Video Thirst: Sony's Jack Tretton Talks About PS3's Growth And The PS Brand Lasting Appeal

In an interview with Fox Business, SCEA CEO Jack Tretton talked about the PS3's growth last November, shortages, and the fact that they've been in the business for many years and are not afraid of the competition.

Fox Business: Even though you had the year-over-year growth you're still behind Xbox - you're still behind Nintendo, so how do you plan to get ahead of them for 2010? Loaded Question I know but I got to ask it.

"Well ultimately we've always said it's a marathon not a sprint and I think the growth numbers we're seeing are indicative of the fact that people are embracing the PlayStation message and ultimately it's not where you start it's where you finish - we've seen competition come and go over the fifteen years we've been in the industry but our consoles have always been successful - you look at the PlayStation 2 it's in its tenth holiday season still selling extremely well but only the most ardent gamers could even remember who our competition was when PlayStation 2 debuted back in 2000," he said.

Quench your thirst through the link up there.

12/22/09 Ernice Gilbert

Wii sells 6 million in UK

And the hardware sales winner is.... It's the Wii, again. I sometimes wonder who are the people on God's earth buying those things? Seriously, the hardcore gamers say they're not the ones, so it must be the casual market? Darn big market it is. Anyways...

The Wii has just passed the 6 million units sold mark in the United Kingdom according to Chart Track, one week shy of three years after it launched. Talking up the system's rise to MCV, Chart Track director Dorian Bloch said "In calender year 2007, it sold 1.81 million - but really took off in 2008, with 2.73 million sold. So far in 2009 it's hit 1.31 million but we have few weeks to build on that before Christmas."

The Wii has been a sales success not doubt about it, but gamers from around the globe are up to this day complaining about Nintendo's neglect towards the hardcore. Maybe next time they'll take care of us. The Wii has made the company very wealthy you know.

12/04/09 Ernice Gilbert

Nintendo sold 500,000 Wiis Thanksgiving week

Say what you want about Nintendo and their flagship console, but one thing's for sure, that system has made them more money than the N64 and Gamecube combined. No joke, and this past Thanksgiving week the legendary company scored big again. Ka-ching!

500,000 units were sold, down 300,000 from last year. Also, more than 1 million DSes got picked up by kids, grandmas and grandpas alike.

Some might say the company sold substantially less Wiis than the prior year, but it's still better than Sony and Microsoft's numbers; let's give respect where it's due. Nintendo still knows how to sell consoles.

12/01/09 Ernice Gilbert

Microsoft says Thanksgiving was "biggest sales week of the year"

At Microsoft things were good for Xbox 360 this Thanksgiving. How good? Try the "biggest sales week of the year," this according to Director of Product Management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Aaron Greenberg.

"Great #Black Friday results just in, biggest sales week of the year for #Xbox 360, more than 2xs previous week sales," Greenberg tweeted.

The boss man failed to produce any concrete numbers, however. Here's to hoping Microsoft makes plain what's not in the coming days.

12/01/09 Ernice Gilbert

PS3 sold 440,000 in U.S. over Thanksgiving weekend

Wow, it only does everything including massive Black Friday sales. SCEA communications Patrick Seybold has confirmed that PS3 sold 440,000 units for the week ending November 29th. This is seriously stuff.

"The 2009 Holiday season got off to an amazing start for Playstation, with all key retailers showing a significant increase for PS3, PSP and key holiday titles over Black Friday and the holiday weekend," Seybold said in an emailed statement.

"Playstation 3 demand was at an all time high with the system selling more than 440,000 units for the week ending 11/29/09."

Seybold was so positive about the PS3's future, he said American entertainment will be "defined" by Playstation products.

"In today's economy, consumers are drawn to items that offer the most value for their money, making the PS3 an ideal choice for those who want a comprehensive gaming and entertainment all in one package," he added.

"Combine that with the exclusive holiday bundles and an extensive software lineup, one that many analysts are calling the best in the industry, with titles such as Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and LittleBigPlanet: Game of the Year, we have no doubt that momentum and demand will continue and consumers will prove that entertainment this holiday season is going to be defined by Playstation.

Good news for Sony and the industry on a whole.

12/01/09 Ernice Gilbert

Evidence shows Microsoft's not truthful about Xbox 360 Europe hardware sales numbers

Fuzzy math has been the only explanation to the back and fourth between Microsoft and Sony concerning their Europe hardware sales claims; they've been all over the place. But Microsoft in particular has been biting its own lips.

On September 3rd, 2009, Microsoft told MCV that its next gen install base was 1 million ahead of Sony in Europe. However Sony announced that it had sold 10 million units in the PAL territories at GamesCom, that was a few days after Microsoft had revealed their numbers to MCV. Then came this:

"We're confident that we're actually 1 million units ahead," Xbox Europe Boss Chris Lewis contested, "we count install base differently to them."

"We count the number of units in the consumers hands. We are committed to continuing that momentum - not only in places like the UK, France and Germany. Continued growth in all parts of Europe is integral to winning [against the PS3] overall."

That's what Xbox Europe chief Chris Lewis said to MCV back on September 3rd. So Chris is actually claiming that at the time Sony announced they sold 10 million units in Europe, that the Xbox 360 had sold more than ten million, which puts him in contradiction with himself over the statement he made a few weeks earlier.

But that's not all, on November 12th, 2009, which was four days ago, the company came with yet another set of numbers. This time claiming that after four years they finally arrived at the 10 million units sold benchmark. But what's even worse is that They're not only talking about Europe, but the Middle East and Africa.

See the thing is if they're confident that they sold more than Sony back in August, which would be over 10 million, then what's the explanation given for their latest announcement? Is the software giant lying just to make itself look good? Or is Sony the ones skewing their numbers? Share your thougts.

11/16/09 Ernice Gilbert

Now the PS3 is only 3 million units behind Xbox 360, gap keeps getting slimmer

Never underestimate the power of the Playstation brand. Sony's new ad campaign boasts that the PS3 only does everything, it might not, but surely it's closing in on the Xbox 360 in the U.S and around the world. Oh don't take our word for it, there's data to back up this claim.

When Sony announced the re-designed PS3 Slim in August at GamesCom, gamers from around the world were excited, yet none knew what to expect. Would the PS3 Slim really make a difference, or would there just be a temporary sales boost and things would go back to normal a few weeks after? Just some of the questions Sony fans and journalists alike had. Well to their surprise and probably even Sony's, the PS3 juggernaut is unstoppable, and if Microsoft doesn't revamp its strategies, PS3 Slim will keep slimming down the Xbox 360's lead until there's none.

In Sony's latest financial reports, the company revealed the amount of PS3 Slims that were sold, 3.2 million in the Q2 at the new $299 price point. According to the hardware giant, the PS3 has sold 27 million life-to-date units worldwide, outselling the Xbox 360 during Q2 and nearly matching that of the Wii at 2.1 and 3.5 million units sold respectively.

Some charts suggest that the Xbox 360 has sold over 32 million units globally, others contend it's more like 31 million, however, none of the aforementioned charts take into consideration the sheer amount of Xbox 360s that have failed because of the incurable disease dubbed the RROD. There are claims that over 5 million have died because of it; a staggering number indeed. Not all the broken consoles are repaired, even if Microsoft tried its best to fix them all through its excellent warranty, millions still go unfixed because of how long the owner has had his system, and varying fine print protocols.

So let's give Microsoft the Highest estimate and say at least 32 million Xbox 360s have been sold worldwide, but then you must minus at least 2 million that have died and never got repaired. You are now back to a more realistic number number of 30 million units sold globally. It's no wonder the that recently most games have been selling better on the PS3 in various parts of the world than the Xbox 360, with software sales almost being identical in the U.S on multiplatform games.

It will take Sony years to overtake the Xbox 360, and it might never overtake at all; I own both machines and truly I enjoy them. And there's one thing that I've come to realize, it's that neither of the two giants is going anywhere anytime soon.

11/08/09 Ernice Gilbert

Thirsty Conversations: Wii Talk

Japanese hardware sales are here, PS3 down, DSi down, Xbox 360 down, PSP down, PS2 up? But the Nintendo Wii is Way down. Let's talk, join us here.

Media Create Hardware Sales from Sept. 21-Sept. 27: PS3 sales lag but where's the Wii?

The Japanese are at it again, at what you ask? They're buying Nintendo's DSi for every member in their families. Seriously, is there an end to this craze? Nintendo hopes it continues, and with good reason, the DSi once again ruled the Japanese weekly charts as the Wii, well the Wii is sitting ugly at 5th place just above the Xbox 360. Sony's new Slim Down console saw a sharp sales drop moving 39,960 units compared to last weeks 61,055.

Once again the PSP sits at third moving 17,334, and the PS2? It's about to say goodbye as sales slide into the sunset moving just over 2,000 systems. Here's the full list:

1) DSi ~ 63,342

2) PS3 ~ 39,960

3) PSP ~ 17,334

4) Wii ~ 16,698

5) Xbox 360

6) PS2 ~ 2,723

Japan needs a remedy to curb the decline that's occurring in said market and get back to their former glory before it's too late. Might be too late already but you never know, you just never know.

10/02/09 Ernice Gilbert

Microsoft fears a PS3 overtake, Slashes price of 360 from $299 to $249

Microsoft is not happy with the recent hardware sales data that shows the PS3 leaving the Xbox 360 in its dust. The weekly hardware charts from September 12th - 19th showed PS3 sales was double that of its main rival, with Sony selling 306,794 consoles, compared to Microsoft shipping 146,914 units. So what's Microsoft's response? Slash the price of the Xbox 360 Elite by offering a $50 mail in rebate till October 5th. You may take this lightly, but what they're really doing is, testing the waters to see if $249 would be the deal that'd sway back consumers in their console's direction.

Back in 2005 when the Xbox 360 was launched, Microsoft proclaimed that they had only one goal, and that goal was to beat Sony in this current generation. Sure they had a great head start (minus the RROD), in fact, they have a lead of about 6 to 7million consoles ahead of Sony. But the Software giant knows that when it comes to hardware, Sony is King, and unless they don't keep on extending the value of their Box, Sony has a real chance of overtaking.

The recent Price cut and redesigned PS3 does not make it any easier. Since it relaunched in September, the PS3 Slim has been dominating hardware sales charts across the globe, it's almost like the world has found a fresh new flare for the company they used to love, or it could be that the price is finally right, and after years of seating on the fence, they've made the leap of faith? If the latter is the case, there's no need to worry, because with the stellar lineup the PS3 has going into the holiday season, consumers will be rewarded, for taking that leap of faith.

09/23/09 Ernice Gilbert

Japanese Hardware Sales, Sept. 7 - Sept. 13: PS3 is down

Here they are again, altogether in one harmony. All of them, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. Vying for that special place in the Japanese gamers hearts. Last week, Sony won overwhelmingly, with over 150,000 PS3 Slims sold. This week though, sales were down a whopping 96,000 consoles to 63.54%. The love affair between the DSi and the Japanese people just won't die down, but it seems the Wii is losing her edge.

The Xbox 360 is up, however, not up enough to mount a battle against its nemesis. Don't you just love the orient folks? Nice people, great sunrise, all kinds of food, plus, Media Create's weekly Hardware Charts. I might move to Japan. What you say, the PS2 is still around? Oh really? Good for Sony.

- DSi: 66,498 6,079 (10.06%)

- PS3: 55,344 96,439 (63.54%)
- PSP: 18,375 3,809 (17.17%)
- Wii: 17,568 3,989 (18.50%)
- DS Lite: 11,179 2,870 (34.54%)
- Xbox 360: 7,568 741 (10.85%)
- PS2: 2,612 389 (12.96%)

09/21/09 Ernice Gilbert

Dear Microsoft, the Xbox 360 is losing ground. Do something.

Ever since the Xbox 360 landed on planet earth in 2005, Microsoft has been ferociously supporting their flagship console. It came out a full year ahead of the PS3 and has been waging an all out war with Sony's black behemoth. The 360 managed to build a lead of about 6-7million in units sold lead over the PS3, and apart from the much documented and dreaded RROD, Microsoft has done a great job at keeping the momentum steady, with great exclusives and second-to-none advertising.

The PS3 on the other side of the ring, came out a year later than the Xbox 360, with a price tag that left many of Sony's fan base on the sidelines for years; the console had a very small library of games to boot, and the multi-plats almost all the time looked and ran way better on the Xbox 360. The PS3 had many hiccups from it's inception, and into 2008. To many journalists, it seemed the once No. 1 contender was waging a loosing war. But oh were they wrong, very, very wrong. Fast forward to Sept. 1st 2009, and by the look of things, Sony is on course to gain back its former glory. Read on...

On Sept. 1st 2009, PS3 Slim was launched, and not only did the slimmer sexier console propelled to No. 1 on hardware charts across the globe, it actually was able to set a new record in first week sales for Sony in Japan, with over 150,000 units sold. But what's more astounding is, the momentum is not slowing down that much, and now the PS3 is outstripping even the Nintendo Wii. How long will it keep up, is anyones guess, but with the stellar line-up the PS3 has going into the holiday season, I see no signs slowing, that is, if Microsoft don't step up.

Vgchartz just released it's worldwide weekly chart for the week ending 12th September 2009, and the line could not have been drawn any clearer; Microsoft has to do something, and do it quick, or watch Sony's Slimmed down console eat into it's lead by about 5 million by March of next year, almost erasing the lead it has over the PS3 completely. Yes, they tried bundling a new 250GB Xbox 360 with MDW2, but if amazon's best seller list is any indication, that strategy is not working out as planned. And obviously, the price cut they issued is not yielding exciting results. So, something has to be down. Dear Microsoft, the Xbox 360 is losing ground. Please do something.

09/19/09 Ernice Gilbert

Japanese hardware Sales, July 13-19: It’s Bloody

All I can see is red, no green to spark some hope in even the most unrelenting optimist. Sales were down across all platforms as Japan continues to lose market share to the UK and US. The DSi sold a ship load of units although it was down a disheartening 17% from the week prior, helped by the recent release of Dragon Quest IX no doubt.

I guess Mr. Kaz chose the right title for his TGS Keynote later this year “New tactics for 2009” because some new tactics would be welcomed, won’t you say? The bleeding got to stop in the Orient, but I doubt it will remain this way for too long; after all, one company (‘cough’ Sony ‘cough’), could drop the price of it’s console and the charts will look great again.

But what about the Xbox360? Even the PS2 is doing better the than Microsoft's Machine in Japan. The Xbox team will also need some “new tactics” to boost sales. Nintendo on the other, could just launch a few new colors of both the Wii and DSi and Tokyo goes wild. Hey what can I say, sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down, this week they’re down. Here's the breakdown:

- DSi: 96,986 21,216 (17.95%)
- PSP: 24,053 2,474 (9.33%)
- Wii: 20,807 1,334 (6.03%)
- DS Lite: 9,932 229 (2.25%)
- PS3: 8,865 999 (10.13%)
- PS2: 3,352 156 (4.45%)
- Xbox 360: 2,899 662 (18.59%)

28/07/09 Ernice Gilbert