If Xbox 360 loses, "We'll play again." - Bill Gates

[London Geezer]

Oh so MS outselling Sony 2 months of the year (and Sony outselling MS the other 10) suddenly means, in your own words, "Also Xbox won 2004 in the largest videogame market" ?
Funny enough it was only when Halo 2 came out and PS2 had no big games coming out in that period except maybe MGS3, and the momentum lasted 2 months. Hardly anything to write home about.

 

[Nesh]

I know MS outsold Sony in hardware in December and November 2004 in North America. The two biggest months obviously.

And they won 6 or 7 months overall.

Overall it had to be close, anyway. If MS didn't outsell them.

That doesnt mean much actually considering that the PS2 approached all its possible consumers it could get by that time.It wasnt because XBOX was prefered more than the PS2.And we are talking about small differences too.

 

[drpepper]

Yes, Halo 2 coming out probably explains the surge in Xbox sales. But it was hardly enough to sustain that momentum.

Shortly after I believe GT4, God of War and Devil May Cry 3 came out for winter-spring 05.

MS has to compete with the likes of these. that's why Sony has so much sway.

 

[Nick Laslett]

I wonder what Sony is going to do with the PlayStation 4 when the time comes...

I think Sony are playing the long game. A much longer game than MS. I figure Sony expect MS to play a third hand.

The painful and expensive shift to CELL will come into it's own in 8 years time.

I expect Sony to scale up the Playstation 4. It won't be a new console at all, just a PS3 with more CELLS. They should reap major economies of scale, die shrink, and all those other things about Chip manufacturing which goes over my head.

People with a PS3 will be able to upgrade the console to a PS4 by buying an add-on.

Blu-Ray will still be the format of choice. Without a major shift in display devices there is no need to go to a new format.

The adoption of 360 and PS3 will be slower than with the present generation. We are reaching the point of diminishing returns for the mass market consumer. You need a HDTV to enjoy these new consoles, that will make the adoption rate much slower.

On a SD TV the difference between the current gen and next gen is not great enough.

The PS2 still has to hit the $99 price point.

Once the Hardcore have all bought their next-gen consoles, sales will be very hard to come buy.

For me the next-gen is like High End PC gaming, DVD-Audio and Laser Discs - a niche market for commited enthusiasts.

Mr Massmarket will stick with his current console for 3 - 4 years.

The situation in Europe is even more conservative, going from 575i PAL to 720p is not the same leap as crappy 480i NTSC. HDTV will struggle to take hold in Europe for a long time. House sizes are much smaller and screen sizes above 32" are rare. HD TV really shines at sizes above 32".

In Japan we have the opposite situation. The next gen is needed more than ever to grow the market. But it is there that the Nintendo Revolution will probably have the greatest disruption effect. The Japanese culture prizes innovation over raw power. Both MS and Sony could find themselves on the receiving end of this paradigm shift.

Very happy to be proved wrong about my assumptions about the adoption of new technology. It will be interesting to look back in 2 years time and see if MS have shifted a significant number of 360s worldwide.

 

[deathstar121]

It's not if they lose, it's when they lose, I am not too big on 360 after what my friend has told me, I live just outside of NYC and my friend is the biggest xbox F@NB0Y that i know, and he thought 360 sucked, I am gonna go to his house and play the system today should tell you what I think by 10 pm tonite, but if this guy don't like what he saw MS is gonna be screwed big time.

 

[dukmahsik]

It's not if they lose, it's when they lose, I am not too big on 360 after what my friend has told me, I live just outside of NYC and my friend is the biggest xbox F@NB0Y that i know, and he thought 360 sucked, I am gonna go to his house and play the system today should tell you what I think by 10 pm tonite, but if this guy don't like what he saw MS is gonna be screwed big time.

yeah ur friend totally represents all 360 owners.

 

[-tkf-]

So i guess Office and Windows prices will not drop after all

 

[deathstar121]

yeah ur friend totally represents all 360 owners.

Yep he does J/K, personally 360 looks good, but not great, it kinda reminds me of Dreamcast where it looked great, then PS2 was release and even though DC and PS2 launch games looked the same, DC still lost, because of the PS2 hype, it's the same thing all over, I don't think that MS nor Nintendo can dethrone Sony, Sony's control on the market is just too strong, and if my friend doesn't like the system too much and he's a hardcore gamer and a big xbox fan, what chance does MS have? remember they have to find a way to attract the current xbox supporters, and get new ones, and if a hardcore xbox fan doesn't like your system, what makes you think MS will able to attract Sony fans or Nintendo fans, the way I see it MS isn't going to be #1, Sony will win this race easy and probably going away like they did with PS2.

 

[dukmahsik]

Yep he does J/K, personally 360 looks good, but not great, it kinda reminds me of Dreamcast where it looked great, then PS2 was release and even though DC and PS2 launch games looked the same, DC still lost, because of the PS2 hype, it's the same thing all over, I don't think that MS nor Nintendo can dethrone Sony, Sony's control on the market is just too strong, and if my friend doesn't like the system too much and he's a hardcore gamer and a big xbox fan, what chance does MS have? remember they have to find a way to attract the current xbox supporters, and get new ones, and if a hardcore xbox fan doesn't like your system, what makes you think MS will able to attract Sony fans or Nintendo fans, the way I see it MS isn't going to be #1, Sony will win this race easy and probably going away like they did with PS2.

if u already have made up your mind and predicted the future then what's the point? all 3 next gen systems will have must have games. i too think sony will win next gen but hey who's going to miss out on halo 3? not i

 

[deathstar121]

if u already have made up your mind and predicted the future then what's the point? all 3 next gen systems will have must have games. i too think sony will win next gen but hey who's going to miss out on halo 3? not i

I am gonna get a 360 but not right now, I just think that the early adopters like my friend and the millions out there will get robbed, waiting a year or so is the best thing, by then alot of second generation games will be releasing, and alot of the launch games that i am interested in will be dirt cheap, and the system will be in a price war with PS3 and Rev.

 

[dukmahsik]

I am gonna get a 360 but not right now, I just think that the early adopters like my friend and the millions out there will get robbed, waiting a year or so is the best thing, by then alot of second generation games will be releasing, and alot of the launch games that i am interested in will be dirt cheap, and the system will be in a price war with PS3 and Rev.

2nd gen games don't take a year. if millions enjoy their 360 they won't be robbed.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Also Xbox won 2004 in the largest videogame market.

WHY THE HELL DID YOU WROTE THAT!?

PS2 sold over 1.5million units more than Xbox and out of 12 months, PS2 won 7 and the 5 Xbox won, it was only by a small margin, whereas most PS2 victories were quite large. So please answer why you have to post total garbage like that, please tell us!.

 

[silhouette]

I think the most important aspect of this interview is 360 will not definitely end up like Dreamcast. It seems that MS will continue to support it even if it does not gain more marketshare... That's a good news to me actually.

 

[Nesh]

So i guess Office and Windows prices will not drop after all

lol as if they were

 

[scooby_dooby]

Oh so MS outselling Sony 5 months of the year (and Sony outselling MS the other 7) suddenly means, in your own words, "Also Xbox won 2004 in the largest videogame market" ?

Fixed!

Bill's point was that in the biggest sales months, nov and dec, xbox outsold PS2 in north america. That doesn't mean they "won 2004" but it's something to be proud of if your MS, and speaks very loudly to momentum, mindset and the current marketplace in the US and Canada.

 

[drpepper]

Fixed!

Bill's point was that in the biggest sales months, nov and dec, xbox outsold PS2 in north america. That doesn't mean they "won 2004" but it's something to be proud of if your MS, and speaks very loudly to momentum, mindset and the current marketplace in the US and Canada.

Not really, it speaks of the anticipation leading up to the release of Halo 2.

 

[London Geezer]

Fixed!

Bill's point was that in the biggest sales months, nov and dec, xbox outsold PS2 in north america. That doesn't mean they "won 2004" but it's something to be proud of if your MS, and speaks very loudly to momentum, mindset and the current marketplace in the US and Canada.

That's fab for americans. Shame there is the rest of the world to worry about too, but that doesn't seem to be one of America's priorities, and the videogame market is just one of the many examples. Getting political now so i'll stop.

 

[Pozer]

That's fab for americans. Shame there is the rest of the world to worry about too, but that doesn't seem to be one of America's priorities, and the videogame market is just one of the many examples. Getting political now so i'll stop.

If we worry about the rest of the world we're being an arrogant empire and if we don't worry we're acting self-absorbed and callous. I know it's trendy to be anti-american when i was young it was converse chucks that got you laid, but I'd like to point out the Japanese console/software makers never catered toward world markets or tastes. The rest of the world adopted their tastes for anime style rpgs and 2d fighters. I don't understand why you expect MS, whom you dislike, to do something companies you like would never did.... until markets tastes shifted.

Ms isn't going to make mongolian chicken chasers 3000 until theirs a percieved demand but then agin neither will Sony. or Nintendo.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Fixed!

Bill's point was that in the biggest sales months, nov and dec, xbox outsold PS2 in north america. That doesn't mean they "won 2004" but it's something to be proud of if your MS, and speaks very loudly to momentum, mindset and the current marketplace in the US and Canada.

Actually he thought that Xbox sold more in 2004 and proclaimed Xbox the winner without checking up the facts, and that's annoying... Now I don't mean Xbox did poorly, because 2004 was pretty good year for Xbox, but I still wouldn't say it had more momentum than PS2. Big reason why Xbox beat PS2 during the holidays was because Sony had problems shipping the new Slim PS2, had there been supply, it's more than likely that PS2 would have sold more.

 

[Titanio]

Bill's point was that in the biggest sales months, nov and dec, xbox outsold PS2 in north america. That doesn't mean they "won 2004" but it's something to be proud of if your MS, and speaks very loudly to momentum, mindset and the current marketplace in the US and Canada.

If you look at the months following Nov/Dec, PS2 went back to outselling the Xbox by a large margin. So far this year, they've sold over twice as many PS2s in NA as MS has sold Xboxs, and have done so consistently throughout the year to date, despite the advent of the PSP to boot. (By the way, have already sold well over 3m PS2 units to Oct alone - are we sure they only shipped 3m in NA in 2004?). That's the current "momentum, mindset and marketplace" in NA. Nov/Dec last year was anomolous and the margins were small - almost certainly down to Halo2 (if not also PS2-shortage related, as I believe there were wide reports of large PS2 shortages in NA at the time).