PdotMichael
Banned
It's worse. People like Orland are doing it for free.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Sony FY2015 Earnings ($1.3b profit; 40m PS4 Shipped)
- Thread starter ethomaz
- Start date
It's worse. People like Orland are doing it for free.
Movalpolos
Banned
Everyday I learn something new that makes me more disappointed in the human race.
Pretty sure it's editorial bias shift, you can see how they've switched from doing apple centric long analysis of Mac OS, iPhones ect to stumping for Xbox and Surface.
We all have bias but you should have enough respect for your readers and yourself to not twist your writing/graphing to accord with you own wish. Pure muck.
ethomaz
Banned
Call it speculation then m.
PS4K makes a lot of sense if a real generational
Leap won't be possible till 2020. Seven years is too long to go between hardware upgrades.
exactly. there is no such evidence, hence you are wishing it happen. I cant make any other conclusion.
"We hold our controllers in missing hands.
We stand tall on missing laptops.
We stride forward on the bones of our Vitas.
Then, and only then, are we profitable.
This "revenue" is ours and no one else's: a secret turnaround strategy we wield, out of sight.
We will be stronger than ever, for our Ridge Racer."
―Kazuhira Hirai
Good lord that is a hilarious gif.
Pristine_Condition
Member
It was a dumb article, because by concentrating on the sales number, it attempted to ignore and downplay the fundamentals behind the PS4's early success. Really important things like consumer sentiment, the power difference of the box, price, and the poor performance of XBox360's exclusive library in the final years compared to Sony's crazy-good last years of the PS3, ect.
All these things were causing a significant percentage of 360 gamers to jump on the PS4 and not the XBone. Sure, it's easy to say "don't read too much into it" when you ignore the fundamentals behind the shift in sales. But that is daft to do.
Basically, the author downplayed all these things as if they didn't matter--the massive PR blunder of the XBone launch, the price, ect.--all the things that CAUSED the PS4's strong performance. Extrapolating the "why is PS4 outperforming the XBone?" question would lead any thoughtful observer to conclude this was way more likely to be a trend. But Orland waved all that away, basically theorizing Microsoft could do some magic or something -- somehow spend a shitload on marketing and miraculously reverse the bad PR, fool consumers into forgetting and ignoring the power and price argument, past history -- and turn it all around.
"Blind fanboyism" and "poor reading comprehension" has nothing to do with it the backlash against the article. In fact, the more you actually do comprehend the article, and realize what it is trying to argue, and the significant factors behind the PS4's momentum it tries to downplay, the less sense it makes.
This is all correct but it ignores that Orland and any one advocating for him either exhibit "Blind fanboyism" and/or "poor reading comprehension" One of the pillars of his argument of day one sales being irrelevant is to compare day one sales of PS2 verses week one sales of GameCube and Xbox....
It does not even make sense within Orland's argument or it's conclusions. Day one sales don't matter as the two loser sold as many in their first week as the winner did in 24hrs... wut. Even his selective use of data does not generate the conclusion he wants, if you actually read it.
Pristine_Condition
Member
This is all correct but it ignores that Orland and any one advocating for him either exhibit "Blind fanboyism" and "poor reading comprehension" One of the pillars of his argument of day one sales being irrelevant is to compare day one sales of PS2 verses week one sales of GameCube and Xbox....
It does not even make sense within Orland's argument or it's conclusions. Day one sales don't matter as the two loser sold as many in their first week as the winner did in 24hrs... wut. Even his selective use of data does not generate the conclusion he wants, if you actually read it.
Good points.
30yearsofhurt
Member
Jesus, is it 2021 already?
It is for PS4... Don't read to much into it though....
Hilarious!
No, what Kyle shows in that graph are the ANNUAL sales each year. ie. In 2021 he predicts that the PS4 will sell ANOTHER 40 million in that year alone, bringing the total sales to around 200 MILLION, at which time Xbox One total sales will be around 150 million! Laughter ensues...
Edit: look closely at the final graph on the page (click the bottom right thumbnail): http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/...-widen-its-console-sales-lead-over-microsoft/
(Fark, I received 2 letters in the mailbox today. By this time next year I'll have received around 700! I wonder how Kyle is going in the stockmarket)
Oh my god, he's such a tool, 11 years of increasing sales per annum.
Every time I read about these article the graph below pop in my mind...
I'm hypnotised by the stupid in that graph.
staticneuron
Member
And the only thing heard from ocean this day forth was the sound of crashing waves.....
All jokes aside, it was a poorly thought out argument that only seem to be released to downplay the success of the PS4. People were saying "wow! look at the sales!" and that article was like, "pshaw, it means nothing." That added to the chart and today's report just shows how far that author was reaching at the time.
What impresses me is the fact that the wii is still ahead when launches are aligned. But bravo to sony and that profit margin.
All jokes aside, it was a poorly thought out argument that only seem to be released to downplay the success of the PS4. People were saying "wow! look at the sales!" and that article was like, "pshaw, it means nothing." That added to the chart and today's report just shows how far that author was reaching at the time.
What impresses me is the fact that the wii is still ahead when launches are aligned. But bravo to sony and that profit margin.
That's the thing: how is it reaching to say day 1 sales are an irrelevant metric? Things like supply constraints, regional/worldwide launch and launch software selection can all affect day 1 numbers and yet have zero bearing on the long term success of a console (as evidenced by strong starters like Dreamcast flopping, or slow starters like PS3 picking up over time).
I can't find any suggestion within the article that PS4 wasn't gonna sell well - just an indication that day 1 sales alone aren't an indicator that it would succeed (an assessment which to the best of my understanding holds true).
DannyDanger
Member
This is all correct but it ignores that Orland and any one advocating for him either exhibit "Blind fanboyism" and/or "poor reading comprehension" One of the pillars of his argument of day one sales being irrelevant is to compare day one sales of PS2 verses week one sales of GameCube and Xbox....
It does not even make sense within Orland's argument or it's conclusions. Day one sales don't matter as the two loser sold as many in their first week as the winner did in 24hrs... wut. Even his selective use of data does not generate the conclusion he wants, if you actually read it.
Jeeeeez, has he ever commented on all the valid counterpoints brought up about his sales articles?
Night Angel
Member
So then you need to think about the following: why did such an article need to be written? Taking that article in context with everything else he wrote in that time frame, it's apparent that he was trying to downplay the success of the console he didn't like.
Day 1 sales may not be entirely representative of a console's future sales, but to claim that they're entirely irrelevant and useless as data is laughable.
Coulomb_Barrier
Member
ArsTechnica is an embarrassment for some of those articles they produced on console sales. I now put them alongside Polygon as a source that has zero credibility when it comes to these matters and avoid their content totally.
AnthonypUK
Member
yeah if i remember he also had to do an amendment to a bar graph after being called out on it.
He didnt use the correct scaling, his "error" made the Xbox sales bar look closer to the PS4 bar despite the massive difference.
it should have been
to scale.
ThoughtsOfSpeaking
Banned
Amirox was still a mod then.
They're publishing and marketing the PS4 version. That's it. It's not an enormous financial risk.
Cedric Biscay (Shenmue 3 producer), 2016: "it is a marketing investment." Source.
Every time I read about these article the graph below pop in my mind...
That's, frankly, just embarrassing.
Hope their phone division hangs on, they make some nice stuff. A Z5 compact might be in the cards for me, but I worry about the long term support.
I don't know why you're pointing me to that article, because it says exactly what Cedric said in the interview I quoted.
Sony will help market and publish the PS4 version, it's no different a deal than other indie titles that have come to the platform, and not some crazy financial risk.
The Abominable Snowman
Member
I like the way you think.
Liabe Brave
Member
The quotes in the article say the exact opposite of what you claim. Biscay specifically mentions not just marketing but also "investment" and "various supports". He explicitly says Sony "will help to finance the PS4 version" of Shenmue 3 . While separating that from the "help for advertisement" that they'll also do.
You could not be more incorrect.
PdotMichael
Banned
There is still no Xbox edit
Bitch Pudding
Member
Q&D
Perfect
Q&D
ayyyyy
Unless you are dramatically reading into "various supports", nothing in there is out of line with him saying "it is a marketing investment" in February this year.
It has been clarified over and over and over since last year that Sony is a minor player in Shenmue III, to the point where Cedric's Shibuya Productions actually has a larger stake than Sony. If a small French production company is shouldering more of the burden than Sony, Sony are a.) not nearly as involved as the games media made out to be, and b.) are not at some tremendous financial risk because of it.
I thought the dumbass assumption that Sony was pumping millions into Shenmue III was dead, but I guess you can't kill a lie so easily. Anybody who's seen me around here on GAF knows I follow Shenmue III news very closely and call bullshit when I see it, but sure, tell me I'm incorrect when I have a better handle on the situation than seemingly 99% of games journalists.
GifGafIsTheBestGaf
Member
a small change
That's perfect.
Liabe Brave
Member
Except for the part where he specifically says they're providing money for more than just marketing.
I never said Sony's involvement is a giant risk for them, or large in absolute terms. All I said was that your claim that they're only doing marketing was wrong. The other statements from Biscay clearly show that.
I'm not taking the stance you're fighting against.
This year we had MLB already, we have Ratchet and Clank, and UC4 launch within two months of each other, we have TLG, Gravity Rush 2, and Grand Turismo Sport launching before the end of the year as well, and that's not including the possibility of Horizon as well. Considering that in conjunction with all the third party games, i'd say it was fair.
"PS4 haz no gamez"
"PS4 has no gamez" again. LOL!