Kaz Hirai: replicating the PS2 numbers is 'not fun'
by Alan Tsang 
{ Jul 21st 2008 at 8:30PM }
Kaz Hirai, the President and CEO of SCEI, told the Financial Times in an interview that some of his ardent goals for the PS3. "It's not fun for me replicating the PS2 numbers. I've seen that movie already, I want to try to see if we can exceed the PS2 numbers after nine years, otherwise why are we in this business?"This echoes earlier comments made by David Reeves, President of SCEE. The PS1's lifetime sales were 102 million units, while PS2's lifetime sales are currently at about 140 million units. The PS3's lifetime sales 20 months into its life is about 13 million, and Sony expects to sell another 10 million units by the end of the current fiscal year.
So ... lofty goals or realistic expectations? Keep this in mind for comparison purposes: by March 2002, about 26 months after the Japanese launch and 19 months after the American launch, Sony shipped 30 million units of the PS2. Read the entire article here.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
MakaiOokami @ Jul 21st 2008 8:38PM
Sony is the future. 360 is past technology with a bit of extra ram. I hope the PS3 exceeds the PS2 because Sony has earned it, and they will continue to earn it. Microsoft charges way too much for everything from hard drives. HD DVD drives, memory cards etc...
Screw them Sony is the future.
John @ Jul 21st 2008 8:38PM
"not fun" fits exactly with how Kaz looks here, and has looked elsewhere. The guy takes his job seriously, and boy is he stressed.
Fiefdom @ Jul 21st 2008 8:57PM
Sony isn't necessarily the future if the market doesn't go for the PS3. It would be great to maintain the free on-line network and innovative technologies (no-one complained about the PS2's fairly custom architecture because it sold well enough) that Sony has provided, but no-one can make an accurate prediction right now. I don't think Sony's stated expectations are as realistic as we'd like, but if quality titles keep coming, even though there are fewer exclusives, then I don't see why the PS3 can't slowly grow more successful. 13m at 20 months isn't horrible if you compare it to the lifetime sales of the GCN and the Xbox.
I'm personally really impressed by Sony, though. I skipped the PS1 entirely and stayed away from the PS2 for a long while because of its disc read problems and the like, but I eventually got a slim PS2. The PS3 really blew my previous hesitations and bias out of the water, it's unfortunate that's Sony's most quality effort is struggling as much as it is, I half expected the 360 to plummet and die after it's Red Ring of Death plague. T_T
But who knows. A year and a half ago the PS3 was one of the biggest hate objects on the Internet but it's not fairly respectable outside of those who are biased for the sake of brand loyalty. Many people seemed to claim they hated Sony (which I never got, I imagine most a fair number of 360 owners used to own and support one of the 140m PS2s out there).
McBonk @ Jul 22nd 2008 9:46AM
It's never a good sign when we must rely on comparisons to GCN and Xbox to make the PS3 look good!
justice @ Jul 21st 2008 9:04PM
well
if sony want to sell 10mi of ps3, i hope that they keep bringin the good titles, but the games are taking way too long to release, like killzone, gow and home for example...
i agree with you fiefdom and i hope that in the future i can be proud of choosing ps3 for my console
Dehshizknight @ Jul 21st 2008 9:22PM
PS2 is not yet done with it's 10 years. If Sony is planning on not releasing another console for another 10 years, then yes, they will probably outsell the PlayStation 2.
The demographics we look at only mainly consist of hardcore gamers. Right now, I'm seeing more and more casual gamers getting PS3's believe it or not. The industry is growing dramatically and with movie numbers slowly decreasing (this wasn't a great year for movies...), more and more people are getting into gaming, thanks to the Wii and games like Singstar, Buzz, PixelJunk, etc.
Twinturbo120 @ Jul 22nd 2008 1:00AM
wow no shit sherlock if u wanna sell fast drop the price. watch as sales rise like hell
Mattchewie @ Jul 21st 2008 9:48PM
I think either
A.) its just cool to hate sony STILL. Which if you look at the past, the N had 2 generations of rule before the PS came into the game. Now we have had 2 generations of Sony and I think its just underdog syndrome on MS's part. I personally have no issues with power shifts (wish the wii had software to back the console sales) but I rather it not be ran by MS. I think their OS views suck and I'm sure they will push them into the xbox at some point. Also, they nickle and dime your for damn near everything.
B). Maybe its just having that 1 year lead? PS1 was out before N64, PS2 was out before GC and XBOX. Now the 360 has the head start and they are pretty dominate here in the states.
However sony has made mistakes. All these sku's and then having different functions in those sku's. I mean one can get an arcade....but it can accept a HD and for the most part functions are functions. Where as you have the 60/20 with full BC, one has wifi, one doesn't, one has MC readers..the other doesn't....Then you have the 80, its like the 60..but not full BC...then you have the 40, plays ps1 games but no ps2...has wifi..but lacks 2 usb ports and the MC readers..
....all that just confuses people and they seek people at Gamestop to tell them whats up and even they have it wrong.
Daniel @ Jul 21st 2008 10:31PM
Agreed, honestly I think what's holding Sony back is this stigma that the PS3 is so expensive...people don't realize how much a standalone blu-ray is and that the PS3 is an amazing value. Perhaps if Sony actually knew how to advertise, this would be more out there...
Mattchewie @ Jul 22nd 2008 1:15AM
You know I saw someone on the PS boards state that if no BC was present at launch it wouldn't be a big deal. As time goes, it seems SONY is cutting features, which is very odd of a product.
HOWEVER, I think sony made the right move by manning up, picking a sku and saying "this will always be our base". From there all one needs to do it small tweaks for higher end bundles....ala MS.
I personally think sony needs to get people "chatting" on PSN. Up the HD space keeping the core sku, and include the "SOCOM" headset and beyond that, make it the straight up OFFICAL headset (that is if its up to par).
I think this is the right way to do 2 skus.
McBonk @ Jul 22nd 2008 8:57AM
One thing I don't understand about the "hate": hasn't it ALWAYS been the trend to hate Microsoft??? Why are gamers so different in this regard?
Mattchewie @ Jul 21st 2008 9:48PM
I think either
A.) its just cool to hate sony STILL. Which if you look at the past, the N had 2 generations of rule before the PS came into the game. Now we have had 2 generations of Sony and I think its just underdog syndrome on MS's part. I personally have no issues with power shifts (wish the wii had software to back the console sales) but I rather it not be ran by MS. I think their OS views suck and I'm sure they will push them into the xbox at some point. Also, they nickle and dime your for damn near everything.
B). Maybe its just having that 1 year lead? PS1 was out before N64, PS2 was out before GC and XBOX. Now the 360 has the head start and they are pretty dominate here in the states.
However sony has made mistakes. All these sku's and then having different functions in those sku's. I mean one can get an arcade....but it can accept a HD and for the most part functions are functions. Where as you have the 60/20 with full BC, one has wifi, one doesn't, one has MC readers..the other doesn't....Then you have the 80, its like the 60..but not full BC...then you have the 40, plays ps1 games but no ps2...has wifi..but lacks 2 usb ports and the MC readers..
....all that just confuses people and they seek people at Gamestop to tell them whats up and even they have it wrong.
railbird13 @ Jul 21st 2008 10:20PM
I think part of the reason that Sony had shipped 30mil so far of the PS2 against the PS3 is they had no stiff competition at the time. The xbox did not release until Nov '01 while ps2 was released Oct '00, so given a full year, backwards compatibility with the ps1, and the track record that Sony had with the Ps1, of course the PS2 had the leg up there. Gamecube was also another year behind the PS2 as well.
All credit to MS, they got into the market and impressed gamers quickly to get a 360 and not wait for Sony to get the PS3 out the door. I think Sony has a little bit to go, but they'll get their market share as well. More great things to come from all parties involved.
I also love the idea of a 10 year console. It may only make it 7-8 before the "ps4" is out, which is a good bang for your buck. I've read that MS is going to be next out of the gate with their new system, but is asking consumers to pony up hundreds of dollars each system change and making developers learn new ways after they may have just been able to harness the old system's full potential, just too much for the market place? We'll see
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread) @ Jul 21st 2008 11:50PM
i think the PS3 will sell alot more later on its it life than now because it's too expensive for the average consumer. especially with the economy like it is, most just dont have $400+ to shell out on a video game console. once the PS3 hits in the $200-$299 range, it will sell like hotcakes. the Wii is a perfect example of this and the 360 is inching that way as well.
Kyrre @ Jul 22nd 2008 2:52AM
If you could actually get some PS3s in stores it would be a lot easier to sell 10 million. I know of quite a few people that wants one but stores and webshops are all out, and has been since the middle of may.
Kyrre @ Jul 22nd 2008 2:54AM
Forgot to mention. This is Norway.
Jon Acheson @ Jul 22nd 2008 10:22AM
One thing they have working in their favor is that they have the PSN this time around. All those downloadable games should make them some decent money, and best of all, they won't wind up on the used game market.
It also gives noob developers an easy way to learn the architecture and make some money without a million dollar investment.