Why is MS dead, I dont get it

[rocketpig]

LongLiveTheBeatles said:

Gamer1211 said:

Hi Everyone, I am from Gamespot and new here.

For the life of me I can’t seem to understand why gamers convey the Xbox 360 is being “dead”. It just proves how little most gamers understand about the business behind gaming. Console sales define absolutely nothing when it comes to making money; it simply provides leverage for a console manufacturer.

To illustrate take the following example.

Widget A sells 100,000 units for $.50 and costs $1 to produce.

Widget B sells 10,000 units for $.50 and costs $.10 to produce.

Who makes more money here? Widget A: 50,000 - 100,000 = -50,000Widget B: 5000-1000=+4000 Microsoft learned its lesson through the Xbox selling a console for less then what it costs to manufacturer is a poor business model. Instead has decided to make money on every box that is sold. http://www.oxmpodcast.com/ (please listen to the latest podcast with Michael Patcher).

Last gen and this gen Sony is simply trying to sell a format to attain licensing revenue through its product. The big difference is that Blu-Ray is nowhere near the position that DVD was in when PS2 launched. 85% of the Blu Ray players out are PS3’s.http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10145&Itemid=2 To quote the above link, “In 2008 about 85 percent of the Blu-ray players in the market will be found in PS3s; the dedicated consumer electronics and PC-based types of Blu-ray players won’t catch up in terms of market share until about 2013," So 6 years and Blu Ray will catch up to consumers? In 6 years time will Blu Ray even be needed? Now I am not taking a page out of Microsoft’s book here but I am pretty certain that in 6 years there won’t be a need for a disc. Hopefully this point will stop rabid fanboy’s from posting Blu-Ray will destroy the 360. Probably not, time will tell but to me there are already digital boxes out there that let you order HD movies...seems pretty obvious doesn’t it?

Secondly the 360 already has the “core gaming” market so don’t you think developers would target that market? http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10041&Itemid=2

If you look at the budget to make a game: http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/29/cost-of-next-gen-game-production-is-a-burden-on-developers/

Look at the larger install base: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Console_wars

Look at which platform is cheaper to develop for: http://www.film.vic.gov.au/resources/documents/KurtBuschppt.pdf

Look at which console has the higher attach rate: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/747/747181p1.html http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2008/01/28/360-attach-rate-now-7-games-per-console/

Do you not think that developers would select 360 as their top choice for exclusive games? I am sorry but to me it’s pretty black and white. I suspect someone will come on here saying something like Microsoft is evil and such. The bottom line is regardless of sales, at the end of the day the 360 will always be one step ahead of the PS3.

For those of you who still aren’t convinced, the 360 also has the reactive benefit of dropping its price against its competition. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Xbox-360-Cheaper-by-the-Year-8886.shtml. So I will leave it at that and try reply to anything that I see as factual. If you take it for what it is, it’s not easy to dispute. I have both consoles but facts don’t lie, going forward it’s obvious to me which platform has the edge here and is clearly not dead.

First of all I'd like to say welcome to the forum, but I respectfully disagree with your post. I know that at gamespot there are a lot more rabid fanboys on both sides of the fence but here most people will argue using some sort of logic.

Anyway, the fact that Microsoft makes more money directly from their gaming division is true, however, Sony's strategy as a hardware developer is a bit more ingenious.

I'm sure you know that Sony makes HD televisions, cameras, computers, and other products right? Well the PS3 is more or less a tool they used with blu-ray to:

1. Win the HD format war

2. Sell TV's which are products of much greater value

3. Act as a media Hub with everything else made by Sony

Whatever they initially lost was made up 10 fold through peripheral sales. Not only that but the price has been reduced. I also own both systems and prefer the PS3 because of reliability and the interface. For the moment the Xbox gets most of my playtime because of games like Halo but later this year things will change.

I think Blu ray will successfully take the DVD's place only because major movie studios won't want what happened to the music industry to happen to the movies, and other electronic companies won't allow Microsoft to regain a monopoly over world of consumer electronics. After all they are the main backers of digital distribution. Their stance is rather hypocritical though because once the format war ended they all of the sudden don't believe that discs are the future of the industry while they lose billions backing the HD-DVD.

As for how important the profits of a corporation are to a consumer... it really means nothing to us. What does matter is who sells more consoles to determine who will get more third party games. So far, both systems have gotten a ton so everyone should be happy. (If you really are concerned about profit the RRoD costed Microsoft about 1.2 billion. Sorry, I don't mean to beat a dead horse but I had to.)

Excuse me for a moment but what fucking planet are you from? MS is the main backer of digital distribution?

Ever heard of a town in California named Cupertino? Within its city limits, a company named after fruit has sold more movies and songs digitally than any other company in the world...

BTW, your post is full of fanboy fail. MS never committed to any format. They were simply trying to screw with Sony in an attempt to get digital distribution, the only way they make money from movies, to the masses. They didn't give a rat's ass about HD-DVD and that was brutally apparent when they dropped the format like a dead dog the second it appeared to be faltering.