EA thinks PS3 year-end shipment numbers exaggerated
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Nov 4th 2006 at 9:00AM }
GI.biz reports Electronic Arts CFO, Warren Jenson, says they don't believe Sony will hit their year-end PS3 shipment of 2 million consoles for North America and Japan. The North American shipment was to be between 1 and 1.2 million units. This 2 million target keeps being debated back and forth. A few weeks ago Sony had us spinning over a Bloomberg report (since pulled), that didn't jive with a Gamespot interview, to the point where the spin had become so bad, all we could confirm was a direct quote from Sony's Jack Tretton saying, "Sony Playstation 3 is in full production and our target quantities for North America remain unchanged ... We plan to have more than one million systems in North America by December 31, 2006"Not so says EA. EA estimates that the North American PS3 shipment will reach 500,000 to 800,000 units by the end of the year, 25% to 50% less than Sony's official statement. Jenson says this is "approximately what Microsoft sold last year on the Xbox 360." We don't know if EA is privy to the real facts, given they are a major supplier of titles to Sony and probably require production numbers to not overproduce games, but this is a bold statement and flies in the face of previous reports.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ying yang @ Nov 4th 2006 9:16AM
i hope he is wrong.
gamerx @ Nov 4th 2006 9:22AM
I'll be surprised if Sony can even pull of its claimed 400,000 units for the US launch. The Japan launch is already down to 80,000 units, from a planned 100,000 units.
Foetoid @ Nov 4th 2006 9:22AM
Die PS3, DIE!!!
MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
(sorry i am still drooling over the 2 new Zelda: TP vids and even thinking about the competition makes me think about sinking a couple of ships to make sure people dont get the god-awefule ps3. Then again, with these shipment problems, i would probably only have to sink a small tug-boat, cause thats all they can get out. Serves em right for being cocky)
WII FTW!!!!!!!!!
gamerx @ Nov 4th 2006 9:29AM
Foetoid, damn straight!
Wii60 combo for the win! I'll gladly spend $650 for a Wii60 combo ($400 360 plus $250 Wii = $650) than waste my money on a PS3 20gb for $500 plus HDMI cable cost!
Sony's days are over baby, and i'm lovin' it!
is @ Nov 4th 2006 9:33AM
play beyond....
Oh wait....
We cant.....
Cos there are no fkin units!
Im starting to feel really bad for sony fans, obnoxious toads tho they are.
jaybleezy @ Nov 4th 2006 10:04AM
Damn another shortage this isn't looking good. Good luck with everybody who plans to stake out Walmart.
WiiDS60 Combo
fawazr @ Nov 4th 2006 10:17AM
Fanboys are choking the life out of Joystiq.
nick @ Nov 4th 2006 10:22AM
Sony has always been less than truthful when discussing numbers in the past for ANY item they sell, so I don't see why this would be any different.
EA is probably spot on with the numbers they provide.
ill trooper @ Nov 4th 2006 11:12AM
Hey, just so you know, no one ever says things like 'Mwahahahahah,' 'dumbass,' or 'FTW!' in real life, and if you ever do go outside or go away to college, you should also avoid saying little fruity things like 'Wii60' as well.
Kevin @ Nov 4th 2006 11:23AM
If this is true, I will be making even more on eBay! Woot!
Travi$ @ Nov 4th 2006 11:34AM
Hey ill trooper,
I say dumbass all the time. Its a good adjective to describe people in certain situations. Wii60 is also not a 'little fruity saying'. It's a good description of the combined purchase, a wii and a Xbox 360. Wii sounds similar to three so why not abbreviate it to Wii60.
Now that thats been said, I hate EA. I hate their below average games, I hate their lack of polish, and most of all, I hate their spyware and in-game adds. I alround hate EA now, but as much as I hate them, their numbers are probobly right on. All ive been hearing from the sony plants is bad new news and more delays.
Being a wii fanboy, this doesnt affect me much, but it does affect my PS3 fanboy friend. I want to play his PS3, then shove my wiimote down his throat because the wii pwns the PS3 so hard!!
Wii FTW!!!!
Legend of Zelda:Twilight Princess FTW!!!!
Red Steel FTW!!!!
Super Mario Galaxies FTW!!!!
Super Smash Bros Brawl FTW!!!!
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption FTW!!!!
All PS3 has is Resistance, and Ive played bigger and better games on my PC already.
360us Maximus @ Nov 4th 2006 11:29AM
@ #9
Not that your bitter or anything though.
@ #10 Yup, Ebay's gonna be good to me this year.
Mwahahahahahaa!
ill trooper @ Nov 4th 2006 11:33AM
Not that my bitter what?
OH, I see, you meant "YOU'RE bitter though..."
Like I said, "IF" you go to college...
gamerx @ Nov 4th 2006 11:44AM
@ #9,
Thousands of gamers disagree with you on that buddy (www.Wii60.com, check the number of members).
I guess the word "ill" is fine with you though ill trooper! you're cool for having such an ill name and not saying things with Wii60! Go you!
Anonymouse Rep @ Nov 4th 2006 11:45AM
ill trooper - "Hey, just so you know, no one ever says things like 'Mwahahahahah,' 'dumbass,' or 'FTW!' in real life, and if you ever do go outside or go away to college, you should also avoid saying little fruity things like 'Wii60' as well."
Hey, dumbass - in case you didn't know, at the GameStop / EB manager national conference, one of the top Microsoft reps there stood up on stage and said "Wii60 for the win for this holiday". Why would a Microsoft rep say this? Simple - Xbox 360 will be in stock. Wii will be in stock. Microsoft does NOT consider Wii to be a heads up competitor, and I personally heard that statement from a Microsoft VP.
PS3 is - or could be - a heads up competitor, since the 360 and PS3 are coin flips in difference. The biggest thing - and the one that has spawned the lawsuit - is that Microsoft has always been about choice. As much as people rag on the core system - it's out there for those people that just want to play games, don't care about saves, or whatever - and we DO sell some of them. (Say you're in an area where you don't have broadband - which are lots of rural areas of this country - you're not going to care about Xbox Live one bit.) We're not forcing you to buy the HD-DVD player when it comes out next week - it's an option and not required. Thus, Microsoft has a legal team after Sony for this.
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/20/dissecting-sonys-ps3-xbox-360-price-comparison/
This is basically the discussion I had in another group with DBX800 (I think that was your handle) about production numbers. I heard last week that Sony's shipping numbers for the US this holiday were going to be even further down than the 400,000. I KNOW that individual Wal-Mart stores - even the high volume stores that rank in the top 100 in the country - aren't expecting more than 4 each on launch day, with absolutely no assurance of seeing any more at all before Christmas.
Travi$ @ Nov 4th 2006 12:04PM
Anonymouse Rep
Can you go into details on why MS has a team after sony? I hadnt heard about this and would like to know more.
paralipsis @ Nov 4th 2006 12:09PM
Sony's tactics with the PS3 are problematic to say the least. It seems that they are so commited to Blu-ray that they are taking stupid risks with the Playstation brand to promote their own media format. Gamers are forced to subsidize market penetration of Blu-ray if they want the PS3, and for seemingly no good reason.
PC games have been "HD" for a very long time, and I have never seen a game take up more space on a hard drive than what can fit on a dual-layer DVD, so the supposition that nex-gen gaming requires 25 or 50GB seems rather exaggerated.
I wonder, what would the price of a PS3 sans Blu-ray actually be? And how many more unit would there be available at launch?
If this effort to promote Blu-ray backfires, as I suspect it will, I think all gamers will lose. The cost to produce a PS3 game is not insignificant, and if the console bombs, then a lot of developers will be left signifcantly out of profit. If that happens, the whole industry will suffer, and gamers - whether they own a PS3 or not - will suffer right alongside. I hope that I am wrong...
Chrono404 @ Nov 4th 2006 3:59PM
@13
I do prefer the Wii over the PS3. But whenever anyone posts what you have posted it just makes you look like you lack reason. Sure the PS3 as any sony product is in short numbers and will have its count of problems, that doesn't mean "wii pwns the PS3 so hard"
I am not a fan of sony in any case, I believe they are killing there own company but it angers me to such Fanboyism. I faver the Wii and the 360 but that doesnt mean i dont look forward to playing a PS3 whenever i can get one, which will probally be in a few years, and most likely not have to many games the 360 wont have then.
TwilightKnight @ Nov 4th 2006 12:19PM
Your right on most of those aspects paralipsis. I do agree that if the PS3 bombs then the industry will suffer from it. But at the same time this industry needs a serious kick in the ass to get it back on track, and having one or two consoles fail at the same time would certaintly do that.
person guy @ Nov 5th 2006 6:31PM
this story is so true
hahanoob @ Nov 4th 2006 6:17PM
Wow. You Wii360 kids are f*cking irritating.
360us Maximus @ Nov 4th 2006 12:50PM
"12. Not that my bitter what?
OH, I see, you meant "YOU'RE bitter though..."
Like I said, "IF" you go to college...
Posted at 11:33AM on Nov 4th 2006 by ill trooper 1 star"
Wow, I guess that puts me in my place. I bow to your superior intellect oh master. I see YOU put that "college education" to good use. Oh BTW, when you start thinking about colleges, you know, in a couple of years when and if you graduate. Keep in mind that DeVry, or The Pittsburgh School of Basket Weaving, aren't real colleges.
You can go, I'm done with now.
Felix @ Nov 4th 2006 2:00PM
That's weird, why would EA make a statement that might negatively affect sales of a console they're making games for?
lets just put the gun down and we go get me those fries @ Nov 4th 2006 2:56PM
Yo can EA shut the fuck up and get to making some microtransaction-less games that dont require me to mortgage my freakin house.
"Wii FTW!!!!
Legend of Zelda:Twilight Princess FTW!!!!
Red Steel FTW!!!!
Super Mario Galaxies FTW!!!!
Super Smash Bros Brawl FTW!!!!
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption FTW!!!!"
and someone shoot that piece of shit who said that. how about im going to go on a date with my hot ass girlfriend tonight and not getting my hair brushed by my mom wiifanboy, FTW.
someguy @ Nov 4th 2006 5:01PM
2. Die PS3, DIE!!!
MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
(sorry i am still drooling over the 2 new Zelda: TP vids and even thinking about the competition makes me think about sinking a couple of ships to make sure people dont get the god-awefule ps3. Then again, with these shipment problems, i would probably only have to sink a small tug-boat, cause thats all they can get out. Serves em right for being cocky)
WII FTW!!!!!!!!!
Posted at 9:21AM on Nov 4th 2006 by Foetoid 1 star
How do these people get stars? Were they at one point intelligent and deserving of praise before they got bitten by the stupid bug?
So you like Zelda, congrats buddy, join the crowd. But that is no excuse to parade your "WII FTW SONY DID BAD THINGS AND NEEDS TO DIE" garbage and make this webiste look like a farce.
lets just put the gun down and we go get me those fries @ Nov 4th 2006 5:20PM
Nintendo fanboys are teh suck.
Anonymouse Rep @ Nov 4th 2006 5:51PM
Travi$ - Very simple. They posted this over at Endgadget.
http://www.engadget.com/2006/10/19/sony-claims-xbox-360-requires-hd-dvd-etc-thus-costs-700/
http://www.engadget.com/videos/Next-Gen_Comparison%20FINAL.doc
Sony quite literally published a 'fact sheet' that effectively is full of untruths. If they had phrased it slightly differently - said that to match the PS3, you'd would have to buy these accessories - then they would have been fine. But as Endgadget pointed out, they stated, in print, that you're required to buy the HD-DVD drive, the hard drive, a live subscription, and a wireless controller - which isn't true. You're not required to buy any of those things. That, therefore, becomes false advertising - which is a BIG no-no in any industry.
Many companies skirt this line frequently - and as I said, if Sony had said that to match the PS3, you would need these things. But they didn't - and that crosses the legal line, so Microsoft is pursuing legal action - at least a cease and desist order - against Sony because sending these false fact sheets out could result in confusion among non-gaming sales reps (think Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Sears, and other places where they hire Joe Blow off the street for the holidays).
Justice @ Nov 5th 2006 12:34AM
#26- I totally agree. But the PS3 will still do good. Reason being people don't generally care aout gaming news. All the know is that a system is comming out and they want it. Only us and espically you "Wii360" fans actually pay attention to gaming info. Not the general public. SO people don't see anything wrong with the PS3, thus people will still buy it.
Oh yeah, stay off the Wii-d.
Steve2 @ Nov 5th 2006 1:46AM
Anonymouse Rep:
MS isn't pursing legal action. They never were. That's just some junk you read on the internet. This sheet came out weeks ago, have you heard the info on the suit yet? No? That's because there is none.
Note that to sue for false advertising, you have to have damages. It is the purchaser of something that sues for false advertising, not other companies they are competing against. Additionally, false advertising applies to advertising and product claims, not rep prep sheets. These prep sheets are very often misleading. If you could go to court over crap like this, the courts would be clogged, especially at this time of year.
Anyway, I can see EA is concerned. But is there any reason to be concerned right now? Is there concrete evidence that Sony is falling short of projected deliveries? I know there is talk of Japan getting 20,000 fewer units than expected, but HK and Taiwan are getting 20,000 units when they weren't before. So that seems to mean Sony will be delivering the same number of units as projected (well, at least as far as we know), just to different places.
Eh, why do I bother opining about this so much? It's very unlikely I'll be able to get a PS3, even if Sony does deliver the 1+Million to they US they said they would.
Anonymouse Rep @ Nov 5th 2006 11:53AM
Steve2 - "MS isn't pursing legal action. They never were. That's just some junk you read on the internet."
Hmmm - then I better tell my district manager, regional manager, corporate vice presidents, and, oh yeah, the rest of the Microsoft retail team - since we were told that directly in both phone calls and e-mails that the Microsoft legal team was pursuing this.
And due to NDAs and the minor detail that I don't want to lose my job, I won't post those emails directly. However, the Joystiq team knows both who I work for, and that I give out good information on certain products. (In other words, I'm a retail rep FOR the company, which means I go in to stores to train THEIR employees on OUR products - and in the process, I get to talk directly to hundreds of employees and customers every month as part of my job.)
Steve2 @ Nov 5th 2006 9:38PM
Anonymouse Rep:
Yeah, I think you'd better get on the horn with those people.
I don't really care who you work for, don't care what emails you got.
You don't even understand how false advertising works. You're not a great source for this particular info.
The problem with the chart is, for the purpose of the comparison on the chart, it's (almost) accurate. And the errors made amount to very little.
You can't nail Sony for making a misleading comparison (implying the 360 is less functional without the HD-DVD addon). Everyone does that, including MS. You see them on the sides of boxes and on endcaps at Best Buy all the time. It's practically a tenet of business.
So now you're left trying to nail Sony over a few bucks ($20) error in the comparison, in a sheet that doesn't even go directly to customers.
MS legal team is not likely to try to go to court over something like that.
Can I ask you a question, how do the stars here work? Am I supposed to be using my "username and password" I get in my emails? Where do I fill those in?
Alecks @ Nov 6th 2006 8:08AM
:] I stick to my story- wii60 Fan Boy's are going nuts right now, like roaches who've been dropped a piece of candy, as for us Sony Fan's, Patiently waiting for the ps3 to come and destroy the competition. The playstation did it, the Playstation 2 did it, I won't be surprised. The fan boys are bringing themselves up too high, and the fall will be toooo great. :] ps3+wii= my combo. sorry MS :( I already have a Personal computer with windows.