Sony profits down 94%, Nintendo is up 72%

[billd420]

I'm calling it right now... Nintendo is going to reign king of the consoles again after the Wii launches. Its the beginning of the end for Playstation:

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/26/1851229&from=rss

-Bill

 

[SouthtownKid]

if their profits have already risen, can you explain how that has anything to do with the yet-unreleased Wii? This is profits, not stock confidence or whatever. It's money made on things they have sold. The article credits DS for a lot of that. Wii's effect on the company's fortunes is still completely unknown.

 

[Mushiki]

Microsoft lost, and is losing amazing amounts of money per console sold, but this didn't stop them to finishing in the second place during the last console war.

 

[BoriquaSNK]

Nintendo has never sold a console on a margin, every single Nintendo product ships out the door with a profit for Nintendo.

Sony and Microsoft lose money on each 360 and PS3 they sell, and offset the costs with revenue from software licensing, online services, and peripherals.

Nintendo has ALWAYS been the most consistently profitable of the big three.

 

[Nesagwa]

Nintendo has never sold a console on a margin, every single Nintendo product ships out the door with a profit for Nintendo.

Sony and Microsoft lose money on each 360 and PS3 they sell, and offset the costs with revenue from software licensing, online services, and peripherals.

Nintendo has ALWAYS been the most consistently profitable of the big three.

Well and Sony and Microsoft have many other sources of income.

 

[cafu1982]

Nintendo has never sold a console on a margin, every single Nintendo product ships out the door with a profit for Nintendo.

Sony and Microsoft lose money on each 360 and PS3 they sell, and offset the costs with revenue from software licensing, online services, and peripherals.

Nintendo has ALWAYS been the most consistently profitable of the big three.

this makes sense, nintendo's main (only) line of business is gaming. Would be impossible for them to survive if their business model was like that of MS and Sony's game divisions.

 

[PUNJABEE]

You're basing the success/failure of a system on the amount of profit Nintendo is making?


lol@retardation

The Revolution may be a financial success, mainly because there are a lot of stupid people out there.

 

[DangerousK]

Well and Sony and Microsoft have many other sources of income.

Sony's other sources are not making up the income.

The PS3 has cost them a lot of money the past quarter as well as the laptop battery recall...of course the hope is to make it back down the road.

But it's just a spot where if the PS3 doesn't turn out to do as well as they thought, they are in deep shit.

 

[BoriquaSNK]

Well and Sony and Microsoft have many other sources of income.

Well yeah of course, but in the hardware console industry Nintendo is the only company that's profitable out the door.

That's not to say that Sony and Microsoft have it wrong, it just goes to show the difference in strategy between them. Nintendo's managed to chug along for so long precisely because it so rarely makes a bomb.

 

[OrochiEddie]

Well yeah of course, but in the hardware console industry Nintendo is the only company that's profitable out the door.

That's not to say that Sony and Microsoft have it wrong, it just goes to show the difference in strategy between them. Nintendo's managed to chug along for so long precisely because it so rarely makes a bomb.

Well at this point neither Sony or Microsoft have made a dud system. Sega did two and that's why they had to leave the console market.

 

[RAINBOW PONY]

anyone who thinks the wii will be the king of this generation is fucking RETARDED.

it's a bargin store system, for casual gamers. if the PS3 bombs the 360 will be king by default.

 

[Nesagwa]

anyone who thinks the wii will be the king of this generation is fucking RETARDED.

it's a bargin store system, for casual gamers. if the PS3 bombs the 360 will be king by default.

"Casual Gamers" make up a pretty good chunk of the market

 

[recon_zero]

"Casual Gamers" make up a pretty good chunk of the market

Casual gamers are like the 80% of the market

 

[SouthtownKid]

"Casual Gamers" make up a pretty good chunk of the market

But I also disagree with the other part of his statement. I think casual gamers are the MOST easily swayed by pretty graphics at the expense of "gameplay" or "innovation". Whatever Nintendo's intended audience is, I'm not convinced their approach is going to accomplish what they're hoping for (not saying I'm sure it won't either, though).

I do agree with Dash that 360 is in not a bad spot to capitalize on the other two's missteps. Like that gameshow Jeopardy, the guy in 3rd place can win in the end by betting nothing, while the two competing to win bet it all against each other and guess wrong.

Expensive Bluray versus an innovative new control concept. It's possible neither is the winning solution, in which case MS might pick up the win with their middle-of-the-road console (at least here). Assuming more 3rd party jumps ship from Sony if they start to have troubles.

 

[fatal fury fan #2]

in which case MS might pick up the win with their middle-of-the-road console (at least here). Assuming more 3rd party jumps ship from Sony if they start to have troubles.

I really hopeing the samething will happan. sony will be fucked if this dose come true

 

[RAINBOW PONY]

But I also disagree with the other part of his statement. I think casual gamers are the MOST easily swayed by pretty graphics at the expense of "gameplay" or "innovation".

But then again Casual Gamers are also swayed greatly by price.

The reason 3DO bombed so badly is because Casual Gamers did not buy it due to it's high price.

 

[cafu1982]

what would happen if PS3 bombs and Sony goes under or at least out of the gaming/console biz?


Only MS and Nintendo as the market players? Doesn't sound like a good situation to me.


Sony are acting arrogant partly because they think they're so ahead of the competition. Don't think MS won't do the same if something happens to Sony.

 

[evil wasabi]

what would happen if PS3 bombs and Sony goes under or at least out of the gaming/console biz?


Only MS and Nintendo as the market players? Doesn't sound like a good situation to me.

That would be bad. Competition is key. Without the current state of gaming, we would probably never see anything as innovative as the wii, or online gaming as it turned out in the last generation. The better the competition is, where players actually try hard to take the #1 spot, the better things are for gamers. When one player has too much of a lead, and enough power to bully the industry, things turn to shit. But that doesn't mean that player should be booted out.

 

[SouthtownKid]

But then again Casual Gamers are also swayed greatly by price.

That's very true. But another thing consumers are swayed by is perceived value. When something is drastically cheaper than its competition, instead of thinking they're getting a good bargain, many people just assume the cheaper product is inferior. Consumers are funny creatures.

The reason 3DO bombed so badly is because Casual Gamers did not buy it due to it's high price.

In the case of 3DO, it was expensive (and a newcomer to the console scene) while BOTH of the industry leaders of the time (SNES, Genesis) were cheaper and established. What we have now is the opposite, with one console "cheap" while BOTH of it's competetors, both of whom sold more last generation, are more expensive. Odd man out syndrome.

The other thing about 3DO was that it didn't have the library or very good 3rd party support.

 

[recon_zero]

what would happen if PS3 bombs and Sony goes under or at least out of the gaming/console biz?


Only MS and Nintendo as the market players? Doesn't sound like a good situation to me.


Sony are acting arrogant partly because they think they're so ahead of the competition. Don't think MS won't do the same if something happens to Sony.

Yup that's right. Sony did a good thing for the industry with the PSOne, and got a bit retarded with PS2, and PS3 is a huge gamble. I'd hate to see them not making more consoles.

 

[Robert]

I'm pretty confident that the Wii will achieve some pretty good sale numbers.
Take the exemple of the DS, it's underpowered in front of the PSP but it's very well throught and has a solid line up with innovative and classic games.

If Nintendo manage to do the same with the Wii, they might create the big suprise in the next-gen war.

 

[RAINBOW PONY]

some of you people are "bat shit" crazy.

nintendo did pretty much everything right with the cube, and it still came in 3rd.

now you're calling them to rule the industry?

the wii isnt any cheaper than the cube was.

besides nintendo titles, they still don't have any other big software lined up (same problem with the cube).

the system is totally underpowered this time (compared to being near xbox levels last time).

brand new "iffy" control scheme.

where have they done anything better than the cube? i can't find it.

unless a shit ton of people get nostalgic about nintendo and NIN somehow takes advantage of this, i don't see this sytem selling better than even the cube.

MSFT has clearly crafted the best next gen system overall.

If the PS3 doesn't catch on, I still think it will outsell the wii.

IMO if someone didnt buy the GC, they sure as hell arent gonna get a wii.

 

[PUNJABEE]

some of you people are "bat shit" crazy.

nintendo did pretty much everything right with the cube, and it still came in 3rd.

now you're calling them to rule the industry?

the wii isnt any cheaper than the cube was.

besides nintendo titles, they still don't have any other big software lined up (same problem with the cube).

the system is totally underpowered this time (compared to being near xbox levels last time).

brand new "iffy" control scheme.

where have they done anything better than the cube? i can't find it.

unless a shit ton of people get nostalgic about nintendo and NIN somehow takes advantage of this, i don't see this sytem selling better than even the cube.

MSFT has clearly crafted the best next gen system overall.

If the PS3 doesn't catch on, I still think it will outsell the wii.

I know we hate eachother (well I love you but whatever) but -

QFT.

 

[billd420]

DashK: You're "batshit crazy" if you think the Wii won't be successful. All 3 system's big month is going to be in December. You can bet your bottom dollar a next gen system is on the top of all of the kiddie's x-mas lists. Do you honestly think that parents are going to drop $500-$600 on a next gen system, or go the budget route and drop only $250?

I've got a really good feeling that nintendo is going to crush the competition this time around. I guess only time will tell, i'll re-assess my statements after the holiday season is over.

BTW you can use gamecube controllers on the Wii... Nintendo doesn't have all of their chips in the pot on some new technology, unlike PS3. 360 is in a league of its own. The japanese absolutely hate the 360, which is why i'm sayin the console wars are going to be Sony VS Nintendo.

Just my 2cents...

-B

 

[RAINBOW PONY]

That's very true. But another thing consumers are swayed by is perceived value. When something is drastically cheaper than its competition, instead of thinking they're getting a good bargain, many people just assume the cheaper product is inferior. Consumers are funny creatures.

Here is another thing I had not thought about until you brought that up;perceived value in Blu-Ray.

If Sony hypes Blu-Ray enough, proclaiming it the second coming of christ, then Casual Gamers might magnetically hover towards the PS3 and it's steep price;Of which they would also justify the price to anyone, even family members.

Child: "I want a PS3 for "X"-Day"
Parent: "But look at how much it costs, why does it cost so much?"
Child: "Because it has a futuristic DVD player in it, it's a Blu-Ray! It's so cool."
Parent: "Well, that Blu Ray thing must make it cost that much more, but this could be an investment so we don't have to buy a separate Blu Ray player later."

PS3 = Bought