Did SONY really win the console war?

People seem to forget that the DC released first and had a lead time over the PS2.. we all know how THAT ended.


I think Sony's going to attempt the samething this time, wait for the others to release and then pound people with some snappy visual presentation that seems to run cirlces around the competition.
 
[quote name='Alpha2']People seem to forget that the DC released first and had a lead time over the PS2.. we all know how THAT ended.


I think Sony's going to attempt the samething this time, wait for the others to release and then pound people with some snappy visual presentation that seems to run cirlces around the competition.[/quote]

DC seems to be the exception. It should've done well. It had probably the greatest launch titles, it was affordable (starting $199 while ps2 was $299), some of the greatest games even today.

Problems:
No DVD player (which was huge at the time), no enough marketing (sony easily beat them in marketing despite having a crappy launch), and the memory of the Sega Saturn. People were expecting the DC to be as bad as the saturn.
 
I don't own a xbox/ or a cube. Why should I, I alreadly own a hardcore gaming rigs. I have Halo for PC, so yeah, their no need for me to own a xbox.

I got my PS2 on launch day (Oct 26th 2000). I play it through my high school years. After High School, I stop playing PS2 for about 1 years and half cause I got hooked on counter-strike. My mom and dad use my ps2 to watch dvd. I spend every money I got on my pc (over $2,000 on parts). After I quit cs due to poor grades, clan broke up) I came back to my Playstation 2 and right now, my PS2 still work fine. Im trying to catch up on all the rpg games I miss.
 
[quote name='dpatel'][quote name='rallen']An article in the LA Times today said Spiderman 2 couldn't help Sony. Business were down 5%, partially because of sagging video game sales.

Microsoft on the otherhand sold 6.2 million copies of Halo 2, and made $300 million on that game, helping them be in the black two years ahead of schedule.[/quote]

You are comparing Spider-man 2 sales on ps2 to Halo 2 sales on xbox? Or just ps2 game sales in general. If business was down %5, how do you know what it went down to? You are comparing a percentage to number of sales.[/quote]

They were two artiicles side by side. One, was was about the general health on Sony (Not too good, the Spiderman movie couldn't help) and Microsoft's success with Halo2.
 
[quote name='rallen'][quote name='dpatel'][quote name='rallen']An article in the LA Times today said Spiderman 2 couldn't help Sony. Business were down 5%, partially because of sagging video game sales.

Microsoft on the otherhand sold 6.2 million copies of Halo 2, and made $300 million on that game, helping them be in the black two years ahead of schedule.[/quote]

You are comparing Spider-man 2 sales on ps2 to Halo 2 sales on xbox? Or just ps2 game sales in general. If business was down %5, how do you know what it went down to? You are comparing a percentage to number of sales.[/quote]

They were two artiicles side by side. One, was was about the general health on Sony (Not too good, the Spiderman movie couldn't help) and Microsoft's success with Halo2.[/quote]

It also said that sales for the xbox is most likely going to be slow for the next couple of months or something like that. Then again I assume all the consoles are going to slow down, especially if xbox2 comes out at the end of the year.
 
The Xbox numbers you are hearing lately are all carefully massaged by Microsoft's PR. Yes, the Xbox moved ahead of the PS2--in single-month sales, they will never beat Sony in this generation in terms of overall numbers. That's long been decided. Also, that "Xbox making profits thanks to Halo 2" is also short-term. They are making money lately, but over the life of the project the Xbox has still lost money. But, Microsoft can easily eat that loss and be happy because they certainly got their foot in the door.
 
Well, the fact that Sony is having issues keeping PS2 available for purchase makes Xbox sales the winner by default for the last few months. Did Sony ever say why there is such a shortage? I'm surprised that it has gone on for this long.
 
One theory is that Sony is keeping the numbers low on the PStwo so that there arnt so many old units on the shelves when the PS3 hits but if that's not happening untill well into 2006 it seems a bit premature to me.

It's likely their plants are either very slow with all the retooling theve been doing in the last year or two for building PS3 and the PSP or there are other markets that they feel are more important to supply (probably due to haveing low distribution of the previous versions of the system).
 
There are several ways to look at this.

From pure sales standpoint: Sony all the way. I also hate this argument. Most people haven't bought 3-4 consoles. Most haven't bought more than 1. This was an argument floated out there by that guy from Capcom, and it's stuck. But, I haven't seen any evidence of this. Just look at game sales. With the exception of Halo 2, most of the biggest sellers are on the PS2. This is clear evidence that Sony has the lead in consoles out there. If that argument was valid, then why aren't there more Cube and Xbox games near the top.

But, the best way to look at this is, who are the losers this generation? My thoguht, no one. Xbox has made tremendous strides this generation. Gamecube hung in there. Nintendo is losing market share each generation, but they are still strong. I don't see them dying out anytime soon.
 
[quote name='Alpha2']One theory is that Sony is keeping the numbers low on the PStwo so that there arnt so many old units on the shelves when the PS3 hits but if that's not happening untill well into 2006 it seems a bit premature to me.

It's likely their plants are either very slow with all the retooling theve been doing in the last year or two for building PS3 and the PSP or there are other markets that they feel are more important to supply (probably due to haveing low distribution of the previous versions of the system).[/quote]

Mostly it was poor timing on Sony's part. For most of the year the supply situation is fine. They're doing a good job of keeping inventory levels low. Their shipments for the 3rd quarter of 2004 were half a million units higher than the previous 3rd quart in 2003. What exacerbated things was waiting too long to bring out the new model. This meant letting the stock drain out on the old model with the holidays approaching so they had a greater spike in demand than if they'd had a steady supply all along. By the second week of January all of the retailers in my region appeared to have ample supplies of PStwo.

I don't think there is anyone in the world who has opted to forever forego getting a PStwo due to a period of a few months when it was harder to find. Sony expects the PStwo to continue to sell well after the PS3 hits since it should drop to the long anticipated sub-$100 pricing that brings it within reach of many more markets. A lot of the ongoing PSone action is in the third world.
 
[quote name='dental_regurgitation']The only reason I don't want Xbox to win the next war is because the Xbox doesn't cater to my tastes... I prefer the platform/rpg/wacky/horro/adventure/strategy games that are abundant on PS2, and less so on GC.

Xbox is a great system, it's just not for me. Maybe I'm not into "adult" gaming.[/quote]

Publishers are going to follow the numbers. If Xbox becomes the dominant installed base then that is where the diversity of genres will appear.
 
[quote name='epobirs']
Publishers are going to follow the numbers. If Xbox becomes the dominant installed base then that is where the diversity of genres will appear.[/quote]

Well, it all depends on the games released in Japanese and their userbase. If they release 1000 PS3 games with diverse genres then more publishers would produce games for that system based solely on userbase, which in turn, means more games to choose from to translate to other markets.
 
[quote name='omicron'][quote name='epobirs']
Publishers are going to follow the numbers. If Xbox becomes the dominant installed base then that is where the diversity of genres will appear.[/quote]

Well, it all depends on the games released in Japanese and their userbase. If they release 1000 PS3 games with diverse genres then more publishers would produce games for that system based solely on userbase, which in turn, means more games to choose from to translate to other markets.[/quote]

Companies like Capcom are not going to follow a console company ina death spiral. They jumped from Nintendo to Sony when Sony offered them better conditions for publishing and increasingly abandoned Sega as the numbers kept going Sony's way.

The Sega Megadrive was an also-ran in Japan. It struggled against the PC Engine and then was trounced by the Super Famicom. It was only because of high sales in the US and Europe that the Sega Genesis, as we know it, was well supported. If you look at the import choices for the SNES and Genesis it quickly becomes apparent that there are vastly more Nintendo games that never had a US release than there are Sega 16-bit titles with no US version. A publisher could do well in Japan on the Nintendo and leave US publishing to licensees. Doing a Japan only game on the Sega was a risky venture and thus a rarer occurrance.

It all comes down to the numbers. If a future Xbox has the kind of numerical advantage the PS2 enjoys now the Japanese publishers will quickly get over their xenophobia.
 
[quote name='jkam']I realize that Sony has sold the most consoles but is this because people have bought 2 to 3 consoles due to breakage? I was just thinking about his today....thoughts?[/quote]

Sounds like someone has issues. I've had my ps2 since launch. Not one problem. Not one stutter. PS2 is number one because it played DVDs right out of the box. Has the ability to play online (not as good as Xbox Live though). Has a tremendous library of games (number of RPGs on GC and Xbox are pitiful). Number of exclusive titles (Metal Gear Solid, Devil May Cry, Jak, Onimiusha, etc.)
 
I've said it once when the XB first came out and I'll say it again, and I'll say it again: No system has ever won the console war here without winning it in japan. That may be slowly changing but it wont have actually changed for a long time.

The xenophobia is something they've been cultivating for hundreds of years. M$ will have to work at being a lot friendlier to asian territories next gen.
 
I guess it depends on who you ask.
Sony failed to completely dominate, which is what they thought they would do from the start, in which case they failed and lost.

It's clear they are ahead of XBox and GCN, they have a head start in launch, and name. I know quite a few who have PS2, XBox, and GCN. Several of them are leaning more towards the XBox now....and they were once bigger on Sony than MS. Eventually, you just get sick of their crap.

The next gen is going to be very interesting. I can't wait to see how the three do and what they offer.

Nintendo has had it's niche market, and done very well with it IMHO. Personally I'd like to see them keep their stance on building a game console first and last, and not give in to the "it does a little bit of everything" way of thinking.
 
PS2 has easily won the console war this generation.
I own all 3 systems and really fail to see my need to own an Xbox, Halo 2 is boring to me unless I'm playing at a LAN party, which I don't need my xbox for, and 6 out of 8 of my games are also on PC, and soon my PC will be able to run just about anything, so I will probably be selling my Xbox soon.

My GC has been giving me DRE's when I play RE2 or REmake but that seems to be it, which angers me since I mainly have a GC because of RE games, but I still love it because the other games on it and the new Zelda that will be coming out, and of course RE4.

My PS2 hasnt gotten any DRE's yet and I have had it for almost 3 years and play it most due to it has the most games I want on it (KZ, ZOE, MGS, etc etc).

I will probably be getting the PS3 because I am guessing it will have awesome 3rd party support again. As for Xbox 2 or whatever they want to call it it leaves the question of who is going to buy it. Xbox sold well because Halo and best graphics, Xbox 2 will only have Halo and will probably not be the most powerful system, so will people that care about graphics most stay with the Xbox? M$ still has a lot of work to do, and with the rumors of them making different versions of the Xbox doesnt make it look good to me.

I hope Nintendo also does well, because all the 1st party games they have on it, and they hopefully will keep it just a gaming console so more people can afford it and play games on it, not DVD's, and all the other crap they are putting on the PS3 and the Xbox 2. But as of now PS3 will be what I am getting first followed by the next Nintendo console.
 
[quote name='Alpha2']No system has ever won the console war here without winning it in japan. [/quote]

I really have to agree with you on this point.
 
[quote name='_heretic'][quote name='MaxBiaggi3'][quote name='AdamInPlaidum']it wasn't a convincing enough victory to shoe them in for next generation.[/quote]

This generation and last generation together make for a fairly convincing shoe in next time. The hype man cometh. . .[/quote]

I don't think they will dominate just because their last two consoles beat everyone else. Just look at where Nintendo was with the NES and SNES. They pretty much assumed they would be at the top of the video game market with the N64, but the Playstation gave them a lot of competition, even though it was Sony's first game console.

Ultimately, these "console wars" are up in the air right now. There is no real way of saying who will win.[/quote]


Actually, the Genesis narrowly won its generation vs. the SNES. The SNES sales figures only surged ahead after that generation was over, and the Saturn and Playstation were released (Nintendo was stalling on the N64, and instead releasing Donkey Kong Country for the aged SNES).

So, Sony is the first company to win back-to-back generations. That is impressive. This generation was dominated by Sony . . . millions and millions of units ahead of second place.
 
[quote name='Hereticked']All this talk of hardware is ridiculous. As gaming hardware becomes more advanced, how "powerful" the system is will matter less and less.

The only thing that determines who wins a console war is who sells the most games. Who has the biggest/best selection and the most exclusive titles. The console industry doesn't even really make money off the sale of hardware units, they usually sell consoles at a loss and make their money on games.

From this generation, I own 83 PS2 games, 16 Dreamcast games, 14 Xbox and 10 Gamecube. And it should be noted that I'm very picky about what I buy. I don't just buy games because they're cheap or because they got a 7.0 or higher in the reviews. I know what I like and I plan my purchases carefully.

So did Sony win? Yes, in a landslide.


P.S. For the record, I bought my PS2 on launch day (Oct 26th 2000) and it still runs fine. If it had broken down by now though, I'd gladly have bought a second or even third PS2 unit. Why? Again.... THE GAMES.[/quote]

Said all i could ever say in a nutshell.

Sony isn't the greatest company on earth, hell lets face it the PSP news of square button and knowing it etc they are Devils. I am more towards sony not because of fanboyism or anything like that just the games that are exclusive to sony are mostly great. Not all naturally, some are downright junk but Sony runs the biggest RPG Selection of the 3 and they have the biggest support from 3rd party software.

Now i will say that Gamecube has its ups in originality of games and such, but it only goes so far. It is too few to get the console sold to the masses. I sadly was hoping Xbox would be big, but i bought my Xbox around the day of Ninja Gaiden Release and I have lets say 16ish games now. Had well over 30, Xbox to me doesn't suit my flavor.

It has its potential of being great, but lack of RPG's and other sorts of games I play steers me towards Sony / Nintendo.

For next gen i'm probably not buying Xbox 2, PS3, or Nintendo Revolution or whatever until a year or so in. I have a backlog of games from hell to play as it is, and i really don't need to lay down 300+ on a system i won't get use out of.

That and as with all launch titles there is maybe 2 choice titles for the first year, then about a year - year and a half more choice start pouring in. Buying on launch to me is just a waste, not to mention launch consoles usually are riddled with problems.

Oh and btw, friend's uncle has a Launch PS2 and is still in great working condition. Runs perfectly fine, fast everything. If you base what you read off the net of negatives, compared to the amount sold you're going to assume the system is generally bad.

Granted PS2 repair threads are common, but thats just it, who is going to constantly say "My ps2 runs pristine!" all the time. People will post for help with their problems much less how great their system has been running. Just my opinions.
 
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