by Playfuls Staff |
3rd January 2007
BusinessWeek.com confirms what Sony said about the lifespan of a gaming console: that it spreads for around 10 years. And since PS2 has only been around for 6 years, we should expect it not only to still exist next year too, but to also outsell its “bigger” sister, the PS3.[more]
Despite the more attractive graphics offered by the PlayStation 3 and its HD capabilities, both gamers and game developers alike are not very keen on buying/developing games for Sony’s flagship product:
“In December video game maker Square Enix Co. began running prime-time TV ads in Japan featuring battle scenes from its new adventure game Seiken Densetsu 4, or Legend of the Sacred Sword. Every 30-second spot ended with a familiar logo: PlayStation. But the game isn't played on Sony Corp.'s new PlayStation 3 console. It's for the PlayStation 2. This might seem an odd time to launch an ad blitz for a game designed for the PS2, which has been around since 2000.[…] despite all the hype surrounding the PS3, its predecessor is likely to outsell it for two more years.”(http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/dec2006/gb20061228 _090512.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_businessweek+exclusives)"The PS2 will have legs well into 2008," says Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles. And while Nintendo Co.'s Wii console is getting most of the industry buzz, and the Xbox 360 from Microsoft Corp. has racked up big sales in its year on the market, some say the PS2 might even beat out each of those offerings in 2007. "The PS2 probably has the capacity to sell more than any other gaming" console, says Simon Jeffrey, chief operating officer at game maker Sega of America.
Despite all the hype Wii gets from the media these days and notwithstanding Xbox 360’s strong momentum on the market, the PS2 is clearly the holder of all-times record: more than 103 million consoles sold by the end of March 2006. Sony’s target is to sell even more PS2s by end of March this year- around 11 million consoles, reaching an impressive overall of 114 million pieces worldwide. By comparison, the sluggish sales for PS3 (determined by the Blu-Ray integration and manufacturing issues) have determined Sony to downgrade their estimates for the same date this year to only 4 million pieces sold.
The same trend will apparently be visible in 2008 too. According to research by rating agency Standard & Poor's Sony will ship another bulk of 11 million PS2s, while PS3s will only manage to have around 7 million owners.
The reasons for PS2’s success are many, but among the most important is the price, which dropped from the initial $300 to only $130 today. The existing software package is also an important asset, since gamers are not only keen on playing next-gen games, but also arcade games too.
"All the media focus is on next-gen consoles and games, but a lot of the software companies will make a substantial portion of their earnings by selling [older] games," says Erik Whiteford, marketing director at California game maker 2K Sports.
“Nor is Sony in any hurry to kill the PS2. The launch of a new console always puts game makers in the red, and the PS3 is no exception. With delays and production snafus for the machine, Sony's game unit is expecting a $1.7 billion loss this fiscal year. The PS2, meanwhile, long ago turned profitable as component prices have plunged and development costs have been written off. Even at $130 a pop, Sony earns about $8 on each PS2 it sells, compared with an estimated loss of $250 per PS3. (Nintendo is believed to break even on the Wii, while Microsoft takes a loss on the Xbox 360.) And Sony will rake in some $1.4 billion this year from license fees paid by game makers and sales of its own game titles for the PS2 and its predecessor, the PSOne, Goldman, Sachs & Co. estimates. So it's clear Sony will want to milk the PS2 for all it's worth.”
