In defense of Microsoft: A response to DMeisterJ

[Final-Fan]

I see starcraft's main argument as a complete failure of logic.

The PS2 had the vast majority of last gen's sales, so most of the millions the 360 will sell beyond the original Xbox are taken from that audience. We agree on that much. (Most of the userbase growth is going to Nintendo, as the dominant/casual console, just like in all gens.)

But what does that have to do with whether the 360 is getting (or going to get) its ass kicked by the PS3? If the 360 steals some of the PS2's audience away from the PS3, but the PS3 still inherits way more than that amount, the PS3 is still beating the 360.

It reminds me of the common urge to "throw good money after bad" when sunk costs are involved. Obviously this is a very different situation but it reminds me of that.

As for the final portion of the OP, I don't think the profitability of MS (or Sony) was in DMeisterJ's mind when he made that thread. The question was whether this was the end of the 360's hardware sales dominance in NA, and therefore a sign of things to come. I doubt that "beginning of the end" was meant to equate to "beginning to die" like so many people presumed. I saw it as merely what one person described as the "point of no return" -- a high water mark from which the 360 will recede and eventually fade away. (...While the PS3 still has a brighter future ahead, of course, in his analysis.)

Maybe not. Maybe DMeisterJ meant the more dramatic interpretation after all. But either way he was talking about the future of 360 HW sales, not SW sales, unless he redacted parts of the OP.