Brinstar said:
Is that supposed to be a joke? I'm trying hard to find all the "original" titles on the PSP at the moment that makes the DS look like a rehash machine. Trying real hard. Nintendo's own development teams are working on Electroplankton, Nintendogs, Jam with the Band, etc.
But don't worry, we will still see Mario and Metroid and Zelda. No worries there.
DS has sold something like 5 million units worldwide already, so obviously some people out there are interested.
The thing is, the PSP will do fine, both in sales and in titles, the PS2 had the exact same in the way of a dearth of good titles... that fireworks game? what was that... no KILER release titles... PSP actually has a great title in Ridge Racer, and I would buy it just for that.... oh and that Metal Gear Solid game looks sort of retarded based on a card collecting game... but that's another thing entirely...
You can tell who Nintendo is marketing too... it's titles are all brainless kiddie romps... Running around a cave in Metroid gets old no matter how good the graphics are... at least in franchises like Metal Gear (a game that I think was originally on SNES or NES... and is also on the Game Cube I think).... it has a bit more mass appeal.
Nintendo is too dim to know that video games can be marketed to a much broader spectrum of people... as is, there are people who simply wont buy a system because of the 'kiddie grade'...
...hell, what was the biggest app for Gamecube that I can recall?
Animal Crossing.
The biggest ap for Gamecube is SSBM, which has sold over 2.5 million in the US alone, and worldwide has sold close to 5 million... about as well as Halo. But you won't hear about THAT in the media because no one wants to admit that Halo was a one region success only. Most my adult friends love SSBM. After that comes Mario Kart, Zelda and Mario with a few million each. Animal Crossing sold a little bit over a million in the US, close to 2 million worldwide... and if you think it is the kids who are buying it, talk to some more of the gamers on this site. AC is a big favorite on here... as well as with adult gamers in general, and is one of the few titles that really breaks the gender barrier as well. I'd say it is a perfect example of the success Nintendo has with its "games for everyone" philosophy... now, contrast that with MGS which has a pretty clearly defined market (older males.) Who is too dim to realize they need to market to a much broader spectrum?
PSP will do fine of course, no one says otherwise. DS will also do fine. The notion that Nintendo is just for kids is a crock. And hey... GBA showed that you can sell 60 or 70 million units to Nintendo's market... you say it is just for kids, I say it isn't, Nintendo laughs at both of us on the way to the bank.
In terms of profit, Xbox was dead from the start. Check this out. It say that an Xbox costs $320-$400 to make. The article was dated in 2002, so lets assume that MS has found ways to cut manufacturing costs by say, $100. They still lose around $70 a unit.
I can't seem to find the manufacturing costs of the PS2 anymore, but at launch, a PS2 cost $150-$180 to manufacture. Assuming they have also dropped production costs by $100, they make serious profit on each unit sold, as opposed to MS's extreme loss. However, the PS2 is notorious for it's hardware failures... most likely due to Sony's cheap manufacturing techniques. According to this the nintendo gamecube costed around $200 at launch to manufacture. Again assuming the $100 production cut, Gamecube breaks even on it's hardware.
You know... after I think about this, I sort of realized I had no point to make. However, since I hunted around for links for this crap for like an hour, I'm gonna go ahead and leave it for you to read.
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Brinstar
Chicago, IL
September 2002
MAY 04, 2005 09:21 PM
I don't believe for a second that a PS2 only cost 150-180 to manufacture at launch. I have never actually heard of a console that wasn't losing money straight from launch. It was rumoured Gamecube only cost 180 to make, but when you think about the fact that Nintendo wasn't getting the full 200 launch price (retailers get a decent portion, shipping costs, etc.) then that would still be a loss.
Fact is you make the money off the 3rd party game licenses, 1st party games, and accessories to a lesser extent. Now, I have heard Microsoft lost money overall this generation... oh purpose, to get a wedge into the game industry. I also heard they are on a 10 year plan, that is, not expecting to profit until 10 years from the launch of the original Xbox. These are all more rumours though, no clue how true they are.
Brinstar said:
I don't believe for a second that a PS2 only cost 150-180 to manufacture at launch. I have never actually heard of a console that wasn't losing money straight from launch.
Me either. I'd love to know the actual numbers on this but of the 3 current consoles the PS2 was the most ambitious design and the likely the most expensive to manufacture. They had a custom CPU, the vector units, custom graphics, pretty much everthing. They built fabs to manufacture the chips themselves!
Not that there's a console that isn't largely custom hardware, but Nintendo and Microsoft leveraged a lot of existing technology and the economies of scale on existing parts; The PowerPC architecture and ATI graphics in Nintendo's case and basically the entire x86 personal computer in the case of Microsoft.
Check this out. It seems I was mistaken about the launch costs for the PS2. About halfway down, it mentions that the PS2, in 2002, costs roughly $185 to manufacture. Can't seem to find the launch numbers, but I assume they'll be much higher, probably around $250-$350. I have no idea the development costs of any of the consoles, and finding numbers like these is like pulling teeth. Luckily I'm bored, and am trying to find things to keep me occupied.
Brinstar
Chicago, IL
September 2002
MAY 04, 2005 07:49 PM