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NPD Sales Results for March 2014 [Up4: FFX/X-2 HD]
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
Rogue_element
Banned
pretty much
Man-is-Obsolete
Member
This, they basically terminated third party relationships before the next consoles were even announced and had a very unacceptable drought for the first 6 months of 2013
The there is even a gap at all in Sony's favor after the beating MS gave them last gen is what surprises people.
this. 360 sold better, in almost every month, than ps3 did in the US. as of now the 360 has a lead of almost 20M over ps3 in the US. it is still selling better than the ps3 in the us. all of this while still about neck and neck world wide. if ps4 is winning in the US now, and the lead seems to be growing every month, while keeping its hold on the rest of the world, like it seems to be doing, its going to be a bad gen for MS.
The Wii U Gamepad killed the Wii U. I think many people would buy a Wii U for 150 - 200 bucks.
Sublyminal
Neo Member
I'm one of those people, but I'm not spending $300 for one.
I'm not so sure that market is as big as you think it is.
Would it have done better though?
Yeah probably.
Man-is-Obsolete
Member
It's revisionist history, but myself and many others argued this a lot when the Wii U was announced. It truncated the power of the system, friendliness to developers, affected the cost, and caused massive confusion which is only compounded more when the player 2 controller is literally a Wii Mote, that may also require a nunchuck, or you might be able to use a classic controller on certain games......confusion
This price would be perfect for the 3D World / MK8 target audience - family/kids and particularly casuals. Nintendo has to decide what their target audience is - casual or core - both is impossible? The Wii U tries to be both and that`s the main reason for the failure. I am fair, X1 is the next failure.
SwiftDeath
Member
Hmm I wouldn't look at that gap and not be intrigued by where the XB1 will end up when all is said and done. I certainly still believe the XB1 will end up with a perfectly healthy install base but I'm thinking maybe 50 - 60 million at best
PS4 is selling 15% more than XB1 in its strongest market, the US, where last gen the 360 outsold the PS3 by 60% [only in the US]
Worldwide it's a different story with the XB1 at most around 4.5M and the PS4 at least at 7M which puts PS4 56% ahead of XB1
So it's not the endtimes for XB1 but it is time to start making moves before things continue to snowball in the leading consoles favor
yep i would have already bought one, and still will if it ever gets down under 200 dollars.
It's that big is the Xbox's prime market. The xbox 360 didn't do well anywhere else except the US and UK. It was soundly beat everywhere else in the world by the PS3. Also the bulk of those sales were in 2013 at launch; demand for the machine has slowed to a trickle since. The gap world wide is much worse, 7m PS4 sold versus 5m Xb1 shipped; with likely 500k - 900k sitting in the retail channel. Since the start of the year MS has only shipped 1.1m more; Sony has shipped and sold more than 2m in that time.
People on either side were alarmed because they thought Titanfall would grab at least a win for one month in the home turf for the machine. If not winning March world wide then at the very least in the US.
They did temp price cuts, bundle, mass market campaigns, and a huge push with TF and still came in behind. Losing that by 60k and having a desolate wasteland for exclusives till quantum break means it doesn't look good. I'm not certain but QB seems to lack enough hype to spur that many sales so then you're looking at Halo 2 anniversary (Q4 2014) or Halo 5 (2015). It doesn't look good.
Man-is-Obsolete
Member
I think it was a terrible move taking Black Tusk off of their new game that they undoubtedly had made a lot of progress on and put them on Gears of War duty. Gears will likely sell and sell well, but I don't think it is that endearing of a franchise. People love the series, but also got 4 games in 8 years and if I am not mistaken 3 tied it up pretty well in a lot of people's eyes. Who knows, reboots work in the movie industry some times so maybe they can strike gold here as well, I think a new franchise would have been more exciting and much needed on MS part. Instead we are left with what is becoming a Halo, Forza, Gears, Fable rinse repeat machine from their first party studios.
Okay, I can see what you guys are saying. Maybe it's my mistake for having different expectations. With all the negative press MS has been receiving since last year + the power gap (even it's not super huge) , I really didn't think that MS would start off as strong as they did last time around. So yes, the fact that Sony is winning currently is a kind of a big deal, but I thought the gap would have been much wider than it is, given some of the impressions on gaf.
SwiftDeath
Member
It would've been very interesting to see where XB1 went if they had kept their original policies. But I had always assumed that the XB1 would sell better than the PS4 in the US after last gen's sales
I do agree they have an identity problem. A lot of their E3 2011 marketing seemed to treat the Wii U as some sort of way to "advance" the Wii crowd into a more upscale HD console experience. They treated it like it was a premium product because of the tablet and resolution (while completely ignoring that both of those already had existed for years). And, as a result, it had premium pricing.
And, as we saw, the value wasn't there for hardcore gaming enthusiasts and the price was too high for families.
But, conversely, I don't think a lot of people are in the market for a second console or a "me-too" Nintendo console either (see: Gamecube, Nintendo). It's primarily the internet forum-goer who seems to be really attracted to the idea of a gamepad-less $200 Nintendo machine.
So, yes, I agree that without the gamepad, a cheaper Wii U might have attracted more people but I'm also not convinced it would have been much better off.
its really the difference between each gap. i mean 360 was ahead by 60%, now they are behind by 15%. thats a 70% swing. which is a wide gap. its also something that didn't look like it was or even is happening for the 360 compared to the ps3. its still selling better each month.
Forgottonone
Member
No it's not.
Don't take it seriously. It's a riff on an old GAF post about Sony and the PS3.
The Omega Man
Member
Throw in the fact that not even a month away from Microsoft's Xbox One reveal, EA comes out and goes,
EA paraphrased said:
Then the Xbox One reveal happens and you're left thinking, "EA you sons of bitches"
EA's response:
Forgottonone
Member
hahaha that was good. I always have "bad" luck when it comes to buying systems. I always end up getting the "lost cause" console since i bought the first xbox, gamecube then the ps3, then a psp go, then a vita, then a Wii u. So i am always hearing that kind of stuff, while having a bunch of fun with games on the system. It's so weird when people say my system is garbage but I enjoy it a lot.
The ps3 showed that anything can be turned around and be made "king" again.
Return of the WiiU/Vita!
SwiftDeath
Member
Hmm but what did the OG Xbox, GCN, PSPGO, Vita, and Wii U show then?
I don't believe the XB1 can't turn it back around somewhat but your post would actually suggest the PS3 turnaround was the outlier and highly unusual
lol People falling for this never gets old.
I totally agree! The next problem is the average consumer these days.
The most consumers buy a new smartphone and tons of mobile games for more than 400 $ every year but they are not willing to buy a 200 $ handheld or console. (my friends are a good example LOL)
Nintendo needs to create something new for the handheld / console market. I have no idea what it must be, but it must be WOAH!. This idea is going to cost a lot of money and be highly risky.
Forgottonone
Member
The ps3 turnaround was amazing. So this early on right now, I'd say anything is possible because it is to me anyway. But after a certain amount of time goes by it's safe to say peoples attentions are elsewhere. I think the xbox brand has lost way too much money to just run away with it's tail between it's legs, or maybe it'll do just that? When/if the xbox brand gets sold to another company. Hopefully someone who can actually make fantastic hardware not just software.
Man-is-Obsolete
Member
It would have been absolutely been in the toilet. The stores were actively making customers aware of the Xbone policies and steering people away. MS can say whatever they want for the reason to do the 180, but I absolutely believe it was because they were seeing the preorder numbers. It was absolute poison.
gundamkyoukai
Member
MS is not Sony they don't have the brand loyalty they have WW .
Some might say they have it in NA and UK but now we are seeing it not that strong something Sony learn last gen when it comes to those markets .
It should tell people something when Sony was a year and half late in Europe and more expensive and still out sold MS and Japan is lost cause for them .
They only question is how much MS going to lose this gen by .
Forgottonone
Member
Microsoft lacks loyalty because their hardware products aside from the box are shit and knock offs of things that are already on the market.
MisterXDTV
Member
The difference between PS3 then and X1 now is that PS3 never felt like a "weak" console, just "different" and expensive.
I am more of a movie collector than a gamer (I know I shouldn't say it here,,,). PS3 had Blu-ray for 600$ when a standalone player was 1000$. Blu-ray made me see my favorites movies in a way I never thought possible.
And while the console itself was very difficult to code for, it was truly great from an hardware stand-point and gave me so many great games with some technical miracles....
PS3 has sold 82M Worlwide, X1 would to be lucky to hit half that mark....
gundamkyoukai
Member
Truth is i think last gen should have showed people\ companies certain parts of the world have no loyalty UK being a perfect eg of this .
ShockingAlberto
Member
I don't think it's necessarily arrogance. I think it's that, to stay in the really costly console industry where you are selling boxes that on day the consumers may just not want at all at a loss, you have to show growth. Nintendo pushed hard on licensing fees to make more money and third parties retreated. Sony wanted to use the PS3 to make blu-ray successful and it came at the literal cost of the box. Microsoft foresaw a future where people weren't interested in just video game consoles, and felt their heels touch the edge of the cliff of unprofitably, so they leaned hard on things that were successful recently for them.
It's never arrogance when it works, because then it's just a winning strategy. Failed strategies to increase the money you're making are when it's seemingly labeled as arrogance.
Forgottonone
Member
terrible terrible ports though, or so i heard since i never got to play multiplats on the xbox360
I think it is worse than anyone is willing to admit for MS. In March, they made a bundle that included Titanfall and many retailers had the bundle for $450.00 or less. ( A mistake at a couple of retailers had the price of the bundle at $400.00) Even with an unofficial price cut making the bundle cheaper than the PS4 if you include the price of the hardware and a game, MS could not beat PS4. I will be the first to admit that I thought that Xbox would significantly outsell the PS4 in March.
I agree that MS has to hold off until the upcoming holiday season to officially cut the price. The problem is that by many accounts the PS4 is cheaper to produce than the Xbox One. I can easily see Sony doing the same thing to MS again, but having a lower price point for the PS4 as soon as MS announces a price drop. Another major issue for MS is that by using DD3 ram the price is not really going to drop much if at all. Sony will most likely see a large drop in the price of DDR5 ram over the life span of the PS4 making it even cheaper to produce.
All of that being said I do not think we will continue to see PS4 outselling the Xbox One at the current pace for more than a few more months. I think that most people who are looking for either system are now able to find them. Sony is nearing the point where supply is meeting demand, so it will now be up to the games to sell the systems. If the resolution difference continues it will really be an uphill climb for MS.
Being an avid gamer I hope that the situation changes for MS and the Xbox One is a success, since competition is ultimately great for consumers.
Just think, if Microsoft owned Naughty Dog there's a good chance that The Last Of Us would have never happened in lieu of Uncharted 2k13.
Everyone praises Phil Spencer for being a software guy but let's be realistic, he's the guy signing the checks and moving the studios around to churn out sequels. We'll see if he walks the walk as the official head of Xbox and if Halo/Gears/Fable factory was all Mattrick's doing.
don't forget some were even throwing in a full year of live as well. that would put the system itself in that bundle below the ps4 in price.
If they ignore third parties even more than they do now, then why even continue making hardware, seriously? Nintendo is so set on making gimmicky hardware that they continue to create barriers for third party developers. At this point their hardware is just creating a barrier for entry for people that want to play their games. Their games would easily sell double to triple the copies if people didn't have to buy hardware just for their games.
Ploid 3.0
Member
I never seen this, after it was done I looked around for a thumbs up button. Oh man.
Yup, this is the only reason I even bought an Xbone. TitanFall, 1 month of Live, plus another 12 months of Live, and at $450. With all that packed in the effective cost of the hardware was around $340. The problem isn't just price.
Are there people even debating the fact that MS did a 180 cause they saw the numbers? Even the people who argue that MS listened are pretty much arguing that MS heard people say they weren't going to buy (they just refuse to admit that MS was pretty much forced rather than MS actually decided people didn't like it so they weren't going to do it). Which is still admitting that MS saw it was unpopular.
And yeah, xbox one would have completely failed if they did that. I honestly was surprised that MS 180'd so fast cause I expected them to wait until it was on sale to see that it wasn't selling before 180ing. I suspect the pre order numbers were atrocious and pretty much screamed that xbox one with those policies was a sure fire failure that MS decided not to wait too long (usually MS is pretty stubbern and insists on trying these things and relying on money and marketing if it doesn't work).
terrible ports at first, once devs got familiar with the hardware things became easier but by then the 360 had a good margin on USA at least to make third party devs incline towards the MS console, but none of the 360 exclusives ever reached the level of quality and graphic fidelity that the ps3 exclusives had, halo 4 came close, really close, and that was the difference, the ps3 might have been a terrible console for ports at first but it had bluray, wireless internet ( 360 implemented this later ) and great first party support, but you look at the xbox one now and it doesn't have anything that differentiates it from the competition, it had titanfall but at the same time it didn't, it came on PC and 360 as well, the truth is clear, is a weaker console, with inferior ports, and more expensive, is selling well, the only problem is that the direct competition is selling extremely well with no signs of slowing down
PanicFreak
Member
What's the difference? People always say, "speak with your wallet" but when the company listens to everyone's wallet, it's a bad thing?
NoPiece
Member
If MS thinks the right move is to lower the price, there should do it now, before E3. They have deep pockets, so they can eat the loss now. There is no reason to allow themselves to fall another couple million units behind just to save face. Only hardcore industry watchers will care about the panic angle. If they fix the price issue now, they can focus on games at E3 and probably would come out looking pretty good.
They should rebrand it the Xbox $350.. d'oh...
If MS had listened, they would have changed the policies before they even announced it, we would never have known if the rumors were true. They had plenty of feedback saying gamers didn't like it, they decided to force it on us anyways (don't try to tell me they didn't. Gamers were bitching about it and rumors were going around strong. A guy got fired for getting gamers all fired up about it and that wasn't the first of the rumors or people complaining, he was reacting to people complaining).
MS was forced because they saw the numbers and saw they were going to fail if they didn't reverse course. That's not listening. Not reversing at that point would have just been incredibly stupid and asking for failure.
Listening would have been hearing people say they didn't like it and deciding not to try to see if people would buy it anyways (MS did the latter, trying to see if people would buy anyways. That's not listening. Reversing when it's obvious you are going to have a failure is not listening either, that's pretty much having your hand forced).
Now, if the rumors are true that Sony was going to have online DRM or no selling of used games, they could be counted as listening (they heard us complain and decided not to do it). But we won't know cause if they were considering that stuff, they listened to us and decided not to.