2011 Console Sales Thread.....

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

A bit late in the year to start this, but didn't want to start this discussion elsewhere. Pretty crazy stuff in the console wars right now. All three console companies seem pretty rudderless right now. It'll be interesting to see if the upcoming hardware for each of the three companies make a difference at all.

Dubious Quality: Console Post Of The Week: We're Taking On Water (http://dubiousquality.blogspot.com/2011/11/console-post-of-week-were-taking-on.html)

[cartman]

All 3 rudderless? I guess that is why he only talks about two in the article (Sony and Nintendo), not the one that actually grew their revenue by 7% last quarter (Microsoft).

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

All 3 rudderless? I guess that is why he only talks about two in the article (Sony and Nintendo), not the one that actually grew their revenue by 7% last quarter (Microsoft).

Microsoft had a good boost from Kinect, but seems to have slowed down. The whole console world is stuck in a funk right now. It seems like they'd all love to release a new console right now, but I'm not so sure that it's a good idea. As several developers have noted, the PS360 is still putting out some very good games. You won't find many users of the PS360 that want to upgrade anytime soon. On the other side, the Wii was destine for an early death from the moment of release due to the inferior technology, but I'm not sure that Wii U is the next step that most were expecting.

Similar things on the portables. The 3DS has been an unmitigated disaster and the PS Vita appears headed for a similar fate IMO.

[Julio Riddols]

Is the PS360 a XBOX360 and a PS3 combined? That would be incredible.

[cartman]

I'd hardly call 7% growth a funk for Microsoft. Yes, a case can be made for both Sony and Nintendo, but it is a stretch to say Microsoft's video game unit is in one with the profits they are turning on a 6 year old console that was nearly made new with the Kinect.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I'd hardly call 7% growth a funk for Microsoft. Yes, a case can be made for both Sony and Nintendo, but it is a stretch to say Microsoft's video game unit is in one with the profits they are turning on a 6 year old console that was nearly made new with the Kinect.

MS and Sony are both doing exactly what they should be doing at this point. Milking the console for every last dollar. There's nothing wrong with either console and they honestly shouldn't be replaced anytime soon. MS is a bit further down the profit curve thanks to super-cheap costs on their console. That's the benefit of the early release coming into play.

But by the same token, the 'success' of MS isn't nearly as tied into overwhelming moves on their part as much as the relative failures of the other two companies. Sony has struggled this whole generation to get moving in the right direction. Nintendo has managed to dump every ounce of momentum it had right off the deep end. MS has been steady if somewhat unspectacular, but it's put them in a good spot overall.

[MizzouRah]

PS3 sux!

:jester:

[cartman]

Not sure in what universe that the Kinect transformation could be considered part of something 'steady and somewhat unspectacular'. But you must consider the source. We've got nearly 6 years of posts from him giving the 360 no chance of success.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

PS3 sux!

:jester:

:)

[SackAttack]

1) Holy hell, batman, 2012 is two months away.

2) Insofar as a funk exists at retail, it exists because:
2a) Nintendo's got a new console coming.
2b) People expect that means Sony and Microsoft are going to jump into the next generation right away (they're not). As a result, they may be holding off to see what comes next.

3) Xbox 360 = NES right now. Not in terms of market dominance, but in terms of the company's mindset. Nintendo was in no hurry to get to the SNES initially because they saw plenty of growth remaining in the NES market. Microsoft sees sufficient growth in the 360 marketplace that as long as Sony's content to stick with the PS3, Microsoft's in no hurry to move on.

4) When both PS3 and Xbox 360 are sub-$200, you can probably start looking ahead to 'new console coming.' For the love of fuck, their controllers are still ~$50 MSRP at retail, and that shows no signs of changing anytime soon, despite several hardware price cuts. When the accessory prices finally come down relative to their original costs in the way the hardware has, the writing will probably be on the wall for a new system (since at that point, both companies are probably going to be trying to milk every last drop out of the PS3/360 accessories market, and can't do that at full MSRP).

5) MBBF rightly took a load of crap for his Iraqi Information Minister routine in the last console sales thread, and I see no reason that changes anytime soon...but I will cop to spending more time with my PS3 than my 360 of late. Disgaea 4 was mostly to blame there, but most of my more recent game purchases have ended up, somehow, being PS3 games. Lego Harry Potter, Tiger Woods 12, the aforementioned Disgaea 4, and one or two others. Not sure how that happened, exactly, since the high profile releases upcoming I'm likely to snag - Skyrim, Mass Effect 3 - and some of the more recent releases - Arkham City - I'm eyeing are likely to be 360 buys for me.

[sterlingice]

I wonder how close we are to the next "gaming" crash. I'm not sure we can really support 3 gaming platforms with the heightened costs. I'm a bit worried about casual gaming phones and crap cannibalizing the hardcore handheld gaming market and we may all just fall backwards for a few years as the current economic models don't really seem to support the speed we have advanced in the industry over the past two decades. If Microsoft or Sony said "Hey, it's time for the XBox4/PS4, anyone buying?", I just can't see a market at all.

SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

If Microsoft or Sony said "Hey, it's time for the XBox4/PS4, anyone buying?", I just can't see a market at all.

SI

Agreed. People are still very satisfied with the PS360 right now. There's still some very good games coming out on those systems. Perhaps that's not a bad thing though. There's been some major losses early in the console lives over the last couple of generations. A bit more development to reduce costs when released wouldn't hurt either company at this point.

[spleen1015]

Isn't there always good games coming out on consoles at the end of their life cycles though?

I think we'll continue to see good games until they announce the next gen. So, I don't get the whole 'there's still good games' argument.

[TRO]

What happens first?

New Playstation or Microsoft console

OR

Missouri to the SEC

[ISiddiqui]

What happens first?

New Playstation or Microsoft console

OR

Missouri to the SEC

How about Missouri releasing a new console?

[CrimsonFox]

For the love of fuck,

Wow most people DO love that. Everything else you said MUST be true!

[sterlingice]

How about Missouri releasing a new console?

Mike Anderson Basketball?

SI

[SackAttack]

Wow most people DO love that. Everything else you said MUST be true!

Well, the part of what I said directly related to the imprecation in question? Yeah, probably. When the cost of the console hits sub-$200 (and I'm not counting Microsoft's gimped $199 360) and the first-party accessories hit a mass-market price point, the release of a new PlayStation or Xbox console will probably not be far off.

Basically, once everything hits a price point such that parents start considering it for young families (as opposed to early-teens-and-older households), that's a sign that the focus has shifted to what comes next.