Kotaku have asked Sony how they feel about being in third place, and how they ended up there. It’s a slightly subjective adjective, perhaps, but it’s one that some people accept as the current situation – they’re referring, of course, to Microsoft and Nintendo in terms of sales.
“Why has this generation played out differently,” asked the site, “where you guys haven’t won?”
“It’s a lot of factors,” said head of marketing John Koller. “We’ve been pleased with overall sales. And also very pleased with just how well then consumers who have purchased PS3s have attached and buy software. We have a very profitable consumer. If you’re a retailer or anyone else that sells PS3s, you’re more than pleased with the PS3’s performance.”
[drop2]”We’ve been very pleased.“I think when you look at what the PS3 offers,” he continues, “it’s extremely powerful and it’s one that core gamers really gravitate to. And that’s something that’s been really gratifying to us in many ways.”
“If you look at games that are coming, like the Last of Us, those are experiences you don’t get on other platforms.”
“Why we’re in third… you know, there’s a lot of things that happen in the market that cause sales to occur. I think we’ve been very staunch in our belief that there’s a certain value behind the PS3 and there’s certain kinds of games for the PS3 that have stood behind that.”
“There’s no secret that we opened behind a high price point. And certainly others got a relatively nice head start on us because of that. That’s certainly been part of it.”
“But we absolutely have no regrets. This has been a very good cycle for us, and I think if you ask any publisher they’d say the same thing. It’s been good, and we think it does portend good things for the future for PlayStation.”
Kotaku push Koller on that last point. “Maybe if you’d launched at a lower price you would have sold faster, right?” they ask. “Potentially,” is the reply. “You could also say if you launched a year or two earlier the experience may not be where we are today. You can’t always do everything at the same time. Given what we’ve had – and to do what we’ve done – I don’t think we have any regrets.”
3shirts
While he mostly makes good points, the “absolutely no regrets” part concerns me. There are many things Sony should have done better with the PS3 so to not regret them is a worry. It implies, not being concerned about them or learning from them
hazelam
i would assume, or at least hope, that they will learn from their mistakes and are just putting a brave face on it so to speak rather than them actually believing they did everything right and all the problems were somehow somebody else’s fault.
OneShotWook
I agree 3shirts,it’s not the sales position that concerns me it’s the constant 2nd position regarding multi-platform that is more important.If that continues with the ps4 then i’ll be forced to think twice.
Deathbrin
Twice? Yeah and keep up with the other crap that’s on their side of the competition
Youles
So because a Fiesta sells more than a Ferrari, it’s better? :p
I think the PlayStation brand plans for longevity, and tries to hold it’s consumer base by continuing to innovate and provide great games. I also think they predominantly target the mature gamer, (which they recently addmitted), which may not have volume, but certainly has the money to keep buying and supporting them. Whilst they seem to be a bit lacking in marketing for the Vita, they seem to be getting PS+ right now. That said, God knows why they don’t have a PS3 console bundle with 1-years PS+ subscription – think of all the games someone would get to try, then they might renew their subscription. Since the content is all downloaded there is little cost to Sony. It also means a new customer doesn’t have to buy a game with the console purchase (given what is currently on offer in terms of free games!) so effectively reduces the price of buying the console and games.
Deathbrin
Agree with everything except the Fiesta statement; and it’s a great idea for a bundle
Bilbo_bobbins
I buy Sony, because I like the quality in the product, the company as a whole and the longevity (is that a word?) of the product. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed previous consoles from Sony and I love the PS3. I will also buy the PS4 too, because I know Sony think and provide a decent service for what I want.
Yes other brands have come out with different, better things in some cases, but in all I have found Sony to be ontop for my gaming needs, otherwise I would of gone and bought the other brand.
hazelam
i read third place, and i though that meant that weird ad they did with David Lynch.
i though maybe they’d finally tell us what the hell they were thinking. o_O
anyway, the ps3 seems to have done pretty well considering the high launch price and the year headstart the 360 had.
it’s almost caught up now isn’t it?
or at least it had just about before kinect came out.
on the whole i’m happy with the ps3 and the games that are available for it, and in the face of that, who sold the most doesn’t concern me.
obviously i hope it sells well because more sales means more developer support and more games, but who’s first, second or third? meh.
freezebug2
I really don’t care what position the PS3 is in the charts, it just happens to be home to the games that I like best…..need my Gran Turismo fix for starters, but not limited to!!
Jack6
“said head of marketing John Koller”
What do people expect him to say? However, there have been many obstacle for Sony to keep on: the initial price which he commented, the ApocalyPS3! and the Big Japanese Earthquake have surely damaged Sony’s position.
fs
Yeah Sony are third, but they are alot closer to being number one than they have ever been this generation. Xbox has won this one, you can’t underestimae the power of timing when your selling devices of this price. People will buy whats out there when its there, they won’t wait another year for something better if something not so bad is already there. Sony learned this the hard way, they’ll adapt though. A company of that size always does.
ico
they only have themselves to blame really with some very questionable decisions / price points along the way.
I consider myself lucky (or sad) as have all 3 of the main consoles but if it was down to money and I could only choose one it’d be the 360 and I’ve been a sonyite since PS1 days. Xbox’s online service is far superior (though Sony has introduced some good ideas with their recent ‘free’ to play for PSN+ model) and the 360 has always been the cheaper option and the PS3s historic extra cost doesn’t seem justified by what you get. It may be a more powerful machine but that’s only of use if devs know how to embrace it and few do. I will stick with Sony too and hope my Vita gets some more games soon but do feel that Sony have missed multiple tricks this generation and they do not appear to be
a) a company that learns well from their mistakes or
b) particularly humble in admitting their missed opportunities.
(climbs off soapbox…)
cc_star
Whilst what he says is broadly right it doesn’t change the fact that Sony went from ~70% market-share with PS1, to ~77% with PS2… and now with the PS3 they’re down to ~30%.
However you dress it up, or endlessly restate the ‘value’ you provide, that’s one hell of a horrendous feck up, no matter how much you or I love the PS3… Let’s hope next time around with the PS4 we’re not comparing Sony with RIM.
Deathbrin
“Horrendous feck up” is the way to put it, not like it can be said in public coming from a representative anyway.
Forrest_01
I would never compare Sony with Rimming… They are quite different things! :D
MrCoffeeUK
The problem is Sony have had it easy for two generations, with no real “threat” to the mature gamer fanbase they had created. In my opinion the PSone was the “big bang” in mature gaming, where teens and young adults suddenly became much more interested in Split Screen Twisted Metal than they did going out to climb a tree. With the PS2 gaming became cool and much more of a socially acceptable pass-time amongst youths.
PS2 also had an easy run up until the Xbox entered the market, which boasted better hardware and introduced LIVE, yet it was too late for that Gen. What it did do was shake things up and build a platform (LIVE) that Microsoft then built a second console around, bringing gamers together like never before with achievements etc. Sony then (and too late) realised this is the future of gaming and so have been playing catch-up ever since, though today I find the PSN as good as LIVE in many ways indeed.
My point being I don’t see the PS3 as a “horrendous feck up” – simply a slip in market share due to decent, nay – great, alternative via healthy competition. The 30% you are talking about was inevitable when in a market with 2 other major competitors (3 if you include PC). If Sony can hold on to 1/3 of the market amongst the competition then that should be seen as successful.
This generation has been the warm up lap for 3 different racers of whom all have made mistakes. Next generation will not be so forgiving and we could sadly see another SEGA.
Foxhound_Solid
Good read, I’m sure they’ll learn from there mistakes. I still love PlayStation ^_^