PS3 and Wii sales

[dibz]

Just curious if this is the same anywhere else? I haven't heard much about it online, not that I really looked at all, but the PS3 doesn't seem to be really selling.

On quite a few occasions, even in December, I saw quite a few PS3's on store shelves. I have yet to see a Wii on a store shelf, although all store employees I talk to say they get them often and they always sell out right away. I've seen this in all the stores I've checked now (wal-mart, target, best buy, gamestop, circuit city), and it's still the same as of last weekend. I've seen 10 PS3s at a best buy, one of them didn't even have a security tag on it, with no one even in the section. In contrast the Wii seems to be selling like mad, and I've haven't been able to find one in stores at all. I'm not looking for it in a die-hard fashion, I'm just waiting for initial demand to die down so I can walk in to a store at my convenience and buy one. Circuit City and Target both had signs up not to bother coming in to look for a Wii, they didn't have them.



Go Nintendo. Thoughts?

 

[schi0249]

On the Friday before X-mas, the Walmart in my town had 0 Wii's and 3 PS3's. I almost picked up one, then changed my mind. I love my Wii. Only complaints... I wish Wii Sports came in a normal case (not cardboard) and I wish NA VC would hurry up and get some of the games that Japan has.

 

[dibz]

Yeah, I just went in to my local wal-mart and saw the same today. PS3s everywhere, and no one even appeared interested in the things. Still no sight of any Wii hardware though.

 

[Malakai]

The only reason I'd consider buying a PS3 right now would be for blu-ray, but consoles probably aren't the best thing to play movies on generally. The thing is, you get to play games as they come out, while you're watching the movies while waiting for stand-alone or combo (hd-dvd/blu ray) players to come down. I think LG has the combo player fixin' to come out now, but it has like a $1200 price tag.

I've seen a few PS3 kiosks at various stores but haven't paid much attention to them.

 

[VertigoXX]

I saw tons of PS3's last weekend. Wal-Mart has them in stock, Best Buy had them just sitting on the shelf. Even the swap shops had them. Most places finaly have Wii games in stock, but no luck getting a system yet.

Also, the company I work for... We handle returns processing for a certain large retail company's dot com sales. We're getting at least four PS3's in every day, all unopened. We're selling them on eBay as a bundle with the 20 gig system and nine games. The last one sold for a mere $620.

Wii's, however, are going for 20% over retail. I should also mention that our DS's are going for over $150, plus shipping, due to the shortage of them right now.

 

[cww80]

http://nexgenwars.com/

 

[IceDigger]

I like my 360.

 

[mal]

I like my Wii.

 

[Kuta]

I like my Mega Drive

 

[SamIAm]

I'm in Japan right now, and I have witnessed the same phenomenon in two different game stores. In one, there was a stack of 6 PS3s, but Wiis were nowhere to be found.

 

[mtxblau]

I've gone to several places with handwritten signs saying a PS3 was available, including yesterday.


I was also number 421 in a line of 600+ waiting to get the Wii outside of the Nintendo store in New York.


On a tangent, it was amazing to stand in line for a Wii and see the complete difference there is between PS3 line standers and Wii standers - strangers were chatting with each other, playing card games, offering to buy each other food and drink (this was before the sun came up, mind you).


A guy who was standing behind us actually camped out the night before and had a ticket. He was one of the first to get in. After he got the Wii, he *came* back to our place in line and spent another ten minutes or so telling us what it was like in the store, how many they had, what kind of games and controllers they had - it was amazing.


Back on point - I think Sony gets it now that you have to have a compelling reason to make people spend $600 for a console, and that simply having the Sony name on it (along with 'Playstation') isn't enough. This kind of negative press from the get go is really going to hurt Sony down the line, kind of like Microsoft and the original xbox.


Last I read, the 360 did the best out of all the next gen consoles this season, right?

 

[dibz]

Yeah, I think the 360 did the best considering how widely available it was. That needs to be taken with a grain of salt though, the Wii sold an amazing amount as well, it just couldn't keep up supply with demand.

I still want to get a Wii myself, and so does my wife (Frisky on the boards...)

 

[ExCyber]

It's the same at the local Wal-Mart (only place in town to buy game stuff).

 

[joe81]

eh i almost destroyed some kid that cut me in line for a wii. i wasn't buying it for myself i was going to give it away for a christmas gift but in the end i didn't get one and neither did the kid that cut in line 2 people infront of me.

 

[schi0249]

MTX, I had the same experience as you. We took turns getting food and going to the gas station for heat. One guy was a fireman and brought a bonfire to help some. A bunch of us (strangers) had DS and linked up for some Mario Kart action. I may suck, but it was hella fun.

On a side note, anyone with a Wii had the experience of calling tech support? My Wiimote wasn't tracking and I tried everything I could think of. So I called up support and they tell me to tap the remote a few times in my hand. Voila... it worked. Way different than when I called Sony about my original PS.

 

[mtxblau]

No, haven't had to call Nintendo yet, but in Wii boxing, my person throws punches awfully slow and off target. Yet, when I play trauma center, the game seems to work fine (though the styles are on the opposite ends of the spectrum). I can't tell if there is something going on with the nunchuck or it's when you progress to a certain point your skill degrades (1500+ on boxing, taking on Matt).


How hard did you have to tap it?

 

[tsumake]

Sony's here to stay, but at least for the next year or so, they're going to eat it. The 360 is the tempting next-gen buy, even if you don't have an HDTV set, because of the solid online capabilities and good catalog of games. The Wii has a great price point and, let's face it, the next Zelda. Both systems offer good backwards compatibility, and the 360 even upscales Xbox 1 games to 720p with AA.

The PS3 has just launched, so the line-up isn't all that enticing, though IMO it's the weakest because the 360 at least CoD 2 as opposed to Resistance, and the Wii had Twilight Princess (which is admittedly a GC port, but still).

The PS3 came late in the game, and it needed to give a damn good reason for being late. I don't think people in general will take a serious interest in the system until real killer apps come out, like MGS4.

The PS3 also seems to have problems playing back non-progressive scan PS2 titles - they seem to look better on a regular PS2, even though the PS3 basically has a PS2 inside! Perhaps this is because the image is outputted to HDMI, I don't know. And even though it's done through hardware, PS3 isn't compatible with all PS2 titles. While the 360 is definitely not compatible with its entire library, they are adding titles via software emulation. PS2 playback on the PS3 is done via hardware, so they're stuck unless they make a software emulator (which they are probably). So it's probably best to wait then.

Some people were noticing an increase in electricity bills after they got the 360. It takes quite a bit more juice than the old Xbox. The PS3 is purported to use twice as much.

And, let's face it - it's a Sony product. How many of you don't have a broken PS2 (or PSOne for that matter?). I think it was Kutagari that said while the PS3's cell processor has eight cores, inevitably one of the cores will break in manufacturing on some of the systems, so they had advised developers to program with only seven processors in mind. Yeesh.

I'm not a very technical person, so there's probably a good counterpoint to everything I've said. I personally would like to get a PS3 for some of their exclusives. I have an HDTV set so to get a (relatively) cheap Blu-ray player would be nice. But as it stands, I get I'd need to keep my PS2 handy because of the compatibility issues.

What do you guys think?

 

[dibz]

I think it really depends on the person. For example I general don't have time for long play sessions, I have an old TV, and a family to support. With those three in mind I have absolutely no reason, at all, to purchase something like the PS3. The 360 is a stretch also, but I find it slightly more justifiable to someone in my position (price point, and live arcade games would appeal to the wife). Other then that, the Wii is perfect -- No real time commitment to many games, cheap console, and everyone in the house would play it. I wouldn't lose any expensive features because of my entertainment setup either with the Wii, so the choice really is plain.

While I can't talk for others, I imagine this sort of situation applies to a lot of people. I really don't see how many adults could justify the cost of a PS3, the target audience really seems small considering the commitment.

And like tsumake points out, I've had horrible (as have other people) luck with Sony products -- they always break in a not reasonable amount of time. All of my nintendo consoles still work, although some could use some cleaning. I've thrown out countless sony parts over the years (not just consoles), and my PS2 gives me crap too.

As far as "killer app" games, other consoles have decent titles too. I can't justify purchasing a console for a (potential) handful of killer games, especially considering my mortgage + car payment is less then it would cost me to get everything needed to play just one game on a PS3. Not worth it (at least in my case).

 

[schi0249]

Not too hard. Kind of like packing cigarette packs (if you have ever known a smoker). I guess the motion sensor can sometimes get stuck in a position. At least thats what they told a friend. But his happened after hitting a cofee table with his wiimote (on accident).

As for PS3/XBox 360. Both appear to be decent consoles but are missing the "killer ap". With XBox maybe adding IPTV support, that could make for a nice addition. I still have only seen 1 or 2 games I want. But the backwards compatability finally covers almost all of my games.

PS3 is just too expensive of a tech equipment for me. I always video games as "toys". Yes they were more expensive than an action figure, yhey had replayability in years. But at $700, the PS3 is not a toy.

 

[Malakai]

For the price of the PS3, it really needs to come with at least a 3 year no-questions asked warranty, if not 5. Sony definately hasn't been known to build the most durable equipment over the years, and lots of people know it now.

I've had to replace my ps2 several times, and many other friends have had to replace their ps2s multiple times. The first playstation systems had laser problems. The problems themselves are not a big deal, but sony still to this day denies there ever were laser problems with their original playstation system. What does that mean to you, the Joe Consumer? It means Sony will keep what ever they can quiet and don't want to fix any problems that they don't absolutely have to.