All purpose Sales and Sales Rumors and Anecdotes [2018 Edition]

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Have always said that I think X would have a more successful launch than Pro, but with a steeper decline. And that Pro would probably sell more than X overall while probably being more profitable.

But even I'm a bit surprised that Pro is outselling X by a pretty good margin even in the US. I figured it would be a close race, but the Pro would outsell X significantly outside of the US.

I've seen a lot of people outside of these forums comment and say how Pro was a mistake and Sony are dumb... I can't help but smh. This is a mid-gen refresh after all, not a new console. They invested just what they needed to and the Pro does its job. X is serving the same purpose, but with likely a lot more invested into it, with (I think) less return (at least in the short term).

Not saying X is a bad product or was a bad idea. It was a way for MS to show their fan base and gamers that they are determined to improve. They needed to release a strong console to makeup for all of their fuck ups. So while it may not end up being as successful as Pro, it will help them going forward, and I think that was their plan all along.


500 dollars consoles.... price matters...
 
And cheaper...
More powerful consoles are more appealing, didn't you get the memo?

In all seriousness, when the was the last time a more expensive console outsold a comparable cheaper one? Has it ever happened? Saturn vs. PlayStation - No. Xbox vs. PlayStation 2. No. PlayStation 3 vs. 360. No. Xbox One vs. PlayStation 4.

You could argue PlayStation 2 outselling GameCube but I think most people who've been watching the industry for a while generally agree that several generations of poor sales of Nintendo home consoles can be laid at the door of Nintendo's strategies like making it look like a kids toy and the poor third party support which limited the library. GameCube and PlayStaion 2 were not comparable in the way Xbox and PlayStations have been in lagging targeting the same core market.
 
PlayStation 3 vs. 360.
Though of course your sentiments are right and more power doesn't intrinsically mean more sales than the less powerful rivals, this particular example is contentious as it's hard to point to which console was the 'more powerful'. Whatever paper flops advantage PS3 may have had, if it wasn't as efficient it couldn't bring to bare that power in results better than the rival. Kinda like comparing a super-heavyweight boxer with a middleweight boxer when the super-heavyweight boxer has a broken arm and a torn hamstring, or, the console analogy favourite, a 500 horsepower V8 in a massive, lunky Chevvy with a fixed axle spinning the wheels and being unable to get the power actually down onto the road to perform well. In terms of extracted power, 360 may have been the better box - it was certainly too close to call.

Though perhaps you were more thinking of marketed bogomips and public perception of the more powerful console as that's what they would buy based on.
 
There is probably some correlation between 4K TV adoption and the sales of the mid-gen refreshes as well. And even in homes that do have a 4K TV, that may not be the TV that has a console hooked up to it.
 
Hard to say, since the last thing we heard about Game Pass is that it boosts digital games sales. However, it's possible they're not taking away from physical games sales, as the games would likely not see those additional sales without the increased exposure. Yes, it moves the percentage into digital. However, to see if it truly has an impact on physical game sales, we'd have to know the overall unit numbers to see if those dropped. Or if digital has increased as the total sales base grows.
 
https://www.resetera.com/posts/11071316/

From the NPD guy, the ratio of base console/mid gen console is the same for PS4 and Xbox One.

Probably 20% of total sales of PS4 and Xbox One for mid gen consoles.
glad someone posted this, these are the data points you want to be looking at, as opposed to comparing straight across PS4 and xbox.

If the ratio is the same, that's pretty successful. Considering the price differential between base unit and scorpio is significantly larger than the difference between slim and pro.

If we assume 1:7 ratio from last time.
1 out of 8 purchasers thought the X1X is worth it's 499 price point
1 out of 8 purchasers thought the Pro is worth it's 399 price point

If anything, really goes to show that they are both priced *equally* for their respective performance.
 
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You probably mean priced equally rather than well - being half the price would be priced a lot weller! ;)
haha
indeed. english. I need to work on it.

This should wrap up the discussion on performance however.

This is the only scenario that we'll ever have, where all things are equal except price and performance (within their respective platforms). And when all things are equal, purchasers value the price more than the performance (as of the last while) 7 out of 8 times.
 
Yeah, I argued at the time that while X is a more significant upgrade due to its high cost (and being nothing more than an Xbox one with better graphics, that it only really was paying lip service to the die hard fans.

Conversely the pro offers a relatively cheap upgrade option on a more popular console.

Adds fuel to the argument regarding the importance of power.
 
Not directed at anyone here, but I love how the arguments always change. Previously it was about size and noise, but now that the Pro is proven to be less powerful and substantially louder than the X, the argument shifts towards pricing.

Never let the music stop.
 
All the online statements of why some people would not buy MS consoles -- too loud and too large, including external PSU, were always said about X360.
 
Are we seeing Game Pass and Play Anywhere having an effect on Xbox physical game sales?

Nothing concrete, but for SOT and SOD, Microsoft has mentioned that both titles exceeded all their sales projections despite being offered simultaneously on Game Pass.

Regards,
SB
 
Nothing concrete, but for SOT and SOD, Microsoft has mentioned that both titles exceeded all their sales projections despite being offered simultaneously on Game Pass.

Regards,
SB
Both titles had strong debuts, but massive drops the following month though. #2 > #18 and #1 > #20 respectively.

GoW is a massive AAA title so it's not really fair, but it hasn't left the top 3 for the 3 months it has been tracked. But even Detroit, a pretty niche game and also another SP only game like GoW, went from #3 > #10.

So it may not be affecting initial sales, but it might affect long term sales.

All the online statements of why some people would not buy MS consoles -- too loud and too large, including external PSU, were always said about X360.
It was mentioned, but I don't think it was ever considered a common or big factor. Plus XB1 was never considered loud, but it was big. That and the power brick was definitely a factor for some people, but I doubt many.

PS4 Pro may be louder than X, but Pro is still about the same, if not a bit quieter than previous gen systems.

glad someone posted this, these are the data points you want to be looking at, as opposed to comparing straight across PS4 and xbox.

If the ratio is the same, that's pretty successful. Considering the price differential between base unit and scorpio is significantly larger than the difference between slim and pro.

If we assume 1:7 ratio from last time.
1 out of 8 purchasers thought the X1X is worth it's 499 price point
1 out of 8 purchasers thought the Pro is worth it's 399 price point

If anything, really goes to show that they are both priced *equally* for their respective performance.
While all true, you can't just ignore absolute sales.

But yeah, both Sony and MS did what they had to do to extend the life of their consoles, and these mid-gen refreshes are doing their job. Sony already being in the power position, just needed something good enough to keep their train rolling. MS needed a substantial upgrade to win back their fans, but this required a lot more investment.
 
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PS4 Pro may be louder than X, but Pro is still about the same, if not a bit quieter than previous gen systems.

I hadn't noticed the complaints about PS3 being incredibly loud, well outside of @orangpelupa cat sitting on their console [ Favorite Tag https://forum.beyond3d.com/tags/cat-astrophe/ ] , but I've certainly noticed complaints about 4Pro being obnoxiously loud on social media and other forums like ResetEra: https://www.resetera.com/threads/my-ps4-pro-is-incredibly-noisy.2671/
 
Not directed at anyone here, but I love how the arguments always change. Previously it was about size and noise, but now that the Pro is proven to be less powerful and substantially louder than the X, the argument shifts towards pricing.

Never let the music stop.
Yea. It’s one of those things where more is better. If you can have more power no one would prefer less. If you can have it at a lower price no one would say no.

And that pretty much became the Swan song for this gen. If Kinect managed to produced something uniquely distinct, wickedly fun, and difficult to replicate as an experience perhaps this point wouldn’t have mattered. Unfortunately they failed to capitalize, and switching to a similar strategy as Sony’s with less 1P power, less horsepower, at a similar price... became a runaway success as soon as PS4 hit critical mass.
 
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