Microsoft Responds to March NPD Data

[chris100]

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/782/782266p1.html

Microsft reps went on to boast of the console's attach rate, with on average 5.7 games sold per console for the month of March. Microsoft was quick to attribute these sales to several of its top-selling titles, namely Def Jam: Icon, Guitar Hero II, Major League Baseball 2K7, and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2.

Microsoft seemed particularly giddy regarding the success of the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II, which sold a whopping 291,000 units after only five days on store shelves. The company is quite clearly reveling in stealing a major exclusive from Sony, stating, "Games like Guitar Hero II that were once PlayStation exclusives are now enabling consumers to have more choices when it comes to platform selection, while also broadening our portfolio of games that appeal to customers of all ages."

Software attach rate 5.7 is totally awesome,developer would like it.

 

[Paul_G]

That doesn't make sense. I think they're twisting things as much as Sony are. We know the consoles sold, and we know the number of games sold, but that doesn't mean the attach rate is 5.7, unless all 6 million existing console owners out there didn't buy a single game in March.

 

[scooby_dooby]

That doesn't make sense. I think they're twisting things as much as Sony are. We know the consoles sold, and we know the number of games sold, but that doesn't mean the attach rate is 5.7, unless all 6 million existing console owners out there didn't buy a single game in March.

Isn't that how attach rate is calculated? Which is why it generally never goes down?

 

[Paul_G]

It sounded to me like they were taking software sales in March (presumably around 1.1m) and dividing by sales of the 360 in march (~200K) and getting 5.7 games per unit sold, that's what I took "with on average 5.7 games sold per console for the month of March" to mean anyway, but that isn't the case, for the reason I stated. If i've misunderstood then just ignore me

I always took attach rate to mean lifetime software sales/lifetime hardware sales, which would generally explain why it doesn't go down as you point out

 

[DuckThor Evil]

It sounded to me like they were taking software sales in March (presumably around 1.1m) and dividing by sales of the 360 in march (~200K) and getting 5.7 games per unit sold, that's what I took "with on average 5.7 games sold per console for the month of March" to mean anyway, but that isn't the case, for the reason I stated. If i've misunderstood then just ignore me

I always took attach rate to mean lifetime software sales/lifetime hardware sales, which would generally explain why it doesn't go down as you point out

There are many ways to calculate attach rates the two you mentioned are among them and both of them seem to have been used quite recularly.

 

[Naboomagnoli]

There are many ways to calculate attach rates the two you mentioned are among them and both of them seem to have been used quite recularly.

Well if it's the one suggested by the first part of Paul G's quoted post then that's arguably the most ludicrous thing I've heard since I found out that in Normandy in 1386 a pig was tried and convicted for murder and subsequently hanged.

 

[Sis]

It sounded to me like they were taking software sales in March (presumably around 1.1m) and dividing by sales of the 360 in march (~200K) and getting 5.7 games per unit sold, that's what I took "with on average 5.7 games sold per console for the month of March" to mean anyway, but that isn't the case, for the reason I stated.

Well if it's the one suggested by the first part of Paul G's quoted post then that's arguably the most ludicrous thing I've heard since I found out that in Normandy in 1386 a pig was tried and convicted for murder and subsequently hanged.

Regardless of the literal meaning of the attach rate in this case, surely you aren't suggesting that MS is trying to cover up poor software sales? Since that would be the primary reason for spinning the attach rate term in this manner...

 

[Paul_G]

Regardless of the literal meaning of the attach rate in this case, surely you aren't suggesting that MS is trying to cover up poor software sales? Since that would be the primary reason for spinning the attach rate term in this manner...

Well I don't think the sales are poor, which makes their choice of statistic to quote all the more odd. They sold more consoles than their primary competitor and they had more games in the top 10 than any other platform, but how else can you read it? I'm interpreting what they said the only way I can

 

[Rolf N]

Didn't we kinda not want PR threads?
Calculating your attach rates on current-month snap-shots is a meaningless metric, and meaningless for developers to boot. If you want to demonstrate healthy software sales, quote current software sales. If you can show a publisher that month after month you have x00k software sales, they'll be interested. If you can show a publisher you have x million install-base, they'll be interested.
Fusing the two together in such an asinine way is misleading hokey-pokery.
Canonical attach rates are life-to-date software/accessories/whatever divided by life-to-date hardware.

 

[StefanS]

Didn't we kinda not want PR threads?
Calculating your attach rates on current-month snap-shots is a meaningless metric, and meaningless for developers to boot. If you want to demonstrate healthy software sales, quote current software sales. If you can show a publisher that month after month you have x00k software sales, they'll be interested. If you can show a publisher you have x million install-base, they'll be interested.
Fusing the two together in such an asinine way is misleading hokey-pokery.
Canonical attach rates are life-to-date software/accessories/whatever divided by life-to-date hardware.

Triple agreement ;-)