Virgin Wii
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The thread title could've used a comma after "Retail workers".
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DS doomed? Retail workers chime in.
- Thread starter AniHawk
- Start date
Kobun Heat
Member
Retail workers know everything.
Date of Lies
Banned
this thread is dumb
Maybe someone in the know can shed light on this, but what's the approximate ratio of sales generation by specialty retailers like EB to the industry in general?
I know that Nintendo's traditionally been stronger with the big box stores, and at least here in
Canada, places like Futureshop always display Nintendo stuff in proportion to the # of games available. I can't say anything about Wal-Mart since I rarely shop there.
As has already been noted, store placement is about marketing dollars and I'm curious why Nintendo has decided to spend its marketing dollars courting the Wal-Marts instead.
I know that Nintendo's traditionally been stronger with the big box stores, and at least here in
Canada, places like Futureshop always display Nintendo stuff in proportion to the # of games available. I can't say anything about Wal-Mart since I rarely shop there.
As has already been noted, store placement is about marketing dollars and I'm curious why Nintendo has decided to spend its marketing dollars courting the Wal-Marts instead.
Don't big box stores like Wal-Mart and Target always launch Nintendo GBA games at a bit of a discount? The local Sunday newspapers also have advertisement books for those stores, so the parents of kids are bound to see those instead of EB and GameStop. Plus, with parents buying games for their kids, they'll naturally want to go to Target or Wal-Mart and buy other supplies, too.
citrus lump
Banned
AniHawk said:
[troll] yes but will there ever be 32 games worth playing on it?[/endtroll]
But seriously, the pushing of UMD movies only serves to destroy our hobby. Shelf space that should be dedicated to more games( for still viable systems) is eventually gonna be overtaken by "outside" features. If game makers have to compete with movies, as well as each other, then its "Game Over"
I've noticed large downscaling of GBA even at my local Walmart.
It's a shame cause for at least the next year, maybe two, it'll have a better library than the DS and PSP combined. IMO.
Hell, I'd rather see more space for Gizmondo and other "lesser sytstems"-than for scaled down over priced movies.
wobedraggled
Banned
ManaByte said:
Many umd's are just the movie, no extras.
wobedraggled
Banned
ManaByte said:
Do you own every UMD released?
speedpop said:
With the PS2 Sony correctly saw the DVD market was huge. PS2 helped push that format. The UMD is a brand new format and its not the same as the DVD.
Sony get points for pushing the DVD format. I'm still confused with what they hope to achieve with UMD movies. THe format is already outdated.
wobedraggled
Banned
ManaByte said:
In context you were saying "the ones I own have em, they all must have em" don't play stupid.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
Or watching crap movie selection on a super-crappy LCD screen embedded in the plane seat in front of you.ManaByte said:
citrus lump
Banned
Really the UMD format is severly limited right now. You can play em on your psp. That's it.
Will there be future products that play them? I wouldn't think they'd look too good on a TV. If other portable players release one would think they'd be alot cheaper, since they won't play games. Will this hurt PSP sales? Maybe, maybe not. Places that carry them will get more sales, but will they sell more games?
I dread the day that stuff like UMD movies sell better at game stores than games themselves.
Will there be future products that play them? I wouldn't think they'd look too good on a TV. If other portable players release one would think they'd be alot cheaper, since they won't play games. Will this hurt PSP sales? Maybe, maybe not. Places that carry them will get more sales, but will they sell more games?
I dread the day that stuff like UMD movies sell better at game stores than games themselves.
citrus lump
Banned
AniHawk said:
And that's too bad. I'm not some sony hater who thinks they are evil, but I really don't like the way they are steering the industry. All-in-one stuff is fine, but not when they overshadow the main feature.
I don't know exactly how to solve this. If you cut out stuff and release a cheaper SKU, you piss people off. If you continue to push other features over gaming you could lose your intended customer. If you don't push technology, then you give little reason to upgrade.
Maybe this industry needs another crash. Unfortunatly, alot of good devs would go down the drain with some of the current problems with the industry.
Reign it in, Chicken Little. This hobby arose in the face of pre-existing TV and Movie industries and has grown significantly over the past 3-4 decades to rival those industries in some ways and is even cited as the cause for decline in the viewership of those latter two industries in recent years.citrus lump said:
Supposedly. Sony has opened the licensing enough to allow that and there have been rumors of CE manufacturers dabbling with this.
From what's been reported, UMD movies are supposed to be encoded at the same resolution as DVDs. I don't think anyone has been able to independtly corroborate that though.
citrus lump
Banned
kaching said:
:lol
I tend to get a little excited, but I love this hobby and I don't want the game part of the system to become an after-thought.
I went in to Best Buy today and noticed they no longer have ANY PSP games on shelves in the game section... its all UMD movies.
Above the movies they have a few notebooks with PSP games listed, and a notice that says "For PSP games see a sales representative." Anyone else see this at Best Buy?
Above the movies they have a few notebooks with PSP games listed, and a notice that says "For PSP games see a sales representative." Anyone else see this at Best Buy?
citrus lump
Banned
argon said:
Actually, now that I think about it, my nearest best buy might be the same. I'll have to go check it out.
citrus lump said:
The new Best Buy that opened here in Canada have exactly 2 - 3 shelves devoted to all games. The Futureshop, also owned by Best Buy, have a few more shelves and in-store displays. Could be that the Best Buy stores are positioned a little differently more as hardware providers.
citrus lump
Banned
Deku said:
All games as in all the systems, or just psp games?
I live in Australia where the DS seems to be doing pretty well. It had a good launch and it has pretty widespread distribution. I personally dont own one. If I could get an import play test of Jump Superstars, that would probably change. I'm also a huge Advance Wars fan.
I dont think theres any evidence to suggest the Nintendo DS is doomed. When we look at Japan for example, the DS's software sales are well above the PSP's even though the hardware distribution is selling at a similar rate. Nintendo also had a small headstart.
The PSP has better graphics than the DS but it seems to appeal to a different audience. The highest selling game is a Golf title. wtf. The controls of the PSP look absolutley standard. From a gaming perspective there doesnt seem to be much to look forward to bar a few titles like GTA, FFVII Crisis Core.
I think the PSP will do much better in more western countries.
I'd rather own an IRiver 512mb Mp3 player and a Nintendo DS. I wouldnt use a PSP for movies. I cant imagine my 20 minute bus rides would be suitable for a 2 hour movie.
I dont think theres any evidence to suggest the Nintendo DS is doomed. When we look at Japan for example, the DS's software sales are well above the PSP's even though the hardware distribution is selling at a similar rate. Nintendo also had a small headstart.
The PSP has better graphics than the DS but it seems to appeal to a different audience. The highest selling game is a Golf title. wtf. The controls of the PSP look absolutley standard. From a gaming perspective there doesnt seem to be much to look forward to bar a few titles like GTA, FFVII Crisis Core.
I think the PSP will do much better in more western countries.
I'd rather own an IRiver 512mb Mp3 player and a Nintendo DS. I wouldnt use a PSP for movies. I cant imagine my 20 minute bus rides would be suitable for a 2 hour movie.
Shin Johnpv
Member
AniHawk said:
he's right though it means nothing
I worked/managed a funcoland for 3 years, we reorganized easily 7 - 8 times in that time span, every 6 months or less we changed the store around
some times PS2 would end up against the back wall some times on the side, some times Xbox would be on the side or on a gondola
it really just depended on what we felt like doing at the time or if MS, Sony or Nintendo paid for an specific amount of space
that's what this might be, Sony may have paid for x amount of feet in each store for the PSP
Shin Johnpv
Member
quadriplegicjon said:
yes it's how all retail works
in fact in a place like a convience store or 7-11 it's probably where the majority of the stores income is made by malboro paying for x amount of space and coke paying for this space etc etc
Yes! I'm happy to report that you are indeed the first person at GAF to bring up this concern. I haven't seen a single thread with people asking questions such as "why the hell do people keep buying those stupid UMD movies?!". Absolutely noone has been whining about it, or even got upset over it every now and then, like it offends them personally.
CoolTrick said:
Actually, I find watching movies on the go can be immersive as well, but in a different way. It's a more personal experience, since you're very close to the screen (compared to a TV), and headphones are great for making the experience more immersive...since everything else in ways of sound is shut out. The result is an experience that is closer, more personal and immediate. This is also true for handheld games, I think...the "horror" parts of Metroid Fusion really worked well because I played them on a handheld, with headphones.
I'm not saying a good setup at home is somehow worse and it can certain add to the experience a LOT, but I do think handhelds can be immersive as well for both movies and games. Having to hold your PSP for two hours can be kind of bothersome though.
The last time I saw thid years slaes figures they looked pretty close. These numbers says theres a difference of about 325 000 in total sales this year. I wouldnt say that was a huge gap. Nintendo's headstart was more advantageous.
Here are the Japanese hardware sales for the week of August 22 - 28:
Nintendo DS - 57,313 [1,520,298] units
PlayStation 2 - 27,161 [1,349,842] units
PlayStation Portable - 20,322 [1,195,576] units
GameBoy Advance SP - 11,144 [494,480] units
GameCube - 2,586 [150,931] units
GameBoy Advance - 652 [17,871] units
Xbox - 130 [9,977] units
source:
http://www.the-magicbox.com/gaming.htm
Remember that I'm focussing on the Japanese market. I'm sure things are different in the US.
citrus lump
Banned
Mr_Moogle said:
How does one spell advantageous correctly but not "this" or "sales" ? :lol
I don't know if advantageous is correct