Arstechnica: Dont read too much into the PS4s million day-one sales
- Thread starter Zombie James
- Start date
The bolded is the best point I've heard today (Full disclosure- I think bias is way overblown in the games media). This article makes sense, isn't, in my opinion, inflammatory- but its kinda useless.
not_so_special
Banned
you may agree or not agree with jason,but at least he is a gentleman
It is very painful, I agree.
if you aren't sending the writer of this article nasty messages on twitter you can rest assured he probably is not "attacking" you.
Wowfunhappy
Member
They were ultimately kind of right though, the fad was just far larger and lasted far longer than any of them expected.
Xenon
Member
This is not a very accurate statement, the tweet is obviously addressing the over the top offensive responses to the article. He has every right to call out the people who are doing it.
NoirVisage
Banned
That is such a copout response.
UberTag
Member
When this generation is done, Sony will still be around. Microsoft will still be around. Playstation and Xbox (in some form) will both still be around.
Arstechnica? Not so sure about them. If their primary revenue stream is based solely around antagonizing an audience that they seem to despise, I don't see much hope for their long-term growth.
Not publically in a way that casts doubt upon his own professionalism, he doesn't.
This.
And this, because tonally I'm cool w/ the tweet, but consoletard is just unacceptable.
krypt0nian
Banned
A representative of a company never has right to call their customer tards. Stop defending mindlessly.
Sony would need to really need to fuck up some how with the PS4 to not see great sales. They're already at a good price point. I think that manufacturing costs will continue to decline steadily and PS4 should be able to break even much sooner than they did with the PS3 (if they haven't already). Also, the attach rate is going to be insane insane this gen, especially with digital content from Sony.
We are pretty certain that Sony's huge 1st party will deliver some gens or at least good games. If they get a few gems that require the Playstation Camera and one of those ends up being a Killer App, it's a wrap lol.
It's not really hard to put everything together here. Other than the possible build quality issues with the PS4, Sony literally corrected everything they did wrong from last gen and last gen and they ended up having a similar amount of total sales compared to the Xbox 360 worldwide.
Of course we don't know how things play out in the future based on initial sales, but it's not really hard to put together the fact that Sony AT THIS POINT is likely going to dominate because they are in much favorable position now due to:
1) Price
2) Exclusives/Indies
3) Branding/Marketing (so far at least)
How's that for logic Ars Technica?
We're already seeing this in the U.S. and if the numbers are accurate, I don't think that Xbox One has as many preorders (correct me if I'm wrong. I don't know what has changed recently).
We are pretty certain that Sony's huge 1st party will deliver some gens or at least good games. If they get a few gems that require the Playstation Camera and one of those ends up being a Killer App, it's a wrap lol.
It's not really hard to put everything together here. Other than the possible build quality issues with the PS4, Sony literally corrected everything they did wrong from last gen and last gen and they ended up having a similar amount of total sales compared to the Xbox 360 worldwide.
Of course we don't know how things play out in the future based on initial sales, but it's not really hard to put together the fact that Sony AT THIS POINT is likely going to dominate because they are in much favorable position now due to:
1) Price
2) Exclusives/Indies
3) Branding/Marketing (so far at least)
How's that for logic Ars Technica?
We're already seeing this in the U.S. and if the numbers are accurate, I don't think that Xbox One has as many preorders (correct me if I'm wrong. I don't know what has changed recently).
Yes I agree.
I understand why people are outraged with both the article and the Tweet but if people really think he has crossed the line and should aswer or apologize for it , then notify his bosses about it , flood their twitter acounts and any other social media options if necessary.
But ranting up huge shitstorms (No matter how epic they may be sometimes)about it on Gaf is not going to help change anything.
Xenon
Member
Sure they do and the offended have the right to bring their business elsewhere. Since I don't respond with hateful accusatory remarks to articles it doesn't bother me.
Huh?
QuicheFontaine
Member
Well yeah I guess they have the literal, free speech, right to do it. But it's not very clever, especially if it results in a lot of that 'taking their business elsewhere' that you mentioned.
This is like watching a game during Week 1 of the college football season, seeing Alabama blow out Florida A&M, and then coming in and saying "well don't crown em yet, there's still 11 weeks left in the season."
No shit, Ars.
Long story short, it's still a dumb article. No need to write a piece like this at this point in the game.
No shit, Ars.
Long story short, it's still a dumb article. No need to write a piece like this at this point in the game.
AyaisMUsikWhore
Member
Exactly.. Adding to that, I don't think it's fair to say they aren't real "journalist" and "professionals" etc, while also wanting them to act like one. It's one or the other, you either recognize them as a "professional" that they are even when you disagree with them, or recognize them as unprofessionals that is entitled to act like a jerk on social media. Hold each to the rightful standard.
If I don't think dude is a great journalist and downgrade his pieces of work when I disagree, then if he acts like an ass on twitter, I'm okay with that. Obviously he's no better than me and just one of us working a 9-5. No recognition needed.
Guys, guys. This isn't Ars being fucktarded. It's Kyle Orland taking minority stances on wide swaths of issues in an attempt to raise the level of discourse. He's failing miserably at it, but that's what he's doing. The rest of the Ars staff is pretty legit.
Ars just has a shitty track record of gaming editors in general. Ben Kuchera did periodic pieces of solid objectivity followed by ridiculous spurts of opinionated muck, then Penny Arcade Report hired him to keep doing the latter full time. They really need to hire someone from GB or something. I read and subscribe to their stuff, and love most of it... but the gaming-related pieces are just unbearable.
Ars just has a shitty track record of gaming editors in general. Ben Kuchera did periodic pieces of solid objectivity followed by ridiculous spurts of opinionated muck, then Penny Arcade Report hired him to keep doing the latter full time. They really need to hire someone from GB or something. I read and subscribe to their stuff, and love most of it... but the gaming-related pieces are just unbearable.
ElectricKaibutsu
Member
What if you really want Alabama to win?
NoirVisage
Banned
you don't use "retard" to refer to anyone in public, not even people who are asking for an insult.
While it may seem obvious to us, keep in mind that there are a lot of people that think 1 million in launch-day sales is a measure of unprecedented demand for the console, rather than a measure of unprecedented launch-day supply.
SenjutsuSage
Banned
Sounds reasonable. We have no idea what it's going to look like long term.
perineumlick
Member
Lol, what company do you work for? You think they would let you say anything you want to it's customers without consequence?
NoirVisage
Banned
of course it does Senjutsu, of course it does
zomgbbqftw
Banned
It's still sold out, demand was higher than supply, even with the 1m shipped. for launch day. There is an unprecedented level of demand.
But we should have more confidence, long term, in this console supporting its gamers with games until the end of its life-cycle, something we realistically cannot say about its competitor.
Teletraan1
Banned
I have worked with a lot of insightful people who were good at their jobs yet did something wrong and were justifiably fired for it. That is how the world works. Twitter is not a private chat.
I agree sort of.
Don't make any claims concerning the health of the industry on a console launch following a popular predecessor after 7 years of pent up HD angst. Plus we are in the holiday season.
Its an amazing start for Sony at least, and gets the momentum going in a big way.
Don't make any claims concerning the health of the industry on a console launch following a popular predecessor after 7 years of pent up HD angst. Plus we are in the holiday season.
Its an amazing start for Sony at least, and gets the momentum going in a big way.
Deified Data
Banned
Arsholes
Quadraphonic
Member
And that's the part of the metaphor where we're at now.
It's quite obvious the Playstation 4 is the favorite to win everything. More powerful, cheaper, higher sales, more countries, etc.
The question really is:
Why are so many press sites discounting the obvious fucking lead of the PS4?
Is it:
1) Clickbait, since that generates revenue, and creating a false race between the two, pretending the landslide doesn't exist, is better for business? (IE: News channels and the presidential race?)
2) Fanboyism, since many sites didn't exist 7 years ago, and are not used to the idea of switching 'allegiances' for consoles and their brain has trouble comprehending the pony that they mentally picked won't win?
3) Paid off, since MS is obviously behind in many ways, are they just outright paying people to write shit to discredit Sony?
Fun Factor
Formerly FTWer
BULL & SHIT!
Dreamcast was cheaper & had a vastly superior library of games around the PS2 1st year & still got destroyed.
Brand loyalty matters.
It mattered for PS2 transitioning from PSX, it mattered for all Nintendo systems transitioning from post SNES.
Xbox 360 success will matter for XBOne.
Actually, to be honest I agree. First day sales is great only for games- long term success in the console race is arguably harder to determine. Considering the fact the Wii was missing from shelves for so long, and people made some bank on that- we saw many scalpers doing the same for Wii U (and a return rate in January that just destroyed their sales).
Hit up your local Craigslist and 1 in 3 are PS4s and from what I've seen, there's not enough interest there for that after market. I don't doubt we may see a similar situation where PS4s are returned to store because they won't sell, much like the Wii U did.
Is PS4 likely going to be ahead in the race? Yep. But how much ahead is debatable.
Hit up your local Craigslist and 1 in 3 are PS4s and from what I've seen, there's not enough interest there for that after market. I don't doubt we may see a similar situation where PS4s are returned to store because they won't sell, much like the Wii U did.
Is PS4 likely going to be ahead in the race? Yep. But how much ahead is debatable.
It's certainly a flawed article, but my god, the overreaction to it in this thread is far worse. The main flaw is in the assumption that consoles will inevitably sale out on launch day, but otherwise, it is more or less fine for what it is. The PS4 sales could be the result of a number of things, and considering both that and past trends (which the author highlights in the article), it is indeed possible to misread their significance.
When I read the article, I imagine this train of thought: "Impressive number, but it begs for context. Hmm, looking over past sales trends, it seems launch sales tend to be quite good, but otherwise a poor indicator of future success; and with that in mind, I suppose it was always likely the PS4 was going to have a great day 1, and it's very possible the things that resulted in such record breaking sales won't always translate into similar expressions of demand in the future. This will be an informative article."
Clearly I'm missing something, since I don't sense nefarious intent or conspiracy in every article that doesn't express overwhelming jubilance at every piece of positive PS4 news.
When I read the article, I imagine this train of thought: "Impressive number, but it begs for context. Hmm, looking over past sales trends, it seems launch sales tend to be quite good, but otherwise a poor indicator of future success; and with that in mind, I suppose it was always likely the PS4 was going to have a great day 1, and it's very possible the things that resulted in such record breaking sales won't always translate into similar expressions of demand in the future. This will be an informative article."
Clearly I'm missing something, since I don't sense nefarious intent or conspiracy in every article that doesn't express overwhelming jubilance at every piece of positive PS4 news.
okay. if you want to go through the tweet history of every game journalist and game dev person that is addressing someone in the public in an offensive or off-color manner, regardless of context, then be my guest. go out and bring justice to those unprofessional people. get them fired from their jobs.
however, I somehow don't think that's what this is about.
sooo... have you ever worked with somebody that was fired for something they said on twitter? If so, what did they say?
Wii to WiiU
PS2 to PS3
It's not that easy. Companies can still fumble the whole effort of the previous generation with a series of bad decisions.
Circle Jerk
Member
yea post snes the n64 did G R E A T
SolidSnakex
Member
I'm not sure if i'm reading your comment correctly, but the PS2 probably had the best first year lineup of any console. From October 2000-2001 games like Onimusha, GT3, GTA3, Silent Hill 2, Klonoa 2, ICO, DMC, TM Black etc. were all released exclusively for it. And by the end of 01 there was MGS2, FFX and J&D. The first few months for the console were definitely rough, but once it gained its footing it never let up.
There's a lot of misinformation about the early period of the PS2. From the idea that power didn't matter to it having a poor first year. Even it's launch was pretty damn solid (RRV, Tekken Tag, Timesplitters and SSX), but even that for some reason is often remembered as being crappy.
It might be alright o assert it's a marathon not a sprint but it's also disingenuous to assert 1m day one sales isn't significant. The PS3 situation in North America didn't actually change. The PS3 simply did much better in EU and Asia. The starting condition of 600,000 wiis vs 326,000 360's vs 197,000 PS3 more or less stayed the same in the N/A market. Starting conditions matter.
Byakuya769
Member
Guffaw.
Umm, I misspelled fellate not the ars guy. I assumed who I was responding to was trying to bag on me cause he likes reading stupid articles or is a guilty party.
Xenon
Member
I'll tell you one thing I don't work for a gaming website. But I can appreciate somebody responding to disrespectful behavior. I wouldn't have done it that way. but considering the interactive nature of the gaming media, I am willing to give them a little bit more latitude.
He also didn't use the full word retard. Still he could have used another word to get a point across.
zomgbbqftw
Banned
Tekken Tag was awesome. Would love a PS4 version for the sake of nostalgia tbh.
Fun Factor
Formerly FTWer
I'm talking about the Nintendo core base supporting the N64, Gamecube & Wii stemming from the loyalty of the NES & SNES.
By all means all 3 of those former consoles could have failed like the Dreamcast if not for a devoted & loyal following that didn't abandon them for the other systems that have better 3rd party support, larger game libraries, better graphics & better multiplayer functions.
Hatchetforce
Banned
It isn't necessarily the article in a stand alone fashion with which many here disagree but rather the drumbeat and quite evident pattern Ars have begun to pound out.
Ars will wait on numbers and I will wait on the Ars backpeddling and apologies. Particlularly for the tweet shown in the OP.
Here is one of the things I like about Neogaf. It has become the industry's ultimate arrogance checker. It is obvious that another journalist believes he is a celebrity and above the swine for whom he writes. "Let them eat cake!"
Neogaf, Lord Marshall of Bastille day for self important egotistical game journalists.