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Forums - Sales Discussion - Is Microsoft the only one of the big 3 who knows how to run a video game business at this point?

mendozahotness on 28 July 2011

Business in very much sense of the word.

Microsoft chose its investments carefully instead of flinging **** against the wall and hoping it stuck and stuck to its guns on XBL fees.

Yes, it's shocking that the biggest moneysinker is now the only one making buck, but also the biggest seller as well,  Nintendo though to be fair, did get caught out by exchange rates. But the Wii and 3DS messes were their own fault.



You may have trouble paying attention to the story, though, given Crysis 2's constant sensory assault. This is the best-looking console game to date.

...

Crysis 2 on Xbox 360 has taken the crown for best graphics in a console game

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3sexty on 28 July 2011
kowenicki said:
S.T.A.G.E. said:
kowenicki said:
MARCUSDJACKSON said:
well i wouldn't go as far out and say Microsoft are the only one of the big 3 who knows how to run a video game business at this point. that's simply not true even with the profits forecast.

the big 3 are doing things differently, and wht they do differently may not always be the way to profit.

remember this. all 3 companies have made losses this gen and turned a profit. running a business is a balancing act that my not always work.


The difference for Sony and MS is that gaming isnt their core business and to a degree they can suffer losses and prop that up from elsewhere or they can use gaming as a trojan horse for other areas of their business.

Gaming is Nintendo's business.


First off Sony can take more hits than Microsoft in terms of profit and loss because the investors are well aware of Sony's videogame division and support it. They will prop it up and have been for quite a while. Yes, this is Nintendos bread and butter, but Microsoft makes one wrong move the investors bitch. They don't really like the gaming division, but if its profiting they aren't complaining. I saw a video on the creation of the Xbox in marketing and pretty much the key people involved in its existence have been fighting for it to continue (and still are) literally a handful of people. Bill Gates was just a face. I cannot imagine how much those guys had to go through when making the proposition for the kinect to the investors. They have my respect. Well...not Bill...as far as the gaming industry goes.


Thats nonsense tbh

What you are essentially saying is that the most profitable firm by a very long way out of the three (MS corp makes many many times what Ninty and Sony corp make combined) is the most likely to bleat about a loss. 

During 2010/11 Microsoft made 4 times the losses of the original xbox in profit... in just one year... or in just 3 months if you like. 

If MS didnt ditch the adventure into gaming at the end of the original xbox then they will never ditch it while it makes money.  They are guaranteed a few hundred million dollars in LIVE revenue alone now.  A few vocal shareholders, who will be eating their words, dont force a massive corporations path.

 


Ditto



Xbox 360 and Xbox One

Gamertag:  GamertagOz70

Mad55 on 28 July 2011

idk...... no one can be on top forever and if they didn't know how to run a business they wouldnt still be operating honestly.



dsage01 on 28 July 2011
Seece said:
zarx said:
Seece said:
zarx said:

New platforms are expensive to introduce and MS are the only ones currently not introducing one. Also the Xbox brand has been bleeding hundreds of millions for years and cost billions to establish and will need another 15 years of profit to make the money back. 

Being the only one bassed in the USA where they make they majority of thier sales also helps with the weak US dollar which hurts Sony and Nintendo.


Havn't been doing your homework. X360 is practically break even for the division and if profits remain the same, the entire division will break even (yes even that 4.2 Bill Original Xbox diaster) will be cleared within 3 years.


admitadly my info is pretty old...

Wasn't the bill for the OG Xbox ~$6 billion with ~$4 billion in losses the devision first turned an operating profit (as in actually made more than they spent or invested not just more than the costs that year) in 07 with $89 million in operating profit since then they have made more each year but I don't think they have made back the billions they lost. But if you can provide the data showing that they have made a net profit over the life of the Xbox brand I would love to see it.

They lost $4.2B on original Xbox, then 06/07 fiscal years which was 360 debut and RROD fiasco (with $1b included) they lost $3.2B, in 08,09,10 and 11 they've profited every year to the tune of $2.7B, but most notably $1.3B this last year alone. -$4.7B is the overall loss of the division now with $500 mill to go before breaking even since the 360 debuted.


But with all of this we have to remember other products that had an impact in the division like the failure of the Kin and Windows phone ect.

Going forward MS have a solid income from Live, and I image Kinect is a great deal of that profit this last year. So yeah, they should be break even in less than 1 years lol, unless they go for a PS3 style system next gen and lose buckets, but MS are obviously savvy in the industry these days .. I don't think we'll ever see them go down that road again.

Damn Seece this his homework!



yo_john117 on 28 July 2011

Well make no mistake I think MS knows how to do damn fine job in the gaming business now (they had a horribly rocky start but it's going much better for them) but for the most part Nintendo's track record is much better

They all know how to run a good gaming businesses IMO.

As far as profits go I think it goes Nintendo > MS > Sony (the only reason why I put MS in front of Sony is because they have a good strategy going for them)



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blue7x7 on 28 July 2011

I think they are just the only ones who haven't gotten arrogant. Sony obviously did and which is why they are in third place. Nintendo seems to have gotten arrogant as well which is why they are in the spot they are now wii sales keep going down and the 3DS bombing. As long as Microsoft keeps playing it smart and doesn't get too arrogant then they will be okay.



ethomaz on 29 July 2011

Seece said:

oh FGS they've changed it again, NWS was Bravia, LCDTV PS ect, this just means they've shoved even more in together, so the picture is even less clear.

I found that.



Seece on 29 July 2011
kowenicki said:
ethomaz said:

Seece said:

oh FGS they've changed it again, NWS was Bravia, LCDTV PS ect, this just means they've shoved even more in together, so the picture is even less clear.

I found that.

Its pretty unclear now... will be difficult to work out if PS is profitable from now on.    Thats a massive division. 

No point in even mentioning that divisions profits as it'll be impossible to figure out how it's doing. Sony really do want to cover their tracks ...



 

BenVTrigger on 29 July 2011

I think Sony still has a pretty firm grasp on how to run a company. I do however think Nintendo has just completly lost itself as a company and has no idea which direction to go. They are loseing their casual market and have spent so long ignoring core gamers they already lost most of them to MS / Sony and it appears have no idea how to get them back. They are in a bit of an identity crisis.

That being said I think MS obviously knows best how to run a gameing company as is obvious from their huge success this gen which is kinda hilarious when you see all these "Core" gamers trying to trash on MS for not haveing 100 excluisves a year and yet they are FAR more profitable than Sony by a mile.

Edit:  And let me be clear here I think Nintendo did by far the most impressive job this generation by putting up HUGE profits.  My comment about MS being the best currently means going foreward.  I don't forecast the Wii U or 3DS seeing remotley the kind of success their predecessors had and I think MS has a very legit chance at 1st place next generation.



S.T.A.G.E. on 29 July 2011
BenVTrigger said:

I think Sony still has a pretty firm grasp on how to run a company. I do however think Nintendo has just completly lost itself as a company and has no idea which direction to go. They are loseing their casual market and have spent so long ignoring core gamers they already lost most of them to MS / Sony and it appears have no idea how to get them back. They are in a bit of an identity crisis.

That being said I think MS obviously knows best how to run a gameing company as is obvious from their huge success this gen which is kinda hilarious when you see all these "Core" gamers trying to trash on MS for not haveing 100 excluisves a year and yet they are FAR more profitable than Sony by a mile.

Edit:  And let me be clear here I think Nintendo did by far the most impressive job this generation by putting up HUGE profits.  My comment about MS being the best currently means going foreward.  I don't forecast the Wii U or 3DS seeing remotley the kind of success their predecessors had and I think MS has a very legit chance at 1st place next generation.


Nintendo isn't lost. They know theres an tapped amount of core who haven't bought a Nintendo product yet this gen. The part where they fucked themselves was going after the crowd who own PS3/360's with the same titles. They need to set themselves apart or hold their peace for the rest of the gen.