PS3 to benefit most from GTA4?

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http://www.joystiq.com wrote:

Oh, great, another Grand Theft Auto IV story. This one's about some analysts who believe the PlayStation 3 stands to gain the most following the release of Rockstar's go-anywhere, shoot-anybody romp. Though both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are certain to experience a surge in sales upon the game's April 29 release, Michael Pachter tells Reuters that Sony's system will be the winner in this battle.

He's joined by Edward Williams, from BMO Capital Markets, who suspects fans will want to keep their crime shenanigans in the family. "So many people who owned the PS2 went into PlayStation family because of 'GTA', he explains. "The release of 'GTA4' could expedite their decision to upgrade." That isn't to say that brand loyalty will overpower Microsoft's hand, as the manufacturer can still count on the Xbox 360's exclusive downloadable content and bigger install base.

IDC analyst Billy Pidgeon (who's no longer unstuck in time, it seems) notes, "Online is such a strong part of the game and Microsoft has done such a great job of developing the online community, so for people who own multiple consoles, they will buy it for the 360." So, Microsoft wins the software struggle, Sony overcomes its hardware hardships and Rockstar has a rollicking good laugh to the bank. Oh, and we get to play Grand Theft Auto IV. We're all winners here!

Source: via Joystiq

So what do you all make of this? On a very basic level, I can only see Microsoft ultimately gaining from this as all the customers they are likely to gain will be at the expense of Sony i.e those who still have a PS2 but upgrade to 360 instead.

Can any of you see how Sony will benefit from this, rather than simply gaining customers who were going to upgrade to the PS3 anyway?

Lord Nikon

Tbh i was used to the Playstation controller, from originally owning the Playstation 1, and upgrading to PS2, Playstation 3 purchase was inevitable. Glad to Gran Turismo and GTA carry on in the series, thats an added bonus.

I will never own a xb360, I prefer the Playstation, simple as that.

Fizman

neuromancer wrote: »

Tbh i was used to the Playstation controller, from originally owning the Playstation 1, and upgrading to PS2, Playstation 3 purchase was inevitable. Glad to Gran Turismo and GTA carry on in the series, thats an added bonus.

I will never own a xb360, I prefer the Playstation, simple as that.

+1

Nailz

I have both consoles, but PS3 is the one for me. I've had the 360 since release, but I've lost all faith in it since it almost bricked itself countless amount of times. The PS3 is reliable, and mark my words... it WILL finish on top!

Benzino

|.Murderer.| wrote: »

Source: via Joystiq

So what do you all make of this? On a very basic level, I can only see Microsoft ultimately gaining from this as all the customers they are likely to gain will be at the expense of Sony i.e those who still have a PS2 but upgrade to 360 instead.

Can any of you see how Sony will benefit from this, rather than simply gaining customers who were going to upgrade to the PS3 anyway?

Well Asda over in England have said that the ps3 version is outselling the 360 version 3:1, so I think Sony will probably benefit the most from this.

AdMMM

Are ASDA that big a games retailer though? They're much smaller than Tesco and I wouldn't even give much weight to Tesco figures if they were available.

My point is that the majority of the people who are still waiting to buy a next-gen console are mostly PS2 users. I think Sony are certainly going to see more consoles being sold than Microsoft, but every console Microsoft sell will be at Sony's expense.

From my perspective, Sony can only hope for maximum customer retention which is essential rather than being a benefit.

Unearthly

Yeah I would agree that people who owned a PS2 for GTA will just upgrade to the PS3. I've spoken to a few people who hadn't even given the 360 a thought when considering to buy a new console.

corcaigh07

3:1, thats laughable. the game is going to be equally popular on both consoles. does that mean theres 3 ps3 to every 1 360. i dont think so.

also wouldnt be too sure about the fact that sony might sell more consoles, i dont have a 360 or ps3 yet but i am more tending towards 360 simply because its the cheapest way to play GTA4 and i reckon a hell of a lot of people will think similar. which is the best option to the casual/tight gamer=250-300 euro for console and game(depending on arcade or premium) or 400-460(hopefully there will be GTA 400 euro packs coming out)

tman

Gamesnash still had copies of the PS3 version available for sale for quite a while after the 360 units had been allocated. Perhaps they'd be kind enough to let us know what kind of stock ratio they had for the different versions?
I'd put more more stock in what they say, than the word of someone who also sells frozen peas...

projectmayhem

corcaigh07 wrote: »

3:1, thats laughable. the game is going to be equally popular on both consoles. does that mean theres 3 ps3 to every 1 360. i dont think so.

your math relies heavily on everyone who owns a 360 or ps3 to buy a copy of gta, which won't happen. there are plenty of people who don't like GTA. so the analysts are saying that more ps3 owners will own gta, which works out to more people generally then 360 owners. i.e. ps3 owners like gta more. on top of that, there is an affinity with playstation and gta from the past which will help, as well as the fact that sony's advertising their ps3/gta bundle a lot more then microsoft are advertising their DLC packs that they paid 50mil for.

tman wrote: »

Gamesnash still had copies of the PS3 version available for sale for quite a while after the 360 units had been allocated. Perhaps they'd be kind enough to let us know what kind of stock ratio they had for the different versions?
I'd put more more stock in what they say, than the word of someone who also sells frozen peas...

given the money microsoft spent, and the fact that there are more 360's out there, i would say sites like gamesnash would easily have pre-judged more success on the 360. though i do know a lot of people in different retail chains who ended up getting equal amounts of ps3 and 360. a lot of those numbers are based on pre-books too.

steviec

projectmayhem wrote: »

your math relies heavily on everyone who owns a 360 or ps3 to buy a copy of gta, which won't happen. there are plenty of people who don't like GTA. so the analysts are saying that more ps3 owners will own gta, which works out to more people generally then 360 owners. i.e. ps3 owners like gta more. on top of that, there is an affinity with playstation and gta from the past which will help, as well as the fact that sony's advertising their ps3/gta bundle a lot more then microsoft are advertising their DLC packs that they paid 50mil for.

Not sure how you make that out - all of the game's advertising is being paid for by Microsoft and only ever mentions the 360.

It does surprise me that it seems to be selling better on PS3 since it's being pushed so much as a 360 game and it's a game you'd expect a very large percentage of console owners to buy.

projectmayhem

steviec wrote: »

Not sure how you make that out - all of the game's advertising is being paid for by Microsoft and only ever mentions the 360.

It does surprise me that it seems to be selling better on PS3 since it's being pushed so much as a 360 game and it's a game you'd expect a very large percentage of console owners to buy.

i actually didn't know that... which makes for grim reading for microsoft. it means the logo at the end of each commercial isn't working for them, because spending that much money to stick your logo on every single airplay is expensive, and your return should be a 2:1 360 sale at the very least. having said that, i walked past a few stores in town today and they had very prominent spots for those display boxes for the ps3 bundle.

but like i said, if you played gta on ps1 and ps2, there's very little reason to continue the experience on ps3.

Captain Chaos

I'd say the reason is everyone relates GTA to the Playstation and even though MS is trying to advertise that its on the 360 plus the exclusive content people will stick to what they know, consumers are afraid of change.

I'm getting both versions, though I will mostly play the 360 version because I hate the Playstation controller, the PS version is for playing people online for me even though it will look a little bit better and have slightly less loading times on the PS3.

Having played Vice City, San Andreas and Saints Row on both controllers the Xbox controller is far far better and more comfortable for me.

AdMMM

I think one of the reasons why retailers are also heavily promoting GTA PS3 packs is because they see they are more likely to profit from PS3 sales. They see that Xbox already has a large user base and therefore less likely to see a substantial boost in sales. Also, as the cheaper of the two consoles, if the retailer is selling at a 10% markup they make less profit per unit sold than they would by selling a PS3.

corcaigh07

projectmayhem wrote: »

your math relies heavily on everyone who owns a 360 or ps3 to buy a copy of gta, which won't happen. there are plenty of people who don't like GTA. so the analysts are saying that more ps3 owners will own gta, which works out to more people generally then 360 owners. i.e. ps3 owners like gta more. on top of that, there is an affinity with playstation and gta from the past which will help, as well as the fact that sony's advertising their ps3/gta bundle a lot more then microsoft are advertising their DLC packs that they paid 50mil for.

its gta, its going to be equally enough popular on both consoles. plus the fact that there is more 360s out there, more advertising for 360, damn all advertising for this supposed ps3 pack(something i havent seen yet except for GAMEs self made pack),ps3 will be doing well to get 1:1 for now at least, they may win later on.

Creamy Goodness

who cares, just wait it out until tuesday and enjoy the bloody game be it on whatever console you will get it on.

robby^5

Cremo wrote: »

who cares, just wait it out until tuesday and enjoy the bloody game be it on whatever console you will get it on.

Are you telling the fanboys not to argue?!

I say they release a PC version

Creamy Goodness

kind of, i mean it's all well and good voicing an opinion on what you think is best etc. but at the end of the day everyone has their console that they are going to play it on so why should people be bothered on which console will do better especially when the original article has a financial person as their main source of their article.

JoeJC

I personally decided a while ago not to upgrade my PS2 to a PS3, even after it passed away after 6 years of faithful service...but now i am seriously considering purchasing a PS3 after all the anticipation about GTA IV, having seen the slick videos and having read so much about it. GTA will work tremendously in Sony's favour; in my opinion, irrespective of Xbox gains, PS3 will gain more from this title than any other bar, maybe, MGS.

Il see if I'll get the console depending on public response to the game.

AdMMM

Cremo wrote: »

who cares, just wait it out until tuesday and enjoy the bloody game be it on whatever console you will get it on.

That really contributes absolutely nothing to this discussion.

JavaBear

I don't have a ps3 or a 360, but I would get a PS3 for this game! or pc...

Jack Sheehan

Personally I think DLC, which apparently could be small cities, is worth a few minor framerate and texture pop issues.

corcaigh07

if metal gear solid turns out to be amazing, and it does look very promising, and cuts out the pointless crap, then that will do a lot more for ps3 than gta. gta isnt a bloody console exclusive so neither system will gain much on the other.

Roar

corcaigh07 wrote: »

if metal gear solid turns out to be amazing, and it does look very promising, and cuts out the pointless crap, then that will do a lot more for ps3 than gta. gta isnt a bloody console exclusive so neither system will gain much on the other.

the cut scenes? from reading the hands on in Edge, no, I don't think they have.

back on topic, i bought a PS3 specifically for this game on friday, so yeah, i suppose you could say that sony have benefited more from GTA in my case anyway. All of my mates (even the ones with 360's) are getting it on PS3, and another mate of mine also bought a console just for the game

corcaigh07

Roar wrote: »

the cut scenes? from reading the hands on in Edge, no, I don't think they have.

fantastic, theres my hopes for that one gone down the drain.

Varik

Jack Sheehan wrote: »

Personally I think DLC, which apparently could be small cities, is worth a few minor framerate and texture pop issues.

it won't be a new area prob just missions(maybe inside areas), cars or horse armor

stevenmu

I've heard quite a few people saying they will buy a PS3 for this, but I don't think I've heard a single person say they will buy a 360 for it. That's not to say one version is better than the other, or one console is better than the other, it's probably down to most people simply having played GTA on playstations before, but it does look to me like Sony are going to benefit most from the game.

S.I.R

ill be buying a xbox 360 for GTA IV as my ps3 blu-ray is a wreak ( such a waste , should of gone the HD route... )


im only really buying it for forza 2 but ill get gta IV for ps3 when its fixed...

corcaigh07

ill probably be buying a 360 especially for gta because its cheaper! nicer joypad too...

Riesen_Meal

Roar wrote: »

the cut scenes? from reading the hands on in Edge, no, I don't think they have.

back on topic, i bought a PS3 specifically for this game on friday, so yeah, i suppose you could say that sony have benefited more from GTA in my case anyway. All of my mates (even the ones with 360's) are getting it on PS3, and another mate of mine also bought a console just for the game

Why didnt you just wait til tomorrow and buy the PS3 bundle? Save yourself a few quid?

stevenmu

S.I.R wrote: »

ill be buying a xbox 360 for GTA IV as my ps3 blu-ray is a wreak ( such a waste , should of gone the HD route... )


im only really buying it for forza 2 but ill get gta IV for ps3 when its fixed...

corcaigh07 wrote: »

ill probably be buying a 360 especially for gta because its cheaper! nicer joypad too...

Guess that proves me wrong Altough I still think there will be more people buying a PS3 for it than a 360.

S.I.R

well its peoples concole prefferances... the ps3 controller is better but the xbox360 is a bit smoother it seems when it comes to loading games and such


every man/women to his/her own i guess.

jesus_thats_gre

Friend of mine is a manager of a fairply large Toy Store that has a massive software section. He has something like 60 pre-orders for the Xbox version and 7 for the PS3.. Strange too as they got sent nearly 200 copies for the PS3 and only 120 or something for the Xbox..




I have both a 360 and a PS3 and I got it on the 360. The vastly superior controller and extra content being the reasons.

ShaneU

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

Friend of mine is a manager of a fairply large Toy Store that has a massive software section. He has something like 60 pre-orders for the Xbox version and 7 for the PS3.. Strange too as they got sent nearly 200 copies for the PS3 and only 120 or something for the Xbox..




I have both a 360 and a PS3 and I got it on the 360. The vastly superior controller and extra content being the reasons.

Smyths by any chance?