Some Interesting Sales Figures for Consoles

[darth_timon]

From here

Unfortunately the link to the relevant Yahoo article is broken, but the stats make for Interesting reading, if they are accurate- the oldest console on the block, the PS2, is outselling everything else as of March this year:

Sony Playstation 2 - 280,000 units
Nintendo Wii - 259,000 units
Microsoft XBox 360 - 199,000 units
Sony Playstation 3 - 130,000 units

What does this mean? From my limited understanding of economics and consumer spending, would this indicate conservative spending from consumers? After all, favouring the oldest and cheapest console on the market at a time when there are so many other more powerful options on the market could be a financially motivated move for most people.

Another thought is- are software companies baulking at developing games for consoles that are seen as prohibitively too expensive to buy? After all, if no one is buying the consoles, no one is buying the games for said consoles, which will presumably cost software companies more to produce games for, given the newer technologies and all that.

Are Sony not doing enough to market the PS3 in comparison to its older sibling?

Or is it a combination of, plus other factors?

Thoughts?

[Soontir C'boath]

There's two things that come to mind. One, it is a good DVD player and only costs $40+ than a stand alone player (quick check on Amazon). Two, backwards compatibility on the PS3 is horrid (last I read) and therefore people want to buy another PS2 to ensure they can still play their old games when/if their original PS2 craps out.

The second one is the most important to me of the two. I don't plan on getting a PS3 anytime soon but I would myself still like to play my games if my original PS2 conks out.

[General Zod]

If Nintendo ever bothers increasing the Wii's production, I'm sure you'd quickly see it outstripping even the PS2 in terms of sales. Though the fact that you get a decent DVD player with a gaming system for $130 isn't exactly hurting the PS2. (Stupid lack of Wii availability in my city. . . .)

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Also, the best games that have come out recently are PS2 games. God of War 2 and Guitar Hero 2, specifically. Nothing recently released for 360, Wii, or PS3 can even touch them.

[Isil`Zha]

Guitar Hero 2 is on the 360... with more songs no less.

[Stark]

And it costs more, and the 'most DLC evvvvah' turned into 'a tiny bit of DLC that's hideously overpriced and then nothing for two months'. Not such a great reason to buy a new console.