The Myth of Slow PS3 Sales

[McGarnigal]

look at this site.. almost everyone here has a ps3.. prob the case with numerous other entertainmennt resource sites

[Kyo28]

Originally Posted by pBLU-RAYs3

Let's reverse role-play the numbers and switch the two next-gen brands. If ps3 had a current $199 usd priced, released a year earlier than the competition, and sold 32 million worldwide with 2/3 months left of being in 4 years on the market. Would you consider ps3 a failure, that's where the 360 is? Would gaming journalists say than that ps3 failed? Looks like someone is getting a free pass from journalists. If this applied to ps3 then I think it did not live up to the ps2.

I think competition is a good thing to an extent. As long as Nintendo and Sony are in the race, I don't see any company coming in first place and demolishing these two competitors. Many have tried but how much cash will they bleed.

That's a good point! It's all a matter of perspective:
- Sony came from an all-dominating position and now is in a market where, given the year-difference it has to share it's place with the 360 in the HD market and let the Wii pass by in overall console sales
- Microsoft came from a sunken ship of Titanic proportions that is the original Xbox and now is doing much better (sales-wise) with the 360

If you take both consoles at face-value, the PS3 is selling better than the 360 worldwide, keeping in mind the price difference and year headstart. However, some people expected Sony to obliterate everything in a year's time with the PS3, and as such consider it now a failure. Conversely, everyone expected MS to do poorly before the 360 launched and they did better than expected

All a matter of perspective, I think.

[infamous8]

Originally Posted by Kyo28

You also have to take into account the following:
- PS3 repairs cost money, which is indeed a downside but on the other hand, it happens rarely. So, it's the luck of the draw
- 360's indeed do get fixed for free in the first 3 years but only if the failure was an RROD due to overheating. Other system failures don't fall into the 3 years warranty, if you read the fine-print. That's why we see so many forum posts of users asking how they can make their 360 overheat when another technical malfunction occurs, because they want to be able to get the 3-year warranty.
- PS3 get world-wide coverage, 360 doesn't: both my consoles are Japanese and I live in Europe. A short mail to Sony shows they'll fix my Japanese console but will charge me. Microsoft says "tough titty, shouldn't have imported" and refuses any kind of support, even though I'm willing to pay for it.
- 3-year warranty was offered because the 360 has an inherent overheating flaw that shouldn't have existed to begin with. It's basically fixing an open wound with a bandaid instead of operating. If it wasn't for RROD, 360 would have had the same standard 3-month or 1-year warranty as the other brands.

Each system has it's pros and cons but it's not as clear-cut as saying: PS3 failure, you pay 150 USD / 360 gets free fixes for 3 years. There's more nuance and fine-print to it than that.

I'll take a three year warranty with a condition that can be easily be induced rather than a 3 month-1 year warranty any day.

[Terjyn]

Originally Posted by infamous8

I'll take a three year warranty with a condition that can be easily be induced rather than a 3 month-1 year warranty any day.

Sure, but what about people like me? My 360 is older than 3 years old, has failed, and now Microsoft wants me to pay to get it fixed. Every day that passes more people with poorly designed 360s are entering my territory. Who cares about your early adopters right...the US won't care anyway, and will continue to buy your crap?

[infamous8]

Originally Posted by Terjyn

Sure, but what about people like me? My 360 is older than 3 years old, has failed, and now Microsoft wants me to pay to get it fixed. Every day that passes more people with poorly designed 360s are entering my territory. Who cares about your early adopters right...the US won't care anyway, and will continue to buy your crap?

If your PS3 was 3+ years old and failed you'd be in the same boat.

[Terjyn]

Originally Posted by Kyo28

Conversely, everyone expected MS to do poorly before the 360 launched and they did better than expected

If you look at sales Microsoft HAS done poorly with the 360 sales. It's just that they are being let off the hook, by everybody.

I'm firmly convinced that BOTH the 360 and PS3 sales have been weak this generation, and even given what you are saying it's like some cosmic joke that one is viewed as good and the other as bad.

[Terjyn]

Originally Posted by infamous8

If your PS3 was 3+ years old and failed you'd be in the same boat.

There is a difference between a system which gets old and breaks and one with a known manufacturer's defect. Known manufacturer's defects in a lot of industries result in recalls. Microsoft basically just paid people to shut up instead of fixing the problem.

But go on and continue to be a Microsoft apologist. You'd make a good US blogger.

[infamous8]

Originally Posted by Terjyn

There is a difference between a system which gets old and breaks and one with a known manufacturer's defect. Known manufacturer's defects in a lot of industries result in recalls. Microsoft basically just paid people to shut up instead of fixing the problem.

But go on and continue to be a Microsoft apologist. You'd make a good US blogger.

Rather than stop development on their next system to re-design their curretn system they decided to just extend warranties and keep their customers happy. Which obviously shows in their sales. Where else do you see a product with such a short life expectancy and consumer loyalty?

[christopher2200]

Originally Posted by Kyo28

You also have to take into account the following:
- PS3 repairs cost money, which is indeed a downside but on the other hand, it happens rarely. So, it's the luck of the draw
- 360's indeed do get fixed for free in the first 3 years but only if the failure was an RROD due to overheating. Other system failures don't fall into the 3 years warranty, if you read the fine-print. That's why we see so many forum posts of users asking how they can make their 360 overheat when another technical malfunction occurs, because they want to be able to get the 3-year warranty.
- PS3 get world-wide coverage, 360 doesn't: both my consoles are Japanese and I live in Europe. A short mail to Sony shows they'll fix my Japanese console but will charge me. Microsoft says "tough titty, shouldn't have imported" and refuses any kind of support, even though I'm willing to pay for it.
- 3-year warranty was offered because the 360 has an inherent overheating flaw that shouldn't have existed to begin with. It's basically fixing an open wound with a bandaid instead of operating. If it wasn't for RROD, 360 would have had the same standard 3-month or 1-year warranty as the other brands.

Each system has it's pros and cons but it's not as clear-cut as saying: PS3 failure, you pay 150 USD / 360 gets free fixes for 3 years. There's more nuance and fine-print to it than that.

Yes I agree but in my case the network froze up during the update and they still charged me where is the fairness in that. I love my ps3 but that to me was a little harsh. I think thats crappy that ms wont fix your 360 as well. I think that the problem with people bashing the ps3 for the sales are they are holding it to high standards of how well the ps2 was selling when it first came out.

[Tempest]

Originally Posted by infamous8

If your PS3 was 3+ years old and failed you'd be in the same boat.

But unlike the PS3, that XBox has probably failed numerous times in those 3 years and unlike the XBOX, the PS3 is not known for high failure rates either.

[Blinkman987]

Sony charged me to fix my 3-month-old system (would not read discs) because I didn't have a receipt and they would not be able to verify if it was out of warranty. I responded with "this system shows it to be manufactured 6 months ago and this sku did not exist even a year ago."

They basically said all they could just short of saying "you stole this Playstation." To be fair, the turnaround time was excellent, but the entire experience left a sour taste in my mouth. To take care of me, the customer, they certainly could have made an exception based on the fact that the 40g version did not exist a year previous to that date and therefore was obviously within warranty.

[Blu-Generation]

Originally Posted by infamous8

Rather than stop development on their next system to re-design their curretn system they decided to just extend warranties and keep their customers happy. Which obviously shows in their sales. Where else do you see a product with such a short life expectancy and consumer loyalty?

Yea, where else?

Faulty system, people buy it, instead of repenting to make less faulty system, they extend warranties. In other words, pay to make people shut up. Same deal.

MS and their craptivity.

Just like giving candies to a baby, instead of washing their butt.

That aside, the PS3 should help sell great amount. Despite whatever myth there is.

[TL OWNS U]

Originally Posted by AikonEnt

I mean, how many times do you still here people use the 'the PS3 still has no games' comment?

I hear A LOT of that from my friends on XBL. They are like "Dude, PS3 sucks, it has no games and it costs too much. PS my d*ck is huge."

Even my friends from school say "but 360 has Halo and Gears and PS3 has nothing. Plus, my 360 was only 200 bucks."

Out of all of my friends, 87% of them had to get a new 360 because of RRoD. one of them said "Screw that, I'm getting a PS3." and lived happily ever after.

[christopher2200]

Originally Posted by infamous8

Rather than stop development on their next system to re-design their curretn system they decided to just extend warranties and keep their customers happy. Which obviously shows in their sales. Where else do you see a product with such a short life expectancy and consumer loyalty?

They are working on fixing the problem. The old cpu in the 360 was called the Zephyr which was the ones in the first gen consoles. The next cpu that came out was called the Falcon which still had unacceptable failure rates. The new one coming out is called the Jasper. The Zephyr ran at 260 V I believe the Falcon ran at 175V and the new Jasper is suppose to run at 150V. There are reports that the Jasper is already in some of the new Arade systems and are suppose to be in the other two systems sometime this year. The failure rate has gone down considerably since the release of the Falcon hopefully the Jasper solves the problem.

[christopher2200]

Originally Posted by Tempest

But unlike the PS3, that XBox has probably failed numerous times in those 3 years and unlike the XBOX, the PS3 is not known for high failure rates either.

Actually the failure rate on the ps3 is still over 10 percent not nearly as high as Xbox, but is still not acceptable considering electronics failure rate is supposed to be under 3 percent.

[Septimus Prime]

Originally Posted by christopher2200

They are working on fixing the problem. The old cpu in the 360 was called the Zephyr which was the ones in the first gen consoles. The next cpu that came out was called the Falcon which still had unacceptable failure rates. The new one coming out is called the Jasper. The Zephyr ran at 260 V I believe the Falcon ran at 175V and the new Jasper is suppose to run at 150V. There are reports that the Jasper is already in some of the new Arade systems and are suppose to be in the other two systems sometime this year. The failure rate has gone down considerably since the release of the Falcon hopefully the Jasper solves the problem.

Actually, the Jasper has been around for months now, but no one actually knows if it's more reliable than any of the other chips, since it isn't market-tested yet.

[christopher2200]

Originally Posted by Septimus Prime

Actually, the Jasper has been around for months now, but no one actually knows if it's more reliable than any of the other chips, since it isn't market-tested yet.

Do you know if it is in the Elites yet?

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by christopher2200

Do you know if it is in the Elites yet?

It should be in the new white box elites.

[RichiPuppy]

Originally Posted by christopher2200

Actually the failure rate on the ps3 is still over 10 percent

That is just the results of one particular survey.

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by Terjyn

Sure, but what about people like me? My 360 is older than 3 years old, has failed, and now Microsoft wants me to pay to get it fixed. Every day that passes more people with poorly designed 360s are entering my territory. Who cares about your early adopters right...the US won't care anyway, and will continue to buy your crap?

Personally I see a case for a class action there. 3 years is not the life of the console generation, and if MS are talking up a 10 cycle like Sony they should have built the product to last at least 7-8 years into it...

3 years out of 10 isn't that long tbh, but I suppose MS get to make money from all of the repeat sales and out of warranty repairs.