I agree with the poster that the X360 has so much for it that it should have sold better than 10 mill in 1,5 years. It should at least sell at a rate of 10 mill/year.

I don't believe it has to do with fear of the machine breaking apart, not at all. The PS2's quality problems are well known today but people bought it anyway. Only hard-core gamers and people that hang around on forums such as this are aware of quality problems to the degree that it would make them not buy a console, but not the average consumer to the extent it would make any significant difference in sales.

It's about price and games, and up until recently the PS3. The poster above me, Shambolic, pointed out that lots of people have held out buying a nex-gen until the PS3 came out. Well, many of those probably are making their decisions right now when it's pretty obvious that the PS3 won't have much coming in 2007, and "the feel" is that it's just too pricey.

Perhaps $400 is still a tiny bit too much for a mass product, although the PS2 managed to sell 20 mill at a similar price point in it's first year world wide.

It all comes down to games now that people see the PS3 is a fiasco (so far). And remember, it's been a game drought for the X360 too for some time. Lost planet, Cracknut (or whatever), Ghost Recon and Guitar Hero II on a 2nd format aren't system sellers. But look out for a domino effect once the big titles start pouring out in the 2nd half of 2007 (this summer starting with Forza2 has some very nice titles for a nice starting platform).

People argue that Halo3-buyers are mostly hard-core gamers that have a X360 already. Yeah, perhaps. But they tend to forget that a mega-hit makes a console feel HOT, and so right, and it draws attention to it (like myself, I'll probably get a X360 this fall even if I might skip Halo). And when you have those other block-busters coming in a nice string throughout the fall to the holidays - Mass effect, Bioshock, GTA4, Assassin's Creed, UT3 - that's when the X360 will have it's break through.

(BTW speaking of summer, does anyone know if Two Worlds is an X360-exclusive? Cuz it looks just like Oblivion, and I'm crazy about that game.)

Because they're waiting to buy a PS3 ;)

The console(and more specifically, its software) targets a core audience(older males) as its most popular titles are shooters, sports games, and racing games. This is why I think a price drop wouldn't help the 360 all that much, because it would still appeal only to that same audience.

Since PS3 sales are so low, it would seem as though the 360 should have seen significant increases in sales, but it hasn't. Contrary to what you read online, most people do not have a chip on their shoulder about Sony or the PS3. Many people want one, but just can't afford one or just don't want to pay the money for one or don't see enough games for it yet. Of the six active consoles and handhelds, the 360 has only managed to outsell the PS3. So with the PS2, DS, PSP, and Wii as more popular systems, it looks like people have decided to enjoy those until they justify the purchase of a PS3.

I don't think that's a factor with the general public, as they don't tend to so much reasearch into these things. Only hard core gamers would be aware of the high failure rate.

Now, who is the 360 being marketed to?

Oh, right.

Mass effect, Bioshock, GTA4, Assassin's Creed, UT3

Either they are multiplatform ( UT3, GTAIV and AC) or they involve killing people.
Don`t get me wrong, I thing all of those games are gonna be great, and I´ll pick some when I get my 360, but their exclusives are limited to 2 genres right now ( Shooter, and RPGs). Casual girls and kids aren`t likely to get a 360, and they are a very important part of the market, more than some people think.

Not sure about this, these failure reports have been aired on regular news channels as well. I even read about it in Fortune (I think) it was one of the money mags here at work???

The game library is not diverse enough.  If you love first or third person shooters, then the 360 is your console.  If you prefer them with better control on a PC, or just aren't a fan, then you'll have a hard time justifying $399 or even $299 on a 360 right now.

Price isn't as big of a factor as people claim.  Yes, the prenium is $399, but the core is $299 and many gamers wouldn't know the difference or really care.  Buying a memory card is considered a pretty standard expense for consoles.

The failure rate isn't a big deal among most perspective buyers, except those hard core enough to really know about it.  Expect the high failure rate of the 360 to become a bigger deal and get more public spotlight as it continues to fail and time passes.   From all reports we see, Microsoft doesn't seem to be doing anything to address the failure rate, the failure of service, or even deal with European watch-dog groups airing information on the tele exposing Microsoft's reliability issues.

There may be a price + failure rate combination that will turn off gamers in the future.  At the moment, the 360 is likely considerably more expensive than the PS3 because you will probably need to pay for repairs within a year of owning one.  There is no reason to suspect the PS3 has even close to the failure rate the 360 had at the same point after launch.

dude.. to be honest, I got both 360 and PS3, and I never had the regular XBOX, I had both the PS1 and 2, and before that it was NES.

With that said, I have never really got into FPS games, til date I haven't even seen a Halo game, and my brother had an XBOX mind you, and I could never get into it... it comes down to the games, when I first got it at launch, no BS, I had GRAW and Oblivion for an entire 6-7 months before Gears dropped.

I was forced into trying Vegas because so many people recommended it.. but you will be surprised.. not many people like FPS (at least within my circle of friends) and I think this is the main fault of the 360... to many damn FPS games!

Look at it now.. Shadow Run, Halo, Bioshock.. (demosI have recently downloaded) area 51, Hour of Victory, and so many others... MS needs to take a chance at other genries, this is truly hurting the 360... I have been forced to like FPS games, I dont think that should be the case, after the launch, I got Criminal Origins, whatever that game is... just because there was nothing out.. I hated it.. I got BF Modern Combat, just because... no other games to choose from, Oblivion was cool.. I like that.. GRAW.. cool, but I felt was kind of weak because it was to realistic, no boss battles or such.. ( I like some fantasy in my games).. these are the games I had to put up with after launch.. it was sad..

The PS3 is none better, I played Resistance, an FPS and I liked it.. but wasn't siked.. Motorstorm rocks! Genji... sucks but at the same time.. better then say ninety nine nights..which i got for the 360 and sucked massively..

I said this on this forum before, but I got the PS3 strictly for games like, Heavenly Sword, God of War 3 ( I love god of war) and those type of games, and even though God of war may not sell as much as Halo, or Gears for that matter.. I find those type of games 100 times better, and these type of games have much more appeal, I dont see Halo moving many units 360's this holiday season, something tells me all the Halo fans already got a 360.. so those that buy it, wont be buying a 360 for the first time, but already own one.

From the article CONSOLE PRICE CUTS: THE EVIDENCE the percentage of systems sold at a given price in the last generation was:

And the Average Price people bought these consoles at:

One thing to notice is that previously most sales have happened after the first price cut when a console is under $200; and many (if not most) of these people who made these purchases are willing to wait until a console becomes affordable to purchase it.

I could be wrong but I suspect that a console priced at $300 or higher will never be considered by more than about 25% of gamers; it doesn't matter how good the games are, few people are willing to spend much more than $300 for a gaming console.

What we know about the XBox 360 is that (in a very real way) it is a $400/$500 gaming system which prevents it from being a marketable product to the majority of gamers. A $100 price drop would give them an opportunity to sell more units; a $200+ price drop would put them into a range where most gamers buy their videogame systems.

The numbers above are complete rubbish. Consider that the original xbox was only sold at $300 for 6 months before the price dropped.

To create an even more extreme but similarly flawed example, let's look at the percentage of premium Xbox 360s sold at $399. Since Microsoft hasn't officially dropped the price yet, the numbers will be skewed. Just as they would be if Microsoft dropped the price very early in the console's life as they did with the original xbox.