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BusinessInsider.com: Microsoft's Xbox is beating the PlayStation 5 this holiday season for 3 key reasons

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oldergamer

Member
Is Xbox making more Series S consoles or did they just not sell out in the first place? If it's the former then power to Microsoft, if it's the latter than surely Xbox Series S isn't doing "better", it's just the fat kid that got picked last for sports class because everybody else already got picked.
Huh? They are making more. Ive seen it get restocked a few times this month. Hardcore gamers are less interested but its still an enticing buy for anyone that wants both machines and doesn't want to spend 500 on each. The general public also couldnt care about 4k for games, and for them its good value.
 

soulbait

Member
So yes, the Series S is the only one in stock, so it is selling, but also it does have to appeal to people for it to be purchased. It does not need to be the most wanted console, but at least some appeal for someone to buy it. The points added in the article does show where that appeal is coming from: Halo, Forza, and GamePass. Simply put, if the only reason to buy the Series S is because, "well it is in stock", it would not be selling.

With that being said however, I think declaring a "winner" over sales numbers is silly. I really do not care if my console of choice is the number one is sales, only that it is indeed being sold. As long as it is being sold a good number, games will continue to be made for it. Why should I care which sales the most, unless some sort of bragging right that makes no difference?

  • Series S has sold the most this past month. Good for it.
  • Demand is still strong for both PS5 and XSX, so if the available numbers were equal across all 3 consoles, good chance Series S would be behind the other two.
  • Due to the hold Sony has on gaming culture overall, and how Microsoft's strategy provides their games to the PC market as well, odds are Sony will again be the sales leader this generation.
  • It doesn't matter who the sales leader is, as long as the platform of your choice is still getting games made for it.
Celebrate that console are still selling overall folks. Series S is in an interesting position, that is neat to see, but no need to argue over which is better due to sales. Just silly.
 

FrankWza

Member
They would have made all of those graphical pre-sets/removed ray tracing for low-mid tier PCs anyway?

And why stop there? Why do they bother paying a cleaning lady or spending any time/budget on marketing? All of that time and effort could go in to the X/PS5.

So we’re back to scaling and flipping a switch to get the series s versions running?I guess this is why Microsoft and 343 had to remove the 120fps mode from series s while the x has it after making the attempt to include it? They only had an extra year. Which button did they press?
Christmas bonuses for the janitor over 120fps mode at Microsoft. #forthesweepers
 

Topher

Gold Member
I disagree. If the price of the Series S was significantly higher, or their were less attractive games available, it would almost certainly have sold less than it did.

That is not what is being debated here. The question is would XSS have outsold XSX or PS5 had either of those had comparable stock. I think it is safe to say XSS would have a customer base due to its price regardless, but it just as plausible to say XSS is benefitting from lack of XSX and PS5 availability.
 

Riky

$MSFT
I never understood this take....This is a gaming forum and most of the users are passionate about gaming.

Like other consoles and Series S has some flaws and that is a concern that most hardcore gamers have with the console.

Hardcore gamers are the ones that make the most noise to move gaming forward so I don't get this "its not for you" argument because even if that is the case it will still impact console gaming this gen which impacts everyone especially those playing within the Xbox ecosystem.

This has been debunked several times.
The Series consoles have moved to a shared GDK with the PC, until the minimum spec moves past Series S we have nothing to worry about.
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
So we’re back to scaling and flipping a switch to get the series s versions running?I guess this is why Microsoft and 343 had to remove the 120fps mode from series s while the x has it after making the attempt to include it? They only had an extra year. Which button did they press?
Christmas bonuses for the janitor over 120fps mode at Microsoft. #forthesweepers
The 120fps version was fine on S but the resolution took too much of a hit. The X resolution at 120fps;

Resolution drops heavily, residing within a 1564x960 to 2460x1440 resolution window

It’s a pretty straight forward situation. If the resolution tanks on the big consoles it’ll obviously tank even lower on the smaller console. That’s how scaling works :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 
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soulbait

Member
According to my logic things like S shouldn't even exist in the 1st place.

According to my logic GT, GoW, H ZD, Halo etc. should be a next gen only games.

According to my logic MS, Sony and N should never release a gimped 0.5 versions of their consoles and demand from devs to release new games on them.

According to my logic multiplat games like BF2042 should never target the previous generations of consoles.

There's a new 500$ gaming boxes on a market. Make the damn games targeting them, time to move on from the previous gen.

Consoles like S aren't helping with anything I care about. I don't have MS stocks and don't subscribe to their services, so I couldn't care less about MS eco system as a whole or that S is just a gateway to the bigger MS eco system and let's MS to show some big numbers. MS numbers both hardware or software/live are irrelevant to me.

I care only about switching generations and adopting new hardware as a new standard asap. And again, S isn't helping with it.

According to your logic, these businesses would struggle to turn a profit.
 

ethomaz

Banned
I disagree. If the price of the Series S was significantly higher, or their were less attractive games available, it would almost certainly have sold less than it did.
Are you taking about the same Series S that sold that sold very low numbers this November? I mean the numbers were low to all consoles including Switch for a holiday month.

If you can’t see stocks where the only reason for console not selling what it normally sells I have no ideia what to say anymore… prices and games have no weight in the sales this time because people doesn’t even have choice.
 
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FrankWza

Member
The 120fps version was fine on S but the resolution took too much of a hit. The X resolution at 120fps;

Resolution drops heavily, residing within a 1564x960 to 2460x1440 resolution window

It’s a pretty straight forward situation. If the resolution tanks on the big consoles it’ll obviously tank even worse on the smaller console. That’s how scaling works :messenger_tears_of_joy:
This is a nothing post with a laugh emoji. If it’s so simple they wouldn’t have wasted any time at all because as professionals they’d know what would happen. It takes time and effort to come to this realization. Unnecessary. So if Microsoft first party is struggling with an extra year and all that extra funding, obviously 3rd party is too. So Ray tracing needed to be removed from GotG or time was spent coming to the realization it would never work. Wasted time
 

soulbait

Member
I know, but I ain't discussing / arguing about it. As a customer I shouldn't care about companies wellbeing. I care about... well, you quoted what I care about.

I understand sentiment on not caring about a company's wellbeing, but I would say there needs to be some understanding to why certain decisions are made. I would to love for all new big-budget games to be current gen only, but I also understand why they are not. If it logically makes sense to me why something is not why I wish for it to be, then it is easier for me to not be disappointed in it. These decisions are profit motivated but still benefits others (for example, those who cannot buy the new hardware). It is when I do not see the benefits anywhere but the bottom line, or to take advantage of consumers (think loot boxes), that I get most against.
 
They are available right now on microsoft, gamestop, and amazon and its 4 days before christmas.

But what about in malls and department stores in big cities where there is a lot of foot traffic. There is only like 1 out of 15 Targets in my city where you can walk in and buy one. Best Buy says not available for instore pickup within 250 miles. MS is missing out on all those impulse shoppers during a crucial holiday season where they can take advantage of no PS5s available.
 
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Grabbing two of the biggest chains in ireland

Series S
Series X
PS5 Digital
PS5 Disc
Now let's consider this scenario - we're looking at this week's sales. The only console readily available in both chains is the Series S. Next, you can also get the Series X in one of them. No PS5s available. If you get the isolated data for these consoles and are dishonest / looking for clicks, you can say "Series S sells more than PS5 and XSX combined! Xbox outselling Sony 10:1!". While the numbers would be true, the way they are presented is dishonest - the console is not outselling because it's better, or more desirable, but because one has no stock, while the other does.

I would love for MS to release sales numbers again, so that we can compare hardware sales overall - but there's a reason they don't.

PS: availability for consoles on the date of writing this. May change in hours / days.

Seek therapy , the hurt is real.
 

Ozriel

M$FT
Because, as stated, it's pointless to compare a freely available console with one that's completely unavailable. Chances are the Ps5 would be outselling the Series S and X if all were easy to buy. They're not. Pointless.

The Series S was not brought down from Heaven by angels. It was designed by Microsoft from Day 1 to be a cheap entry to next gen. And Microsoft has prioritized the production of the Series S in recent months. So it’s worth commenting when that strategy pays off for them.

The big mystery is why many here are pained at this.


Availability I assume is the major reason why but congrats on Microsoft getting some system out for everyone to buy at least.


This fellow gets it!
 
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ToTTenTranz

Banned
I guess Games don’t matter now it’s Xbox with bestselling, well reviewed games, eh?

Or price conscious consumers don’t exist?

This is a strawman.
Price matters and games matter, but there's zero indication that this is the reason people resorted to the Series S instead of the Series X or the PS5 during this holiday season.

As much as you want to turn this into console warring, this isn't even a PS5 vs. Xbox debacle. It's a Series S vs. all other home consoles debacle.
 

zaanan

Banned
There's a precedent for your assumption,

Back in the day it was said that Microsoft didn't really care too much about pirated copies of Windows or Office as it got people familiar with their software. Their main businness was Enterprise licensing and so a person with a pirate copy at home was already familiar and then more productive at work with a licensed version of the software.
Do you have examples of this? I was in IT back then and observed them going SWAT on the slightest licensing irregularity. Like when they went after Ernie Ball bc his company was out of compliance.
 

tommib

Member
So yes, the Series S is the only one in stock, so it is selling, but also it does have to appeal to people for it to be purchased. It does not need to be the most wanted console, but at least some appeal for someone to buy it. The points added in the article does show where that appeal is coming from: Halo, Forza, and GamePass. Simply put, if the only reason to buy the Series S is because, "well it is in stock", it would not be selling.

With that being said however, I think declaring a "winner" over sales numbers is silly. I really do not care if my console of choice is the number one is sales, only that it is indeed being sold. As long as it is being sold a good number, games will continue to be made for it. Why should I care which sales the most, unless some sort of bragging right that makes no difference?

  • Series S has sold the most this past month. Good for it.
  • Demand is still strong for both PS5 and XSX, so if the available numbers were equal across all 3 consoles, good chance Series S would be behind the other two.
  • Due to the hold Sony has on gaming culture overall, and how Microsoft's strategy provides their games to the PC market as well, odds are Sony will again be the sales leader this generation.
  • It doesn't matter who the sales leader is, as long as the platform of your choice is still getting games made for it.
Celebrate that console are still selling overall folks. Series S is in an interesting position, that is neat to see, but no need to argue over which is better due to sales. Just silly.
You're making too much sense. GAF FBI will hunt you down!
 
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Ozriel

M$FT
This is a strawman.
Price matters and games matter, but there's zero indication that this is the reason people resorted to the Series S instead of the Series X or the PS5 during this holiday season.

As much as you want to turn this into console warring, this isn't even a PS5 vs. Xbox debacle. It's a Series S vs. all other home consoles debacle.

Games is the reason why many consumers decided to buy an Xbox this holiday. They’ll then make their choice with availability and budget in mind.

Imagine waking up to claim that price has no bearing on anyone choosing to go for the Series S. Next we’ll hear that it isn’t price that’s driving people to look for an RTX3060 over an RTX3080.

Platform warring will cause one to make some truly incredulous arguments 😂😂😂
 

GHG

Member
I think - with the way the Switch is selling - it would be quite naive to assume the next gen Switch won’t get a ton of ports.

Metro dev made that comment pre-release. Post release, not only have we seen the Series S hold it’s own, but it’s even turned in a creditable performance with the Matrix tech demo. The same tech demo that this most of forum claim is the best, most next-gen thing they’ve seen so far.

If it’s running UE5 without much of an issue, I think it’s safe to say it should last the gen. And just like we’ve seen with the Matrix tech demo and stuff like RE Village, the proper flow will always be to develop on the powerful machines and port down to the Series S.

There’s zero merit to XsS fearmongering. Zero. It’ll definitely provide more challenge to devs to figure out how to downscale to the smaller memory pool…but developer welfare is not what all the concern is about here.

Nobody is forced to develop for the Switch by virtue of wanting to develop for a more powerful platform. UE5 runs on the following platforms:

Unreal Engine 5 will be available in preview in early 2021, supporting next-generation consoles, current-generation consoles, PC, Mac, iOS, and Android.


Just being capable of running an engine is not an achievement. Metro Exodus and the matrix experience look like soup on the Series S, each to their own.

It was far more interesting when as a whole the industry and hobbyists were enthusiastic about things moving forwards as quickly as possible compared to whatever it is we have now, hence the widespread industry stagnation we are witnessing (both in terms of graphics and game design, especially from the AA/AAA space). Coddling the lowest common denominators is never how anything has progressed.

Thankfully there's still a space in VR where things are improving at breakneck pace and the technological bleeding edge is very much the focus.
 

Kataploom

Gold Member
When stock of other consoles are available the sales of those units sell out, the Unit S remains in stock without selling out... I think its pretty clear which model's the consumer actually want.
I don't think that's relevant at all, this is a sales/business thread, not a "desirability speculation" thread... Also, Series S is easier and cheaper to make, so they're probably being re-stock more frequently
 

assurdum

Banned
I don't think that's relevant at all, this is a sales/business thread, not a "desirability speculation" thread... Also, Series S is easier and cheaper to make, so they're probably being re-stock more frequently
Wait a minute are you really trying to argue who think ps5 is more desirable for customers compared the XSS it's just a pure speculation? For real? This console has already dropped the price in the rest of the world lol, doubt in US sell that more.
 
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Microsoft set out to make an affordable next-gen box that is $100 less than the next cheapest option (PS5 Digital) so that people who couldn't care less about resolution wars would still be able to play next-gen games (mainly kids and casuals). The COVID pandemic however has made the Xbox Series S a viable option even for the hardcore audience who want to play the latest and greatest games now, but cannot find a PS5 or Series X available anywhere. Microsoft struck gold by accident and I anticipate they will continue to beat out the competition in most monthly NPDs until the chip shortage is ended...which may be another year or more by many expert estimations. Even if sales of Xbox Series S fall off once the chip shortage is done, they will have saturated the market and that bodes well for them.
 

tommib

Member
People undermining the S success by accusing it of being in stock as opposed to PS5/X have reached a new level of denial. Are we at a point that only hardware that you don't see available at your retail store is the sole successful hardware? I see piles of Nintendo Switches and iPhones at my local MediaMarkt. Is this all failed hardware?

Got to love the S for disrupting the market kind of like the Switch did - might be too early to call it disruptive but if the PS5/X stock continues to be non-existent at retail this tendency will only be highlighted. After all the hate and FUD the S got when it was announced, this is a delicious outcome. Love a good underdog comeback story.
 

mejin

Member
No offense, but you think anything positive Xbox/negative Playstation is propaganda.

the article is pretty much telling us what we already know.

None taken.

It is not the first time Xbox does better than Playstation in Holidays. They win the Holidays and lose in the overall year.

But this article I think It really reads as propaganda for gamepass. It is what It is. Not trying to persuade anyone to agree with me.
 
Here we go with the PC comparisons nonsense....

The Series S was designed to have all the features of the Series X but with a 1080p cap and no disc drive.

But as we have seen, games are missing features on that console and have a worst performance . So MS lied about what the system was compatible of doing but when this point is brought up for some reason people want to dismiss that.

Nothing is wrong with properly educating people on what they are buying. For some reason the Series S should be immune to criticism? I don't get that take but whatever ....
Why didn't you list all the features the XSS is missing since MS 'lied' about its capabilities? People keep saying over and over again the XSS is lacking features but can never give the list. Some features MS said the XSS would have was Quick Resume, FPS Boost, raytracing capability, 120fps/w VRR support, SSD, and a Zen2 CPU/RDNA2 GPU. What is missing exactly? You are talking about 'properly educating people' and leave out the critical info. Why should anyone listen to your education anyway? Do you own the system?

So we’re back to scaling and flipping a switch to get the series s versions running?I guess this is why Microsoft and 343 had to remove the 120fps mode from series s while the x has it after making the attempt to include it? They only had an extra year. Which button did they press?
Christmas bonuses for the janitor over 120fps mode at Microsoft. #forthesweepers
Don't forget Frank that 120 fps switch was flipped far more on the XSS than other systems that cost even more. The VRR switch was flipped more too! No one said the XSS would use every feature it is capable of in every game. You should be happy to hear that the system you see so concerned about is doing things other systems can't. Perhaps your concern is misplaced.

This is a wonderful thread for many reasons. People are really upset MS is finding any success which is odd and sad. I'm happy to see MS gamble of making a low cost entry into gaming paying off. Maybe this will help people understand that a digital XSX would not only not be a cheap and easy way into this generation but it would be just as supply constrained as the normal XSX. MS seems to know what they are doing this generation and I'm looking forward to see what they do next.
 
The 120fps version was fine on S but the resolution took too much of a hit. The X resolution at 120fps;

Resolution drops heavily, residing within a 1564x960 to 2460x1440 resolution window

It’s a pretty straight forward situation. If the resolution tanks on the big consoles it’ll obviously tank even lower on the smaller console. That’s how scaling works :messenger_tears_of_joy:
It also shows that it comes down to dev choice, not to console capability. The XSS can do 120fps in Halo, devs just didn't like the resolution output.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
What kind of a logic is that? If people have disposable income and want to spend it on the latest tech, why the F no? Maybe we should just donate to some charity and be grateful for the PS2/OG xbox we all have?
Children/teens with no disposable income expecting $500 toys for Christmas is not logical, no. Not getting a $500 toy is not a rough Christmas.
 
People undermining the S success by accusing it of being in stock as opposed to PS5/X have reached a new level of denial. Are we at a point that only hardware that you don't see available at your retail store is the sole successful hardware? I see piles of Nintendo Switches and iPhones at my local MediaMarkt. Is this all failed hardware?

Got to love the S for disrupting the market kind of like the Switch did - might be too early to call it disruptive but if the PS5/X stock continues to be non-existent at retail this tendency will only be highlighted. After all the hate and FUD the S got when it was announced, this is a delicious outcome. Love a good underdog comeback story.


I mean, its telling that the numbers didn’t start to rise until the holiday season. The thing has been sitting on shelves all year. I suspect the sales will drop again in January
 

Topher

Gold Member
The sodium.
Seek therapy , the hurt is real.

This Christmas GIF by filmeditor


you seem to be the one hurt here, dude.
 
I mean, its telling that the numbers didn’t start to rise until the holiday season. The thing has been sitting on shelves all year. I suspect the sales will drop again in January
Would you also describe the Nintendo Switch as "sitting on shelves all year"? Or is it more the case of "selling all year but not enough to be constantly sold out"?

(this is a rhetorical question btw)
 

tommib

Member
I mean, its telling that the numbers didn’t start to rise until the holiday season. The thing has been sitting on shelves all year. I suspect the sales will drop again in January
Isn't the S outselling the X for some time now in specific markets? That's not "sitting on shelves all year". It's an easier to produce console and Microsoft is clearly focusing on selling it. They might've found out a winner here by chance but it's still a sucess.
 
Would you also describe the Nintendo Switch as "sitting on shelves all year"? Or is it more the case of "selling all year but not enough to be constantly sold out"?

(this is a rhetorical question btw)
The switch has been #1 in sales all year so this doesn’t make sense.

You are purposely ignoring the context around the sales boost that have been reported since Black Friday specifically for the Series S in order to make an argument that its a better product than it actually is.

If it was a great product the xbox series s would have been outselling the playstation and series x all year. It hasn’t.
 
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Topher

Gold Member
Would you also describe the Nintendo Switch as "sitting on shelves all year"? Or is it more the case of "selling all year but not enough to be constantly sold out"?

(this is a rhetorical question btw)

Isn't the Switch more of a case of a system that ramped up production to meet demand three years ago and is using five year old parts there were readily available long before stock shortages hit? Same reason Nvidia was able to reintroduce stock from prior generations of GPUs? Not really comparable at all to what is going on with current gen Xbox and PS.
 

FrankWza

Member
Availability I assume is the major reason why but congrats on Microsoft getting some system out for everyone to buy at least.
Why? Aren’t all of their XGS games available on last gen consoles? Flight sim is pc first and was ported later. It’s not exactly a system seller.
Don't forget Frank that 120 fps switch was flipped far more on the XSS than other systems that cost even more. The VRR switch was flipped more too!
For now and at MUCH lower resolutions.

I'm happy to see MS gamble of making a low cost entry into gaming paying off. Maybe this will help people understand that a digital XSX would not only not be a cheap and easy way into this generation but it would be just as supply constrained as the normal XSX.
Why didn’t they use the resources we’re always hearing about to secure more chips and have series x only or a digital version? Where’s the fuck you money? Wheres the couch cushion and pocket change that they spent on zeni?
 
The switch has been #1 in sales all year so this doesn’t make sense.

You are purposely ignoring the context around the sales boost that have been reported since Black Friday specifically for the Series S in order to make an argument that its a better product than it actually is.

If it was a great product the xbox series s would have been outselling the playstation and series x all year. It hasn’t.
And you're purposely ignoring the fact that the XSS has been selling all year. The way you described it one would think it's sitting on shelves all year collecting dust. This hasn't been the case at all.
 

Topher

Gold Member
I love the games don't matter narrative like people are buying the XSS as a paper weight or something.

That really isn't the narrative though. Games obviously matter and there are multiple choices to play those games. The question is if availability were not a factor would XSS be on top right now. Put in terms of just Xbox. If XSX were readily available would XSS outsell it? I don't think that is a controversial question to ask at all.
 

DForce

NaughtyDog Defense Force
Seek therapy , the hurt is real.
XboxGAF has this strange belief that people are hurt when pointing out the obvious.

That's like saying Xbox fans are hurt whenever they point out that there's no digital data in the UK charts.

The most negative responses come from people who don't like the fact that people are pointing out that this is a result of stock issues.
 

ethomaz

Banned
The only one I have seen on shelves is the Series S, haven't seen the PS5 or XSX on shelves and this is the reason the S is doing so well sales wise
I should put "so well sales" in quotes.
Do you remember any previous console selling around 600k units in its second November? I'm pretty sure even Xbox One did way better than that.

The US console sales in November this year were bad... really bad... historical bad (I know the stocks were the big problem but that doesn't change how bad the sales were).
Consoles used to sell way more in one day in November than what they sold this year in the whole month.
 
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intbal

Member
I mean, its telling that the numbers didn’t start to rise until the holiday season. The thing has been sitting on shelves all year. I suspect the sales will drop again in January

Which shelves? Until three weeks ago, I had never seen an actual 9th gen console with my own eyes.
The whole world doesn't live in major metropolitan areas. Medium and small towns have had completely empty shelves in their "gaming" sections since Fall 2000.

Unrelated: I still wouldn't buy a Series S, even though they have finally shown up here. But that's because it has no disc drive and my library is 99% physical.
 

Dr Bass

Member
That really isn't the narrative though. Games obviously matter and there are multiple choices to play those games. The question is if availability were not a factor would XSS be on top right now. Put in terms of just Xbox. If XSX were readily available would XSS outsell it? I don't think that is a controversial question to ask at all.
We've had the answer to that every time there was more stock though, haven't we?
 
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