| shams said: I was about to start a "Crunch time for the 360" thread, but saw this one just in time... ... Its too early to say whether the 360 *is* in trouble - but its definitely crunch time for the console. The main advantage it has over its rival (the PS3) is price. The PS3 is more reliable, has more anticipated titles (although the 360 possibly has more good titles coming), is a BluRay player, links to the PSP, "should" be more powerful (in the long term), will have a wider range of games (including better casual titles). The recent price cuts in Europe have done little - although its definitely still early days. If sales of the PS3 keep pace (or beat) the 360 through a price cut - its a terrible sign for the 360. It may simply come down to who has deeper pockets (and MS definitely does), although if the 360 division goes into the red heavily AGAIN - people won't be as forgiving as before. Its still 3 weeks before GTA hits, and their won't be a lot of movement before it does. But when it does - it will be like a tidal wave. In many ways, everything up to now was positioning both consoles to be attractive to GTA4 purchasers. MS needs a *strong* victory with GTA (sustained higher software & hardware sales) to really drag this generation out. And the legs will be critically important. I think you'll be able to view trends between the 360/PS3 by the weekly ratio of GTA sales on both platforms. ... In short - we stand before a crucial point in this generation. A win (or at least match) by the 360 will drag the generation out, and really make it a successful generation for MS. A heavy loss, or slight loss leading to worsening losses over time - would spell disaster for MS. PS3 sales will accelerate, which in turn could lead to the worst possible outcome for MS - companies will start leading development on the PS3 (even with a lower install base), leading to better PS3 builds - and weakening 360 builds (which in turn accelerates the process). In the meantime 360 keeps selling software really well - but to the same "hardcore/PC" crowd over and over again. By Jan/Feb '09, the 360 could be considered "dead". And who knows what that could lead too... |
@shams
Great post, except for that inconsistency. So are you saying an outright win will drag this generation or even a match will drag this generation?
And the signs are already very bright for that conclusion (although I would hardly call this a drag) if you look at GTA4 pre-orders across the world, especially in NA.
