Console Wars V

[Asher]

So the Xbox 360 is the dominant platform in both Europe and North America now (this is of course excluding the Wii for reasons we all know):

http://kotaku.com/5111975/360-has-outsold-ps3-in-western-europe

There's been a constant tit-for-tat between Microsoft and Sony all year long over just who has sold more consoles in Europe. Problem being, Europe being what it is, you can never really tell.

There are multiple companies tracking sales across multiple countries with multiple conditions attached to their data, so getting cold, hard, continent-wide sales numbers is usually little more than a pipe dream.

Still...here's some data that's better than nothing. According to the combined figures of ChartTrack and GfK, the Xbox 360 has outsold the PlayStation 3 by around one million consoles in the five largest markets in Western Europe.

That's Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

A million is pretty close all things considered, but when you consider only one thing - that Europe used to be Sony's heartland - the news isn't as hot as it sounds.

[Asher]

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/17/ea-uses-xbox-360-graphics-to-sell-wii-game-gets-caught/

EA uses Xbox 360 graphics to sell Wii game, gets caught

16 Comments by Alexander Sliwinski Dec 17th 2008 8:20AM
Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360

The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has told EA to stop broadcasting a misleading ad for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09. In the commercial, Woods is swinging a Wii controller, but a complaint to the agency accused the ad of using footage from the Xbox 360 version of the game. Which it did, as confirmed by EA. The publisher's excuse for switching the footage: the Wii images wouldn't be of "broadcast quality."

EA's ad agency stated that, in the future, it would make sure that the images and format being promoted match.

[DrSpike]

Naughty EA.

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Asher
So the Xbox 360 is the dominant platform in both Europe and North America now (this is of course excluding the Wii for reasons we all know):

http://kotaku.com/5111975/360-has-outsold-ps3-in-western-europe

You should start saying leading Adult console... It would be more effective AND more insulting

[El_Cid]

Originally posted by Asher

That is truly the dumbest gaming story of the year. People take their game consoles and while their discs are spinning inside at insane RPMs, they re-orient the console and move it around then get upset when it scratches?

How about a little common sense. The same **** would happen to your PC if you flipped it around while it was reading from a disc.

Well according to the article the 360 is the ONLY console that this can happen to. And their own tech department wanted to fix it. It's just a simple case of bad management making the wrong decision. Add in the whole ring-of-death thing and you can see it could have been done better.

And the fact that the Wii is the dominant console all over the world makes your spin on the 360 very sad. It is NOT the dominant console. period. It is doing better than the PS3 mind you - so second place is not bad really.

[DrSpike]

I have to say I think it's pretty retarded to extensively move a console or a PC when they are on and there are disks being played. So I'm not really upset at the lack of such a feature.

[Asher]

Originally posted by El_Cid
Well according to the article the 360 is the ONLY console that this can happen to.

You're new to console gaming so I'm going to forgive you for not knowing about the similar lawsuits and uproar over PS2 disc scratching.

And their own tech department wanted to fix it. It's just a simple case of bad management making the wrong decision.

It's the right decision. Profitability is a major part of business (did you know?), and the people who move their console while a disc is spinning at high RPMs -- which is explicitly mentioned as something NOT TO DO in the instructions and should fall in the realm of common sense -- deserve whatever happens to their discs.

And the fact that the Wii is the dominant console all over the world makes your spin on the 360 very sad. It is NOT the dominant console. period. It is doing better than the PS3 mind you - so second place is not bad really.

Not sure what this has to do with disc scratching, but my Wii doesn't scratch any discs by virtue of it never having any ****ing discs in it, nor running.

You can tell me the Wii is the dominant console if you wish, and it certainly is in terms of hardware sales. In terms of quality games and actual gaming community, it is a distant second (or third) to the Xbox 360.

This may be hard for you to understand as someone who can never afford more than one console and will never own a 360 due to its high price, but there is a lot more to it than being the #1 "game console" sold.

Did you look at the Wii's Q1 game lineup? It's easily the most pathetic piece of gaming news I've seen in years.

http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2008/12/17/nintendo-unveils-q1-2009-line-up-surprises-lacking

Nintendo unveils Q1 2009 line-up, surprises lacking

By Andrew Webster | Published: December 17, 2008 - 01:02PM CT

While the release list for both the Wii and the DS was a little barren this holiday season, the same can not be said for the coming months. Nintendo has just revealed the entire list of games for both platforms that will appear in the first quarter of 2009, and the list tops out at over one hundred games. Unfortunately, high-quality core games appear to be few and far between.

The most disappointing aspect of the list is the lack of Nintendo-published titles. The Wii will see remakes of GameCube titles Pikmin and Mario Power Tennis in March, while the rest of the list is made up entirely of third-party games, which isn't the Wii's strong suit. The most compelling Wii lineup is certainly Sega's, which includes MadWorld, The House of the Dead: Overkill, and Sonic and the Black Knight. Other notable third-party titles include Major Minor's Majestic March from the creator of PaRappa the Rapper, and Tenchu: Shadow Assassins.

On the DS, Nintendo is publishing a total of three titles: Pokemon Platinum, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, and Personal Trainer: Math. In terms of third-party support, the DS will see some big names with both Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time. The dual-screen handheld will also see several classic games make their way over, including Suda 51's Flower, Sun, Rain and the RPG remake The Legacy of Ys: Books I & II, as well as the faux-retro title Retro Game Challenge.

While Nintendo seems to be almost totally ignoring the Wii, it's a good thing that at least a few third-party devs have stepped up to the plate with promising games. One notable absence, however, is FPS The Conduit, which was expected to be released in March. Meanwhile, the DS is getting the same mix of niche RPGs, classic remakes, causal games, and of course Pokemon that has made it such a successful system. Seems like business as usual here.

Every year I've got literally a stack of games next to my Xbox 360 to play, and every year I can count on one hand the number of times I've turned on my Wii. If that's your definition of gaming domination, you're ****ed.

[Kuciwalker]

It's the right decision. Profitability is a major part of business (did you know?), and the people who move their console while a disc is spinning at high RPMs -- which is explicitly mentioned as something NOT TO DO in the instructions and should fall in the realm of common sense -- deserve whatever happens to their discs.

Wait, this is the disc scratching thing people are upset about that? I accidentally did that this summer and my only thought was "wow, I'm a moron", not "hey I should get mad at MS!"

[Alinestra Covelia]

It's rather interesting to see that Sega, of all people, appear to be the ones keeping Nintendo afloat.

[El_Cid]

Originally posted by Asher

You're new to console gaming so I'm going to forgive you for not knowing about the similar lawsuits and uproar over PS2 disc scratching.

I did talk about this in one of the threads 'we' took part in a while back. I know the PS2 had issues with it's laser at some point(was it the first(oldest) version? And i agree picking up your 360 and swinging it around your head while playing is not a good idea. Still for a 'smallish' bit of hardware(compared to a tower PC for example), it would have been prudent to think people might move it around a bit while it was on.
The costs of putting a safe guard for this in would, had they been done at the correct time(early on) have been tiny and saved customers possible trouble - which is a good thing.

No with that and the ring of death thing my impression is that the 360 was under alot of pressure and ended up coming out half-baked. That doesn't fill me with confidence in the product, and having seen how hot they can run these are some of the reasons i wouldn't want one. But the software is the main reason. Not enough of the kind of games i like to play on console, and most play too short imho.

But thanks for cutting me some slack - I've only had consoles since the master system days

[Asher]

Originally posted by El_Cid


I did talk about this in one of the threads 'we' took part in a while back. I know the PS2 had issues with it's laser at some point(was it the first(oldest) version? And i agree picking up your 360 and swinging it around your head while playing is not a good idea. Still for a 'smallish' bit of hardware(compared to a tower PC for example), it would have been prudent to think people might move it around a bit while it was on.

It is not "smallish", it is quite heavy and quite large (way larger than your PStwo). It is not prudent to think people would move around a large, hot game console with a disc spinning at noticeably high RPMs (it's quite loud).

In fact, only a complete moron would think it's prudent to move the console while it is spinning a disc and playing a game, and this isn't even including the fact the manual specifically instructs that the console not move while it is on.

The costs of putting a safe guard for this in would, had they been done at the correct time(early on) have been tiny and saved customers possible trouble - which is a good thing.

In what way is $12.5M and climbing "tiny", especially for such an obscure usecase that clearly defies common sense and the manual's usage instruction?

Why didn't MS spend another $1.00 per console to wrap padding around all of the edges incase said moron decided to drop the console while moving it also? Such a tiny cost!

The other consoles don't have this safeguard either. They just spin at lower RPMs so if it was moved, it's probably not as big a deal (though ALL of them warn not to move while the disc is spinning). The design of the PS3 and Wii's slot drives is actually more conducive to scratching and "proper usage" scratching than the tray method by virtue of the underside of the disc being constantly scratched against the console as you insert it. Why didn't Sony spend another $0.25 on a tray. Woe is you.

But thanks for cutting me some slack - I've only had consoles since the master system days

Then you're just a colossal idiot, not an ignorant person. Thanks for clearing that up.

[DirtyMartini]

who s*&^ in your Cheerios? You're being an even bigger douche than usual today.

[Asher]

I didn't notice.

[Alinestra Covelia]

ASHER is actually an acronym for SHE-RA.

...

The comment comparing him to a douche just got me thinking, that's all. :/

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by Alinestra Covelia
ASHER is actually an acronym for SHE-RA.

Let's all call him that every time he is behaving anything less than pleasantly to all.