Sony Outsells Nintendo For First Time Since The PS2

[Steven Bogos]

Sony Outsells Nintendo For First Time Since The PS2

Sony sold 18.7 million consoles last fiscal year, compared to Nintendo's 16.31 million.

For the first time since 2005, just before the launch of the PlayStation 3, Sony has sold more consoles in a year than rival Nintendo. now-discontinued PSP [http://asia.nikkei.com/print/article/34733], while Nintendo's included the Wii U, 3DS, DS and Wii.

Sony released the PS4 in the U.S. and other markets in November, and had moved nearly 7 million units through the end of March. PS4 sales were so strong that they were able to prop up a 20% decline on all of Sony's other products.

Nintendo's console sales slid 31% to 16.31 million units, as the Wii U continued its poor sales trend, and even the almighty 3DS saw a slump. Microsoft was a distant third, with 11.6 million consoles sold - a 16% increase from last year.

The last time Sony outsold Nintendo was at the very height of the PS2's lifecycle in 2005. In 2006, the following year, both the PS3 and Wii were released. The PS3's high cost and lukewarm reception combined with the explosive popularity of the Wii sent Sony into a second-place-slump it had been unable to recover from until now.

Both companies are no doubt planning on dropping a few big announcements at this week's E3 expo, which should spur on sales of their respective consoles.

Source: Nikkei [http://asia.nikkei.com/print/article/34733]



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[Colt47]

It still feels like they are winning because the competition is struggling. On the upside maybe this means we will finally start seeing some of those titles that drifted to Nintendo start seeping back into the Playstation Ecosystem.

 

[KDR_11k]

On the upside maybe this means we will finally start seeing some of those titles that drifted to Nintendo start seeping back into the Playstation Ecosystem.

The only series that's still exclusive to Nintendo without being owned by them somehow is Sonic, or can you think of anything else? Remember that Bayonetta 2 is being funded by Nintendo so it won't be leaving them.

 

[Dreadman75]

It still feels like they are winning because the competition is struggling. On the upside maybe this means we will finally start seeing some of those titles that drifted to Nintendo start seeping back into the Playstation Ecosystem.

The competition is struggling because of bad decisions, the same situation that Sony was in during the early days of the PS3. Really, Nintendo and Microsoft have no one to blame but themselves for their current states, even if Microsoft is still a close second with the XBone.

In one of Moviebob's Game Overthinker episodes he makes a case that the whole reason Sony rose to prominence during the days of PS1 and PS2 is primarily because the competition made similarly bad decisions that put Sony in a better light. I'm not sure how much I agree with that but it is worth noting that Sony's machine is the most attractive right now, maybe not for the games, but for the policies backing it up.

 

[gigastar]

Having checked that the sky is, indeed, not falling (its 28C in London today, actually) i shall once again say that Ninty needs to get thier shit together.

The only series that's still exclusive to Nintendo without being owned by them somehow is Sonic, or can you think of anything else?

Monster Hunter. And i will buy a 3DS for MH4U when it releases in English next year.

 

[Steven Bogos]

It still feels like they are winning because the competition is struggling. On the upside maybe this means we will finally start seeing some of those titles that drifted to Nintendo start seeping back into the Playstation Ecosystem.

The competition is struggling because of bad decisions, the same situation that Sony was in during the early days of the PS3. Really, Nintendo and Microsoft have no one to blame but themselves for their current states, even if Microsoft is still a close second with the XBone.

In one of Moviebob's Game Overthinker episodes he makes a case that the whole reason Sony rose to prominence during the days of PS1 and PS2 is primarily because the competition made similarly bad decisions that put Sony in a better light. I'm not sure how much I agree with that but it is worth noting that Sony's machine is the most attractive right now, maybe not for the games, but for the policies backing it up.

That's a good point. The PS1 was basically born out of a bad Nintendo decision (CD drive? fuck that!) and the PS2 was up against the unfocused gamecube.

Now, the PS4 was up against so many terrible Microsoft and Nintendo decisions, that people are praising it for doing stuff that WE HAD IN THE PREVIOUS GENERATION!

 

[Dreadman75]

It still feels like they are winning because the competition is struggling. On the upside maybe this means we will finally start seeing some of those titles that drifted to Nintendo start seeping back into the Playstation Ecosystem.

The competition is struggling because of bad decisions, the same situation that Sony was in during the early days of the PS3. Really, Nintendo and Microsoft have no one to blame but themselves for their current states, even if Microsoft is still a close second with the XBone.

In one of Moviebob's Game Overthinker episodes he makes a case that the whole reason Sony rose to prominence during the days of PS1 and PS2 is primarily because the competition made similarly bad decisions that put Sony in a better light. I'm not sure how much I agree with that but it is worth noting that Sony's machine is the most attractive right now, maybe not for the games, but for the policies backing it up.

That's a good point. The PS1 was basically born out of a bad Nintendo decision (CD drive? fuck that!) and the PS2 was up against the unfocused gamecube.

Now, the PS4 was up against so many terrible Microsoft and Nintendo decisions, that people are praising it for doing stuff that WE HAD IN THE PREVIOUS GENERATION!

In all fairness though, the PS4 is a very impressive machine in it's own right. Really it's current failing is the lack of titles thus far and that's looking like it'll be rectified later this year.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

All next gen consoles are suffering for lack of titles, but PS4 and Xbone have a perfectly good excuse in that they have only been out for a few months. What's Nintendo's excuse?

 

[V4Viewtiful]

This may actually be good for Ninty, forces them to step up their game, they already have big games coming, maybe by then they have more to offer.

 

[GAunderrated]

I have a feeling these statistics were placed before the lovely sales of mario kart

 

[Blaze the Dragon]

All next gen consoles are suffering for lack of titles, but PS4 and Xbone have a perfectly good excuse in that they have only been out for a few months. What's Nintendo's excuse?

Nintendo's excuse is that they don't have a massive software problem anymore. At the very least, they have a way better library of exclusives out now then most people will let on, and have way more on the horizon for the near future than the other big 2 do currently; especially now that mario kart is finally out. (However I'll admit E3 will hopefully change that)

Also I love how only being out for this long was apparently not a good enough excuse for most people when Nintendo was in the exact same position when the WiiU first launched, but now that the other consoles launched to have literally the exact same problems with their software libraries, people seem to shut up about that. The PS4 is selling purely on trailing hype alone right now, and the other 2 are failing because they either didn't advertise enough, or had a poor image from the start.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say Nintendo's in a good position, I'm just pointing out what I find interesting. The WiiU did probably just become worth buying for most people though.

 

[EvilRoy]

I have a feeling these statistics were placed before the lovely sales of mario kart

Actually, as far as these number go, that sales boost probably wouldn't have changed the outcome. With the release of MK8, the WU had a boost to something like 19000 sales/wk vs the PS4 6000ish sales/wk, so there's a big difference there, but those numbers are actually Japan only.

No clue what it looks like on the rest of the planet, but even if the WU was several hundred times that over the whole market they would still need more than a few weeks to make up the ~2 million unit difference.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

And it doesn't even have any games yet, if that doesn't add insult to injury I don't know what does. Hopefully Sony will have some cash to throw at developers eventually.

Now if you excuse me I'll go back to my big chair with my creepy cat and laugh menacingly.

 

[Colt47]

On the upside maybe this means we will finally start seeing some of those titles that drifted to Nintendo start seeping back into the Playstation Ecosystem.

The only series that's still exclusive to Nintendo without being owned by them somehow is Sonic, or can you think of anything else? Remember that Bayonetta 2 is being funded by Nintendo so it won't be leaving them.

Well, we got monster hunter, Dragon Quest, and a lot of other RPGs that had a presence on the PS2, but then drifted to the handhelds and finally went almost exclusively nintendo handhelds. There's also Shin Megami Tensei as well.

 

[Something Amyss]

In one of Moviebob's Game Overthinker episodes he makes a case that the whole reason Sony rose to prominence during the days of PS1 and PS2 is primarily because the competition made similarly bad decisions that put Sony in a better light. I'm not sure how much I agree with that but it is worth noting that Sony's machine is the most attractive right now, maybe not for the games, but for the policies backing it up.

I think he came to the right conclusion through the wrong process, but there is some weight behind the idea that Sony was either in the right place at the right time or that the competition was massively screwing up. Keep in mind that Nintendo was basically saying "Fuck you, we're Gods among gamers" and Sega was releasing a new console every six seconds. Well, okay, I'll be fair. They were releasing a new console or add-on every six seconds.

All next gen consoles are suffering for lack of titles, but PS4 and Xbone have a perfectly good excuse in that they have only been out for a few months. What's Nintendo's excuse?

They're Nintendo, and this is what they do.

I mean, we could knock them for not putting out the games everyone wants in their lifespan, but keep in mind there was a time when you would see at least competent launch titles people wanted. I don't think "a few months" is a valid excuse, even if Nintendo has been lacking games longer.

This setup gets even worse when you consider that we also used to have near-launch titles worth a damn, too.

There was a time when a company would come out with a system and the public wouldn't even look at it without games. Now you can sell a product based on "TV! KINECT! TV! SPORTS! TV! FANTASY FOOTBAL!" and have a record-breaking launch. And Nintendo's been guilty of that for a long time, so I'm not just picking on Microsoft.

Hell, all Sony had to do was say "hey, we're not going to lock down your games or force you to buy waggle controls" and people were all "hey! They're offering a better experience with no games announced! Let's throw our money at them instead!" before there was really much evidence of games.

I mean, given the Xbone or the PS4, I would buy the PS4 first. If I was going to buy a console. Which I would. If there were games. But with a rabid install base of a combined 10+ million in less than a year? They don't have to do jack. They don't even have to make next gen exclusive games. The consumer base is rewarding them simply for making a console on the promise that there will eventually be some "true next gen" games.

This, my friends, is the original "Early Access" program in gaming.

 

[KDR_11k]

Well, we got monster hunter, Dragon Quest, and a lot of other RPGs that had a presence on the PS2, but then drifted to the handhelds and finally went almost exclusively nintendo handhelds. There's also Shin Megami Tensei as well.

The "Playstation Family" sales is primarily driven by PS3 and PS4, to fight the 3Ds only the Vita sales count.

 

[Dreadman75]

In one of Moviebob's Game Overthinker episodes he makes a case that the whole reason Sony rose to prominence during the days of PS1 and PS2 is primarily because the competition made similarly bad decisions that put Sony in a better light. I'm not sure how much I agree with that but it is worth noting that Sony's machine is the most attractive right now, maybe not for the games, but for the policies backing it up.

I think he came to the right conclusion through the wrong process, but there is some weight behind the idea that Sony was either in the right place at the right time or that the competition was massively screwing up. Keep in mind that Nintendo was basically saying "Fuck you, we're Gods among gamers" and Sega was releasing a new console every six seconds. Well, okay, I'll be fair. They were releasing a new console or add-on every six seconds.

While I'm not going to deny that there is some weight behind that assessment, I still think that Sony had more to do with their own successes. Instead of throwing in the towel when Nintendo first snubbed them and their CD tray design, they went into business for themselves and kicked ass with the PS1. Then with the PS2 they simply took the PS1, upgraded it, added in a DVD player and it became THE best selling console of all time. Now we have the PS4 which, on top of being powerful, also decided to stay the course on consumer relations.

Really what I'm trying to say here is that while Sony has a bit of a history of capitalizing, whether intentionally or not, on the mistakes of it's competition; It almost always does so with great design and good business decisions and we shouldn't overlook that.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Oh, hey look at that. The Wii U didn't have virtually anything worth owning it for it's first year while the PS3 was low enough in price for those that didn't know/care about the next generation to catch up on its back catalog. Now it's the system the general public still thinks is an add on for that old Wii motion toy from a few years ago and most gamers still ignore due to software(I'm still waiting for my must-haves list to be filled out by Ninty. They're almost there but not quite.) or lower power vs the new powerhouse(I use that term loosely here.) system that doesn't cost $500 but has they high profile game you see in ads plastered everywhere.

 

[Something Amyss]

While I'm not going to deny that there is some weight behind that assessment, I still think that Sony had more to do with their own successes. Instead of throwing in the towel when Nintendo first snubbed them and their CD tray design, they went into business for themselves and kicked ass with the PS1. Then with the PS2 they simply took the PS1, upgraded it, added in a DVD player and it became THE best selling console of all time. Now we have the PS4 which, on top of being powerful, also decided to stay the course on consumer relations.

They had a console that functioned as a CD player when CD players were still on the rise. They had a console that functioned as a DVD player when DVD was still on the rise. To cap that off, they tried the same thing with the PS3, and it hurt them bad initially. This isn't strong thinking, it's the same thinking which sometimes happens to coincide with the cultural zeitgeist.

Right now, Sony's selling well in what was already expected to be a hot market by simply not screwing up as much.

And they only "stayed the course" if you ignore the PSP/PS3/PSVita.