Xbox 360 attach rate and the HD effect.

[-=P3tRaN=-]

as a consumer and as a seasoned gamer I have to go with the opinion that GOOD GAMES where the reason for purchases.
I got an HDTV after I had already bought many games, and of course I bought the tv as an accessory to that stupid console.

 

[RobertR1]

I was having this conversation tonight with a few friends who purchased their 360's over the holiday season. Their problem is that they can't stop buying games. Now each one does have a nice HDTV set but it's not the HD. It's the quality of the games and more importantly, the Live Demo's that draw them into it. I can agree with them. I've purchased more 360 games in one year of ownership than my whole time owning a PS2. A large amount of the games on the 360 are very playable and being able to download demo's gives you quite a bit more confidence to spend your cash.

 

[Acert93]

Demos and trailers have always been good tool because they are win-win: Good exposure for publishers and "free" play before buy/fun for consumers. It is only logical it would drive sales and thought a HDD should be standard with online for this very reason. I was always confused why Sony, MS, Nintendo didn't ship out quarterly or such demo discs to all their customers to remind them "hey, we have great games coming!" and to keep people interested all year round. AOL could do it to people who were not customers, so I don't know why they couldn't hit a concentrated client base.

But I agree with others that demos and trailers are probably a big factor. The cost of entry, which means gamers with more money, also helps. And dare I say no Halo helps too. Games like Halo tend to draw people in, in turn they can buy less games. I know I do that. I bought BF1942 and played it for 2 years! WoW is another that nails people. Having a lot of games with appeal, but not games that totally suck you in and don't let go... ever!... has some merits. (Note: difference between lack of good games and "Games that own your life"). The fact the MS demographic tends to be fewer teens but adults also may help.

 

[jb]

Demo's for me has been a big key for me. I have bought a few games that I would not have had it not been for the demos...

 

[Johnny Awesome]

I've actually become more selective in my X360 purchases. I own 61 Xbox games (about 1/month from '01 to '05), but only 9 X360 games in the first 14 months of ownership. My kids own 7 games for it as well, which pushes our attach rate up, but for myself I'm being more selective.

 

[Rolf N]

Demos and trailers have always been good tool because they are win-win: Good exposure for publishers and "free" play before buy/fun for consumers. It is only logical it would drive sales and thought a HDD should be standard with online for this very reason. I was always confused why Sony, MS, Nintendo didn't ship out quarterly or such demo discs to all their customers to remind them "hey, we have great games coming!" and to keep people interested all year round. AOL could do it to people who were not customers, so I don't know why they couldn't hit a concentrated client base.

To a limited extent the OPM/OXM cover discs filled that role, while of course it doesn't beat "free", and online delivery is the wave of the future.