Sony still dominates Irish games market
- Nintendo shows strength
- Xbox 360 outranks PS3
…But dwarfed by Sony
Independent numbers do not support Xbox 360 dominance in Ireland as figures released yesterday by Microsoft suggest.
The Chart-Track Irish games charts
released last week show that, for example, Xbox 360 sales of the
multiplatform ‘Transformers: The Game’ accounted for only 16
percent of the total sales on the top-20 multi-format chart.
Meanwhile the PlayStation 3 accounted for 6 percent less of sales of
the Transformers game at 10 percent; however, the rest of the sales
went to other Sony consoles, the PlayStation 2 (50 percent) and
PlayStation Portable (17 percent).
The game - at number one in those charts - entered the charts over
four weeks ago at number three, at that stage Xbox 360 sales were at 24
percent but since dropped to the above number.
Microsoft hold similar or lower percentages of multiplatform games
sales lower in the charts, and their console features less the Sony
brands. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 only features in five places of the top-20
multi-format chart, while Sony brands are in 12 different places.
Unlike the older PS2 that is still going strong with a massive Irish
install base, the first Xbox is a no-show.
Questionable numbers
“For the past year, Xbox 360 has been the number one console in
EMEA, having obtained more than 30 percent of the market in terms of
overall revenue (more than 45 percent in the UK, Ireland, Netherlands
and Sweden*),” reads a the Microsoft press release [NOTE: there is no
corresponding note following the '*' included].
However, if the examples outlined above are anywhere near close of
the true picture of the games market in Ireland, it shows that
Microsoft yesterday unfairly stated that they have 45 percent of the
market in terms of “overall revenue”. It’s unclear if Ireland is
incorrectly included among the UK, Netherlands and Sweden, or if the
company has an abnormal meaning of the term ‘overall revenue’.
Another possibility is that Microsoft are selectively calling
classing the ‘home’ market as the wider market while excluding portable
console which make up a large percentage of the actual games market.
Unlike its Japanese rivals Sony and Nintendo, the US-based company has
no handheld consoles.
This confusion mirrors Microsoft press release in March which gave
“record-breaking” United States specific numbers, but when we contacted
the company at the time a spokespersons said they “never release country specific figures”.
Nintendo with eight exclusives
Nintendo meanwhile have eight exclusives on the charts including
taking up places from two to six. If more comprehensive set of figures
were publicly available Nintendo could even come in second for overall
market share.
Nintendo looks to have gained since the launch of its low-priced Wii
console, added to this the handheld DS system has been a larger seller
in Ireland and continues to be such.
The particularly high Nintendo presence could be explained by the
low games release for the industry over summer months, however any
summer irregularity would not explain Microsoft’s low percentages which
are in line with our past reports on games sales in Ireland.
The future?
It still looks as if Microsoft has yet to capitalise on their head start launching the 360 before Christmas 2005, compared to the PlayStation 3 that only launched in March.
With the high cost of the new Sony console and a price drop for the
360, Microsoft could still convince many users of Sony’s older console
to switch over.
A lot depends on how long and to what extent Sony and third-parties
continue to support the PlayStation 2 while the PS3 slowly moves to
price drops and how fast can Sony build the new console’s catalogue of
titles.
Our independent source
The Chart-Track Irish chart is the only available independent source
of games point-of-sales information in Ireland. While it should be
noted that retailers GameStop and Smyths are not included, the chart
firm’s website lists a large selection of retailer such as Argos,
Play.com, Currys, Roxy Records, Dixons, Tesco, Game, Tower, Golden
Discs, Virgin, Heartbeat City, Xtra-vision, Heatons, Zhivago, HMV, PC
World, and other unnamed independent retails. Chart-Track also compile
the Irish music charts and the UK games charts.
INTERVIEW: PlayStation nation
launch of the PlayStation 3 (PS3) was a success, the boss of Sony’s
Irish PlayStation division told this publication in a wide-ranging
interview (This article was first published last month in Slant magizine, which was distributed in Dublin city center).
Niall O’Hanrahan the managing director at Sony Computer
Entertainment Ireland told us that the launch was “Very good”, even
thought he admitted — unlike another cheaper console — the PS3 was
not a sellout. The cheaper Nintendo Wii launched here before Christmas
was a sellout.
“We’ve shipped 20,000 and of that 17,500 are sold”, O’Hanrahan said.
He put the left over stock down to planned over supply “It was planned,
that was enough stock”.
He also robustly defended the high price of the
PS3 to Dublin - Is this living?
Since the Irish PlayStation 3 launch, a huge amount of advertisements with the slogan “This is living” have occupied advertisement spaces across Dublin, backed by TV spots — pictured above is a bit of a twist.
On Grafton Street, one of the main shopping areas in Dublin, Sony
asks shoppers and commuters who have just departed the near by Luas
tram, “is this living?”. The advertisement also points to the thisisliving.ie website.
Meanwhile, we never expected an answer to
“what’s the strangest way to make sure journalists will try your
game and enjoy them selves?”
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 publisher Ubisoft answered by
rounding up some journalists and bring them to a paintball arena in the
Wicklow Mountains (pictured below, and more beyond the fold) — there’ll be no escape.
Add to the mix were a few competition winners, Sarin and Jam from the publisher’s ‘Fragdolls‘, and eight Xbox 360s and flat-screen TVs from the Xbox Live Gaming Centre.
Playing with Xbox 360s in an open shed in the Wicklow Mountains just after paintball, Games Toaster
was thinking it must rank as one of the strangest PR events. Surprising
the staff at centre weren’t that shocked, another publisher had held
a similar event a few years ago.
- Last four photographs Ubisoft press images, all others Games Toaster.
PS3 launch in Dublin
The PlayStation 3 launched tonight in Ireland, Games Toaster went out to get the images of midnight launches in Dublin… expect more news on the PS3 later today…
Shoppers
waiting outside ‘Game’ on Dawson Street before midnight to be some of
the first to buy the PlayStation 3 in Ireland, there was about 50-60
waiting outside when we arrived.
The first person to buy a PS3 in ‘Game’ on Dawson Street.
We asked this shopper to pause for a second.
HMV
on Grafton Street was also open for the launch. Many Thursday night
drinkers were bemused by the line of about 50 shoppers, HMV says they
had served about 20 people at this stage. While it’s unclear if the
performers were regulars on the famous shopping street, also know for its buskers.
Games Toaster
then made it over to Dublin’s north side to GameStop at Henry Street,
where the crowd was still about 50 strong at around 12.40, GameStop say
that up to 150 people turned out. That’s a DJ on the stairs. And below an indoors shot of GameStop.
Microsoft won’t release Irish Xbox Live numbers
Xbox Live users now exceed 6 million members, but the company says it will not release country specific numbers.
The stance continues to cloud the lack of success for the Xbox 360
outside the United States, while independent games sales figures show
that the Microsoft console has just a fraction of the Irish market.
In reply to a Games Toaster request, Xbox
maker Microsoft say they “never release country specific figures”,
but the in the same press release “record-breaking” United States
specific numbers are given.
The release states that the United States has “a record-breaking
accessory attach rate of 2.9 units per console”, referring to the
amount of accessories people buy with the Xbox 360. At the time of
publication the company had not replied to a request for the world-wide
figures.
It is possibly that the vast majority of Xbox Live users are in the
US where the console continues to perform well. In November and
December alone the company sold 1.61 million Xbox 360s.
Even with the opposing Sony PlayStation 3 due to for release later
this month Xbox 360 games sales are not substantially gaining on the
rival brand.
Figures published recently by Games Toaster
from the ChartTrack charts show that the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation
Portable have a massive lead, with over 70% of total sales of the games
in the top 10 Christmas chart and 80% of the top five games. ChartTrack
also compiles the data for the Irish Music Charts and the UK Games.
The independent figures also back up claims made by Niall
O’Hanrahan MD of SCE Ireland before the Christmas, “Our own
research indicates that, despite its age, the Playstation 2 will still
be the biggest-selling console in the Irish market this year”
O’Hanrahan told the Sunday Business Post.
PS3 price for Ireland was expected
- Irish launch price confirmed
- 60GB version only at launch
Sony has now confirmed that, at
PlayStation rules Irish Xmas charts
With the PlayStation 3 launch delayed, pre-Christmas headlines read
“Sony runs Christmas”, but PlayStation brands accounted for the
vast majority of computer games under Christmas trees in Ireland,
writes Cian Ginty.
In the Irish multi-format games charts Sony’s PlayStation 2 and
PlayStation Portable secured over 70% of total sales of the games in
the top 10 Christmas chart, and 80% of the top five titles.
The Christmas top are Need for Speed: Carbon (EA), Fifa 07 (EA), Pro
Evolution Soccer 6 (Konami), WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2007 (THQ), and Call
of Duty 3 (Activision).
Nintendo consoles combined — mainly handhelds — followed with
17% of the top 10. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console only managed to take
6.9%, with a mere 0.3% extra from the original Xbox.
These percentages — not normally published — are sent out by
ChartTrack on their weekly chart reports. The charts show the most
popular games according data collected at retail points on the
highstreet and on websites including CDWow.com and Play.com.
The multi-format chart includes percentage breakdowns of how much was sold on different games systems.
Popular exclusive games are extremely important in the console wars.
Reflecting their strength in the Irish games market, Sony has five of
these exclusives in the top 20.
Nintendo also beats Microsoft in this arena, with two better-placed
exclusives that have survived on the charts for about 25 weeks. This is
compared with the sole Xbox 360 exclusive, the premier Christmas title
‘Gears of War’ at 18th place and only on the charts for six weeks.
Last Christmas we reported that the Xbox brands rarely received much
more then 10% of sales of any individual games released on multiple
systems, and never above 20%. This has improved this year, but only
slightly. There was only one title that the 360 receive more then 15%
of sales, it was Call of Duty 3 at 32%.
The total breakdown of Xbox 360 sales are as follows (1) Need for
Speed: Carbon with 7%, (2) FIFA 07 with 6%, (2) Pro Evolution Soccer 6
with 13% (4) WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2007 with 11%, (5) Call of Duty 3
with 32%, (17) Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 with 15%, (18) Gears of War with
100, and (20) Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy with 4%.
With a massive install base, and the launch of the PlayStation 3 in
March, Ireland’s love affair with the PlayStation brand shows few
signs of changing.
ChartTrack’s Irish charts for Christmas week 2006 is currently
shown to the left. Also see the Games Toaster story on last year’s Christmas Irish games chart and a comprehensive report on the charts from week one 2006 to the week ending July 15.
Is this PSP ad the ‘worst ever’?
Pictured above, the PSP poster advertisement can currently be seen
at bus shelters and other locations across Dublin, it’s supported by TV
spots. We quite like it, but there’s mixed opinion on the PlayStation
forum on boards.ie.
The ad reads “I can’t believe she called me a dirtbag”… “Yeah. You’re clearly a dustball”.
Meanwhile, among ads for music and film events, Gears of War posters
are a little less apparent around Dublin city centre (top right
of poster board):
PS2 will be “biggest-selling console in the Irish market” this year, says Sony
“Christmas cancelled for PS fans” noted a Sunday Business Post headline on a news feature covering the delayed launch of the PlayStation 3 in Ireland, now to be released in March 2007.
But Niall O’Hanrahan MD of SCE Ireland told the the YourTechStuff
section of the newspaper “Our own research indicates that, despite
its age, the Playstation 2 will still be the biggest-selling console in
the Irish market this year”.
Warning of compatibility problems if gamers import the PlayStation 3
he said “If they want to source products on various websites they can
do that, but it’s illegal for companies to sell them”.
Games Toaster is also quoted in the article which can viewed in full here.
UMD films “haven’t really been successful” says Sony Ireland boss
PlayStation Portable UMD films haven’t been successful
according to Niall O’Hanrahan, managing director of Sony Computer Entertainment Ireland.
Speaking to Irish tech blog yourtechstuff.com, O’Hanrahan, said
“Movies haven’t really been successful on the PSP”: [More here]