-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
XBox beats PS2
- Thread starter Alcibiades
- Start date
CrimsonSkies
Member
Uh oh the Asian market comeback has started!
TheGreenGiant
Banned
:yawn:
* i didn't know they even sold cubes in Singapore.
* i didn't know they even sold cubes in Singapore.
sonycowboy
Member
LOL. So the PS2 isn't even officially being sold in Singapore?
Nice comparison.
Nice comparison.
Goddamn, I knew the contents of this thread before I even clicked on it.....
Anyway, the PS2 do have an official presence here but our market is so small that Sony just don't give a shit about us. To their credit, Sony did try to pull off some marketing and advertising in the past but it kind of backfired on them, what with the rampant piracy and all. People were buying the hardware but not the games. And Sony was being stupid by releasing games in the japanese language here when 99% of the population don't speak or even understand japanese at all. Its all laziness on Sony's part.
Now when it comes to Microsoft, that's a whole different ball game. Quite possibly the first videogame console manufacturer to push their product at the mainstream, they really do have an established presence here. TV and print adverts, promotions (there was one where you could buy 5 Xbox games and get the console for free. I kid you not. And the titles we're talking about are top-tier, eg. Ninja Gaiden, and just-released at that period of time.) and all other marketing gimmicks. You name it. Microsoft does it. Xbox games are also, very wisely if I might add, released in the english language.
Anyway, despite all that, I don't believe that Microsoft actually dominates the market to the degree of 65%. I doubt they even dominate the local market at all. Most casual and hardcore gamers own a PS2 before they even get anywhere near an Xbox. The bulk of Microsoft's audience locally are the mainstream casuals who don't really know anything about their games at all. And these form a very minor percentage of the gaming crowd here, as far as I know.
Anyway, the PS2 do have an official presence here but our market is so small that Sony just don't give a shit about us. To their credit, Sony did try to pull off some marketing and advertising in the past but it kind of backfired on them, what with the rampant piracy and all. People were buying the hardware but not the games. And Sony was being stupid by releasing games in the japanese language here when 99% of the population don't speak or even understand japanese at all. Its all laziness on Sony's part.
Now when it comes to Microsoft, that's a whole different ball game. Quite possibly the first videogame console manufacturer to push their product at the mainstream, they really do have an established presence here. TV and print adverts, promotions (there was one where you could buy 5 Xbox games and get the console for free. I kid you not. And the titles we're talking about are top-tier, eg. Ninja Gaiden, and just-released at that period of time.) and all other marketing gimmicks. You name it. Microsoft does it. Xbox games are also, very wisely if I might add, released in the english language.
Anyway, despite all that, I don't believe that Microsoft actually dominates the market to the degree of 65%. I doubt they even dominate the local market at all. Most casual and hardcore gamers own a PS2 before they even get anywhere near an Xbox. The bulk of Microsoft's audience locally are the mainstream casuals who don't really know anything about their games at all. And these form a very minor percentage of the gaming crowd here, as far as I know.
TheGreenGiant
Banned
sonycowboy said:
SPIN
I would think the 'official' sales figures of the PS2s sold here are extremely low. '23' could be a realistic figure believe it or not. Sad to say, nobody (In Singapore) in the right frame of mind would buy an unmodded Asian set. This is expecially so in the last 3 years or so when piracy has become more and more rampant. On the other hand, like Ely X mentioned earlier, a bulk of X Box owners here consists of people who in fact, hardly know anything about console gaming. Quite a significant figure have obtained their X Boxes via Giveaway promotions actually.
Ghost said:
That's the official line.
But, trust me on this count, in terms of marketing and retail penetration, Microsoft ownz Sony in every way possible. For every mainstream retail store where Sony's PS2 is being sold, Microsoft probably has 20 times the number of stores where the Xbox is being sold.
To the likes of Sony and Sega, "Asian version (ex-Japan)" = Japanese version. Last time I checked, the rest of the people in Asia (especially in Singapore, Malaysia, HK, Indonesia etc.) would stand a greater chance of knowing English vs. Japanese. It's no surprise that official (non-modded) Xboxes are outselling official PS2's.
IgeL said:ElyrionX, Gibbo, how's the PC market in Singapore (singleplayer & online)? Just curious.
Definitely doing better than the consoles. We have one of the highest PC penetration rate in the whole world and that definitely helps with the PC market. Somtimes, due to timezone differences, we even get our PC games earlier than you Americans do.
Single player games do well enough on their own but the multiplayer market is more lucrative. Counterstrike was a major factor in the take-up rate of broadband connections. Counterstrike was really huge in 2000 to 2001 and that helped a lot.
Only problem with multiplayer gaming locally: our broadband connections are slow like ass. I'm on cable and connecting to a US server for UT2004, CS, Diablo 2, etc, I would get pings of 200+. This pretty much makes FPS games unplayable. Only way we would get double digit ping would be to hit the local servers. However, due to the inherently small gaming userbase here, buying relatively unpopular games like UT2004 can be serious waset of money when you can't find any local servers with a decent amount of players for a decent match. I've learnt this the hard way.
Also when it comes to games like Diablo and Warcraft or MMOs, gamers here would prefer to connect to US servers (USWest for Diablo and Warcraft). We're generally an english-speaking nation and we don't like to hang out with the goddamn koreans.
Oh and piracy also takes away a large chunk of the local PC scene. But piracy has been clamped down a lot over the years by the authorities.
EDIT: For those on WC3:TFT Bnet USWest, when you see game titles like "DOTA SG HOST". The SG stands for Singapore, just for your info.
sonycowboy
Member
Don't forget China, Taiwan, Hong Kong or India (I'm not even sure if Xbox is/has launching/launched in those regions).sonycowboy said: