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Xbox Rules, But PS3 Must Survive
Why competition is necessary
by dkpatriarch
© 2008 David Hilton
I can almost hear the the howls of “traitor!” from Xbots now, and the PS3 fanboy missionaries licking their lips in anticipation of a possible convert. For a writer on an Xbox site to say “the PS3 must survive” may seem unusual, but that’s exactly what I’m saying and I have my reasons.
I have all three next gen consoles, but I would be lying if I didn’t say I favour my 360 and that I cheer when it is doing well. Having admitted my bias though, if the current economic crisis and financial losses Sony is taking forces them to jettison support for the PS3 or future consoles, I see a bleak future for gaming.
First let’s look at the current situation. It all looks like doom and gloom for Sony. The Internet has been afire with the console wars in full swing after the November U.S. NDP results which saw the PS3 actually drop in sales by 19% compared with November last year (selling 378,000 PS3s this November, compared to 466,000 last year).
In contrast the Xbox 360 sold 836,000 units compared with 777,000 in November 2007. Even more baffling to me is that Nintendo’s Wii continues to dominate the market, more than doubling sales from 981,000 to 2.04 million.
The U.S. NDP software results also show that in November Xbox 36o exclusive Gears Of War 2 was the top selling game at 1.56 million units and that Sony’s PS3 exclusive Resistance 2 sold only 385K units. The 360 title Left 4 Dead sold more at 410K. Sony’s Little Big Planet didn’t even make the top 10. Finally, the top selling multi platform title by Activision, Call of Duty: World At War, sold 1.41 million units on the 360, compared with 597K on the PS3.
The PS3 is also slowing down in its home territory Japan, with the PS3 selling 30,309 units between Dec. 1 and Dec. 7 compared with previous sales of 34,978 units the week prior.
Not only are the figures coming out against the PS3 but so are the industry analysts.
David Cole, of DFC Intelligence, says:
“Yes, Sony should be worried…As we said, the Xbox 360 looked surprisingly strong this holiday with 1) price; 2) solid lineup, especially when compared with competition, and 3) a retooled online service with new features like Netflix. The value proposition for the PS3/Xbox 360 is now out of whack in favor of the Xbox 360.”
Justin Kemppainen, of the Minnesota Game Examiner, lists five reasons where Sony screwed up:
1. The idea that big hardware stats would be the way to go. He says:
“The only problem it hasn’t been utilized. Games on the PS3 look pretty much same as games on the other systems because, especially in the case of multiple platforms, the developers aren’t going to put in an extra thousand hours to make the game look worlds better on just one system.”
2. Thinking that most people would get into a big fancy home entertainment unit when people still associate a game system with games, rather than a media centre.
3. Making their exclusives games more like interactive films.
While I agree that some Sony exclusive games like Metal Gear Solid 4 could be described as an ‘interactive action soap opera’ (my words), there is no doubt in my mind that when you did get to play instead of watch it was brilliant gaming. Our reviewer thought it was “the closest thing to perfect since the Ocarina of Time” (yes we occasionally review other console titles here). Yet Kemppainen also lists Uncharted (which I loved), Lair, and Heavenly Sword as also being more like interactive films.
4. Focusing too much on the Blu Ray vs. HD-DVD war (which they did win).
5. Losing developers who used to make exclusives for them. He says:
“All of this misplaced focus made Sony lose developers. Game creators all walked off right into Microsoft’s soft, warm, huggy arms and massive budget. Sony sat there, oblivious, praying that their super-powerful home entertainment monolith succeeded, eyes shut, covering their ears while their empire crumbled.”
Even if you are a die-hard Sony fanboy, you have to admit things aren’t going as smoothly as they did for the PS2 (which is often still outselling the PS3).
So, as someone cheering for the 360 I should hope that the Sony Playstation brand dies a painful death right? Then the Xbox would get all the games (except for Wii’s mostly shovelware type games) and not miss out on titles like MGS4 or Uncharted.
Wrong.
While it certainly is a pain to try and afford consoles by Microsoft and Sony and overcrowd my already crowded TV area with big consoles, competition is what drives companies to innovate and is what keeps the pressure on them to listen to the consumer. Those big price cuts Microsoft has delivered recently on the 360 were because they wanted to beat the competition. If they were the only games machine in the market they wouldn’t cut their price.
Look at Nintendo with the Wii. It is now overpriced when compared with the 360, but it is selling incredibly well because it has the casual market locked in. So why lower the price when you will sell anyway?
If Microsoft was alone in the powerful console stakes there is no way the price would have gone down. Even Sony fanboys would have been buying it. Look at Sega: it no longer makes consoles, so did all the Sega fanboys all stop buying consoles because otherwise they would have to buy a competing system?
No, they are gamers and they want to game. Did all the Sega exclusive developers all stop making games because they were loyal to Sega? Wrong, developers most often follow the dollars. And that makes sense and is why there are fewer exclusives now.
If you look at the arms race during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the U.S. you can see how competition for ‘survival’ pushes you to innovate and try and get the most out of what you have. In gaming we have Microsoft and Sony doing the same: there is the same propaganda as in a cold war, but there is also huge amounts spent to innovate to get ahead of the competition.
They provide teams who are there to help developers by giving them the support to innovate and maximise their game for their platform. With fewer and fewer exclusives it becomes even more important for the competitors to find ways to make their product stand apart. And that tends to be good for gamers.
Nintendo has made the other two take notice of its success and now Microsoft has an avatar system in NXE like the Wii Miis, and Sony has HOME with avatars too which look a bit like Miis and PC’s Sims. Sony did well with Singstar: Nintendo now has Boogie, and Microsoft has Lips. With Lips Microsoft has not just copied Singstar but, importantly to my point, tried to go one better by giving the gamer the capability to plug in their mp3 and sing songs off of it and by providing two wireless mics.
A combination of innovation and better value for money is the result of competition.
If Microsoft was the only big player, would they bother to spend the time and money on helping developers get the most out of their system? Would they spend the money making sure innovative amazing games came out on their system to attract new buyers? Look at the Wii again.
I believe most of the releases on it are crap. Nintendo does nothing about it. They don’t need to. They own the casual market and so game software quality and innovation isn’t a huge priority for them. Sure, they have the once or so a year title like Wii Fit that innovates but other than that, nothing. And it still sells.
Without the need to attract gamers to their console away from a competitor I think gaming itself would stagnate. Individual game publishers and developers will always try to outdo each other and innovate, but I don’t believe the encouragement would be as high. Certainly the console itself wouldn’t need too much innovation in it if there was no competition.
So at the moment the Xbox 360 rules (if you don’t count the Wii), and the Ps3 is struggling. But the PS3 and a future Sony console must survive for the good of gaming. Just as Microsoft’s Xbox must survive.
Either that, or we need a new player who can step up and make a brilliant console to compete with the survivor, and I don’t think there’s a company out there who can do it.
(Ed Note: This could well be Apple, as it’s a silent dark horse at the moment, setting up relationships with many developers and publishers, dealing in many areas of gaming, not just mobile)
Luckily there are some big exclusives that can help Sony do better next year, like Killzone 2 and Heavy Rain. Also, if they can produce a price cut soon they will see sales improve. However, keep in mind that if they do cut the price soon it will largely be competition with the 360 which will have forced their hand.
So go ahead and cheer the 360 or the Ps3, but always keep in mind that we need both Microsoft and Sony to fight each other to get the best out of gaming.
© 2008 David Hilton
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Filed under: Console gaming, Editorial, Hardware News, Industry News, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 News | Tagged: Apple, Apple games, Apple Mac, David Cole, DFC Intelligence, GDP statistics, Heavy Rain, iPhone, iPod, Justin Kemppainen, Killzone 2, LIPS, MGS4, Miis, nintendo, NXE, Playstation games, PS3, Resistance 2, Sega, Singstar, Sony HOME, SOny Playstation, Sony PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, Xbox Avatars, xbox360
Sony will never die, but it will change from what we have known it to be in the past. It is no longer the mighty ruler of days gone by, but now 1 of 3 or 4 major factions across the globe, with more ambitious formats fighting for a slice of the home-entertainment-pie.
We will see a lot from Apple in 2009, mark my words on that one. Especially as far as gaming is concerned. Sony once had the whole thing to its self really. It no longer is in that position, and its older ways of doing things, and how they approach they whole aspect do need to change.
even if sony dies, someone else is probably going to enter like Apple or Samsung or something
IDK, I like my PS3 quite a bit and I enjoy playing my friend’s 360. Thank God we have both to keep us all entertained. If we didn’t have both (and the Wii) to choose from, the prices for the one remaining console and games would be insane. It’s all good to me.
“This is the year for the PS3″
Hands up if that phrase sounds very familiar.
A phrase used by many of the industries analysts. Heck I was at a conference where David Ephrim (CEO of SCE Aus) quoted it.
And even though with the many quality titles that 360 had I thought the Blu-ray win, the brand name and the brand “trust” will bring truth to statement many analysts had said.
360 leads PS3 is sales worldwide by just around 1 million units. That is huge victory for M$ considering that were up against a console who everyone predicted would perform well… saying that It has, but not as well as people predicted.
360 did many things right when it counted. It
1) reinvented its image with the NXE, which added many new user friendly features with many more still being added.
2) Saw the economic climate.. reacted to the financial crisis, and lowered its price… appealing to market that wanted to spend… but not that much.
And finally
3) They played their cards with GoW 2 and Fable 2 and as well as Lips (which is suprisingly selling well at my store) and provided people with a bigger range with more quality titles made it the console to buy this year without a doubt.
To David Mcphail.
Your exclusive list is very interesting in comparison.
I believe that God of War 3 is PS3 only (but bright) light for the system. Your other games are either sequels to games that medicore at best (Killzone) or sequels to which the game did not sell well (Uncharted), or games that have yet shown anything or are in fact in risk of losing their exclusivity at the moment.
Home is not a feature I would be using to sell the PS3.. its flawed, buggy and very very limited in its beta state and is still a good year off from being ready to lauch as an RC.
My last opinion here will be on the rumored PS3 price cut. Don’t expect it for a while.
The PS3 as well as Sony’s handycam division is Sony only profitable technologies in their range. Consider this to the huge loss they had in the month of November as well as the proposed 16000 job cuts in the next 2 years and you can’t see the price being lowered for the PS3 in any immediate future. Sony are now in a state of refocusing their resources to division which are profitable to help them get into the black and reinstate confidence in their investores. Don’t be suprised to see Sony out of the LCD market in the next couple of years as signs suggest this month with the closure of one of their LCD manufacturing plant. Having said though, The PS3 will drop when it can stay profitable and I can’t see that happening for a while. Consider all the technology components ( the Cell Processor, blu-ray and custom nvidia chip) are rising in cost at current. That can’t be helping the PS3 at all.
Can we please keep civil and keep name calling out of it. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and we can disagree without resorting to insults.
Thank you, and happy gaming
david you are a flaming dooch. You are so blind that you are making yourself look EVER SO foolish. I haven’t heard half of the games that you spouted for ps3 and I cruise the gaming websites regularly. Also the “mini Halo 3 game” will still outsell any and most of those games combined. Halo wars will sell well because it has “Halo” in it. Get real and over yourself you mindless dumphuuc. Always with sony is wait til this and wait til that. Maybe some people are sick of waiting. What is sad is that all that time, money, resource and manpower, even your first party games don’t look that much better and a decent dual core pc with an 8800 will scream past the ps3 and you can build one for less than that of a ps3. ps3 is a joke and so are you.
ED: If you want to post in here, you are quite welcomed, but if you resort to stupid name calling, which certainly does not show any maturity, then you’ll find yourself removed from the site.
WHich would be a shame, as everyone is entitled to their opinion, but within the realms of the TOU and COC of this site.
Plus it would pay readers to actually READ rather than accuse . . as you’ll find the writers supports ALL paltforms, and is simply stating what is happening in the market currently, just like any other legitimate writer would.
“Microsoft’s heavy hitters Gears Of War 2 and Fable 2 sold well, no doubt. However the point i’m trying to make is, would they still have sold well if the base price for the Xbox 360 was as high as the PS3’s?”
Maybe, maybe not. But the base price for the 360 isn’t as high as the PS3. That’s where we are now. What ifs don’t count.
As for titles next year, who knows. There are a few more 360 exclusives I could list, but to me it doesn’t matter. What matters is if these exclusives are good. I’ll buy the good ones on both consoles (if I can afford them
)
BTW I’m really looking forward to Heavy Rain.
You’re being biased.
You mention those games on the 360 don’t necessarily have a release date set for 2009, but then you mention quite a few PS3 games that don’t have a release date either. Believe me, Uncharted is probably my favorite game this generation, but as far as I have heard the sequel hasn’t been confirmed for 2009. I think it probably will come out in 2009 based on Naughty Dog’s past tendencies, but it isn’t guaranteed. Nor has God of War 3 been confirmed for 2009. Also, Rage is not a PS3 exclusive, it is also coming out on the 360.
Oh my god you Fonyfanboys… I still remember what you said before ps3 came out.. “Just wait and see when ps3 comes” it will destroy the Xbox… But what happend??? Its allways Just wait…. how long are we xbots gonna wait… haha… Anyway… This post was about WE NEED SONY.. and dont worry.. Sony wont die.. (Sorry for my spelling)…
As far as console sales go, correct me if i’m wrong but i think the PS3 has still (Just) outsold the Xbox 360 worldwide in 2008.
As far as game sales go, EA, Ubisoft and Konami’s recent fiscal quarter results showed that they made more money on sales of PS3 software then on any other console.
Microsoft’s heavy hitters Gears Of War 2 and Fable 2 sold well, no doubt. However the point i’m trying to make is, would they still have sold well if the base price for the Xbox 360 was as high as the PS3′s?
Finally, in regards to next year’s lineup. Can you name me 5 360 exclusives that are CONFIRMED to hit in 2009? All i can think of are:
Halo Wars (No RTS games besides Age Of Empires have been that successful so i have my doubts about this one)
Ninja Blade (This game looks good, really good, IMO the best 360 exclusive next year)
Halo 3: ODST (A mini – game at best, it only lasts about 3 hours)
Splinter Cell: Conviction (Rumoured to be going multi – platform)
Star Ocean: The Last Hope (Possibly The Last Remnant all over again?)
Dead Or Alive 5 (Rumoured to be going multi – platform, not confirmed to launch in 2009)
Alan Wake (Not confirmed to launch in 2009 or ever)
You can say that not all PS3 games will be successes but mediocre games has to be better than NO games, right?
Just to compare, here’s the PS3 lineup:
Killzone 2
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Heavy Rain
White Knight Chronicles
Demon Soul’s
Gran Turismo 5
Rage
Quantum Theory (Not confirmed for 2009 release)
Final Fantasy Versus XIII (Not confirmed for 2009 release)
God Of War 3
Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier (Not confirmed for 2009 release)
Ratchet & Clank (Untitled)
Maybe not all of theese will be instant successes but most of them are guaranteed to be because they’re sequels to already – successful franchises.
Combine that, with the ever evolving Playstation Home and a price cut AND the explosion of Blu – Ray demand and i really can’t see the 360 doing too much.
I would expect the 360 to outsell the PS3 right up until the price cut next year, after that, Microsoft are evidently gonna have to find a new method of getting themselves out of trouble besides price slashing (Closing their game studios doesn’t help).
as a reply to mr. david mcphail, first off i’m surprised you’re on a 360 website, second the author of this story couldn’t be any more true to his words. this has nothing to do with the sony’s or nintendo’s or the sega’s of the world. it’s about monopoly. what do you think you would pay for a vehicle if there was only chev or ford or dodge. could you imagine what a colorless and bland world it would be without healthy competition in everything i aplaud sony for getting into the games market when sega was floundering, i applaud m$ for getting into the games market, and i only hope apple one day gets the balls to do the same. the creativity and guts to do it is what makes these games so great. i never understood you fanboys out there, i own every good console ever made and i will always purchase a game that suits me, not the console. bring on killzone 2, bring on alan wake, the next max payne, whenever that may be, super mario 128, i don’t care. i love gaming. get over yourselves fanboys.
This guy talks like MS has the upper hand…Witch is so wrong!The world isnt America guys!!!Wake up!!! The ps3 outsells right now the 360 WW! for 2008!Do u understand that if Sony next year has a pricecut for ps3 and goes to the same price with 360 this is going to be the last 2 years of 360?Stop have this ignorance about whats happen in the rest of the world…
@ David MacFAIL above me…
You are a moron. You are so hopelessly blind and filled with fanboyism, it’s embarrassing. The PS3 and the 360 are both good game consoles and the 360 is offering substantial competition to the PS3. If you can’t see that, you need to take off the fanboy goggles. I have both consoles and I really enjoy both of them, and I am glad that the competition is so fierce between the two. Any true gamer would.
“david macphail” you’re the idiot. Your entire rant is obviously done with a childish tone, go clean your room before your mom spanks you. Sony isn’t selling hardware because their “OMFG SOFTWAREZ” it’s because the 120 million people who bought a PS2 expect the SAME from the PS3, you IDIOT.
@ David Macphail
Passionate argument! Although name calling is a bit unnecessary.
I have a PS3 and if I personally thought it was the best and the 360 had nothing to offer, I’d sell the 360 and just use it. I keep it for the Blu Ray and the exclusives.
You are discussing the future as if all titles will succeed. Haze for PS3 was hyped up but didn’t live up to expectation. Too Human didn’t for the 360. You can’t just argue that the 360 has nothing next year and the PS3 has everything. We haven’t seen what will happen or how good the games are.
The 360 IS competition for the PS3. Even Sony would admit that.
I agree with you that it is amazing that the PS3 has sold so many units with that price tag. But a price cut would sell more and I’m arguing for Sony to sell more, so I don’t get your ‘intensity’.
I also agree that the PS2 has done very well, lately mostly because of a very very LOW price.
Finally I agree that the RROD because of rushing to market is something that MS will have to remember and learn from.
Mate, if you are a passionate gamer that’s great. If you love the PS brand, great too. But the game sales (which is where money is) and the November PS3 sales difference between 2007 and 2008 IS cause for some concern in this world economic situation.
I hope next year both consoles do well and keep each other on their toes.
Great article. I agree completely. Whether you prefer the PS3 or the 360, you should hope that both consoles stay strong and competitive with one another. It makes both consoles better, which is nothing but a win for gamers.
Amen. it took me a while to read this article but all you said is true, if xbox 360 never had appeared we could been buying 700 dollar expensive gaming machine, and we need both even if we dont like it all, but if sony really dies… i can see a very dark gaming era from nowdays.
It’s funny how you mention that the PS2 still often outsells the PS3, it outsells the 360 as well you moron. In fact, i think in Japan the PS2 has gained more market share in the NEXT – GEN than the 360 has (This may be down to the fact that the 360 has no exclusive games, or that it blows up 33% of the time, who knows?).
If the Xbox 360 rules all then tell me, was it Microsofts “Gran ideal” to release NO GAMES in 2009??? Cause they sure don’t have much announced and NOTHING that can compare to the likes of Gran Turismo 5, Uncharted 2, Killzone 2 or God Of War 3.
The difference between the two consoles may be a bitter pill for 360 owners to swallow but it is this – the Xbox 360 does not have games that are NEARLY good enough to warrant a high price tag (Hence why Microsoft were FORCED to cut the price in September to shift ANY units at all). The PS3 does.
The fact that the PS3 has shifted nearly 20 million units worldwide at it’s (Ridiculously) high price is a testament to the level of software quality the PS3 has on offer. How many units would the 360 have shifted if it cost £299.99? Judging by the quality of it’s 1st party games i’d say less than 2 million in over 3 years (That’s worldwide figures).
Microsoft have lost billions of dollars on their failed ventures into gaming (A lot of it coming from extreme hardware failures) and i’d be surprised if they even bothered making a new games console. I mean, do they want to financially cripple themselves on a fight they’ll NEVER win?
I agree that if/when a PS3 price cut comes next year it will be to keep up with Microsoft’s recent movements, however when that happens Microsoft will be looking at a console far superiror to it’s own in any term you could think of for a reduced price, it will essentially be game over.
The Xbox 360 will (Barely) survive this generation and Microsoft’s gaming division may (Barely) keep themselves in profit. However once the PS3 hits roughly the same price point as the 360 you can expect Microsoft to suffer a whooping perhaps even worse that what they suffered at the hands of the PS2.
Microsoft came into this industry expecting to “Buy” the consumers trust and failed miserably. Once this gen is all said and done i’m afraid 360 owners are going to have a strange sensation of deja – vu while PS3 owners are simply going to say “We told you so”.
Competition IS good for the gaming industry however i’m afraid Microsoft isn’t offering Sony as much competition as Nintendo is. The days of gaming were just fine before Microsoft threw their hat full of money in the ring, honestly, if they decided to drop out of the console race i don’t think many people would even notice (They might be surprised that their new consoles haven’t RROD’d on them but i’m sure they’d get over it).
Having competition between consoles not only provide innovation and better pricing it also forces developers to be innovative too. Take the PC market for example if it wasn’t for the consoles would we see innovations in controller, story, or even graphics. It cost me a fortune to upgrade my PC so that it stays on the cutting edge and that is even after doing every two or three years.
My next evolution for my PC will be when Corei7 becomes mainstream and even after that it is only for a few games. The PCs must survive can be another argument to maintain competition with the consoles can be another article.
PSN — Mashimato
XID — YukarioMashima
WiD — Don’t bother, gathering dust