Sony PSX: conflicting reports

[zmweasel]

This article says the launch went well:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=ret&aid=2730

While this article (which is 90% personal opinion, and based on a shopping trip to Akihabara!) claims that demand has plunged: http://www.gamespot.com/all/news/news_6085948.html

-- Z.

[SoulBlazer]

I just don't see how the PSX could do well in Japan considering how expensive that it is and how much Sony cut the system before launching it.

If Sony wants it to do well, restore the missing features for the North American and European launches and keep the price competivite and it should do well with the older people with money to spend.

[Ed Oscuro]

Coming into this thread I thought there might be a bit of sarcasm concerning the second article's different opinion...of the two it seems to be the better written, but are its facts better? I'm not counting anything against the first for its rather noticeable English inflection, but I think I can speculate as to whether their only hard piece of evidence, a quote from a Sony guy (!) is any match for that visit to Akihabara and other interesting connections the second reviewer made. Whether or not they're based on real trends isn't something I can vouch for personally, so I'd like to see what some of our folks in Japan have to say about this one :)

Awesome detective work Mr. Meston!

[zmweasel]

I'm not counting anything against the first for its rather noticeable English inflection,

Those British websites can't help it. Heh. It's a fairly reputable site, with some excellent opinion pieces (including one on the uncertain future of specialist videogame magazines -- gulp!).


but I think I can speculate as to whether their only hard piece of evidence, a quote from a Sony guy (!) is any match for that visit to Akihabara and other interesting connections the second reviewer made.

Wait... are we reading the same article? Heh! I don't see a direct quote from a Sony rep in the gameindustry.biz piece. Instead, I see "According to Japanese daily newspaper Mainichi Shimbun, the initial allotment of PSX systems sold out almost entirely in its first day on sale."


Awesome detective work Mr. Meston!

No biggie. I just do a lot of online research, especially when I have a bunch of reviews due and I'm procrastinating instead.

-- Z.

[Ed Oscuro]

Yep, crazy Brits...I love 'em. Nothing against the inflection at all, heh.



but I think I can speculate as to whether their only hard piece of evidence, a quote from a Sony guy (!) is any match for that visit to Akihabara and other interesting connections the second reviewer made.

Wait... are we reading the same article? Heh! I don't see a direct quote from a Sony rep in the gameindustry.biz piece. Instead, I see "According to Japanese daily newspaper Mainichi Shimbun, the initial allotment of PSX systems sold out almost entirely in its first day on sale."

Yeah, it's called I'm lazy in the evenings :o I know better than to just throw that down, but I supposed everybody would get what I was talking about. So, what we're looking at is even better -- we're taking the word of a newspaperman. Nothing against the Japanese here (or the British, again), but newspapers... unless it's a business journal, I don't know if I can believe that over the other quotes. Larger papers seem much better with their facts than the smaller ones, and I'm assuming it's a larger paper, but I'm still going to be skeptical about this.

Keep it real, and all that. W0t. (wow, that mixes a few more demographics than I'd like to account for.)

Oh yeah, get those reviews done, or else! I'll be one pissed gamer if I wake up and my Z reviews are missing, you know I'll be able to tell. Yep.

[maxlords]

I'd be willing to bet the truth is somewhere in between. I foresee the PSX selling fiarly well in Japan due to the severe lack of space that many Japanese have in their homes. The fewer appliances they need, the better, right?

[zmweasel]

So, what we're looking at is even better -- we're taking the word of a newspaperman. Nothing against the Japanese here (or the British, again), but newspapers... unless it's a business journal, I don't know if I can believe that over the other quotes.

In a recent blog update, game designer Greg Costikyan update (http://www.costik.com/weblog) mentioned similar skepticism while discussing the new book "Dungeons and Dreamers," which was written by a couple of non-gaming journalists:

"When [the book] discusses things I know, it is, like most journalism, only about 80% right, which casts doubts on the bits I didn't know already."

I mentioned in the Night Trap game-o'-the-day thread that, after the Night Trap/Mortal Kombat debacle of '93, I'm very skeptical about news reportage (especially of the idiot-box variety). But I'll take a Japanese-paper quote over some dude's observation that "I could buy a PSX in several stores of Japan's gargantuan electronics district! What a shocker! It must be tanking at retail!"


Oh yeah, get those reviews done, or else! I'll be one pissed gamer if I wake up and my Z reviews are missing, you know I'll be able to tell. Yep.

Heh! I imagine the only thing you *might* read which I write for is GameSpy (for which I recently trashed Intellivision Lives!).

-- Z.