Install-Base
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Ubisoft expects 'double the console installed base of previous generations'
Tony Key, senior VP of marketing and sales at Ubisoft, recently said the publisher's "feeling is the installed base of these machines will be much faster to take hold than previous generations" in regards to the PS4 and Xbox One an interview with Games Industry International. "In the first couple of years, we expect double the installed based of previous generations," he added, referring to the number of systems sold over the same period of time. "The reason why is: The last cycle was longer, so there's a lot of pent up demand." Key isn't alone in believing that the new systems will continue to sell well, as Sony's Jack Tretton projected that three million PS4 consoles would be sold by the end of the year. The PS4 is off to a good start; the next-generation console sold one million units within its first 24 hours at retail. Key also spoke to the delay of Ubisoft's Watch Dogs to spring 2014 in the interview, saying that "Watch Dogs is designed to be a long-term brand for Ubisoft. We won't launch it until we know it's equaling the vision it can achieve." Update: Clarified language regarding Key's expectation for next-generation console sales.
Report: iOS 5 installed on 1 in 3 compatible devices
Well, that was quick: Analytics firm Localytics says that iOS 5 is already installed on one of every three eligible devices, meaning that just a week or so after release, it's already set up and running on a big chunk of the ecosystem. Even taking the iPhone 4S out of the equation (which of course comes with iOS 5 installed), the number's still up to 31%, which is a pretty solid install base put together so quickly. As you can see from the chart above, the iPad 2 actually has the highest rate of install, according to the data Localytics is looking at. Makes sense that both the iPad 2 and the iPhone 4 would be up there, as those are likely Apple's most devoted users, dedicated to keeping the latest and greatest Apple products running. But I think in general this information shows that Apple has done a great job of letting its customers know just how important and useful the upgrade to iOS 5 can be. Most devs will still want to support older versions of the operating system, obviously, but widespread support like this make it easy for most devs to support options like iCloud and iOS 5's other new features. [via TechCrunch]
GameStop details U.S. and European console install base
Citing figures obtained by the NPD Group and International Data Group, GameStop included gaming hardware install base statistics for the U.S. and Europe in its latest annual report. According to the data, the U.S. hardware market stood at over 249 million units as of December 2010, with current-generation consoles ranked as follows: Nintendo DS - 47.3 million Nintendo Wii - 34.2 million Xbox 360 - 25.4 million PSP - 19 million PS3 - 15.4 million In Europe, the total gaming hardware install base is roughly 153 million, according to IDG data from December 2010. The report breaks down that number, too: Nintendo DS - 46 million Nintendo Wii - 24.9 million PSP - 14.8 million PS3 - 14.7 million Xbox 360 - 13.7 million You guys can probably digest those numbers for yourself, but here's our preliminary take on the data: Man, the Nintendo DS is ballin'.
Wii installed base growing more quickly than PS2's did
During E3, Nintendo gave a presentation to analysts about the company's new offerings and its current status. Reggie Fils-Aime presented the above slide, which shows the startling truth about the Wii's installed base in the United States: in its fourth year on the market, it's larger than the ubiquitous PlayStation 2's installed base at the same point in its life, by a margin of almost five million units. Of course, the PS2 has had a spectacularly long lifespan after that, with Sony announcing 7.2 million units sold just last year. Later in the presentation, Reggie revealed that around 300,000 units of the black Wii console have been sold since its May 9 introduction in North America, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 is "approaching 900,000 units here in the U.S."
PS3 vs. Xbox 360: European install base tiff muddled by murky borders
Speaking to MCV, Microsoft EMEA VP Chris Lewis has proclaimed that Xbox 360's 9-million-plus European install base trumps PS3's recently projected 10-million-and-counting base. How is that possible, you ask? Simple. "We count installed base differently," Lewis explains. Of course!In fact, Lewis takes the counting contention one step further. "We're confident we are actually around a million units ahead," he claims. While we're fairly certain both parties stick to the traditional "1, 2, 3" ... and so on convention, we suspect Lewis is arguing over just which "European" territories are at stake in this numbers game. SCEE pools its population from Europe, Australiasia and other territories outside of Japan, the rest of Asia and North America. Microsoft EMEA combines figures from Europe, the Middle East and Africa.Kinda hard to wage a console war when the opposing sides are scurrying about different maps. So then, stalemate?
PS3 install base up to nearly 24 million
digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/03/ps3-install-base-up-to-nearly-24-million/'; According to some recently released statistics from Sony, the worldwide install base for the PlayStation 3 is now 23.8 million strong. From a fact we learned earlier in June, we can extrapolate from these recent numbers that almost eight million people are currently being Quincied in PlayStation Home. Furthermore, assuming everyone owns one controller, there's more than 144 million axes of motion control floating around out there. (Axis'? Axises?)From these numbers, we can also determine that the PS3 is currently lagging behind its Console War adversaries -- the Wii is sporting nearly the same number of users in the U.S. alone, and the Xbox 360 hit 28 million users earlier this year. Hey, that just makes it more underground, you know? It's edgy and exclusive, like that hip bar that doesn't let you or your friends in, because it's too full of well-dressed, attractive people.
Analyst: Investing in Wii development is 'fool's gold'
Cowen & Company's Doug Creutz thinks the Nintendo Wii installed base numbers are misleading and he's not afraid to tell the world. When asked by Gamasutra which system developers are best off investing in, he said, "The choice here is really between investing for the Xbox 360 and PS3 -- since their capabilities are fairly similar -- or the Wii. I would caution investors and developers that the larger installed base of the Wii is really a bit of a red herring." Creutz explained that while there are 19 million Wiis on the loose in the US, the combined numbers for Xbox 360 and PS3 still edge out the Wii by 3 million units. Creutz continued, "I think the Wii installed base represents, to a certain extent, fool's gold for someone looking to invest in video game development." We'll keep that in mind once we get Joystiq Publishing off the ground.
Iwata: Total DS install base could reach 152.2 million units
If the standard laws of the five-year console cycle apply to Nintendo's money-printing handheld, then said laws would dictate that the lifespan of the Nintendo DS (in its many, many forms) is nearing its end. The system's current install base of 84.1 million across the U.S., Japan and Europe is hardly anything to scoff at, and would certainly earn the device some form of lifetime achievement award at its retirement gala -- but according to Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata, the DS will break the standard five-year cycle, and further expand its install base in the years to come.Iwata claims that should interest in the DS expand in the U.S. and Europe as it did in Japan (where nearly one in every five people currently tote the handheld), the system's install base will nearly double -- his estimate for the handheld's final tally is a nice, round 152.2 million units. That's ... a pretty specific number. We're not usually one for conspiracy theories, but we're wondering if that estimate isn't, you know, time machine-assisted.
Xbox 360 install base surges to 28 million
Late last night, Microsoft sent word that they've reached an Xbox 360 install base milestone, announcing that by 2008's end they have been able to sell 28 million consoles worldwide. That's an increase of around 10 million consoles since last January, don'tcha know. On top of the 28 million install base news, Microsoft proudly informed us that 2008 saw an 84% increase in year-over-year online consumer spending, that the Xbox Live community has ballooned to 17 million members and that over $1 billion has been spent on Xbox Live since its launch in 2005. High fives all around!
Xbox 360 to surpass original Xbox in units sold
Following October's sales boost, Xbox 360 is now poised to do in three years what its predecessor, Xbox, failed to do in its four short years in production. "By the end of this month, we expect our global installed base to reach 25 million units, surpassing that of the first Xbox," declared Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division CFO Mindy Mount at yesterday's BMO Capital Market conference in New York. Mount was confident that this milestone was "only the start," though, since historically, more than 75 percent of a console's total sales come after its price has dropped to $199 or below. And here's the part where we all say: Great, kid. Don't get cocky.
Wii could surpass US Xbox 360 install base this month
It's a good thing that Microsoft got its gloating in about selling 10 million units in the US, because the Wii will not only hit that number, but probably surpass it this month. Deutsche Bank analyst Jeetil Patel did the math and found that the Wii currently sits at about 9.5 million units in the US. If Nintendo's console sells another 700k units (like it has been) this month and the Xbox 360 sticks to its 200k level, the Wii will blow right past its competition's US install base.It'll also be interesting to see the impact Wii Fit has on the numbers when it launches next week. Microsoft can take solace in knowing that it can always fall back on saying the Xbox 360 still has the "largest global install base of any current gen, high definition gaming console" ... right?
Analyst: PS3 will catch up to Wii by 2011
You'll typically find that any words following a colon and the word "analyst" are interesting enough to merit some consideration, yet vague enough to pass as either calculated reasoning or transparent thumb sucking. Speaking to The Economist regarding recent Activision Blizzard mega merger, Screen Digest analyst Piers Harding-Rolls notes that consolidation makes sense in an industry where all of the competing consoles matter. Some currently matter more than most, but he suggests that in the future, it might not be the ones you expect.Harding-Rolls reckons that by 2011, the PlayStation 3 will not only have surpassed the Xbox 360, but will have caught up with the wildly popular Wii's worldwide install base. Though the PlayStation 3 has fared better in Japan following a price drop, the results of the American cut have yet to be revealed. A notable increase in sales is likely, but will it result in a continuing trend that eventually puts it on par with the Wii? It certainly doesn't seem realistic today, but who (aside from the analysts) knows what things await in the year 2011? Perhaps our analytical friend is merely holding out for the inevitable reality tunneling device which would enable travel to a realm where all of this is true. If you want proper closure though, be sure to bookmark this page and return to it after about four years. We'll be waiting.[Thanks, Andrew]
Analysts: DS to have 89% Japanese install base by 2011
An analyst group called Screen Digest is predicting continued success for the DS in the future. We do the same thing, but when they do it, they use specific numbers, and people believe them. Their craziest number? They are saying that in the distant future of 2011, 89% of Japanese households will own a DS.They predict that by 2011, the DS will have an install base of 112 million systems worldwide, versus the PSP's 67 million. To put that in perspective, the Playstation sold 102 million units, the GBA has sold 79 million, and the NES sold 61 million. We personally hope the DS continues to dominate, because we love our jobs the system.
Analyst: PSP and DS will outdo home consoles
Don't throw out your handhelds: there's a lot of life left in them. According to an analyst at DFC Intelligence, the ever-expanding market for both DS and PSP will help allow it to beat the current generation systems: "Under the right scenario, by 2011 the combined installed base of the DS and PSP could exceed that for the Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360," noted David Cole.While Nintendo will be responsible for much of the growth of the handheld industry, Sony is certainly not out of the game--they will "establish a solid position in the marketplace" (if they haven't already). Cole reminds investors that "existing console game publishers have found it is possible to make over $100 million in revenue from a single PSP title based on the right franchise," a figure that's not to be scoffed at.Ultimately, PSP's success will be determined by a number of factors, with Sony's support for the platform being key. Sony said they're working on exciting new things for the platform at GDC--hopefully, it's true.[Via GameDaily BIZ]
HD DVD backers see big 2007 ahead
The North American HD DVD Promotional Group took advantage of its press event to spread the good news about HD DVD, noting that over 300 additional HD DVD titles should be arriving in 2007. As of January 5th, the group estimates there were more than 175,000 HD DVD players sold in America, with an annualized attach rate of 28 movies per player. The group projects sales will reach 2.5 million players by the end of this year and more than $600 million worth of movie revenues. HD DVD buyers can look forward to more HDi enhanced titles, now featuring internet features that were demoed at the event, as well as more players hitting the market from manufacturers like Lite-On, Alco, Alpine, Meridian and Onkyo. Look for the trend of combo releases to continue, as the format's backers see it as a viable way of introducing current DVD owners to the format and building a library prior to upgrading. With Sony already hitting 1 million PS3s shipped and HD via IPTV picking up steam HD DVD surely has its work cut out for it in 2007 but with a slew of reference quality releases and enhanced hardware offerings they expect to hit all their goals.
November NPD: revised data reveals current install bases
Earlier this month, a whole slew of numbers escaped from the NPD's inadequate holding facilities and viciously assaulted gamers with all sorts of sales tallies and percentages. Having discovered an error in their historical data, the analytical group has seen fit to unleash the numbers again, though an important one is now somewhat smaller and thus, less dangerous. It was previously reported that year-to-date sales had risen 25% in November, when in fact, they had only risen by 16% (putting the industry at $8.76 billion). Please calm yourselves, we're as crushed by this dramatic reversal as you are. Far more intriguing, however, is the now rectified install base data for consoles in the US. Be sure to use this information the next time you have a prolonged, ultimately pointless argument on the sleazy gaming forum of your choice: PS2: 35.8 million GBA: 34.3 million DS: 7.6 million PSP: 5.7 million Xbox 360: 3.4 million Wii: 476 thousand PS3: 197 thousand The full report on GameDaily BIZ also notes that Microsoft sold 42 thousand HD-DVD drives for the 360 -- that's only 1.24% of the total install base.
