January Console Sales Numbers (it begins?) [Archive] - Page 2

Travis

03-07-2008, 04:23 PM

Earlier today, a Microsoft rep said there are no plans to bring Blu-Ray to the 360 and that they are focused on games for the 360.

Here is part of the statement:

"Games are what are driving consumers to purchase game consoles and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster games available."

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=184130

Or

http://www.psu.com/UPDATED--Sony-to-profit-off-of-the-Xbox-360-with-Blu-ray-News--a0002990-p0.php

UPDATE:

We can now reveal to you that Microsoft is indeed working with Sony to allow the Xbox 360 to become Blu-ray accessible. Speaking yesterday in Las Vegas, Steve Balmer, the CEO of Microsoft had this to say:

"We've already been working on, for example, in Windows, device driver support for Blu-ray drives and the like, and I think the world moves on. Toshiba has moved on. We've moved on, and we'll support Blu-ray in ways that make sense."

Did Mr. Balmer go too far and reveal something that Microsoft was not ready to let loose? All we know is that the Xbox 360 will in some way or form be allowed to play Blu-ray movies. This will seriously affect the sales of both sides as Microsoft can now say that the 360 can also play Blu-ray movies while the PS3 loses its advantage of being the only console to offer Blu-ray support. However, Sony will also gain extra revenue through this. So it is a win/lose situation for Sony and one we will closely have an eye on.

Not a confirmation on the 360 add-on, but I'd be quite surprised if one doesn't come out by the end of summer.

MJ4H

03-07-2008, 07:02 PM

Incidentally, Super Smash Bros. Brawl has easily the best soundtrack ever for a video game. This is amazing.

Daimyo

03-07-2008, 07:43 PM

Two of the big studios cut $10 off their Blu-ray SMRP's this past week to $29.99. To give you a comparison, that's the same SMRP as many of the new releases on regular DVD (though we all know that the big box retailers routinely sell them for $19.99-24.99). So there's really only a 50% difference right now and that will shrink even further as we approach the holiday season. Those numbers are more scare tactics by critics of the Blu-ray format than actual reality. If your 100-150% number were accurate assuming standard DVD new releases (which typically sell for $19.99), that would mean that Blu-ray new releases would be selling for $40-50. The reality is that they are selling for $30-35 upon release right now and will be even cheaper as the year progresses, which is not anything close to 100-150%.
I wasn't comparing Blu-Ray to DVD... I was comparing it to the cost of downloading a good quality SD movie. Amazon Unbox movies are $14.99 and Blu Ray discs are $30-$40. I fully expect online movie downloads to settle in at $10 and Blu-Ray to settle in at $20, hence my 100-150% is accurate both today and where I expect the markets to go.

Big Fo

03-07-2008, 07:50 PM

There's no way it's better than the Galaxy soundtrack. The main theme is pretty awesome though, I'll give you that.

If Vegas took bets on such things, I wonder what odds they might give on Smash Bros. becoming the best selling console game (ignoring Wii Play) this generation. Halo 3 is around 7-8 million and will continue to sell to new 360 owners, Smash Bros. Melee sold 6 million on the GameCube (and was it's highest seller with Mario Kart very close behind) with a far smaller userbase than the Wii has. GTA: San Andreas sold 12 million on the PS2 (best selling game of DC-PS2-XBox-GC era), so GTA4 will be near the top. It will probably be either Halo 3, Smash Bros., Mario Kart, or GTA4.

MJ4H

03-07-2008, 08:26 PM

There's no way it's better than the Galaxy soundtrack.

It is. 100%

And I love the galaxy soundtrack.

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-07-2008, 11:54 PM

Final PAL and Japanese numbers for February are in. Once NPD numbers come out, worldwide totals can be calculated.........

Japanese February Console Sales

Wii: 292K
PS3: 50K
360: 10K

PAL February Console Sales

Wii: 438K
PS3: 333K
360: 187K

Cringer

03-08-2008, 01:20 AM

crappy, I think my 360 is dead. Just went to put in a movie to watch and it won't read the disk, or the next disk, or the next disk, or either game I have.

no red light of death

MJ4H

03-08-2008, 11:04 AM

Nintendo listed as top game developer in the world:

http://www.gamedevresearch.com/top-50-developers-2008.htm

based on sales, review scores, releases, and surveys. An interesting list.

bronconick

03-08-2008, 12:10 PM

Nintendo listed as top game developer in the world:

http://www.gamedevresearch.com/top-50-developers-2008.htm

based on sales, review scores, releases, and surveys. An interesting list.

Did I read that right?

'Top 50 Developers' survey is now available for paid digital download (http://store.cmpgame.com/product.php?id=2657&cat=) for a price of US $2,995.

:eek:

Marc Vaughan

03-08-2008, 12:23 PM

Did I read that right?

:eek:

I've always thought companies dumb enough to pay those sort of amounts to read someone elses assessment of whether they're successful or not probably shouldn't have made the list in the first place ;)

sterlingice

03-08-2008, 12:45 PM

1. Nintendo Kyoto (Brain Age, Wii Play)
2. Infinity Ward (Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare)
3. Blizzard Entertainment (World Of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade)
4. Electronic Arts Canada (FIFA Soccer 08, NBA Street: Homecourt)
5. Valve (Portal, Team Fortress 2)
6. Konami Japan Studio (Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer, Dance Dance Revolution Universe)
7. Insomniac Games (Ratchet & Clank Future)
8. Capcom Osaka Studio (Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, Monster Hunter Freedom)
9. Electronic Arts Tiburon (Madden NFL 08, NASCAR 08)
10. BioWare Edmonton (Mass Effect, Jade Empire: Special Edition)
11. Bungie Studios (Halo 3)
12. Ubisoft Montreal (Assassin's Creed, Naruto: Rise Of A Ninja)
13. 2K Boston [& Australia] (BioShock)
14. Harmonix (Rock Band)
15. Bandai Namco Tokyo (Ace Combat 6: Fires Of Liberation, Beautiful Katamari)
16. Square Enix Tokyo (Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, Front Mission DS)
17. Game Freak (Pokemon Diamond/Pearl)
18. Epic Games (Unreal Tournament 3, Gears Of War PC)
19. Hudson Soft (Mario Party 8, Mario Party DS)
20. Neversoft (Guitar Hero III, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground)

Apparently this list was paid for by... Infinity Ward. Looking at the list, they're really the one that just doesn't fit.

SI

SackAttack

03-08-2008, 12:47 PM

The companies charging that kind of scratch aren't doing it with the hopes of getting Nintendo to buy the release so they can see where they landed.

It's in the hopes of getting a media outlet to pay that kind of scratch for the information for any stories they might be working on.

Big Fo

03-08-2008, 01:51 PM

lol at Nintendo Kyoto being chosen over EAD Tokyo. I guess making the best game of all time wasn't good enough for the top 20.

General Mike

03-08-2008, 03:07 PM

I wasn't comparing Blu-Ray to DVD... I was comparing it to the cost of downloading a good quality SD movie. Amazon Unbox movies are $14.99 and Blu Ray discs are $30-$40. I fully expect online movie downloads to settle in at $10 and Blu-Ray to settle in at $20, hence my 100-150% is accurate both today and where I expect the markets to go.

Shouldn't you be comparing the cost of SD movie downloads to SD DVDs, not Hi-Definition format stuff?

Daimyo

03-08-2008, 03:35 PM

Shouldn't you be comparing the cost of SD movie downloads to SD DVDs, not Hi-Definition format stuff?
Perhaps you should go back read my post that spawned this line of discussion.

One thing we learned from music's conversion from physical media to downloads is that the masses don't really care nearly as much about pure quality compared to things like cost and convenience. I'm generally an early adopter on technology and I still think my DVDs look great on my HD projector... I can't imagine the average consumer caring much at all about the difference between HDM and quality 480p downloads especially at 100-150% price differences.

Calis

03-09-2008, 07:55 PM

Well I finally took the plunge and grabbed a PS3 today.

After setting up my home media server and firing it up here, I'm extremely impressed and I really see where this thing shines. I picked one up mostly because my old DIVX player was crapping out on me(I have a huge library of DIVX and XVID stuff of all sorts on my computer, and probably 75% of what I watch is from that). An added benefit was my old player was Composite only, and so is my 360 so I was constantly having to switch cables out when I switched from one to the other, so having an HDMI device was a nice bonus.

Awesome feature, and I'm very pleased with how well the DIVX upscales on there. I had some low quality stuff that looked terrible with my old player but now looks above standard quality TV, so it's a very nice change.

Blu-Ray is nice obviously, and it does a great job with regular DVDs. I should add I have a TV that is on the very cheap end of HDTV's, and has terrible upscaling so I'm noticing a huge difference. I don't even have 1080 capabilities, so it'll be nice when I have that.

Game-wise there is still absolutely nothing that interests me apart from The Show which I bought today. Nothing in the pipeline that interests me apart from Little Big World, but right now I'm pleased with the purchase without even having it as a gaming machine.

Groundhog

03-09-2008, 08:07 PM

Little Big World?? First I've heard of that... is that related to the Little Big Adventure game for PC some years back? I loved that game.

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-09-2008, 08:13 PM

Little Big World?? First I've heard of that... is that related to the Little Big Adventure game for PC some years back? I loved that game.

I believe he was referring to Little Big Planet. It's received a high amount of praise for its innovative gameplay/design tools. It's a platformer that allows users to create their own games and distribute the new games through the online network. Here's a recent preview.............

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=93853

Calis

03-09-2008, 08:14 PM

Little Big World?? First I've heard of that... is that related to the Little Big Adventure game for PC some years back? I loved that game.

Sorry, I was off..it's LittleBigPlanet.

http://www.us.playstation.com/PS3/Games/LittleBigPlanet

Sort of a platformer/world creatore thing from what I gather. Just out there enough that it might be fun.

No relation to Adventure I think, but I agree that game was awesome.

EDIT: I was off and slow

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-10-2008, 07:24 AM

Thought I'd put this in the general console thread. The Sports Gamer guys put together a podcast with their impressions on MLB 2K8, MLB '08: The Show, and Super Smash Brothers Brawl.

http://www.sportsgamerblog.com/pods/Ep13.mp3

wade moore

03-10-2008, 07:50 AM

So...

Apparently my in-laws were at BB the other day and saw a line of people.. turns out it was for a Wii (which they borrowed ours for a bit and loved)... there were 58 people in line and 68 Wii's..

So they got in line and got a Wii... and everyone else was buying "some Smash Bros. game?" so they bought it..

Which is awesome - cause no chance they like it which means I get it ;).

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-10-2008, 08:47 AM

Should be an announcement by Microsoft in the next hour or two when the NDA expires. Here's the details that will be announced about the Xbox 360 price cut in Europe.............

Arcade = £159.99, was £199.99
Premium = £199.99, was £249.99
Elite = £259.99, was £299.99

Synovia

03-10-2008, 09:21 AM

I wasn't comparing Blu-Ray to DVD... I was comparing it to the cost of downloading a good quality SD movie. Amazon Unbox movies are $14.99 and Blu Ray discs are $30-$40. .

The only place Blu Ray discs are $30-40 is Best Buy. Try looking at the place you're quoting for SD, Amazon. I've got 20+ Blu-Ray movies, and haven't paid more than $19.99 for any of them

Synovia

03-10-2008, 09:41 AM

One thing we learned from music's conversion from physical media to downloads is that the masses don't really care nearly as much about pure quality compared to things like cost and convenience.

Thats a ridiculous assumption to be made, and moving from Audio to Visual is a huge change. The vast majority of the masses either don't have the hearing, or don't have the equipment to hear the difference between a 128kbps mp3 and a full quality WAV. You can't tell the difference between the two on earbuds.

In general, people SEE much better than they HEAR. The biggest stumbling block right now for HDMedia is low HDTV adoption rates, but they're going up rapidly so far this year.

People also consume movies and music in different ways. I (and most of the people I know) think portable music, AKA the iPod, are a great idea. MOst people have no interest in carrying around a 3" screen to watch movies. If they want to watch a movie, they want to watch it on a big TV.

Yes, there are some lessons to be learned from MP3, but they most certainly are not the same markets.

MJ4H

03-10-2008, 10:06 AM

Tthe difference between a 128kbps mp3 and a full quality WAV. You can't tell the difference between the two on earbuds.

Bzzzt.

General Mike

03-10-2008, 10:50 AM

Perhaps you should go back read my post that spawned this line of discussion.

No, I read it, and I didn't get it then and I still don't get it now. If I'm going to pay 14.99 for a digital download of a movie, I'd rather just buy the DVD for the same price and have a physical copy.

Plus, watching a movie on an iPod sized screen has no appeal to me.

Daimyo

03-10-2008, 10:57 AM

In general, people SEE much better than they HEAR. The biggest stumbling block right now for HDMedia is low HDTV adoption rates, but they're going up rapidly so far this year.
So you've acknowledged two assumptions...

1) HDTV adoption rates are low and that is a stumbling block for HDM
2) Most consumers don't have enough internet bandwidth to make HDTV downloads practical.

The first hurts HDM until it is resolved and the second will hurt HDM once it is resolved. Given that, how much window of opportunity does HDM have between those two points in time? How much of a window does Sony need to make this a profitable endeavor?

Personally I think the window is much smaller even than that based on two additional assumptions, which you don't seem to agree with:

1) DVD quality is good enough that the incentive to upgrade to HDM will be low for the masses
2) Nearly everyone who would be in the market for HDM has enough internet bandwidth for DVD quality downloads

You make the comparison between 128kb mp3s and CD quality sound and claim that is very different than the difference between SDTV and HDTV quality. While I agree that the difference between SDTV cable and HDTV can be vast (particularly with cable providers!), the difference between DVDs or good quality 480p and 720p/1080p is not really that large. In both cases someone paying attention can tell the difference, but the lower quality will still be very enjoyable to almost everyone.

In my personal experience with a 720p projector displaying at ~120", DVDs generally look better than the HDTV I get from my cable provider. Obviously neither looks as good as HDDVDs, but I wouldn't pay double for the HDDVD experience.

Daimyo

03-10-2008, 11:05 AM

No, I read it, and I didn't get it then and I still don't get it now. If I'm going to pay 14.99 for a digital download of a movie, I'd rather just buy the DVD for the same price and have a physical copy.

Plus, watching a movie on an iPod sized screen has no appeal to me.
First of all, no one said anything about watching on an iPod size screen. I certainly don't watch much of anything on my iPod.

Secondlyl, there is much available on download services like Amazon Unbox that is not available on DVD (particularly TV shows).

Thirdly, I'm guessing you've never experienced a good download service. The ability to instantly get access to just about anything and watch it on your TV directly on TiVo is pretty sweet (I imagine the experience is similar with the other services). The service I use allows free re-downloads of anything I've purchased so there is no issue with having to deal with storage (physically or digitally). I used to be into purchasing CDs and DVDs, but now i don't get the point of having physical media... they're really such a hassle to deal with all-around IMO. YMMV, but you probably won't be able to hold out too much longer...

wade moore

03-10-2008, 11:14 AM

FWIW the stuff I d/l from Unbox is at a FAR greater quality than my regular TiVO recordings.

I'm with Daimyo here - the large majority of the viewing public is not going to care about these "quality issues".

SackAttack

03-10-2008, 11:52 AM

The only place Blu Ray discs are $30-40 is Best Buy. Try looking at the place you're quoting for SD, Amazon. I've got 20+ Blu-Ray movies, and haven't paid more than $19.99 for any of them

$19.99?

I have 30+, and I've only paid more than $15 for four of them. Two were $15.99, and the other two I bought at Best Buy yesterday because I got my discount + a $20 gift card for getting them, so my effective cost on a couple of Oscar-nominated films ended up being like $17.

$19.99? You're paying too much. ;)

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-10-2008, 12:16 PM

$19.99?

I have 30+, and I've only paid more than $15 for four of them. Two were $15.99, and the other two I bought at Best Buy yesterday because I got my discount + a $20 gift card for getting them, so my effective cost on a couple of Oscar-nominated films ended up being like $17.

$19.99? You're paying too much. ;)

Agreed. Anyone who pays more than that for any Blu-ray movie is a lousy shopper. It takes very minimal effort to find BR movies for under $20.

KWhit

03-10-2008, 12:34 PM

stevew

03-10-2008, 12:41 PM

I want to buy a movie and I like to go walk to that amazon store right now and get one.

MJ4H

03-10-2008, 12:48 PM

Dude I think that's in South America

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-10-2008, 12:49 PM

I want to buy a movie and I like to go walk to that amazon store right now and get one.

You can get a movie for cheap on Amazon and wait a couple of days or you can pay a convinience fee to have it right away at Best Buy. That game hasn't changed in years. That's the reason that places like Best Buy can charge a higher price and make a bigger profit margin. Some people just can't wait.

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-10-2008, 12:51 PM

From a quick scan on Amazon, it looks like most BluRay movies are priced at about $25. DVD pricing seems more varied - anywhere from 12.99 to 19.99, but the most common price seems to be about 15.99.

There's still a big difference in price between the two formats and to claim that their pricing is similar is just wrong, IMO.

They have Buy one, Get one free sales going on all the time. That's what SackAttack and others are talking about. Unless you HAVE to get a movie right then at that price, you can usually find a much cheaper deal on most of the BR discs by waiting a week for a BOGO deal. It's rare that they don't have a BOGO deal going on.

BrianD

03-10-2008, 01:23 PM

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-10-2008, 01:31 PM

That is still a big difference from the DVD market. DVDs started out the same way, but at some point it no longer became worthwhile to wait for internet deals. Going down to the local Best Buy or Walmart gave the same prices as any normal Internet store. Movies are still an impulse buy for many people, so Internet BOGO deals will hit a number of people, but they won't hit the general masses.

Correct at this point, but they will become more common in the local retailers as we move through the holiday season. As you mentioned, DVD's went through a very similar 2 year period. It's to be expected at this point, but that doesn't mean that you have to spend $30-40 on a BR movie as some posters have implied.

SackAttack

03-10-2008, 01:40 PM

They have Buy one, Get one free sales going on all the time. That's what SackAttack and others are talking about. Unless you HAVE to get a movie right then at that price, you can usually find a much cheaper deal on most of the BR discs by waiting a week for a BOGO deal. It's rare that they don't have a BOGO deal going on.

Well, not necessarily BOGO, as it's actually been several weeks on that, but there are still deals to be found.

JR.com had a bunch of movies for $15.99 if you bought two a while back. Amazon periodically either does BOGO or B2GO (although of late it's more the B2GO).

Warner Bros. is doing a B2GO right now, and next week Target's doing a BOGO.

Then there's also ebay, things like that. No, you're not going to get the deals if you're an instant gratification hound, but with even a little bit of work, it's hard not to save money over MSRP.

I snagged The Assassination of Jesse James and Michael Clayton for $29 each (well, less for me because I work there, but bear with me) at Best Buy yesterday, which triggers a free $20 gift card. If you spend that on another BD, you can effectively get that third one for five or ten bucks.

$65 for three movies isn't the best deal I've seen in the last six months, but that's still ~$20 apiece for three movies that will normally retail for $30-35.

BrianD

03-10-2008, 01:41 PM

Correct at this point, but they will become more common in the local retailers as we move through the holiday season. As you mentioned, DVD's went through a very similar 2 year period. It's to be expected at this point, but that doesn't mean that you have to spend $30-40 on a BR movie as some posters have implied.

Depends on which "you" you are talking about. If "you" is a tech savvy Internet user who is willing to wait a few days for their movie purchase to go on sale and then wait a few more days for delivery, then no you don't need to pay $30-$40. If "you" is the general shopper who doesn't buy anything online outside of the holiday season, the you do need to pay $30-$40 for most movies, and $25-$30 for almost all of the rest.

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-10-2008, 01:45 PM

Depends on which "you" you are talking about. If "you" is a tech savvy Internet user who is willing to wait a few days for their movie purchase to go on sale and then wait a few more days for delivery, then no you don't need to pay $30-$40. If "you" is the general shopper who doesn't buy anything online outside of the holiday season, the you do need to pay $30-$40 for most movies, and $25-$30 for almost all of the rest.

But I'm not sure that's relevant yet as the 'general shopper' doesn't have a BR player and isn't shopping for BR discs. The number of people in that situation by year-end will increase by quite a bit and so will the amount of shelf space in retail stores along with cost reductions. That all comes when the market has the demand to support it.

Daimyo

03-10-2008, 01:47 PM

stevew

03-10-2008, 01:48 PM

our 2008 planogram has a huge footage allocated to blu ray movies, however sears prices on them are atrocious. I believe either 35 or 30 for most everything, sometimes they go on sale for 25.

BrianD

03-10-2008, 01:50 PM

But I'm not sure that's relevant yet as the 'general shopper' doesn't have a BR player and isn't shopping for BR discs. The number of people in that situation by year-end will increase by quite a bit and so will the amount of shelf space in retail stores along with cost reductions. That all comes when the market has the demand to support it.

So in a discussion about adoption rate and the question of whether or not Blu-Ray will actually see the positive results of winning the format war, the "general shopper" doesn't matter? The whole point is that Blu-Ray has to get the general shopper to be successful...and before other options become more attractive.

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-10-2008, 01:58 PM

So in a discussion about adoption rate and the question of whether or not Blu-Ray will actually see the positive results of winning the format war, the "general shopper" doesn't matter? The whole point is that Blu-Ray has to get the general shopper to be successful...and before other options become more attractive.

Well, we could argue that until we were blue in the face (as some have done in the other thread). My assumption is that your 'other options' reference is digital downloads and my opinion is that those are much further off than some would like people to believe. The general shopper will matter a year from now. Right now, he/she doesn't hold much relevance. With that said, this is a console thread and I'd rather discuss that and leave this discussion to the HD movie thread.

Eaglesfan27

03-10-2008, 02:01 PM

Well, we could argue that until we were blue in the face (as some have done in the other thread). My assumption is that your 'other options' reference is digital downloads and my opinion is that those are much further off than some would like people to believe. The general shopper will matter a year from now. Right now, he/she doesn't hold much relevance. With that said, this is a console thread and I'd rather discuss that and leave this discussion to the HD movie thread.

But the two are certainly linked as Sony has put all of their hope into Blu-Ray and if it fails to be a profitable media for years and Sony loses market share (a given), then Sony has made a huge blunder. Getting back to the games, which is what you wish to discuss, I was just reading an article the other day that the 360 continues to dominate in that realm with by far the highest game attach rate.

BrianD

03-10-2008, 02:10 PM

Well, we could argue that until we were blue in the face (as some have done in the other thread). My assumption is that your 'other options' reference is digital downloads and my opinion is that those are much further off than some would like people to believe. The general shopper will matter a year from now. Right now, he/she doesn't hold much relevance. With that said, this is a console thread and I'd rather discuss that and leave this discussion to the HD movie thread.

If the general shopper holds no relevance, this discussion has no purpose. Do you really think the end-goal isn't to make the general shopper a Blu-Ray customer?

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-10-2008, 02:20 PM

If the general shopper holds no relevance, this discussion has no purpose. Do you really think the end-goal isn't to make the general shopper a Blu-Ray customer?

I do think that is the end goal, but it's less than one month after BR won the format war. They've got to have several months to let things settle into place before we'll be able to see what ultimately comes of the format. I just think that most of the talk is awfully premature.

SackAttack

03-10-2008, 02:20 PM

Unless its changed since the Warner decision, the BOGO deals usually don't have the newest movies, but only a subset of catalog titles.

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.

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-10-2008, 02:26 PM

But the two are certainly linked as Sony has put all of their hope into Blu-Ray and if it fails to be a profitable media for years and Sony loses market share (a given), then Sony has made a huge blunder. Getting back to the games, which is what you wish to discuss, I was just reading an article the other day that the 360 continues to dominate in that realm with by far the highest game attach rate.

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.

Cringer

03-10-2008, 02:28 PM

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

03-10-2008, 02:31 PM

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

03-10-2008, 02:37 PM

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

03-10-2008, 03:24 PM

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

03-10-2008, 03:52 PM

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

03-10-2008, 04:03 PM

The Surge is working!

Eaglesfan27

03-10-2008, 04:17 PM

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

03-11-2008, 07:22 AM

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

03-11-2008, 07:27 AM

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

03-11-2008, 07:33 AM

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/repair/repair_form_us_ssbb.jsp

MJ4H

03-11-2008, 08:55 AM

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

03-11-2008, 09:09 AM

MJ4H

03-11-2008, 09:15 AM

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-11-2008, 09:20 AM

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

03-11-2008, 09:46 AM

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

03-11-2008, 11:16 AM

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

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

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-11-2008, 11:27 AM

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

03-11-2008, 11:28 AM

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

03-11-2008, 11:48 AM

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

03-11-2008, 12:00 PM

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

03-11-2008, 12:42 PM

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

03-11-2008, 12:45 PM

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

03-11-2008, 12:46 PM

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

03-11-2008, 12:51 PM

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

03-11-2008, 12:52 PM

Crap. Can I make it have a RROD? :D

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-11-2008, 01:04 PM

Crap. Can I make it have a RROD? :D

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

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-11-2008, 01:26 PM

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

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/15921/Guilty-Gear-2-Overture-Update/

MJ4H

03-11-2008, 01:34 PM

Weird.

sabotai

03-11-2008, 01:46 PM

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

03-11-2008, 01:50 PM

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

03-11-2008, 02:08 PM

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

03-11-2008, 03:47 PM

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

http://ebgames.ca/graphics/haze_promo.jpg

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

03-11-2008, 04:20 PM

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

03-11-2008, 05:02 PM

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

03-11-2008, 06:09 PM

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.html?action=convert&om_clk=latestnews&tag=latestnews;title;3

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-12-2008, 08:03 AM

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

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6187563.html?action=convert&om_clk=latestnews&tag=latestnews;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-formally-announced-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

03-12-2008, 08:07 AM

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

03-12-2008, 11:47 AM

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

03-12-2008, 01:38 PM

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

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/29886/Next-gen-Mortal-Kombat-game-coming-this-year

Big Fo

03-12-2008, 06:25 PM

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

03-12-2008, 06:43 PM

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. :D :p

MJ4H

03-12-2008, 06:47 PM

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

Big Fo

03-12-2008, 07:23 PM

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

03-12-2008, 07:40 PM

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

03-12-2008, 07:42 PM

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

03-12-2008, 07:50 PM

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

03-12-2008, 07:55 PM

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

wade moore

03-13-2008, 07:07 AM

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

03-13-2008, 07:13 AM

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/reutersEdge/idUSN1224707720080313?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=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

03-13-2008, 07:17 AM

sterlingice

03-13-2008, 07:22 AM

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-13-2008, 07:41 AM

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.

"in advance of the NPD numbers release"

I think the above makes it clear that NPD numbers haven't been released, no? There was nothing misleading about my post.

As for the MS comments about selling well when it's in stock, that's spin at it's finest. Microsoft is at fault for the shortage, whether it's intentional or not. I'd be floored if we didn't 'magically' see the supply problem go away a couple of weeks before the release of GTA4. If we don't see that happen, we can be pretty sure that the RROD concerns are the reason for the 'shortage'.

Should Nintendo start releasing statements just before the NPD numbers are released each month noting that they would have sold double the number of consoles that they did if they didn't have supply constraints? Hell no. Stuff like that only gets mentioned when your sales are a concern.

Eaglesfan27

03-13-2008, 08:16 AM

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-13-2008, 08:25 AM

Maybe I misread your post as it was still before my morning coffee, but I could have sworn the wording of your post was different before the edit. Shrug. In any case, all of the companies spin things, Sony included. In this case, we'll see if the spin is true if the 360 starts outselling the PS3 again when the supply issues are resolved in a month or so.

Naw, I added the quote box for the article in my edit. You'll also notice that my edit occurred before your post. Morning coffee is a wonderful thing. :)

The sales numbers in PAL territories will be the main focus for the March numbers. They need much improved numbers over there as MS has stated that Europe, not the U.S., is the crucial battleground in 2008. I'm sure they're hoping that the price drop will cause a big boost in sales.

Eaglesfan27

03-13-2008, 09:23 AM

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-13-2008, 10:06 AM

Despite MBBF's posts to the contrary, EA exec tells Newsweek that the PS3 is not their lead platform and that they are going to remain platform agnostic:

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/levelup/archive/2008/03/10/ea-says-it-has-no-plans-to-mandate-ps3-as-lead-sku.aspx

Certainly a very interesting non-response by EA there. Per the usual, instead of directly addressing the question that N'Gai asked (Will the PS3 become the primary development console to bring up the level of EA quality?), he danced around the issue by saying that all systems will get the proper amount of attention. In other words, "Every console is the most important console here at EA!"

It was a bit amusing that N'Gai took such an open shot at EA's quality control in his question. It apparently did not register with the EA representative. Also, you seemed to imply in your post that I was the only one who believed this to be the case. If that we're the case, would you then stretch that to include that N'Gai only asked the question to clear up my statements and mine alone? Hell no. Most of the industry and the media has long believed that EA will be moving to PS3 development in the coming months. I remain sure that they will move to a PS3 development house with the note that as of today, they aren't there yet.

I'll admit that I'm a bit surprised that they have taken this open stance given that the industry as a whole is moving to PS3 development to save development time and dollars on multiplatform games. With that said, this is EA we're talking about..........

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-13-2008, 11:02 AM

Interesting blog about a programmer of the Atari version of Donkey Kong (16K cartridge). The reason I post it is because it shows a lot of the mistakes made by Atari as a company. Some have compared EA current-day to Atari in it's heyday and noted that EA can be seen making some of the same mistakes now in terms of bloated growth, lack of foresight in industry trends, and total lack of innovation/quality control. If nothing else, it's an extremely interesting read.

http://www.dadhacker.com/blog/?p=987

Big Fo

03-13-2008, 12:04 PM

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-13-2008, 12:10 PM

The numbers come out today, Microsoft is just doing a little pre-emptive damage control and it's definitely not the first time one of the three companies has done so. When GTA rolls around they'll have plenty of stock and probably have already had a price drop.

Hey, those with the ability to remember what happened a year ago will remember that Jack Tretton (Sony exec) was feeding us this same line of B.S about shortages being the cause of their lackluster numbers in Europe. These claims of 'shortages' that get thrown around so much in recent years have to be taken with a HUGE grain of salt.

Mizzou B-ball fan

03-13-2008, 02:03 PM

Pachter's NPD estimates for February (includes 'The Sim Exchange' estimates). Record February sales expected for the industry as a whole.............

February 2008 Video Game Sales Preview: Expect 27% Sales Growth

• We expect February U.S. retail video game console software sales data to be released after market close on Thursday, March 13. We forecast sales of $575 million, +27% compared to last year’s $454 million. For purposes of comparison, The simExchange prediction market forecasts overall software sales of $592 million.

• Our estimate reflects $485 million in sales contribution from new platforms (PS3, Wii, 360, PSP and DS) and current generation software sales of $90 million. We estimate sell-through of 300,000 Wii, 250,000 Xbox 360 and 260,000 PS3 consoles. For purposes of comparison, The simExchange prediction market forecasts 450,000 Wii, 285,000 Xbox 360 and 270,000 PS3 consoles sold in February. Our console sell-through forecasts reflect our belief that Wii, DS and Xbox 360 hardware continued to be supply constrained during the month. With the launch of several high-profile games in March, we expect supplies for the consoles to increase.

• Console software sales growth in 2007 was a robust 34%. In January, software sales were again strong and up 11% over January 2007, with the reporting period this year consisting of only four weeks compared to last year’s five week period. We expect robust sales in February, with the sector appearing highly recession resilient.

• We expect solid software sales growth for all of 2008, as the holiday lineup included high priced (and sold out) games like Guitar Hero III and Rock Band, and the line-up over the next several months is also quite strong. We recommend that investors accumulate Activision, Electronic Arts, Nintendo, THQ, and Ubisoft shares at current levels.

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We expect February sales of $575 million (+27% compared to February 2007’s $454 million). We expect next generation software sales of $485 million and current-generation software sales of $90 million. We believe that PS2 software sales declined 28% year-over-year, as continued adoption of next generation consoles has reduced demand for current generation software. PS2 software sales decreased 24% in 2007 and were down 26% in January. The degree of PS2 software sales decline over the next several months will likely be highly correlated to next generation console sales, with year-over-year increases in next generation consoles purchases likely to accelerate declining demand for current generation software.

We expect February sales to be driven by Capcom’s Devil May Cry 4 (PS3, 360, PC), and to a lesser extent Microsoft’s Lost Odyssey (360) and THQ’s Frontlines: Fuel of War (360, PC), along with recent top selling releases Nintendo’s Super Mario Galaxy and Wii Play, Activision’s Call of Duty 4 and Guitar Hero III, and Electronic Arts’ Rock Band. We note that there were 14 games that sold over 100,000 units in January, and we expect 14 in February (compared to 10 last year).