October 2008 Sales Numbers (RIP Sony's silver medal hopes)

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Nowadays, unless it's shot specifically for HD, the Blu-Ray is worthless.

This is not true at all.

Film has higher resolution than any electronic recording methodology. In fact, its infinite relative to the electronic focal plane arrays, even the HD ones.

The question is how are things transferred. If they make the Blu-Ray from something shot on film, there would be no difference between mastering a movie from 50 years ago vs one shot yesterday.

If they master the Blu-Ray from an existing digitization (i.e. 480p DVD) or from something recorded electronically at a lower resolution, then it will look terrible.

I'd imagine that lack of older movies on Blu Ray has a lot to do with how much money they think they will make. But, the reason is NOT technical considering all of those movies were shot on film.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Samdari

This is not true at all.

Film has higher resolution than any electronic recording methodology. In fact, its infinite relative to the electronic focal plane arrays, even the HD ones.

The question is how are things transferred. If they make the Blu-Ray from something shot on film, there would be no difference between mastering a movie from 50 years ago vs one shot yesterday.

If they master the Blu-Ray from an existing digitization (i.e. 480p DVD) or from something recorded electronically at a lower resolution, then it will look terrible.

I'd imagine that lack of older movies on Blu Ray has a lot to do with how much money they think they will make. But, the reason is NOT technical considering all of those movies were shot on film.

I usually check out some of the film geek sites like The Digital Bits when the old movies are released on Blu-ray. They'll quickly let you know how good (or bad) the transfer is on the new releases.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

800,000 Wiis were sold during Thanksgiving weekend. Crazy.

The Guardian

I noticed that Pachter predicted the following for November......

Wii: 1.4M
360: 800K
PS3: 400K

Interesting that the Wii sales have increased 30% over last year, while the 360 and PS3 sales have remained similar to last year (360 up 30K and PS3 seeing a 50K downturn). The PS3 shouldn't be that big of a surprise with the higher price tag still in place, but the 360 should have seen more movement given the major price-slashes from a year ago.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I figure the people who know this stuff will be in this thread, so, once again, please talk to me like I'm stupid.

Start by correcting me where I'm wrong:
-- There's at least 3 versions of the 360 at the moment.
1) Arcade, which has no hard drive, and zero backwards compatibility
2) "Regular", which has a 60 GB drive, and can run some regular XBox games
3) Elite, which has a 120 GB drive, and also runs some regular XBox games

From looking at the official site I think I've got that part right.

Q1) If so, what's the current pricepoint for the Arcade vs the regular/standard/whateveritscalled? And what's availability like these days?

So far I've found
-- an Elite bundle at target.com (w/Kung Fu Panda & Lego Indiana Jones) for $299 atm, same thing is called Pro bundle at walmart, and at Best Buy
-- an Arcade bundled with GH3 & GHWT (wireless guitar only) & 5 arcade games for $269.

Are those about as good as it gets or should I be looking elsewhere?

Q2) Gamewise, best price I'm finding on GHWT full instrument package for 360 is $189 at Wal-Mart. That's my son's top priority for the 360, although frankly I imagine he'll end up spending as much time in the long run with Destroy All Humans (Lord knows he's played the first two enough). Better deal out there somewhere on GHWT?

Q3) I know you have to do something with X-Box Live to get backward compatibility to work, is it idiot proofed enough that even I can handle it? And is that something that requires a paid membership/credits/whatever to do or is it like a freebie for owning the 360? (I know a lot of Live stuff has costs associated, I just don't know whether all of it does or not)

3b) Generally speaking what is/isn't back compatible? Although he's got more PS2 titles than XBox titles, I know his Lego Star Wars & earlier Halo's are XBox, as well as some other stuff that I can't keep track of. Good chance they'll work? Little chance they'll work? 50/50?


I still prefer he get the PS3 personally, but he leans slightly 360, his mother even moreso, (based on the notion that "if it dies we can buy another one for what the PS3 costs), so who am I to argue with them?

Thanks in advance {as I grumble about playing Pong & being damned happy about it, much less the technological marvel that was Intellivision}

[gstelmack]

1) $199/$299/$399. I think that Target thing is just the Pro: right now that comes with those two games everywhere.

2) Not up on GHWT. But get him on the Rock Band 2 bandwagon, it's a much better game...

3) Backward compatibility is an update over Live downloaded when the console is updated, and you should just need a Silver account for those updates. Silver is free and allows you to buy things and download updates. Gold on Live is $50/year (you can occasionally find 12+1 13 month membership cards for $40) and gets you online matchmaking and the ability to buy some things early or get downloads early.

3b) Most stuff is backward compatible. There's a list on xbox.com somewhere, but there are only a few titles, many of which were not good sellers, that aren't.

[gstelmack]

Here you go: Xbox.com | Xbox 360 - Original Xbox Games on Xbox 360

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

2) Not up on GHWT. But get him on the Rock Band 2 bandwagon, it's a much better game...

Oh trust me, he wants that too but at least a little fiscal responsibility is required this Christmas. Swear to God, the only reason he wants GHWT over RB2 first is because he thinks he's got to have the drum kit with more pads than RB1 had. {cue curmudgeonly parental grumbling}

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Oh trust me, he wants that too but at least a little fiscal responsibility is required this Christmas. Swear to God, the only reason he wants GHWT over RB2 first is because he thinks he's got to have the drum kit with more pads than RB1 had. {cue curmudgeonly parental grumbling}

There's supposed to be a patch to resolve the drum problem between the two. RB2 has a $20 expansion that adds two cymbals to the drum set, making a total of 4 drums and 2 cymbals. They're going to add a patch so one of those cymbals becomes the 5th drum and allows the player to use all 5 drums on the GHWT game with a RB2 drum set.

I'd echo the others. RB2 is far superior to GHWT. Much better 'hit' recognition and the refusal of Gamestop franchises to accept any GHWT instrument returns is very concerning from a quality perspective.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Oh trust me, he wants that too but at least a little fiscal responsibility is required this Christmas. Swear to God, the only reason he wants GHWT over RB2 first is because he thinks he's got to have the drum kit with more pads than RB1 had. {cue curmudgeonly parental grumbling}

Who is the boss in your house anyway? He'll take RB2 and he'll like it!

(no, that doesn't work for me either. grumble.)

[Daimyo]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Oh trust me, he wants that too but at least a little fiscal responsibility is required this Christmas. Swear to God, the only reason he wants GHWT over RB2 first is because he thinks he's got to have the drum kit with more pads than RB1 had. {cue curmudgeonly parental grumbling}

If you have the PS2 version of RB1, the PS2 instruments are fully compatible with the PS3. That might make the PS3 total cost a bit cheaper for you...

[gstelmack]

You could also just buy him something like that ION real electric drum kit that works with RB2 ;-)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Wii available online WITH NO BUNDLE. $249. Get it quick if you want one.

Walmart.com - Always Low Prices!

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Oh trust me, he wants that too but at least a little fiscal responsibility is required this Christmas. Swear to God, the only reason he wants GHWT over RB2 first is because he thinks he's got to have the drum kit with more pads than RB1 had. {cue curmudgeonly parental grumbling}

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

There's supposed to be a patch to resolve the drum problem between the two. RB2 has a $20 expansion that adds two cymbals to the drum set, making a total of 4 drums and 2 cymbals. They're going to add a patch so one of those cymbals becomes the 5th drum and allows the player to use all 5 drums on the GHWT game with a RB2 drum set.

I'd echo the others. RB2 is far superior to GHWT. Much better 'hit' recognition and the refusal of Gamestop franchises to accept any GHWT instrument returns is very concerning from a quality perspective.

What he said. Cymbal expansion is out there, although you'd need the RB2 drums to use it, I think. I don't think it works with the RB1 drums he may already have.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

What he said. Cymbal expansion is out there, although you'd need the RB2 drums to use it, I think. I don't think it works with the RB1 drums he may already have.

Correct. Cymbals only work with RB2 drum kit.

[Big Fo]

For the people who regularly read these threads, which would you prefer for Thursday and the months to follow?

(a) A new thread each month when the NPD numbers come out

(b) Keep one thread going with title changes when the next month's numbers are released

The main advantage with (a) is that the numbers are in the first post, the main advantages with (b) is that discussions in the latter days of one month can continue into the next month and that there is never a situation where two of these threads are on the first page. It's not very important at all of course, but last month I went with (b) and at least one person asked about it, so I figured why not throw the question out there.

[gstelmack]

We could have rivaled the Maximum Football and Who Will Win the Election? threads if we'd been doing (b) since day one.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Couple of good deals.....

ToysRUs has buy 1, get $20 off the second on all Wii games.

Amazon has Warhawk and Ridge Racer 7 for $10.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Some leaked info about God of War 3. Really looking forward to this game to see if it can meet the high expectations created.........

The VG Tilt: God of War 3 details

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Pretty good package deal for a PS3 if you looking to buy The Dark Knight. PS3 80 GB + Resistance 2 Collector's Edition + Dark Knight Blu-ray Disc for $399.

Save When You Buy the PS3, "The Dark Knight" Two-Disc Blu-ray, and "Resistance 2" Together

Edit: Sold out.

[Cringer]

Well, that kind of pisses me off since I just got mine not too long ago. I hate electronics.

[Big Fo]

EA might be feeling the effects of the weakened economy.

Originally Posted by AP

NEW YORK (AP) -- Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. said Tuesday it expects revenue and earnings for fiscal 2009 to miss its prior outlook because of weaker-than-expected holiday sales. The company will also cut more jobs to reduce costs.

The Redwood City, Calif.-based publisher of games like the "Madden" football series and "Rock Band" said its sales in North America and Europe were below expectations.

The company does not plan to provide an updated forecast for the fiscal year, which ends in March, until it posts its third-quarter results in February.

In October, EA predicted adjusted earnings per share of between $1 and $1.40 for the year. It had lowered its estimates already because of the delay of the latest "Harry Potter" game. On this basis, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters are forecasting earnings of $1.16 per share.

The company's adjusted revenue forecast -- which exclude deferred revenue for some online games -- had been for $5 to $5.3 billion. Analysts are predicting sales of $5.06 billion.

The company also said at the time it plans to cut 6 percent of its work force, or about 500 to 600 jobs, across all functions and locations to lower costs. EA said Tuesday it is reducing its product portfolio for fiscal 2010, with more job cuts and facility consolidations. It did not say how many additional jobs would be affected.

While some of EA's holiday titles, such as "Dead Space" and "Left 4 Dead," have performed well, others, like "Need for Speed Undercover" "Mirror's Edge" and even the latest installment of the popular "Rock Band" franchise have not, according to analysts.

The company said many older titles have been selling below expectations.

Chief Executive John Riccitiello told analysts in a conference call EA plans to reduce costs, but also invest more in areas like marketing its hit games.

"We are cutting at the bottom of the range and planning to push our top titles more aggressively," he said.

EA's shares fell $1.92, or 9.9 percent, to $17.43 in after-hours trading. The stock had closed down $2.52, or 11.5 percent, at $19.35. The stock is down about 67 percent since the start of the year.

Game maker Electronic Arts warns on profit, sales - Yahoo! Finance

Making better games for Wii and DS probably wouldn't hurt either.

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by Cringer

Well, that kind of pisses me off since I just got mine not too long ago. I hate electronics.

My wife reminded me she got a $100 gift card when she got the PS3, so I guess we didn't lose out on any deal.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

EA might be feeling the effects of the lousy quality of their games.

Fixed.