GameCube Nearly Doubles Market Share in US

[Captain Vegetable]

And I have no doubts that the PSP will fail just like every other Game Boy challenger ever.

Good thing they don't teach you BUSINESS at law school.

After re-reading most of the PSP threads, something has been made quite clear to me, and why exactly most of you cannot seem to reason intelligently concerning the PSP.

And that observation is . . . (drum roll) . . . You all, for some reason, think that there is no market for the PSP, dispite your obvious undereducation concerning business, forecasting, market share, and mind share. This, if you will allow me to demonstrate, is due to the faulty assigning of irrelevent issues to the situation at hand, or discounting facts and observations that are essential to understanding the situation.

You would all argue that for reasons such as "battery life, general disinterest, personal oppinion," and the like, the PSP will end up failing, and some of you even go so far to say that the past proves the future, and since the Game Boy has toppled every other pretender to it's throne, that the PSP will follow suit, because the past is clearly indicative of the future.

These are all wrong. You are trying to state that reguardless of the strength of the Sony PlayStation brand, and because your personal biases would lead you not to purchase the PSP, that there exists no viable market wherein the PSP could succeed.

I can see for myself that the alleged battery life of the PSP is horrible, however, I do not discount the fact that it will be successful. I see that the GB has cut down all challengers, but, again, I do not discount the fact that it will be successful.

This last argument amuses me the most, as all who seek it are obviously and grossly discounting other facts involved. Did the GB distroy all competition up until this point in time? Yes. But was the Game Boy ever in the same situation it finds itself in now? No, not once, never. To say that the Sony PSP is trying to hit the market in the same fashion as the NGPC is laughable. The NGPC had nearly no marketing, no advertising, and not a single person, market anaylist or otherwise, had ever even claimed it would topple, or even modestly compete with the Game Boy on any level. Yet here, with the Sony PSP, marketing is already rocketing through the roof with thread after thread on internet message boards, and with speculatory piece after speculatory piece in not some, not most, but ALL major video game publications. Highly excited speculatory pieces, make no mistake.

The buzz being generated concerning this new portable system is going to rival that of it's bigger, older brother: the venerated PS2.

Hype counts, man. As much as you might not like it.

You all did the same damned thing concerning the PS2, as well. Touting claims of inferrior hardware and a lackluster launch selection. The PS2 kicked ass at the market place in spite of your, again, uniformed, uneducated speculations. Crap launch titles? No one cared. They wanted a PS2. Inferrior hardware? No one cared. They wanted a PS2. And why did they want a PS2? Many, many different reasons, but not the least of which were image, and the rampant success of the previous Sony product, the PlayStation.

Guess what. The PSP has all of these things in spades. Image, Hype, and it will ride in on the wave of it's forebearer's success, the PS2.

The Lynx, NGPC, Game Gear, and even the most recent N-Gage had none of these.

Pittiful battery life? No one will care. They'll want a PSP. Lackluster launch selection? No one will care. They'll want a PSP. Inferrior hardware? No one will care. They'll want a PSP.

I know I'm not going to change anyone's opinion concerning this, and I know you're not going to seek a business education so that you can make a correct assessment, but I still reserve the right to dig this thread up from the bowels of TNL in the next three to five years to dump the biggest "I told you so" the world has ever seen.

You all need to get a clue.

[gamevet]

Good thing they don't teach you BUSINESS at law school.



You all did the same damned thing concerning the PS2, as well. Touting claims of inferrior hardware and a lackluster launch selection. The PS2 kicked ass at the market place in spite of your, again, uniformed, uneducated speculations. Crap launch titles? No one cared. They wanted a PS2. Inferrior hardware? No one cared. They wanted a PS2. And why did they want a PS2? Many, many different reasons, but not the least of which were image, and the rampant success of the previous Sony product, the PlayStation.

Guess what. The PSP has all of these things in spades. Image, Hype, and it will ride in on the wave of it's forebearer's success, the PS2.

The Lynx, NGPC, Game Gear, and even the most recent N-Gage had none of these.

Pittiful battery life? No one will care. They'll want a PSP. Lackluster launch selection? No one will care. They'll want a PSP. Inferrior hardware? No one will care. They'll want a PSP.

I know I'm not going to change anyone's opinion concerning this, and I know you're not going to seek a business education so that you can make a correct assessment, but I still reserve the right to dig this thread up from the bowels of TNL in the next three to five years to dump the biggest "I told you so" the world has ever seen.

You all need to get a clue.

Sony was already a big name when the Playstation came out and guess what, it took over 4 months to sell a million units.


Don't you think that all these companies that tried to challenge it(Gameboy), also had market analysts? I guess your education was better than thiers?

[Captain Vegetable]

Sony was already a big name when the Playstation came out and guess what, it took over 4 months to sell a million units.

What the hell does this have to do with anything? I wasn't talking about "Sony." I was talking about the "Sony PlayStation," which I made rediculously clear in my post. Two entirely different things. Way to miss the point.

Don't you think that all these companies that tried to challenge it(Gameboy), also had market analysts? I guess your education was better than thiers?

Maybe. Or maybe I simply apply my education more effectively. You can school an idiot until your head explodes, but he'll still be an idiot reguardless.

Also, I'm a realist, not an optimist.

[Jeremy]

I thought that the PlayStation name alone wouldn't help the PS2 coast on by. Boy was I ever wrong on that one. The PlayStation brand name is probably stronger than ever, which means that the PSP will sell quite well with or without a decent game lineup. Hell, they could just buy the N-Gage from Nokia and rename it the PSP and get folks to buy it.

[SonofdonCD]

Sony was already a big name when the Playstation came out and guess what, it took over 4 months to sell a million units.

does that mean?

Don't you think that all these companies that tried to challenge it(Gameboy), also had market analysts? I guess your education was better than thiers?

Don't you know the saying: If you don't know your history, then you're bound to repeat it"? I'd like to think Sony has the right people analyzing what went wrong with the other systems, and are NOT going to make those same mistakes.

Cap't Veggie is totally right. The odds are heavily stacked in Sony's favor. Maybe not to totally take over the handheld business outright, but put a huge dent into Nintendo's bottom line. I can say that, and I don't even own a Sony system, nor particularly want one at this point. (Even though the PSP does look intriguing)

Take your own personal biases out of the picture, if even just for a second. Ok, ready? Good.

Now really analyze how this whole industry works. Done yet? Good.

Now look at the mindset of the consumers at large. Done looking? Great.

Now if after doing all that, if you still think Sony is going to fail miserably, start over, because you obviously just don't get it.

[Jeremy]

You bring up a good point in that the PSP will probably not overthrow the GBA. I think that the PSP will lead to a nice console system war, which hasn't been seen since the glory days of the Game Boy vs. the Game Gear.

[burgundy]

There's a chance the PSP will dethrone the GBA. There's also a chance that Nintendo's next home console will be #1. Neither one is very good.

The Game Gear had a ton of hype, had much better features, and had the success of the Genesis to build off of. Didn't matter a damn.

Handhelds don't sell for more than $100. No matter what they do. Ask Nokia, they'll back me up.

The PS2 sold on hype, but it also sold on Madden. It also sold because, like the PSX before it, it found a hole in the market. The assumption that the strength of the PS2 brand will automatically carry over into a totally different sector of the market is far from proven. Or else the Gamecube would be carrying the market based on the strength of the Game Boy and MS would be winning because of its PC dominance.

Basically, your educated argument is completely one dimensional. You're saying that hype is the one and only factor that determines a product's success. And it isn't.

[OmegaFlareX]

Crap launch titles? No one cared. They wanted a PS2. Inferrior hardware? No one cared. They wanted a PS2. And why did they want a PS2? Many, many different reasons, but not the least of which were image, and the rampant success of the previous Sony product, the PlayStation.

Guess what. The PSP has all of these things in spades. Image, Hype, and it will ride in on the wave of it's forebearer's success, the PS2.

<======| <--- Hit
^ that's supposed to be a nail.

Seriously people, think about it. What's the Playstation brand's target audience? Males age 15-25. And what, typically, does that demographic care more about than anything else? Image. Current media outlets definitely reflect this. Appearance, "coolness", fitting in. It means everything to most of them.

If your friends find out you like your GameCube, your image/reputation will suffer, as you will be mercilessly ridiculed for having the same tastes as your buddy Mike's 9-year-old little brother. Nobody cares how many shines you've found or how high your score is in Sonic 3. Instead, if they come over and watch you trash a rival squad in SOCOM or win a 56-0 game in Madden, you'll be offered the first hit from the bong, the first beer from the keg, and the first fuck of the passed-out-drunk-on-the-couch girl. Sony knows this, and they're going to capitalize upon it in the handheld market.

Don't get me wrong... I love the GBA. I think it's a great system, with a shitload of awesome games to be played. Realistically, though, the PSP is going to put a MAJOR dent in the market if for nothing else than it's cool to own one.

And if I'm wrong and the PSP sells like a jar of pickled cat turds, well uh...... *looks around* I'll eat this napkin.

[SonofdonCD]

The Game Gear had a ton of hype, had much better features, and had the success of the Genesis to build off of. Didn't matter a damn.

But the Genesis NEVER had the successes of PS1 and PS2. Just based on the magnitude of Sony's reign over the marketshare and mindshare right now, it's of no comparison. Ningtendo has never been in a situation where their Handheld empire might be THIS legitimately challenged.

Handhelds don't sell for more than $100. No matter what they do. Ask Nokia, they'll back me up.

I want to believe that, but somehow I think that Sony will prove a lot of people who believe that without equivocation to be wrong. Call it a hunch, seeing as how Sony has defied odds and logic before.

The PS2 sold on hype, but it also sold on Madden. It also sold because, like the PSX before it, it found a hole in the market. The assumption that the strength of the PS2 brand will automatically carry over into a totally different sector of the market is far from proven. Or else the Gamecube would be carrying the market based on the strength of the Game Boy and MS would be winning because of its PC dominance.

Don't you think Sony is lining up a fantastic line-up of games the CASUAL gamer wants? I'd find it hard to believe. They will bring in all the big hitters from the consoles, have them port over their big franchises with minimal to totally overhauled changes, and the masses will come running with their wallets open.

Sure, that's essentially what Nintendo has been doing with the GBA, but with 16-bit games no 9 year old will remember or care for anyway.

Basically, your educated argument is completely one dimensional. You're saying that hype is the one and only factor that determines a product's success. And it isn't.

But only in the beginning. Yes the PS2 wasn't the greatest system to get in the beginning, but because of the hype and everyone falling for it, all the developers folowed suit, putting all their big-name games on the system. Then it became even harder to get around buying a PS2 if you wanted to play all of the best games out today. There is a GREAT chance that will happen again with the PSP. I know lots of developers are interested in this thing, so the more I look at it, it looks all good for Sony.

Nintendo just better wake up and smell the exhaust from the Sony bulldozer behind it, otherwise they'll get steamrolled.

[Diff-chan]

Handhelds don't sell for more than $100. No matter what they do. Ask Nokia, they'll back me up.

When I got my FatBoy, the system was $139.99 with Tetris. And yea, a lot of my friends had one - shit man that's why I wanted one. And six months later I got an SNES with Mario World at the same exact price, so don't give me this crap about how people dont wanna spend as much on a handheld as a console. I was maybe 11 at the time so I wasnt exactly a hardCORE/jaded gamer either.

And who cares what Nokia says about anything? The N-Gage is a piece of shit. That thing wouldn't sell it if was $40. You might as well bring up the Virtual Boy as proof that "portable" systems don't sell at $100+. It's just not a good fucking thing to base your argument on.

With a piece of crap, the price sticks out like a sore thumb - "Oh, the N-Gage is trash AND its $300! LOL!". With a good product, demand would probably be high and the price can thusly be higher. Pretty simple.

Yea, the PSP ain't gonna be as cheap as a Game Boy Advance. But the PSP also isn't based on 12-year old tech, either. You gotta be nuts if you don't think people will notice this.

The PSP should end up being a high quality device with cool games that people want, and it will be backed by Sony, a company with tons of cash to advertise and a very loyal fan base. Really, all the pieces are falling into place, I fail to see why many of you are so stubbornly persistent in your viewpoint that this thing will fail.

Sony was already a big name when the Playstation came out and guess what, it took over 4 months to sell a million units.

That's because the market was like... a fraction of the size it is now. The PSX sold 120,000 systems at launch and that was a GIGANTIC success (the Saturn needed four months to sell that many). Yea it seems ludicrous to consider that a success nowadays but that's because the market is so much bigger now (thanks to Sony).