Guess we see exactly how many xbox 360s were available at launch: Just over 300k. Which, I must say, is pretty sad.
I liked this part:
“Consensus of analysts?” There were other possibilities? Alien mind control making people not see XBoxen that were clearly there? Integral 360 cloaking device working too effectively?
Anyone have any hard figures for how many systems went out to Europe on the 2nd? We know Japan got 150k.
Which, I must say, is pretty sad.
Sad? No sir its fucking pathetic.
I guess it was a slight understatement when they said yields were a ‘little’ lower than expected.
Maybe if it and the games for it weren’t so dang expensive…
This was the original thread from the numbers before they were restated.
http://www.quartertothree.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=23252
For chet’s sake, the “I called it” in that thread was in reference to 300,000 systems.
–Dave
I think the 18% dropoff in sales from the year before is a lot more interesting than the Xbox 360 numbers. Yes, the 360 sold in small numbers, they only had a small number available. Duh.
Why did sales drop off 18%, though? How much did Halo 2 and GTA: San Andreas boost sales last November? Are video games doomed/domed?
Basically, all systems encounter a drop off when the “next generation” begins. That’s typical of a console transition.
–Dave
There’s also the ever growing WoW market depression.
WoW has an impact on the PC side for sure, but I’m not convinced it really has any bearing on console gamers. I just don’t see those people being all that aware of PC gaming in general.
–Dave
/me looks at his pile of unplayed console games.
/me looks at his pile of console games, which oddly stopped being purchased around November of last year
GTA: San Andreas, Halo 2, Half-Life 2 all huge sellers that are absent this year.
San Andreas was the second highest grossing game of all time. Is the first Zelda: Ocarina of Time?
Nintendo Entertainment System dominates best seller’s list if that is to be believed. Were games so much cheaper then?
What’s interesting in the new numbers released is that the top selling 360 games are not MS first party games.
I believe most new NES games retailed for $50-55. So no.
I don’t think you’re quite the accurate representative, Charles, since you’re a game developer and are thus already going to be exposed to different platforms by virtue of your work. But I’m just pulling that out of thin air. I’d be really interested to see a study of WoW players and how many of them also play/played consoles.
I operate on the assumption that I am not a unique and precious flower. That being said, I know a lot of people who play WoW and who have pretty much ignored everything else since, and not all of them are developers.
Could just be the people I associate with, I admit, but I’d put forth that a lot of the people who play MMOs are at least on a level with gaming that means they aren’t ignorant of what’s available, and most likely probably play console games as well.
Perhaps I’ll start a poll!
edit: While creating a poll, I realized it doesn’t actually matter whether it’s console games or not, any lack of buying due to WoW will add to the depression.
An essentially unified platform. NES owned until the Genesis came out.
The “game of the year” voting thread on the GAF bears that out. There are, what? Three PC games in the top fifty? And only one in the top thirty (Battefield 2, at #16). Most of the folks there live in a console-only world.