Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 15th Feb 2013 09:34 UTC
"We're told by someone with access to the NPD's data that sales for January were 'well under' 100,000 units. By our estimates, sales were somewhere between 45,000 and 59,000 units for the month, which is lower than any of the three previous-generation home consoles sold in their worst months, with the possible exception of a recent performance by the original Wii." This doesn't surprise me. I've always wondered: who's the Wii U for? Casual Wii buyers - which comprise most of the Wii owners, I'd guess - have little reason to upgrade, and hardcore Nintendo fans are waiting for the next re-releases of Mario and Zelda from the Nintendo Game-o-tron. Until then, who's going to buy this thing?
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RE: Of course it's not selling well.
by 0brad0 on Mon 18th Feb 2013 01:26
in reply to "Of course it's not selling well."
Member since:2007-05-05
A $300 console + $60 video games is simply asking too much for many Americans these days when gas prices are up, taxes are up, health care cost are up, and job opportunities are low.
Also video games are overpriced. The retail price of video games should be $40 not $60, and handheld games should be $25 not $40.
Also video games are overpriced. The retail price of video games should be $40 not $60, and handheld games should be $25 not $40.
I don't see how Sony and Microsoft are going to try and sell $600+ PS4/Xbox 720's with $80+ games in this market.
RE[2]: Of course it's not selling well.
by skpg on Mon 18th Feb 2013 08:00
in reply to "RE: Of course it's not selling well."
Member since:2012-09-21
I don't see how Sony and Microsoft are going to try and sell $600+ PS4/Xbox 720's with $80+ games in this market.
Even in a healthy economy, $80 video games is ridiculous. It was only a decade ago that the retail price for video games was $50. If Sony sells their games at 80 bucks, the piracy rate would soar through the roof.
The PS4 will probably cost around $350 if there is no PS3 backwards compatibility, games will still retail at $60. No one buys $60 games anyway, one of the reasons why video games sales are down is because msrp price is too high.
The US and the rest of the world can learn from China and their lack of copyright enforcement. Even though video game consoles are banned in China, you can get modded Xbox 360's and Wii's in gray markets. You know how much the games cost? $1, yes $1 Xbox 360 games.
http://www.techinasia.com/thoughts-xbox-360s-potential-china/
Despite the massive piracy in China, all three major console manufacturers (Nintendo, MS, Sony) want to sell their systems to China, but the government won't allow it. In China piracy is morally ethical but video games consoles are banned, don't you find that ironic? I've come to the conclusion that many of these video games companies don't really care about piracy that much. It's only because of the government (copyright law) that they sell their software at inflated prices.
I'm not saying copyright should be abolished, but piracy should be legal to an extent or the copyright laws need to be dramatically scaled back. That is the only way you will see a dramatic decrease in the price of video games. With the technology we have today games should be cheaper not going up in price. The problem is many of these newer technology (like blu-ray) are protected by copyright and patents, and in order to use these newer technology you have to pay a licensing fee.
Edited 2013-02-18 08:19 UTC
RE: Of course it's not selling well.
by zima on Fri 22nd Feb 2013 18:58
in reply to "Of course it's not selling well."
Member since:2005-07-06
A $300 console + $60 video games is simply asking too much for many Americans these days when gas prices are up, taxes are up, health care cost are up, and job opportunities are low.
You still live in quite prosperous bubble... people in many less prosperous places (which is most of them) still buy into games.
One of the reasons why video games are expensive is because of the copyright laws that forces video game publishers/developers to license their software.
Corporate/publisher piracy won't bring many people to developing games in the future...
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/18/13 11:21 UTC
Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/16/13 9:29 UTC
The day has finally come: Google has started shipping Google Glass to the lucky few early adopters. Now that it's shipping, Google has also unveiled a lot more about the API and the specifications of the device itself. While the company had already given out substantial details at earlier occasions, there are still a few surprises here.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/15/13 22:44 UTC
Almost exactly three years ago, I wrote about why OSNews was no longer OSNews: the alternative operating system scene had died, and OSNews, too, had to go with the times and move towards reporting on a new wave of operating systems - mobile, and all the repercussions that the explosion of smartphones and tablets have caused. Still, I was wondering something today: why aren't we seeing alternative operating systems on mobile?More Features »
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Member since:
2012-09-21
A $300 console + $60 video games is simply asking too much for many Americans these days when gas prices are up, taxes are up, health care cost are up, and job opportunities are low.
Also video games are overpriced. The retail price of video games should be $40 not $60, and handheld games should be $25 not $40.
Video game sales in 2012 have been abysmal for all consoles, anyone with a brain can see why. The terrible economy plus the expensive cost of video games is the main reason why.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/08/video-game-sales-down_n_20...
Now if the US was like China and they decide to legalize piracy, games would be much cheaper. One of the reasons why video games are expensive is because of the copyright laws that forces video game publishers/developers to license their software.
Edited 2013-02-16 01:12 UTC