Console Wars VI

[Zero]

Like I said, I already got a 360. I didn't do much research (i dont really care for the hardware spec argument) but the fact that 360 is the most popular pretty much made it an easy decision. Just about everyone I know own it... Even the ones that own a ps3.

Ive been deciding whether ps3 is worth getting it after the fact that I got 360... there's couple of feature in ps3 that I like. There's the blu ray, and I do like the fact that system is capable of having mouse/kb support for games and it would be a selling point, but its a shame that most games don't support it.

[DrSpike]

It comes down to Blu-Ray and the exclusives. The exclusives are Killzone 2, MGS4, GT5 Prologue and Little Big Planet.

For me that's not enough. YMMV.

[El_Cid]

The PS3 has been needing a price cut.....since like it came out imho. It sounds like one is coming, but maybe for this gen it could be too little too late? It has to compete directly with the 360 - and if i was in the market for either of those for gaming, i'd probably get a 360.

The Wii is not a direct competitor, other than families might decide on the Wii(and have been) over the other two, but for "serious" gamers it's about 360 or PS3. I think Sony made a mess this gen, maybe a bit of complacency due to the lead they had since the PS1?

http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=22707

a link about pressure builing for a PS3 price cut - not sure i'm cool with the new gamasutra look yet? It seems a little cluttered? anyway still good content imho :-)

[Zero]

Most stores are cutting prices already. Dell's giving $80 off on their ps3. Since speculated ps3 price cut is $100 (and highly doubt ps3 could be pulling off any more than that), I think I'm gonna get one for the BD factor.

I went from never planning on owning a current gen console to owning both in a month... wheeee~

[Nikolai]

It'll be interesting to see how the Wii software sales will fare this year. There are some potential strong titles out there.

[snoopy369]

I suppose in the scheme of things it doesn't matter how much shovelware there is so long as there is also quality stuff out there. Strictly speaking it isn't zero sum there, unless you assume quality publishers are thinking "Sweet, we can make Cooking Papa IV: Pizza Dough Rolling now!", which is debatable I suppose.

[El_Cid]

little Joey and most the rest of the Johnson family(grandma and grandpa too!) disagree, but the moody male teenager in the corner probably agrees with you, he just wants to kill stuff in HD.

Here's some talk on how the 360 is kicking the PS3 in the nuts:

http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=22833

[Nikolai]

You are supporting Asher with a ****ty Gamasutra article? Teh horrorz.

[Nikolai]

But okay, two can play that game.

Xbox360 is stealing customers from PS3, as put by the article; "Microsoft's Greenberg: 'PS3 Business' Is 'Hemorrhaging At Retail'":

Following the release of NPD sales figures, Microsoft trumpeted its significant 53 percent year-over-year Xbox 360 sales boost -- and slammed primary competitor Sony.

Speaking to Gamasutra, Xbox 360 product management director Aaron Greenberg largely pinned the gain on continuing momentum, and said it outperformed external expectations.

"That exceeds even the high end of what analysts projected we would do for the month," he said. "I think the highest I saw was roughly 30 percent. We've had multiple months now of sustained year over year growth, which is fantastic."

As in past months, Greenberg highlighted the critical success of its titles -- "We have over 130 titles rated over 80 on Metacritic; no other platform even has 100 at that level," he pointed out -- as well as a per-system average software attach rate of 8.2, along with exclusive online content.

Chief amongst that exclusive content in February was Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost & Damned expansion distributed solely through Xbox Live. Greenberg did not reveal specific numbers, but did reiterate that it was "the most successful game addon content we've ever launched."

"If that content was sold at retail, it would be one of the best sellers across all platforms," he added. "It would have outsold Killzone 2."

(Guerrilla Games' PlayStation 3-exclusive Killzone 2 sold 323,000 units in February, but while The Lost & Damned was on sale for nearly two weeks in that month, Killzone 2 was on sale for only several days.)

Greenberg declined to share specific sales data for any Live content, but noted that EA Canada's NCAA Basketball 09: March Madness Edition, recently launched over Xbox Live, has also been "very successful," in part due to the promotional mechanisms built into Live's current interface.

"It's another example of a great way to leverage Live to provide content that's very timely. You could never really deliver that kind of experience at retail," he said. "When people get [their games] in the Spotlight channel, it's in the millions of people who are clicking and looking and downloading. With our community being over 17 million, the scale when we get into some of those featured items is pretty big."

The executive painted a particularly bleak picture of the PlayStation brand at retail, saying retail partners have characterized it as "hemorrhaging," in part because many existing PlayStation 2 owners are migrating to Xbox 360 rather than PlayStation 3.

"You can't underestimate that we're half the price of the PS3 at a time when consumers were looking for great value," he said. "The PS3 was down in February two percent even with the launch of Killzone 2 -- that's months of year-over-year declines. Xbox continues to head north while the PS3 is heading south. We're gaining share."

"But what we hear from our partners is that it's not just PS3, it's also PS2 down 62 percent year over year," he continued. "With that business declining, and with the PS3 business declining, it's been described to me as hemorrhaging at retail right now, and it just keeps getting worse.

"What we're finding in our research is that a large portion of the volume we're driving with Xbox 360 purchasers is actually PS2 owners choosing Xbox for the next generation. We're switching people from the PlayStation brand over to the Xbox brand."

The Xbox 360 version of Street Fighter IV outsold its PlayStation 3 counterpart in February, but only by about 11 percent; the two games occupied the second and third places in the month's software top ten. "We're hearing the same early returns for Resident Evil," Greenberg noted. He said what's more important is the growing perception that brands formerly associated with PlayStation are now also available on Xbox.

"Not only is [Resident Evil 5] selling more, but we did a limited edition Elite bundle with that as well -- so we've obviously benefited from having this deep partnership with Capcom, and we're excited to have the Resident Evil franchise for the first time ever on our platform," he said. "That follows in the steps of [franchises like] Grand Theft Auto -- and we all know Final Fantasy is coming -- that have been historically associated with PlayStation."

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=22833

[Nikolai]

Just read about a new "disease" for the 360: The "Red Arc of Death", which gives stripes og "snow" on the screen, and has shown up more and more often from October onwards. It is said to have something to do with ANA/HANA scaling chip(whatever that is?) or the AV cable. Weird how much trouble MS has had with the hardware of this generation.

[El_Cid]

............. Weird how much trouble MS has had with the hardware of this generation.

[conspiracy]Or "cunning plan(tm)"? Nintendo showed us their "cunning plan(tm)" with the Wii, and that did well for them.

Dr.Spike is already considering a new(second) 360 due to it's 'special' feature [/conspiracy]

[DrSpike]

Just read about a new "disease" for the 360: The "Red Arc of Death", which gives stripes og "snow" on the screen, and has shown up more and more often from October onwards. It is said to have something to do with ANA/HANA scaling chip(whatever that is?) or the AV cable. Weird how much trouble MS has had with the hardware of this generation.

I have one of the older machines so it's the red ring I still fear.

[Nikolai]

This one seems to be a problem for both old and new machines they say.

[DrSpike]

Just read about a new "disease" for the 360: The "Red Arc of Death"

[El_Cid]

One Ring to rule them all, and in the darkness bind them.