Kotaku have received a response to the NPD figures from Jack Tretton, head of SCEA. In it, Tretton talks excitedly about how Sony are redefining the entertainment experiences of consumers, pointing to their strong line-up both for the holiday period and the rest of the fiscal year. The final quote of the article:
“There simply has never been a better time to be part of the PlayStation family and we look forward to providing you with the best entertainment content and experience for many, many years to come.”
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Sony were unusually quick to respond to the NPD data this month. Their response doesn’t specifically cover the data but does discuss the strengths of their three consoles, and talks about them “just getting warmed up”. The impression given (and it’s possible I’m reading too much into it here) is that they know that this month’s figures don’t really matter, because of the big changes coming for the PSP and PS3.
The full press release is below:
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As the video game industry (and probably a large part of Sony’s core potential consumers) await the relaunch of the PSP and either a relaunch or price cut for the PS3, Sony’s consoles had another slow month. Sony systems did account for 26% of all units sold in June though, and there were four games for Sony platforms in the top 20 (all PS3 games).
As mentioned on this blog last month, June 2008 was a good month for Sony’s consoles, and as such the year-on-year comparisons for June are quite harsh:
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Responding to this month’s NPD figures, SCEA’s Patrick Seybold focused on Sony’s post-E3 momentum and the increase in PS3 sales over the last few months:
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I haven’t currently been able to locate any reaction from Sony to the May NPD results. It’s not unusual for them to stay quiet when there’s little positive to talk about, and if there hasn’t been a response by now we likely won’t hear anything from them. Other than pointing out that inFamous has done okay in its first week, there’s little else to say.
I’ll keep looking though.
With low hardware sales and only one PS3 game at the bottom of the top ten, there was little for Sony to celebrate about the NPD results. In their response, SCEA’s Patrick Seybold ignored the figures and focused upon the future for the PS3, as well as the value of all the system’s additional features:
“We’re revving up the new fiscal year with a broad tent of content and services across our platforms with envelope-pushing PS3 games like inFAMOUS, MAG, and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
We often hear from our customers that they’re surprised by everything the PS3 does in addition to what they purchased the device for – including features like DLNA, free access to Wi-Fi and internet browser. In some ways, this serves as a reminder that there’s more we can do to relay the full breadth and power of the PS3.
We know our consumers have varying entertainment lifestyles from the Blu-ray movie fanatic to photo enthusiast, so we’ve outlined our most aggressive marketing plans to help showcase this tremendous value proposition to all our consumers.
We’ve got a proven history in delivering the best entertainment experience and there is no doubt the PlayStation brand is staged for another big year.”
Source:
Sony reaction – GamesIndustry.biz
With year-on-year hardware sales down for another month Sony focused its reaction on software, particularly the success of million-selling Killzone 2 and the popular MLB ’09: The Show. Continued support from Sony and third-parties for both the PS2 and PSP are also mentioned as being strong parts of the PlayStation brand.
Sony also wisely point out that the PlayStation 3 has a strong selection of exclusives lined up for the year, which will hopefully help drive hardware sales in a way Killzone 2 apparently did not.
The full press release follows:
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