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"how it is crushing its original console competitors" Previous gen: > Xbox sales: 24 million > PS2 sales: 153 million Current gen: > Xbox 360 sales: 76 mil

by GuiA 14y ago

"how it is crushing its original console competitors" Previous gen: > Xbox sales: 24 million > PS2 sales: 153 million Current gen: > Xbox 360 sales: 76 million > Wii sales: 100 million > PS3 sales: 70 million (all data from each console's respective Wikipedia) How is it "crushing" its competitors? Otherwise, I bought an XBox360 recently to get the Kinect for openFrameworks hacking and played a little bit with the console. All the points in the article regarding the UI are spot on - it is TERRIBLE to use. Nintendo's UIs are no reference either, but at least they're functional, while Sony's XMB is actually quite good (although the PS Vita's OS is a horrible thing to behold, which is scary for the PS4).

sliverstorm 14y ago
All the other caveats aside, I'm willing to consider those results "crushing", particularly when it comes to Sony. Yes, Sony and Microsoft are close to parity, but think about how quickly Microsoft got to parity. This is their second console, ever.
- seanmcdirmid 14y ago
  But then how many people remember that the PS2 (just the previous generation) was Sony's second console ever? What was surprising about last generation was how Nintendo kicked everyones butt in the beginning.
  - sliverstorm 14y ago
    Sure, and the PS2 generally crushed its competition.
- sjwright 14y ago
  The PS3 is Sony's third console, ever.
  - MBCook 14y ago
    Fourth. The PSP came out between the PS2 and PS3.
    - tedunangst 14y ago
      The PSP is a console?
      - sjwright 14y ago
        If we can include the PSP, we can include Windows too. That's a huge gaming platform.
meh02 14y ago
The PS3 has actually overtaken the X360. Also note that the PS3 came out a full year after the X360... so... yeah. :)
Wilduck 14y ago
My guess would be the author is referring to US markets, where the Xbox 360 is outdoing the PS3 by a more significant margin.
- natbro 14y ago
  yes, apologies for over-stating it generally or under-specifying US as the "crushing it" market. i do mean US and in general the fact that xBox currently has the most "mo" getting xBox ahead of Nintendo and Sony in their native territories was always expected to be a long, uphill slog.
clobber 14y ago
Nobody seems to remember just how much money Microsoft and Sony have lost on their consoles. - Through 2005, the Xbox gaming division had lost over $4 billion [1] - Microsoft took a charge of $1 billion dollars on its June 2007 income statement to account for the cost of replacing bricked Xbox 360s [1] - Xbox 360 and PS3 losses total $8 billion [2] Luckily for Microsoft, they've had the cash to burn to strong-arm their way into the market. The units sold is nothing too impressive when you account for losses. 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360#Timeline_2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360#Timeline_2 2. http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/07/xbox-360-and-ps3-losses-total-8-billion-ex-sony-employee-paints-grim-future/ http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/07/xbox-360-and-ps3-losses-tota...
- redblacktree 14y ago
  Isn't this how the console market works? You lose money on console units, but make it back in licensing? Or are you saying that, taking licensing into account, the Xbox still lost money for Microsoft? 2005 and 2007 were a long time ago. Do you know of more recent numbers?
  - ghjm 14y ago
    The overall division really did lose $4 billion that year. In 2011 they made $1.3 billion. Overall, I think they're about at break-even for the program since inception.
    - jussij 14y ago
      But in the years that followed that same division has made over $3 billion just in Halo game sales alone.
      - ghjm 14y ago
        They also lost more money in years prior. I think they're in the black since inception, but not by much.
  - clobber 14y ago
InclinedPlane 14y ago
These are just hardware sales. Of all of these the 360 has the most follow-on game/other services sales.
esrauch 14y ago
Total sales figures are somewhat misleading here, Sony and Nintendo both in much much worse positions today than they were 5 years ago.
HelloMcFly 14y ago
A few things: - People buy more games per console (not even including digital sales) on the Xbox which is the real money-maker - People pay Microsoft an annual fee for XBL which their competitors provide for free - People spend more money on XBL on top the annual fee compared to their competitors for digital goods - They actually get ad revenue for XBL on top of the annual fee and digital goods revenue
bitsoda 14y ago
*77 million for the PS3
lloeki 14y ago
> the UI [...] is TERRIBLE to use [...] while Sony's XMB is actually quite good I beg to differ, as the NXE and the Guide are comparatively a joy to use, and while the Metro one has available real estate plagued by ads and feels lacking WRT what it could be (e.g pinned apps should stand front and center), it is enjoyable enough. There are a number of system-wide underused features, like global vibration settings, global racing games and fps mappings... XMB could be great but pales in comparison due to poor choices, limited development, and is injecting crap I don't want call to actions like Singstar in my Games entries, while the settings area is a complete mess. Pet peeves: * It stings a little when I hit the PS button to look at the (missing) time while in game. * It stings a lot when I have to manually toggle the DST setting * I cringe every time I have to manage downloads on the PS3 * There's no way to have multiple profiles connected and save progress and trophies for coop games (the Halo series leverages that to great end) All in all both have their shortcomings, but it really feels like the xBox acts as a modern platform/system whereas the PS3 acts like a PS2/Dreamcast era console.

by GuiA 14y ago

sliverstorm 14y ago

All the other caveats aside, I'm willing to consider those results "crushing", particularly when it comes to Sony. Yes, Sony and Microsoft are close to parity, but think about how quickly Microsoft got to parity. This is their second console, ever.

seanmcdirmid 14y ago
But then how many people remember that the PS2 (just the previous generation) was Sony's second console ever? What was surprising about last generation was how Nintendo kicked everyones butt in the beginning.
- sliverstorm 14y ago
  Sure, and the PS2 generally crushed its competition.
sjwright 14y ago
The PS3 is Sony's third console, ever.
- MBCook 14y ago
  Fourth. The PSP came out between the PS2 and PS3.
  - tedunangst 14y ago
    The PSP is a console?
    - sjwright 14y ago
      If we can include the PSP, we can include Windows too. That's a huge gaming platform.

meh02 14y ago

The PS3 has actually overtaken the X360. Also note that the PS3 came out a full year after the X360... so... yeah. :)

Wilduck 14y ago

My guess would be the author is referring to US markets, where the Xbox 360 is outdoing the PS3 by a more significant margin.

natbro 14y ago
yes, apologies for over-stating it generally or under-specifying US as the "crushing it" market. i do mean US and in general the fact that xBox currently has the most "mo" getting xBox ahead of Nintendo and Sony in their native territories was always expected to be a long, uphill slog.

clobber 14y ago

Nobody seems to remember just how much money Microsoft and Sony have lost on their consoles. - Through 2005, the Xbox gaming division had lost over $4 billion [1] - Microsoft took a charge of $1 billion dollars on its June 2007 income statement to account for the cost of replacing bricked Xbox 360s [1] - Xbox 360 and PS3 losses total $8 billion [2] Luckily for Microsoft, they've had the cash to burn to strong-arm their way into the market. The units sold is nothing too impressive when you account for losses. 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360#Timeline_2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360#Timeline_2 2. http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/07/xbox-360-and-ps3-losses-total-8-billion-ex-sony-employee-paints-grim-future/ http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/07/xbox-360-and-ps3-losses-tota...

redblacktree 14y ago
Isn't this how the console market works? You lose money on console units, but make it back in licensing? Or are you saying that, taking licensing into account, the Xbox still lost money for Microsoft? 2005 and 2007 were a long time ago. Do you know of more recent numbers?
- ghjm 14y ago
  The overall division really did lose $4 billion that year. In 2011 they made $1.3 billion. Overall, I think they're about at break-even for the program since inception.
  - jussij 14y ago
    But in the years that followed that same division has made over $3 billion just in Halo game sales alone.
    - ghjm 14y ago
      They also lost more money in years prior. I think they're in the black since inception, but not by much.
- clobber 14y ago

InclinedPlane 14y ago

These are just hardware sales. Of all of these the 360 has the most follow-on game/other services sales.

esrauch 14y ago

Total sales figures are somewhat misleading here, Sony and Nintendo both in much much worse positions today than they were 5 years ago.

HelloMcFly 14y ago

A few things: - People buy more games per console (not even including digital sales) on the Xbox which is the real money-maker - People pay Microsoft an annual fee for XBL which their competitors provide for free - People spend more money on XBL on top the annual fee compared to their competitors for digital goods - They actually get ad revenue for XBL on top of the annual fee and digital goods revenue

bitsoda 14y ago

*77 million for the PS3

lloeki 14y ago

> the UI [...] is TERRIBLE to use [...] while Sony's XMB is actually quite good I beg to differ, as the NXE and the Guide are comparatively a joy to use, and while the Metro one has available real estate plagued by ads and feels lacking WRT what it could be (e.g pinned apps should stand front and center), it is enjoyable enough. There are a number of system-wide underused features, like global vibration settings, global racing games and fps mappings... XMB could be great but pales in comparison due to poor choices, limited development, and is injecting crap I don't want call to actions like Singstar in my Games entries, while the settings area is a complete mess. Pet peeves: * It stings a little when I hit the PS button to look at the (missing) time while in game. * It stings a lot when I have to manually toggle the DST setting * I cringe every time I have to manage downloads on the PS3 * There's no way to have multiple profiles connected and save progress and trophies for coop games (the Halo series leverages that to great end) All in all both have their shortcomings, but it really feels like the xBox acts as a modern platform/system whereas the PS3 acts like a PS2/Dreamcast era console.