Xbox 360 won 2007

[Glockstar]

A GREAT article.

Kombo Editorial: A Closer Look at the Console War: Why Xbox 360 Won 2007 (http://360.kombo.com/article.php?artid=12076)

Some excerpts:

Indeed, there is obviously a strong correlation between overall success and the number of consoles sold. A more fair system in today's environment, though, would be to look at five different metrics.

A worryingly large number of consumers are buying Wiis purely for Wii Sports, which is included in the box. These consumers are great for Nintendo's bottom line but do not provide any lasting value to the company. Furthermore, having a large contingent of one-game consumers makes it difficult for Nintendo to woo third parties that otherwise would be dazzled by the Wii's sales numbers.

Three issues keep the Wii from hosting the very best third party content. First, the console's gimpy power precludes it from running truly next-gen titles like Call of Duty 4, Mass Effect or Uncharted. Second, third parties have difficulty jumping into bed with Nintendo because they know from past experience that Nintendo's own franchises will always be the star of the show on Nintendo platforms. Third, the hype effect from point two plays directly into sales. Look at the numbers for Zack and Wiki, for example, and compare those to the sales of Mario and Sonic's 2008 Olympics game. It's enough to make grown men cry. [Exactly.]

Although the PS3 has not performed exceptionally well since launch, it appears to have sold enough to seal the fate of the HD war. ... Even if the PlayStation 3 does not reach the same success the PS2 enjoyed, the fact that the system allowed Sony to control what may be the last major optical media format is a big deal and earns them residuals on every disc and player sold, even if they're made by other companies. Indeed, especially if the PS3 does not sell terribly well, this new source of income will be vital to the company.

Good stuff; I couldn't agree more.

[theWacoKid]

Except it didn't, the wii beat it and the handhelds beat everything. And WTF is Kombo and why should anybody care?

[Gadfly2317]

The article complains that SOME of the people buying Wii are one-game consumers. I agree. The Wii situation is not perfect.

But where do you derive "360 won 2007?" It was yet another money losing year for Xbox games division, outside of the Halo quarter. The Wii on the other hand, raked in money hand-over fist all year, and sold more consoles in 2007 than 360 has sold since it launched. The only win that counts to a corporation and to its share holders is a business win, and in gaming, that winner is Nintendo.

The other winner is Sony, as the article pointed out, for being succesful enough in its FIRST YEAR with Ps3 to effectively win the HD format war. That's a huge business win.

360 won huge media coverage of its RROD issues, and admittedly did great with its attach rate, as it was the system--being first out of the gate--that was adopted early by hardcore gaming freaks who obviously buy a lot of software. And 360 had great software this year for its 3rd Xmas season.

But as software continues to improve on Ps3-- and 360's continue to breakdown in record numbers, hardcore gaming freaks are going to be on the Ps3 too. And those 10's of millions of Ps2 owners that haven't made the jump yet to ANY next gen system? Why haven't they jumped yet? And what do you think is going to make them jump---Ninja Gaiden 2. . . . . or Metal Gear Solid 4, GTA 4, Gran Turismo Prologue, God of War III, and Final Fantasy XIII?

360's short-term gains early in this gen are eroding before our eyes.

[ThaMaskedGamer]

The article complains that SOME of the people buying Wii are one-game consumers. I agree. The Wii situation is not perfect.

But where do you derive "360 won 2007?" It was yet another money losing year for Xbox games division, outside of the Halo quarter. The Wii on the other hand, raked in money hand-over fist all year, and sold more consoles in 2007 than 360 has sold since it launched. The only win that counts to a corporation and to its share holders is a business win, and in gaming, that winner is Nintendo.

The other winner is Sony, as the article pointed out, for being succesful enough in its FIRST YEAR with Ps3 to effectively win the HD format war. That's a huge business win.

360 won huge media coverage of its RROD issues, and admittedly did great with its attach rate, as it was the system--being first out of the gate--that was adopted early by hardcore gaming freaks who obviously buy a lot of software. And 360 had great software this year for its 3rd Xmas season.

But as software continues to improve on Ps3-- and 360's continue to breakdown in record numbers, hardcore gaming freaks are going to be on the Ps3 too. And those 10's of millions of Ps2 owners that haven't made the jump yet to ANY next gen system? Why haven't they jumped yet? And what do you think is going to make them jump---Ninja Gaiden 2. . . . . or Metal Gear Solid 4, GTA 4, Gran Turismo Prologue, God of War III, and Final Fantasy XIII?

360's short-term gains early in this gen are eroding before our eyes.

Everytime someone says 360s performance is eroding, the following month NPD numbers show 360 slamming PS3. 360 sold more software than Wii and PS3 combined last year and it was even worse over the holiday period. The 360 aside from a number of other advantages has one main advantage. They own the hardcore console consumer, the people who buy the most games and the people who are heavily vested in HD Gaming. So those people are never going to make Wii their main console. Will those people swing over to the PS3? I doubt it.

You mention stuff like GT5 Prologue, that's a joke. A $40 rip-off in which you can't even chat when you race, you can't even set-up your own races with friends on your lists. I'm eager for GT5, but they can keep GT5 prologue. Now they are pushing GT5 back into a time period where it will run into GRID and possibly Forza 3. That's not good.

You mentioned GOW3, I've seen no data on even a time frame for its release. Final Fantasy isn't going to really mean anything here in the states. And that leaves Metal Gear and Killzone2, two hopefully great games. But is that enough to turn the tide this year in 2008, I doubt it. Sony is going to need MORE exclusives. Especially if those games come later around the holidays. Halo Wars is going to be big, Ninja Gaiden 2 is going to be big, and if GOW2 comes at the holidays it will be huge! MS games are going to have the hardcore features like co-op single story over LIVE. That is something Sony has yet to implement. There are too many other unknowns like how popular will the exclusive content for GTA4 be, how huge will Too Human be and will Splinter Cell be exclusive and will it blow away Metal Gear? I just see 2008 being more of a draw in the US when it comes to hardware sold this year. But then when it comes to software sold, I just see MS destroying Wii and PS3 again. It will be interesting to see the numbers for BO:P and DMC on both systems.

With MS being in the black, no matter how u characterize it, with all the AAA games from Mass Effect to Bioshock, with LIVE, and the distancing of itself here in the states from Sony, 2007 was undoubtedly MS' year. Sony is off to a super-slow start in '08, we still don't have rumble, no HOME, there is a recession(so that favors in 360 hand since it already has a huge console lead), I don't see Sony having a better year than MS, this year.

[trebor]

Our resident Xbots need to have their collective heads examined. The 360 had a decent year in terms of games, but as a console the 360 was an abysmal failure in 2007. The Wii utterly decimated it.

Face it, the 360 is past it's prime. Now that MS blew it's load on Halo 3, there really isn't anything else that can make the system profitable. Guess it doesn't matter though, as M$ is most likely readying their next console for a 2009 launch. You know them M$ console have a 4 year shelf life, after all.

Also, the retarded misconception that 3rd party sales suck on the Wii is being eroded away. Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles is nearing the 1 million sold mark. Unless I'm mistaken, Mario doesn't make an appearance in the game. Plus, I have a hard time believing that it was Grandma who was buying the game.

[PapaSmurf]

Man I love predictions. They wouldn't be predictions if we knew they were going to happen. I'll hold my stance that the PS3 will pull off a come from behind win. It's subtle changes that I notice, like more of my friends having PS3's and that being the reason I bought COD4 for PS3 instead of PC (though I think that's the last time I'll buy a game just to play online with friends. The PC version rocks the console versions). The winds are changing.

I like to also bring in this factor to the equation which has nothing to do with games. Now that Blu-Ray has all but won the format war (oooh I guess I got that prediction right *as he looks at his collection of 30 BR movies*) I think even more people than before will be buying PS3's as a blu ray option on top of buying it for games.

In terms of the PS3, the games are, admittedly not as good as the 360 line up to hold up without a PC, there are good games to play. Software looks to be on the up. Everywhere you read the professionals claim this to be the year of the PS3. I'm not sure about all that, but I'm excited about the games coming up mainly MGS4 and FFXIII. You xbots all underestimate the power of a new FFXIII btw. FFXII sold well, but the series fell off I believe because of FFXI. If you notice though, the best selling FF games are usually the first ones released on a new console. I think many of you might be surprised out how well this game does (unless it's a turd of course).

If all these hyped games deliver I think PS3 will rock this year.

[ThaMaskedGamer]

Our resident Xbots need to have their collective heads examined. The 360 had a decent year in terms of games, but as a console the 360 was an abysmal failure in 2007. The Wii utterly decimated it.

Face it, the 360 is past it's prime. Now that MS blew it's load on Halo 3, there really isn't anything else that can make the system profitable. Guess it doesn't matter though, as M$ is most likely readying their next console for a 2009 launch. You know them M$ console have a 4 year shelf life, after all.

Also, the retarded misconception that 3rd party sales suck on the Wii is being eroded away. Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles is nearing the 1 million sold mark. Unless I'm mistaken, Mario doesn't make an appearance in the game. Plus, I have a hard time believing that it was Grandma who was buying the game.

All we can go by is the latest data that we have right.

<b>December 2007 Hardware Sales
1. Nintendo DS -- 2,470,000
2. Wii -- 1,350,000
3. Xbox 360 -- 1,260,000
4. PlayStation 2 -- 1,100,000
5. PlayStation Portable -- 1,060,000
6. PlayStation 3 -- 796,600


Top 10 Software Sales
1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360) -- 1,470,000
2. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) -- 1,400,000
3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2) -- 1,250,000
4. Wii Play w/ Remote (Wii) -- 1,080,000
5. Assassin's Creed (360) -- 893,700
6. Halo 3 (360) -- 742,700
7. Brain Age 2 (NDS) -- 659,500
8. Madden NFL 08 (PS2) -- 655,200
9. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (360) -- 624,600
10. Mario and Sonic: Olympic Games (Wii) -- 613,000
</b>

The average 360 cost what let's say $400, the average Wii cost $250. Even selling at a premium the 360 is darn near keeping pace with the Wii, and still leads the cheaper Wii by MILLIONS in the states. But the Wii is cheaper and it should sell well and it does lead worldwide, but that isn't translating into a software sales edge. No, even worldwide 360 is murdering Wii in terms of software sold. I don't know what the purpose of a console is Trebor, I always thought it was to play games.

360 had 4 of the top 10 software spots. Wii Play doesn't even count because that's an accessory pack-in! Wii only had 2 games in the top 10, over XMAS! If you go out to the top 20 360 did even BETTER. You talk about million sellers, 360 has millons sellers, 2 million sellers, 3 million sellers, 4 million sellers, and one 8 million seller! It is no competition.

And Papa, you think the PS3 is coming on? The best PS3 game is COD4, but COD4 took the top spot for 360 with 1.4 million units sold, the PS3 version didn't even make the top 10. I can't wait to see the picture next month when DMC4 and BO:P on 360 sell way better than their PS3 counter parts, despite the fact these are traditionally better performers on the Playstation platforms.

PS3 may NEVER sell more software this entire lifecycle than the 360. Even if it somehow manages to catch 360. And at some point if sales don't pick up on the PS3, you have to believe projects will get dropped. It will be interesting though, every 6 month people predict the death of the 360. I just don't see it. Somehow the 8 million people who bought Halo3 are going to stop supporting 360. The 1.4 million who bought COD4 in December, won't buy anything on 360 in January? It doesn't work like that, 360s momentum has to stop before we can predict when it will start falling off. And before PS3 wins the war, just wake me when it wins one MONTH, hardware or software. Wake me when that happens:thumbsup:

[NEO-360]

The article complains that SOME of the people buying Wii are one-game consumers. I agree. The Wii situation is not perfect.

But where do you derive "360 won 2007?" It was yet another money losing year for Xbox games division, outside of the Halo quarter. The Wii on the other hand, raked in money hand-over fist all year, and sold more consoles in 2007 than 360 has sold since it launched. The only win that counts to a corporation and to its share holders is a business win, and in gaming, that winner is Nintendo.

The other winner is Sony, as the article pointed out, for being succesful enough in its FIRST YEAR with Ps3 to effectively win the HD format war. That's a huge business win.

360 won huge media coverage of its RROD issues, and admittedly did great with its attach rate, as it was the system--being first out of the gate--that was adopted early by hardcore gaming freaks who obviously buy a lot of software. And 360 had great software this year for its 3rd Xmas season.

But as software continues to improve on Ps3-- and 360's continue to breakdown in record numbers, hardcore gaming freaks are going to be on the Ps3 too. And those 10's of millions of Ps2 owners that haven't made the jump yet to ANY next gen system? Why haven't they jumped yet? And what do you think is going to make them jump---Ninja Gaiden 2. . . . . or Metal Gear Solid 4, GTA 4, Gran Turismo Prologue, God of War III, and Final Fantasy XIII?

360's short-term gains early in this gen are eroding before our eyes. The software for the 360 kicked the crap out of the PS3 saleswise in 2007. Especially when it came to multiplatform titles.End of story. 2008 is a new year. We will see who will survive.:p