Sony profits soar despite PS3 losses -- PS2 hot as ever

Sony is reporting that its overall net profits more than doubled during the past quarter, bolstered by the success of films such as Spider-Man 3, and snappy sales of its traditional electronics. Things in the company's PS3 camp, however, still looked a little bleaker than the Japanese giant had probably hoped for. Losses for the game system rose from 26.8 billion yen to 29.2 billion yen, with 710,000 units sold worldwide -- not real impressive when compared to competitor Nintendo's Wii sales of 3.43 million. In a somewhat ironic aside, Nielsen GamePlay Metrics, a division of Nielsen Co. which tracks video game activity, says that the most played game system last month was Sony's seven-year-old PS2. The report shows the aging system leading other consoles with 42 percent of use, followed by the original Xbox at 17 percent, and Xbox 360 at 8 percent. The Wii and PS3 fall at 4 and 1.5 percent, respectively. Should be food for thought for everyone at Sony who doesn't think backwards compatibility is a big deal.

Read -- Sony net profit doubles despite PS3 losses
Read -- PS2 most-played console in June

[NineT9 @ Jul 26th 2007 3:25PM]

can't believe the PS2 still sells so well! 120 Million consoles sold... Amazing, go Sony!

...And so the typical anti-sony bashing begins, go ahead boys!

[derek @ Jul 26th 2007 3:38PM]

I love Sony :)

[TheGuy @ Jul 26th 2007 3:26PM]

At least Kaz is out now, or else the PS3 would be doing worst than it already is.

[Nando @ Jul 27th 2007 2:41AM]

I think you mean "...Ken is out...".

And i disagree with you, Ken is one of the finest engineers of out time, it's just that his last year was a PR nightmare.

[thispaceforsale @ Jul 26th 2007 3:27PM]

Those Nielsen numbers seem very dubious.

[Matt E. @ Jul 26th 2007 4:18PM]

I just bought my 10 year old son the slimmer PS2. I've yet to replace my original XBOX with the 360. So there you go. Must be a ton of households like me.

[chadow @ Jul 26th 2007 3:36PM]

Its cheap as hell, and it has a ton of good games. Of course the old PS2 is doing well. I would buy one just to play God of War, if I didn't already have an Xbox 360 and a ton of great old and new games on that. Give credit where its due, PS2 is great. Its that PS3 thats a flop.

[Eric @ Jul 26th 2007 3:38PM]

I still firmly believe PS3 will be a success in the long run. Quite possibly outselling the 360 and Wii combined. Once the price comes down and the hardware is revised, the PS3 will sell like hotcakes. Especially since Blu-Ray clearly seems to be winning the format war.

[Frankenstein Black @ Jul 26th 2007 3:44PM]

This bodes well for the 2nd black monolith in the series of 3 (i.e. PS3). I suspect fence sitters are holding on to PS2s and even buying new slim ones for (1) the azz load of titles and (2) the comfort of knowing when the PS3 “hits their price sweet spot” the don’t have to worry about throwing out titles (i.e. GOW II). This must make MS see RED (ring of death ;^) since so many of you SONs of Birches apparently are still hot for that blasted PS2!

[Frankenstein Black @ Jul 26th 2007 3:45PM]

This bodes well for the 2nd black monolith in the series of 3 (i.e. PS3). I suspect fence sitters are holding on to PS2s and even buying new slim ones for (1) price, (2) the azz load of titles and (3) the comfort of knowing when the PS3 “hits their price sweet spot” the don’t have to worry about throwing out titles (i.e. GOW II). This must make MS see RED (ring of death ;^) since so many of you SONs of Birches apparently are still hot for that blasted PS2!

[Mark @ Jul 26th 2007 3:49PM]

Ya... OR they buy PS2s for all the great games and then xbox 360s for the great games on that rather than spending the unnecissary $500. Honestly, what were you thinking?

[Tyk @ Jul 26th 2007 3:48PM]

The only problem with PS3 is the price. The gaming shortage (which all consoles experience in their first year) will be resolved this Fall.

[chris fredette @ Jul 26th 2007 5:24PM]

I beg to differ. I thought the same way and just got a PS3 off of craigs as not to invest too much money. I've had the other two systems for a while too.
1) the controller is way light but sucks compared to the other. The triggers are bad and the analogs are harder to operate compared to the 360. And no rumble.
2) the interface seems half-assed and 1995ish compared the 360 and wii
3) the current game don't seem that great. All are 720p. The GT HD demo is just OK(I bought the PS2 just to play GT). I have Forza 1 and 2 and I think 2 is better than the demo but of-course it is a demo. Both games are missing a good in-car like Project Gothem for 2 years ago. what is with that.
4) it has the best web browser but it's missing some file support and a keyboard.
5) the blu-ray remote is sub par. The response is slow, buttons are small and no back lighting or IR. This makes it a sub par movie player and would cause me to get another BR player in the future if that format wins.

[Frankenstein Black @ Jul 26th 2007 3:49PM]

woops, sry for the x2 :^(...

[eh @ Jul 26th 2007 3:54PM]

When you consider their losses compared to the 360 then it doesnt look so bad. Spending a little extra to make a console right the first time proves to save money later, to the tune of $1billion. I dont see how the 360 can ever turn a profit this generation, they messed up really bad by rushing it and cutting corners.

[YouFaceTheTick @ Jul 26th 2007 3:57PM]

Do you know anyone playing PSX games on their PS2? Did you know any even 3-4-5 years ago? I've never seen it happen or even heard of it. Why would someone buy a next gen console and play last gen games on it?

[Ricksta @ Jul 26th 2007 3:59PM]

Guitar Hero 1-3

[Vidikron @ Jul 26th 2007 4:12PM]

Umm... yeah... I do. I play PSX and PS2 games on my PS3.

[gonzo @ Jul 26th 2007 4:14PM]

the diff between the graphics on the ps1 and the ps2 were huge, once i saw some of the games on the ps2 i couldent even stand the ps1 nastyness. now the ps2 and ps3 graphicall difference aint as much, so its easier to fathom a person playing metal gear solid 3 on their ps3 and stuff.

[Dale @ Jul 26th 2007 4:14PM]

I didn't play PSone games on my PS2. However, I play Xbox games on my Xbox 360 and Game Boy Advance games on my Nintendo DS. I also played SCUMM games on my Mac Mini earlier this year, good fun it was too.

[Matt E. @ Jul 26th 2007 4:21PM]

When I got my PS2, I gave my PSX to my brother. I kept most of the games, though, like Syphon Filter.

[YouFaceTheTick @ Jul 26th 2007 4:24PM]

Okay, well it seems some people do care about older games. When I moved to a PS2 in 2000 I ditched all my PSX games and should I ever go to a PS3 I don't even know where my PS2 is, so it's not like I'd ever crack open one of those nasty old games. Shrug.

[Travis @ Jul 26th 2007 4:26PM]

"Why would someone buy a next gen console and play last gen games on it?"
Well, I bought a Wii and suddenly also own a Gamecube. Yes I play many Wii games, but I can now play the last gen games I missed. I bought Eternal Darkness and Metroid Prime for less than $20 combined and am having a blast. Not to mention Ocarina and all the other classics the Virtual Console has to offer.

"I've never seen it happen or even heard of it."
Now you have.

[hemmy @ Jul 26th 2007 4:40PM]

I play ps1/ps2 games on the ps3. Also xbox games on the 360. I like being able to go back to older games, and there are tons I've not even played yet still. It's a great feature to have as there are lots of gems/classics out there.

[LiQuiD_FuSioN @ Jul 26th 2007 6:44PM]

Travis, I hope you didn't buy a Wii and then afterward a Gamecube, because you can play all your Gamecube games on the Wii.

But, as for old PS1 & PS2 games, I feel nostalgic now and then. I don't own any more PS1 titles, but there were some solid RPGs and shooters that I miss - like Tekken, Bloody Roar 2, Breath of Fire etc. But I think PS2 titles still hold a lot of life, like GTA III, Vice City, Need For Speed, basically the big hits that came out from 2000-2002. They are harder to discard or sell if that's what you're on about YouFaceTheTick.

Playing old games on a next-gen console is a must, not only technology-wise (how we expect this to be added in), but gamers do tend to go through their dusty collection and pop in an old classic now and then out of curiosity or for nostalgic value.

[chadow @ Jul 26th 2007 4:23PM]

The problem is, the cheaper PS3 doesn't play old PS2 games.

I don't think the PS3 will ever catch up to the 360. Anytime the PS3 tries a price drop, the 360 will lower to beat it. The 369 is too far ahead at this point and has so many exclusive titles that will sell it. 'Halo 3' and 'Left 4 Dead' are just 2 reasons alone I would buy one.

[Veritas II @ Jul 26th 2007 4:34PM]

Actually it does. The EE-less PS3 has something like 80% backwards compatibility as opposed to the current 60GB which has 98%.

[chadow @ Jul 26th 2007 4:36PM]

Oh yeah? I had read it was MUCH lower than that. Not sure where though. If you have a link that says 80%, post it. I have never read anything that high. Not saying it isn't true, just saying :)

[Veritas II @ Jul 26th 2007 4:48PM]

You can browse the site and do a count for yourself if you like. The count was 72% with no issues acc. to wiki, but the site is here:

http://faq.eu.playstation.com/bc/bcGames.htm

[Veritas II @ Jul 26th 2007 4:53PM]

In any case, reporting "low backwards compatibility" as "none at all" as you did indicates more than a bit of dishonesty.

[chadow @ Jul 26th 2007 5:41PM]

My bad. I really didn't think of my self as "reporting" though. I honestly didn't mean to say it doesn't play ANY of the old games. I have seen so many articles about the big mistake Sony was making by not doing much with backward compatibility with the cheaper model, so I guess I took that a little too far the way I posted. :) No need to rank me low on it...haha

[SimbaDogg @ Jul 26th 2007 6:29PM]

that's kind funny that you say that, i was playing gran turismo 2 the other day because i found my old memory card (and got the memory card usb adapter for free) and i've been playing the original killzone (to get caught up when KZ 2 comes out).

And whoever said there isn't much of a difference between ps2 and ps3...you probably have never played on one before, or you just dont have an hdtv

[NickF @ Jul 26th 2007 4:24PM]

Whats with this boycott of "new stuff"? First the Xbox 360 was crap because it overheated and melted/blew up, then Microsoft drops the ball again with Vista, and even worse when they announce the service pack (or lack there of). At this rate Apple and Nintendo will come out on top. (no complaints there, Microsoft has let me down from the moment they released the beta's for Vista and Sony... well I just don't like them, the PlayStation controller is to weird for me)

[wabguard-email @ Jul 26th 2007 4:39PM]

I think Backward Compatibility is IMPORTANT. Thank you sony for doing hardware support for PS2 games on the PS3. Hey Micro$oft I will NEVER buy a 360 until I can play my orignal xbox games on it. I invested way too much money to only be allowed "specific" games to work. Sorry but I bought my Xbox and PS2 games because I like them, not to give them up when moving to the next gen console.

Who makes these decisions?! :)

[phrank @ Jul 26th 2007 4:58PM]

What are you talking about?

Microsoft has a fairly extensive list of backward compatible games. (Although they never made Mech Assault available which is understandable considering how old it's online capabilities are). Although understandable, it still sucks.

Both companies have issues with supporting some of their older games.

If you've read some of the articles on Engadget about some of the games that Sony says are backward compatible, several of these games look better on the PS2, despite the superior hardware that the PS3 touts. As a matter of fact, some of the screen shots look horrid.

[Jason @ Jul 26th 2007 4:59PM]

I love my PS2. Upgraded my old big brick2 to the new slim one at Christmas after the brick wouldn't play LEGO StarWarsII. No plans for a PS3 though (or a 360 for that matter), but a Wii is definitely in my future, haha.

[Phred @ Jul 26th 2007 5:48PM]

If these PS/3 figures are right (710,000 units) and the X Box 360 figures of 700,000 quoted here (http://www.macobserver.com/article/2007/07/26.7.shtml) are right then the PS/3 is now out selling the 360... Perhaps the tide is turning as far as the 360 vs PS/3 battle goes. Maybe Sony's strategy of keeping selling the PS/2 profitably to support the PS/3 financially has worked.

[alexhrose71 @ Jul 27th 2007 10:24AM]

Phred,

They just dropped the price $100 and announced the discontinued 60gb model will be the last to have hardware PS2 BC...of course the sales spiked. I hardly call a 30,000 increase one month over 360 sales a huge success.

I do think they'll sell more similarly now that the price is reasonable - assuming they also sell the 80gb model for $499 when it launches and not $599.

But at 30,000 a month, even if they can keep that lead over the 360 (forgetting the awesome lineup coming to the 360 or the inevitable price cut), how long would it take to make up a 9 million lead ? 360 has sold over 12 million worldwide to date, PS3 is what 3 million ? 4 million ? Gaining at 30,000 a month the xbox 720 will be out before the PS3 catches up.

PS3 needs to be $399 with more exclusives. Simple as that.

[Adam @ Jul 26th 2007 7:00PM]

I think there was a lot missed in this article.

"In a somewhat ironic aside, Nielsen GamePlay Metrics, a division of Nielsen Co. which tracks video game activity, says that the most played game system last month was Sony's seven-year-old PS2. "

This is saying that the 'most played' not most purchased game system last month was the PS2. This should come as no surprise because it has been out for ages.

Secondly, look at the play time compared to units purchased.

PS3 710,000 units purchased - 4% of total played time
Wii ~3.5 mill units purchased - 1.4% of total played time

I'm a huge fan of the Wii, but this should give Sony some confidence in the future because their gamers are outplaying Wii gamers by a vast amount. More playing equates to more games bought? We'll see.

[bob @ Jul 27th 2007 2:58AM]

you have that backwards - wii is 4% and ps3 is 1.4%

[Chris @ Jul 26th 2007 9:11PM]

Adam,

I agree with your first point, but take another look at the article. It says, "The Wii and PS3 fall at 4 and 1.5 percent, respectively."

That means:
Wii = 4%
PS3 = 1.5%

I love my Wii, but I still hope the PS3 turns around. Once they drop the price again and get rumble into the controler, I'm in. It is just too damn expensive.

[Jason Brown @ Jul 26th 2007 7:39PM]

the wii is not next gen and its games are eventually being released for the cube. you analogy is flawed.

[hothotdisco @ Jul 26th 2007 10:45PM]

29 billion yen is only 244 million US so compared that with Microsofts 1 billion dollar+ loss, I'd say the PS3 is perfectly capable of holding its own......

[WhackMushroom @ Jul 27th 2007 1:27AM]

didnt they say in the same report however that ps3 has sold 4.5 million units world wide .. thats quite impressive considering the games are JUST starting to flow.

[alexhrose71 @ Jul 27th 2007 10:25AM]

Oops I should have said a 10,000 lead not 30,000 - thats even worse. How many times does 10,000 go in to 9,000,000. Yep, that catch up is going to take a few months at this rate.

[max @ Jul 27th 2007 12:16PM]

this is a post from ps3fanboy:
During Sony's recent financial statement, they announced that they've sold almost 4.5 million PlayStation 3s worldwide. Something to note is that they've changed their policy of stating how many systems shipped and are now actually abiding by the industry standard of saying how many systems have actually sold. This helps provide a clearer view of the PS3's success and is a much appreciated change from their past financial statements.

Onto the numbers themselves, the 4.5 million sell-through is nothing to be scoffed at and shows that they are keeping pace with the overall number of 360s sold during the same post-launch time frame. Unfortunately, the numbers aren't great -- especially when you consider that only 700,000 PS3s sold during the entire first quarter of the year, a huge decrease from the initial sell-rate. Of course, the decrease in sales makes sense considering there were almost NO GAMES RELEASED during that time frame. Funny how people don't buy consoles when there is nothing worth playing on it.


i'm not sure your numbers are correct joystiq.
check it out and please update cos saying 700k worldwide then soeone saying 4.5mil worldwide ...thats a huge difference.
regardless the "alleged" 700k sold was before amazon and walmart online stores sold out after the pricedrop.so even tho more systems are getting to peoples homes at a quicker pace than before (MUCH MUCH QUICKER) we stil havent really had any OMFGWTFBBQ?!!!1 moments yet with any games except resistance and ninja gaiden(if u dont have it yet GET IT.thats all im gonna say)
for the record my ps3 is my ps2 and ps1 system atm.i play ff7,gow2,kingdom hearts 2, and ninja gaiden and ff11(not 12).....and theyre ALL upconverted to 1080p(i seen it and it looks very nice and smooth)
so there ARE some of us that do appreciate being able to have one system to replace 3....my xbox ....well ....i dont wanna use it so i dont get red ring lol.the good games i have played and beat.not interested in anything else for the moment so i'll keep its noisy red ring prone ass in slumber and my wii is at a friends house..not too much fun unless i got ppl over.btw i can always download the nes and snes emulator and play roms on linux on y ps3(which i know many ppl dont do but i'll get to it soon) so i'll really have 6 systems(ps1,ps2,ps3,nes,snes,genesis) coming out from my ps3...plus i get to help find a cure for cancer...folding@home(me= #1 donator in folding@home fyi)so i thing that plus watching planet earth and discovery atlas and all the bluray films i have(i have a few hddvds too... dont kill me) makes the ps3 for me at least a BARGAIN....take 100 off and throw in 5 blu rays and i really dont see how anyone wouldnt want it.