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Arstechnica: Don’t read too much into the PS4’s million day-one sales

A

Aquamarine

Member
Sleeplessnights said:
One of the Ars staff is not happy with the opinions we're posing on their opinion article

IKEN4j4.png
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Why do they equate "people who disagree with / don't like their poorly-written article" with "PS4 owners"? I don't own a PS4 and I don't plan on getting one in the near future.
 
R

Relaxed Muscle

Member
Makes sense, console releases are "mostly" successful (that said 360 was highly supply constrained, wasn't it? how it makes a good comparisson?). Still PS4 numbers are pretty damn good and downplaying them is a bit silly. Yeah, who knows what happen in the next months? right now the PS4 is a great success.
 
Sub_Level

Sub_Level

wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Unless MS drops down to $400 in like the next 6 months it seems like a done deal that PS4 will lead, especially with Europe in mind. How big of a lead that's gonna be, I don't know. Could be PS2 level leading margin, could be PS3.
 
F

FunkyPajamas

Member
Marc said:
A lot of downplaying 'journalism' these days, can't remember another time period where game journo's were trying to spin news like this.


PS4 can time travel: "The butterfly effect and chaos theory proves how the PS4 will be the death of mankind."
Click to expand...

I would be worried about this to be honest.
 
S

spwolf

Member
miDnIghtEr20C said:
I agree. Just like this dude I saw on another site who is a big Sony fan talking about how he can see the difference so easily now that he had AC patch to 1080p on his PS4. He said that he dropped the reso down to 720 so he could see how worse it looked and then told us when he switched it back that it was so much better looking in 1080p.

Only problem was when someone called him out and said that the AC patch hasn't come out yet.. so he got the placebo! Ha ha ha.. one of the great reads of the week for me.
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isnt AC 900p right now? Quite possibly dropping it manually to 720p might look a lot worse than 900p.
 
C

Crisco

Banned
I don't really get it. The salient point of the article is totally correct, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with celebrating the PS4's initial success. There is a whole lot that can go wrong with a launch like this, and to reach 1 million (mostly) satisfied customers is a heckuva an accomplishment. An article like this just reads like someone trying to rain on a parade. It's almost juvenile.
 
M

MercuryLS

Banned
He's kinda right, many previous launches were severely supply constrained. Launch numbers for PS4 are impressive, but that has partially to do with the fact that they were actually able to get a million units onto shelves for Nov 15th.

There's no guarantees in the business, but when you look at the future prospects of the system (strong 1st and 3rd party support, powerful hardware and great services in PS+ and Gaikai), I don't doubt that they will be able to continue the momentum throughout the generation.

In a vacuum the million sold isn't a measure of long term success, but with all the other factors included it shows that the platform is off to a strong start with a bright future.

Bringing up Wii U and Dreamcast is disingenuous as they both had similar issues that held them back from strong continued momentum (PS4 and X1, PS2 launch looming and waning 3rd party support).
 
L

Like the hat?

Banned
I personally think it's pretty obvious ps4 is going to be the top selling console this gen, unless Nintendo REALLY turns wii u around.

Xbone has too much going against it in public eyes, most of all being the price and the fact that people still believe that the drm issue is in effect
 
S

SolidSnakex

Member
peterb0y said:
Its not shitting lol.

Damn yall, its a pretty well sourced piece, its not saying that the PS4 launch is bad. Its just making the basic point that the market leader isn't decided yet.
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It is?

For instance, in 2000, the PlayStation 2 sold about 500,000 units in its first 24 hours on its way to capturing a huge majority of the console market in the coming years. In 2001, Nintendo's GameCube and Microsoft's Xbox sold 500,000 and 550,000 units, respectively, in their first week on store shelves, but neither console maker was able to ride launch sales to PS2-level post-launch success.
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If it were well sourced then he wouldn't have even brought this up. The PS2's numbers were only 500k because Sony had major shipping issues and had to cut their shipments from 1m to 500k just two weeks before release. So it wasn't a case of the Xbox or GC selling as much or more as the PS2 as much as it was a case that Sony just couldn't make enough units to meet the demand for the console. Had they then it would've absolutely held the record for best selling console. And what did end up doing in the end? Destroying everything in its path in terms of sales.
 
P

Pain

Banned
coldfoot said:
It's the same guy who said Vita TV is a failure because of low-resolution 1 month before he said 720p vs 1080p doesn't matter since people can't see the difference.
Ignore this douche.

A counterpoint to this is that PS4 will run many games at 1080p, so people who are on PC's or considering PC's, but don't like the cost and are sick of fiddling with them and want the comfy couch experience will gravitate towards it.
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Really? Lmfao

He must be close friends with Adam Sessler.
 
N

nib95

Banned
Aquamarine said:
Why do they equate "people who disagree with their poorly-written article" with "PS4 owners"? I don't own a PS4 and I don't plan on getting one in the near future.
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To make themselves feel better about the reaction to an otherwise rather pointless article.
 
I

IAmRandom31

Banned
Ok wait wait ..

So they are saying selling 1,000,000 in 24h is no different then 400K in a week? And then they are saying the Xbox 360 was THE MOST DOMINANT CONSOLE OF THE GENERATION?

When sales wise it is actually in last place? Or soon will be?

the Wii dominated sales this past generation, and the PS3 is now caught up or surpassed sales of the 360 at this point.

I do not mind opinions. But when your opinions are based on plain wrong " facts " then you have an issue.
 
W

weeeeezy

Banned
Some of the people in this thread are being ridiculous here thinking this is some Microsoft pr, get your head out of your ass please. Let's be honest, if they ship 1 million Xboxes for launch they will sell all of them. It's not the launch window that determines how well you do in the console generation.
 
X

Xiaoki

Member
The article didnt need that much research just to say - "Doesnt matter if a system finishes in first or last, when they launch they sell out."
 
E

erawsd

Member
He's right in the sense that a lot of the celebrating and some of the crazy declarations people have made are way too premature.

A million in a day is an amazing number of units, Sony and its fans should be very happy about it. However, it doesn't guarantee anything moving forward. It doesn't mean that Sony can draw in the casual and non/gamer. It doesn't mean that mobile won't continue to eat away market share and dev share. It doesn't even mean that Sony will take back North America.

Its the first step in a long journey.
 
B

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
peterb0y said:
Its not shitting lol.

Damn yall, its a pretty well sourced piece, its not saying that the PS4 launch is bad. Its just making the basic point that the market leader isn't decided yet.

You might disagree, but does that mean that its an inherently bad article?

But yeah, AssTechnica.
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ummm.. really?

Still, we recommend a bit of caution before looking at those numbers and assuming that the PlayStation 4 will be a long-term, ... hit. A quick look at the history of console launch sales numbers shows little correlation between early sales numbers and longer-term success.
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I removed "market leading" from the bolded part because it has NOTHING to do with the second sentence. It's like the put "market leading" in that first sentence to make it factual, but then in the second sentence say "there have been other big launches that weren't long term successes". It's CYA on intentional baiting.

For instance, in 2000, the PlayStation 2 sold about 500,000 units in its first 24 hours on its way to capturing a huge majority of the console market in the coming years. In 2001, Nintendo's GameCube and Microsoft's Xbox sold 500,000 and 550,000 units, respectively, in their first week on store shelves, but neither console maker was able to ride launch sales to PS2-level post-launch success.
Click to expand...
So wait, Gamecube and XBox each had smaller launches than PS2 and ended up selling fewer consoles over the gen? I am shocked!! Oh wait.. again subtle wording to CYA (comparing one day of sales to one week of sales)

The Wii U provides another good cautionary tale here. The system sold a solid 400,000 units in the US in its first week on store shelves last year, a figure that rose to 890,000 by the end of 2012, with Nintendo talking up retail shortages and sellouts at many retailers. When 2012 transitioned to 2013, though, the Wii U fell into what is increasingly looking like a death spiral of poor sales, poor support, and poor impact on the market.
Click to expand...
So Wii sold insane numbers from 2006-2012 but died a horrible death when Nintendo stopped supporting it. News at 11 (oh wait, what place did Wii finish the gen in?) More CYA comparisons that change the point mid-paragraph.

It is an awful article meant to do one thing.. temper enthusiasm. Why does a site publishing articles about video games want to temper enthusiasm for video games? Honest non-rhetorical question.
 
A

Ath

Member
Oh wow, this is the same Kyle Orland who started the Super Mario Bros HQ fansite. Used to visit there all the time when I was about 11. Never realised he'd moved on to Ars Technica...

Not too sure about the article itself. Sure it's sensible to wait and see how the PS4 and Xbox One fare in the long term sales-wise, but I really think the PS4's amazing US start is a testament to how appealing it is and how good a job Sony have done with it.
 
I

iamshadowlark

Banned
I mean, I guess their premise is correct, but there seems to be a huge sense of damage control in this article. And it seems to be a bit bigger than just ars(looking at polygon and the pa guy).

It's been like this fo what seems like the better part of a year. From the moment Orth bust on the scene and GAF rose up against him, their has been a certain negativity towards Sony and GAF. From cliffyB(used to be a poster) to Gies(posted here as well) they've been softening the blow for MS' horrible mistakes and Sony's victories alike. Whats going on?
 
S

SwiftDeath

Member
Why is a "tech" site trying to tell me that a large launch for a consumer electronics device shouldn't matter to market analysts now?

I don't get it. Why would that be the job of a "tech" site?
 
S

Skilletor

Member
weeeeezy said:
Some of the people in this thread are being ridiculous here thinking this is some Microsoft pr, get your head out of your ass please. Let's be honest, if they ship 1 million Xboxes for launch they will sell all of them. It's not the launch window that determines how well you do in the console generation.
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It seems like the fact that sony DID ship 1 million consoles for launch in one territory is being overlooked. It seems like this gargantuan feat is being overlooked and now people are saying, "Yeah, any console could do it."

Yeah? Well why hasn't it been done before?
 
S

smr00

Banned
Freki said:
ArsTechnica doing it again...

-1080p vs 720p doesn't matter
-Record breaking launch doesn't matter

...
Click to expand...
To the mass consumer? It doesn't. Why do you think it's taking so long for everyone to adopt HDTVs? Blu-Rays over DVD?

Hardcore gamers? Sure, it matters. But guess what? They are in the minority. They don't matter in the grand scheme of things. If they did and if it truly mattered everyone would just buy a PC and a korean IPS monitor.
 
B

bishopp35

Member
Fascinating article, it inspired me to finish my groundbreaking piece of journalism on how the moon isn’t the sun at night. This article has so much common sense that it is inane.
 
M

mr teaspoon

Member
Really? Ars is now being shit on?

DaBuddaDa said:
This is pretty clearly a hedging of ones bets here. In the future, if the PS4 is outsold, he can point to this article and say "See! I told you so!" and if the PS4 is not outsold it will be forgotten and never mentioned again.
Click to expand...

Sigh. Yeah, you nailed it. It's definitely not a game/tech website commenting on current events in the industry, it's Ars Technica, as a monolith, staking out a claim for shit talking a year from now. Yeah, that's the ticket.
 
MMaRsu

MMaRsu

Banned
Holy shitballs this shit is starting to get fucking annoying now.

Almost all these fucking sites are garbage. I mean, 720p<>1080p doesn't matter, and make sure not to buy into that brand new PS4!

Better yet wait till the Xbone is released!

HO-LY SHIT. Comparing the PS4 situation to Dreamcast & Xbox 360?? WUT.

Must take sedatives fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
 
B

BlazingDarkness

Member
Well Sony doesn't exactly have a track record of having consoles release only to meet languishing sales soon after, right?
The only exceptions are Vita/ PSP GO and I don't think either of those sold particularly well at launch. Sony supports their systems which sees their sales rise over time, consistently.

I mean, look at this;
The Xbox 360 sold through a healthy 326,000 units in the US in the two weeks following its launch, according to NPD. Sega's Dreamcast, on the other hand, sold a larger 372,000 units in just four days of US sales,

The Wii U provides another good cautionary tale here. The system sold a solid 400,000 units in the US in its first week on store shelves last year, a figure that rose to 890,000 by the end of 2012, with Nintendo talking up retail shortages and sellouts at many retailers. When 2012 transitioned to 2013, though, the Wii U fell into what is increasingly looking like a death spiral of poor sales, poor support, and poor impact on the market.
Click to expand...
It's comparing to other platforms, and not going by PS1/PS2/PS3 history, which seems ridiculous.

I also enjoyed them repeating the 'MS' and 'healthy sales' thing.
 
I

IAmRandom31

Banned
Ok wait wait ..

So they are saying selling 1,000,000 is no different then 400K in a week? And then they are saying the Xbox 360 was THE MOST DOMINANT CONSOLE OF THE GENERATION?

When sales wise it is actually in last place? Or soon will be?

the Wii dominated sales this past generation, and the PS3 is now caught up or surpassed sales of the 360 at this point.

I do not mind opinions. But when your opinions are based on plain wrong " facts " then you have an issue.
 
N

not_so_special

Banned
Sleeplessnights said:
It's Kyle Orland, we've already went over his undeniably unfortunate bias.
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Aurich Lawson &#8207;@aurich 36min
Man, PS4 owners are sure touchy little buggers. If you don't felate their console just right you've got an agenda and a hidden bias.
Retwitteado por Kyle Orland

his twitter is very revealing..and ben kuchera being ben kuchera
 
M

Man-is-Obsolete

Member
What is there to read into? It sold a million units in 24 hours, it will sell another million in Europe next week, and another million after restocks before the end of the year. That is a larger userbase in a month than the Wii U has accumulated in a year.

Are they trying to tell me mobile phones are going to replace my console still?
 
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