Fire sale? When does it start. I know MS is discounting the 20GB 360 by $50, but when does the fire sale start. Whats it like $200 off the Elite or something?

Madden will move hardware. The quality of the title was not the issue last year, and will not be the issue this year. The issue last year, and this year is the price of the console. The 360 is just more affordable for this core casual title. The title is going to move a couple hundred thousand additional units over the coming months.

Infinite Undiscovery had me wary. However after seeing the combat in effect it definitely looks to be a more enjoyable game for western audiences. More freedom no pseudo three dimensional backdrop. Plus the characters are just more mature in presentation. The cinematic effects look wonderful, and if Microsoft plays that up, and the characters free roaming the environments this title will probably move twenty or thirty thousand additional consoles over a couple months.

Tales of Vesperia is not going to move any consoles. Unless Microsoft plays it as softening the consoles perception. All I can say is that if Microsoft knows whats good for them they will just show off the cinemas. Hide the combat, and hide the character models. They will not impress the North American market. All I can say for the demo was that it annoyed me to no end. The characters, the shallow character interactions, and a combat system that was all kinds of frustrating.

Too Human is going to move consoles whether you believe it deserves to or not. The title will get mixed reviews, but it will still average out to perhaps a eighty. That however will not matter the gripe many have with the game is the controls, and you just do not see that on a commercial. The Cinemas matched with a chaotic one on forty battle will only cause gamers eyes to glisten. This title is going to more a hundred thousand consoles over a couple months time.

All told I think these titles will move between three hundred thousand and four hundred thousand consoles. Keep in mind I am thinking 360 sales will be on par with last year. The loss of Halo 3 is negated by the year to year increase in sales.

Tales of Vesperia was a factor in my 360 purchase, so I guess it "sold" me a console (Banjo Kazooie was a much much larger factor though, as was the multiplat oblivion game)

In its biggest market (north america) 360 went from selling an average of 40-45k to an average of around 60k, around a 20-30% increase last year around Halo release time 360 sales doubled, so what exactly makes you think the 360 this September/October will sell on par with last September/October ?

Im a huge Tales fan, and I'm sorry to say that while I'm still gonna get Vesperia, I have a feeling its gonna get bad, bad reviews. Mianly because its unneccesary difficulty and shallow feling characters, at least compared to Tales of the Abyss.

If you saw the Tales of Vesperia section on this site you'd know how big a fan of it I am.

Its gonna bomb, and I'm gonna be pissed to no end because of it.

That is a pretty awesome lineup for August.

The only one that jumps out at me personally is Mercs 2 (which I will get on PC) but there should be just about something for everyone this month in that lineup.

August may be a good month for 360 owners, but it's hardly do or die, especially in light of their E3, where they are already shifting towards emphasizing games like Lips and that movie game over stuff like Vesperia. This is not to say the games you highlighted will be ignored, but even if they all somehow fail Microsoft is already in motion to try and negate the impact. December's sales will be more indicative of Microsoft's long-term prospects than August.

August will be a interesting month..

Wonder how Madden commercialis will look like this year, last year's commercial showed only the 360. Will this Madden release be any better? showcasing both consoles this time around?

I think August will be like every month before it this year... 360 coming in last.

While the 360 is the RPG console this gen, it's not what sells 360's. FPS's is what sells 360's, and the game that will move most of them, is Gears 2 in november.

I don't think August means much. Honestly, I don't think anything does any more. There is enough of each console in the market to warrant games for all. This generation will not see a dominant winner. They all will win.

Sadly, the more each console does well, the more hate there is on this site. It's becoming a war zone for fanboys. I hate it.