#16956602) Homepage
        To be fair, it's not a really question of "will" MGS and Final Fantasy sell - they'll sell huge, in that if there were 2 million PS3s owned by gamers, each of those games could still sell a million units. It's more a question of how huge the sales will be. Think of it this way: If Take 2/Rockstar had skipped the Xbox entirely in terms of GTA games, they still would have sold millions of units and made a ton of money. By releasing on the Xbox, they probably got at least a million more sales (virtually every used Xbox I see on Craig's List comes with at least a copy of San Andreas) for the relatively small cost of porting the game.

        The problem for Sony is that there seems to be a perception that they need their exclusives due to the Microsoft head start and the high price of their hardware. Because they didn't lock up franchises like GTA or the "hot" new property, Assassin's Creed (for example), Microsoft can make what is probably a cheaper deal to make them multiplatform and gamers won't have those extra incentives to buy the PS3 (don't get me wrong, there are other incentives - I'm only a "hater" in terms of price).

        The bottom line is that PS2 ended up with many (many, many) exclusives over time thanks to their ridiculous market share advantage. For at least the next year, if not a couple years, they're not going to have that advantage (certainly not in the US, probably not in Europe, maybe not in Japan depending on the Wii's penetration), so PS3 exclusives will have to come either from the preference of a particular developer (MGS's boss seems to be enamored of Sony, for example) or specific deals (like cheaper licensing fees) between the developer and Sony. Otherwise, it makes more sense to at least go multiplatform based purely on the hardware numbers.

        As a gamer, I hate exclusives because they unnecessarily (given the relatively low cost to port games as opposed to starting from scratch) limit my options. They are necessary, though, for companies trying to differentiate themselves from the competition and sell more hardware.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Phisbut ( 761268 )

          For at least the next year, if not a couple years, they're not going to have that advantage (certainly not in the US, probably not in Europe, maybe not in Japan depending on the Wii's penetration)

          Whether or not the Wii has a huge penetration doesn't matter, since the Wii and the PS3 are such different consoles, and aim at different markets. There will be PS3 exclusives and there will be Wii exclusives, and I expect very few PS3 games ported to the Wii and vice-versa. I own a Wii, and I don't think I'd be

          • That's a good point, to a point. While it's true that the PS3 and Wii could end up segmenting the market, the question remains whether the PS3 market is big enough considering its high price (launch adopters hardly count in the long run, especially with the small number of PS3s that will be available between now and spring). In other words, while developers and customers may not be as interested in multiplatforming between the PS3 and Wii with their radically different capabilities, if the Wii has a much

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Pluvius ( 734915 )
      Koei doesn't make RPGs to my knowledge. It's certainly not what they're known for, at any rate.

      Anyway, the two exclusives that Sony lost are both new franchises. If Sony loses Dynasty/Samurai Warriors (or FF13 and DQ9 on the Squenix side), then there will be reason for worry. (Yeah, I know the Warriors games have almost always come out on the XBox, but the PS2 versions generally come out earlier and with expansions.)

      Rob
      • I wonder if there's any truth to the hypothesis that whichever console gets Square-Enix's primary franchises first (Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest), wins the market share for that generation. I believe it's always been true (maybe not with the SNES/Genesis, since that race was pretty close I believe).

        If so, Sony better be worried and lock up those franchises tightly, and not give Squeenix any wiggle room. We already know they're working on the 360 (with the old Final Fantasy XI and Project Slypheed [square-enix.co.jp]), so it'

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by 7Prime ( 871679 )

          You make a good point here, about Mistwalker and Squeenix. If the PS3 does poorly, worldwide, and there's questions of whether there will be a PS4, Squeenix will have to go XBox720 (or Nintendo WiiHD, or whatever). If Mistwalker Studios is already well established on the Microsoft end, Squeenix is going to have some feirce competition for the first time in a while. The only thing is that, really, RPG manufacturers really aren't in competition with each other, so much. As long as they have staggered releases

      • (Yeah, I know the Warriors games have almost always come out on the XBox, but the PS2 versions generally come out earlier and with expansions.)

        If you've played the later games (SW and DW5 onwards), you can see why Koei started releasing them on the 360 rather than the XBox - when you play the PS2 version, having a lot of troops on screen really pushes it in a bad way. Enemies disappear but are still able to hit you, or the PS2 even crashes.

        Bladestorm is/was one of the PS3 games that really interested me, ap

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Pluvius ( 734915 )
          If you've played the later games (SW and DW5 onwards), you can see why Koei started releasing them on the 360 rather than the XBox - when you play the PS2 version, having a lot of troops on screen really pushes it in a bad way. Enemies disappear but are still able to hit you, or the PS2 even crashes.

          Putting the games on the PS3 should nullify that problem.

          Bladestorm is/was one of the PS3 games that really interested me, apart from Devil May Cry 4. It's a new franchise, but it's the Hundred Years War version
    • More to the point, third parties porting their games to other platforms, to me, suggests lack of confidence in the PS3 marketplace, and *that* is scary. After all, it's one thing for a dope like me to predict doom for Sony. It's another, entirely, if their third-party developers lose confidence in them.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Perseid ( 660451 )
      This is not a worry. Most of the big-name RPGs are Japanese and with the sales of the 360 in Japan I don't think Sony has much to worry about there.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Shados ( 741919 )
        I don't remember the original playstation being all so hot (even in japan) when FFVII came out. Square Enix will jump ship as soon as they get a better offer on a system they think could work with their support. With FF13 so far away, it still just reminds me of the N64 days. There was a Final Fantasy scheduled for it, promised as exclusive blah blah blah. I still even have the screenshots of the demo (a bit like how we have the FF13 trailer now), and it looked damn good.

        Then we turned around and surpris

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by c_forq ( 924234 )
          I've been thinking that the PS3 is looking a lot like the N64. When making the N64 Nintendo was really arrogant and high off of the success of the Super Nintendo. If you look at the interviews leading up to the Gamecube Nintendo was basically saying "Yeah, we really screwed the pooch on the N64 - this system should correct all of our mistakes" and switched to optical disks, put better sound processing in, and made the system easier to develop for. I don't think the PS3 will cause Sony to tank (or cause t

  • Xbox? (Score:4, Funny)

    by fatty ding dong ( 1028344 ) on Wednesday November 22, 2006 @03:44PM (#16955808)
    They did better than Microsoft last week in Japan, with around 81,000 PS3s, 19,000 PSPs, and 16,000 PS2s sold to a mere 4,000 Xbox 360s and ... 4 Xboxes.

    At this stage in the game, who is buying a NEW Xbox? You couldn't find a used one or hit up Ebay? I need to find one of these 4 people. I have a nice 486 with a Turbo button that they might find appealing.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by karnal ( 22275 )
      At my stage in the game I would actually consider buying an Xbox brand new.

      Why?

      They're cheap! Well, at least cheaper than the new generation of consoles. To me that's a lot. In addition, the games (most of which I've not played) I could pay 20$ or less for! That's a win-win for me, especially for a brand new console w/warranty.

      I have a PS2 I've probably played 20 or 30 games total on. And now, I can find games for 20$ or less that I salivated over about 2 years ago (I just bought GT4 and am hooked on t
      • I'm cheap too and just got a PS2 this past spring, but you wouldn't see me buying an XBox at this point. My impression is the PS2 has a lot more momentum than the XBox, and that the PS2 will continue to have new games released whereas the XBox will have few, if any. I suppose you could just buy both, but for me it's not worth the clutter.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Valdrax ( 32670 )
      At this stage in the game, who is buying a NEW Xbox? You couldn't find a used one or hit up Ebay? I need to find one of these 4 people. I have a nice 486 with a Turbo button that they might find appealing.

      Dude, I've seen brand new, unopened consoles from the 80s in Japan. We're talking Famicom and PC Engine (aka NES and TurboGrafx-16). There are several shops in Akihabara that sell both the systems and plenty of games, not all used.

      In comparison, an Xbox isn't that surprising of a purchase. It's still no

  • Oh, good (Score:2, Funny)

    by dryriver ( 1010635 )
    "PS3 Missed Ship Targets" the convoy must have made it safely across the channel then.

  • Well (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Sv-Manowar ( 772313 ) on Wednesday November 22, 2006 @04:16PM (#16956378) Homepage Journal
    A small number maybe, but Sony are also undoubtedly losing out on the import markets. After they recently shut down Lik-Sang.com and got importing PS3's to the UK and a number of other countries banned by law they will have surely shut out a sector of the market of those who are the most hardcore gamers and cannot wait for their consoles (with the European and Australasia launch coming in March 2007 due to lack of Blu-Ray components). It's a shame they had to go to these lengths, which would be understandable if they had have had a global launch date, but leaving some countries without the console for a number of months isn't the best idea, and by blocking imports to those countries they are only loosing more sales and aggravating consumers.

    I have a feeling that Sony will need to start giving incentives or at least making it a desirable environment for developers in order to create some games that will become a MUST for the console buyers (like Halo for Xbox, Gears of War/Halo 3 for Xbox360, Mario for N64 etc) if they want to really compete with the low priced Wii and the 360 which is flaunting it's powerful internet features now.
    • It's a shame they had to go to these lengths, which would be understandable if they had have had a global launch date...

      No. Sony has become an asshole and a bully; not having a global launch date is no excuse for that behavior.

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

    by dlc3007 ( 570880 ) on Wednesday November 22, 2006 @04:21PM (#16956464)
    The interesting thing is that if all the numbers are true (or even close), that means that over 10% of all PS3s purchased were resold on eBay -- maybe higher. Don't know why, but that's funny to me.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Shados ( 741919 )
      I remember reading in a very non-scientific report (which probably didn't mean much, but this is slashdot, who cares) something as high as 25%. Though it almost make enough sense for me to beleive it.

      In any case, I doubt game developers will cry over it. They gave Nintendo the finger a decade ago because Nintendo was trying to control them. Sony during the PS2 days did the same, so they're probably all -praying- for Sony to fail so they can jump ship for the next console maker who'll give them everything
    • I heard a completely unsubstantiated number of 100,000 PS3s sold on eBay. If so, that's more like 50%.. Not surprising really, considering lineup interviews with prospective buyers.
  • Sony Computer Entertainment America couldn't be more pleased with the response we have seen from consumers since the launch of PlayStation 3 on Friday," said corporate communications boss David Karraker. "This truly demonstrates the power of the PlayStation brand and further validates our belief that consumers see real value in an entertainment system that will define the next decade of digital entertainment.

    Translation: We love it when people are shooting each other for an overpriced piece of hype. It t

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by HappySqurriel ( 1010623 )
      One thing a shortage can do is enable a company to be delusional about the demand for the product that they're selling. I'm going to use cars as my example ...

      Suppose that this year GM produced a brand new supercharged luxury compact sedan which they sold for $50,000 that was based on the Cobalt; and suppose that GM only produced 25,000 of these cars that sold out (almost) instantly. A marketing drone in GM suddenly believes that there is a massive market for this car and decides that it is important to inc
  • With such low launch stock, Sony is losing sales during a period when the hype around the console at its highest. Nintendo on the other hand plan to ship four million Wii consoles this year, giving them a three million lead over the PS3 by the year end.

    Day 2 and Sony is in 3rd place. I believe I called this one months ago.

  • Searching for a Playstation 3 tech demo on YouTube [youtube.com] I found a Gears of Wars like preview of Unreal, on PS3! Today it is marketed as a Microsoft supported game. Does anyone know why that PS3 version has been abandoned? Did Microsoft support it with enough dollars or is this GoW only a preview of the might to come?

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Osty ( 16825 )

      Searching for a Playstation 3 tech demo on YouTube I found a Gears of Wars like preview of Unreal, on PS3! Today it is marketed as a Microsoft supported game. Does anyone know why that PS3 version has been abandoned? Did Microsoft support it with enough dollars or is this GoW only a preview of the might to come?

      As the sibling post says, that's just Unreal 3. Sure, it has a big, beefy human character but that's just Epic's style. As far as GoW on anything but Xbox 360, keep in mind that Microsoft publi

  • Why? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by whoop ( 194 )
    Why did Sony set a launch when they clearly can't keep up with demand? Do people want it more that they can't have it, and Joey down the block has one? Did they just want to avoid being third in released systems? Nintendo's clearly hurting now that their system was released last. But then, Xbox 360 was the same way. It wasn't in stores for what, a good six months after "launch?" At least then they were the only next-gen console around.

    Nintendo seems to be the only one with the supply to meet the deman

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by mrchaotica ( 681592 ) *

      Nintendo's clearly hurting now that their system was released last.

      It was last by 2 days. That's negligible. Besides, it's already sold several times as much as the PS3 anyway (considering they both sold out, and several times many more Wiis were made...).

      So, why did they launch prematurely?

      Christmas. Not that it's going to do them any good, though, because "getting it out in time for the holidays" on paper won't cause them to magically have enough consoles to even come close to meeting the seasonal dema

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Guppy06 ( 410832 )
      "So, why did they launch prematurely?"

      Stockholders don't like delays.
  • Yeah I said it,...

    Seriously now people, if you enjoy GAMEPLAY the GC / Xb1 and the PS2 have a plethora of good games for them right now.
    Some of the more recent games look really quite nice too.

    All 3 companies should have "milked" their consoles closer towards a better end of life, Nintendo 18 months, Sony 12 and MS 24 (my opinion, based on their release date, graphical ability and quantity of games)

    This way they could have focused on ensuring these new consoles are up to scratch in all depts - online, grap
  • From the Newsweek blog entry/article.

    When asked whether Sony's resurgent strength as a console games publisher was pushing the company to shun exclusives, Tretton denied it. "We're the only company in this industry that's got development resources and talent that have established Number one hits on all three continents," he says, which is true, since the bulk of Microsoft's studios are in North America and Europe, while Nintendo's are concentrated in Japan. "We really feel like we're well positioned to cont

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