December 2018 NPD: PS4 Pipped at the Post by Smash Bros and Switch

Why couldnt sony just drop the price for december.

@Amppari Didn't have to, simple as that. PS4 still sold incredibly well despite being five years old. I'm sure Sony will slash the price when sales finally start slowing (probably this year).

@Amppari I guess they wanted to rely on marketing & be like, “hey look at all these great games we got that is EXCLUSIVE to our platform you should buy a PS4 now!”

Microsoft be like: $100 off the Xbox One X and discounts/bundles for Xbox One S!

Nintendo: Bundles!

The PS4 has had a great run and a price drop later this year would make sense to keep things ticking over until the PS5 is ready to launch. The Switch has taken many by surprise despite it's perceived lack of power but it does have 2 crucial selling points, it gives you more opportunities and time for gaming and of course Nintendo's own games which are always a highlight. It'll be interesting to see if either PS5 or Xbox 1?, 2?, 4?, 720? (not sure how numbers work in Microsoft land) will look to incorporate something similar at any point, I'm not sure how long they can just keep making things a bit prettier

It's impressive for a 5 years $300 old console still selling this much, I can't imagine if sony slash ps4 price to $200

@carlos82 I’d say currently go w Microsoft’s codename for the next Xbox

Xbox Anaconda

@Derpie1 I can see them running with xbox x2. It's based on direct x which is up to 12 - suffice x2 being a decent fit. They could then bring out reevaluate models with each new version of direct x.

A great year for gamers of all platforms

@Derpie1 Even with the discount no second place that has to hurt. 😁

@carlos82 Well im happy with the base PS4 so far. I do have a PS4 Pro MHW Edition but we are fixing up the house too much dust. And i dont feel like backing up the stuff to the Pro again. 😋

Not that we are ever likely to get that figure but I'd be curious to know what sold most globally. Is Nintendo that big outside of Japan and US? Fairly sure Sony is well ahead in Europe, not sure about other regions. The US is clearly the biggest market but would imagine the others add up to a big amount.

F*** Nintendo, they don't deserve it. Smash bros is just a boring 2D fighting game. Wasted my $60.

@Adam47 Someone's salty. So just because you Smash Bros was boring(which is objectively wrong) you think they don't deserve the success? Talk about self-entitled.

@Adam47 Sorry about the double post. If you saw that second comment before this one, ignore it.

Again: it's nice to see the entire industry performing so well. A far cry from what it was like early in the generation.

@BearsEatBeets Switch sold the most in Japan, US, and France. PS4 came first in the UK, of course, but only ahead of the Switch by 300,000 units or so. I haven't heard figures on sales from any other countries.

@Slasher I just put idiots like that on my ignore list. Not worth my time or energy.

@Ralizah Thanks. But still, can you believe that Nintendo was able to turn things around this much? It's like night and day when it comes to the present day of the Switch compared to the bleak, dark days of the Wii U.

@carlos82
I'm sure I'll be called the Xbox Too

2018 was a great year for all. It makes me happy.

@Adam47 Looking at your post history, you're a total fanboy troll. Wow...

let's not forget that while sales are slowing down,there are still 3 big system sellers yet to release which will up the ps4 sales again. 1 of them might even release this year.

and besides 2nd place after being the top dog for 5 years is a huge achievement.

also the fact that the ps4 will still get attention after the ps5 is released is ofcourse not to be forgotten.

@carlos82 tbh we should not mention the lack of power the switch has when it comes to this gen.

this gen has proven that exclusives is the deal that sells systems (and ofcourse not being an idiot and thinking that having a always online system will be well received)

just look at the X way more power then any other console but nothing to show for it other then games you can play on a different system you already have.

even while the pro is doing well,it is still the base ps4 (slim in this case) that always highlight the ps4 sale numbers.

internet might make it seem the opposite but for many people it is games (exclusives) before power.

I don't understand how Switch sold so great in the US when they just released one game worth buying and of course is Smash which has a terrible online system to the point that you can't even enjoy the game

@Slasher Agreed. Although Nintendo's failure with the Wii U, like Sony's failure with the Vita, wasn't too devastating thanks to them having a wildly popular system to fall back on.

The system's backwards compatibility with the Wii definitely helped out during the long software droughts it suffered.

@jdv95 I completely agree, I always find it funny on Facebook when something like RDR2 is advertised for PS4 PRO with 4K and the comments are full of how it's not a real 4K console and how brilliant the X is. Don't get me wrong it's a fantastic piece of hardware but the success of Switch and continuing sales on the standard PS4 show that most gamers don't care and as you say it's all about the games and exclusives at that.

Which does make me wonder how quickly the next gen will take off, particularly when you'd have to think that many if not most gamers will have to buy a new TV to take advantage of it

@carlos82 next gen will sell prety fast if this gen is anything to go by.

most ps5 buyers including those who will buy it day 1 are planning to buy a 4k tv with it which will also cause a big increase of 4k tv sales.

it's the games that will decide when next gen will take off but i do think that ps5 will have a bigger and better lauch line up then the ps4 had. HZD 2 could be a launch title plus that new san diego studio could be making a launch title aswell. plus TLOU2 and cyberpunk will get a ps5 release aswell.

@GKO900 it got Pokemon too which is always a big seller and Smash always sells great, don't forget it already had a very good library with Mario and Zelda entries plus Mario Kart. Its online isn't great but plenty of gamers aren't bothered about online gaming and are more than happy with single or local mp. From what I see online it's as much about being able to take console quality games with you or not being tethered to the TV for many people. So it's probably the concept as much as the games themselves.

The Switch is a very powerful handheld, and Sony isn’t in the handheld business anymore. Between that and Nintendo’s library of exclusives, it’s a very tempting proposition. Not that I value it above my PS4, but it has made me fall in love again with handheld gaming since the Vita withered away.

@jdv95 it'll definitely help by being backwards compatible, the X has shown that they wouldn't necessarily have to 're release those games either as the console could do the leg work in upgrading it. Then with so many great games coming out in its latter years you can take them with you as it may not have many exclusive games of its own to start with.

I'm not sure about most prospective buyers planning to buy a new TV at the same time, that would be a very big outlay as even a half decent 4K HDR TV is going to be pretty costly.

The biggest difference hopefully will be a move to true 60fps gameplay for all titles with the new CPU technology available to them and its going to be interesting to see how this all turns out.

@carlos82 if the ps5 will be 4k and 60fps,it will still depend on the devs what they want to focus their game peformance on.

i expect devs like naughty dog and santa monica to have 4k/60fps but other devs might want to have the best visuals they can add but at the cost of less then 60fps.

i don't think sony will force devs to have 60 fps on a game with 4k as that would be limiting the devlopers ideas. and sony is not like that.

in other words ps5 exclusives will most likely have 4k/60fps (but not forced to have them) but multiplat AAA games might not have them.

as for the tv's i do think there will be an increase in sales. maybe sony could make an awsome deal and have 4k tv bundles that include a ps5. still expensive but in total less then if you where to buy the 2 seperate.

@GKO900

Only 1 game worth getting? Lol. According to... you? Bayonetta 2? Mario Tennis? HollowKnight? Wolfenstein 2? Mega Man 11? Pokémon? That's just untrue.

As I've said before, Switch has got awesome exclusives, plus a huge variety of other titles. Over 1300 already.
it gives one console quality games, in a portable form.
It's the most powerful handheld ever made, (it can run freakin' Doom 2016 and Wolfy 2) plus doubles as a traditional console at home; playing console games like LA Noire or BOTW, whilst commuting to work, is fantastic.
It's also the perfect date console. Seriously. Unless the person is a total pleb, play something co-op with them on a first date. They'll remember if the experience is good. I've played in tabletop mode with my girlfriend many times, and she's not even a gamer. MK8, Puyo Puyo Tetris, Taiko no Tatsujin, it's all good.

No mystery as to why switch is succeeding. It does so many things right, and people "get" it.

@carlos82 In my opinion the Let's go Pokémon games are nothing more than cash grabs, their trash online has no excuses in 2019 and with their low battery it has and how big it is the portable factor is not too appealing but that's just me

@EVIL-C They only had one big great game Smash no more, be real the rest can be play somewhere else or are indies,ports or mediocre games like the Let's go Pokémon games

@GKO900 So? It clearly means people (and a lot of them) like the game. Yeah online could be better but not everyone is a try-hard 1vs1 online. There are also guys who like to play local Smash or other game modes.

@NintendoFan4Lyf almost every year has been a good year for Sony?

@Derpie1 stay on track guys you’re going of course....... lol

You have switch, pro and the box x? My man! Good on ya! I only have two ps4’s and two 3DS’s. Ps5 is a given, will have over 200 games by the time the 5 comes out. Only Metroid, fire Emblem and FZero can get me back on Nintendo.....

Outside of December 2018 when sales slowed by quite a bit, 2018 was a great month for PS4. Fortnite, God of War, Spider Man, and Red Dead Redemption 2 were massive growth drivers.