From GameIndustry.biz (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/xbox-live-arcade-buyers-up-58):

Xbox Live Arcade revenues up 67 per cent

there going to dominate!

Anyone saying there are loosing money again ??

His guy called microsoft said that microsoft was still losing money on their entertainment division. http://www.microsoft.com/msft/earnings/FY08/earn_rel_q4_08.mspx#Channel And yes whilst the division includes more than just  the Xbox related businesses, looking at the other included products, most would be profitable in their own right, particularly with Windows Mobile products booming in recent months. So whilst its great that Xbox live sales have increased, can you really say its enough to counter the big price cuts? And note Microsoft only mention revenue increases, no mention of profit, although that just might be due to the difficulty in calculating profit over a small time window. And lastly how much profit would they make on live titles. $US2 per title, maybe $US3? So even if they sell 10 million titles a month, thats chump change profit in a division with a revenue of billions.

 

Please don't get the impression I'm flaming the Xbox, I'm happy that  live sales are bubbling along nicely, and the extra profit (assumingly) is certainly handy for microsoft, but lets be realistic here.  No increase in Xbox live game sales will suddenly generate any significant amount of revenue/profit for the company, so using this to say otherwise is a little silly. And any profit increase made by increased  xbox live sales will be dwarfed by the reduced profit (or increased loss, we don't know) due to the price cut.
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SONY should learn from MS how to make a great online service and how to make money. Great job MS!!!

spidey_77 said: SONY should learn from MS how to make a great online service and how to make money. Great job MS!!!

 

 Yes they should!

You take the increase in online sales as proof that their entire xbox division is a profitable affair? (edit: lol at your sig text in this case :))



Hmm, and most xbox fans here have stated that Sony's online service is not exactly lacking nowadays either and that the free-status is indeed a good point.
So "good job sony" for that then?

That's good, I've always said that Microsoft need more money.

czecherychestnut said: Anyone saying there are loosing money again ?? His guy called microsoft said that microsoft was still losing money on their entertainment division. http://www.microsoft.com/msft/earnings/FY08/earn_rel_q4_08.mspx#Channel And yes whilst the division includes more than just  the Xbox related businesses, looking at the other included products, most would be profitable in their own right, particularly with Windows Mobile products booming in recent months. So whilst its great that Xbox live sales have increased, can you really say its enough to counter the big price cuts? And note Microsoft only mention revenue increases, no mention of profit, although that just might be due to the difficulty in calculating profit over a small time window. And lastly how much profit would they make on live titles. $US2 per title, maybe $US3? So even if they sell 10 million titles a month, thats chump change profit in a division with a revenue of billions.   Please don't get the impression I'm flaming the Xbox, I'm happy that  live sales are bubbling along nicely, and the extra profit (assumingly) is certainly handy for microsoft, but lets be realistic here.  No increase in Xbox live game sales will suddenly generate any significant amount of revenue/profit for the company, so using this to say otherwise is a little silly. And any profit increase made by increased  xbox live sales will be dwarfed by the reduced profit (or increased loss, we don't know) due to the price cut. .

There is no evidence to say that the price cut puts M$ in the red with their skus. All 3 Skus are privvy to the new hardware overhaul, which significantly cuts costs of production. I would say they are either even or in the black. This price cut was planned, not forced. The 360 is nearly 3 years old and is in line with price cuts of the PS2. You cant tell me that Sony needed to price cut the PS2 3 years in. It was a planned decision of which they would only do for profit.

toastboy44562 said: spidey_77 said: SONY should learn from MS how to make a great online service and how to make money. Great job MS!!!    Yes they should!

hahahhaha.....no

MS needs to learn how to make reliable video game consoles that don't fail the very core of their fan base. Everyone knows the most hardcore supporters/gamers will buy a console on launch. MS stiffed all of us.

 

selnor said: czecherychestnut said: Anyone saying there are loosing money again ??   There is no evidence to say that the price cut puts M$ in the red with their skus. All 3 Skus are privvy to the new hardware overhaul, which significantly cuts costs of production. I would say they are either even or in the black. This price cut was planned, not forced. The 360 is nearly 3 years old and is in line with price cuts of the PS2. You cant tell me that Sony needed to price cut the PS2 3 years in. It was a planned decision of which they would only do for profit.

The other way of saying it is that there is no evidence to say that hardware changes have reduced cost enough to counter the decrease in unit price.The only evidence we have is from their last earnings report in July, so its pure speculation on both our parts. But consider that unless the changes in hardware have resulted in a greater reduction in the cost per console than the reduction in unit price, then profit per console will decrease, and it'll be up to increased sales to overcome that reduction. And for that we need to wait and see the longer term impact of the price cut, but with this weeks sales being around 25% higher than what Xbox was selling before the price cuts, it'll be interesting to see at what level they plateau. I'd hazard a guess that MS were probably hoping for better than that, but Christmas will be the decider as to whether the planned move pays off.