Kutaragi: Sony "doesn't care" about MS or Ninty

PS3 News | Sony pres making confident sounds.

Everybody's favourite gaming industry rent-a-quote Ken Kutaragi has been at it again, this time telling an industry magazine that Sony "doesn't care" about rivals Nintendo and Microsoft. The Sony president's lack of concern emerged when he was asked by MCV to comment on the possibility of Xbox 360 and Wii overtaking Sony's PlayStation 3. His response - a simple “We don’t care” - is no doubt a measure of Kutaragi's confidence that the PlayStation 3 will once again become market leader in the coming next gen race.

Kutaragi also admitted that problems had been encountered, but that Sony was on top of things. “Right now, [Blu-ray production] is an issue, because we can’t manufacture enough blue laser diodes for our PlayStation 3s," he said. "But we will resolve that."

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40 Comments

Luke

5 years ago

Then why the Japanese price drop?

admeister

5 years ago

"His response - a simple “We don’t care” - is no doubt a measure of Kutaragi's confidence that the PlayStation 3 will once again become market leader in the coming next gen race"

That could be his downfall, putting too much confidence in an as of yet unproven console.. I think he should care, very much so, it's that kind of arrogance that causes trouble for companies like Sony. It would be funny to see his reaction if the Wii sells better!

Eyce

5 years ago

"...is no doubt a measure of Kutaragi's confidence that the PlayStation 3"

I think it's rather the opposite. Sony's almost done everything wrong this time around, such as commenting on the 360 HD-DVD Addon, trying to maintain that the PS3 is for the best in entertainment or whatever. Yeah, Sony's scared s**tless this Gen. Kuteragi is putting on a rather brave face for the media.

My $0.02 anyway.

ZNMS

5 years ago

As usual, Sony is still copying Nintendo.

Ellegarden

5 years ago

Well console price is good for basic/core version in Japan, I dont know it might do well considering its blu-ray player, but game prices put me off. I think western market is gonna be more xbox or pii since most people think video games should be catered around games not just movies.

InvivnI

5 years ago

Though I think Sony's pretty much lost out to the hardcore gamers (ie, anyone who posts on forums etc), but remember, there are a lot of casual fans who are still very much looking foreward to the PS3. If I go around to people at my school asking them if they'll buy a Wii, XB360 or a PS3 most will say 'What the hell is a Wii?' and then they'll be slpit between the XB360 and the PS3, in spite of the price (we're all spoilt little brats nowadays anyway).

Jim Dash

5 years ago

When I ask my mates, they're all waiting for the PS3. It's newer, so it must be better, price aside.

renegadesx

5 years ago

The first batch will sell out, thats a given but there are not very many of them.

It wont sell overly huge given the price but once the price comes down people would consider buying one.

By the time the price comes down though, people will probably be settled with their Wii or 360 or Wii60.

The 360 is alot cheaper but I still don't see justified in buying one, once Sonic and Tony Hawk Project 8 comes out maybe, but currently for its price, I have no plans to purchase one.

The Playstation 3 is the same situation even worse. I will not buy one until the price at least halves.

The "What the hell is a Wii?" quote from InvivanI was the same for me 6 months ago, but so many people now know what the Wii is, the taking the piss out of the name has died off and are all looking forward to it. Dont underestimate it, I think it will succeed.

Microsoft has indeed shipped many 360's but current stats are that only about 4 million have been actually purchased. Nintendo will have 6 million Wii's for launch, no doubt they will sell out. Here are my stats for console sales come before the Christmas rush
X360 = 5 Million
Wii = 6 Million
PS3 = 0.5 Million

If Nintendo get more Wii consoles out the door by the Christmas rush, the Wii should stay on top, otherwise the Xbox 360 could jump back into 1st place for xmas

ugh the boot

5 years ago

I haven't been this excited about Sony since the Ps1 launch. Imo it will be a great console and I have a feeling it'll once again be the market leader (rightly so this time).

LeonJ

5 years ago

Ohhh tough guy. Almost like they are daring me NOT to get a PS3.

Chris-Leigh

5 years ago

renegadesx wrote

Microsoft has indeed shipped many 360's but current stats are that only about 4 million have been actually purchased. Nintendo will have 6 million Wii's for launch, no doubt they will sell out. Here are my stats for console sales come before the Christmas rush
X360 = 5 Million
Wii = 6 Million
PS3 = 0.5 Million

If Nintendo get more Wii consoles out the door by the Christmas rush, the Wii should stay on top, otherwise the Xbox 360 could jump back into 1st place for xmas

I work part-time in GAME, and you should see the pre-order lists over here for each console. Frankly, the PS3 is thrashing the Wii silly in this respect - typically, we get six PS3 pre-orders to every Wii pre-order.

That's not just my store either, but the pattern for the entire region (and consequently, probably the whole of the UK). Of course, the PS3 was delayed until March 2007 recently, so my store manager gave me the incredibly fun (!) task of ringing up all of our PS3 pre-order customers and asking if they'd consider a Wii instead. 85 said they'd wait for the PS3 to arrive. 1 said he'd consider a Wii.

That is just the UK, of course, but it's a good indicator of which console is more eagerly anticipated by the general public. And with Nintendo's track record with home consoles in Australia in recent years, I can't imagine you'll be seeing a vastly different picture over there.

LeonJ

5 years ago

Point is valid, but Ma and Pa shopping at xmas may just pick up a Wii due to the price and fun factor.

PS3 is rather hardcore and normally hardcores pre-order well in advance.

Jellyfish

5 years ago

leonmc wrote

Point is valid, but Ma and Pa shopping at xmas may just pick up a Wii due to the price and fun factor.

But how can Ma and Pa tell that the Wii is fun. Playstation is known brand and most kids will probably be like "Wii, no way yuck!".

Jeremy

5 years ago

If we were to talk to the general gaming shmo, they're probably more excited for the PS3. For people who aren't in tune with the industry goings on, they will probably say PS3 simply because of the name, not really knowing about the true content.

While most of what has been said is valid, the truth is that a PS3 ain't worth jack **** without a HD-TV

one of two things will probably happen:
1) HD-TV sales will go up
2) When people realise this, PS3 sales will have hurdles to overcome

Don't forget as well, Sony (and Microsoft to a lesser extent) are dealing with unproven technologies. The winner will be the one who "sells" their technology the best. However, both could end up losers.

I've probably said this a million times but Nintendo only care about Japan, so for them, as long as they succeed at home, everything else is secondary. Hence the rather relaxed marketing approach. Though if the Wii is hyper successful in the States, we could see something of a surgence in Aus, as the market here loves to play follow the leader, sometimes to the extreme.

As for the PS3, I won't be owning one till I get a HD-TV and I couldn't give a **** about Blu-ray. "Watching movies in high definition and progressive scan, blah blah blah!!!" Like I give a ****. Maybe I'll care more when something emerges as mainstream.

InfernalEternal

5 years ago

renegadesx wrote

Nintendo is only shipping 4 Million Wii's this year. Also, apparently the 360 has already sold 6.1 Million units, 10 Million will be shipped by Christmas. Also, no matter how expensive the PS3 is, it'll sell EVERY unit that is shipped, I believe 500,000 is what will be available on the first day?
Anyhoo, I'll give my predictions...

360 = 7.5 Million
Wii = 4 Million
PS3 = 1 Million

admeister

5 years ago

renegadesx wrote

The "What the hell is a Wii?" quote from InvivanI was the same for me 6 months ago, but so many people now know what the Wii is, the taking the piss out of the name has died off and are all looking forward to it. Dont underestimate it, I think it will succeed.

I think so too, I don't see what's so great about the PS3, on the whole. All I need is a Wii this gen, a Ps3 would be a very secondary consideration for me, I'd mostly get it becasue of FF (my fav RPGs). We'll see how it all turns out, but I don't think that people should be suckered into thinking it will be a great console because it has Playsation" in the name. That's just stupid.

Ellegarden

5 years ago

admeister wrote

Same goes for nintendo right?

Jeremy

5 years ago

admeister wrote

1) The market doesn't revolve around you
2) A game with "50 cent" sold more than 1 million copies

yeah it's stupid but it's reality
nuff said

InvivnI

5 years ago

We were discussing consoles again today. Me and my friend (both what could be considered hardcore gamers) were both backing Wii. Then this annoying bloke jumps in and stated that:

"Wii is gay because it's made by Nintendo, and the Gamecube was gay."

It turned out he'd never even seen the Wii or heard about its control features. Nintendo is still facing a serious image problem amongst mainstream gamers and this stigma will continue to hover over the Wii's launch. I think Ninty has won back a few hearts, but there are still many more who still think Ninty is 'gay' and 'kiddie'.

The Brett

5 years ago

Chris-Leigh wrote

renegadesx wrote

Exactly the same situation at my EB. The ratio is through the roof.

DancesInUnderwear

5 years ago

InvivnI wrote

Theres also the opposite sort of thing, too - people who like Nintendo, but think the controller is 'gay'. Alot of my friends are that way - they have no problem with Nintendo, love the Gamecube (my Gamecube, mind you), but they don''t think the Wiimote controllers are a good idea at all.

But, to be perfectly honest, shouldn't we all be at least a bit like that? None of us (or very few) have actually used a Wiimote, so we really don't know if its actually a good control method. But that doesn't stop Nintendo fanboys telling us that the controller will be the best thing sinced sliced bread.

ugh the boot

5 years ago

Playstation 3 is being released in 13 regions whereas the Wii is being released in 10. I know that doesn't really mean much....but it's just another thing to chock upto Sony's popularity.

All the casual gamers I know don't really want to know anything outside of Ps3 as Sony has taken care of their previous needs. In other words....if it ain't broke....don't fix it. So a lot of people are just gonna go with what they know....they don't want to shop around or take risks.

matrix-cat

5 years ago

The way it's worded makes it sound more like he 'doesn't care' about the PS3 being overtaken by Microsoft and Nintendo, not that he 'doesn't care' about their new stuff. Sounds to me more like he's resigned himself to the fact that the PS3 will fail. I'm sure I'm wrong, but the wording is ambiguous.

admeister

5 years ago

UmbrellaCEO wrote

admeister wrote

Same goes for nintendo right?

Yes, it does. However, I think that Nintendo have proven their console much more than Sony has, they've just shown us some pretty graphics, which look like they came from X360. I think people shouldn't just play follow the leader, they should evaluate what a console can offer them, what franchises they like, and what they can afford to pay. They may say "it will cater for all my needs", but I think that there will be a lot of disappointed people if they just follow that strategy..

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