This is by far the coolest things about using an Xbox, no trying to find the right memory card, no worries about what will fit where. It is the killer sports console because of this. I have franchises going for NHL2k3, NHL Hitz 2003, and Madden 2003 (2 of them). Oh and saving replays, sure why not, as many as you want.
– Xaroc
That is the biggest crock of shit. Seriously.
No it’s not. Most Cube games appear to load instantly.
This is by far the coolest things about using an Xbox, no trying to find the right memory card, no worries about what will fit where.
I generally can’t stand sports games, but the saving games to the Xbox Hard Drive has been a godsend for any title on the system. A few friends of mine who don’t play much thought this was the best feature on any console.
3DO saved games internally, but you could run out of space fast. This does not appear to be a problem with the Xbox.
And, I can’t stress this enough, the ability to rip songs to the hard drive. No swapping out CD’s, no pauses between tracks as the CD changer moves, it’s just great.
Well, the GI list (which I believe is also NPD) is from September and shows the same sort of thing. 2 or 3 GC games, higher than the 1 XBox game in the top 20. PS2 dominates such charts for exactly the reason that Wumpus mentioned above. However, the fact that the GC (and even the XBox) can still make the list means that these games are selling VERY well percentage wise for their respective consoles.
Of course, the only reason sales should matter to ANYONE, except the companies themselves, is because we want our consoles to survive. Personally, I want all three to survive. I do’nt have an XBox because there are only a couple of games I want for it, so it isn’t worth it to me. However, I keep hoping there will be more. So I am glad MS keeps it going. The Dreamcast apparently didn’t sell well enough, but it had some incredible games before it went away. As a gamer, that’s what I really care about.
The Gamecube save cards are pretty damn slow, and no, save cards are NOT as fast as a hard drive - especially on the PS/PS2. Memory cards are a simple, slow serial device with a tiny data path. The Xbox has by far and away the fastest saves/loads - if it isn’t obvious now, wait until the release of the Xbox PSO Ep 1&2. Character loading is significantly speedier on the Xbox.
Throwing fuel on the wumpus fire…posted at Evil Avatar, here’s the sales units for the top 10 in November…
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - PS2 1,452,729
Metroid Prime - GC 363,389
WWE: Shut Your Mouth - PS2 348,515
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 - PS2 321,941
Yu-Gi-Oh! Eternal - GBA 269,498
Madden NFL 2003 - PS2 240,796
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell - Xbox 223,879
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - PS2 203,802
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance - PS2 202,592
Metroid Fusion - GBA 199,723
erm why bother posting that list? Its already at the top if you just look at the top 10 on that top 20 list =)
-Contrai
oh hehe I guess you posted that for the actual sales numbers =)
-Contrai
So, for kicks, let’s hit it with the installed-user-base divisor.
Everything but Vice City immediately drops off the charts, ratio-wise.
I think K-Mart’s having a blue light special on common sense and dignity, perhaps you should look into it, Jeff.
“installed-user-base divisor.”
This is a nonsense stat. It’s meaningless to the people who make games and the people who play them.
Christopher, what’s your point? This means nothing in the overall picture of console sales. Let’s see final numbers at the end of the year and hten we’ll talk. Besides, MS is in for the long haul and the Xbox has helped it’s stock prices.
Here’s CNN/Money’s story on Xbox sales (and hoping nobody posted this already since it is dated yesterday): http://money.cnn.com/2002/12/17/technology/xbox_sales/index.htm
Dave, if you have no axe to grind and you aren’t a Nintendo fanboy then why do you always try to put a Nintendo positive spin on everything? Especially when it comes to anything Xbox. Methinks you are a bit of a hypocrite.
Interesting article. Sony’s really pulling away. Even when Xbox sales spiked due to the attractive bundling, Sony still was outselling the Xbox by a wide margin. The gap between first and second place is widening, not shrinking.
I was really surprised to see that the online adaptor for the PS2 has outsold Xbox Live by about 3 to 1. You’d think that would be one area where the Xbox would outsell the PS2. Not so, apparently.
Too bad Nintendo didn’t report sales. I’d like to see where they rank.
I know everyone says Microsoft is in this for the long haul, but what are they going to do to make the Xbox 2 the leading system? It’s hard to imagine anyone unseating Sony with the lead they have. Maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe both Microsoft and Nintendo can make good money being a distant second.
Dave, if you have no axe to grind and you aren’t a Nintendo fanboy then why do you always try to put a Nintendo positive spin on everything? Especially when it comes to anyhing Xbox. Methinks you are a bit of a hypocrite.
Maybe you missed the post by GregB that backed me up? If it’s the truth, and the original poster is giving incorrect information, then why shouldn’t it be posted?
–Dave
Too bad Nintendo didn’t report sales. I’d like to see where they rank.
From The Magic Box yesterday…
- NPD/TRSTS has released the sales figures of console systems in North America for the month of November, PS2 is still taking the lead in the home console market.
PlayStation 2 - 1.3 million units
GameBoy Advance - 1.3 million units
Xbox - 468,000 units
GameCube - 468,000 units
Nintendo sold the same amount of units as Microsoft in November and of course you’ve seen that Metroid Prime outsold Splinter Cell by 100,000 units from within this thread.
This interesting tidbit seemed to slip under everyone’s radar today…
Sony, Matsushita Agree to Develop Linux-Based Operating System
http://biz.yahoo.com/djus/021218/0358000145_2.html
That most certainly will have implications for PS3.
–Dave
I don’t mean this to make a statement about Gamecube vs. Xbox quality or sales, but I should point out a flawi in relying on top-20 data to judge console sales or game sales.
Let’s say the Console A has only 4 hit games. They’re selling great and the rest of the stuff is selling like trash. Console B is selling more software, but it’s spread among a dozen top titles. It’s quite possible, even likely, that console A will look far better on top-20 list while Console B doesn’t rank. But that’s not for lack of quality or sales, it’s because the hits are evenly spread.
I’m not saying that’s necessarily the case here, because without actual sales numbers for the whole software lineup it’s hard to say. Looking at the top 100 would prove far more useful, though.
I will say this much: a chart like that has to be very discouraging to 3rd party Gamecube developers. If the three top GC games are all first-party (and who knows what #4 or 5 are?), that doesn’t leave a lot in the customer’s wallets for 3rd party games.
Also, at the risk of sounding like I’m defending Xbox, it’s worth noting that software tie ratios for Nov and Dec are likely to be down as every new Xbox buyers gets two free games with it. Other systems have optional bundles, which some people buy and some don’t.
Again, this is not to pick sides. I just have this nagging thing about statistics and what they might represent. Hopefully some real sales data, international even, will be available in January.
I didn’t look too closely, but I think that was what wumpus was arguing from another thread, where he had some median sales charts for games.