AfterTek

The gaming console war is starting to heat up as next month Sony will launch the long-awaited PlayStation 3 and Nintendo will unveil Nintendo Wii, previously known as Revolution. Also, next month Microsoft will be ready to celebrate a year since its gaming console, Xbox 360, was launched.  Still, the main question is who will win the gaming console war and Enterbrain, a Japanese company, involved in publishing of magazines and books for TV games, computer entertainment and general entertainment, thinks they have an answer.

Speaking at a seminar, Enterbrain President Hirokazu Hamamura said that, despite its Blu-Ray problems and delays, PlayStation 3 will be the winner. “The PS3 will have a tough time globally at the initial stage. Its launch titles in Japan and exclusive software titles overseas are quite limited. “But its overwhelmingly realistic graphics will give it a long life span. It will stay competitive even when a game console battle breaks out among a newer generation of machines in 2010. Sales should grow every time Sony cuts prices,” Hamamura said, according to Reuters.

Enterbrain expects Sony to sell 4.13 million units of the PS3 worldwide in the current business year ending March 2007.  In August this year another research company forecasted that Sony’s PlayStation 3 will win the gaming console battle. Boston-based research firm Yankee Group reported that the game-console war will have found a Wiiner by 2011 and that is PlayStation 3. Xbox 360 will come second and Nintendo Wii third.  The respected market research firm predicted that by 2011, which means 5 years from now, PlayStation 3 will have more than 30 million units sold, Xbox 360 will closely follow with 27 million units and Nintendo will trail the other two giants with its Wii console, with only 11 million units.

Translated in market share, that means 44% for PlayStation, which regains its dominant position, 40% for Xbox 360 and 16% for Nintendo’s Wii.  “With a growing installed base of connected consoles, content owners are beginning to recognize the potential video game consoles offer as a distribution channel,” said Michael Goodman, Yankee Group Media & Entertainment Strategies Senior Analyst. “Additionally, these platforms will serve as a strong medium for advertising, validating the growing market for in-game and around game advertising.”

Sony repeatedly delayed its gaming console. Although, in March this year, Sony promised a global launch of its upcoming next gen gaming console, the plans have changed changing. Last month, an official statement from Sony, said that gamers from Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Africa and Australia won’t be able to buy a PlayStation 3 until March next year.

According to the official statement the decision to postpone the launch date was taken following “the delay in the mass production schedule of the blue laser diode within the Sony Group, thus affecting the timely procurement of key components to be utilised in PlayStation 3.”  Although initially Sony announced it will ship 2 million units until the end of this year, the Japanse company was forced to reconsider the numbers. Briefly, Sony will ship at the launching only 500.000 units, 400.00 for United States and 100.000 for Japan.

Still, Sony hopes to meet the goal to deliver by March 2007 6 million game consoles to the market. Microsoft also confronted with its own stock problem last year in November when they launched Xbox 360, but even so, the company managed to sell over 600.000 units until the end of the year.

In United States where PlayStation is due to launched on 17 November, the price will be $499 for a 20-gigabyte hard drive version and at $599 for the 60 gigabyte version.  For the Japanese market, Sony slashed the launch price of its next-generation gaming console, Play Station 3. At the Tokyp Game Show, Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi, announced that Sony will cut the price of its basic PlayStation 3 model to 47,600 yen, or about US$410, from an originally planned 59,800 yen, or $515. Kutaragi announced said that the move is an answer to customers complaints the PlayStation 3 was too pricey.

Microsoft also announced a cheaper Xbox 360 for Japan. Starting with November 2, the price for an Xbox 360 will be only 29.800 yens instead of 39.785 yens which is the current price. By taking this decision, Microsoft is aiming to fight back the impact caused by the release of Playstation 3 in Japan and also to increase their sales on the Japanese market which is considered to be the second largest gaming market in the world.