During my lunch break and other moments of rest at work today, I attempted to reengage a sagging and otherwise zombie like mind with some math. Math that many of you will find rather boring as it pertains to video game systems. These were posted in response to other inquiring minds in a revelant topic at slashdot.
There are two major entries here. One on the profitability of Nintendo versus Sony Computer Entertainment, and another on market share in the new generation (set to really get underway in November with the launches of the Wii and the PlayStation 3).
Enjoy, or ignore.
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Going to the actual Nintendo website and looking up their profits through each report from 2001 to 2005 I give you Nintendo's profits.
2005: $816,973,000
2004: $316,134,000
2003: $640,640,000
2002: $800,338,000
2001: $726,339,000
This is pure profit. Sales were often in excess of 4 billion dollars. 2004 is lower in profit due to costs incurred in the development of the DS.
None of this is assumption, this is straight numbers taken from Nintendo's fiscal reports free availible at:
http://www.nintendo.com/corp/annual_report.jsp [nintendo.com]
Going to Sony Computer Entertainment Inc(SCEI)'s page, I could only immediately find the numbers for 2005 and 2004 in yen.
2005: 35.5 billion Yen ($302,333,504 by today's conversion rates)
2004: 57.1 billion Yen ($485,916,092 by today's conversion rates)
SCEI made more than Nintendo in 2004, but Nintendo did far, far better than SCEI in 2005.
There's a point to be made that some income and expenditure for both companies during this period would come from the GBA, DS and PSP. However, I think my original point remains that Nintendo remains competitive even with the low market share of the Gamecube. In fact, in that two year period Nintendo soundly beats SCEI.
Quite simply, Nintendo was more profitable than SCEI this past generation despite the incredible market share the PS2 had.
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Japanese Allotment: 80k
American Allotment: 400k
Population of Japan: 127.42 million
Previous Japanese Market Volume: 30.31 million (Dreamcast + Gamecube + PS2 in Japan)
Number of PS3s per person: 1 per 1593
Number of PS3s per gamer: 1 per 379
Potential Market Share at Launch: 0.26% (Allotment / Previous Volume)
Population of America: 300.00 million
Previous American Market Volume: 70.8 million (Xbox + Gamecube + PS2)
Number of PS3s per person: 1 per 750
Number of PS3s per gamer: 1 per 177
Potential Market Share at Launch: 0.56%
Combined Potential Market Share: 0.47% (480k) [5.66% relative Market Share]
Current 360 Market Share: 5.93% (6 million) [70.07% relative Market Share]
Potential Wii Launch Market Share: 1.98% (2 million) [23.59% relative Market Share]
Projected March 07 Market Share: 5.93% (6 million) [27.28% relative Market Share]
360 March 07 Market Share: 9.89% (10 million) [45.46% relative Market Share]
Wii March 07 Market Share: 5.93% (6 million) [27.28% relative Market Share]
Addendum:
I used the official company goals/projections. Unofficially Nintendo may have 6 million availible by January, and Sony may fall short of 6 million in March. It seemed unobjective to factor such things in.
6 million for Nintendo is not bad at all, seeing as how the Xbox 360 has been out for almost a year now and has only recently crossed the 6 million mark. The rate at which they produce new consoles in their projections is quite steady and reasonable.
What concerns me are the PS3 forecasts. If taken in two month segments, Sony is practically calling for their production to double or triple itself twice over (.5 + 1.5 + 4.5 ~ 6). Given their continuing supply problems, I'm not certain of how reasonable their 6 million March 07 projection is. If they can manage to succeed in that goal it will be a good thing for them, but I remain skeptical.
20061031
20061028
Contact
You may know of Earthbound. It was the super quirky and strange RPG for the SNES. Nintendo made a sequel to that for the Gameboy Advance in Japan which has yet to come here, one of the few things Nintendo has done to make me sad.
To advertise for the sequel, Nintendo did something rather odd. They made a game.
That game is Contact.
(Stolen shamelessly from the box)
Things you WON'T find in Contact:
A dull moment. Normalcy. A guy with spikey hair and/or amnesia. Dramatic monologues. The same battles you've been fighting since the 16-bit era.
Things you WILL find in Contact:
Monkeys. Cosmic terrorists. Powerful attack stickers. Fishing. Cooking. Humor. Fun with Nintendo Wi-Fi. Deeper meaning in life.* Costumes that increase your power and make you fun to be around.
*Results may vary.
Firstly, Monkeys people, Monkeys! The game has monkeys, that's a sale right there. Secondly, Osama can eat his heart out, we've got COSMIC terrorists. They wouldn't have flown jets into the twin towers, they would have flown UFOs into Nevada... wait. Thirdly, you can't argue when Dr. Andonuts himself peels the corner in order to say, "Psst! Buy the game- I need your help!"
I haven't played it yet, but given the universally good reviews ('Good' is the lowest rating I've seen for the game. 'Perfect', 'Superb' and 'Great' being far more common) I think it's safe to say I'm going to have a blast.
To advertise for the sequel, Nintendo did something rather odd. They made a game.
That game is Contact.
(Stolen shamelessly from the box)
Things you WON'T find in Contact:
A dull moment. Normalcy. A guy with spikey hair and/or amnesia. Dramatic monologues. The same battles you've been fighting since the 16-bit era.
Things you WILL find in Contact:
Monkeys. Cosmic terrorists. Powerful attack stickers. Fishing. Cooking. Humor. Fun with Nintendo Wi-Fi. Deeper meaning in life.* Costumes that increase your power and make you fun to be around.
*Results may vary.
Firstly, Monkeys people, Monkeys! The game has monkeys, that's a sale right there. Secondly, Osama can eat his heart out, we've got COSMIC terrorists. They wouldn't have flown jets into the twin towers, they would have flown UFOs into Nevada... wait. Thirdly, you can't argue when Dr. Andonuts himself peels the corner in order to say, "Psst! Buy the game- I need your help!"
I haven't played it yet, but given the universally good reviews ('Good' is the lowest rating I've seen for the game. 'Perfect', 'Superb' and 'Great' being far more common) I think it's safe to say I'm going to have a blast.
Eventification
Summary of recent events in 6 words apiece:
Raijin died, PSU explosion, sad motherboard.
Kevin sick tuesday, stayed home, misery.
Massive earwax, left ear deaf, hydrogen-peroxide.
Lost dictionary, japanese skills alones, nani?
Worked Saturday, all alone, powdered donuts.
Thank you, be here all week.
Raijin died, PSU explosion, sad motherboard.
Kevin sick tuesday, stayed home, misery.
Massive earwax, left ear deaf, hydrogen-peroxide.
Lost dictionary, japanese skills alones, nani?
Worked Saturday, all alone, powdered donuts.
Thank you, be here all week.
20061018
Massachusetts is Nuts
How do I miss thee? Let me count the ways...
I believe that this link [Link Broken] largely speaks for itself. That will not prevent me from speaking.
Quite simply I am not impressed with the dichotomy of telling kids they should go outside, do fun things with friends, and be social coupled with banning and deterring just about everything that is fun about outside. Swings? Someone could get hurt. Cops and Robbers? Someone might be offended. Education? Someone might start thinking.
Getting hurt is part of the human learning process. We don't learn to avoid the hot (and painful) portions of cookware by watching carefully reinacted, government sanctioned education videos depicting the unfortunate fate of someone "stupid" enough to grab an oven sheet with their bare hands. We learn by burning ourselves and dealing with the painful and inconvenient blisters.
If we aren't allowed to ever fall down, how can we learn brush off the pain, suck it up, and get done what needs doing? This isn't a slippery slope, this is a jump off a cliff.
I believe that this link [Link Broken] largely speaks for itself. That will not prevent me from speaking.
Quite simply I am not impressed with the dichotomy of telling kids they should go outside, do fun things with friends, and be social coupled with banning and deterring just about everything that is fun about outside. Swings? Someone could get hurt. Cops and Robbers? Someone might be offended. Education? Someone might start thinking.
Getting hurt is part of the human learning process. We don't learn to avoid the hot (and painful) portions of cookware by watching carefully reinacted, government sanctioned education videos depicting the unfortunate fate of someone "stupid" enough to grab an oven sheet with their bare hands. We learn by burning ourselves and dealing with the painful and inconvenient blisters.
If we aren't allowed to ever fall down, how can we learn brush off the pain, suck it up, and get done what needs doing? This isn't a slippery slope, this is a jump off a cliff.
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