Apparently the war is in full force and Microsoft’s Don Mattrick is ready to poke the flag in the ground and call it a sure fire victory (in so many words). He said he’s “willing to declare here today that Xbox 360 will sell more consoles worldwide this generation than PS3” (eurogamer)
They’re either not seeing the Wii as a competitor or are trying to avoid that evil word considering the growth of the tiny little console in the market. After telling the audience the Xbox 360 has already outpaced the PlayStation 3 and Wii he failed to mention the one-year head start the 360 had over its competitors.
There are, of course, bonuses to talking figures when you were first out of the gate. The interesting facts, which won’t present themselves for years now, will be the end unit sales figures for Wii, 360 and PlayStation 3 when all boxes are end-of-life’d. We’re sure to hear each side declare victory when they’ve decided when the war actually ends. In Microsoft’s eyes, the console war will probably end when they release the next-generation box, barring the fact that they should wait at least one year before claiming the title.
You can’t argue with the facts, Xbox 360 is doing very well in the United States (if we ignore Japan). The Nintendo Wii has sold 8.8 million units to the Xbox 360‘s 10.3 million units. How many units did the Xbox 360 have sold around the same time Nintendo boasts 8.8 million? Probably a bit less.
Press can be a great thing when you have numbers to play with and figures to skew. Oddly enough, if some of us are any indication, we’ve purchased multiple Xbox 360’s because of dead systems. Sure, we’re stupid for actually doing it, but those figures will work into the total units sold for the Xbox 360 hardware sales. Imagine, their failing systems may have actually boosted sales figures a bit; probably not statistically significant but funny non-the-less.
We can’t wait to see what type of numbers Sony and Nintendo are going to fling out. If we ask each competitor, we’re sure they’ll say we’re going to win the console war. Nintendo may just ask, “what console war? We just make game hardware” and you can’t fault them there!
@QuestionOfTheWeek: I wanted to play Phantasy Star Universe (yes, the single player) on a PC but couldn’t because it required an always-on Internet connection for nProtect anti-cheat software. I lived at home at the time in rural Oregon with a poor connection. My mom still only gets a 28.6 kbps modem Internet connection there. Sad.
Yeah, finally finished with my exams, I am overall satisfied with how I did. Now I just have to wait until July for the results.
The 265 hours in Team Fortress 2 are actually spread out mostly over last summer, and the 96 hours in Super Monday Night Combat are from the day it went live, so in the last 37 days. A huge factor in these numbers is that I listen to podcasts such as yours while playing them, getting double the enjoyment. Maybe that’s why I didn’t feel these exams as very heavy, even though they are a huge stepping stone to the future.
As for where I’m getting all this time from, I have plenty of free time between homework and studying because I am quite content in getting 1st place in the subjects that matter to me the most (Maths, Physics, Computer Studies etc…). So yeah, you could say I’m enjoying my teenage life.
@QOTW: To this day, I haven’t had any problems with DRM (except a small one with Mass Effect 3, damn you Origin), so this doesn’t have any effect on my purchase. I still understand the problems and agree that DRM sucks.
@DICE has Frostbite-powered titles for 2013 that “will require a 64-bit OS”
Thing is, I remember hearing that a 64 bit processor can add two sets of two 32 bit integers using the same amount of registers needed by the 32 bit processor adding one set of two 32 bit integer.
Still, I think that the main call for the 64bit os will be the amount of RAM needed to run the game. Think of textures: although the video RAM is the better place to store them, you can still page them from the system RAM.
@Actors confirm return to recording booth for Mass Effect 3
I’m with Dan, it’ll be like moving from “Here’s a crappy ending” to “Here’s an epic crap ending”.
@The truth is DRM does not work
What’s funny is that game companies that want to publish their games on Steam they must remove any form of DRM; sometimes those said companies will simply use a cracked executable when publishing on Steam 😉
Publishing later on a platform actually kicks down the sales. But I agree, pirates are not going to pay for the game anyway.
@QOTW:
Starcraft II.
When they announced full time internet connection required, they lost me. I don’t care about Assasin’s Creed, but the Starcraft universe was interesting.
I’m not interesting in buying the game anymore. First, I hate that type of DRM. And even if I’d accept it, I still run on a 3G modem, so I would then have to deal with technical difficulties.
So, Blizzard can keep the game for itself.
I don’t have much time this week so I’ll go straight for QOTW:
Diablo 3. Tried the free pass, liked it, but I can’t understand that DRM policy. Torchlight2 ftw!