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!
It’s official, EA has 
To clarify a part of Jonah’s post, my last episode as a regular co-host of the show is to be the next one.
So, we’ll do follow-ups for some of the older news items. Cool!
@Jay Wilson steps down from Diablo III stewardship
Eh, I guess that’s what happens when you focus a bit too much on making money instead of making a game. Jonah, I’m 100% with you.
I wouldn’t put the blame on the lead game designer though: if you’re not the top dog in the hierarchy, your freedom is limited.
Hmm, Brevik ? Maybe.
@The Secret World sees ‘400% increase in activity’
Buy2Play is a bit weird, since you still have server maintenance to pay for. Dunno. I can see it for an MMO that would use a p2p network system to alleviate server loads, but for a classic client-server architecture? Dunno. To me it sounds like putting a limit to the lifespan of the game.
Time, prove me wrong.
@Mojang: Minecraft XBLA outsold Minecraft PC in 2012
And here’s the XBLA gold rush 🙂
Like the iPhone gold rush before. And the other XBLA gold rush before the iPhone rush.
Joking aside, I can see people interpreting this as a sign to where to publish. Truth is, a good game sells. Regardless of the platform.
@Sony settles lawsuit with Kevin Butler actor Jerry Lambert
This is screwed up. It’s his freaking face. It’s not like Sony owns it. But what the heck, what do I know.
@Pachter: Nintendo is “a few years late” in everything they do
I think the guy has a point. In terms of performance, he’s right. In terms of peripherals, they were left behind by Kinect. As for a games library, again, he’s right.
Paul, I guess you’d like to make a zombie out of him? 🙂
@QOTW
STALKER, but! The former GSC team is working on Survarium, and the STALKER brand did get a new roof, but with a different studio.
So sure, I do want something STALKER like, it’s just I’m not sure it’ll be STALKER2 (not announced) or the Survarium game.
Dan, good news about your employment! You will be missed.
@Diablo 3 beheaded (I wish)
Meh
@Secret World
Double Meh
@Sony and Kevin Buttler
Tripple Meh. Boredom COMBO.
@Minecraft XBLA
The answer is simple. PC version is far to easy to pirate. It’s less than a megabyte and you can store it on a floppy disk. Furthermore, as funny as it sounds Minecraft multiplayer is very processor heavy. The XBLA version is a lot more stable (and even then someone gets dropped once in a while). It may be pricy and lack the mods but there is nothing like it on the Xbox.
@Nintendo is a step behind
If you may recall, I was talking about this for the past year. Nintendo’s problem is that it is fueled by tradition. The Wise Old Men who run the company call all the shots. They make what they THINK the consumer wants. And you can’t define the world by Satoru Iwata’s personal tastes. The reason why Xbox is doing so well is that Microsoft is running a business. Tablets are successful? Que SmartGlass. 3D sucks? Drop it. Kinect is popular? Make Kinect 2.
On another note, I can’t wait till you discuss the newly revealed Wii U titles. I am brewing up a shitstorm in my cauldron as we speak.
@QOTW
Man. Way to many. It’s sad to a see a franchise die just because people spend all their money on COD and FIFA. The obvious answer is Shenmue 3. The story was finished for the last 15 years. They just don’t have the funds to put it into a digital form. How sad…
A proper sequel to the Duke Nukem franchise is another. The game made a profit. They should make a new game. This time for real.
Hello long time listener, love the show especially Paul.
@QOTW : I’m going to cheat and pick two if it’s fine with ya gents, always wanted sequels to these.
1). The Brave fencer Musashi: This was my favorite kirby game growing up.
2). Misadventures of Tron Bon:Its like having your own army made of small huggable Lego people.