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http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=16855

January 7, 2008

Microsoft Claims Revenue Lead In Internal Memo
Noted Mercury News reporter Dean Takahashi has reprinted a recent e-mail memo sent by Microsoft games chief Don Mattrick to his team. Reprinted in full on Takahashi’s “Tech Talk” blog, the e-mail details in advance the announcements made yesterday by Bill Gates and Robbie Bach at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

Using U.S. NPD Group data through November, Mattrick points out that consumers in North America have spent over $3.5 billion on Xbox 360 hardware, software and accessories - $1 billion more than spent on the cheaper Wii and $2 billion more than on the generally more expensive PlayStation 3.

Mattrick suggests that when December data is added the yearly revenue total for the Xbox 360 will exceed any other gaming platform ever, including the PlayStation 2. No mention though was made of profits generated from these revenues or how they might compare to current or previous formats.

The e-mail further suggests that the eventual winner of each console generation has been the console that generated the most third party revenue, with recent NPD Group data showing that the Xbox 360 has generated more than Nintendo and Sony combined.

“Looking ahead, I believe we will close 2008 with Xbox 360 being the leader of this generation of consoles, says Mattrick in the e-mail. “We’ve led our industry in developing and publishing great games on a platform that is equal parts hardware, software and services. We’ve led in driving growth for our partners at record rates. Now, it is our mission to fully deliver on our promise for Xbox 360 to be the console of choice for everyone in the family.”

Hints are also given about the 2008 line-up for the Xbox 360 – which has been kept more secret than in previous years. Apparently confirmed for this calendar year are Halo Wars, Too Human, Fable 2, Alan Wake and Splinter Cell: Conviction. Mention is also made of a new Resident Evil title, despite Resident Evil 5 not widely being expected until 2009.

Finally, Matrick also refers to “several exciting yet-to-be-announced titles” and “many of 2007’s biggest hits coming back in 2008 with additional downloadable content through Xbox Live”. With no major game announcements at CES, no hint is given as to when details of these new titles and downloads will be made public.

kasz216 has an excellent point that needs to be said again. Sony holds one advantage that nintendo doesnt have. HD. nintendo has many advantages that sony doesnt have. The ability to drop the price of its console to $99. this is an important advantage. a loyal fanbase that continues to buy its console which sony at the moment doesnt have. games. sony is lacking in this dept and has since release of the ps3. All three regions have accepted the wii despite its lack of HD while the ps3 is struggling in japan, average in the US and the majority of europe hasnt taken it on yet either. the other main advantage for nintendo is money. what was their profit last year. 1.2 billion. sony was a loss of $800 million. sure sony brand made it all up and made a profit but will they want it to continue.

@Bruceongames.

Your last article on revenue is in the US only where the 360 would be expected to dominate revenue due to its huge software sales.

Rath said: @Bruceongames. Your last article on revenue is in the US only where the 360 would be expected to dominate revenue due to its huge software sales.

Not to mention the 360 has a hardware lead in the US that was much larger at the start of the year. Also comparing revenue seems like a flawed comparison when your comparing vs a supply constrained product.

You need to do more then just find an article, you need to read it, digest it, clear out the PR spins, and figure out how it really effects the market.

Here you ignore many factors because you want the article to support what you see as fact. I also assume for some reason that you are using the 360's revenue as a reason for why PS3 revenue in the US would also be higher in the future which seems like some flawed reasoning.

 Also it's revenue.  Despite this increase in revenue there has been a decrease in profitability... which is just unhealthy buisness.

Do we have Bingo yet?

http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/codemasters-ceo-doubts-wii-sustainability-envisions-wii-2/19021/?biz=

In a lengthy interview to be published with the GameDaily BIZ newsletter Wednesday morning, Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens provided some interesting commentary on the current console war and Nintendo's incredible success with the Wii and DS to date.

Cousens, like other third-party publishers, lamented the fact that Nintendo always dominates software sales on its own platforms. "The global event that's been marked as a surprise for most people is the huge success that Nintendo's achieved in every territory... The challenge that third-party software publishers face in supporting that market is that it's clearly a market dominated by the first party and always has been," he said. "If you look back at the Nintendo track record over the last 20-25 years, it's a typical situation where Nintendo will take 60-70 percent of the market and third parties will compete for the remaining 40 percent. One of the challenges is: will that result in a sudden flood of software by third parties onto a platform that's currently seen as the Holy Grail, and as a consequence there's a lot of wastage?"

Later in the interview he added, "If you go back to the Nintendo model when it first started you had a five-product license and so one of the ways in which software publishers dealt with that was to go and buy a competitor so you could increase your output to 10. It was a way of managing product outflow both from a first- and third-party perspective, but it was always done on the basis that even if you bought up another five-product license you still knew the available share to you was something on the order of 40 percent and that the product flow, which was cartridge-based at the time, seemed to be managed in a way so that's how it folded out. Well, I'm not so sure that the current wave is any different, because I hear there's manufacturing shortages, and too much software... and these are all consistent characteristics."

Cousens then touched on the ideas that the 60-year-old "Brain Training" market may dry up and Nintendo may need to launch a "Wii 2" sooner than we think.

"I think this cycle has got a long way to go and it's certainly not over. Anyone writing off Sony and Microsoft do so at their peril. I could give you an argument that says there's going to be a 'Wii 2' pretty quickly because [Nintendo would need one] in order to sustain momentum over a 10-year period. And what type of software would it have then? Because right now it isn't driven by technological supremacy or power. I wonder if the idea of opening up a whole new audience to 60-year-olds looking to make sure their brain cells don't die off is a sustainable form of entertainment. Maybe they got it right because we are all an aging population in Western markets, but I somehow think as a form of entertainment that won't be the case," he concluded.

The complete interview talks about Codemasters' best year in its 22-year history and how the U.K.-based publisher is continuing to evolve as it targets the U.S. market with a greater focus.

Cousens is upset because he knows he can't compete with Nintendo on the Wii, his company's games are garbage by comparison, so he fears a Nintendo dominated market

Codemasters' Heatseeker is doing OK here in Sweden, probably due to bundles/dirt low price.

Avinash_Tyagi said: Cousens is upset because he knows he can't compete with Nintendo on the Wii, his company's games are garbage by comparison, so he fears a Nintendo dominated market

He also has 25 years industry experience. That is 25 years of working 40+ hour weeks, knowing all the key people and making a lot of important decisions. His nail clippings contain more game industry knowledge than several people on this forum put together. As has been demonstrated in this thread. Yet you think you know better. I bet you do brian surgery and design halon colliders in your spare time. There is a massive difference between fanboys and industry professionals but you don't have the education to realise it.

25 years experience of steam engines can be a hinderance when the combustion engine takes over the market, if you don't have an open mind and react in time.

And drop the attitude, it's really annoying.