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NPD Reaction: Sony Looks To the Future, Not The Present
by Christian Nutt
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April 17, 2009
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Sony's NPD reactions highlight the company's success with first-party exclusive PlayStation 3 titles while attempting to draw attention toward the company's future, rather than its present, hinting at strong launches of future exclusives and an upswing in sales of the discounted PlayStation 2.
The company had three titles in the NPD top 10, as its competitor Microsoft did. No comments were made on how far behind sales of Resident Evil 5 lag, at fourth place overall compared to the Xbox 360 version's first place finish.
On the other hand, Sony talked up its overall bestselling baseball title, with its PS3-exclusive MLB '09: The Show finishing sixth across all platforms. First-party exclusive Killzone 2 stayed stuck in at seventh place, with an additional 296,000 units sold -- almost equaling its February performance of 323,600 units.
Sony pointed to the success of its PlayStation Network service, noting that its Home virtual world now has over 5 million global users, revealing also that the top game of the month of March was thatgamecompany's Flower.
The top downloaded film on its video service was the insufferable and inescapable vampire love story Twilight.
Sony mostly promised big things for the year, with Senior director of corporate communications, Patrick Seybold, hinting at the success of the company's March 31 price drop of the PlayStation 2 to $99.
He particularly commented: "We’re also seeing exciting preliminary numbers for PlayStation 2 with the recent price cut and we couldn’t be more pleased with the continued entertainment value and gameplay the platform provides even in its ninth year."
The reactions email mostly spends its time looking toward the future rather than analyzing the present; the company highlighted the strength of the PSP platform's lineup for the rest of the year (notable titles including Rock Band). Most forcefully, it called attention to its upcoming PlayStation 3 first-party lineup, with titles inFamous, Uncharted 2, MAG, Heavy Rain, and God of War III, as well as a new Ratchet & Clank game all upcoming.
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Let me guess... because present looks ugly?
I think it's good to keep both PS2 and PS3 active. They cover two different types of gaming markets, and it's rather clear that people won't pay for a high priced console to play the old fishing simulation, quizz game or average puzzler.
It's a very good thing that Sony has not pulled the plug for the PS2 yet. It's their "watered down" Wii, with much greater total sales numbers. Any moderate percentage success immediately points to good revenues.
Heavy Rain and God of War III are two titles shaped to be killer apps.