http://gamer.blorge.com/2008/05/12/microsoft%E2%80%99s-xbox-360-sinking-quickly-in-face-of-opposition-from-ps3-and-wii/
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 sinking quickly in face of opposition from PS3 and Wii
By Mike Ferro
Even though Microsoft just came off a great year in 2007 with the release of exclusive blockbuster titles such as Halo 3, Bioshock and Forza 2 they are now in a much weaker position more than ever this year. The future is starting to look a bit bleak for this console in face of stiff competition from the Wii and PS3.
The Xbox 360 started out with a bang getting the jump on the PS3 and Wii by releasing a whole year ahead of both competitors in their latest console offering in hopes of quickly garnering a huge fanbase within a year’s time. You would expect with almost twice as much time on the market the Xbox 360 would have easily accumulated and retained twice the sales of its competitors, yet over two years later the Xbox 360 with it’s estimated 18 million units sold haven’t sold twice as much as the Wii which sold an estimated 25 million, or the PS3 which sold an estimated 12 million world wide.
Console Sales:
So, does it look like Microsoft squandered their one year lead? It sure looks that way, with the Wii already surpassing it and the PS3 quickly catching up. The Wii is a phenomenon and an unstoppable force that is still extremely high in demand. The PS3 is a different story and a bit more complex. It isn’t a heavy hitter like the Wii, but the PS3’s worldwide sales have been out pacing Xbox 360’s worldwide on an average monthly basis when compared to same points in their lifetime.
The PS3 has outsold the Xbox 360 during its first years lifetime sales amongst stiff competition, and has currently outsold Xbox 360 console sales for the first part of this year in North America as well. In Europe Sony recently announced they have outsold the Xbox 360 total lifetime within a much shorter amount of time due to the PS3 launching much later in Europe, which in itself is amazing. Also in Japan the Xbox 360 is not selling well at all, which is really not all that surprising. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out if PS3 sales progress exactly the way they have been since launch, statistically at one point PS3 sales will over take Xbox 360 sales.
Games:
Exclusives are quickly going the way of the dinosaur with more and more third party developers choosing to develop multiplatform rather than concentrate on a single platform. Who can blame them? With GTA IV and Call of Duty 4 selling millions on both consoles it’s really a no brainier. According to Gamepro even Bioshock 2 development team 2K Marin’s job posting has started a rumor its blockbuster title might go multiplatform with their job posting emphasizing under needed qualifications as:
“PlayStation 3 experience is required.”
In the future the Metal Gear franchise may go multiplatform as well as Gears of War franchise as perdicted by Michael Pachter. It has been publicially know that EPIC did sign a two game deal with Microsoft before 2005, but now realizing how much of a blockbuster title Gears of War is will they seal their fate by signing a contract to tie up Gears 3 with Microsoft? Or will they choose money, and decide to go multiplatform?
So, if all the third party developers eventually all develop multiplatform what exclusive games will really lure new consumers to a particular console? The answer of course are the first party titles. Nintendo’s first party studios are a power house with titles like Wii Sports selling around 22 million units and Wii Play around 12 million units. Sony Computer Entertainment however houses over 20 internal studios including famed studios such as Team ICO, Zipper Interactive, Naughty Dog, and of course Polyphony Digital who just celebrated their historic milestone of selling a whopping total of 50 million units from the Gran Turismo franchise.
List of some of the SCE owned studios:
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
- Clap Hanz – Hot Shots Golf series
- Polyphony Digital - Gran Turismo series, Motor Toon Grand Prix series, Omega Boost
- SCE Japan Studio - Project Siren Team, etc, Ape Escape series, LocoRoco
- Team ICO – ICO, Shadow of the Colossus
SCEI Subsidiary Divisions Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.
- Incognito Entertainment – Twisted Metal series, Warhawk
- Naughty Dog – Jak series, Uncharted Drake’s Fortune
- SCE Bend Studio (formerly Eidetic) – Syphon Filter series
- SCE Foster City Studio – Jet Li: Rise to Honor
- SCE San Diego Studio – The Mark of Kri, NBA ‘07, MLB The Show 08
- SCE Santa Monica Studio – God of War, Kinetica
- Sony Online Entertainment LLC. – EverQuest
- Sucker Punch Productions - Sly Cooper series, Infamous
- Zipper Interactive – SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs series
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd.
- Bigbig Studios – Pursuit Force
- Evolution Studios – MotorStorm
- Guerrilla Games – Killzone series
- SCE London Studio (includes Team SOHO & Camden) – The Getaway series, SingStar series
- SCE Studio Cambridge (formerly Millennium Interactive) – MediEvil series, Primal
- SCE Studio Liverpool (formerly Psygnosis) – Wipeout series, F1 series
Sony Computer Entertainment Korea Inc.
SCE Korea – EyeToy: EduKids, GloRace: Phantastic Carnival
In contrast Microsoft Game Studios only houses a few console based internal studios. Actually currently there are only 3 active full-fledge game studios: Lionhead, Rare, and of course Turn 10. Out of those three, Turn 10 would probably be the most successful studio at Microsoft Game Studios. Their Forza series has always been top notch, selling million’s of units. However one can clearly see Microsoft’s lack of heavy hitting studios will be a huge problem for Microsoft Game Studio’s future.
It seems Microsoft Game Studios became a bit too ambitious for their own good. With an attempt to beat Sony to the punch, not only have they faced hardware issues they have circumvented garnering first party studios by handing out checks to third party developers for exclusives. However in the ever changing world of the game industry this is quickly turning out to be the wrong way to go about it with sky rocketing development costs multiplatform is becoming a must.
If Microsoft does not change its business strategy of just relying on third party titles, the Xbox 360 will find itself in a similar situation the original Xbox was in. The future of any console’s success will be their first party offerings and who can offer the most number of diverse titles and blockbuster hits, will have the edge to wining the console war. However, with Microsoft loosing four studios in the past few years analyst have questioned if Microsoft Game Studios was built on quick sand.
Time to Work !
