PS4 is the “leading system of this generation” – DFC

DFC Intelligence notes that Sony’s 2.1m sold is the best first two weeks of any console launch in history

The PlayStation 4 has been off to a fantastic start, selling over 2.1 million consoles across the globe. While Sony has noted that it’s the best start for a PlayStation system in the history of Sony Computer Entertainment, what some people may not be aware of is that it’s also the best start for any game console in history, DFC Intelligence noted today.

The research firm said that the 2.1 million units sold in the system’s first two weeks on sale (first in North America and then in Europe) places it above Nintendo’s Wii, which sold 1.6 million units in its first two weeks (in Japan and North America) and Sony’s own PS2, which sold 1.4 million units in Japan back in March 2000.

Microsoft’s Xbox One sold over 1 million units in its first two weeks, but the red-hot start for the PS4 only reinforces DFC’s forecast that Sony’s new console will be “the leading system of this generation.” DFC agreed with SCE boss Andrew House that PS4 could outsell the PS3, but it’s doubtful PS4 will approach the mighty sales of the PS2.

“The initial success of the PlayStation 4 bodes well for its future. The PlayStation 2 and Wii went on to be the best selling console systems ever. DFC Intelligence does not believe that the PlayStation 4 will surpass those systems but reiterates its forecast that the PS4 will be the number one system of this generation,” the firm said.

DFC also commented that Xbox One may be slightly more supply constrained: “The Xbox One has been difficult to find although from all indications DFC believes Microsoft did not ship as many units as the PlayStation 4.”

 

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Sony Explains Why Its PlayStation 4 Costs $1,845 In Brazil

Sony announced U.S. and European prices for its new PlayStation 4 at a news conference this summer. The game system will cost some $1,845 in Brazil, angering fans.

Eric Thayer/Getty Images

Sony’s new PlayStation 4 won’t be on store shelves until next month, but the gaming console has already raised eyebrows in Brazil, after reports that it would cost 3,999 Brazilian real — or about $1,845 at today’s exchange rate.

The company says the steep cost isn’t a case of price gouging, but instead a sign of Brazil’s heavy taxes and fees on imported electronics.

The game system will be released in the United States on Nov. 15 and in countries including Brazil later that month. Large retailers in the U.S. will offer the PS4 at a base price of around $400.

This week, negative public response to the high cost in Brazil led Mark Stanley, Sony general manager for Latin America, for the high price tag in a post on the company’s Brazilian PlayStation blog.

Stanely said about the high retail price, “it’s not good for our gamers and it’s not good for the PlayStation brand,” in remarks published by the .

Of the $1,845 price, 63 percent goes toward paying import taxes that are imposed on the PlayStation 4 when it’s imported to Brazil, Sony says.

Stanley’s blog post included breaking down the costs, listing the “transfer cost” of importing the system as 21.5 percent, or nearly $400. An additional 22 percent represents the margin for Sony and retailers. His numbers totaled 106.5 percent of the final price in Brazil, which is arrived at after assessing a 6.5 percent discount, Stanley says.

Sony says the price of the new PlayStation could come down “significantly” if it’s able to shift production of the consoles to Brazil. The system is currently being produced at only one factory, in China, according to Brazil’s .

In his blog post, Stanley also thanked Sony customers for sending “thousands of passionate comments.”

After the price was on Sony Brazil’s blog last week, more than 1,250 people commented on it, with many of them expressing their displeasure.

“There goes my Christmas present,” one prospective customer wrote.

Others said that at that price, it could be cheaper simply to fly to the United States, pick up a console, and fly back home with it.

Some also noted that Sony’s rivals are able to get gaming consoles on the market at a lower price. Microsoft, for instance, has set a price for its upcoming Xbox One at around 2,200 real — a bit more than $1,000.

But as NPR’s Lourdes Garcia-Navarro tells us from Brazil, it’s common to see high prices for electronics there. “It’s a good indicator of the expense of imported electronic goods here,” she says.

 

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PS4 sends Sony stock north while Microsoft slides

Investors are reacting in early trading today, and Sony’s positive buzz around PS4 continues

It’s now the morning after. The dust is beginning to settle after yesterday’s skirmish – a fight clearly won by Sony’s uppercut punch to Microsoft on used games – but now investors are weighing in with early trading on the stock market. So far today the message is clear: Microsoft is down while Sony is up.

As of this writing, Microsoft stock (MSFT) has dipped nearly 1.7 percent while Sony’s shares (SNE) have climbed over 1.7 percent. These percentages may not seem like a lot but it’s important to remember that both Sony and Microsoft operate businesses that deal with a lot more than just video games. It’s clear that yesterday’s big E3 news is having an impact on investors’ perceptions.

As for other gaming stocks, EA’s and Take-Two’s shares have climbed slightly while Ubisoft’s and Activision’s shares have dipped. Importantly, GameStop’s shares have increased almost 9 percent on the news about consoles and used games.

 

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PS4 release date ‘spring/autumn 2014, codenamed Thebes’

PlayStation 4 is likely to be released in the spring or autumn of 2014.

That’s according to tech site SemiAccurate, which also claims to have heard from Japanese speaking sources that Sony’s next-gen console project is codenamed Thebes, rather than the previously rumoured Orbis.

“Other than it being an AMD CPU and GPU, we don’t have much more specific details,” the site says.

“It is said to be a 28nm part, likely fabbed at Global Foundries or IBM for the first run, and out after Oban. That would most likely be the spring of 2014, but it could be fall of that year too.”

Oban is supposedly the name of the developer test system chip being used for Xbox 720, or whatever Microsoft’s next-gen console is called. SemiAccurate reports that the console’s internal codename is Kryptos, and not Durango, as widely rumoured.

The site says Oban is still scheduled for mass production wafers before the end of 2012 in preparation for the console’s planned September 2013 launch, but that previously reportedproblems like “painfully low” yields (a measure of functioning devices) could delay that timeline.

Xbox World has been at the cutting edge of Xbox 720 coverage for over 12 months and yesterday, ahead of the release of the mag’s final issue, we published its huge ‘Xbox 720: everything we know‘ feature which does its best to expose Microsoft’s next-gen console plans.

source: cvg