Support NeoGAF

[3rdamention]

Why is this such a joke?

Because you don't sell more in November and December combined than the previous 10 months. It's incredibly rare...You think the Xbox One is selling more than 4 to 5 million in November and December?



Because the Xbox One sales were triple'....................................what they were the week before the price drop............which was the week after they announced the price drop, they announced the price drop 6 days before it started...




Because sales aren't near 10 million..................The number of consoles shipped is...






It's amazing how everything changes when you put there statements into context......

 

[FleetFeet]

not sure if this was posted yet. interesting take.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markrog...-tripled-but-is-that-less-than-meets-the-eye/

I read that a few hours ago and I thought that was actually an insightful piece considering the context and the history of NPD numbers for November.

Personally I think it's too early in the month to go tooting any horns when BF is the day most sales transpire... could come back to bite them if they don't end up on top in November.

 

[TomShoe]

I think Sony integrated some thinking that is typically associated with Nintendo into their PlayStation business... In that Sony is focused on profitability first and marketshare second with the PS4. Besides, all Sony really has to do to win this generation is make sure Xbox One doesn't get extremely far ahead in the US and the UK.

The only problem with that logic is that those two priorities go hand in hand. Marketshare = Greater chance for profit

 

[3rdamention]

It is true for the US, but probably not the rest of the world.
If you look back on past NPDs, Nov.-Dec. sales have been anywhere from 45%-55% of the sales for the entire year.

X1 has only sold around 1.85M in the US for the entire year, so selling more than the rest of the year is very very possible for them this year.

....In fact, 2011, they sold 1.7M xbox 360s in November alone.

I must have missed where he said in the US only......

 

[big_z]

just got back from best buy after returning the turd of unity. people saying Microsoft might lose black Friday because of stock might be right. typically theres two pyramids and a large upper shelf of xbox ones and they were mostly picked through. a bunch of people were carrying unity bundles around so they seem to be selling well.

the ps4 also has the pyramids and they looked barely touched even though it was close to closing, but that's not what shocked me. the upper shelf storage had a massive number of units. I didn't count but would guess a few hundred and that's just one store. they all appeared to be last of us and destiny bundles which is odd, I figured the black Friday bundles would be up there by now.

has anyone else noticed the stock levels in their local stores? sony appears to be flooding the market in preparation for the death stampedes.

Is this still a narrative spread amongst the crazies?

Make yourself a drink and read this. If your nose starts bleeding stop and call 911 immediately.

 

[crazyprac]

just got back from best buy after returning the turd of unity. people saying Microsoft might lose black Friday because of stock might be right. typically theres two pyramids and a large upper shelf of xbox ones and they were mostly picked through. a bunch of people were carrying unity bundles around so they seem to be selling well.

the ps4 also has the pyramids and they looked barely touched even though it was close to closing, but that's not what shocked me. the upper shelf storage had a massive number of units. I didn't count but would guess a few hundred and that's just one store. they all appeared to be last of us and destiny bundles which is odd, I figured the black Friday bundles would be up there by now.

has anyone else noticed the stock levels in their local stores? sony appears to be flooding the market in preparation for the death stampedes.





Make yourself a drink and read this. If your nose starts bleeding stop and call 911 immediately.

Lmao... I was going to reply but Lol!

 

[Aroll]

I think it's funny any of us feel Microsoft or Sony care about who is in the lead. They care about making money.

Sony isn't dropping the pricepoint because they are making money and their system is selling well. The Xbox One is selling better currently, but so?

The lead is nothing but marketing fodder and fan hype. Bottom line is "does this console make us money". If it's a yes, then you win.

 

[NickFire]

I think it's funny any of us feel Microsoft or Sony care about who is in the lead. They care about making money.

Sony isn't dropping the pricepoint because they are making money and their system is selling well. The Xbox One is selling better currently, but so?

The lead is nothing but marketing fodder and fan hype. Bottom line is "does this console make us money". If it's a yes, then you win.

They care plenty about the lead because they want to make as much money as possible. More systems then the other guy lets you dictate better terms to people who want a wide audience. Plus the mindset of consumers can be swayed by who's out front leading to more sales.

 

[Zophar]

I don't know.... When these guys, the most misleading PR in Microsoft, said that Xbone is leading in US and sales are skyrocketed i really smell something will go wrong in NPD November results.

Yusuf Mehdi - Xbone sales skyrocketed

It's true though, more XB1s will be sold in Nov-Dec than the rest of the year combined.

 

[DarthWalden]

It's true though, more XB1s will be sold in Nov-Dec than the rest of the year combined.

Not like that is hard...

 

[HORRORSHØW]

It's true though, more XB1s will be sold in Nov-Dec than the rest of the year combined.

 

[LegendofDragoonLives]

As I shrewdly predicted before the start of this generation, the Xbox One has taken a leadership position in the North American console market right before the most critical holiday shopping season of recent memory. You could say they took the bull by the horn and are riding her like secretariat all the way to the finish line.

More gaming dollars are spent in the November and December months than in the rest of the year combined, so positioning the Xbox One console and game bundles at a family-friendly $349.99 price point before Sony has any chance to scramble together a legitimate response is, simply put, a stroke of marketing genius.

If the early reports are any indication, the Xbox One now not only has the value share with it's lower price point, it is winning back the hearts and minds of gamers with envelope-pushing, blockbuster AAA next-generation software like Assassin's Creed Black Flag, Assassin's Creed Unity, Sunset Overdrive, and Halo: Master Chief Collection.

In fact, earlier in the week, one top industry media outlet wrote about how Sony's momentum with the Playstation 4 could be coming to a screeching halt due to the lack of compelling exclusive software on that platform. Add to that the recent network issues of Sony's network and launch difficulties of key games like Driveclub and Assassin's Creed Unity, and you have a recipe for potential disaster.

With nearly 10 million Xbox One's sold in compared to 13.5 million Playstation 4's shipped at last count, the tides seem to be turning faster than anyone could have predicted. Last generation, the tag phrase was the first to 10 million wins, so it's only fitting that in this more advanced generation, the pundits may look back and say, "the first to 20 million" is the One who was victorious. Hope this clarifies things for you.

parody post?

 

[TechOne]

It's true though, more XB1s will be sold in Nov-Dec than the rest of the year combined.

 

[DeadlyVirus]

Somebody needs to make a image of the Forza crowd already in line for BF deals...

 

[Game Guru]

The only problem with that logic is that those two priorities go hand in hand. Marketshare = Greater chance for profit

Not really... Profiting on the gaming industry is reliant on a multitude of factors of which marketshare is one of them. For example, Sony has put online multiplayer behind the paywall for the PS4 which adds to the money that Sony is obtaining with the PS4 which was previously avenue of payment unavailable to them with the PS3. However, forcing people to pay for online play on PS4 means that some PS4 owners are locked out of online multiplayer because they refuse to pay for online. Many games that would have been released on disc in past gens have chosen to be exclusively digital games which again limits the audience for them to people with a good enough online connection to download those games. If gaming was all about marketshare, we wouldn't see any games made for any platform except mobile and the lowest end PCs since they have the highest marketshare of all gaming platforms. Conversely, balancing marketshare with cost to manufacture is why companies don't merely give away consoles.

In the particular case of Sony's actions in November vs. MS's actions in November, Sony believes that making a profit on the PS4 is worth more at this moment in time than the possible loss of marketshare that MS can inflict because of their November deals on the Xbox One. When Sony sees MS gaining too much marketshare or sales of PS4s have become stagnant or decreased, Sony will choose that moment to do a price drop for the PS4

 

[jhmtehgamr20xx]

Then "Triple" is not impressive if the prior week sales for XB1 were something like 15,000 or whatever. We really need a base number before "Triple" is something to brag about.

Not hard to figure out really; XBO did about 282k in October, right? So average that out and it's 70.5k a week. So that would be about 211.5 in the first two weeks of October, if they've said it's "tripled the sales from last week of October". At that pace, and say Black Friday gives them double what they've done so far and they have a bit of a drop this week (say, 2x as much as last October week, or 141k), that puts them at a total of about 775.5k for October, which I guess is pretty good for a 2nd-place console. But that's still noticeably lower than 360's later Octobers.

That's all pure guessing on my part, but I'd be very surprised if XBO pulls much higher-or much lower-than that for November. And I don't see it beating PS4 in November either, altho the margin PS4 wins by could be a lot smaller than some are predicting. I'd feel comfortable saying it'll pull at least 850k; don't know if Sony has the stock to put an influx in worldwide, since unlike MS they actually have other markets to care about.

 

[jryi]

Don't spread BS as you can still do it via gift cards, which was the method that was silently approved. It's just CC payments that are stopped and Alberto Penello never hinted that method was ok.

A direct quote from a Finnish Xbox rep on a Finnish forum, 15 Aug, 2013 (in Finnish, sorry):

- Xbox Livestä voi ostaa luottokortilla JOS osoitetiedot täsmäävät valitseman maan kanssa Voit ostaa periaatteessa miltä tahansa kauppapaikalta sisältöä, mutta Live-tilin luottokortin osoitteen pitää täsmätä valitsemasi julkaisumaan kanssa. (link)

(Translation: "You can buy with a credit card from Xbox Live IF your address details correspond to the selected country. You can buy content from basically any country's marketpalce, but the CC address in your Live account must match that of the country where content is published.")

This was part of the FAQ that was spread around when it was announced that Finland was not going to be part of tier 1. Yes, you may easily argue, that it is clearly stated there that you have to have an actual credit card from the country from whose marketplace you are buying stuff, but I would claim that this little detail was obfuscated as much as possible. So, in my opinion, MS was encouraging early adopters to import the console and use their credit cards to buy content from tier 1 markets.

Interesting take but it is ignoring Black Friday which is sure to spike sales above the 3X Microsoft has already reported.

What additional tricks does Microsoft still have up their sleeve for Black Friday? Sony is withholding their ammo until BF, but to me it seems like MS has blown their load.

 

[Trust me. I'm a PhD]

Not hard to figure out really; XBO did about 282k in October, right? So average that out and it's 70.5k a week. So that would be about 211.5 in the first two weeks of October, if they've said it's "tripled the sales from last week of October". At that pace, and say Black Friday gives them double what they've done so far and they have a bit of a drop this week (say, 2x as much as last October week, or 141k), that puts them at a total of about 775.5k for October, which I guess is pretty good for a 2nd-place console. But that's still noticeably lower than 360's later Octobers.

That's all pure guessing on my part, but I'd be very surprised if XBO pulls much higher-or much lower-than that for November. And I don't see it beating PS4 in November either, altho the margin PS4 wins by could be a lot smaller than some are predicting. I'd feel comfortable saying it'll pull at least 850k; don't know if Sony has the stock to put an influx in worldwide, since unlike MS they actually have other markets to care about.

Do not want to throw any of the leakers under a bus, so PM the post if you can, but is this the actual number? Last I read estimates were between 170K and 190K

 

[Brad Grenz]

Not hard to figure out really; XBO did about 282k in October, right? So average that out and it's 70.5k a week. So that would be about 211.5 in the first two weeks of October, if they've said it's "tripled the sales from last week of October". At that pace, and say Black Friday gives them double what they've done so far and they have a bit of a drop this week (say, 2x as much as last October week, or 141k), that puts them at a total of about 775.5k for October, which I guess is pretty good for a 2nd-place console. But that's still noticeably lower than 360's later Octobers.

That's all pure guessing on my part, but I'd be very surprised if XBO pulls much higher-or much lower-than that for November. And I don't see it beating PS4 in November either, altho the margin PS4 wins by could be a lot smaller than some are predicting. I'd feel comfortable saying it'll pull at least 850k; don't know if Sony has the stock to put an influx in worldwide, since unlike MS they actually have other markets to care about.

1: You are using the wrong number for Xbox One in October. It sold much less than that.

2: Sales "pace" is meaningless in November because it is completely distorted by Black Friday and, in this case, the price change spike in the first week. You can't just work out an average and multiply.

3: I don't believe sales tripled extended for 2 weeks. Let's say the weekly sales in October were 45k. We'll ignore the effect the early announcement of the price drop for the time being. When they say sales tripled, I believe that was only in the very next week. So first week in November would be 135K. After that it would have settled to a lower, stable pre-BF sales rate. Added together it is enough to have outsold he PS4 month to date, but for all we know the second week sales of PS4 could have been higher than the second week sales of Xbox One in November.

4: None of this is very meaningful because a sub-50K sales advantage right now will mean nothing after Black Friday week where 90% of the sales will happen in November.

 

[JoJo UK]

How about blocking purchases from US store for non-US customers? A practice that used to be silently approved and (at least here in Finland) even encouraged.

I pre purchased GTA V a few days ago from the US store and I live in Northern Ireland UK using gift cards, no problems. Are you sure or are you going by the OH SHIT THE WORLD IS ENDING thread?

Don't spread BS as you can still do it via gift cards, which was the method that was silently approved. It's just CC payments that are stopped and Alberto Penello never hinted that method was ok.

I bought the car pack on FH2 using my credit/decbit card like 48 hours ago, are you sure payments other than gift card were blocked, as that doesn't sound true at all. Are you gettting the US store confused with the India / Hon Kong ones? If someone wants to paypal me a few quid/bucks I'll try again right now lol.

 

[fedexpeon]

I am glad that X1 is doing well these past weeks
With 7 more weeks to go, they have the advantage this holiday season against the other competitors with their 2 weeks lead.
10M shipped is pretty good since the retailers are confident enough to sell these ordered inventories, or MS is paying for retail spaces, but still, MS is finally in the double digit Million just like Sony.
10M=14M imo, they can all be summed up as numbers that are in double digit.
I hope MS will stress the important message to the mainstream that they have reached that crucial milestone on matching Sony in reaching the double digit threshold.

 

[spwolf]

As I shrewdly predicted before the start of this generation, the Xbox One has taken a leadership position in the North American console market right before the most critical holiday shopping season of recent memory. You could say they took the bull by the horn and are riding her like secretariat all the way to the finish line.

More gaming dollars are spent in the November and December months than in the rest of the year combined, so positioning the Xbox One console and game bundles at a family-friendly $349.99 price point before Sony has any chance to scramble together a legitimate response is, simply put, a stroke of marketing genius.

If the early reports are any indication, the Xbox One now not only has the value share with it's lower price point, it is winning back the hearts and minds of gamers with envelope-pushing, blockbuster AAA next-generation software like Assassin's Creed Black Flag, Assassin's Creed Unity, Sunset Overdrive, and Halo: Master Chief Collection.

In fact, earlier in the week, one top industry media outlet wrote about how Sony's momentum with the Playstation 4 could be coming to a screeching halt due to the lack of compelling exclusive software on that platform. Add to that the recent network issues of Sony's network and launch difficulties of key games like Driveclub and Assassin's Creed Unity, and you have a recipe for potential disaster.

With nearly 10 million Xbox One's sold in compared to 13.5 million Playstation 4's shipped at last count, the tides seem to be turning faster than anyone could have predicted. Last generation, the tag phrase was the first to 10 million wins, so it's only fitting that in this more advanced generation, the pundits may look back and say, "the first to 20 million" is the One who was victorious. Hope this clarifies things for you.

#winning

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

It's true though, more XB1s will be sold in Nov-Dec than the rest of the year combined.

Given the Xbox One hasn't sold much in America during the year, that shouldn't be hard.

 

[jryi]

I hope MS will stress the premature message to the mainstream that they have reached that crucial milestone on matching Sony in reaching the double digit threshold.

Fixed that for you.

 

[EmptySpace]

can't wait for xbox to shout from the mountaintop and flood all the social media if they were to outsell the ps4 for a single month.

 

[Hastati]

This post sounds like the final product at the end of a stupidity centrifuge, distilling the unexpurgated banal thoughts of a thousand morons into a hardened impenetrable lump of smacktardery...

lol
Rymuth, you just made my day.

 

[wotta]

not sure if this was posted yet. interesting take.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markrog...-tripled-but-is-that-less-than-meets-the-eye/

The guys makes a good point. News sites aren't worth the clicks sometimes. They just post the headline - Xbox Sales Triple without actually looking into the past results like this guy has. Really, what the article above has done is good reporting, others like these:

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/xbox-one-nears-10m-units-shipped-thanks-to-price-drop/0141302

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=xbox+sales+triple+for+november&oq=xbox+sales+triple+for+november&aqs=chrome..69i57.4837j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=91&ie=UTF-8

These headlines are from so called respected sites , but are just a PR piece for Microsoft in order to get more sales.

There is no guarantee MS will win November and MS knows it, hence the reason for the boasting so that people buy the console. Let's face it, who'd buy a PS4 in the U.S now when you can wait a few weeks until Black Friday and pick up a much better deal. Xbox One sales have gotten better because the price has dropped now, so of course it's the leader for the past few weeks, but will this be the case come Black Friday and onwards?

I can already see a trend in the UK, where Xbox was in all the charts after the price drop and now looking at the charts, PS4 is the one climbing them once again. It appears to me PS4 will be the console to own in the UK this Xmas and Xbox One may have to settle for second best. I can't say what will happen in the U.S, but no-one can until Black Friday has been and gone.

Either way, both consoles are going to have a very strong Xmas. PS4 is certainly not going to crash and burn like some have predicted, in fact it may even get stronger after the announcements in December.

Xbox has show it's hand with exclusives and a price cut for this year, if that doesn't work, then what?

 

[Brutalitops]

They really deserve to win at least a month.

Question, I bought an Xbone bundle with digital codes for AC Unity, Black Flag, Dance Central and Advanced Warfare. Does eBay allow me to sell digital codes? I figure I could make at least 120 off them.

 

[geordiemp]

As I shrewdly predicted before the start of this generation, the Xbox One has taken a leadership position in the North American console market right before the most critical holiday shopping season of recent memory. You could say they took the bull by the horn and are riding her like secretariat all the way to the finish line.

More gaming dollars are spent in the November and December months than in the rest of the year combined, so positioning the Xbox One console and game bundles at a family-friendly $349.99 price point before Sony has any chance to scramble together a legitimate response is, simply put, a stroke of marketing genius.

If the early reports are any indication, the Xbox One now not only has the value share with it's lower price point, it is winning back the hearts and minds of gamers with envelope-pushing, blockbuster AAA next-generation software like Assassin's Creed Black Flag, Assassin's Creed Unity, Sunset Overdrive, and Halo: Master Chief Collection.

In fact, earlier in the week, one top industry media outlet wrote about how Sony's momentum with the Playstation 4 could be coming to a screeching halt due to the lack of compelling exclusive software on that platform. Add to that the recent network issues of Sony's network and launch difficulties of key games like Driveclub and Assassin's Creed Unity, and you have a recipe for potential disaster.

With nearly 10 million Xbox One's sold in compared to 13.5 million Playstation 4's shipped at last count, the tides seem to be turning faster than anyone could have predicted. Last generation, the tag phrase was the first to 10 million wins, so it's only fitting that in this more advanced generation, the pundits may look back and say, "the first to 20 million" is the One who was victorious. Hope this clarifies things for you.

Is this a parody of something ? is pretty funny.

I laughed at the AAA next gen defining games list, unity runs like pants, Halo is bugged, black flag was good on Ps4 after the 1080p patch Ill give you that.

Sunset overdrive did not even crack NPD top ten, its irrelevant.

Its written like a bad MS PR statement to be taken seriously LOL

 

[EGM1966]

I think Sony integrated some thinking that is typically associated with Nintendo into their PlayStation business... In that Sony is focused on profitability first and marketshare second with the PS4. Besides, all Sony really has to do to win this generation is make sure Xbox One doesn't get extremely far ahead in the US and the UK.

Yeah I agree. Sony are giving themselves a chane to win but they're clearly not going to go all out at the expense of profit. And why should they? They have a commanding lead WW and a decent lead in US. MS is clearly throwing money at the problem and Xbox will sell well whatever in U.S. at peak so it just doesn't make sense for Sony to throw money at a problem they don't have. MS has the problem so let them react.

MS is too big anyway for a killer blow, better to focus on their own business for Sony right now and let NS worry about market share.

 

[wotta]

MS is too big anyway for a killer blow, better to focus on their own business for Sony right now and let NS worry about market share.

Well said.

 

[Rymuth]

lol
Rymuth, you just made my day.

Courtesy of Fargo but I'm happy to have made someone's day.

 

[SpinningBirdKick]

Shipped to retailers, not sold to end users.

Retail channel stuffing in anticipation of the price cut (edit: and coming holiday season).

Nothing to see here, move along.

 

[Stilton Disco]

They really deserve to win at least a month.

Question, I bought an Xbone bundle with digital codes for AC Unity, Black Flag, Dance Central and Advanced Warfare. Does eBay allow me to sell digital codes? I figure I could make at least 120 off them.

No one 'deserves' to win a month, they're either creating a desireable product or they're not.

Frankly, given how big a loss they're having to take and how much extra value they're needing to bundle in to even have a shot at outselling the competition, in the month where they have their biggest games of the year releasing alongside tie in marketing for 2 of the years biggest third party titles, and that it's still too close to call, I'd say in balance a better argument can be made for them not deserving to.

They made a product the consumer at large has rejected and they're buying their way into a sales lead at the expense of making a profit, and that's both unsustainable and a way of manipulating the market that is a prime example of how broken and underhanded big business and unregulated capitalism can be.

But again, who ever sells the most is simply whoever offers their goods to the consumer at better value. Who 'deserves' it, is neither here nor there.

 

[Random17]

They made a product the consumer at large has rejected and they're buying their way into a sales lead at the expense of making a profit, and that's both unsustainable and a way of manipulating the market that is a prime example of how broken and underhanded big business and unregulated capitalism can be.

Can you expand on this? I want to disagree you, but I want to read your reasoning first.

 

[benny_a]

Can you expand on this? I want to disagree you, but I want to read your reasoning first.

You want to disagree? If you've already made up your mind and you intent to disagree then what does it matter.

 

[Nightengale]

Who wins is of little importance, but I kinda dread to see the MS PR machine that'll be out at full force if they were the one who wins.

Greenberg, Mehdi and Larry, if you win, let Jeff Rubenstein write about it.

 

[EGM1966]

No one 'deserves' to win a month, they're either creating a desireable product or they're not.

Frankly, given how big a loss they're having to take and how much extra value they're needing to bundle in to even have a shot at outselling the competition, in the month where they have their biggest games of the year releasing alongside tie in marketing for 2 of the years biggest third party titles, and that it's still too close to call, I'd say in balance a better argument can be made for them not deserving to.

They made a product the consumer at large has rejected and they're buying their way into a sales lead at the expense of making a profit, and that's both unsustainable and a way of manipulating the market that is a prime example of how broken and underhanded big business and unregulated capitalism can be.

But again, who ever sells the most is simply whoever offers their goods to the consumer at better value. Who 'deserves' it, is neither here nor there.

Can I just say... Well said.

 

[tuna_love]

You want to disagree? If you've already made up your mind and you intent to disagree then what does it matter.

To make sure they are interpreting it the right way?

 

[Random17]

You want to disagree? If you've already made up your mind and you intent to disagree then what does it matter.

This:

To make sure they are interpreting it the right way?

I'm curious as to how he is making his economic argument. On the surface it sounds incorrect to me, but I may be mistaken on whether or not we disagree if he elaborates on his point. (Assuming it's a male)

 

[Sweep14]

They really deserve to win at least a month.

Question, I bought an Xbone bundle with digital codes for AC Unity, Black Flag, Dance Central and Advanced Warfare. Does eBay allow me to sell digital codes? I figure I could make at least 120 off them.

Why do they deserve to win a month ?

 

[travisbickle]

I'm curious as to how he is making his economic argument. On the surface it sounds incorrect to me, but I may be mistaken on whether or not we disagree if he elaborates on his point. (Assuming it's a male)

Pricing your product at a high enough loss can be viewed as anti-competitive and in some cases illegal. Sega accused Sony of this back in the PS1 days.

 

[SMOK3Y]

Hey if MS win November atleast the (US dominated) gaming media will be happy 😊

 

[Xando]

Hey if MS win November atleast the (US dominated) gaming media will be happy 😊

Imagine all the "Xbox is back" articles.

 

[leadbelly]

As I shrewdly predicted before the start of this generation, the Xbox One has taken a leadership position in the North American console market right before the most critical holiday shopping season of recent memory. You could say they took the bull by the horn and are riding her like secretariat all the way to the finish line.

More gaming dollars are spent in the November and December months than in the rest of the year combined, so positioning the Xbox One console and game bundles at a family-friendly $349.99 price point before Sony has any chance to scramble together a legitimate response is, simply put, a stroke of marketing genius.

If the early reports are any indication, the Xbox One now not only has the value share with it's lower price point, it is winning back the hearts and minds of gamers with envelope-pushing, blockbuster AAA next-generation software like Assassin's Creed Black Flag, Assassin's Creed Unity, Sunset Overdrive, and Halo: Master Chief Collection.

In fact, earlier in the week, one top industry media outlet wrote about how Sony's momentum with the Playstation 4 could be coming to a screeching halt due to the lack of compelling exclusive software on that platform. Add to that the recent network issues of Sony's network and launch difficulties of key games like Driveclub and Assassin's Creed Unity, and you have a recipe for potential disaster.

With nearly 10 million Xbox One's sold in compared to 13.5 million Playstation 4's shipped at last count, the tides seem to be turning faster than anyone could have predicted. Last generation, the tag phrase was the first to 10 million wins, so it's only fitting that in this more advanced generation, the pundits may look back and say, "the first to 20 million" is the One who was victorious. Hope this clarifies things for you.

I was watching a documentary about Secretariat the other day. Tell me what you know about Secretariat.

 

[Stilton Disco]

Can you expand on this? I want to disagree you, but I want to read your reasoning first.

Unsustainable because even if they're making enough profit elsewhere to cover it as a company, making a constant loss going forward is going to piss off a lot of the MS shareholders, especially those who are already very vocal about wanting the Xbox division sold off. It gets to a point where the entire division just ends up being a vanity project without a clear end goal beyond selling more than Sony, and that's not exactly a worthwhile exorcise.

I say underhanded and market manipulation because they're simply throwing money at people rather than offering a more desireable product in the first place.

They're selling the hardware they make at a loss and they're giving away free games and free Live subscriptions just in the hopes of selling more than a rival product that up until now has been a far more desirable one to the consumer. And that's not even taking into account the discounted rate they must have offered retailers for the huge volume of stock they're currently flooding the market with, that must be translating to an even greater loss than normal. If they didn't have the rest of MS's big pockets to bail them out it would be financial suicide to conduct business like this, its completely contrary to the way consumerist capitalism is meant to work, and it has no real benefits long term beyond saving face for a month or 2 and maybe, maybe getting enough customers to long term make up the losses in future purchases, but given just how big a loss they must be incurring, and the fact that they seem to be targeting bargain hunters and non-early adopters, I'd be very surprised if that panned out.

Sure, it benefits anyone getting an XO this Christmas because you save a huge amount of money, but in the end MS are just spending an absurd amount of money on the hope of getting some good publicity, and even that's not guaranteed.

Ultimately, they made an inferior, expensive, and ultimately less desirable product. They ruined their public image with blatant anticonsumer behaviour and failed to either right all those wrongs, or adequately express to the public that they'd done so with the policy changes they have made. They've been paying for those mistakes all year with lower than desired sales, and a strong competitor that's performing better. Now they're just buying their way to better sales.

 

[Rymuth]

Unsustainable because even if they're making enough profit elsewhere to cover it as a company, making a constant loss going forward is going to piss off a lot of the MS shareholders, especially those who are already very vocal about wanting the Xbox division sold off. It gets to a point where the entire division just ends up being a vanity project without a clear end goal beyond selling more than Sony, and that's not exactly a worthwhile exorcise.

I say underhanded and market manipulation because they're simply throwing money at people rather than offering a more desireable product in the first place.

They're selling the hardware they make at a loss and they're giving away free games and free Live subscriptions just in the hopes of selling more than a rival product that up until now has been a far more desirable one to the consumer. And that's not even taking into account the discounted rate they must have offered retailers for the huge volume of stock they're currently flooding the market with, that must be translating to an even greater loss than normal. If they didn't have the rest of MS's big pockets to bail them out it would be financial suicide to conduct business like this, its completely contrary to the way consumerist capitalism is meant to work, and it has no real benefits long term beyond saving face for a month or 2 and maybe, maybe getting enough customers to long term make up the losses in future purchases, but given just how big a loss they must be incurring, and the fact that they seem to be targeting bargain hunters and non-early adopters, I'd be very surprised if that panned out.

Sure, it benefits anyone getting an XO this Christmas because you save a huge amount of money, but in the end MS are just spending an absurd amount of money on the hope of getting some good publicity, and even that's not guaranteed.

Ultimately, they made an inferior, expensive, and ultimately less desirable product. They ruined their public image with blatant anticonsumer behaviour and failed to either right all those wrongs, or adequately express to the public that they'd done so with the policy changes they have made. They've been paying for those mistakes all year with lower than desired sales, and a strong competitor that's performing better. Now they're just buying their way to better sales.

 

[NullPointer]

As I shrewdly predicted before the start of this generation, the Xbox One has taken a leadership position in the North American console market right before the most critical holiday shopping season of recent memory. You could say they took the bull by the horn and are riding her like secretariat all the way to the finish line.

More gaming dollars are spent in the November and December months than in the rest of the year combined, so positioning the Xbox One console and game bundles at a family-friendly $349.99 price point before Sony has any chance to scramble together a legitimate response is, simply put, a stroke of marketing genius.

If the early reports are any indication, the Xbox One now not only has the value share with it's lower price point, it is winning back the hearts and minds of gamers with envelope-pushing, blockbuster AAA next-generation software like Assassin's Creed Black Flag, Assassin's Creed Unity, Sunset Overdrive, and Halo: Master Chief Collection.

In fact, earlier in the week, one top industry media outlet wrote about how Sony's momentum with the Playstation 4 could be coming to a screeching halt due to the lack of compelling exclusive software on that platform. Add to that the recent network issues of Sony's network and launch difficulties of key games like Driveclub and Assassin's Creed Unity, and you have a recipe for potential disaster.

With nearly 10 million Xbox One's sold in compared to 13.5 million Playstation 4's shipped at last count, the tides seem to be turning faster than anyone could have predicted. Last generation, the tag phrase was the first to 10 million wins, so it's only fitting that in this more advanced generation, the pundits may look back and say, "the first to 20 million" is the One who was victorious. Hope this clarifies things for you.

 

[thekiddfran]

No one 'deserves' to win a month, they're either creating a desireable product or they're not.

Frankly, given how big a loss they're having to take and how much extra value they're needing to bundle in to even have a shot at outselling the competition, in the month where they have their biggest games of the year releasing alongside tie in marketing for 2 of the years biggest third party titles, and that it's still too close to call, I'd say in balance a better argument can be made for them not deserving to.

They made a product the consumer at large has rejected and they're buying their way into a sales lead at the expense of making a profit, and that's both unsustainable and a way of manipulating the market that is a prime example of how broken and underhanded big business and unregulated capitalism can be.

But again, who ever sells the most is simply whoever offers their goods to the consumer at better value. Who 'deserves' it, is neither here nor there.

Excellent post

 

[EGM1966]

Unsustainable because even if they're making enough profit elsewhere to cover it as a company, making a constant loss going forward is going to piss off a lot of the MS shareholders, especially those who are already very vocal about wanting the Xbox division sold off. It gets to a point where the entire division just ends up being a vanity project without a clear end goal beyond selling more than Sony, and that's not exactly a worthwhile exorcise.

I say underhanded and market manipulation because they're simply throwing money at people rather than offering a more desireable product in the first place.

They're selling the hardware they make at a loss and they're giving away free games and free Live subscriptions just in the hopes of selling more than a rival product that up until now has been a far more desirable one to the consumer. And that's not even taking into account the discounted rate they must have offered retailers for the huge volume of stock they're currently flooding the market with, that must be translating to an even greater loss than normal. If they didn't have the rest of MS's big pockets to bail them out it would be financial suicide to conduct business like this, its completely contrary to the way consumerist capitalism is meant to work, and it has no real benefits long term beyond saving face for a month or 2 and maybe, maybe getting enough customers to long term make up the losses in future purchases, but given just how big a loss they must be incurring, and the fact that they seem to be targeting bargain hunters and non-early adopters, I'd be very surprised if that panned out.

Sure, it benefits anyone getting an XO this Christmas because you save a huge amount of money, but in the end MS are just spending an absurd amount of money on the hope of getting some good publicity, and even that's not guaranteed.

Ultimately, they made an inferior, expensive, and ultimately less desirable product. They ruined their public image with blatant anticonsumer behaviour and failed to either right all those wrongs, or adequately express to the public that they'd done so with the policy changes they have made. They've been paying for those mistakes all year with lower than desired sales, and a strong competitor that's performing better. Now they're just buying their way to better sales.

Even better post. Sadly those that want Xbox to win no matter what or believe "anything goes" for businesses to compete won't care to accept these facts.