January Console Sales Numbers (it begins?)

[Cringer]

My 360 seems to be broken still. I was hoping it was just messing up that day. No red ring, but it is not reading any disks of any kind. I am guessing the DVD drive is dead as it doesn't sound like it is spinning much if at all.

This sucks because we got the pre-sale thing at Target for GTA IV. We have been waiting for that game forever and now I will need to get a new 360 or a PS# and see if I can change the purchase over to the PS3 version instead of 360.

My 360 was 2 years old, so I guess with the history of 360's I got some good time from it.

[KWhit]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Not the very newest, but I've seen quite a few BOGO sales that had new'ish titles. Yeah, mostly catalog stuff, but the last one I saw had all five of the Harry Potter movies available, among a couple of others.

There are always cheap-ass deals on DVDs too. My point is that Blurays are significantly more expensive right now than DVDs - not even taking into account the cost of the new player and the possible need to buy more than 1 version of the movie (if you have a DVD player in your car, bedroom, etc).

And I think the mass market isn't going to find the increased quality to be enough of an upgrade to want to make that investment.

[Cringer]

I can't play a downloaded movie on my car DVD player either though. Or on my bedroom TV.

Both have a long way to go, especially for the 'average' person to fully adopt one.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

That shouldn't be surprising. The 360 has been out for nearly 2 1/2 years. The PS3 is just now starting to gain momentum, mainly due to BR integration. Even with the PS3 closing the gap in hardware by roughly 300K/month worldwide, I'd still expect the 360 to have a very solid attach rate as the installed base continues to add games. The PS3 is purchased by more than just gamers, so attach rates are going to suffer for some extent, though Sony would see revenue through the other PS3's in the form of BR movie purchases.

Ah yes, that defense. I should have been clearer. The article was comparing attach rate of the 360 at the same point in time from it's release date to the PS3's current time point. The 360 is slaughtering it in that regard.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Ah yes, that defense. I should have been clearer. The article was comparing attach rate of the 360 at the same point in time from it's release date to the PS3's current time point. The 360 is slaughtering it in that regard.

That shouldn't be surprising either. It's been well documented that none of the PS3 system sellers have even hit the market and that the list of must-have PS3 games are a relatively short list. That should change over the course of 2008. The PS3 also has sold more hardware than the 360 if you compare the same timeframes. That doesn't mean the PS3 is any better either. It should be noted that the 360 had no competitors during that first year, which also contributes to that high number on the attach rate. Kudos to them for getting the early jump on the competition. I'm not sure they would have been nearly as successful if they released at the same time as the Wii and PS3.

With that said, most of those comparisons are pretty useless going forward, whether your using hardware sales or attach rate. Most agree that the PS3 is the console with the heavy momentum at this point with the increasing lead in worldwide sales month-over-month. Whether Sony can cash in on the momentum and continue their surge remains to be seen. The February sales numbers should give us some indication.

[Kodos]

The Surge is working!

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Kodos

The Surge is working!

Yep, at this rate they should take over #2 in Worldwide console sales in about 5-7 years. Nevermind that the Wii continues to push their edge in Japan and is now selling at almost a 6-1 rate over the PS3.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Yep, at this rate they should take over #2 in Worldwide console sales in about 5-7 years. Nevermind that the Wii continues to push their edge in Japan and is now selling at almost a 6-1 rate over the PS3.

I'd certainly disagree with that assessment about 5-7 years. The past two months, the PS3 has outsold the 360 in the 300-350K range worldwide. At that pace, they would pass the 360 in the 4th quarter of 2009.

FWIW........I don't think the PS3 will post that margin in February. Probably only a 100-200K margin in worldwide sales for last month.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Certainly some interesting responses from analysts over the price cut of the 360 in Europe. Some say Sony will be pushed into a price cut................

Sony under pressure to slash PS3 price

Analysts claim Microsoft’s Xbox 360 RRP reduction will have Sony pondering a countermove

Following Microsoft’s official confirmation of a price drop across its entire Xbox 360 range, Strategy Analytics has stated that the move will put pressure on Sony to follow suit with its PS3.

“Sony will be nervous that the PS3's recent sales surge may fizzle out now that the premium Xbox 360 undercuts the PS3 by £40, and the cheapest Xbox model is almost half the price of a PS3,” said Strategy Analytics principal analyst David Mercer.

“Sony will be scrutinising the daily sales reports, but will probably try to hold out until later in the year before making its next price move.

“Microsoft must continue to drive cost out of console manufacturing in order to sustain these improvements in financial performance.”

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Arcade bundle, which does not include a hard drive but does come with a 256MB memory card, wireless controller and HDMI port, now retails for £159.99.

Its other SKUs, the Xbox 360 Pro and Xbox 360 Elite, now retail for £199.99 and £249.99 respectively – both well below the £299.99 RRP of Sony’s 40GB machine.

While others say a price cut isn't necessary at this point and likely won't come until later this year.................

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=33963

Analysts cautious of new Xbox 360 pricing
Matt Martin 16:06 (BST) 10/03/2008

Purchasing decisions not just about cost, say experts

Microsoft may have cut the price of the Xbox 360 in Europe, but analysts remain cautious that the console has yet to prove popular with an audience outside of the dedicated core gamer.

Although he agreed that an immediate boost in sales was likely, Screen Digest's Ed Barton argued that pricing is only one factor and consumers can be swayed more by brand appeal than value for money.

"For the longer term it depends on how price sensitive consumers are with regard to games hardware purchasing decisions," he said.

"Naturally Microsoft hopes that consumers prove very price sensitive in their choice of games platforms – after all the Arcade model is now undercutting Wii by GBP 20 – however, hardware pricing is only one of many factors which influence consumers' games hardware purchasing decisions."

David Cole, analyst at DFC Intelligence, also noted that European sales of the Xbox 360 have slowed, and that Microsoft needs a renewed sales push in the region

"The price elasticity for videogame hardware systems has proven quite high, especially when you get down to the price range the Xbox 360 and Wii are now competing at," said Cole.

"However, Europe sales for the Xbox 360 have been disappointing so it remains to be seen whether this will give the system the needed jump-start," he added.

Microsoft has already attempted to attract a wider demographic through previous price cuts and software titles such as Viva Piñata and Scene It? but Barton feels these haven't had the desired effect.

"There is yet to emerge conclusive evidence that the platform is appealing effectively to demographics outside the core gamer with whom the Microsoft platform has resonated strongly, particularly in North America," commented Barton.

At GBP 159.99, the Arcade Xbox 360 is cheaper than the Wii and the PlayStation 3, and while it will help Microsoft sell more home consoles, it remains to be seen just how effective the 360 will be against its competition.

"The impact on Xbox 360's competitiveness certainly won't be negative, however, the real issue is to what extent will it help Xbox 360 compete with PS3 and Wii?" questioned Barton.

"We come back to how price sensitive consumers are. Currently my feeling is that most consumers are not particularly price sensitive and tend to think 'I want a specific games console, how much is it?' as opposed to 'I want a games console, what is the cheapest?'"

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

FYI for SSBB owners who might be having disc problems. Nintendo has set up a website to repair your Wii. Should have a repaired console to you in a week...............

http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/rep...rm_us_ssbb.jsp

[MJ4H]

I don't see anything to replace bad discs there. That appears to be saying the problem is with a dirty lens making it difficult to consistently pull data from the special dual-layer data system on the brawl discs. That site will repair your Wii, not replace your disc.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

I don't see anything to replace bad discs there. That appears to be saying the problem is with a dirty lens making it difficult to consistently pull data from the special dual-layer data system on the brawl discs. That site will repair your Wii, not replace your disc.

Thanks. Misread the article. I corrected the post.

[MJ4H]

Cool. I hadn't heard anything about this problem until you posted that. Mine seems to be fine, thank goodness. I will look around and see how wide-spread it is. No one I know has had any trouble at all. I do notice my Wii is fairly loud when reading the disc for this game, more so than I've ever noticed before.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

Cool. I hadn't heard anything about this problem until you posted that. Mine seems to be fine, thank goodness. I will look around and see how wide-spread it is. No one I know has had any trouble at all. I do notice my Wii is fairly loud when reading the disc for this game, more so than I've ever noticed before.

I don't think it's terribly widespread. I'm impressed that Nintendo publicly stated the problem so quickly and said they will get the consoles back to the users in a week. Pretty good customer service.

[MJ4H]

Yeah after looking around I found one thread on Nintendo World Report's message board with one user that had the problem. It as me worried about mine getting dirty and not working, though. No like. I still have 7 or 8 characters to unlock!

[Eaglesfan27]

Analysts are predicting a 360 price cut in the US "soon":

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=33977

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Analysts are predicting a 360 price cut in the US "soon":

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=33977

It needs to happen. The problem right now is that the in-stock supply numbers are still relatively low in the U.S. Here's the current retail availability percentages as of today according to iTrackr.com:

PS3 40GB: 88%
360 Core: 49%
360 Premium: 65%
360 Elite: 24%

Microsoft has got to find a way to increase supply in the retail channels or you'll end up with the 'tree in the forest' analogy..............

"If the 360 gets a price cut, but there's not enough supply to meet demand, will anyone notice?"

[Eaglesfan27]

Sad but not surprising. Take Two's largest shareholders are pushing for new management and paving the wave for a hostile takeover by EA

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=33979

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

It needs to happen. The problem right now is that the in-stock supply numbers are still relatively low in the U.S. Here's the current retail availability percentages as of today according to iTrackr.com:



Microsoft has got to find a way to increase supply in the retail channels or you'll end up with the 'tree in the forest' analogy..............

"If the 360 gets a price cut, but there's not enough supply to meet demand, will anyone notice?"

We've had plenty of elite/pro systems in stock for the last week, two weeks. At least for us, the supply issues have been rectified.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

We've had plenty of elite/pro systems in stock for the last week, two weeks. At least for us, the supply issues have been rectified.

If so, maybe that's the reason for the stirring of price drop rumors. Could very well be that Microsoft has them queued up and ready to hit the retailers in anticipation of increased demand.

An interesting side note to this is that Sony has already announced that the MGS4 bundle will be released in June for $499. That's a quandry for Sony if they hold to that price and release time. They likely couldn't drop the 80GB version to $399 until September or October at the very earliest if the MGS4 bundle goes for $499 starting in June. They may have to bump things up and sell that bundle for $399. Another problem is that they can't say that the MGS4 bundle is going for $399 too soon, or they risk 3-4 months of minimal sales while the consumers hold off on purchasing the PS3 until June.

The timing of a possible price cut by Microsoft seems to be very good for them.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Sad but not surprising. Take Two's largest shareholders are pushing for new management and paving the wave for a hostile takeover by EA

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=33979

It's too bad that in this era of more powerful consoles, sports gamers are getting shafted left and right--usually by our wonderful friends over at EA Sports. Sometimes I think it'd be better to just settle in on the best existing older version of each series and assume that those will be the only games worth playing for the foreseeable future. At least it'd allow me to really get into some dynasties for the long haul.

[Cringer]

I stopped buying console sports games a couple years ago, and only got college basketball and football once in a while even then. I am more concerned about non-sports games like the GTA series.

[Cringer]

Question...do all 360's have the 3 year warranty that I have seen a little about? I would like to get mine fixed if so.....

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Cringer

Question...do all 360's have the 3 year warranty that I have seen a little about? I would like to get mine fixed if so.....

Yes. However, the 3 year warranty only covers RROD issues. If it's any other issue, the warranty is 1 year.

[Cringer]

Crap. Can I make it have a RROD?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Cringer

Crap. Can I make it have a RROD?

I can guarantee that you wouldn't be the first one to do so.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

New Xbox 360 exclusive announced: 'Guilty Gear 2: Overture'..............

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/15921/...erture-Update/

[MJ4H]

Weird.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Sad but not surprising. Take Two's largest shareholders are pushing for new management and paving the wave for a hostile takeover by EA

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=33979

At this point, I honestly don't care. I am pessimistic as to how good All-Pro Football will turn out, even with a franchise, if the people who are still running that show are the ones who made the decision not to have a franchise mode in 2k8 in the first place. College Hoops is done regardless as well.

I just hope it doesn't happen until after 2K releases its boxing game.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by sabotai

At this point, I honestly don't care. I am pessimistic as to how good All-Pro Football will turn out, even with a franchise, if the people who are still running that show are the ones who made the decision not to have a franchise mode in 2k8 in the first place. College Hoops is done regardless as well.

I just hope it doesn't happen until after 2K releases its boxing game.

The boxing game isn't due until May. It's very unlikely that this won't be done before that time. However, maybe EA won't see the boxing game as a competitor to their Facebreaker game and will go ahead and release it.

As far as All-Pro Football, I wish it had a chance to come out with a franchise mode, but I'm also dubious on how good that would have been.

This bothers me the most for College Hoops and NBA 2k.

I don't think EA will mess with Bioshock, GTA, or Civ.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

The boxing game isn't due until May. It's very unlikely that this won't be done before that time. However, maybe EA won't see the boxing game as a competitor to their Facebreaker game and will go ahead and release it.

Fight Night Round 4 is in production, so I doubt they'd release it.

[Calis]

Odd deal here. I wonder if the guys behind Haze like this style of marketing.



Wonder if something like that would work, would a lot of people buy it that wouldn't have before and end up not getting the return on time? Interesting.

[Travis]

So, not sure if this is the right thread for it, but given the discussion on what other formats BR discs can/will carry, here's a tidbit I ran across today:

The forth installment in the series, 'Rambo', will be presented in 1080p video accompanied DTS-HD Master Audio. The two disc set will feature a multitude of special features, including digital copies of the film for use on portable devises.

The second disc in the set includes all the special features from the DVD, including deleted scenes, six featurettes, and the iTunes and Windows Media digital copies.

Taken from http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=1106

Certainly a lot of BR fanboyism on the forums there, but I find the site useful for reviews on movies out/upcoming as well as fairly regular/decent news updates.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

An interesting side note to this is that Sony has already announced that the MGS4 bundle will be released in June for $499. That's a quandry for Sony if they hold to that price and release time. They likely couldn't drop the 80GB version to $399 until September or October at the very earliest if the MGS4 bundle goes for $499 starting in June. They may have to bump things up and sell that bundle for $399. Another problem is that they can't say that the MGS4 bundle is going for $399 too soon, or they risk 3-4 months of minimal sales while the consumers hold off on purchasing the PS3 until June.

MGS4 bundle = fantastic idea
Return of backwards compatible SKU = nice job, obviously what the consumers want
Announcing said bundle four months ahead of time = questionable at best

I'm guessing MS lowers their prices during GTA4 week, just like they did for Madden last year.

[Eaglesfan27]

According to the executives at Take Two who were discussing the companies recent financial performance as well as expected future performance, All Pro Football is "off the slate" for release, but they are still weighing options. So, even if the EA takeover wasn't happening, it's possible APF 2k9 might not have happened anyway due to last year's disappointing sales. During the conversation, they also stated that Bioshock 2 is currently under development.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6187563...stnews;title;3

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

During the conversation, they also stated that Bioshock 2 is currently under development.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6187563...stnews;title;3

Even more interesting is that there was no mention of which consoles it would be released on. Release is slated for 4Q 2009..........

http://kotaku.com/366601/bioshock-2-...d-hits-q4-2009

Lost Planet: Colonies announced for the 360/PC. Basically an expansion of the original game.....

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=254242

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Calis

Odd deal here. I wonder if the guys behind Haze like this style of marketing.

Wonder if something like that would work, would a lot of people buy it that wouldn't have before and end up not getting the return on time? Interesting.

With all of the delays surrounding Haze, I wouldn't be shocked at all to see it end up similar to Lair. Lots of unfulfilled promise. I'd be pleasantly surprised if it ended up otherwise.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

After my comment about Haze, I went back and looked over some recent first-person shooters that have been released over the last quarter or so. Seriously, how many bad FPS's have there been lately?

-Frontlines
-The Club
-Turning Point
-SOF Payback
-Conflict
-Area 51
-Kane and Lynch
-Jericho
-Turok

All of those games have received average review scores at best. None of them added anything to the genre.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Midway CEO confirms that new Mortal Kombat game will be released this year.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/29886/Next...ming-this-year

[Big Fo]

Mario Kart Wii finally gets a release date, April 27.

hxxp://kotaku.com/366762/mario-kart-wii-hits-us-on-april-27

Hopefully the single-player is as good as the DS version and the multiplayer should be infinitely better since by all accounts snaking is dead. This has always been one of my favorite series and I'm glad we're getting it so soon.

With Smash Brothers in March, Mario Kart in April, and Wii Fit in May, Nintendo is firing most their big guns early in the year. WiiWare (original games, Nintendo's version of XBLA or PSN games) also launches in May. What they have for the rest of the year isn't all that impressive by comparison:

Disaster: Day of Crisis
Mario Baseball Stadium
Fatal Frame IV (Tecmo developing, Nintendo producing)
Wii Music
Kirby
Animal Crossing

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

What they have for the rest of the year isn't all that impressive by comparison:

Disaster: Day of Crisis
Mario Baseball Stadium
Fatal Frame IV (Tecmo developing, Nintendo producing)
Wii Music
Kirby
Animal Crossing

I love how lately guys keep giving me reasons to never get a Wii.

[MJ4H]

There are at least 3 titles on your unimpressive list that I think you are underestimating.

[Big Fo]

Disaster does look pretty cool, I'm not really interested in Mario Baseball Stadium, Kirby should be good, Wii Music could be awful or great or somewhere in the middle, and I've never played Fatal Frame or Animal Crossing and from what I know about Animal Crossing I don't think I'm missing a whole lot. Millions of other people will like it just fine though. Fatal Frame could be a sleeper hit, a survival horror game using the IR pointer (flashlight, gun) could be great. Plus Suda 51 of No More Heroes fame is involved so that's another plus.

It's not a terrible lineup by any means but coming off eight months of Metroid/Battalion Wars 2/Galaxy/Fire Emblem/Endless Ocean/Brawl/Mario Kart/Wii Fit it's worse from both a sales and quality standpoint. But they could always announce something to improve things, like Pikmin 3, a new Kid Icarus game, and a 1080 Snowboarding/Punch-Out combo for the balance board. That'd be pretty awesome.

[Calis]

Whoah, is Fatal Frame 4 a Nintendo exclusive?

I completely missed that one, great series.

Animal Crossing will do very well also, and I was actually surprised by how enjoyable the first game was. Another great game to pull in non-gamers.

Sales wise I think their lineup will not be hurting at all.

[MJ4H]

Fair point. You did say in comparison and they have just come off a grand slam. Still I think it is a pretty solid line-up.

After Mario Strikers Charged, I am extremely interested in Mario Baseball Stadium. Kirby is always good. Wii Music agreed could be awful or great, but I have faith in Nintendo, honestly. I think they will knock it out of the park. Then again, the fact that we've heard so little about it makes me think they aren't very confident with what they've done. Animal Crossing is probably going to be a smash yet again.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

Then again, the fact that we've heard so little about it makes me think they aren't very confident with what they've done.

Or they're deliberately not building up expectations with the Guitar Hero juggernaut on the platform already and Rock Band on the way.

I mean, you've got fake rock god status, and then you've got fake orchestral conductor.

I'm guessing no matter how good the game is, there just isn't a sexy way to spin it.

[MJ4H]

It isn't just an orchestra conductor. In Wii Music you will be fake performing many different instruments I believe.

[wade moore]

Animal Crossing is coming out for the Wii?

Well, I guess I become a Wii Widower for a couple of months when that comes out.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Microsoft for the second month in a row puts out a press release in advance of the NPD numbers release to try to ease the impact of another 3rd place finish in the U.S. Also, Microsoft states that no BR players are going to be added to the 360.............

http://www.reuters.com/article/reute...nnel=0&sp=true

Microsoft says no Blu-ray for Xbox 360
Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:51pm

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) is not in talks to include Sony Corp's (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) Blu-ray high-definition DVD technology in its Xbox 360 video game console, an executive said on Wednesday.

The comments by Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for Xbox 360, poured cold water on recent speculation that Microsoft could support Blu-ray after Toshiba Corp (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research), backer of the rival HD DVD format, gave up when key movie studios and retailers abandoned the technology.

"Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience," Greenberg told Reuters in an interview.

Microsoft, which has stopped making an HD-DVD add-on for the Xbox 360, would continue to invest in its Xbox Live online service that already lets users rent hundreds of movies, including ones in high-definition.

"We're the only console offering digital distribution of entertainment content," Greenberg said.

The software giant also expected that supply problems for the Xbox 360 meant the machine was outsold in the U.S. market by Sony's PlayStation 3 console in February for the second month in a row.

"We definitely expect we will trail in February as a result of our supply constraints," Greenberg said, adding: "By April, we will be in a very healthy inventory situation."

That would be in time for the April 29 launch of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc's (TTWO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) "Grand Theft Auto 4" game, which is widely expected to be one of the best-selling titles of 2008 and could drive purchases of the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Greenberg spoke a day ahead of the planned release of U.S. video game sales data for February by market research firm NPD, whose monthly reports are pored over by game companies eager for bragging rights.

The PS3 struggled last year due to its high price and lack of must-have games, but sales have picked up in recent months thanks to price cuts in late 2008 and a slate of anticipated upcoming games.

"We still think we have a great value, that we have significantly better value than Sony. Every month we've actually been in stock we've outsold them by a 2 to 1 margin," Greenberg said.

[Eaglesfan27]

Actually, your post is misleading. NPD numbers still aren't out. It is unknown whether they will finish in 3rd, but Microsoft thinks they will this month.

Edit: They do have a point about when they have been in stock, they have outsold the PS3.