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NPD Sales Results for October 2014 [Up3: All of Nintendo's 3DS million sellers]

thuway

Member
judging by the best sellers list on Amazon as of this moment and while its technically not Black Friday yet, Xbox One has fortified its momentum

No one is denying Xbox One will sell gangbusters, but let's be real here - if Sony sells 80% of whatever Xbox One is selling at, profits, AND manages to hold up during the critical price fall off period - it will say a lot about just how strong mind share is with PS4.

Also - Black Friday is the day when majority of those consoles will truly hit.
 

Elandyll

Banned
judging by the best sellers list on Amazon as of this moment and while its technically not Black Friday yet, Xbox One has fortified its momentum

People are holding for the BF PS4 deal (a $100 value) while people aren't waiting for a XB1 deal ($20 off). Heck, apparently Amazon has already applied the BF deal to the XB1 it looks like. Tonight and tomorrow are going to be nuts.
 
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Just wanted to make a post before Black Friday nightmares begin. Be safe anyone going out to shop (especially those of you in the northeast like myself, where we got some serious snow and rain yesterday!).

Remember, that no matter how stupid the crowds get, just do your shopping and get out. For both the sanity of the staff at the stores, and your own. No product is worth injury.

Also, those of you heading into retail chains, please show some empathy for the staff. Most of us aren't exactly keen on working on thanksgiving day, but we're still going to be there.

Take care guys. I'll see you all on the other side.
Good luck out there!!
 
No one is denying Xbox One will sell gangbusters, but let's be real here - if Sony sells 80% of whatever Xbox One is selling at, profits, AND manages to hold up during the critical price fall off period - it will say a lot about just how strong mind share is with PS4.

Also - Black Friday is the day when majority of those consoles will truly hit.

Its going to be interesting
 

quetz67

Banned
No one is denying Xbox One will sell gangbusters, but let's be real here - if Sony sells 80% of whatever Xbox One is selling at, profits, AND manages to hold up during the critical price fall off period - it will say a lot about just how strong mind share is with PS4.

This! Winning November means nothing, not with such aggressive prices, but without a plan to carry that momentum into next year (or even December).
 

orochi91

Member
judging by the best sellers list on Amazon as of this moment and while its technically not Black Friday yet, Xbox One has fortified its momentum

The writing has been on the wall for some time now, with regards to Sony losing this month.

It would be the upset of the year if MS somehow does not win November NPD.
 
Xbox will sell gangbusters and even if they win November and Decmeber MS still loses, how much profit are they sacrificing ? I know we probably won't ever find out but it likely has to be A LOT !!!
 
MS is definitely sacrificing profit, without question. They're trying to gain mindshare more than anything. They don't have to worry about profit too much since the overall business of Microsoft is doing well. I think they just passed Google and is the third largest company in the world in terms of value and market cap only behind Apple and Exxon Mobile
 
MS is definitely sacrificing profit, without question. They're trying to gain mindshare more than anything. They don't have to worry about profit too much since the overall business of Microsoft is doing well. I think they just passed Google and is the third largest company in the world in terms of value and market cap only behind Apple and Exxon Mobile

I don't even... Huh...

And you just think the software divison of Microsoft is just gonna continue to prop up other divisons bleeding money and no one is gonna notice ? That's not how it works bro
 
And you just think the software divison of Microsoft is just gonna continue to prop up other divisons bleeding money and no one is gonna notice ? That's not how it works bro

It would (and it is how it works) if there's a larger plan here. I.e. living room trojan horse. Which Microsoft is banking on (they've said so in the past).

And let's be honest here: Microsoft may be second place right now but they're nowhere near Wii U or Original Xbox levels of losing.

More XBOs sold = More Live subs. They will always make money one way or another.

I'm sure they'll sit down eventually, look at the numbers and the new CEO will determine if they want to continue the race for the living room. To be honest, the way Sony is looking this day (financially speaking), Microsoft would be foolish to withdraw from the race. They can out-money Sony, and then who would be left to compete for Living room dominance? Nintendo? Apple?
 

Xando

Member
It would (and it is how it works) if there's a larger plan here. I.e. living room trojan horse. Which Microsoft is banking on (they've said so in the past).

And let's be honest here: Microsoft may be second place right now but they're nowhere near Wii U or Original Xbox levels of losing.

More XBOs sold = More Live subs. They will always make money one way or another.

I'm sure they'll sit down eventually, look at the numbers and the new CEO will determine if they want to continue the race for the living room. To be honest, the way Sony is looking this day (financially speaking), Microsoft would be foolish to withdraw from the race. They can out-money Sony, and then who would be left to compete for Living room dominance? Nintendo? Apple?

This is exactly the problem Microsoft has and i don't know why so many people on GAF think this will work.
They have tried the "throw money against the problem" tactic with windows phone and surface and it didn't solve shit.

Do you really think investors will allow them to throw billions of dollars away to "out-money Sony" ?
 

Loydx2

Banned
judging by the best sellers list on Amazon as of this moment and while its technically not Black Friday yet, Xbox One has fortified its momentum

I agree, X1 is 5 right now and PS4 is 23. X1 Kinect is 20. Its selling fast right now

Yes X1 is 10 and PS4 is 14 for November but there are more SKUs selling well.

CoD Bundle is 40 , then Unity Kinect is 51 then Ps4 Destiny 54. X1 also sold a lot of regular console and Sunset consoles.

X1 got it locked down
 
don't forget the bellbottom market!

You guys keep making fun, I'll have the last laugh.

M0hnowY.jpg


This is exactly the problem Microsoft has and i don't know why so many people on GAF think this will work.
They have tried the "throw money against the problem" tactic with windows phone and surface and it didn't solve shit.
I can't honestly say what will happen in the future but there is no way, NO WAY you can compare Sony and Apple with a straight face.

What I'm saying is: Sony has more market share at the moment but the overall company is hurt bad. Microsoft could (again, I'm not fortune teller) keep throwing money at the issue *because* Sony might eventually run out. When it comes to Phones and Tablets the same strategy does not apply (as it didn't with the Zune, MP3 player market). Apple and Samsung/Google/Android have the market by the balls and are nowhere near Sony-levels of financial hurt.
Do you really think investors will allow them to throw billions of dollars away to "out-money Sony" ?
Honestly, I don't know. But if the CEO is pushing in that direction and the majority of the board follows, then who's to say it won't happen? I can't say either way. What I am saying is, I wouldn't be surprised if that's Microsoft strategy, and as long as they're not in a distant third place (i.e. Wii U/Original Xbox) I can't see why they would withdraw.
 

*Splinter

Member
you understand 7000 is a tiny number to the sales of BF right?
Yes, but I'm guessing the XO-PS4 difference in Amazon is also tiny compared to BF. My only point was that he is looking at a very small slice of (not particularly representative) data and pretending it was the end of the story.

But yes, that 7k will be pretty much insignificant to the overall numbers.

(Also I thought he was talking about the hourlies, which would be directly affected by the deal I posted, but rereading his post I might be wrong about that)
 

Xando

Member
I can't honestly say what will happen in the future but there is no way, NO WAY you can compare Sony and Apple with a straight face.

What I'm saying is: Sony has more market share at the moment but the overall company is hurt bad. Microsoft could (again, I'm not fortune teller) keep throwing money at the issue *because* Sony might eventually run out. When it comes to Phones and Tablets the same strategy does not apply (as it didn't with the Zune, MP3 player market). Apple and Samsung/Google/Android have the market by the balls and are nowhere near Sony-levels of financial hurt.

Honestly, I don't know. But if the CEO is pushing in that direction and the majority of the board follows, then who's to say it won't happen? I can't say either way. What I am saying is, I wouldn't be surprised if that's Microsoft strategy, and as long as they're not in a distant third place (i.e. Wii U/Original Xbox) I can't see why they would withdraw.

Playstation is Sonys 2nd best division (profit wise) right now and a core business for them, the same can't be said for MS Xbox is no where near as important to MS as PS is to Sony.
Again you argue to spend BILLIONS of dollars to maybe crumble their oponnent who has a lion share of the market and arguably a better outlook on sales potential in this industry. Investors want to see profit right now and not in maybe 10 years when they wore down Sony.
 
I assume this is a joke but I'm not bright enough to understand it. :p

It is, and I'm sure that you are, but I'll happily elaborate in the interests of discussion;
The TV as the "gatekeeper to the living room" for electronics is a concept whose time has passed in a world where the average family literally have a screen each, and entertainment is now not just primarily consumed on an individual basis rather than a shared basis, but is actually expected to be consumed on those terms.

What made a lot of sense when the first Xbox was launched - prevent the Playstation becoming the 'good enough' computing solution in home electronics and threatening sales of Windows - makes a lot less sense in the modern world where the "good enough" computing solution is a device that is never hooked up to a TV but is carried around with you everywhere you go in your pocket.
And also not running Windows in any form.
And also with a market penetration that far exceeds anything the home PC market could ever have dreamed of achieving.

I mean, I don't think it's widely known, and if it is widely known it is not properly comprehended, but the smartphone is the first invention in the entire of human history that has reached a 1:1 ratio of consumers to people who are alive.
TV never did that. Radio never did that. Refrigerators never did that. Microwaves never did that.

There are schools in Africa where as an incentive to get children to attend they are offered free phone charging, because smart phones are easy to come by but electricity is not.

This is the world we live in - it's not a world where which device is hooked up to the first HDMI input on your TV is a battle that's particularly worth fighting over.
 

Serenity

Member
I agree, X1 is 5 right now and PS4 is 23. X1 Kinect is 20. Its selling fast right now

Yes X1 is 10 and PS4 is 14 for November but there are more SKUs selling well.

CoD Bundle is 40 , then Unity Kinect is 51 then Ps4 Destiny 54. X1 also sold a lot of regular console and Sunset consoles.

X1 got it locked down


Let's just wait to see the placings once the once the GTA bundle goes live. Its no coincidence that both GTA and Ps4 started to drop the closer we got to black friday.

Also does anyone think that Ps4 or Xone will beat their launch sales. I think it will be close but they both have the advantage of having more supply and being on sale the entire month.
 
It would (and it is how it works) if there's a larger plan here. I.e. living room trojan horse. Which Microsoft is banking on (they've said so in the past).

And let's be honest here: Microsoft may be second place right now but they're nowhere near Wii U or Original Xbox levels of losing.

More XBOs sold = More Live subs. They will always make money one way or another.

I'm sure they'll sit down eventually, look at the numbers and the new CEO will determine if they want to continue the race for the living room. To be honest, the way Sony is looking this day (financially speaking), Microsoft would be foolish to withdraw from the race. They can out-money Sony, and then who would be left to compete for Living room dominance? Nintendo? Apple?

That money doesn't mean much if people don't want the product. Someone can slash prices on a Prius for me to $100 and I still wouldn't buy the sonofagun; it's just not my kind of car.

An extreme example, but for a lot of people it's more than how low the price can go and how much the company can afford to lose that determines which way they're going with a buy. And there's only but so much of a limit MS can use their money as leverage before they see themselves back in court.....I don't think they want a Round 2 of the anti-trust lawsuits. Nor do I.
 

Percy

Banned
I agree, X1 is 5 right now and PS4 is 23. X1 Kinect is 20. Its selling fast right now

Yes X1 is 10 and PS4 is 14 for November but there are more SKUs selling well.

CoD Bundle is 40 , then Unity Kinect is 51 then Ps4 Destiny 54. X1 also sold a lot of regular console and Sunset consoles.

X1 got it locked down

Man... I kinda wish PS4 did have a shot at outselling Xbox One this month because I have a feeling right in my bones that the meltdowns we'd get would be the stuff of legends... "Age of Sony is done" and "Shot themselves in the foot." tier legends.
 
It is, and I'm sure that you are, but I'll happily elaborate in the interests of discussion;
The TV as the "gatekeeper to the living room" for electronics is a concept whose time has passed in a world where the average family literally have a screen each, and entertainment is now not just primarily consumed on an individual basis rather than a shared basis, but is actually expected to be consumed on those terms.

What made a lot of sense when the first Xbox was launched - prevent the Playstation becoming the 'good enough' computing solution in home electronics and threatening sales of Windows - makes a lot less sense in the modern world where the "good enough" computing solution is a device that is never hooked up to a TV but is carried around with you everywhere you go in your pocket.
And also not running Windows in any form.
And also with a market penetration that far exceeds anything the home PC market could ever have dreamed of achieving.

I mean, I don't think it's widely known, and if it is widely known it is not properly comprehended, but the smartphone is the first invention in the entire of human history that has reached a 1:1 ratio of consumers to people who are alive.
TV never did that. Radio never did that. Refrigerators never did that. Microwaves never did that.

There are schools in Africa where as an incentive to get children to attend they are offered free phone charging, because smart phones are easy to come by but electricity is not.

This is the world we live in - it's not a world where which device is hooked up to the first HDMI input on your TV is a battle that's particularly worth fighting over.
Thanks for taking the time to explain this, I honestly appreciate it.

I would say that I agree with you in that TV-entertainment as the trojan horse is an outdated concept, and I would clarify that in my post I never said that (TV, specifically). It's likely that what I'm assuming is Microsoft's end game is either just wishful thinking on my end or just me being delusional. It could be both to be honest. But, the fact is that Microsoft was touting this line right before the console launched (http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/8/5075216/xbox-one-tv-microsofts-plan-to-take-over-the-living-room). Granted, it could be just marketing talk (very likely), but they continue to push towards the AR-Living Room scenario. Is it an outdated concept of the future? Perhaps. I don't know that Microsoft thinks so (or doesn't, for that matter). I understand that smart phones and isolated experiences trump the old "getting the whole family together" and/or "tethered entertainment", but on the other hand I wouldn't completely ignore the fact that Microsoft wants their software to be ubiquitous, and that having a device which responds to your voice, gestures, presence, etc, AND manages your cable content, games, etc may very well be the proverbial foot in the door for the whole home automation craze.

Yes, not everybody owns a house, a TV or has the money to invest in home automation systems/services, but then again, I don't Microsoft is going after the "kids without electricity in Africa" market. To say that home/living room entertainment is dead (like pagers) is kind of... I don't know, off, perhaps?
That money doesn't mean much if people don't want the product. Someone can slash prices on a Prius for me to $100 and I still wouldn't buy the sonofagun; it's just not my kind of car.
So you're saying me that 4+ million consoles sold (is that what the number is at the moment) means nobody wants the Xbox One?
An extreme example, but for a lot of people it's more than how low the price can go and how much the company can afford to lose that determines which way they're going with a buy. And there's only but so much of a limit MS can use their money as leverage before they see themselves back in court.....I don't think they want a Round 2 of the anti-trust lawsuits. Nor do I.
Trust me, I know that, if not right now, sometime soon the heads of Microsoft will sit down and talk about sales, profit and the direction (or lack of) of the Entertainment and Devices Xbox Division. And let's say there's no higher goal. There's no Living Room Trojan Horse ideal anymore. Let's say Microsoft just wants to sell games and consoles. And they're not making money at it. Let's say this is a repeat of the Zune. They *will* cut their loses and drop the division/product, like they've done in the past. I'm not arguing that they won't. I'm just saying that Microsoft is not afraid to lose money as long as they think they will make back more. Microsoft lost boatloads of money with the Original Xbox (and I wouldn't be surprised if they did with 360 as well), but I'm certain they also made A LOT of money with Xbox Live/Services in general. I don't think they recouped the loses though, but perhaps that's part of their long-term goal. Otherwise why would they enter the race again?

Let me be clear here: I don't think Microsoft can (or will) continue to throw money at an issue until money starts bouncing back. But I do think that they're not afraid to try until they know for certain it's not going to work. I don't think that they are in a position where they can say "you know what Bill? I don't think this whole Xbox thing is going to work out for us. Let's axe it." *If* (when?) that time comes, I'm certain they'll take it behind the woodshed. No tears.

Playstation is Sonys 2nd best division (profit wise) right now and a core business for them, the same can't be said for MS Xbox is no where near as important to MS as PS is to Sony.
Again you argue to spend BILLIONS of dollars to maybe crumble their oponnent who has a lion share of the market and arguably a better outlook on sales potential in this industry. Investors want to see profit right now and not in maybe 10 years when they wore down Sony.
As I've said before, I don't have a way of knowing one way or another what's going to happen in the end (obviously), so I can't say for certain what's going to happen. But if you look at Microsoft you know it is not afraid to try things out until they don't work for them. I said so above, and it's true. Do you think Microsoft "knew" it was going to take the MP3 device crown from Apple with the Zune? Or the Tablet crown from Apple/Samsung with the Surface? They didn't know. And it didn't work out, of course. I don't think they knew it wasn't going to work. I think they looked at the market, hired some pretty smart people, ran some projections and it looked like something they could afford to try. And then they tried and didn't like the outcome and that was it (for the Zune, not yet the Surface).

So yeah, my argument is that Sony is making money with PlayStation but losing it everywhere else. They're cutting/closing/selling divisions to try and save the ship. Microsoft has deep pockets. IF (huge if, I know) Microsoft (and when I say Microsoft I mean investors, CEO, etc) want to stay in the market, they can. They can afford to, IF they see value in it. If they don't (let's say Nadella + board say games/living room/TV is a waste of money and time and they should go back to software and services) then they'll cut it. As simple as that.

So I guess what I'm saying in the end is: Microsoft is a cool guy and he doesn't afraid to spend money.
Dual MS/Sony press release

The console wars are over
We all go out and sing Kumbaya around the campfire while Nintendo sullenly watches from the shadows. Biding its time and knowing that when the Dark Lord Yamauchi returns, all of us will crawl in fear like the worms that we are.
 
Thanks for taking the time to explain this, I honestly appreciate it.

I would say that I agree with you in that TV-entertainment as the trojan horse is an outdated concept, and I would clarify that in my post I never said that (TV, specifically). It's likely that what I'm assuming is Microsoft's end game is either just wishful thinking on my end or just me being delusional. It could be both to be honest. But, the fact is that Microsoft was touting this line right before the console launched (http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/8/5075216/xbox-one-tv-microsofts-plan-to-take-over-the-living-room). Granted, it could be just marketing talk (very likely), but they continue to push towards the AR-Living Room scenario. Is it an outdated concept of the future? Perhaps. I don't know that Microsoft thinks so (or doesn't, for that matter). I understand that smart phones and isolated experiences trump the old "getting the whole family together" and/or "tethered entertainment", but on the other hand I wouldn't completely ignore the fact that Microsoft wants their software to be ubiquitous, and that having a device which responds to your voice, gestures, presence, etc, AND manages your cable content, games, etc may very well be the proverbial foot in the door for the whole home automation craze.

Yes, not everybody owns a house, a TV or has the money to invest in home automation systems/services, but then again, I don't Microsoft is going after the "kids without electricity in Africa" market. To say that home/living room entertainment is dead (like pagers) is kind of... I don't know, off, perhaps?

So you're saying me that 4+ million consoles sold (is that what the number is at the moment) means nobody wants the Xbox One?

Trust me, I know that, if not right now, sometime soon the heads of Microsoft will sit down and talk about sales, profit and the direction (or lack of) of the Entertainment and Devices Xbox Division. And let's say there's no higher goal. There's no Living Room Trojan Horse ideal anymore. Let's say Microsoft just wants to sell games and consoles. And they're not making money at it. Let's say this is a repeat of the Zune. They *will* cut their loses and drop the division/product, like they've done in the past. I'm not arguing that they won't. I'm just saying that Microsoft is not afraid to lose money as long as they think they will make back more. Microsoft lost boatloads of money with the Original Xbox (and I wouldn't be surprised if they did with 360 as well), but I'm certain they also made A LOT of money with Xbox Live/Services in general. I don't think they recouped the loses though, but perhaps that's part of their long-term goal. Otherwise why would they enter the race again?

Let me be clear here: I don't think Microsoft can (or will) continue to throw money at an issue until money starts bouncing back. But I do think that they're not afraid to try until they know for certain it's not going to work. I don't think that they are in a position where they can say "you know what Bill? I don't think this whole Xbox thing is going to work out for us. Let's axe it." *If* (when?) that time comes, I'm certain they'll take it behind the woodshed. No tears.


As I've said before, I don't have a way of knowing one way or another what's going to happen in the end (obviously), so I can't say for certain what's going to happen. But if you look at Microsoft you know it is not afraid to try things out until they don't work for them. I said so above, and it's true. Do you think Microsoft "knew" it was going to take the MP3 device crown from Apple with the Zune? Or the Tablet crown from Apple/Samsung with the Surface? They didn't know. And it didn't work out, of course. I don't think they knew it wasn't going to work. I think they looked at the market, hired some pretty smart people, ran some projections and it looked like something they could afford to try. And then they tried and didn't like the outcome and that was it (for the Zune, not yet the Surface).

So yeah, my argument is that Sony is making money with PlayStation but losing it everywhere else. They're cutting/closing/selling divisions to try and save the ship. Microsoft has deep pockets. IF (huge if, I know) Microsoft (and when I say Microsoft I mean investors, CEO, etc) want to stay in the market, they can. They can afford to, IF they see value in it. If they don't (let's say Nadella + board say games/living room/TV is a waste of money and time and they should go back to software and services) then they'll cut it. As simple as that.

So I guess what I'm saying in the end is: Microsoft is a cool guy and he doesn't afraid to spend money.

We all go out and sing Kumbaya while Nintendo sullenly watches from the shadows. Biding its time and knowing that when the Dark Lord Yamauchi returns, all of us will crawl in fear like the worms that we are.

CEO's for most large Fortune 500 corporations are just a public faces with little to no power the people who wield all the power are boards members/investors.
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
It is, and I'm sure that you are, but I'll happily elaborate in the interests of discussion;
The TV as the "gatekeeper to the living room" for electronics is a concept whose time has passed in a world where the average family literally have a screen each, and entertainment is now not just primarily consumed on an individual basis rather than a shared basis, but is actually expected to be consumed on those terms.

What made a lot of sense when the first Xbox was launched - prevent the Playstation becoming the 'good enough' computing solution in home electronics and threatening sales of Windows - makes a lot less sense in the modern world where the "good enough" computing solution is a device that is never hooked up to a TV but is carried around with you everywhere you go in your pocket.
And also not running Windows in any form.
And also with a market penetration that far exceeds anything the home PC market could ever have dreamed of achieving.

I mean, I don't think it's widely known, and if it is widely known it is not properly comprehended, but the smartphone is the first invention in the entire of human history that has reached a 1:1 ratio of consumers to people who are alive.
TV never did that. Radio never did that. Refrigerators never did that. Microwaves never did that.

There are schools in Africa where as an incentive to get children to attend they are offered free phone charging, because smart phones are easy to come by but electricity is not.

This is the world we live in - it's not a world where which device is hooked up to the first HDMI input on your TV is a battle that's particularly worth fighting over.

I agree with the general sentiment of your post, but I do think the whole 'TV is going away, everyone is cable cutting, everything is on demand' is hugely overblown. Maybe that is a behaviour of a very small niche but it isn't anywhere near mainstream. I do agree with the 'almost one screen per person' but how is that much different to having multiple TVs per household?

Arguably the portability of screens could bring people back into the living room, sitting around the TV - albeit using their second screen more than concentrating on what is on the box.
 
Speaking of which: How deep will this 2 months price cut & free games deal cut into MS profits?

Xbox will sell gangbusters and even if they win November and Decmeber MS still loses, how much profit are they sacrificing ? I know we probably won't ever find out but it likely has to be A LOT !!!
We won't know for sure until the quarter's financial statement comes out. But Microsoft's own estimate is that the incentives this holiday will cost them well over a billion dollars in lost revenue.
 

TomShoe

Banned
I agree, X1 is 5 right now and PS4 is 23. X1 Kinect is 20. Its selling fast right now

Yes X1 is 10 and PS4 is 14 for November but there are more SKUs selling well.

CoD Bundle is 40 , then Unity Kinect is 51 then Ps4 Destiny 54. X1 also sold a lot of regular console and Sunset consoles.

X1 got it locked down

Vanilla PS4 dropping fast, I wonder when the Black Friday bundle is going up.
 
We won't know for sure until the quarter's financial statement comes out. But Microsoft's own estimate is that the incentives this holiday will cost them well over a billion dollars in lost revenue.

For the quarter ending Sept 30 2014 MS generated a little over 23 billion in revenue, them sacrificing a little over a billion won't have a negligible impact on them. Like I said, they're sacrificing potential revenue for mindshare and they are in the financial position to do so
 

wachie

Member
Most likely XB1 will win Nov and the (NPD, BF PR) threads will be the usual fare.There will be a small minority claiming GAF is in meltdown mode but mostly people will be fine.
 
I don't Microsoft is going after the "kids without electricity in Africa" market. To say that home/living room entertainment is dead (like pagers) is kind of... I don't know, off, perhaps?

Microsoft as a larger technology company - not as a videogame hardware manufacturer - is absolutely going after Africa, just as they are going after China and just as they are going after India.
Mobile technology allows for software presence in areas of the world where it has never been possible to have a presence before due to issues with infrastructure.

This is why "capture the living room" can be argued as not providing enough benefit to shareholders; sure, they can bleed themselves out in a price war with Sony and capture the, what, 50 million gamers market? 100 million? Maybe 150 million?
Then what? That 150 million aren't going to buy their music solely from the Xbox marketplace. they're not going to buy their films solely from it. They might buy their games from it, but that's literally the only market locked down.

Alternatively that money spent fighting Sony for a war for the living room could be spent fighting to own the only digital marketplace available for the 1 Billion people living in Africa. Or the 1.2 Billion in India. Or the 1.3 billion in China.
Which is bigger business? Selling all your games and the occasional movie rental to maybe 100 million gamers, or selling every piece of software to the 3.5 billion people in emerging markets?

I agree with the general sentiment of your post, but I do think the whole 'TV is going away, everyone is cable cutting, everything is on demand' is hugely overblown. Maybe that is a behaviour of a very small niche but it isn't anywhere near mainstream. I do agree with the 'almost one screen per person' but how is that much different to having multiple TVs per household?

It's not particularly different to having multiple TVs in a household.
The concept of 3 screens and a cloud was highly flawed when it was first introduced, and it just moves further away from real world purchase behaviours with each year. People don't all congregate around a single living room screen and share the experience as their routine behaviour any more.

Yeah, you might do at the holidays, or to watch a new movie, or some other 'special case' example, but 'routine' consumption just isn't done that way any more for the majority of households.
 

Pezus

Member
I agree, X1 is 5 right now and PS4 is 23. X1 Kinect is 20. Its selling fast right now

Yes X1 is 10 and PS4 is 14 for November but there are more SKUs selling well.

CoD Bundle is 40 , then Unity Kinect is 51 then Ps4 Destiny 54. X1 also sold a lot of regular console and Sunset consoles.

X1 got it locked down

Eh, BF deals for XB1 are already available on Amazon which explains the rise. PS4 still has no deals
 
Playstation is Sonys 2nd best division (profit wise) right now and a core business for them, the same can't be said for MS Xbox is no where near as important to MS as PS is to Sony.
Again you argue to spend BILLIONS of dollars to maybe crumble their oponnent who has a lion share of the market and arguably a better outlook on sales potential in this industry. Investors want to see profit right now and not in maybe 10 years when they wore down Sony.

We're you advocating Sony getting out of gaming last gen when the PS3 was a bleeding billions and tanking Sony?
 

Game Guru

Member
I mean, I don't think it's widely known, and if it is widely known it is not properly comprehended, but the smartphone is the first invention in the entire of human history that has reached a 1:1 ratio of consumers to people who are alive.
TV never did that. Radio never did that. Refrigerators never did that. Microwaves never did that.

There are schools in Africa where as an incentive to get children to attend they are offered free phone charging, because smart phones are easy to come by but electricity is not.

This is the world we live in - it's not a world where which device is hooked up to the first HDMI input on your TV is a battle that's particularly worth fighting over.

Alternatively that money spent fighting Sony for a war for the living room could be spent fighting to own the only digital marketplace available for the 1 Billion people living in Africa. Or the 1.2 Billion in India. Or the 1.3 billion in China.
Which is bigger business? Selling all your games and the occasional movie rental to maybe 100 million gamers, or selling every piece of software to the 3.5 billion people in emerging markets?

I think you are letting the success of smartphones blind you... Kids in Africa may have smartphones, but how much are they actually going to spend on software for smartphones? How about kids in India? How about kids in China? Smartphones might be in the hands of 3.5 billion people, but they aren't selling software to 3.5 billion people... Heck, they aren't selling software at all. Instead, mobile software is primarily being funded by the tiny minority of customers who pay into microtransactions but given out free to everyone.

Meanwhile, with a console, Microsoft gets revenue from not only microtransactions, but from software sales, DLC, and the subscription to Xbox Live. A smaller, niche userbase compared to mobile, but one willing to pay more money.
 
For the quarter ending Sept 30 2014 MS generated a little over 23 billion in revenue, them sacrificing a little over a billion won't have a negligible impact on them. Like I said, they're sacrificing potential revenue for mindshare and they are in the financial position to do so

Your logic about business cultures makes zero sense bro just stahp.

MS has lost around 3-4 billion over the last 10 fiscal years that number doesn't include things like this generations losses,research & development, hardware production, marketing and PR.

I believe the Xbox 360 sold 80+Million consoles last generation,So if MS is enough lucky to sell 50-60 million this generation 20-30 million less consoles is a HUGE differential, All the while MS has to start pumping billions into the Develop of next Generation in which should be ramping up sometime in the next year probably if it hasnt started already.
 
So MS has unleashed their BF price before BF even begun, and caught Sony napping. Sony needs to unleash the kraken now because that $329.99 X1 bundle is killing it and grabbing extra sales before BF has even begun.

No wonder MS stuffed the channels with that 10m shipped figure.

Sony, stop sitting on your hands for fuck's sake.
 

Miles X

Member
So MS has unleashed their BF price before BF even begun, and caught Sony napping. Sony needs to unleash the kraken now because that $329.99 X1 bundle is killing it and grabbing extra sales before BF has even begun.

No wonder MS stuffed the channels with that 10m shipped figure.


Sony, stop sitting on your hands for fuck's sake.

You wouldn't think so the way it's going out of stock everywhere.
 

Welfare

Member
So MS has unleashed their BF price before BF even begun, and caught Sony napping. Sony needs to unleash the kraken now because that $329.99 X1 bundle is killing it and grabbing extra sales before BF has even begun.

No wonder MS stuffed the channels with that 10m shipped figure.

Sony, stop sitting on your hands for fuck's sake.

We only know that they are approaching 10m. They haven't said they have hit it yet.
 

Daemul

Member
Most likely XB1 will win Nov and the (NPD, BF PR) threads will be the usual fare.There will be a small minority claiming GAF is in meltdown mode but mostly people will be fine.

This is NeoGAF, there's a meltdown for everything, even when we already know in advance that something would happen. I've seen megathreads full of people complaining and losing their shit about stuff we learnt about months ago, e.g. exclusive PS content in the Destiny expansions.
 

Welfare

Member
Most likely XB1 will win Nov and the (NPD, BF PR) threads will be the usual fare.There will be a small minority claiming GAF is in meltdown mode but mostly people will be fine.

Meltdown mode will happen if the One outsells the PS4 by a huge amount.
 

On Demand

Banned
So MS has unleashed their BF price before BF even begun, and caught Sony napping. Sony needs to unleash the kraken now because that $329.99 X1 bundle is killing it and grabbing extra sales before BF has even begun.

No wonder MS stuffed the channels with that 10m shipped figure.

Sony, stop sitting on your hands for fuck's sake.

Just went up-

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O9JLAX4/?tag=neogaf0e-20

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/promo/black-friday-video-games-129274

Some you sure know how to overreact.
 
This is NeoGAF, there's a meltdown for everything, even when we already know in advance that something would happen. I've seen megathreads full of people complaining about stuff we found out months ago, e.g. exclusive PS content in the Destiny expansions.

Well, the way things are going the meltdowns from yahoo and Forbes contributors could be even nuttier than anything from GAF. At least here we know to expect crazy.

I'd like to see the Wii U win because I dreamt of the OT: "November NPD: Do U believe in miracles?!?!?"
 
Anyone have BF carnage reports or pictures?
It should already be started for places like wallmart.
We are here for a tv. I haven't seen any consoles out yet, I think they are keeping them in the back till 6pm. But I did hear a lady asking about where to find the X1 deal.
 
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