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[perfectchaos007]

I can see the December 09 NPD already

1) New Super Mario Bros Wii
2) Wii Fit Plus
3) Zelda Spirit Tracks
4) Mario & sonic at the winter olympics
5) Wii Sports Resort
6) Pokemon Platinum
7) Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympics (DS)
8) Wii Fit
9) Mario Kart Wii
10) MW2

That's some good shit you're smoking there.

yeah it does seem like something is wrong with that list.

1) New Super Mario Bros Wii
2) Wii Fit Plus
3) Zelda Spirit Tracks
4) Mario & sonic at the winter olympics
5) Wii Sports Resort
6) Pokemon Platinum
7) Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympics (DS)
8) Wii Fit
9) Mario Kart Wii
10) Mario and Luigi: Inside Story
11) Modern Warfare 2


there we go

 

[gafster1]

If you want to call a game a system seller when it arrives along with an unprecedented drop in system sales.

I concur. It seem that WSR is selling well as a defacto sequal to a Sports/Play. The wii doesnt appear to be positively impacted by WSR sales.

Ie; WSR not a SS.

 

[BishopLamont]

I concur. It seem that WSR is selling well as a defacto sequal to a Sports/Play. The wii doesnt appear to be positively impacted by WSR sales.


Ie; WSR not a SS.

Every game sells systems when they are launched, they just vary between how many systems they sell. The true "system sellers" are the ones that sell systems long after they're launched. So right now it's quite premature to say WSR is not a system seller.

 

[gerg]

As I'm on holiday, I haven't had the most time to read this thread through, but I'd like to suggest that Nintendo is not removing a strategy from the table by delaying a price-drop. Why is waiting for something seen as not considering it at all? Why should Nintendo have to do something now?

Yes, last Christmas and/or Fall season was a big fuck-up for Nintendo, but asking them to predict the delay of a large internal product and using their ability to do so as a measure of success of their success is a harsh metric for any company. Moreover, to then use it to evaluate the success of their corporate strategy (when their strategy did not even come to fruition) seems more ridiculous still. And, as I have argued with charlequin in the past, given that they may have bettered their relations with third-parties, both in the West and in the East, do we really expect that the types of games they would have wanted them to produce would have fulfilled the role of their internal software anyway? Yes, Nintendo can afford to take certain risks (such as changing their stance towards third parties) - even if they would only ever represent lost revenue - but these risks represent areas that- in the long and short of it (in regards to the Wii, at least) - would not be most beneficial to them.

As for NoA, I've been under the impression that they've always been a "puppet", so to speak, for NCL. That they're doing things very differently is only because NCL is doing things differently.

God, how I hate missing all the interesting events when I'm away fro a computer.

 

[Jocchan]

Whoever updated this last messed up. Obama needs to be crossed out in purple. That or Gran Turismo needs to be in Green.

Actually, I didn't. If you look closely there's something else written (in green) under Gran Turismo. I've been pretty careful about these details

I would say Slim before GT5.

You're correct. I'll fix it in a few days, when I get back home.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

The wii and DS really have warped peoples perception of sales.

Very much so. What Wii+X360+PS3 just sold would've been a completely decent PS2+Xbox+GCN July number. I think the only time the sum of those systems was significantly better was PS2's hot summer of 2002. Plus the portables are selling twice what they were last gen.

As I'm on holiday, I haven't had the most time to read this thread through, but I'd like to suggest that Nintendo is not removing a strategy from the table by delaying a price-drop. Why is waiting for something seen as not considering it at all?

This I agree with. That they haven't needed one thus far doesn't mean they're hell-bound to go an infinite amount of time without one. However,

Why should Nintendo have to do something now?

Of course they don't have to do anything, but what are they waiting for? It's a normal and natural tactic considering that after a few dozen million sales there are fewer people left willing to purchase something at its original price, and production costs are lower as well. It's not exactly like they'd be rushing into some irreversible money pit. They've gone far longer than any previous system has gone without a price cut, and even gone longer than GCN took to get its final price cut. They could even cut the price and still be at a higher price than any previous Nintendo console if they really feel being $200 is some new measure of defeat.

Getting some people impressed with all-new types of software is well and good, but it's not like doing that and a price cut would somehow work against each other, and after going 3 years avoiding paying the initial $250 some people will just really not want to pay that much. If I were in that position, I'd feel like I just wasted years of potential play and didn't get the usual bonus a late adopter is supposed to. The way (hard drive version) X360 has been spinning its wheels at $300 while trying to sweeten the deal in other ways has put me in a similar mind, but when there was recently an opportunity to grab one for $240 that was enough impetus for me to jump in.

 

[AniHawk]

I wonder if Nintendo wouldn't really drop the price, but lower it to $200 and unbundle Wii Sports, to sell that as a standalone title.

 

[milanbaros]

I wonder if Nintendo wouldn't really drop the price, but lower it to $200 and unbundle Wii Sports, to sell that as a standalone title.

I don't think it would. It probably only adds $2-3 to the cost of making the Wii bundle but its value to the consumer is much higher.

I think a NSMB Wii bundle at $250 would be a better idea.

 

[AniHawk]

I don't think it would. It probably only adds $2-3 to the cost of making the Wii bundle but its value to the consumer is much higher.

I think a NSMB Wii bundle at $250 would be a better idea.

Well it would be nice to see a Mario game as the best-selling game of all-time again.

 

[the thoroughbred]

	   Sony		    Nintendo	      Microsoft	        Total
Y/E 1998     $902,811,090   $1,023,333,867                      $1,926,144,957
Y/E 1999   $1,102,563,557   $1,301,350,000                      $2,403,913,557
Y/E 2000     $722,738,949   $1,368,207,547                      $2,090,946,497
Y/E 2001    -$449,776,290     $677,576,000                        $227,799,710
Y/E 2002     $629,101,056     $895,872,180   -$1,135,000,000      $389,973,237
Y/E 2003     $935,569,253     $834,333,333   -$1,191,000,000      $578,902,586
Y/E 2004     $627,195,212     $993,161,303   -$1,337,000,000      $283,356,515
Y/E 2005     $419,888,799   $1,056,056,202     -$539,000,000      $936,945,001
Y/E 2006      $69,129,058     $774,478,055   -$1,339,000,000     -$495,392,887
Y/E 2007  -$1,970,923,859   $1,914,666,388   -$1,969,000,000   -$2,025,257,471
Y/E 2008  -$1,079,994,103   $4,322,637,887      $426,000,000    $3,668,643,783
Y/E 2009    -$577,207,240   $5,691,428,301      $169,000,000    $5,283,221,061

Y/E 10Q1    -$413,541,667     $420,843,750               N/A               N/A

Total				
	     $917,553,815  $21,273,944,815   -$6,844,000,000   $15,347,498,630
				
Full Year Average
	     $110,924,623   $1,737,758,422   -$1,001,857,143      $914,270,499

Profitable Years				
			8		12		   2		     10
				
Non Profitable Years				
			4		 0		   6		     2
				
Average in Loss Year				
	  -$1,019,475,373              N/A   -$1,251,666,667   -$1,260,325,179
				
Average in Profit Year				
	     $676,124,622   $1,737,758,422      $333,000,000    $1,389,625,094

credit to Psychotext

I don't think that's all correct. I couold swear there was a year when Sony made almost 2 billion. I remember reading it so many times.
God damn, is that right. Nintendo alrready made 5 billion this year. Surely that can't be right.

 

[AniHawk]

I don't think that's all correct. I couold swear there was a year when Sony made almost 2 billion. I remember reading it so many times.
God damn, is that right. Nintendo alrready made 5 billion this year. Surely that can't be right.

Nintendo made over $5B last year. They made $420M so far this year (one quarter).

Sony never made $2B from their games division. Some of that looks like it might be adjusted for inflation though, because I think Nintendo's first > $1B year was this decade.

 

[the thoroughbred]

Nintendo made over $5B last year. They made $420M so far this year (one quarter).

Sony never made $2B from their games division. Some of that looks like it might be adjusted for inflation though, because I think Nintendo's first > $1B year was this decade.

Oh yeah. That was a really blonde moment for me.

Duh Year-Ending 09.

How is this for a brain fuck. Nintendo has made more than all 3 combined.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

I don't think that's all correct. I couold swear there was a year when Sony made almost 2 billion. I remember reading it so many times.
God damn, is that right. Nintendo alrready made 5 billion this year. Surely that can't be right.

The 5 billion thing is definitely correct.

edit: Ahh, I see how you misunderstood.

 

[AdventureRacing]

T'was also a great BRD trojan horse. I don't think Sony will eventually consider it as a failure.

The PS3 has already lost sony close to 4 billion dollars. This was during the period where PS2 was basically a cash cow and they also had profits from the PSP. Who knows how much money the PS3 has actually lost sony.

Than there is the massive loss of marketshare as well as good will with 3rd parties.

Is the success of bluray which may well have succeeded anyway really going to be enough to make up for all that?

I would say the PS3 is one of the biggest failures in the history of gaming, not far off the likes of the dreamcast. The difference is the PS3 followed after the success of PS1 and PS2 and was also made by a much larger company than sega.

In one generation sony has went from having a totally dominant console making 3 billion$+ in profit to a 3rd place console that has lost nearly 4 billion$.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

Yeah, I mean, the thing is, BRD succeeded in winning the HD format war (whatever that is worth in the long run, we'll see) and that's certainly due in (possibly large) part to the PS3, so the PS3 at least wasn't a complete failure. Buuuuut...

It was certainly possible to Trojan Horse Blu-Ray to victory *and* not completely burn down the games business in the process. In fact, that would have been even better for Blu-Ray. While the PS3 is not the worst-case scenario, it seems to have been the next-to-worst case scenario.

 

[Psychotext]

I don't think that's all correct.

I've been through it about three times at this stage (and had others look at it)... so it'd better bloody be right. :lol

 

[wazoo]

The PS3 has already lost sony close to 4 billion dollars. This was during the period where PS2 was basically a cash cow and they also had profits from the PSP. Who knows how much money the PS3 has actually lost sony.

no, 4b$ is what they lost from ps3, not the combination of ps3 loss and ps2/psp gains. That s why in those years, the total losses are around 1b$.

 

[partisan]

no, 4b$ is what they lost from ps3, not the combination of ps3 loss and ps2/psp gains. That s why in those years, the total losses are around 1b$.

nope.. 4b$ is what they've lost since releasing the ps3. they've lost 4b$ even though ps2 and psp were still selling.

 

[wazoo]

nope.. 4b$ is what they've lost since releasing the ps3. they've lost 4b$ even though ps2 and psp were still selling.

yes, you are right.

 

[Masklinn]

Yeah, I mean, the thing is, BRD succeeded in winning the HD format war

… maybe

The market isn't that impressive, and HD-DVD is making a comeback through China.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

… maybe

The market isn't that impressive, and HD-DVD is making a comeback through China.

Well, the "not impressive" part I think I covered with the part immediately following what you quoted. I didn't know about China but does the legitimate market have much to fear from HD DVD gaining traction in such a bastion of bootleggery?

 

[HiResDes]

Well, the "not impressive" part I think I covered with the part immediately following what you quoted. I didn't know about China but does the legitimate market have much to fear from HD DVD gaining traction in such a bastion of bootleggery?

Isn't HD DVD still cheaper to manufacture?
Edit: Wow, I didn't realize I was getting so close to a thousand posts, good thing I didn't waste it on this one...It must be special and someone must be owned simultaneously

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

Isn't HD DVD still cheaper to manufacture?

Does it matter if none of the studios are supporting it?

 

[HiResDes]

Does it matter if none of the studios are supporting it?

But everyone knows that China is home to the best filmmaking studios in the world
Edit: Crap I forgot that quick, you baited me, damnit!

 

[donny2112]

Siras Inc.
http://ign64.ign.com/articles/073/073628p1.html

Thanks, Fuzzy.

 

[Jokeropia]

The wii would certainly be an amazing system if we could call some of its games system sellers when the console takes a 40% dive in sales numbers when those games are released....

13%, actually. (4 vs. 5 NPD weeks.) Far from an "unprecedented" drop.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

Yeah, I mean, the thing is, BRD succeeded in winning the HD format war (whatever that is worth in the long run, we'll see) and that's certainly due in (possibly large) part to the PS3, so the PS3 at least wasn't a complete failure. Buuuuut...

It was certainly possible to Trojan Horse Blu-Ray to victory *and* not completely burn down the games business in the process. In fact, that would have been even better for Blu-Ray. While the PS3 is not the worst-case scenario, it seems to have been the next-to-worst case scenario.

Not to mention SONY could have invested with the losses they've made on the PS3 so far (probably much less) further push the Blu-Ray format.

 

[Sipowicz]

how does everyone think rock band beatles will do?

i think it will do ok on xbox but sell shit on wii. that's not only because it's only got one band and it's been outsourced (lol EA) but also because they totally messed up rock band 1 + 2 on the platform

i think the guitar hero will kill it, and deservedly so

 

[Son of Godzilla]

i think the guitar hero will kill it, and deservedly so

:lol

 

[Archie]

how does everyone think rock band beatles will do?

i think it will do ok on xbox but sell shit on wii. that's not only because it's only got one band and it's been outsourced (lol EA) but also because they totally messed up rock band 1 + 2 on the platform

i think the guitar hero will kill it, and deservedly so

Joke post. TB:RB is going to be huge, especially on Wii.

 

[markatisu]

how does everyone think rock band beatles will do?

i think it will do ok on xbox but sell shit on wii. that's not only because it's only got one band and it's been outsourced (lol EA) but also because they totally messed up rock band 1 + 2 on the platform

Umm Rock Band 1 sold 1m+ on the Wii, and GH 3 and 4 sold 2+ so the audience is there. We do not know how well RB2 sold on Wii

It will do ok on the Xbox and Wii, it will die a horrid death on the PS3 (as every guitar game has). It will undoubtedly follow the same pattern where the 360 gets #1 in sales the first two months then the Wii picks up the slack the remainder of the year

Of course numbers wise it will be a real toss up since the damn thing is pushing almost $300 for the full kit. I anticipate a lot of the single game sku selling in this economy :lol

 

[lowlylowlycook]

Yeah, I mean, the thing is, BRD succeeded in winning the HD format war (whatever that is worth in the long run, we'll see) and that's certainly due in (possibly large) part to the PS3, so the PS3 at least wasn't a complete failure. Buuuuut...

It was certainly possible to Trojan Horse Blu-Ray to victory *and* not completely burn down the games business in the process. In fact, that would have been even better for Blu-Ray. While the PS3 is not the worst-case scenario, it seems to have been the next-to-worst case scenario.

Well, IIRC, the PS3 outsold all other Blu-Ray players combined for the first quarter of this year in the US. If the PS3 is a trojan horse then the escape hatch must be jammed shut.

 

[Archie]

Umm Rock Band 1 sold 1m+ on the Wii, and GH 3 and 4 sold 2+ so the audience is there. We do not know how well RB2 sold on Wii

It will do ok on the Xbox and Wii, it will die a horrid death on the PS3 (as every guitar game has). It will undoubtedly follow the same pattern where the 360 gets #1 in sales the first two months then the Wii picks up the slack the remainder of the year

Of course numbers wise it will be a real toss up since the damn thing is pushing almost $300 for the full kit. I anticipate a lot of the single game sku selling in this economy :lol

The premium bundle is $249 and there is a value bundle for $160 that includes the plain Jane RB2 instruments with TBRB. I think that will do quite well.

 

[VanMardigan]

Would Blu Ray have succeeded with it being an optional accessory for Ps3 rather than a built in standard? They may have, but I think built-in BD is the only way they could ensure that adoption would ramp off quick enough to overtake a lower cost rival.

On the question of whether it was worth it to sacrifice this generation for the sake of Blu Ray, that question won't be answered until we see the extent of Blu Ray adoption moving forward. If the next round of consoles all use BD drives and BD sales are anywhere near DVD at their peak, it will probably have paid off for them.

 

[lowlylowlycook]

On the question of whether it was worth it to sacrifice this generation for the sake of Blu Ray, that question won't be answered until we see the extent of Blu Ray adoption moving forward.

What makes you say that the costs of including B-R are confined to this generation? Surely the PS4 will have to work a lot harder and depend on the competition making mistakes much more than it would have if the PS3 was a success.

 

[Flachmatuch]

Every game sells systems when they are launched, they just vary between how many systems they sell. The true "system sellers" are the ones that sell systems long after they're launched. So right now it's quite premature to say WSR is not a system seller.

Or maybe people should read what Iwata has to say about this in the first quarter q&a (Q2).

Almost every title has a very low hardware driving ratio right after its launch. After six or eight weeks from launch, if the title still maintains its sales momentum, its driving ratio starts to rise. That is, such long-term selling titles motivate customers to purchase hardware or to consider purchasing the title with the hardware.

 

[VanMardigan]

What makes you say that the costs of including B-R are confined to this generation?

I said no such thing. Whether this was a good move or not will be determined by BD adoption going forward, and that has nothing to do with Ps4. If BD really takes off, the gains will outweigh the losses.

 

[Aaron Strife]

That's some good shit you're smoking there.

Regardless of the extent of their domination, I'm pretty sure Nintendo will more or less own the sales charts, maybe with some MW2 and AC2 thrown in the mix. New SMB and Wii Fit Plus are guaranteed to chart, WSR will probably stick around for a while, I'm not sure about Spirit Tracks' longevity but it'll probably be up there somewhere. Mario & Sonic is a big seller, Wii Fit may drop off if Wii Fit Plus replaces it, Mario Kart Wii will stay evergreen.

 

[Psychotext]

I said no such thing. Whether this was a good move or not will be determined by BD adoption going forward, and that has nothing to do with Ps4. If BD really takes off, the gains will outweigh the losses.

Based on the figures they state for their new royalty payments, and even if blu-ray outstrips DVD sales (at their peak), the gains will never outweigh the losses. Not even over the next 20 years.

 

[Flachmatuch]

Based on the figures they state for their new royalty payments, and even if blu-ray outstrips DVD sales (at their peak), the gains will never outweigh the losses. Not even over the next 20 years.

Ahhh cool to know, is there anything I can read about this? It's always been my impression that the Bluray thing was completely stupid, but I never bothered to read up on it.

 

[Psychotext]

Ahhh cool to know, is there anything I can read about this? It's always been my impression that the Bluray thing was completely stupid, but I never bothered to read up on it.

You can read about the royalty payments here: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/itmanagement/0,1000000308,39619195,00.htm

Beyond that you'll need some maths, a knowledge of the blu-ray disc association ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc_Association ) and some figures on how many discs / players per year are sold.

I ran the numbers in a thread around here once upon a time, but I have no idea where they might be. The totals came out as potentially hundreds of millions over the very long haul... but obviously that income gets split, and when compared to losses of billions it ends up looking like chump change.

 

[Hcoregamer00]

	   Sony		    Nintendo	      Microsoft	        Total
Y/E 1998     $902,811,090   $1,023,333,867                      $1,926,144,957
Y/E 1999   $1,102,563,557   $1,301,350,000                      $2,403,913,557
Y/E 2000     $722,738,949   $1,368,207,547                      $2,090,946,497
Y/E 2001    -$449,776,290     $677,576,000                        $227,799,710
Y/E 2002     $629,101,056     $895,872,180   -$1,135,000,000      $389,973,237
Y/E 2003     $935,569,253     $834,333,333   -$1,191,000,000      $578,902,586
Y/E 2004     $627,195,212     $993,161,303   -$1,337,000,000      $283,356,515
Y/E 2005     $419,888,799   $1,056,056,202     -$539,000,000      $936,945,001
Y/E 2006      $69,129,058     $774,478,055   -$1,339,000,000     -$495,392,887
Y/E 2007  -$1,970,923,859   $1,914,666,388   -$1,969,000,000   -$2,025,257,471
Y/E 2008  -$1,079,994,103   $4,322,637,887      $426,000,000    $3,668,643,783
Y/E 2009    -$577,207,240   $5,691,428,301      $169,000,000    $5,283,221,061

Y/E 10Q1    -$413,541,667     $420,843,750               N/A               N/A

Total				
	     $917,553,815  $21,273,944,815   -$6,844,000,000   $15,347,498,630
				
Full Year Average
	     $110,924,623   $1,737,758,422   -$1,001,857,143      $914,270,499

Profitable Years				
			8		12		   2		     10
				
Non Profitable Years				
			4		 0		   6		     2
				
Average in Loss Year				
	  -$1,019,475,373              N/A   -$1,251,666,667   -$1,260,325,179
				
Average in Profit Year				
	     $676,124,622   $1,737,758,422      $333,000,000    $1,389,625,094

credit to Psychotext

Holy Moly, even when nintendo loses they win a lot.

Sony and MS should take some lessons from Nintendo's gaming strategy.

 

[Kilrogg]

Sony and MS should take some lessons from Nintendo's gaming strategy.

Why? I'll give you Sony because they're in trouble, but Microsoft? They wouldn't be against the money, but they'd rather use brute force (= money) and good 3rd party relationships to kill Sony than restructure the entire XBox division to try and match Nintendo's strategy. It would take so much time and money, and it remains to be seen whether Microsoft can compete effectively on Nintendo's field. It would allow Sony to breathe too, and I don't think Microsoft wants that.

 

[Takao]

I always viewed BD as the Laser Disc of today. A secondary form of watching media.

The market isn't that impressive, and HD-DVD is making a comeback through China.

VCD is also popular in China, and other Asian countries. DVD should be scared.

 

[Mrbob]

Just having a profitable system alone isn't the reason Nintendo makes a ton of money.

In the lean days, Nintendo has massive heritage franchise games which sell a ton. Sony and MS don't have the same luxury.

 

[Flachmatuch]

Why? I'll give you Sony because they're in trouble, but Microsoft? They wouldn't be against the money, but they'd rather use brute force (= money) and good 3rd party relationships to kill Sony than restructure the entire XBox division to try and match Nintendo's strategy. It would take so much time and money, and it remains to be seen whether Microsoft can compete effectively on Nintendo's field. It would allow Sony to breathe too, and I don't think Microsoft wants that.

Microsoft simply can't do it. They've never done anything like this, no matter what industry they were in (and there are a few) - they always just copied the market leader feature by feature and maybe added more tech. It'd be better if they did, of course, because that's how capitalism works, but they prefer the safe way of basically buying up markets.

Sony should have known better though, especially after all the great stuff they did with the PS2 (Eyetoy etc).

@Psychotext: thanks.

 

[Opiate]

Holy Moly, even when nintendo loses they win a lot.

Sony and MS should take some lessons from Nintendo's gaming strategy.

This has been stated before, but it's reasonable to conclude that Sony and Microsoft are after different things than Nintendo is.

Sony and Microsoft are using video games as a trojan to get in to your living room and control other content, e.g. movies, television, music and so forth. In essence, they're imaging a Windows-esque monopoly where a single company controls the portal through which consumers purchase a variety of content.

That is a marketshare driven goal. Whether this ultimately is a lucrative avenue for either of these companies is still unclear, but it's reasonable to conclude that this is what they're after.

 

[Johann]

Umm Rock Band 1 sold 1m+ on the Wii, and GH 3 and 4 sold 2+ so the audience is there. We do not know how well RB2 sold on Wii

It will do ok on the Xbox and Wii, it will die a horrid death on the PS3 (as every guitar game has). It will undoubtedly follow the same pattern where the 360 gets #1 in sales the first two months then the Wii picks up the slack the remainder of the year

Of course numbers wise it will be a real toss up since the damn thing is pushing almost $300 for the full kit. I anticipate a lot of the single game sku selling in this economy :lol

Statistically, the music genre has suffered the most over the last two years in the current market. People are either losing interest in the games or the games themselves aren't price competitive anymore. Whether it's oversaturation or people not caring, these games are simply are not selling 2006-7 numbers. This is a big problem when the publishers need to get the peripherals into hands of as many consumers as possible but the manufacturing costs, especially for the drum kits, are through the roof. Activision is cutting it close but EA/MTV Games are bleeding money getting the game out there. The original plan was to get the hardware to reach critical mass and then transition to a software heavy output in which margins were much better.

The problems that Rock Band specifically faces is that they don't have as big of a presence on the PS2 and Wii as Guitar Hero does on those consoles. They basically ceded that audience to Guitar Hero after the way they handled the (staggered) releases for those games. This especially bad after we've seen how the Wii userbase has taken to Guitar Hero. We've also seen Activision successful introduce the Guitar Hero franchise to the DS audience.

It's basically going to be do or die time for this genre during this Holiday. With so many different and new music games with (costly) peripherals, it could be Waterloo for the genre. At best, I'm predicting standalone SKUs selling but bundles/peripherals not selling anywhere as well as in 2008.

 

[markatisu]

This has been stated before, but it's reasonable to conclude that Sony and Microsoft are after different things than Nintendo is.

Sony and Microsoft are using video games as a trojan to get in to your living room and control other content, e.g. movies, television, music and other content. In essence, they're imaging a Windows-esque monopoly where a single company controls the portal through which consumers purchase a variety of content (including, but not exclusive to, video games).

That is a marketshare driven goal. Whether this ultimately is a lucrative avenue for either of these companies is still unclear, but it's reasonable to conclude that this is what they're after.

They both also have other endeavors to help offset losses, Nintendo basically has video games and the licensing from that (in many forms like the Pokemon company entertainment)

If Nintendo starts to take a loss its deadly (see SEGA), the others do not suffer the same consequence.

 

[Kilrogg]

Microsoft simply can't do it. They've never done anything like this, no matter what industry they were in (and there are a few) - they always just copied the market leader feature by feature and maybe added more tech. It'd be better if they did, of course, because that's how capitalism works, but they prefer the safe way of basically buying up markets.

Sony should have known better though, especially after all the great stuff they did with the PS2 (Eyetoy etc).

@Psychotext: thanks.

I definitely agree with you.

Sony should have known better for another reason: they knew from the very beginning that their competitor would be Microsoft (cue Kutaragi circa 1994). At least it was the plan. And I think they also knew that Microsoft was infinitely richer than them.

Spoiler

By the way, remember our exchange about You-know-who (not) being rational? I got confused: I think I meant he is rationalizing rather than being rational.