Why the Wii and Xbox are killing Sony's PS3
Today's Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece illustrating why the PS3 is floundering in the contest with Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox 360. PS3 sales are on the decline while the competition is rising at a dramatic rate.
So, what are some of the main issues with the PS3?
It's overpriced
Microsoft dropped prices on the Xbox 360 to gain market share, and it worked. Sony is intent on becoming profitable (the right motive) but is doing so at the sake of building momentum. A console that starts at $400 (with only one controller and usually zero games) puts you over $500 before it's much fun.
According to the WSJ article, "U.S. sales of the PS3 fell 19 percent last month from a year earlier, while sales doubled for the Wii console and rose 8 percent for the Xbox 360, according to research firm NPD Group. Analysts say they expect PS3 sales for this month to be flat or lower than last year, while sales for its rivals are likely to rise."
Lack of exclusive games
It's gotten much harder to find compelling games that are only available on PS3, a strategy that has been very successful in the past.
Sony also is suffering from a lack of attractive titles that are exclusive to the PS3. Microsoft has hit the jackpot with two action-adventure game franchises, Halo and Gears of War, which are available only on the Xbox 360. Most of Nintendo's top games are made in-house and are playable only on the Wii.
Minimal modern touches (i.e. social features)
The Wii makes your goofy little Mii character come alive by connecting consoles online. Xbox Live has a community and marketplace. Playstation Home is compelling but empty, which should even out over time. But, the competition is so far ahead, Sony needed to do something much bigger and better.
Personally, I thought the social stuff was a little stupid until my nephew destroyed me in Wii bowling while playing 3,000 miles away. Now I get it.
It's being significantly out-marketed by the competition
Generally, games drive the marketing for consoles, but the Wii and Xbox have both built very strong brand awareness around the products themselves. The games are the accessories to the Wii lifestyle, and Microsoft makes the Xbox the center of your interactive gaming lifestyle. From the consumer perspective, the PS3 is a good gaming console, but not a brand that users feel a huge loyalty to or affinity for.
The user experience is somewhat burdensome
The games themselves look and feel good, but the experience of launching a game and getting up and running takes way too long (I feel this way about most consoles), to the point where many users I spoke with get so annoyed that they curse the machine. For the record, the cause may rest with the game developers, but the perception is that the console is the barrier.
Don't forget the Internet
A bigger threat looms for all console makers, and that's the fact that people spend way more time online then ever before and that browser-based casual games are not feeding console sales, but instead pushing consumers to stay on their PCs.
Dave Rosenberg dishes up "Software, Interrupted" with nearly 15 years of technology and marketing experience that spans from Bell Labs to multiple start-up IPOs to open-source enterprise software companies. He is co-founder of MuleSource and currently serves as the general manager of Hardy Way. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can contact Dave via e-mail at softwareinterrupted@gmail.com.
What does the PS3 have now? Metal Gear Solid is about it, maybe Resistance. GTA used to be their's but after seeing their GTA games sell very well on the original Xbox more than a full year after their PS3 release Rockstar saw the light.
Do forsee however Sony being in a very interesting position for the future. The PS3 is a very powerful machine and so advanced that it is probably going to be plenty powerful for a long time. What does this mean? In 2-3 years when Microsoft must now release a new console Sony is sitting there with their PS3 that is still a very capable machine and can cut it's price drastically and still compete with what ever the next Xbox will be at half or even less of the cost, and by then it's likely Blu-ray sales will be taking off as prices drop and more HDTVs are sold with each passing year.
don't dog it, till you try it
higher addiction rate than meth
HD tvs are stilll way to expensive, and there's no sense in playing a 360 or ps3 without one. The Wii will be popular for some time. I like some things about the ps3, but the constant game updates and ps3 firmware updates make me think I have another PC.
Nothing is future proof......ever
When I got my Wii, I didn't bother buying a game for months because my girlfriend and I had so much fun with just the Sports Pack which was brilliant for Nintendo to include that with the system for free.
Now that I have a Wii Fit and Shaun White's snowboarding game, my g/f is hooked as ever. I don't think I would have the same experience with her gaming on the PS3. I've never had family members ask for me to bring my X Box or PS2 over to their house, but I get that all the time with the Wii. It finally got to the point to where my parents bought one for Christmas as did hers, so now I just need to bring a few games or some extra controllers. Looking forward to trying out the Wii Speak thing next. I think that will really bring the Wii to life since that was one of the things missing in comparison with the other systems.
It's awesome that the whole family can get together around the Wii and have a blast where the PS3/360 seem to be solo boxes when in the living room. For lack of a better term, the Wii just seems far more sociable and fun and that's why it's dominating right now. Fancy graphics and fast processors don't mean squat if the games aren't fun.
Having a BluRay player is a plus, so if you want to have a BluRay player and an Xbox, you've spent over 400.00 already. Sony screwed up by letting Microsoft get such a large market share, and Xbox owners don't want the PS3 to succeed, because they've got their money tied up in the xbox. My xbox make a great Media Center extender, but for my dollar, Sony gets what gaming is all about.
And his attempt to "clarify' the obvious BS is a failure. (So comparing scores is a "social stuff" on the Wii? LOL)
My theory is that you got your console some time after I did, and Nintendo had gone and updated Wii Sports to support Wi-Fi?
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May I add, I must be one of the few, then, who purchased a PS3 on Boxing Day. While I am happy with the Wii I purchased on launch, I absolutely love the PS3 media centre, bluRay capabilities and online play. To me no BR meant no xbox. I could get two devices but then I would be at the same cost, or exceeding the cost of a PS3 while taking up twice the space. No Thanks. I love the controls on the wii, so most of the cross platform games will still be on the Wii, but some of the exclusives lIke Little big Planet and the upcoming DC Universe Online meant getting a PS3 was essential.
How big is that rock you're living under?
As for BluRay, the players have come down in price so much that the PS3 is not attractive as a BluRay player. And consumers don't seem that interested in the better visuals provided by BluRay - its just not the leap that DVD was over VCR's.
So why shell out so much for a PS3? It doesn't have a library of great games, and BluRay hasn't impressed people enough. Home? It looks more like a marketing vehicle than a social experience. Someone should have told Sony that Second Life isn't that popular, so don't try to make a clone of it.
Let's turn off that fanboyism for a moment and look at reality: Standard NTSC DVD quality is 720x480 (520 lines). Almost every new Blu-Ray coming out is 1920x1080 (1080 lines). The jump from VHS to DVD was 270 lines, and the jump from DVD to Blu-Ray is 560 lines. The quality jump from DVD -> BD is over twice what it was from VHS -> DVD, and it is pretty obvious to anyone who's actually seen a high quality Blu-Ray movie on the proper setup. It is the future, and the quality is breathtaking.
The reason the PS3 isn't winning is far bigger than that. The PS2 is the highest selling console currently, and it's because it had relatively easy competition along with being a well-priced DVD player right at the moment when most people were looking to upgrade from the VHS format. The PS3 faces stiff competition from very good consoles with strong marketing, and its offer of providing a "cheap" Blu-Ray player falls on deaf ears since people aren't ready to switch formats just yet. While $400 for a solid gaming console (and it is a very good gaming console) and a Blu-Ray player is a "good deal", it's not such a great deal if you're only in the market for a console. If you are, then you're looking at paying $100+ more for a console that's essentially the same thing as an XBOX360 (and in some cases worse), or $150 more for something that doesn't offer the same experience as the Wii does.
Why would you buy a game system to watch movies.
Also DVDs are cheaply unconverted to 1080p.
Bluray is fading away and something better non sony will come along.
Why would you like Sony when they like giving you viruses against your will.
I love how the fanboys like to justify a game console by watching movies on it.
Does any fanboy play any games or do they just watch Bluray porn.
Some people are beyond clueless. Here's some news for you: MS has been released features after features, services after services related to movies. And recently Nintendo announced it will offer video services for the Wii in Japan.
The problem with your story is that to get the benefit of a blu ray player, you need an HDMI capable High definition television. When the switch from VHS to DVD happened, you needed nothing new besides the new player to get the extra boost in quality. Now youre talking a multi thousand dollar investment to get a little bit better quality.
As far as PS3 sales go, I personally think they would be a lot lower had it not been true that PS3 is the worlds cheapest blue ray player
Let's turn off that fanboyism for a moment and look at reality: Standard NTSC DVD quality is 720x480 (520 lines). Almost every new Blu-Ray coming out is 1920x1080 (1080 lines). The jump from VHS to DVD was 270 lines, and the jump from DVD to Blu-Ray is 560 lines. The quality jump from DVD -> BD is over twice what it was from VHS -> DVD, and it is pretty obvious to anyone who's actually seen a high quality Blu-Ray movie on the proper setup. It is the future, and the quality is breathtaking."
Obviously you have never seen an upscaled DVD. It takes the 480p and upscales to 1080p. The process is very advanced. I agree I prefer native 1080p over upscaling, but I have not met another person that could tell the difference on my 52' HDTV. Most people have bad eyesight and the difference is just not worth the price. Sub $100 DVD players and $10-15 media verses $200 (at best) and $25-25 media. You do the math. I loved my HDDVD, but even I cannot justify the difference when the HDDVD upscales DVDs so beautifully.
Increase in connivence & quality:
Records to cds: harder to scratch, easier to skip tracks, no needle to worry about, smaller physical size, Upgrade in quality (maybe) Outcome: success
VHS to DVD: smaller physical size, no need to rewind, did not wear out with multiple use and yes better quality
Outcome success
Just Quality based upgrades:
Cd to Super Audio / DVD cd: 5.1 surround sound, huge jump in quality over standard cd, extra connivence none Outcome failue
dvd to Blu-ray: Sound upgrades, higher resolution picture, extra features, extra connivence none Outcome: HIghly questionable
In fact the only format to offer both improvement in quality and connivence to fail is the move from cassette tapes to a successor either mini disc/digital audio cassette proving that even my theory can be wrong.
In this case their was a format war which neither really won and consumers lost interest and in the end this whole market was replaced by the mp3 market. My personal opinion is this is much how the blu-ray market is going to play out it shall become to forgotten format as downloadable HD video takes off.
BTW - the ps3 is the ultimate BluRay player because it will never be profile obsolete. As new updates to the Bluray standard come out (I believe it currently is at profile 2.0) a software update brings you up to date. Most stand-alones can't update their profile so a new feature on a new disk comes out and you're locked out of some of the extras. Also, anyone saying they can't notice the difference between BR and DVD, isn't fooling anyone. It's huge!
Not to bash any one system (I have all 3), but of all the systems, I use the PS# the most and would miss it the most. That's not to say it's my favorite. My favorite is by far the Wii. Fact is, it's just a brick if I want to do any more than play a game. The 360 basically just collects dust except when my roomate uses it on occasion.
We have HD in the house, so the PS3 is basically our central unit for dvds, blu-rays, video and music shared from computer through wireless network, and I can't even think of what else (oh yea... occasion station for iPhone recharge). The 360 just can't compete with that. I know I'd be singing a different tune had blu-ray lost the fight, but they didn't.
Finally, as for the maximum abilities of the PS3, it's estimated by game developers that full use of the system will not be usable for another year or two simply because it's too advanced for current game design.
I do the same thing with my 360. music, videos and photos. I believe that as long as the format is playable in windows media player it'll play through the 360. I have had issues with movies that I've downloaded playing because of the format but it hasn't been many. I also have plugged my ipod into my friends 360 and played music (i don't have a video ipod so don't know about video) off of it
They even threw in a feature with thhe zune where your zune can sync up with 360 through bluetooth. A feature lost on most since very few own a zune..
BTW - the ps3 is the ultimate BluRay player because it will never be profile obsolete. As new updates to the Bluray standard come out (I believe it currently is at profile 2.0) a software update brings you up to date. Most stand-alones can't update their profile so a new feature on a new disk comes out and you're locked out of some of the extras. Also, anyone saying they can't notice the difference between BR and DVD, isn't fooling anyone. It's huge!"
Actually, that is only because Blu-Ray was released before a solid spec was developed. Any Profile 2 player will be able to be upgraded like the PS3. Because of the 1 and 1.1 spec, those units could not be upgrade. Its not their fault; it was a lockin via Sony and the spec to help spur the PS3 sales. The PS3 was already WELL BEYOND what the spec was for 1 and 1.1 players, so it could be upgraded. If Sony actually followed the rules, you would still be stuck with 1.0 on your PS3. However, as Profile 2.0 machines hit the market the PS3 will lose its advantage. Shame Blu-Ray only has 3 years left in its lifecycle according to its own commission.
Seems like Nintendo "gets it," while Microsoft and Sony are content with throwing money at the problem. Microsoft has been throwing money at Xbox for years - it's the way they try to compete, by outspending the other guy. I expected better from Sony, however.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUA-uTPpD_A
Some people will cry about hardware limitations, and then there will be people who smash through them with a wrecking ball. That's what the Wii exemplifies more than anything. And that's what counts.
That's all true, and I HATE that they're doing it, but really I think it's just another company trying to make as much money as possible. Sure they COULD also cater to EVERYONE but then they couldn't FULLY please the casual gamers, the really young, and the really old. And that crowd is far larger than the existing "hardcore" gamers.
Really that's why the Wii is still flying off the shelves; it has FAR more ability than the Xbox or PS to attract people who have never owned a console or played much video games: NEW people.
Sadly I'm NOT new to video games and I'm absolutely DYING for Nintendo to upgrade the Wii (as well as the content of its games).
and yeah dude.... it's not fanboys who are reporting that PS3 sales are DROPPING while the other consoles are RISING. that's not an opinion, you idiot. people are not buying ps3's. get over it.
Not buing PS3? Tell that to 17m PS3 owners.
17m PS3 sold in 2 years
22m 360 sold in 3 years
I see no failure. Anyone saying otherwise is either a hater or a fanboy.
I guess we're forgetting that microsoft INVENTED the GUI of modern OS's
if not for them, you'd be reading this off a black screen with letters on it right now
i suggest reading a book or something before you come here to bash MS just because other people think its cool
"I guess we're forgetting that microsoft INVENTED the GUI of modern OS's"
Lmao are you for real??? Do your history you might want to Google: PARC and read about them on Wikipedia before you start writing utter rubbish
Beyond that I am not sure why it works--I can see profiles and ranks and even top scores of the other Mii's in my network that I added. This Wii is about a month old so not sure if it got updated.
I think really it just comes down to price. if they drop it to $200, then they have something. But keeping it up high is driving away people to competitors.
PS3's got the right philosophy for gamers in my opinion. They just aren't as reliable for profit as Sony had hoped.... In my humble opinion
Overall I started as a PS fanboy with the PS1 and PS2 and then the xbox came out and I went over to that more, because they pay more attention to what users want not what the company wants to push in users faces as far as features go. Like Sony forcing Blu-Ray players on people to raise the price of the system. Still I think it'll be awhile before they drop the prices of the console themselves. I still love all 3 systems for each specific perk, 360 is my first place with its titles and ease of online play and Live service. PS3 for its small amount of exclusives and Blu-Ray support. Wii for its fun family oriented play or playing with friends to just mess around and have fun.
I was just talking about this to a friend the other day. Microsoft needs to expand Xbox / Games for Windows Live to include some Arcade games as free, ad-supported browser games, and shoot for interoperability between all three (adding Zune would be great, too). Most of the Xbox Live Arcade games are suitable for browser play, and I'd like to be able to sign on and play on my computer just as I would on an Xbox.
I think the Sony's user interface is far superior to that of the Wii or XBox 360. Even with the new facelift, the XBox 360's interface is horrible, with most of the menu items being advertisements. Of the three, the PS3's interface is clearest, and easier and faster to navigate. The PS3 also seems to work better as a media server for storing media or streaming it from PC.
I think that the main issue remains price. The PS3 is no longer cheaper than standalone Bluray players, which was an early selling point. While the platform is theoretically more powerful, its limited sales means that most games are designed for compatibility with both XBox 360 and PS3, with equivalent features, so there is no reason to prefer one over the other. There are a few Sony-exclusive titles, but not enough to overcome the price issue. And now the XBox 360 has Netflix capability.
Another letdown was the discontinuation of backwards compatibility for PS2. Big mistake in my opinion.
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by gsmiller88
December 29, 2008 4:30 PM PST
- The only reason Sony made the PS3 was to promote Blu-ray.
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by umbrae
December 30, 2008 6:32 AM PST
- Blu-Ray hardly won. While supplies lasted (even after Toshiba tossed the towel) HDDVD outsold Blu-Ray on media and players. Cheap it was makes something win. Sony just got the media companies to not release movies on HDDVD. Blu-Ray lost to DVD Upscaling. Even its own backers only gave Blu-Ray a 5 year lifecycle and 2 have already passed.
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by compudoc318
December 30, 2008 8:33 AM PST
- umbrae, blue ray hardly won??? so hddvd won? or did upscaling....lol. is your hd tv 1080p? i notice a difference between upscaling and blu ray, and im not the only one who appreciates video quality.
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by umbrae
December 30, 2008 9:49 AM PST
- "by compudoc318 December 30, 2008 8:33 AM PST
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by SJValley
December 30, 2008 10:46 AM PST
- umbrae, the amount of misinformation you have put in this thread is astounding. I felt compelled to post here for the first time in years just to respond to it. Please take off your anti-Sony blinders and quit posting conjecture as fact.
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by st430
December 30, 2008 12:20 PM PST
- HD dvd is gone, so blue ray won. no question about that.
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Showing 1 of 4 pages (149 Comments)Look at Sony's advertising for the PS3. Instead of showing the games available for the platform, every ad talks about BRD.
Sony might have "won" the format war, but they're losing the video game market.
umbrae, blue ray hardly won??? so hddvd won? or did upscaling....lol. is your hd tv 1080p? i notice a difference between upscaling and blu ray, and im not the only one who appreciates video quality."
Blu-Ray still accounts for less than 2% of movie sales. Is that winning? HDDVD did outsell Blu-Ray on media and players AFTER it "lost". Obviously, HDDVD is not a player anymore, but that was not a choice consumers made: it was made by payoffs to media companies (and yes Toshiba played this card as well).
The difference in quality is not enough to justify the cost of ownership. I prefer true HD, but my I have 2 people in my household that ware glasses and they cannot tell the difference; nor many other people that visit. This is not about you or I that might be willing to pay the premium, its about the mainstream and most of these people watch SD programming and THINK it is HD: either out of stupidity or the inability to tell the difference.
VHS to DVD was a big jump quality no one could deny, but DVD did not "win" until players were sub $100. In fact, VHS still exists and is preferred by many cheapskates.
Say what you want, but you can find many articles that do not paint a good picture of Blu-Ray's future. Even Studios that backed the format from the beginning are not optimistic.
I can't keep up with all the incorrect points you made, but just in this reply alone:
1) Blu-ray sales are currently just over 10% and rising, in spite of still being a new format. Not less than 2% as you claim.
2) HD-DVD never outsold Blu-ray for a single week of movie sales. Not once. Ever. Even on the big title release weeks.
3) HD-DVD didin't outsell Blu-ray on players unless you conveniently left the PS3 -- the most popular Blu-ray player -- out of the stats.
4) There was never proof that the Blu-ray group bought off studios. There WAS proof that HD-DVD did (e.g. Paramount / Dreamworks).
5) Studio support for Blu-ray is strong and growing.
As an owner of both HD-DVD and Blu-ray, and someone who hated the stupid format war, it pains me to see fanboys like you come in and dig up the same misinformation to try to push your biases. Enough already.,
HD dvd better or not, never out sold blue ray, that's why studio switch side.
It's just too expensive to support 2 format.
HD tv just started to get popular due to the price finally comes down to the hundreds rather than thousands.
HD TV price will come down some more ...just like you can get a 28" LCD computer monitor for $299...
When price come down and CRT keep dying...it's just the natrual cycle that all CRT will be replaced by HDTV.
USA will finally force everybody onto HD signal next year...that will definatelly boost new blue ray player
sales (sony or not).
PS3 was too aggressive in design. They should have put in middle of the road hardware instead of top of the line.
Just think IBM CPU and nvidia GPU already contribute to over 100$ of price cost....I doubt the blue ray is that expensive itself....even cutting that and replace with DVD won't be too much saving.
As for games, I think software is driven by hardware sale rather than the reverse.
The one or 2 exclusive doesn't really mean that much to chosing a concule...rather it's the total number of games out there....which xbox has an advantage by selling their macine 1yr eariler.
I mean I have wii and ps3...
I use the ps3 a lot too...not just for playing ps3 exclusing games but also common platform games like
GTA4...since I enjoy GTA4...so I was enjoying my ps3 also...
I rent game from gamefly, so there is no problem getting enough games to play on all platforms.
xbox is more like a PC... so I leave all my FPS game on my PC and save me the money for buying a xbox.
lossing out on one or 2 exclusive game is no big deal. I can't play them all anyway.
Sport games and most popular titles are on both xbox and ps3...so choosing either one is not a great loss of not having the other. For 399...ps3 give me a game concole plus a HD dvd player..which I will buy anyway...
so it's no big deal.
For kids, you got limited resourse...mostly from parent..so I guess you don't really have a choice but go with
wii where hardware and software are cheaper....well, cheap game comes with cheap quality...but for a young kid...
they don't really care as long as there is somthing to play and it's fun.
Thousands of dollar to watch hdtv? what planet are you from?
a 36" or 42 inch tv are around 500-800 and a blue ray player is like 200...
the whole thing close under a grand.
If you are poor...go study and get a better job than flipping burger.
gaming is not for you.