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.
