The video game console cycle typically lasts about five years before a new generation of hardware hits the market. Sony brought the PS3 to market more than six years after its predecessor, the PlayStation 2, debuted. By contrast, Microsoft replaced its original Xbox with the Xbox 360 after just four years.
IDC predicts the worldwide installed base of PS3 consoles will reach 23.8 million this year, up from 8.5 million last year. It projects Xbox 360 hitting 26.3 million, vs. 17.8 million in 2007.
Both, however, will trail Nintendo's value-priced Wii video game console, which is targeting casual gamers instead of the hard-core gamers Sony and Microsoft are pursuing. IDC forecasts the Wii reaching a worldwide installed base this year of 43.7 million, compared with 19.9 million last year.
Gary Green said: You’ll be forgiven if you haven’t heard of the Ar Tonelico trilogy. The previous two games arrived so late in the PS2’s life-cycle that they simply went unnoticed. While most were tinkering with their shiny new PS3s, Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia and Ar Tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica were being ‘returned to sender’ by your local Game stores. Luckily, you won’t need to have played them to understand and appreciate this third and final chapter, Qoga (pronounced k-yoga) tells the story of a racial war between humans and Reyvateils, a breed of biologically produced female cyborgs capable of reproduction, while still having a digital mind.
Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.
Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.
Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.
"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."
That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.
As of right now, there are no monopolies in the games industry, and for the sake of the medium as a whole, they never should either.
And yet the biggest tech companies in America are essentially that. They buy up all the small comps only to kill them off and steal what they have, and if they can't buy em they bleed them to death.
They buy IPs not talent. That's why these buyouts never work and the IPs die. Right now it's too expensive to develop games - but I expect that to shift maybe as AI tools can make it easier. The best games have been indie games for awhile as big developers fuck their ips to death with "games as a service" -
cause yesterday, you said: "do u know how many years it's going to take the ??? to catch up to the ???....lol"
More like months....
there's no doubt that the PS3 has a ton of momentum right now, but it will be interesting to see if Wii sales ever slow down.
I just don't get it, why is it that cheapest Xbox 360 model starting at $279.99 (only $30 bucks more than the Wii) isn't selling 300,000+ units every month in the United States.
The Xbox 360 just BARELY outsold the PS3 in April by just 900 consoles and in May, the PS3 outsold the Xbox 360 by 20,000+ units and the Playstation 3 still is the more expensive console selling at a $400+ dollar price point for the cheapest console. It's obvious that people are choosing the Playstation 3 for a reason and I think that it's because a lot of the Playstation brand loyalty is remaining intact.
But I do believe that Sony could easily outsell the Xbox 360 by just staying out in the market longer just like the Analyst stated. Microsoft said that the Xbox 360 will have "a longer tail" than the first Xbox, but I honestly don't expect the 360 to be out on the market for no more than 4-5 more years. The PS3 will be out on the market for another 7-8 years at least due to the 10 year lifecycle and because of the fact that the PS3 is literally future proof.
the real question is will the WII even last 5 years. they just released all their exclusives and all we are left with getting now is shovelware.
Goddam where do they find these analysts? In the rehab centres?
If the ps3 wants to get to 23.5 mill sold by the end of 2008, they will need to sell 11.5 million units in the next six months. (oh dear)
Someone at IDC has been smoking the crack pipe and will be looking for a new job shortly methinks ;P