Gamers typically do not care if green is the new black or if green is the new pink (even though PS3 is the new green) but, like it or not, the latest trends that we do care about are sales figures. Whether it be the fastest selling exclusive or company profit, its the numbers that do the talking. According to Sony executives, PlayStation is becoming an industry trend-setter.
According to Jack Tretton, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, sales quarter one is the new sales quarter four:
“It used to be if the game doesn’t ship for Christmas, ‘Oh my God! Two-thirds of the sales are out the window; it’s a disaster.’ And the only games that shipped in the first quarter were the disappointments. Now the first quarter is just as robust as the fourth quarter in terms of sales potential. And people no longer worry about whether they’re going to make Christmas.”
The SCEA juggernaut goes on to discuss the derivation of this new industry trend, pitting the cause at release management, release windows, and competition which the Sony head-honcho feels is essentially their own doing:
“I’d love to flashback to 2006 and bring people forward to 2010 and say, ‘Now what do you think about Blu-ray? About the technology?’ We can have a conversation on innovation and be talking about Heavy Rain in one breath, LittleBigPlanet in another, Uncharted, MLB, and you can span so many genres.”
In all honesty, Sony’s internal first-party studios served up quite a bit of competition during the holiday season. However, do you think it is justifiable to say that the first quarter of the year (January, February, March) is just as big as holiday season (October, November, December)? Judging from the releases during those months from Sony alone, we think Jack Tretton has just set a new trend.
