200°

U.S. video game hardware in 2012: Winners, losers and retirees

Gamasutra: Five million. That's the number of traditional consoles and handhelds that were sold in the U.S. during December 2012, based on the latest retail estimates released by the NPD Group, a sales tracking firm. I have accumulated reports of their estimates running back through 2000, and this is the first time in those 13 years that December hardware sales were so weak.

If you accept the idea that the hardware sales of the present are a harbinger of software sales in the future, these figures are surely an ominous sign. But measurements of software sales have become a much thornier problem, and I'm devoting an entire column to them later this week.

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gamasutra.com
chukamachine4120d ago

USA = zZZZZzzzz

USA Actually = bailed out.

Belking4119d ago (Edited 4119d ago )

Still the biggest most important market and spend more on games than any other. Judging by the numbers it seem like the US cares more about PS3 than Japan does.

GribbleGrunger4119d ago

What? It seems as is US cares more about PS3 than Japan does? Have you seen the size of Japan compared to America? Try Europe.

KrisButtar4120d ago

That's a lot of data there, good read. Would be nice if the world wide sales were in there too

iNathan4120d ago ShowReplies(1)
horndog4119d ago

Vita is a joke! NA is the biggest gaming market. Pro xbox though

CommonSenseGamer4119d ago (Edited 4119d ago )

In terms of the original Xbox the 360 has been a real success for MS, especially since they had to dig deep to cover their completely avoidable RROD debacle. As for the Vita, it has gone nowhere fast and unless Sony relaunch it then it will fail. I know Sony/Vita supporters will disagree but nothing about year 1 sales suggest it offers what consumers are looking for. Time is running out as well since later this year Tegra 4 powered devices will hit the market and totally strip away any notion that the Vita is the most powerful handheld gaming device. Honestly, if Sony had opened the Vita up to be compatible with Google Play as well then they would have been onto a winner!

tubers4119d ago

The VITA with complete Google Play access would have undercut the whole ph/ablet market. (May or may not undermine PSV/PSN/PSP Mini games because of how cheap Android games are-- debatable)

But, Sony was pretty stubborn. Likely because it will eat against their less than stellar (compared to the competition) tablets and PMP markets.

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50°

Pacific Rim Pinball comes to Pinball FX

This could be fun as they make great tables. Go big or go extinct. Prime your senses for a neural handshake and step into the cockpit of a Jaeger. It is on you to cancel the apocalypse when Pacific Rim Pinball comes to Pinball FX on May 16.

190°

Microsoft’s Surface and Xbox hardware revenues take a big hit in Q3

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.

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theverge.com
darthv7215h ago

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.

solideagle2h ago

you should apply in MS PR team buddy, I think you will do a great job in my humble opinion :)

Cacabunga1h ago

I can tell people like you are an absolute minority..

If service is up means their fans and fanboys accepted this model and subscribed to it. The near future you will see a big decline because the service is saturated.

shinoff21831h ago

But that's been ms for years. When things aren't going their way they try to change the way things are said. For instance console sales are down, they stop telling how many sold instead telling us how many hours spent in halo or headshots. So it makes sense console sales down just say people are playing on more devices then previous. What they won't say is how many xbox players jumped ship to ps5.

purple1014h ago

Xbox hardware revenue tanks to lowest point of Xbox Series generation

Profchaos4h ago

I'm not surprised surface is struggling they aren't relevant anymore

XBManiac3h ago

Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.

SimpleDad3h ago(Edited 3h ago)

"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.

purple1012h ago

Activision: "we gonna need a bigger rucksack/backpack please"

Microsoft: "why's that"

Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'

Profchaos2h ago(Edited 2h ago)

Top brass have also wanted to start seeing returns on the 100 billion they have put into various Xbox related moves so seeing more multiplatform games is highly likely especially from abk

It's basically saying that PlayStation is the reason Xbox is afloat right now thinks to Ps5 versions of COD

Kornholic1h ago

So basically PS and PC gamers' money is keeping Xbox on life support.

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130°

Why Monopolies In Gaming Must Not Be Allowed

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.

thorstein13h ago

Shouldn't be allowed in any field.

Inverno10h ago

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.

jwillj2k48h ago

Eventually they’ll realize the value is with the employee not the company. Buying an IP means nothing if the people who contributed are let go. They’ll get it one day.

MrCrimson8h ago

tech is different because they buy threats and then kill them. Twitter bought Vine and did nothing with it. Despite people seemingly liking it. Could've had tiktok a decade before bytedance. go figure.

Zenzuu9h ago

Monopolies shouldn't be allowed regardless. Not just for gaming.

MrCrimson8h ago

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" -