Fortune Magazine: How Nintendo is beating Sony and Microsoft

[Vigilance]

Really, I wouldn't say its the price OR the games that are hurting the PS3. Its both. The price is so high that its hard to justify spending that much for the games that are out, but at the same time, the games just don't justify the price.

So the real problem is on both ends, which is worse than it being one or the other.

You also can't justify the price because of how few exclusive games there are for the PS3.

If you want to play Madden and GTA, and let's face it, there were plenty of people who bought a PS2 *solely* so they could play Madden and GTA, and you're looking to upgrade so you can play the next-gen Madden and GTA, would you get the PS3 for $600 or the 360 for $400, given that the games are going to look almost identical.

Not much of a choice is it?

 

[Arnwyn]

The problem is obvious with the PS3 - the games, not the price. If there were real killer titles on it (or maybe just one) it would be doing better. Motorstorm & Resistance are excellent but not must haves. We'll see what happens when Lair hits.

I agree with this. Absolutely.

It's especially true (ie. price isn't an issue) if one likes online (in which the PS3 is cheaper).

 

[Vigilance]

I agree with this. Absolutely.

It's especially true (ie. price isn't an issue) if one likes online (in which the PS3 is cheaper).

But when you say games, what you really mean is exclusive games. A console has to justify its purchase through games you cant get anywhere else, a game experience you cant get anywhere else, or else the games have to look better than they do everywhere else.

If you aren't dealing with exclusive games, which PS3 doesn't really have in abundance, then they have to look better. Which won't happen on 3rd party games until PS3 becomes the market leader.

In the PS2-X-Box-Gamecube era, 3rd party games were developed for the PS2 first, and frequently didn't look any better (or looked worse) on the X-Box. If you look at games that were developed for the X-Box (say Halo), it showed that games *could* look much better on the X-box. But we never saw that in terms of 3rd party games.

This time around, the situation is reversed. So Sony needs to do something, either through 1st party games or just paying to be the lead platform (which is how they held onto GTA in the PS2 era). Or a steep price cut.

Sony is selling fewer units than the 360, but since the 360 basically had a year of lead time, they need to sell MORE if they ever want to be the market leader again.

You can say it isn't the price, and I might even buy that, but they need something on their side. And where are these games going to come from? They need games other consoles don't have, and I don't see it on the horizon for them.

I'll even relent a little on the price and say I don't think it was the biggest mistake Sony made with the PS3. The worst mistake Sony made was not dropping a pallet of money on Rockstar to keep GTA coming out first on their system.

But in the absence of a lot of exclusive games (especially the biggest games), then price competition comes into play.

 

[Vigilance]

And in a move that should be a surprise to no one:

According to a report from Variety Asia, Japan's top three third-party publishers are ramping up development for Nintendo's Wii and DS systems, at the expense of rivals Sony and Microsoft. Namco Bandai will reportedly increase Nintendo hardware development by 109 percent to 115 titles, Sega will up its titles by 96 percent to 49, and Capcom titles will rise by 5 percent to 20.

Not only will Nintendo platforms be getting a greater assortment of games, but they will see a greater availability of them as well. Variety Asia says that more than 26.8 million units of Wii, DS, and Game Boy Advance software will ship during Nintendo's 2007 fiscal year. By comparison, 23.3 million units of software for the Sony platform will ship during the same period. Further, Sony machines will see a 30 to 40 percent decrease in shipped units from the three Japanese publishers, while Capcom alone will increase shipments for Nintendo systems by 81 percent to 4.7 million units.

As for the why, Variety Asia states that in addition to the fact the Wii and DS are trouncing the competition in the North American and Japanese markets, development costs are lower for Nintendo's hardware.

The report also states that another Japanese software giant, Square Enix, does not plan to develop any new titles for the PlayStation 3 until the console's installed base rises enough to make increased next-gen development costs worthwhile. However, Variety Asia made no mention that the company has several PS3 projects currently in development, including Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Square Enix's president and CEO, Yoichi Wada, recently called the Xbox 360 and PS3 "over-engineered" and "mismatched" to gamers needs in a Financial Times report.

 

[Agamon]

Wow. I kinda thought the way Sony went about things with the PS3 was going to be problematic, but there really hasn't been any good news for Sony these days (unless you count their own spin).

 

[John Crichton]

And in a move that should be a surprise to no one:

That article would only be interesting if Square-Enix decided to pull all development for the PS3 and put FFXIII on another system exclusively. Where is the news? Companies are producing more games for consoles that are more widespread in people's homes and less for a console that is lagging behind. That's not news.

 

[Vigilance]

That article would only be interesting if Square-Enix decided to pull all development for the PS3 and put FFXIII on another system exclusively. Where is the news? Companies are producing more games for consoles that are more widespread in people's homes and less for a console that is lagging behind. That's not news.

Huh? Weren't you the guy like three posts up saying "I dunno, Nintendo consoles don't usually get a lot of 3rd party support, the Wii might be a fad".

So here's an article with the four largest 3rd party developers in Japan doubling their support for Nintendo consoles, and now you say "how is this news".

Anyway, by any reasonable definition of the term, the four largest 3rd party developers in Japan doubling their support for Nintendo, and halving it for Sony, constitutes "news". It represents a major shift in the gaming landscape.

And as a matter of fact, it was a headline on all the major gaming news sites. Huh, I guess those guys don't know news when they see it either.

As for Square, they're making like two games for the PS3 sure, but what you obviously fail to realize is that their #1 game franchise, DragonQuest, is moving to the DS and the Wii, exclusively.

And again, to me, stating that they are more or less taking a wait and see approach to any further support of the PS3 *at all* constitutes news.

As a matter of fact, the announcement of two upcoming FF games for the DS and DQ IX for the DS were the system sellers that got me to buy my DS.

 

[Ranger REG]

And yet we haven't heard of Star Wars Lego Duel from LucasArts.

 

[Arnwyn]

But when you say games, what you really mean is exclusive games. A console has to justify its purchase through games you cant get anywhere else, a game experience you cant get anywhere else, or else the games have to look better than they do everywhere else.

This time around, the situation is reversed. So Sony needs to do something, either through 1st party games or just paying to be the lead platform (which is how they held onto GTA in the PS2 era). Or a steep price cut.

Well... yes? I thought that's what I was agreeing with. There's no "but".

Sony is selling fewer units than the 360, but since the 360 basically had a year of lead time, they need to sell MORE if they ever want to be the market leader again.

I really wish we could see the worldwide numbers to see by how much, instead of the incomplete (and thus unhelpful) U.S.-only numbers.

I'll even relent a little on the price and say I don't think it was the biggest mistake Sony made with the PS3. The worst mistake Sony made was not dropping a pallet of money on Rockstar to keep GTA coming out first on their system.

Indeed. As has been said countless times on ENWorld - "it's all about the games". Glad to see that hasn't changed.

 

[Relique du Madde]

Personally.. I wish that Sony would release a PS2.5 meaning a system that has the gaming and graphics capabilities of the PS3 but without the Blue Ray albatross tied to its neck. Then what they get rid of the PS2 and then later the PS3 (but after the PS4 is released.. assuming there is one).