I think Xbox one will win Nov but the gap wouldn't be anywhere as big as last year. Sony has 2 of the biggest games this holiday bundled with their system with hopefully a price cut.
I think the confusion from me came from not realizing just how low cost remasters are. So something selling less than 50,000 in NPD initially (not world wide), might still be worth it in the end.
Because Windows 10 = moving console hardware...right-oMeh, who cares about NPD? They aren't even close to showing the full story. Who cares if Sony sold 20000 or so consoles more? July saw the launch of Windows 10, bringing with it 14 million people into the Xbox ecosystem within 24 hours. That's enough to eliminate the sales gap IN ONE DAY.
I don't see how Sony can recover from this. I mean at one point they had the Vaio, but Kaz shortsightedly got out of the PC business to afford buying timed DLC for CoD.
I guess I should let all the ponies enjoy this one NPD battle, but Microsoft is winning the war.
BB Xbox One/TV deal of the millennium vs. $200 PS4 PM Challenge & Arkham Creed of Destiny bundle.
August NPD is going to be bonkers.
If Sony don't have AC bundle, Ubisoft might get surprised of AC sales in US.
Is the latter bundle available in other stores? Amazon only serves a small proportion of console buyers in comparison to others.
Best Buy is currently offering either Destiny or Farcry 4 with a PS4 purchase.
PS4 Batman bundle IIRC. Not as good as Amazon's deal, but still pretty damn good. Just makes August even harder to predict, really.Just to clarify, is that a PS4 Batman bundle or standalone PS4? Sounds like a lousy deal if it's standalone.
Like Sangetsu said, retailers will probably have their own MGSV bundles next month, so there's not much point in doing it. The limited edition Destiny bundle, on the other hand, will do better in the US IMO.Majority are expecting PS4 to win September and you have to wonder how much better they would do if they were releasing the MGSV bundle in NA? MGSV and Destiny are two different genres and I don't see where they would be competing with each other. Sony messed up in my opinion. They should have had both bundles. Personally, if it was me, I would have made sure that the MGSV bundle was releasing in NA with the new revised and themed console, 1 TB hard drive and I'll go the extra mile and throw in a physical copy of Ground Zeroes as well for $400. That would sell as much if not more than the Batman Arkham Knight bundle especially since it's $50 cheaper.
Either way, the next five months is going to be interesting to say the least.
Because Windows 10 = moving console hardware...right-o
Halo 5 bundle is $500. The is a big premium to pay regardless of the IP.
Yep, and it is also significantly ahead of the XB1 MCC bundle. Judging from the hourly charts, I'd expect the gap to grow even wider, which makes it even harder to predict August!
Yep, and it is also significantly ahead of the XB1 MCC bundle. Judging from the hourly charts, I'd expect the gap to grow even wider, which makes it even harder to predict August!
Sure, better than being off by a larger amount for one of the consoles, I guess.I'm just gotta make it a tie between the two, that's a safe prediction right?
Fairly average month.
Now is when it gets interesting.
I really think XB1 will take August. PS4 has been selling in the neighborhood of 10% more than XB1 each month for a few months now. With the Best Buy TV deal (12K first day from reports) and the Madden 16 bundle giving Madden fans a way to get the game 1 week early (if they didn't already own an XB1 and EA Access), seems like it could be enough to overcome a 10-20% usual month difference, especially considering any buyers holding out for the MGS PS4 bundle bringing PS4 down a little. Doesn't amount to much in the end, but does show that they're not doing too disparate on a month-to-month basis this year, if those little perturbations can shift the sales order for the month.
The one thing, depending on how big it actually was, which could offset this is imo the Best Buy XB1+TV promo thing, and Abdiel seemed to indicate it didn't reverse trends entirely in his district, but again I could be wrong.
The one thing, depending on how big it actually was, which could offset this is imo the Best Buy XB1+TV promo thing, and Abdiel seemed to indicate it didn't reverse trends entirely in his district, but again I could be wrong.
The only way Sony could win is by selling PS4 cheaper than Xbox One this holiday. Which isn't happening.
I may be wrong but I doubt XB1 will win August.
1) It hasn't "been in the neighborhood of 10% for the past few months".
Taking the XB1 number as base, the % difference has been:
18%, 23%, 9%, loss by 7%, 45%, 28%, 26%
2) A Madden bundle didn't do that much (with a then recent price drop) in August 2014, I don''t expect it to do much of anything this time around either (with no new price drop to boot).
3) Remasters aren't generally hardware sellers. Otoh the PS4 has a bunch of brand new titles that are exclusive (some temp like Rapture or Galak Z, some full on like SAO or more high profile Until Dawn).
4) MGS V, a very high profile title highly historically tied to PS is releasing September 1st
The one thing, depending on how big it actually was, which could offset this is imo the Best Buy XB1+TV promo thing, and Abdiel seemed to indicate it didn't reverse trends entirely in his district, but again I could be wrong.
If they cut that damn price at least this annoying discussion would end and we could concentrate on a fresh topic.People have been saying how Sony needs a price cut, how they should cut the price, how a price cut will save them from losing, how a price cut will keep their momentum, how a price cut with do this and that.
Every month we get discussions about price cuts.
Almost 24 months in and the price never moved an inch.
Yet Sony is still leading worldwide at 2:1, and winning each month in the U.S.
They must all be laughing while reading the monthly NPD threads talking about PS4 price cuts. Every single month.
Maybe Abdiel's district is more inclined for PS4 than national average. Even in november of last year he said that sales was close, but Xbox One had a 400k win in NPD.
John knows his shit, but as he says himself, he chooses his words carefully. Given that he said this in response to someone calling out this post
He even explained that he purposely threw out a red herring just because he didn't want people bashing the Bone. So it sounds like he was pushing the same narrative there as here; "size doesn't matter."
The people who leaked the CoD deal told us Activision took it to Sony because they were outselling MS 2:1. Now, for some reason, John and Queso have decided to team up to bury that assertion in Fear, Uncertainty, & Doubt by helpfully explaining to everyone that myriad factors are actually at play here, and cash trumps all. Now, they're correct about the myriad factors, but apparently those factors resulted in Activision going to Sony. And they're right about money too; if MS had offered Activision $95 trillion, they probably would've been able to keep the rights. Could've been a bit more or less, but whatever the amount required, clearly MS didn't pay it. Therefore, one could argue that MS volunteered to give up the marketing rights for CoD and every other major third party game out there and instead rely on their huge stable of well-seasoned first-party teams.
But that would be a pretty terrible argument.
I actually think there's a fair chance of Xbox One topping August depending on how many of those TV bundle deals there were overall.
Rare Replay or Gears remaster aren't going to be a significant factor on hardware sales by themselves it's probably safe to say.
I actually think there's a fair chance of Xbox One topping August depending on how many of those TV bundle deals there were overall.
Rare Replay or Gears remaster aren't going to be a significant factor on hardware sales by themselves it's probably safe to say.
Wow, glad I saw this post. Good to know which posters to stop taking seriously when it comes to sales threads.
Thanks for the heads up, surfer.
i'd trust John Harker & Cosmic Queso for what its worth.Wow, glad I saw this post. Good to know which posters to stop taking seriously when it comes to sales threads.
Thanks for the heads up, surfer.
Thanks for your insight again, Abdiel. This is really interesting and what's even more interesting is that it seems in line with Amazon's hourly charts. The XB1 SKU's has been in the #60's for a few days now while the PS4 remained in the top 20. Now I'm starting to think the PS4 might win August.I check many as many districts as I can before I post sweeping impressions; however, what I've tried to clarify for things like the TV deal, is that these are Best Buy specific things, and we're only 10% of the larger market.
And that week of the TV deal, the XB1 sales exploded, it was pretty crazy. But now they've... not quite faceplanted, but they've dropped hugely. I've had customers choosing not to buy rather than get it for the 'normal' price.
1) It hasn't "been in the neighborhood of 10% for the past few months".
Taking the XB1 number as base, the % difference has been:
18%, 23%, 9%, loss by 7%, 45%, 28%, 26%
2) A Madden bundle didn't do that much (with a then recent price drop) in August 2014, I don''t expect it to do much of anything this time around either (with no new price drop to boot).
More like 20% (as the 9% seems to be the outlier, same for the 45%). If we're going to use numbers to generalize, might as well be in the ballpark."in the neighborhood" is exactly what it's been for the last few months. It means close to, not necessarily exactly the value, but not too far away. When coming from "45%, 28%, 26%," "18%, 23%, 9%" qualifies as "in the neighborhood." Want it to say "in the neighborhood of 15%"? Sure. Knock yourself out. Just plug that in instead.
Agreed that either way I don't think either will score big against the other in August, but if we are talking about the 1tb Madden bundle, you also forget that they priced it at $399, which might explain why it doesn't appear to do that hot right now.Getting the bundle gives you Madden 16 a week early. If it was just a bundle, sure, no biggie. The early access to Madden is why it may make a difference. The XB1+TV deal would be expected to be a much bigger driver, though.
Who "wins" August is pretty much inconsequential, though. The point is that XB1 and PS4 have not been that far apart the last few months, so another slight reversal (like April) is not going to amount to much in the overall picture.
Now, for some reason, John and Queso have decided to team up to bury that assertion in Fear, Uncertainty, & Doubt by helpfully explaining to everyone that myriad factors are actually at play here, and cash trumps all.
Hmmm. Can someone explain to me what is being asserted here in plain English?
Thanks for your insight again, Abdiel. This is really interesting and what's even more interesting is that it seems in line with Amazon's hourly charts. The XB1 SKU's has been in the #60's for a few days now while the PS4 remained in the top 20. Now I'm starting to think the PS4 might win August.
Just to be sure: August NPD counts for 5 weeks, right? Ending after September, 6th?
That's only for one retailer, though, and then Xbox sales went back down right after. I think we need to see how it does the week of Gear's release before making a call, but it stills looks like a (very close) PS4 win.I will be shocked if PS4 takes August. The samsung tv deal should secure XB the win.
Yep, I think last year AC "bombed" but XBO bundle numbers saved their asses.