5 ms·

I agree. Around 2000, I remember reading all these articles in video game magazines talking about how microsoft will never be a major player in consoles. "Mic

I agree. Around 2000, I remember reading all these articles in video game magazines talking about how microsoft will never be a major player in consoles. "Microsoft is not a video game company, its not in their dna". Fast forward a bit and look at the console landscape now. 5.5 million xbox 360s were sold in the 4th quarter of 2009. The xbox can now be considered a runaway success, despite the numerous setbacks that have occured (red ring of death). With search the landscape is a bit different, but we shouldn't be so shortsighted as to count microsoft out of the game or think that bing will never gain >50% marketshare. We could look at articles like this in 3-4 years and laugh out how off the mark it was, just like the articles in game magazines bashing the xbox in the early 2000's.

absconditus 17y ago
Has the Xbox division been profitable over its lifetime? I realize that they are supposedly profitable now, but have their recent profits exceeded the previous losses yet?
- jordyhoyt 17y ago
  Immediately profitable <> successful. They're pushing console gaming to the next level, and you can bet that their next iteration will be wildly popular. Turning a huge profit at the expense of not providing significant value is how to remove yourself from future competition.
  - mattmanser 17y ago
    you can bet that their next iteration will be wildly popular No, you really can't. Look at PS3 compared to PS2, GameCube versus nintendo 64, Saturn versus megadrive. In fact it's practically an industry rule that you always fail after a successful generation of console! A betting man would reckon on the Xbox 3 being a flop.
    - msc 17y ago
      I wouldn't bet on it being a flop. In my opinion, the only unsuccessful Nintendo console was GameCube. NES, SNES, N64, Wii, all a success. PS1 was a success, so was PS2. I'm not really convinced of this industry rule you're talking about. Wii reached an audience no console ever reached, thanks to the titles and controllers. I'm betting Project Natal will take over a big slice of that market, unless Nintendo really steps it up.
      - TheSOB88 17y ago
        64 was definitely not the market leader. It may not have floundered like the Cube, but it wasn't ahead. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_game_consoles_%28fifth_generation%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_game_consoles_...
    - deleted 17y ago
      [deleted]
- aston 17y ago
  Cash flow positive business are destined to become profitable in the long run. But even if the division weren't cash flow positive, it'd still be a pretty good bet by Microsoft. They've successfully locked down a place in my living room that they didn't seem to have a chance at 10 years ago.
  - axod 17y ago
    Console businesses operate in cycles. Profitable now, means nothing in 5 years. You might be completely dead in the next round of consoles. Most xboxes are in teenage boys bedrooms not in living rooms. The impressive part is how they've been able to convince some people that the xbox is a success.
    - trezor 17y ago
      I have to disagree on this one. Everyone I know with a Xbox 360 has them in their livingroom, hooked up to a big-ass HDTV. Ofcourse you can attribute that to my age, and the fact that I don't know too many teenagers, but for the teens in my family, if they are gamers at all, what they have is a PC in their bedroom. Console-gaming is if not exclusively at least largely a social thing, and thus makes more sense to have in a room made for socializing. While my argument isn't backed by solid data and mostly relies on my own experiences, you can't really claim yours is any better either. As for as the Xbox 360 goes right now it is a massive success. It is one of the top three consoles in a market where there used to only be two. That's big achievement in itself.
      - axod 17y ago
        The numbers show wii's have massively outsold xbox+ps3. There's only one winner in the current console lineup.
        ebrenes 17y ago
        I guess the iPhone must be an abject failure then! After all, Nokia's 3300 series has sold over 200 million of those phones. So it's clear there's only one winner in the mobile phone market! Please, if you're going to compare numbers, be aware of what you're comparing. The Wii, Xbox360 and PS3 are only similar if you're an outsider and can't realize the apple to oranges comparison that's taking place. The Wii's major feature is that it's a family entertainment system and not a gaming console. The reason it's sold so much is because, as many others have stated, it managed to breach into new market segments. Yet when I talk with any person that dedicates a significant portion of their time to playing games (ie a gamer) they never talk about the Wii, they talk about the Modern Warfare 2, PS3 and Xbox360.
- ZeroGravitas 17y ago
  I looked into this recently and estimates ranged from $1 to 10 Billion still to go before breaking even. About $5 billion of the variation seemed to hinge on whether the money invested into the first XBox could just be written off which I personally don't think makes much sense so you could say 6 - 10. The part of Microsoft that makes xbox along with the zine and PC games made a profit of 0.2 Billion this year and 0.5 Billion the year before.
grhino 17y ago
A good part of why the XBOX 360 has done well as a gaming platform is because they were able to leverage the success of the PC as a gaming platform. Of gaming platforms, the PC has been one of the most open and easiest to develop for on the market and a lot of that has carried over to the XBOX.

absconditus 17y ago

Has the Xbox division been profitable over its lifetime? I realize that they are supposedly profitable now, but have their recent profits exceeded the previous losses yet?

jordyhoyt 17y ago
Immediately profitable <> successful. They're pushing console gaming to the next level, and you can bet that their next iteration will be wildly popular. Turning a huge profit at the expense of not providing significant value is how to remove yourself from future competition.
- mattmanser 17y ago
  you can bet that their next iteration will be wildly popular No, you really can't. Look at PS3 compared to PS2, GameCube versus nintendo 64, Saturn versus megadrive. In fact it's practically an industry rule that you always fail after a successful generation of console! A betting man would reckon on the Xbox 3 being a flop.
  - msc 17y ago
    I wouldn't bet on it being a flop. In my opinion, the only unsuccessful Nintendo console was GameCube. NES, SNES, N64, Wii, all a success. PS1 was a success, so was PS2. I'm not really convinced of this industry rule you're talking about. Wii reached an audience no console ever reached, thanks to the titles and controllers. I'm betting Project Natal will take over a big slice of that market, unless Nintendo really steps it up.
    - TheSOB88 17y ago
      64 was definitely not the market leader. It may not have floundered like the Cube, but it wasn't ahead. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_game_consoles_%28fifth_generation%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_game_consoles_...
  - deleted 17y ago
    [deleted]
aston 17y ago
Cash flow positive business are destined to become profitable in the long run. But even if the division weren't cash flow positive, it'd still be a pretty good bet by Microsoft. They've successfully locked down a place in my living room that they didn't seem to have a chance at 10 years ago.
- axod 17y ago
  Console businesses operate in cycles. Profitable now, means nothing in 5 years. You might be completely dead in the next round of consoles. Most xboxes are in teenage boys bedrooms not in living rooms. The impressive part is how they've been able to convince some people that the xbox is a success.
  - trezor 17y ago
    I have to disagree on this one. Everyone I know with a Xbox 360 has them in their livingroom, hooked up to a big-ass HDTV. Ofcourse you can attribute that to my age, and the fact that I don't know too many teenagers, but for the teens in my family, if they are gamers at all, what they have is a PC in their bedroom. Console-gaming is if not exclusively at least largely a social thing, and thus makes more sense to have in a room made for socializing. While my argument isn't backed by solid data and mostly relies on my own experiences, you can't really claim yours is any better either. As for as the Xbox 360 goes right now it is a massive success. It is one of the top three consoles in a market where there used to only be two. That's big achievement in itself.
    - axod 17y ago
      The numbers show wii's have massively outsold xbox+ps3. There's only one winner in the current console lineup.
      - ebrenes 17y ago
        I guess the iPhone must be an abject failure then! After all, Nokia's 3300 series has sold over 200 million of those phones. So it's clear there's only one winner in the mobile phone market! Please, if you're going to compare numbers, be aware of what you're comparing. The Wii, Xbox360 and PS3 are only similar if you're an outsider and can't realize the apple to oranges comparison that's taking place. The Wii's major feature is that it's a family entertainment system and not a gaming console. The reason it's sold so much is because, as many others have stated, it managed to breach into new market segments. Yet when I talk with any person that dedicates a significant portion of their time to playing games (ie a gamer) they never talk about the Wii, they talk about the Modern Warfare 2, PS3 and Xbox360.
ZeroGravitas 17y ago
I looked into this recently and estimates ranged from $1 to 10 Billion still to go before breaking even. About $5 billion of the variation seemed to hinge on whether the money invested into the first XBox could just be written off which I personally don't think makes much sense so you could say 6 - 10. The part of Microsoft that makes xbox along with the zine and PC games made a profit of 0.2 Billion this year and 0.5 Billion the year before.

grhino 17y ago

A good part of why the XBOX 360 has done well as a gaming platform is because they were able to leverage the success of the PC as a gaming platform. Of gaming platforms, the PC has been one of the most open and easiest to develop for on the market and a lot of that has carried over to the XBOX.