Support NeoGAF

[Afro Republican]

Back in earlyish April, the Pre-orders for the new Xbox One All Digital console came out, about a day or two later, it surprised people across the net with it's rankings at big retailers showing how many people were actually pre-ordering the console, even some threads were made here on that surprise.

However, many people and outlets assumed that this would likely just be a very very short-term success, and that the $250 All Digital Xbox One would drop down and normalize. This was a reasonable assumption to make, as with so many deals on the regular Xbox One S, the fact that all your disc based games wouldn't work, and a pretty hefty price point, people assuming this were not being controversial at all. Journalists and forums were expecting it to drop, with some articles saying that the way it was priced and marketed may not have been the best idea.

Heck, even I made a thread about how the $250 price point was dead on arrival, and was skeptical of the early success, but now its time for all us to eat our plates of Tiger and Crow. (You get to pick so its some consolation )

Nearly 3 weeks later and 4 DAYS BEFORE IT RELEASES to consumers, we have seen changes to charts like Best Buy, Amazon, and Wal-mart, but the Xbox One All Digital Edition is still in THE SAME SPOTS it was in before for all the retailers mentioned before. Meaning that it has cumulatively, been piling on the sales since nothing has yet to pass it.

Best Buy

Awhile ago not long after pre-orders were first opened, the Xbox One all Digital was the #1 best selling console at Best Buy beating all the competition. Keep in mind Best Buy includes ground store buys as well, which is why you will sometimes see store only items on these lists (same with Walmart). It was expected that the Switch would become Number 1 in short time as the Switch was and still is a big seller, and some hit games were available. However, even though there are more Switch Skus that moved up, the Xbox One S all digital has outpaced all Switch bundles and kept the #1. Here is the OLD top 5 list: https://www.neogaf.com/threads/xbox...-the-best-selling-console-at-bestbuy.1477138/

Here is the NEW Top 5 List:

1. Microsoft - Xbox One S 1TB All-Digital Edition Console (Disc-free Gaming)

2. Nintendo - Switch 32GB Console - Neon Red/Neon Blue Joy-Con

3. Nintendo - Switch 32GB Console - Gray Joy-Con

4. Sony - PlayStation 4 1TB Console - Black

5. Sony - PlayStation 4 Pro Console - Jet Black

The Xbox One S All Digital hasn't moved from #1 this entire time. The Switch took over the 2-3 spots bumping the PS4 1TB console down one, with the PRO console taking the 5th position. This along with the next Xbox Sku being #9, shows just how many pre-orders the all digital has.

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart is extremely inconsistent and certain listings don't appear in general search, so you can't really compare to other consoles online, however when you do use general search Wal-mart is usually almost always has the Xbox beating the other two consoles. So while we can't really compare the All digital SKU to Nintendo and PS consoles that may not mean much since it's the number one best selling Xbox SKU anyway.

Before awhile back, the Xbox One S in short time jumped from #21, to 1st place, with the Fallout Xbox One X bundle jumping #5 to second. Given how that bundle started at number 5, meant it had already amassed many sales, but still fell just short of passing the Xbox all digital. People assumed this was a temporary thing do to frontloaded early adopters and the Xbox One S All digital would drop. Now much later and 4 days before release, we see once again, we were all wrong. Another serving we shall eat!

Xbox One all digital has retained its #1 spot despite special low priced deals for other Xbox models you can't see until you add them to the cart. We actually had the Forza Sku move up to second, replacing the Fallout X Sku from before, yet none have exceeded the Xbox all digitals pre-orders, quite amazing. Somehow people are more interested in the $250 All digital than the cheaper regular S models cumulatively. Here is the OLD Wal-Mart List: https://www.neogaf.com/threads/xbox...ad-also-went-from-47-to-14-on-amazon.1477171/

Here is the NEW top 5 Wal-mart List:

1. $250 Microsoft All Digital Console

2. 1 TB $246 Xbox One S Forza Horizon 4 bundle with 14 day gold and 1 month of gamepass

3. 1 TB $381 Fallout76 Xbox One X console, with 1 month gold and 1 month gamepass

4. 1 TB $214.62 Xbox One S Minecraft and DLC bundle with 14 day gold and 1 month of gamepass

5. 1 TB $498.99 Division 2 Xbox One X Console with 1 month of Xbox Live Gold.

Three of the bundles from the old list and are actually CHEAPER NOW, then they were on the old list. Forza jumped from 4th to 2nd place and is $3 cheaper. Fall Out bundle dropped 1 rank and is $9 cheaper. MineCraft bumped up one and is $15 cheaper. The Division 2 is a new bundle in 5th place. The NBA bundle is out of the top 5.

With these cheap prices people were still more interested in pre-ordering the $250 Xbox One all digital. Even with the Forza bundle selling more and more jumping two ranks it still didn't get the cumulative sales to pass the pre-orders of the Xbox all digital.

Also bonus, while Amazon isn't exactly a retailer were Xbox One sells that well in the rankings, it was at #14 among Xbox One consoles on the site back then. It it still in the same place now, so it's been selling the same on a site that most were 100% sure would see it drop to the depths. Interesting.


Bottom line, it seems like this idea of a $250 msrp discless console is doing a lot better than anyone expected. I guess Microsoft studied the average consumer better than we expected and the results show. With these indications of good pre-order numbers and around 4 days till release (comes out on May 7th) we may even get an announcement later that day or by the end of next week revealing the success of this device.

It's pretty amazing stuff, Sure, the Xbox all digital isn't a bad value, free 1 month of gold, 3 free games included, so it's still a decent value.

But when you can get an X with gold and gamepass for a little bit more, or a regular S for $40 less with gamepass and gold, it's really baffling as to why so many people want the $250 discless console.

Well played Microsoft, seems we were all mistaken, carry on.

 

[Insane Metal]

Bottom line is that people are stupid enough to buy a discless console for $250

 

[manfestival]

is there a TLDR version of this or is that the thread title?

 

[Digital Gex]

The average consumer doesn't look around for deals, the only time they will buy things on sale is if the store or stores they often go to have those items on sale. They usually don't deviate from their normal agenda. Some will specifically wait until Black Friday before they pick-up a console.

A lot of people are buying Xbox One's and PS4's at $299 full prices.

The Xbox One S digital is a new shiny machine that is cheaper than the price a lot of people are paying because they are too dumb or in many cases too stubborn to spend 2 minutes looking for a store that has better deals, or shopping online. So it will sell based on that alone.

I didn't expect it to do this well though. You only have 3 games that come with it, and gamers or parents can't buy a bunch of used $15 games. They have to buy all their games from the online store. Actually scratch that, this makes perfect sense.

Now that I think about it, this is likely a console specifically made to push Game Pass, because you will get a cheaper Xbox with three games included, and with one subscription, you now have hundreds of free games.

The thing that puzzles me is why Microsoft only included gold with the Disc-less console, but did not include Gamepass? Looking at the Walmart list in the OP, pretty much every Xbox sold has a trial of gamepass with the Xbox One S digital being the ONLY version of the machine that doesn't have a trial of gamepass. Why???

Very confusing.

 

[sendit]

Bottom line is that people are stupid enough to buy a discless console for $250

As stupid as you may seem to think. It shows the market is willing to abandon physical mediums in favor of convenience.

 

[Afro Republican]

As stupid as you may seem to think. It shows the market is willing to abandon physical mediums in favor of convenience.

How is the Xbox Digital more convenient than the regular S?

 

[deriks]

1 TB $381 Fallout76 Xbox One X console, with 1 month gold and 1 month gamepass

- did you bought an Xbox with Fallout 76?
- no, I bought an Xbox One X and I throwed the game on the garbage

 

[Hendrick's]

How is the Xbox Digital more convenient than the regular S?

You don't have to bother worrying about choice.

 

[Vasto]

Impressive

 

[Phunkydiabetic]

As stupid as you may seem to think. It shows the market is willing to abandon physical mediums in favor of convenience.

Fucks sake, "convenience". That'll never stop being the laziest sounding thing I've heard.

*heavy phlegmy inhale* "well I don't like getting off the couch to switch muh discs, so instead I'll just pay $250 for a system with no disc drive"

 

[ViolentP]

Every nail in the physical media coffin is welcome.

 

[lock2k]

I understand why people are going all digital.

I mean, I have like four discs on my Xbox one because the deals on digital have been to sweet to pass up (at least here in Brazil where games are fucking expensive, Xbox Live promotions are my salvation). I have way more digital games. But I also wouldn't want to get rid of the disc drive because I have more options with it than without it.

 

[ResilientBanana]

Fucks sake, "convenience". That'll never stop being the laziest sounding thing I've heard.

*heavy phlegmy inhale* "well I don't like getting off the couch to switch muh discs, so instead I'll just pay $250 for a system with no disc drive"

Personally, I don’t have a convenient place to store discs. If I did, my kids would most likely ruin them, or my wife would probably put them data side up on top the console if she wanted to put in a movie. So really for the sake of convenience, safety and not wasting my money on scratched discs, it’s better for me to be disc-less.

Physical media sucks in general. I literally have 0 CDs, DVDs, Blu Rays or Games on disc. I’m not really a collector and it fits the bill for how I want to game or do anything really. Just on demand.

I will have to say, $250 is expensive but the price will more than likely be significantly lower during sales.

 

[Mochilador]

That's unexpected since there are cheaper options like the discounted Xbox One S Minecraft and DLC bundle.

 

[Vawn]

They literally took unsold Xbox One S consoles, ripped out the disc drive, slapped a new face plate to cover the disc slot and resold them.

There will always be a subset of gullible people who feel compelled to purchase anything "new".

 

[Afro Republican]

Convenience is a very poor excuse. The regular S does everything the discless one does without a disc drive. You're basically only buying the discless sku because you think that disc tray is scary and you're afraid the Blu Ray laser will come and kill you at night.

Price and free 3 games are the only things it has over the regular S, and that's only at MSRP. If you look for a few seconds you will find cheaper regular S skus at many stores online and off.

So the only advantage of the new discless console is lyou get free free games and don't have to fear the disc drive slaughtering your family when your asleep.

But apparently a lot of people want one so what can you do.

 

[Slings and Arrows]

Is it the best thing for gamers that this discless version is top?

Surely, we would want more options. If you want digital, fine, nobody is forcing you to put a disc in, at least keep the option there.

What about the xbonex as well? Surely, as gamers, we want the most powerful hardware to be succeeding? Right?

The worrying trend is that Microsoft will make a half-arsed, discless console for next gen and fall into the same trap they did this gen.

Is it really any surprise than Sony is waiting for Microsoft to play their hand before Sony reveal theirs?

This is concerning news.

 

[Ivellios]

Every nail in the physical media coffin is welcome.

Why the hate for physical media?

 

[Slings and Arrows]

Convenience is a very poor excuse. The regular S does everything the discless one does without a disc drive. You're basically only buying the discless sku because you think that disc tray is scary and you're afraid the Blu Ray laser will come and kill you at night.

Price and free 3 games are the only things it has over the regular S, and that's only at MSRP. If you look for a few seconds you will find cheaper regular S skus at many stores online and off.

So the only advantage of the new discless console is lyou get free free games and don't have to fear the disc drive slaughtering your family when your asleep.

But apparently a lot of people want one so what can you do.

Over xmas, I saw deals of 5 games a pad and xboneS for £220. Much cheaper than they're selling the new discless version with less games.

Crazy times.

 

[GermanZepp]

Fucks sake, "convenience". That'll never stop being the laziest sounding thing I've heard.

*heavy phlegmy inhale* "well I don't like getting off the couch to switch muh discs, so instead I'll just pay $250 for a system with no disc drive"

I don't think this particular deal of XSAD is good, but convenience is more than getting up to change the game. It means, no games occupying space in the shell, it means day one access at zero hour to the game, it means (in my country) to get waaay better prices, it means i can carry my library to any console in which i sign in even in next gen consoles.

I don't have a Steam account but PC people seems to enjoy digital, right?

 

[DonF]

 

[Afro Republican]

Is it really any surprise than Sony is waiting for Microsoft to play their hand before Sony reveal theirs?

Actually Sony played their hand first. Partially.

My issue with this is that a regular S is literally a discless S with a small square on the left of the console to insert a disc. Yet you can still only but digital and not use it, having an option there for maybe that rare Blu Ray movie.

3 free games is the only selling point of the console for many since they can get the S for a cheaper price. The Best Buy and Wal-mart prices in the OP are the same IN STORE.

 

[Afro Republican]

picture

Walmart not having that aside...

Yeahhhhhh, the grey Switch is also sponsored on Best Buy.

Sponsored consoles don't magically make people want to press pre-order or buy. That's not how it works. There's one SKU for Sony, MS, and Nintendo that's "sponsored", all that means is that it's advertised on the front page for every consoles home page. For example, if you click on Nintendo Best buy home page, this is the sponsored console when you click on that section. It doesn't impact ranking.

Not sure why the mark is removed when looking at the list in the OP, but yes. This doesn't mean anything.

Nice try though.

 

[Afro Republican]

I don't think this particular deal of XSAD is good, but convenience is more than getting up to change the game. It means, no games occupying space in the shell, it means day one access at zero hour to the game, it means (in my country) to get waaay better prices, it means i can carry my library to any console in which i sign in even in next gen consoles.

I don't have a Steam account but PC people seems to enjoy digital, right?

Y-You do realize the regular S can do everything you just said right?

 

[Clear]

Said before, I'll say it again: Uplift will last no more than 3 months.

 

[TLZ]

This just proves how naive or stupid some people are. I bet they think this is the latest thing and don't need disc so buy.

 

[yoyo67]

I don’t think its a bad thing. If next gen they made an all digital version and one with a disc version, I can see many people going for the digital version and vice versa. Having choices isn’t bad.

 

[Afro Republican]

I don’t think its a bad thing. If next gen they made an all digital version and one with a disc version, I can see many people going for the digital version and vice versa. Having choices isn’t bad.

Why can't they just buy the one box and then not buy physical games for it?

Like in this situation, where you can just buy a regular S and only buy digital.

You don't NEED a stripped down console to buy digital games, yet that's the message some posters here are supporting. That somehow it's impossible to still be all digital, with a regular S, so you NEED to buy the discless one.

 

[sendit]

Fucks sake, "convenience". That'll never stop being the laziest sounding thing I've heard.

*heavy phlegmy inhale* "well I don't like getting off the couch to switch muh discs, so instead I'll just pay $250 for a system with no disc drive"

Getting up and changing a disc may seem trivial. However, People in general don't want to do tedious task that can be automated.

Pricing aside. Using the lazy comment and applying it to innovations throughout time. In your world, we would still be using flintstone to start fire.

 

[Stuart360]

How is the Xbox Digital more convenient than the regular S?

People dont have to get off their arse to change disks. As sillly as it sounds, thats always one of the main reasons people use who want a digital future lol.

 

[GermanZepp]

Y-You do realize the regular S can do everything you just said right?

Of course That's why i said

I don't think this particular deal of XSAD is good

. If companies want me to buy a all digital console the price must be right. EDIT: and mainly their shitty user policies changed

 

[Mistershine.]

Fucks sake, "convenience". That'll never stop being the laziest sounding thing I've heard.

*heavy phlegmy inhale* "well I don't like getting off the couch to switch muh discs, so instead I'll just pay $250 for a system with no disc drive"

When next gen rolls around, if there's a choice between a £449 console or a £445 discless console then I'm saving myself 4 quid and buying a big mac on the way home.

 

[Afro Republican]

People dont have to get off their arse to change disks. As sillly as it sounds, thats always one of the main reasons people use who want a digital future lol.

So then buy a regular S and don't buy discs??

 

[sendit]

So then buy a regular S and don't buy discs??

Missing the point completely. This is about a shift in market. Not price....for fucks sake....

 

[Afro Republican]

Missing the point completely. This is about a shift in market. Not price....for fucks sake....

There is no "shift" if you are offering both SKUs for sale and they both have the same ability to not need discs.

 

[CrustyBritches]

Microsoft store and GameStop have X1S Minecraft Edition at $299.99. Wal-mart does offer it at $214, but Sea of Thieves digital is usually $40-50. Add on FH3 digital copy and you can see where $249 doesn't look too bad in relation.

Past 2 years X1S has been $199 during holiday season, this device will be too. Probably with the 3 games and Game Pass or controller bundle. It will sell like hotcakes, which I've heard sell pretty fast.

 

[ViolentP]

Why the hate for physical media?

No hate. Just archaic. Like LP's, they have a place in collections. As a standard, they are simply outdated.

 

[sendit]

Again. Pricing aside. You don't have to have the funding of Microsoft to see that people could careless about physical mediums. The success of streaming platforms or content on demand is very telling on where the market is headed towards.

 

[Afro Republican]

Again. Pricing aside. You don't have to have the funding of Microsoft to see that people could careless about physical mediums. The success of streaming platforms or content on demand is very telling on where the market is headed towards.

Has nothing to do with the fact you can go discless on a regular S. The Discless S is basically just shifting the userbase around outside a few new buyers. Which would have just brought an S and not brought discs.

 

[Stuart360]

Has nothing to do with the fact you can go discless on a regular S. The Discless S is basically just shifting the userbase around outside a few new buyers. Which would have just brought an S and not brought discs.

Well there is also always that section of people who simply 'have' to buy something new, or different as well. Plus did people seriously think it would flop?.

 

[mckmas8808]

Every nail in the physical media coffin is welcome.

You realize the Xbox One S with the disc drive, can play all games digitally right?

 

[Gamernyc78]

Ima wait for the real numbers to come around. We all know how these threads end up lol

 

[DonF]

SNIP

Best buy list doesnt have the xbox discless in the first place! its a sponsored post! Its not even in the top 50!

Xbox One All Digital Console is still the #1 selling console at Best Buy

The title of your post is a straight up LIE

 

[Gamernyc78]

Best buy list doesnt have the xbox discless in the first place! its a sponsored post! Its not even in the top 50!

Xbox One All Digital Console is still the #1 selling console at Best Buy

The title of your post is a straight up LIE

These dudes really be working overtime for Microsoft. I know this is about Bestbuy and sponsored are always on top but

It's not even in the top 100 of Amazon...

Amazon Best Sellers: Best Video Game Consoles & Accessories

Discover the best Video Game Consoles & Accessories in Best Sellers. Find the top 100 most popular items in Amazon Electronics Best Sellers.

www.amazon.com

 

[Afro Republican]

Best buy list doesnt have the xbox discless in the first place! its a sponsored post! Its not even in the top 50!

You are really trying hard to look like a fool right now. Especially with the post I just made showing you the grey Nintendo is also sponsored and broke down what it means in simple terms.

If what you said was true than if I changed the price ranges the sponsored post would still be there at the top idiot. When I cut off the $200-$249 search criteria, it gets removed, durrrrrrrrrrrr.

 

[Afro Republican]

These dudes really be working overtime for Microsoft. I know this is about Bestbuy and sponsored are always on top but

It's not even in the top 100 of Amazon...

Amazon Best Sellers: Best Video Game Consoles & Accessories

Discover the best Video Game Consoles & Accessories in Best Sellers. Find the top 100 most popular items in Amazon Electronics Best Sellers.

www.amazon.com

Man reading comprehension sure isn't your strong suit.

Let me break it down for you because you and the other guy seem to be the only ones having problems here.

1. Xbox One S all digital best selling console at best buy - True

2. Xbox One digital best selling XBOX CONSOLE at Wal-mart- True

3. Xbox digital #14 among XBOX CONSOLES - True.

Come on guys, try harder.

 

[DonF]

You are really trying hard to look like a fool right now. Especially with the post I just made showing you the grey Nintendo is also sponsored and broke down what it means in simple terms.

If what you said was true than if I changed the price ranges the sponsored post would still be there at the top idiot. When I cut off the $200-$249 search criteria, it gets removed, durrrrrrrrrrrr.

Dude, Open YOUR LINK the one you provided HERE

Best Buy
Here is the NEW Top 5 List:

You provide that link as FACT that
Xbox One All Digital Console is still the #1 selling console at Best Buy

And the console is nowhere to be found, its just first cause its a SPONSORED POST.

The god damn console is nowhere to be found in the top 100 of amazon in videogames, yet you think that its FIRST at BEST BUY and FIRST in the XBOX only category in walmart...damn...

Thats some gold medal mental gymnastics right there...

Here...

you've earned it.

 

[Digital Gex]

Best buy list doesnt have the xbox discless in the first place! its a sponsored post! Its not even in the top 50!

Xbox One All Digital Console is still the #1 selling console at Best Buy

The title of your post is a straight up LIE

Didn't he just post a screenshot showing the Switch was also sponsored and it doesn't mean anything for the best selling results?

 

[Gamernyc78]

Man reading comprehension sure isn't your strong suit.

Let me break it down for you because you and the other guy seem to be the only ones having problems here.

1. Xbox One S all digital best selling console at best buy - True

2. Xbox One digital best selling XBOX CONSOLE at Wal-mart- True

3. Xbox digital #14 among XBOX CONSOLES - True.

Come on guys, try harder.

Boiiii we know you on here already. The only one looking like a fool is you

You'll be OK, BTW how's CD3 going?

 

[ph33rknot]

this should be the cheapest model