Yup, i just read in the newspaper that the Ps2 is in the top 10 best selling "toys" of the puertorrican holiday season (the holiday season here ends on january 6). The Ps2 is right there among with Barbie dolls, scooters, pokemon merchandise, game boy/psx titles and other popular kid stuff. The DC is nowhere to be found in the Top Ten even though the DC is selling well.
This of course means that there was no Ps2 shortage here in Puerto Rico, and that isnt much of a surprise to me since i never actually seen any kind of Ps2 famine like described by ppl in the states, as a matter of fact, you can go right now to my local EB and buy a Ps2.
What is really surprising to me is the unprecedented success of Ps2. I never thought it will sell so well, so after this news i have come up with some observations:
1. My homeland is actually a very important game market even though the total population here is about 4 million, the game buying public here is huge and the fact that Sony has shipped thousands of Ps2\'s to Puerto Rico proves it.
2. Sony\'s mindshare and control of the casual gamer is incredible. Even though the DC is cheaper and the games are better, ppl still prefer Ps2 over it.
3. Right now to succed in the gaming business you must have a recognizable brand. Yup, hype and marketing just doesnt cut it. Sega had by far the best marketing campaign during the holidays with Shenmue, nba 2k1 and Jet Grind Radio comercials airing all the time but in the end the recognizable brand (Sony & PLaystation) won.
The Ps2 sold incredible well even though no killer games were available for it (ssx/madden are not huge over here \'cuz we dont do any snowboarding/american football here). This means that even if Xbox and Game Cube doesnt have killer content (like Ps2) they will still going to have a great chance of selling well because they both come from recognizable companies that appeal to the mainstream. This also means that Indrema doesnt have a freaking chance!
4. When Ps2 becomes widely avaible in the states the same thing that ocurred in Puerto Rico might happen over there: The Ps2 will outsell both the original Psx and Dreamcast... even if the great Ps2 games keep getting delayed.
5. The market has become big enough for 4 consoles (DC, Ps2,Xbox,GC). The Playstation 2 brand will most likely sell more hardware than anyone else but the other 3 consoles are going to have their own Big audience.
Astro :cool: