North American, Japanese PS3 launch limited to 500,000 units

Only 100K in Japan?

Better get the riot police ready. That's a ridiculously low number.

is time for SEGA to jump back in to kick some Sony butt.

Grant, I am mainly saying that Nintendo will probably sell 20-30 million Wiis(at least)in the first year or 2). I think Sony will probably take twice as long to get to that point. The Playstations have a lot of staying power. They are still releasing games for the PS2 that rock and it has been out for a LONG time. Like I said, I will be waiting a while before I pick one up, that way the bugs are gone, the games are going good, and I can actually afford one. Yes the PS3 is in a shitty place right now, I just don't like how people are dismissing it. In 3 years a lot of people in this thread will be proven wrong. At Christmas time this year they will be right, Sony will be sucking on their own a**.

James,

I agree with you, however I don't play enough to buy more than one console, and so for me it's going to be the Wii. I'm sure the PS3 will be pretty fun and a good purchase in a few years after the price drops, but I won't be making that purchase, and neither will a lot of people who didn't feel like waiting.

to summarise and clear up some of the misstatements:

1. the one guy referred to "a man in charge of the dreamcast" because Peter Moore had the same job with Sega then he has with Microsoft now.

2. the 500,000 worldwide number for the PS3 launch is roughly half the worldwide numbers for the 360. anyone who claims otherwise is just spinning the issue. the only thing that compromised those numbers was Microsoft's clumsy decision to launch so many units in Japan.

3. barring Nintendo forgetting to release anything from now until November 17, it seems unlikely that the PS3 will bow in better than third place in Japan the week of its release (behind the DS, obviously, and presumably the more-available Wii)...

4. this I'm not sure about, but if 'data' is the plural form of 'datum' I'm going to suggest that 'Wii' is actually already plural, and just one unit would be a 'Whim'...

5. if even these launch numbers represent what Kutaragi was assured by his engineers that the company could manage, I think we'd better prepare ourselves for the idea that a half million at launch is a best case scenario. prior console launches have taught us skepticism is the best course of action.

not a clarification of anything, but it'll be very interesting to see if the MPAA makes a move to throw more support behind HD-DVD in light of this. the early Samsung BRD player is widely regarded as busted because of a design flaw involving video conversion for 1080p, the launch films available were poorly mastered and used terrible codecs, and the quality of the format, at least initially, was almost unanimously agreed to be quite a bit worse than the launch HD-DVD releases and the Toshiba HD-DVD player. the only thing that many people felt would permit Blu-Ray to win in spite of this terrible launch was the PS3 trojan horse strategy... and if the PS3's launch is as compromised as it looks, has HD-DVD won by default? (or considering Toshiba's peculiar, hands-off approach to the format they created, maybe we should ask: has HD-DVD won by accident?)

xbox launch date---------nov 8 2001
xbox 360 launch date-----nov 22 2005

ps1 launch date ---------dec 3 1994
ps2 launch date ---------oct 26 2000

it looks to me like the ps3 launch is right on track. it took sony 6 years to develop the ps2. if sony launches this year that's another 6 years.

this should mean that we should expect another console to last another 6 years.

but then again if the ps3 will be delayed til next year , it may be outdated in 2 years if microsoft releases another console by 2009.

It's worth it for the 1080p games you'll be able to play.

Oh wait...

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/sony/no-1080p-for-ps3-games-198852.php

I realize that MS only did not have a much bigger launch than Sony is planning (though they did have the PAL market ready too) but we all need to consider this. THAT WAS LAST YEAR! MS could afford the smaller launch because there was no competition. Now they already have a solid base and when mom and dad cant get kids PS3 comne xmas this yr the 360 sittin on the shelf is gonna look mighty nice. I also expect wii to be semi available because it is not using any hard to manufacture parts. Don't get me wrong I want all 3 systems (though I cant afford them haha) but I'm now starting to believe Sony is setting up for failure.

"1. the one guy referred to "a man in charge of the dreamcast" because Peter Moore had the same job with Sega then he has with Microsoft now."

I know WHY he mentioned it...it's just not a valid point, in my mind. Unless you're saying that Peter Moore is planning on taking Microsoft to a software only strategy, I'm not sure what the source of comparison is. The person who drove the Xbox's development was Bill Gates, originally, and it's Gates who'll decide (or Ballmer) if and when they exit the market. Moore was president and COO of Sega America at the time and he's been president of Reebok.

My point is that someone was driving every company at that point...Peter Moore having been around during the last generation doesn't immediately translate into anything more than a coincidence, as his presence wasn't a factor for the Dreamcast's success or failure, other than business decisions he no longer has the same authority to make at Microsoft. This is no more relevant that citing the presence of J. Allard or Satoru Iwata (or the absence of Bushnell or Yamauchi).

All the delays and issues in the world won't make the 360 more appealing. Wii60.....WiiS2 is where it's at.

@55 (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/09/06/north-american-japanese-ps3-launch-limited-to-500-000-units/2#c2038280)

Nice when people do research; maybe you should try it some time before bashing keys with your forehead.

UK and Germany combined make up $7 billion.

So, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Republic of Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Sweden, Switzerland and ALL THE OTHERS, would only have to total $1.31 billion for Europe to beat Japan and $2.9 billion to beat the US.

Which I think is pretty likely. So, how about YOU 'get bent', stop, think, breathe THEN comment and realise that Western Europe IS the most important market and screwing us over will only hurt companies in the long run. Oh, and these sales are only likely to go UP, as we get all the new EU countries starting to contribute, like Poland, Czech Republic and all the others.

All figures from 2004:
UK VG market: $4.1 billion -- http://www.elspa.com/docs/Fact_Card_01.pdf

German VG market: $2.9 billion -- http://www.euromonitor.com/Toys_and_games_in_Germany_(MMP)

Continued in Part Two (only 3 links allowed!)

Anyone else look at Sony's financial status today. There stock is down almost a dollar -.94 or -2.14% for the day. So this news is already hitting them financially.

"It has a lot more to do with the 360 being bigger than their kitchen table, having almost nothing but FPS games, and the price of the console."

By that account, the PS3 will be even less attractive to the Japanese.

1. "the 360 being bigger than their kitchen table" - The PS3 is even larger than the 360.

2. "having almost nothing but FPS games" - The PS3 line up is not much better. Of the 27 PS3 games Sony announced they'll be showing at Tokyo Game Show, almost all are shooters and driving sims.

3. "the price of the console" - The PS3 is even more expensive than the 360, and the 360 will likely experience a price drop in 2007 (reduced cost of manufacturing, move to 65nm CPU).

Microsoft will go absolutly nuts this Christmas advertising knowing they have a free reign in the power console race.

I can't believe Sony is making this mistake. Sure, 360 had only 400k units at launch but keep in mind that Sony is coming into this party after 360 this time around, and the news/circumstances are simply not as lined up for Sony as they were for the PS2-Xbox rivalry.

The fact is the technology is more even, the competition much smarter, and the stakes doubly higher -- for Sony to botch this launch (which it sounds like they have) spells nightmare whichever way you look at it.

500k units and barely enough to cover off Europe in Mar. A LOT of people are going to grap a 360 and/or Wii, and that means PS3 won't really be able to do much until holiday 2007.

HUGE mistake. Knowing MS, this is good enough news for them to go for the jugular -- look for smart combo deals this holiday on the 360. Package that console with Gears of War and watch 360s fly off the shelf. Of course, there's that Wii thing, too ;-)

Just some quick math:

Percentage of people who can buy a PS3 at launch in Japan:
100,000 units / 127,417,244 people X 100 = .078 %

Percentage of people who can buy a PS3 at launch in US:
400,000 units / 295,734,134 people X 100 = .135 %

This means that Sony is essentially DOUBLING the amount of US households that can get the PS3 at launch when compared to Japan.

Is this a smart marketing move? Well, that's up for speculation.

I would be concerned about the rest of the world. Not only is Europe getting the PS3 shaft but so is Canida, South America, Africa, Australia, China, Russia, Indonesia and all other places which are not Japan or the US.

March 2007? Five months is a long time to wait when there is a cheaper, comparable subsitute available in the 360 and soon the Wii. Unbeleivable!

Heh, I'm surprised no one has brought this up yet, but does anyone have an idea as to what percentage of said 500k units will be the nerfed PS3 bundle and what will be the the $599 full system?

Granted, I won't be picking up a PS3 anytime during or after launch but if I were, I'd be pretty peeved if I got stuck with the dumbed down version...

Sorry about the spelling Canada.

On another note, how many of these are going to be the premium package and how many are going to be the economy unit? A lot of people may end up with the unit they do not want if a good deal of these units are the base model.
Others may decide to wait. Then there are still those stupid, uneducated parents with too much money who have no idea what they are buying and don't care as long as its "Sony". That's their loss.
I don't mind the delay as I hd no intention of buying a PS3 any time soon. I will buy the Wii and after this whole development, I have to admit, I thought I would never buy an Xbox or 360, but I am SERIUOSLY considering a 360 for the mean time until the PS3 is affordable. (if ever)

@161

I think your math is off. I believe it was stated that its 400k units to North America, NOT to the US. That means that you need to add in all the canadians. Once you do that then maybe it will average itself out to be correct.

I'm not sure if Mexico is going to be included. Who knows.

@ Karmakin

Competition is ALWAYS good. When has it not been good?

@ SG evaNERV,

"I don't rank myself as a fanboi. To see Nintendo back in first place (even for a short while) would help push innovation and competition for all 3 consoles. I don't want to see a 2 pony "We have more power" race in the game industry.
For me, it has always been about the games...not the companies."

I would agree to a certain extent. But I think it doesn't matter who is in first place, as long as someone is. The thing about this announcement is that any gains made by other consoles because of it would be more readily attributed to the lack of choices, not the abundance thereof.

#69

That is a given. Which would have made that additional revenue all the more valuable. How else do you suppose the loss is intended to be overcome other than by sales of software and high margin accessories. As I said, people for the most part only buy software and accessories after they have the machine that gives those products value. The more quickly you get machines to all the people who want them (at the current price) the sooner they can start buying enough stuff to make up the built-in deficit.

Keep in mind, at launch a company is working against two factors. The actual cost per unit sold, and all the costs accumulated before the first machine was sold and money started flowing the other direction. Nobody reasonably expects the company to show anything other than a loss for the launch quarter and the following quarter, too. But reducing the depth of the losses in those quarters has a very positive effect on how the financial market views the company.

#74

Microsoft still has plenty of work to do. The current range of Xbox 360 software still has a lot of gaps to be filled with some genres entirely absent. There is still a substantial portion of the market who would buy a 360 at the current price but only after something that meets their definition of a must-have game arrives and meets its promise. Blue Dragon, for instance. Halo 3, for another. Each of those promised major games means a chunk of system sales and disappointing results for such critical titles can put a stall in system sales.

Lack of support for certain genres retarded Xbox sales and it remains for them to not repeat that on the 360. PS3 supply issues could make the Xbox 360 more interesting but that only goes so far if the software that a Sony platform is assured of receiving doesn't have comparable product on the Xbox 360 side.

One precedent is the period between the Xmas shortage of the SNES after its launch and when Sega broke Nintendo's stranglehold on third party publishers in the US. Sega picked up a lot of sales thanks to Nintendo's not being able to meet demand, along with the attractions of Sonic and Madden. But Sega wasn't really able to match Nintendo on marketshare until they gained equal access to those third party games. Street Fighter mattered a great deal.

#95 You cannot invoke that history without also mentioning that Sega was already on the brink of collapse at the time. Microsoft, which have bought the Sega of that era with the change under the sofa cushions, is hardly the pushover Sega was. The Dreamcast was out a year earlier but after the launch interest settled down the machine didn't do very good numbers. Sega's own account has fewer than 11 million sold for the entirety of its existence. The Xbox 360 is on track to exceed that well within two years of its launch and keep right on going.

Much as we like our Dreamcasts, it just isn't that meaningful of a comparison. It's like referring back to a boxer's career when he easily defeated an opponent who entered ring barely able to stand and bleeding copiously.

#150

Chad, if you think Sony immediately started work on the PS2 after the PS1 launch, you've got to stop bogrting that joint, my friend. At that point in time it was entirely uncertain there would BE a PS2. Sony was a newcomer to the console platform business and still very much in the hole from the cost of entering that business.

R&D time is hardly an indicator of product lengevity. The Xbox would still be very competitive for the ongoing low end market if it weren't for the mistake of obtaining the Nvidia chips on a merchant basis that made it impossible for Microsoft to scale down costs as they otherwise would have done. The circumstances that shortened the Xbox's lifespan are not directly the result of rapid time to market as a bad business choice between Nvidia and Microsoft. (Nvidia didn't lose big money like Microsoft but stood to make far more money off the Xbox if they had been more inclined to consider the long term instead of pursuing immediate high margins as if the Xbox were a PC GPU.)

Bits of what went into the PS2 were parts of ongoing research at Sony but serious product design didn't start until much later. The same can be said about the DirectX work at Microsoft. The work there didn't concern itself with the Xbox's successor until long after DX9 was underway.

I am not even going to bother with a PlayStation 3 until supplies are up; no game system is worth the hassles brought on by low supplies and I say that as both a gamer who waited outside in the darkness and cold to buy a (defective) Xbox 360 when the last person on a local store's waiting list failed to pick hers up the night before (moving it to general availability the next morning) and as someone who owns a gaming Web site (updated less frequently than I comment at Joystiq, but still).

Betamax, Minidisc, MemoryStick, Blu-ray...now the PS3. When will Sony ever learn. I used to be a big fan, but can't help but choose better companies now.

Plus, the only reason I was maybe going to buy a PS3 was because of Assassin's Creed. Looks like it is coming out for the 360 now. If you look at developers' trends and opinions, you will see which console will win the war between Microsoft and Sony - Microsoft. I can't speak for Nintendo, cuz they have something crazy up their sleeve and it is hard to predict. Whatever it is, it will be competitive and solid.

Mexico, being part of north america (and a united states republic by the way, just as u.s.a, and now with a impossed president just like bush) even if TSo seems to just not care or know.

it´s never included such launches becuase:

A)most of video game piracy in north america is produced here..
B)the market don´t has any urge for product.you sumpply something here and advertise it well, and it will move if is good enough.
C)the black market is 3 times bigger than the official market.... (yeah,really)

wow...what a suprise, did anyone else see something of this nature coming? I certainly hope so... Oh well, no big loss, byby Sony, go sleep in your deathbed of greed.

PS4 FTW. PS4 > Wii Wii (Wii2) > Xbox V (Vista Edition)

Yeah, Totally saving mad money now for at least 2 of these puppies to turn around on ebay for. Worst case scenario I'll break even, even if there's small demand (even smaller supply). Best Case scenario I go to harvard next year.

The PS3 has Resistance:Fall of Man and..... um...?
Besides all the damn FF games, there are not any killer aps in the foreseable future. But, despite shortages (yeah, didnt see that coming Sony) they will still do well enough. Its not the end of Sony guys.
But its not a good start if they want to win this generation.

Buying a 56' DLP 1080P for "true HD" = $ 3,000
Buying a 7.1 sound sytem for ps3 thx = $ 1,000
Buying 3 games for launch of ps3 = $ 200

*Going home without a PS3
because of shortages* = Priceless

seriously, unless you're a Sony fan, you could just preorder one or two and make a killing on ebay. thats the plan here. anybody else?

I'd imagine that even these latest launch estimates will be "adjusted" lower as the date approaches ... One unexpected bad batch of any of the system's components and the launch volume could be cut in half again ... 750k-800k at NA launch. There's still more than 2 months between then and now and things will likely only get worse rather than better.

These guys at Teamxbox hit the nail on PS# with this! Read on to laugh at Kutaragi's face.....fun real facts........PS3 embarass me. I feel ashame of them. They make me puke!

Read on!

http://editorials.teamxbox.com/xbox/1725/PlayStation-3-Worldwide-Launch-PostPWNED/p1

lol lol hahahaah sony is done from gaming. Sony just handed the north american gaming market to microsoft and the global gaming market to nintendo and its wii. I really feel sorry for sony and its ps3. Sony screwing up reminds me of the walkman mindisc debacle during the launch of the apple ipod, I guess the ps3 is the repeat of the minidisc for sony. Tough luck sony. I hope sony has a last ditch effort like dropping blu ray rom drives and place dvd drives instead.

Yuck! I can't believe how childish everyone is reacting to this news. People are so anti-Sony they'll jump for joy at any and all setbacks the company faces. How sad...funny, but still very sad.

How are you all already forgetting the last generation? Sony KILLED the XBOX and GameCube. Wait until 2007 when DMC4 and MGS4 come out, and other games like God of War 3 and Gran Turismo 5 and FFXIII are shown. How can you possibly so easily write off the leader in videogames? The PS2 will continue to outsell all home consoles for some time. Despite all the R&D and manufacturing for the Cell and PS3, Sony has STILL been accumulating a profit over the last few months. They have a bad launch coming up, big deal. I couldn't stand the PS2's launch.

People who dismiss the PS1 and PS2's success are nuts. Yes, this is a new generation, and another for Sony to easily have their way with in the future.

Come on now people don't sell sony short just yet. i beleive that the launch amount of units will stick but after the first two-four months you'll start to see ps3's rolling to the shelves of north american and japanese stores, i think these troubles ar just normal especially when you're starting with whole new innovative technology like blu-ray, in the end though the technology the ps3 and the games that are coming in the spring and summer of 2007 will blow the market away i.e(assasins creed!!!!!!!!!)hang on people.

a question - do you think sony can be low balling their shipment numbers to exceed public expectations when they do deliver the goods?

i haven't heard any news on how many wiis will be available at launch date (i apologize for my ignorance; i'm a casual gamer with interest in the gaming market).

i think microsoft did a great job by delivering the system independent from the hd-dvd drive. ultimately you are trying to sell a gaming system and anything that can complement the system should be considered secondary.

i understand sony position to dominate the living room. it makes perfect sense. but from what i know about the hd-dvd/blu-ray, there isn't much improvement from the dvd. when dvd came into the market, the format gave consumers more bang over the vhs such as greater clarity and less waiting around for fastforwarding and such. i would like to point out that they tried to claim the living room once with the psx but did not do too well. i'm sure sony can have approached their launch like microsoft and offer the bluray as an ancillary product later on. but by compromising their launch date by looking for that silver bullet to dominate the market has backed fire as of now.

360 did not have 1.5 mil at launch they had that many realeased after 6 months, they had less than 500k at release. Which is what caused the chaos.

Remember when xbox came out the original. People bought it becasue it was more powerful, people bought a 360 because it was "next gen" at release. Compare the 360s graphics to a ps3, I say no contest. Ps3 is a new generation of console. 360 can't compete.

Sony wins.

I'm really eager to see for how much ps3 systems will sell on ebay (I predict over $2000)

Well I'm sure PS3 will sell out faster than ever now!

#50: Assassin's Creed looks awesome, but I would never buy a Sony product...Wii FTW!

I find it hilarious that PS3 will be outsold by DS Lite and Wii on PS3's launch week. Plus the interfacing DS will do with Wii will probably get a lot of people to buy it. Downloadable DS demos in my own home? Yes please. I guess the lesson here is: Never underestimate a handheld system that consistently sells 4x as many units as all other hardware combined and is approaching 10% penetration in Japan. Wii+DS FTW!

I can already name three games.
If they ever come out that is.

Metal gear solid 4
Final Fantasy XIII (which will probably be just an myth)
Assassin's Creed

that's all i can think of being worth buying it.
but still i ain't buying the Ps3

Delayed release on some territories and now limited units. Damn SOny! This is gonna be hard on your side then coz they say that 360 will cut down their prices once ps3 is launched.

New to this guys, but can anyone help me, will a japanese version of the ps2 or ps3 work just as well in Europe?

Can anyone help, will the new Japanese ps3 work in the uk?

N. Korea's Nuclear Missle will be Launched before the PS3 ever gets of the ground.

The more people that own the system the more peeps to buy that exclusive game. This poor launch Sony is making for the PS3 will leave a bad taste and many peeps mouth's.