Sales Gap Thinning Between PS3 and Wii in Japan

[zekrahminator]

At first, in Japan, Nintendo seemed to have it made. While Sony could do nothing more than call the Wii an "impulse buy", Nintendo was outselling the competition by 6-1. However, nowadays, it seems as though what Sony said a few months back is ringing true. Wii sales are falling in Japan, as PS3 sales begin to rise. Currently, there are three Wiis sold for every PS3 sold, however, we could soon see a reciprocal of that figure.

Source:DailyTech

[ChaoticBlankness]

Well that's nice.. but it's still too damn expensive for me to get one!

[theonetruewill]

...But have Sony made any money yet?

[Glump Bliermp]

There still isn't a single game worth buying the PS3 for, and it looks to stay that way well after xmas. Maybe the Japanese are just getting sick of the crap graphics the Wii has to offer, and they have too much pride to pay for American products.

I just got back from my trip to Japan, and there are a lot of iPod-inferior MP3 players being used. I think it's a pride issue.

However, Xbox360 has virtually no marketing in Japan - so maybe it's not so much a pride thing?

[Weer]

Sony doesn't make money on the Hardware. They make money on the Software, just like Microsoft.

And I think that the fact that the PS3 is catching up makes total sense.
All of the cheap bastards that wanted something cheap have gotten it.
Now, people who are looking for a real console are stepping up.

[lordlatte]

I don't see the point of this, Nintendo is making money on every Wii they sell. They'll laugh all the way to the bank on this one, sony still loses either way. If they sell units they lose money, if they don't sell them they lose money, I mean, and it's not like the install base will change quickly. They talk of a turn around, but the Wii is still outselling 3-1, I mean, that's huge, and if it took over a year to reach that level, say another year to be 1-1, and another year for the ps3 to take the lead, the Wii will still have a larger install base. And like I said, Nintendo makes profit on every step, each console sold, each game, accessories. So they roll around in less money, no one even mentioned that the DS is still dominating everything.

Nintendo make a profit off every Wii they sell, by far the largest percentage of total game sales are that published by Nintendo for the Wii, so they don't just make license/loyalty fees from 3rd party publishers but also all/majority of the profits made by games they publish.

Sony have to rely on a percentage cut of every game sold for their console, gigantic differences here, the attachment rate for the PS3 are something like 4-5 games just to break even and that was before any price cuts, now the attachment figure probably closer to 8+ games.

This doesn't matter to Microsoft of course, they can absorb huge losses (as if M$ would make a loss!) on their console division over number of years without a scratch to their bank balance, having an early start advantage over the other two I think it was reported that their console division are starting to make a profit now.
Not that the current profits matter to Bill, they are slowly building up the Microsoft gaming brand with the aim of total domination, nothing new here huh?

The kind of profits Nintendo are making with their DS and Wii sales is what even the mighty Microsoft Corp are after!

[Glump Bliermp]

This is proof that Sony and Microsoft are in it for technological innovation, and not just for money. Nintendo just wants to make a quick buck. The Wii isn't all that cheap to buy, but it's extremely cheap to make. Each Wii-mote costs $40 and the nunchaku costs $15. The WiiMote is a gimmick, it's got terrible lag, it's extremely imprecise, and just makes games awkward to play (mario party, cooking mama, wario ware, wii sports, anybody?). People are getting sick of these graphics that they've seen for the past 6 years. It's time for something new and amazing. Watch the Resident Evil 5 trailer if you think graphics don't improve gameplay.

BTW, here's proof that graphics make games more fun. Without 3D technology, and more powerful hardware, Grand Theft Auto would still be 2d Birdseye, and you KNOW that GTA is more fun now that it's 3rd person.

[WarEagleAU]

Im sure sony is recouping some of its losses, slowly.

[Thermopylae_480]

Its probably because the Wii has saturated the market to a higher degree. Once a larger percentage of people purchase a Wii sales will naturally begin decrease due to decreased market. Even if the PS3 begins selling more units in a year or more they will still be way behind in total units sold.

[Weer]

Originally Posted by lordlatte

Nintendo is making money on every Wii they sell. They'll laugh all the way to the bank on this one.

You don't know how right you are.

Nintendo has made a crappy product and they are selling it at a much higher price than it costs to make.
Sony has made an incredible product and they are selling it at a much lower price than it costs to make.

Nintendo is laughing all the way to the bank.
But you know who they are laughing at?

The consumers.

Which is why we should NOT encourage what Nintendo is doing, and demand they make better hardware next time.

[HellasVagabond]

Actually the only reason that the PS3 sales have gone up is that Wii has a shortage problem on the markets around the globe thus the people who cant find one turn to PS3, its easy.

[Wile E]

Originally Posted by HellasVagabond

Actually the only reason that the PS3 sales have gone up is that Wii has a shortage problem on the markets around the globe thus the people who cant find one turn to PS3, its easy.

That doesn't really make sense. They're not even in the same price bracket. Who the hell do you know that would be like, "I can't find the $250 console that I want, so I think I'll buy this $500 console instead."?

[imperialreign]

Which is why we should NOT encourage what Nintendo is doing, and demand they make better hardware next time.

Even better is when strong-armed game developers stand off to Nintendo and declare they're not getting involved


i.e. ID Software

[HellasVagabond]

The cheapest PS3 is 250$ more expensive ? I see the 60GB version for 425$ and the 20GB japanese version at even lower prices....
Even so some people dont really care about the price difference when they can make their kids happy or if they themselves are crazy about gaming.

[Wile E]

Originally Posted by HellasVagabond

The cheapest PS3 is 250$ more expensive ? I see the 60GB version for 425$ and the 20GB japanese version at even lower prices....
Even so some people dont really care about the price difference when they can make their kids happy or if they themselves are crazy about gaming.

Well, I haven't taken into account the different hardware available, or the cultural differences, but I still don't think that's why the gap is shrinking.

[magibeg]

Most of you have to realize that the PS3 isn't just a gaming console to sony, its a way to push their blu-ray format. If that works out for them the losses they're taking on the ps3 will be nothing to worry about for them.

[Sent1nel]

I hate how the once great Nintendo have stooped to this all time low of consumer gimmickisim. I hate the Wii, its one of the worst consoles to date and used what could be called false advertising to reach its goal, promising the worlds end in interactive gaming and all it delivers is below average everything.
Party games sure! Anything serious... No chance.

Its not gaming its just toying.

[Weer]

Originally Posted by Sent1nel

Its not gaming its just toying.

Now that's a quote I just have to take. Great Job.

Originally Posted by magibeg

Most of you have to realize that the PS3 isn't just a gaming console to sony, its a way to push their blu-ray format. If that works out for them the losses they're taking on the ps3 will be nothing to worry about for them.

i'm very sure that blue-ray is not sony. i remember reading that they wanted to stay with dvd's so that they wouldn't have to pay the royalties, but too many focus groups called them dumbshits for it.


also, while the wii sucks beyond belief, it does bring some nice innovation. i would LOVE to play more light-gun games, the only issue being that they don't work above regular tv resolution, which is why as far as i know, the wii doesn't do HD tv. if they would have put more time into it, i would get a wii.


edit: how hard do you think it would be to make a light-gun that would work at high resolutions? maybe, for the 1337 ppl, you could get a light-gun kind of thing, but with a giant ball thing, like for a hamster so that you could move your guy around, and stereo vision for super realism, for super-gaming? >.>

[Ketxxx]

Sales go down for Nintendo? So? Christmas is nearing.. people are saving, watch Wii sales skyrocket again in another few months. I'm a big PS fan (had a PSX, PSone and PS2) yet even I think the PS3 is garbage, its just too expensive and little more than what Sony found to be a viable way to shove blue-ray down everybodys throats. Sony took a gamble, and it hasnt worked.

[Ketxxx]

Originally Posted by bassmasta

i'm very sure that blue-ray is not sony. i remember reading that they wanted to stay with dvd's so that they wouldn't have to pay the royalties, but too many focus groups called them dumbshits for it.

Not true. Sony went and developed their own in-house blue-ray. The problem is, they had massive problems with it, lost countless ££££ in development of it, then lost even more because they had to go back to the drawing board and redo the blue-ray because they messed it up bigtime. Now stickup priices on the consoles are purely Sony trying to get the money back for their development of their own blue-ray and the first failed attempt at it.

[Weer]

Originally Posted by Ketxxx

Not true. Sony went and developed their own in-house blue-ray. The problem is, they had massive problems with it, lost countless ££££ in development of it, then lost even more because they had to go back to the drawing board and redo the blue-ray because they messed it up bigtime. Now stickup priices on the consoles are purely Sony trying to get the money back for their development of their own blue-ray and the first failed attempt at it.

To put it simply, Sony are one of the biggest investors and developers of the companies in the "Blue Ray Union". Just like Beta-Max, they put the most in, and they stand to get the most out because they own a lot of the shares.
Much like Beta-Max, Blue-Ray is more expensive but holds more data.
Much un-like Beta-Max, Blue-Ray has the PS3 to highten it's sales. It was pure genious on Sony's half to promote Blue-Ray via the PS3. The PS3? It's not too happy about it because now it's too expensive.
Hopefully that explains it all.