Is the PS3 gaining ground on XBox and Wii?

[Felpoolian]

I haven't heard anything regarding that the system is on its death knell or anything. But I also haven't heard that it's ahead of the competition either. Maybe I haven't looked at the numbers well enough. And since it came out, the PS3 has reduced its price several times, but not enough for everyone to go get one just yet.

I for one am waiting till it goes down to 350-300 at most.

Your thoughts?

[Grefter]

It is still the same as it was 6 months ago or whatever it was 2 months after Wii release as far as I can tell.  No one has done a goddamned thing with their systems since then. 

Nintendo is just sitting back and being its usual retarded Nintendo self instead of roping in a million and one solid third party devs like they should have by waving around their market share/new market penetration stats around they have just made more gimmick products (which will likely have some mild success for some and continue to fail like the newest generation of light gun crap, WHY THE FUCK DID THEY LET TIME CRISIS BE MADE FOR PS3?) and first party safe series which continue to be universally underwhelming  rehashes.

Microsoft, eh well honestly I think Microsoft are where they expected to be on the market, they have a solid player base that is actually at this point kind of the old guard at the moment.  It being the most conventional of the systems at the moment.  blah blah blah systems dying and all that jazz, but meh, they are handling it with company policy pretty well to be honest.  They aren't smashing stuff, but they have a steady stream of game purchases that they need to make the system profitable and they are getting enough semi-decent releases to justify their existence in the market.  There hasn't exactly been a SUPER ABSOLUTELY MUST BUY on the system that actually panned out to be what it was hyped, but there is some stuff on there that is worth the time.

Sony, well I guess Sony have done something, by gimping their system on the backwards compatability shit they have made it cheaper.  They can still get fucked as far as I am concerned.  There is still roughly 0 things on the system worth even discussing in passing.

[Felpoolian]

Yeah, I noticed when they removed the BC that it would cause some backlash. But then again why not hold onto your PS2 and the problem is solved at least for that aspect? Guess some people feel that "upgrading" means leaving everything else in the dust and never considering using it again.

Which is why it means more for the antique dealers.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

The President of SCEA Australia or whatever the fuck his title was announced that in Australia, the PS3 is equal to the 360 in installed base. It turns out his strategy was to give a shitton of them away. Generally, that is not a good sign for a branch of Sony that recently had its President removed by the Board. Between the PSP and the PS3, things are not looking bright for the future of SCEA when they pitch another console.

So... Xbox? Yeah, sure, I guess, if giving them away counts as catching up. Wii? Hell no. They sell every one of those goddamn things they build. Say what you will about Nintendo's approach (which I'm not entirely happy either) but they have a license to print money right now and they're happy with it.

[Rozalia]

PS3 is somewhat catching up but still lags behind. Currently it could proberly pass 360 with upcoming releases, the Wii however is just miles ahead of everyone (Besides the ps2 of course )

Nintendo though have made mistakes with games as they always do.

[Niu]

PS3's problem is fairly simple. Expensive and not enough million sellers. The situation that PS3 is in won't change much unless there is some huge price drop or bunch of million sellers coming out at once. But then, in anyway, PS3 isn't a very profitable console, it isn't designed to make money in the first place. (It is the Wii that is specifically made to be a cash cow). PS3 is more of a console that is out there to satisfy those obsessive game maker like Koshima and the likes. And unless those obessive game makers can come up with some ground breaking game, PS3 is good as doomed.

[Dhyerwolf]

Of course the PS 3 is designed to make money! If they didn't think it would have make money, they wouldln't have made it. As a publicly traded company, money is their number 1 goal.

[Niu]

Dhyer.... are you serious or just being sarcastic?

I don't think I have to explain how is Sony making a fool out of themselves. What they did is that they made this console that would appeal to developers but nstead, Sony believes it'll appeal to the gamers in general and think by selling as such they can put up a fight against Wii and Xbox.
The end result is nothing but disastrous.

The fact is you don't see light gamers (who constitute most of the game sells) saying PS3 is reasonably priced or offering games that are easy to get into, or anything that would relate to commercial success. While you see crazy game makers going "woo shiny!" on PS3's spec. And those crazy game makers are going to make games that are super expensive the develop and takes forever to make and is not going to be cheap, which isn't really money making friendly.
While Wii, a console specifically made to be a cash cow.... is cheap, has gimmicks that attracts the light gamers, is easy to get into, has the capability to appeal to non-conventional gamers, and the game is both easy to make and cheap. It is basically everything you can ask for from a cash cow.

[VySaika]

Yeah, I noticed when they removed the BC that it would cause some backlash. But then again why not hold onto your PS2 and the problem is solved at least for that aspect? Guess some people feel that "upgrading" means leaving everything else in the dust and never considering using it again.

This is assuming that your PS2 will continue to, y'know, work forever. I'e had to replace my PS2 twice since first buying the system. And that third one was getting to the point where I had to smack it a couple of times before it would register that a game was in it half the time. And when Sony stops making the PS2s(have they stopped already? I think they have) and your warrenty runs out...that leaves you with a system you can't replace and, if your collection is anything like mine, a huge batch of games that will only play on that system.

That's why I bought the backwards compatible modle of PS3 when I stumbled across one a couple weeks ago, since I couldn't be sure that my PS2 would survive much longer and couldn't garuntee that I could replace/fix it again.

[Cmdr_King]

Actually Niu, you missed the PS3's true purpose.  It was nothing but a platform for Sony to win the format war and get lots of BluRay players out.  They did that, HDDVD lost, so as far as Sony's concerned the PS3 did exactly what they wanted it to do.  This is why they can get fucked in the eyes of many gamers, not the lack of games or cost issues (though those will keep gamers from picking it up even now that they've won).

[Anthony Edward Stark]

Blu-Ray player arguments aside, I would not be surprised if Sony decided not to greenlight a PS4. Though I don't believe that, in the long run, this new "format war" will amount to much. DVDs caught on because they're clearly superior to VHS tapes in things that EVERYONE, not just audiophiles and videophiles, care about: no rewind, instant scene skip, bonus features right there in a menu with everything else, and so on.

[Dhyerwolf]

Dhyer.... are you serious or just being sarcastic?

I'm being serious. I'm not at all saying that they were successful in their plan at making money off of it, but that's certainly the end goal behind everything they do.

[Niu]

Actually Niu, you missed the PS3's true purpose.  It was nothing but a platform for Sony to win the format war and get lots of BluRay players out.  They did that, HDDVD lost, so as far as Sony's concerned the PS3 did exactly what they wanted it to do.  This is why they can get fucked in the eyes of many gamers, not the lack of games or cost issues (though those will keep gamers from picking it up even now that they've won).

True, but PS3 has caused huge losses to SCEI, this is undeniable. And what they are gaining from the Blue Ray isn't really making up for that loss. If anything, this PS3 is to make Blue Ray sell strategy has used SCEI as the scap goat for ther entire Sony Cooperation.

[Felpoolian]

Well, I don't have to worry much about my PS2 since I haven't played it for hours on end constantly. But sometime soon I will get that urge to play almost everyday and if it happens during that time, I'll have to pay the piper for it.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

Actually Niu, you missed the PS3's true purpose.  It was nothing but a platform for Sony to win the format war and get lots of BluRay players out.  They did that, HDDVD lost, so as far as Sony's concerned the PS3 did exactly what they wanted it to do.  This is why they can get fucked in the eyes of many gamers, not the lack of games or cost issues (though those will keep gamers from picking it up even now that they've won).

True, but PS3 has caused huge losses to SCEI, this is undeniable. And what they are gaining from the Blue Ray isn't really making up for that loss. If anything, this PS3 is to make Blue Ray sell strategy has used SCEI as the scap goat for ther entire Sony Cooperation.

That doesn't mean they weren't out to make money on it, that just means that they had a fuckassed plan to make money on it, and it has unsurprisingly not worked out for them.

[Niu]

I never said Sony never intended to not make money with PS3.
I am only saying PS3 is not designed to make money despite their intention because Sony is that fucked up.

[Grefter]

I typed this up last night after Niu's post and then stuff shat out, so it is a bit dated.  Again when I went to post this in the morning stuff decided not to send it, so fuck you internet now I am just posting out of spite.

PS3 is designed to be a media center and lose money on production while making money on licensing shit for games and the right to print movies and crap on Sony's proprietary format.  So yes, in a way the PS3 is not designed to make money in its own sales but to artificially create a market for other products that make a much bigger profit ratio per sale.

It is failing as a media center specifically though with other players for the format satisfying most of the base consumers without the gaming cross over.

Wii is not only a cash cow basic design but a good example for what you should be aiming for from a system.

NEW!

And yeah I agree with Rob mostly, this format war has been forced on consumers by the companies behind it and some of it is even questionable if it is (was at realease anyway) ready for consumer level products.  The production failure for Blue Ray was pretty ludicrous when they were first pumping them out (see reasons for PS3 being to expensive).

[Felpoolian]

When I watched the conference at E3 concerning the PS3, I absolutely felt sick to my stomach as to how they forced this down on us. They really became so arrogant during those last ten years before releasing this system, that they are just now starting to feel the bruises all over them.

Of course, everyone on Gamefaqs and probably here shouted disdain. And still do, because you have all those meme's that were birthed from it. And while it took aeons before they started wising up, I think they will have to take a look into the future for the next series of consoles to see what they did wrong and go from there.

Wii and XBox 360 all the while points and laughs to an extent.

For a major fact, most of us on here are in school or just starting our career jobs, and don't have the funds to get stuff like that at the moment. Some of us can remember the failures such as Phillips CD-I and 3DO.

[AAA]

Sony won the format war, I doubt they're feeling too bad about all this.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

Sony won the format war, I doubt they're feeling too bad about all this.

This format war could end up not even mattering.

[Niu]

And the profit generated by their victory hasn't exactly covered the loss yet.
Yeah, I am with Rob on this. I see this as nothing but Sony being stupid and stabbing themselves.

[AAA]

Oh, for right now it's not that big of a deal, since 99% of people don't care about the minor differences, but sooner or later most companies are going to start moving into Blu-Ray just to get people to shell out for players, and Sony will be right where it wants to be. Whether or not this comes in time to cushion their staggering money loss from the PS3 is yet to be determined.

[Grefter]

Indeed, but whether or not the Blue Ray shit actually helping the plight of the PS3 is something completely different.  By the time it effects the large body of consumers there will be better options for players out there, either legit or cheap knock offs, whatever.

And they only count for movies, there is still a question of whether or not consumers bite.  It could be like winning Mini-disc format wars (uh there wasn't another option right?) and then just getting steam rolled by a digital media system instead of a hard copy one.

[Cotigo]

Steam rolled by a digital media system.  Steam rolled.  I get it.

[Grefter]

Steam isn't actually what I meant, it is a start but not really the kind of distribution system I would prefer, to reliant on the servers and whatnot.

Also the infrustructure could be better, larger percentage of the population with the giant hard drives you can get now (HD space at current levels is sufficient for it I believe, just people don't have them in their PCs yet) and more universal solid high speed connections capable of getting the purchase to them very quickly.

Something more akin to Stardock was what I was thinking since the majority of their products have little to no copy protection.