Post by Segaman on Sept 1, 2004 16:51:26 GMT -5
Sony has grabbed over 1.4 million online users according to Gamesindustry.biz. This statement was by SCEA Executive VP Andrew House in an interview with IGN. According to Mr. House, the online adoption rate increases by 50,000 users each month.
The 1.4 million figure represents about 14 percent of the entire PlayStation 2 user base. The original adoption rate for the network adapter was 100,000 units at launch, which Sony has blasted past.
"The trend is a nice, long, steady rise," stated Mr. House. "What I think is particularly interesting is, not only are we seeing a lot of the numbers being driven off the Network Adapter bundle, but consistently there are sales of the standalone Network Adapter."
This adoption rate is far above the 1 million users of the Xbox Live service, which Microsoft has heavily promoted for its Xbox console. However, the PlayStation 2 has a tremendous numerical advantage in general console hardware adoption, with the Xbox playing a distant second fiddle.
Looking ahead, Sony believes that once its online adoption rate hits 2 million users, the dynamic will change. Mr. Card expounded on that stating "I think that once we start to get into that area that's more than two million - and we talked before about a million units being critical mass - two million then starts to trend us outside of the pure core gamer proposition and probably argues for some very interesting content additions to the library," he explained.
"I think Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal from ourselves will prove to be very interesting," he stated, "and I think really has the potential to bring in a different kind of user that is perhaps conventionally viewed as beyond the console gamer."
The 1.4 million figure represents about 14 percent of the entire PlayStation 2 user base. The original adoption rate for the network adapter was 100,000 units at launch, which Sony has blasted past.
"The trend is a nice, long, steady rise," stated Mr. House. "What I think is particularly interesting is, not only are we seeing a lot of the numbers being driven off the Network Adapter bundle, but consistently there are sales of the standalone Network Adapter."
This adoption rate is far above the 1 million users of the Xbox Live service, which Microsoft has heavily promoted for its Xbox console. However, the PlayStation 2 has a tremendous numerical advantage in general console hardware adoption, with the Xbox playing a distant second fiddle.
Looking ahead, Sony believes that once its online adoption rate hits 2 million users, the dynamic will change. Mr. Card expounded on that stating "I think that once we start to get into that area that's more than two million - and we talked before about a million units being critical mass - two million then starts to trend us outside of the pure core gamer proposition and probably argues for some very interesting content additions to the library," he explained.
"I think Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal from ourselves will prove to be very interesting," he stated, "and I think really has the potential to bring in a different kind of user that is perhaps conventionally viewed as beyond the console gamer."
