Which console is dominating the market?

jp-30 suggested that I remove the poll aspect of this thread idea so that I could get more hard facts rather than opinions.

I'm wondering which console is dominating the gaming market (in regards to sales, revenue, and profit), whether it be the Gamecube, the XBox, the PS2, or another. I'd appreciate any links you can provide, as well.

I tried searching for the statistics on my own, but I couldn't find any sites that compared one console's sales with those of another.

 

I think in terms of sales, PS2 is 1st, X-Box is 2nd, and the GC is 3rd. That's just a guess though.

It would be interesting to see who's making the most profit though. I think the GC is the only one that makes a profit when a console is sold so there may be a big difference in profit compaired to sales.

 

Thanks, 2nd.

Obi: Why is Nintendo the only one that makes a profit from selling a console?

 

Where can you actually get unbiased sales figures?

 

Why is Nintendo the only one that makes a profit from selling a console?

It may not be the case anymore with price drops, but when the consoles first came out, I heard the the GC was the only one that made a profit selling the console because they left out some of the features that the X-Box and PS2 had like DVD playback. Let me see if I can find an article about it.


EDIT: Here's an article about the X-Box not making profit.

I still can't find anything on the PS2.

 

Kevin: I don't know. I guess that's why I'm asking.

Obi: I guess Nintendo would face less expenses, as the GC costs less to make than the PS2 and Xbox--or so I would imagine.

 

PS2 has the market share, but XBOX is currently out-pacing it in new sales. whether that's because of ps2 saturation or xbox's more-powerful machine is anybody's guess.

 

The Xbox has the highest game to console sales right now. The PS2 is spanking everyone in console sales.

MS still takes a hit on those Xbox sales, but they're now a little less expensive to make. Of course with price drops it's all relative.

Slightly off topic, I recently heard concerns about SARS and it's effect on the electronics industry. Apparently if this thing breaks out it could shut down factories, stall or quaranteen shipments and basically create a shortage of available electronics in the world. Obviously it would sound crass to be whining about not getting your PS2 or P4 because millions of people are sick or dying, but still I guess it's a concern and a real possibility in a worst case scenario. At the very least it might affect prices on consoles and other electronics.

Just so there's no confusion, not being able to get a computer part is not my primary concern, but I just though I'd bring it up.

 

At launch PS2 didn't make any profit on sales they were just trying to break even and get more revenue on sales of accessories and games Then once they got even they dropped the price thus leading to more sales and profit. This is just a guess but I think I read somewhere that they did something like this.
Anyway, PS2 is by far dominating the market. It was the first released and has had longer to sustain a loyal customer base( including myself). Also PS2 has a lot of top quality EXCLUSIVE games such as Metal Gear Solid, GTA3,FFX, Tekken series, Virtua Fighter, the WWE Smackdown series and many more games.
Only time will tell how Xbox fairs against the PS2. If Xbox starts getting more and more console exclusive games(on console and PC only) then this may result in more sales. I know if 5 games I desperatly wanted were Xbox exclusive I would buy one, heck I was thinking about it to get KOTOR but will just get the PC version.
GC IMO will never be in the same league as PS2 and Xbox. Fisrstly it has those stupid little optical discs so the GC can't play DVD's and CD's which is a reason why some people purchase an Xbox or PS2 for the convenience. Also IMO Nintendo from the 64 has turned into a "kiddie console" with too many games for young children and not appealing to the wider market. Games like Banjo Kazooie, Zelda, Super Mario, Lugie's mansion, Mario Party etc.

 

I think that "kiddie" reputation is what's hurting Nintendo. But Nintendo does have mature games. There's Resident Evil, Eternal Darkness, and Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance to name a few.

I think that the GC has an even amount of perspective on the gaming world. It has its dark side, and it has its light side. Meaning that it has both dark and light games.


It does seem as though PS2 is the primary console of choice, at least in America, but I'm surprised that Microsoft could be seen as conquering Nintendo in the market. Before I bought my GC, I made inquiries on the JC as to which console to buy, and most of the replies I got said that Nintendo offers better quality hardware and software.

So, if Nintendo's quality is superior to that of Sony's and Microsoft's, then why aren't they at the top of the chart?

 

PS2 obviously is dominating, but not this Spring:

From Gamers.com-

In its latest press release touting its North American sales success, Nintendo claims the best-selling console game, the best-selling portable game, and the best-selling game console in North America for the month of March. Nintendo's announcement offers no hard sales figures, and quietly omits mention of the publisher's nigh-empty release slate for the rest of 2003, but it's inarguable that Nintendo is having a fine spring on the strength of The Legend of Zelda and the Game Boy Advance SP.
The Wind Waker initially shipped 1.1 million copies to the US market, and Nintendo states that retailers "are quickly burning through" that supply, although no sales figures are offered to back that up. Nintendo also claims a 20% jump in Gamecube hardware sales on the strength of the new title's arrival. Meanwhile, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire have shipped 2.2 million units in the United States, supported by the shipment of 800,000 Game Boy Advance SPs to retail.

"At what is traditionally a slow time of the year for video games, Nintendo has seized the sales initiative," says Toys R Us game buyer Richard Simone. "With their blockbuster products Game Boy Advance SP, The Legend of Zelda and Pokemon, they're a big part of why video games are one of the truly bright spots at retail."

Nintendo dominates this Spring.

 

With a full year lead and good word of mouth from the PSX, the PS2 is killing the competiton. Then comes the Xbox and then the Gamecube. The only place where the Cube is in second is Japan. Everywhere else it's in third.

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It seems the majority of what I have to contribute to this topic has been said and said again. However I heard that Nintendo refuses to allow foul language in their games, due to their "kid friendly" attitude. Because of this many formerly loyal software companies, such as Square, moved to the PSX & PS2 over the past few years. This began during the 32-64 bit system eras and has continued with the release of both PS2 and GC. I dont have much info about the X-box save what has been mentioned above, so I wont waste anymore time with my bantor. Hope this helps...

 

speaking from a retail pov..........ps2 sells regulary........xbox killed ps2 at xmas, due to the 3 games + console deal.....then sales collapsed when that sold out........gcn doesn't really register here in NZ sadly, distant third but i can order in any games that don't get released here

 

Why do you think Nintendo wouldn't give sales figures to back up their claims for tihs spring?

And, do you think that by refusing to add DVD capabilities to the GC, Nintendo made a huge marketing error?

 

There were supposed to be separate DVD playing systems. I think Nintendo planned on licensing the hardware out to DVD player manufacturers so that they could play GCs, but things fell through. In Japan there is a DVD player / GC combo, but it costs more.

I personally don't buy the argument that GC sales are lower because it does not have DVD playing functions. It is the same price to buy a DVD player + a GC or just a PS2 or just XBox.

 

Ya, Nintendo knows gaming, so it didn't try to screw around with it's system. The discs should have been at least half way between the current size and standard dvd size. They dont' hold enough data. Although they're fricken cool.

I have no doubt that they sold a ****load of SPs, Poke'mon, and Zelda. Maybe not as much, but alot of poeple all have the above mentioned titles, and if that's consistent with the rest of the U.S. then it's big time.

Ps2 is dominating. I don't understand why people still choose it over X-box and Game Cube


I love Cube and defend with what I got. But I also love the X-Box, just because it has some good games. Ps2 is just weaker, It's a year older, and the fact that people are still buying the thing boggles my mind.

 

I think one potential reason that the GC DVD player does not exist is because of the disc size. I think the only difference in the media of DVD, GC, PS2 or XBox is the GC size, so if the GC had a DVD player, it could accept full size discs, and then 3rd parties would not need to buy the GC size discs from Nintendo.

 

When I said "does not exist", I guess I should have written "is not standard".

What I was trying to get at was that unless ALL GCs accepted full size discs, 3rd parties would probably not put out full size game discs.

I mentioned the Panasonic DVD player further above - I know about it. But it would never make sense to a 3rd party to release a GC game that does not play on most of the consoles out there. Even if they made both versions, how would they have any idea of how many to make of each type? I think from a practical business point of view, it would not happen.

Lastly, read times are faster for the outside of a disc, so Nintendo would have been better off making the disk full size, but only starting writing/reading it maybe at half radius for their proprietary disc format. Load times would then be even faster.

GC has better load times now probably because it has better reading routines (and a lot more memory than PS2). Nintendo's greatest concern for going to disc from cartidge was load time issues, so they've probably spent a lot more effort than XBox or PS2 on making load times as smooth as possible.

 

Whatever happened to Sega? I remember back in the day when Sega used to be the one with the "hip" image. Now they're virtually non-existent...?