Xbox 360 attach rate and the HD effect.

[Fox5]

Wow, this thread makes me really think about how atypical I am.
By the end of the GameCube's life, I owned around 40 games for it.
Now, for my Wii all I've got is Wii Sports, Zelda, and Rayman, and Zelda and Rayman were late purchases.

My PC game purchases have gone down as well though. My wall is full of titles from the hey day of computer gaming (1997 to 2000), but I've barely bought any PC games since the launch of the xbox, primarily due to the general decline in games I've seen.
Last bunch of PC purchases I believe are Dawn of War: Dark Crusade, Galactic Civilizations II, and Halflife 2 Episode 1. I think those are the only games I've purchased this year for PC.

 

[crosseye]

no i dont believe its that, i believe its due to being only picked up by hardcore gamers whom tend to buy lots of games ( this was mentioned in gamasutra a month or so ago )
this is MSs number one problem with the xb360 the punters are not buying it for some reason ( in the 12 months after launch it is performing worse than the original xbox + ps2, gamecube )

I think this is a common misconception. I'm at work so I really don't have the time to dig it up, but IIRC, the 360 is 20% AHEAD of the xbox. When I get a few more minutes free I'll try to confirm this. For now grain of salt.

 

[Windfire]

Let me see if I can explain it a little better. Let's say the Xbox 360 only had 12 games come out this past year. So that's one a month. Most people finish a game in less than 2 weeks(excluding multiplayer games). Now you can see how the attach rate in this make-believe scenario could reach 12 by the end of the year.

Isn't this making the assumption that the "attachment" rate is a computation based on number of games available (ie: 12 of 12 as you put it). I didn't interpret this to be the case. If this is the case, your interpretation is probably correct.

However, my understanding, which could be wrong, is that the attatchment rate was the number of games a console owner buys. For example, owners for Console A buy an average of 4.5 games within 90 days. If this is the case, then having fewer games makes it harder to get this attachment rate, not easier. For example, if there were 100 games, it would be easier for Joe Smith to find 5 cool games he wanted then to be limited to 12 games.

 

[Tap In]

The attach rate is the ratio of game units sold as compared to the number of systems sold.

i.e.

100 systems sold with 600 game units sold = attach rate of 6.0

 

[Windfire]

The attach rate is the ratio of game units sold as compared to the number of systems sold.

i.e.

100 systems sold with 600 game units sold = attach rate of 6.0

That is the way I understood it. As such, it is silly to think the attachement rate is higher because there are fewer games. That is counter to logic on a number of layers.

 

[habbe]

The attach rate is the ratio of game units sold as compared to the number of systems sold.

i.e.

100 systems sold with 600 game units sold = attach rate of 6.0

Hmm.. Is it only games ?.. Or does an extra cotroller also count ?.

 

[Corwin_B]

Hmm.. Is it only games ?.. Or does an extra cotroller also count ?.

That's peripherals attach rate, I think. IIRC, MS was quite pleased with this rate too (probably because of all people wanting a Premium and being forced to get a Core with an extra HDD instead).

 

[Dave Baumann]

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2007-01-01-gears-of-war_x.htm

Take a look at chart for 2006 - not only is there already three 360 titles in there, but also we get a direct comparison with Madden; there are many multiples more PS2's in terms of install base you it only achieved a little over 2x the unit volumes of the 360 version. I think thats a fairly good example of why install base is not the overridding factor for devs/publishers and in fact "penetration" (which can also be tied to or a factor of attach rate) is something that is equally, if not more important.

 

[habbe]

How about the Live Arcade games are those included in the "attach rate" ?.

 

[thatdude90210]

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2007-01-01-gears-of-war_x.htm

Interesting, just 2 DS games. At least the USA hasn't gone completely mobile yet.

 

[zed]

wow those numbers show how important japan is
the top selling game in the US only managed 1.8 million
at the moment in the japanese top30 there are five 3+ million sellers

 

[NovemberMike]

wow those numbers show how important japan is
the top selling game in the US only managed 1.8 million
at the moment in the japanese top30 there are five 3+ million sellers

How many of those are hand helds?

 

[Dizzy]

All the top selling games are NDS anything over 500K are NDS games. After looking at the chart it is clear that NDS owns Japan.

http://www.the-magicbox.com/topten.htm

 

[Dizzy]

wow those numbers show how important japan is
the top selling game in the US only managed 1.8 million
at the moment in the japanese top30 there are five 3+ million sellers

I disagree I think the Japanese top 30 shows how anything outside the NDS is not important in Japan. The Wii sports and Hajimete no Wii are close to 500K. I have to change my last comment Nintendo owns Japan not the NDS.

 

[NovemberMike]

I disagree I think the Japanese top 30 shows how anything outside the NDS is not important in Japan. The Wii sports and Hajimete no Wii are close to 500K. I have to change my last comment Nintendo owns Japan not the NDS.

That is what I was thinking. I have heard that a lot of Japanese devs are jumping in with MS because MS has a large (attach rate)*(consoles sold) which can be explained by the fact that the Japanese will buy games like Final Fantasy or MGS on a console, but they get most of their gaming from Handhelds (and now nintendo in general I guess).

 

[Johnny Awesome]

Well it's been a long time coming, but Nintendo owns Japan. Between the Wii and NDS Sony is getting squeezed very hard, especially with the changing platform tastes in that market towards more handhelds and cheap thrills. Of course, MS fairs even worse over there, but that's kinda like saying that the sky is blue.

 

[dobwal]

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2007-01-01-gears-of-war_x.htm

Take a look at chart for 2006 - not only is there already three 360 titles in there, but also we get a direct comparison with Madden; there are many multiples more PS2's in terms of install base you it only achieved a little over 2x the unit volumes of the 360 version. I think thats a fairly good example of why install base is not the overridding factor for devs/publishers and in fact "penetration" (which can also be tied to or a factor of attach rate) is something that is equally, if not more important.

I don't think this is proof of your outlook. Compare Madden 2000 (or 2001?) on the PS1 and PS2 and you will see the same phenomenom. I think what your Madden comparsion shows is that Madden is a fan favorite amongst early adopters and that the market for Madden isn't relatively proportional to install base.

 

[Johnny Awesome]

You can't get a game more representative of the average casual gamer than Madden IMO. It's very representative.

 

[dobwal]

You can't get a game more representative of the average casual gamer than Madden IMO. It's very representative.

Madden generates its own hardcore fans and the fact that it is the number 3 game in terms of sales in the US for the 360 shows its audience is composed of more than just casual gamers.

 

[Johnny Awesome]

Of course it is, but that doesn't change the fact that Madden is very representative of the market as a whole.