170°

Can, And Will, The Xbox One Catch Up To The PS4?

Currently in the gaming industry there are three observations that you can make about the 3 major consoles. One is breathtaking, one is embarrassing, and the other is sad. The success of Sony’s new PlayStation 4 is breathtaking. The suffering sales of the Wii U are sad. But the observation that this piece will focus on is the embarrassing first months of the Xbox One.

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nextingaming.com
AGaryColemanClone4134d ago (Edited 4134d ago )

Nope.

The PS4 is outselling the Xbox One worldwide by their current Japan sales alone of 65k/week 260k/month.

The PS4 is around 6.4 to 6.5 million worldwide now.

The PS4 outsold the Xbox One 2-1 last month in the US.

The PS4 is outselling the Xbox One 5-1 in Europe.

While the Xbox One was only at 3 million sold at the end of 2013 and only sold 140k in the US in January, some very small amount in Europe and none in Japan putting its current installed base at maybe 3.3 million at most.

The PS4 is selling at a rate of roughly 1 million a month right now while stores everywhere are constantly sold out with new stock getting sold almost immediately.

The PS4 is on track to hit 10 million worldwide around May this year. And can easily reach the 17-18 million range by the end of 2014.

The Xbox One right now will have a hard time even reaching 5 million sold by the end of 2014.

None of this should be shocking to anyone. I don't know how many people have talked about over the past few years about how the next Xbox wouldn't have the luxury of the RRoD to massively inflate sales and anyone expecting it to do much better than the first Xbox was in for a harsh dose of reality.

Abash4134d ago

I don't think so really, MS can do big and expensive things to try and get the Xbox One off the shelves but it wont stop the PS4 from selling so incredibly well.

Drewidian4134d ago (Edited 4134d ago )

The Xbox One has far greater market reaching potential than the PS4 for a number of reasons, but for time sake I'm going to keep it short. Any one of these uses could push the Xbox One over the PS4 and have it outsell it.

First.... MS could/should partner with cable and satellite companies to sell subsidized Xbox Ones for say $99 down on a 2 year contract with free Xbox Live Gold and Halo 5 (I think we will see this happen in the fall). Why? Because everyone wins. The cable companies are loosing the cord cutting war and have tried everything under the sun to stop it, but many are just leaving anyway. The TV audience is just a much bigger audience than the console gamer market is. If MS did this not only would they see huge numbers of customers being pulled into the ecosystem, but they could see use of Skype, Windows, Windows Phone and Onedrive skyrocket. For us gamers, there is going to be a Halo TV show in the fall. Imagine winning or even just placing in the top 5 and having YOUR Spartan show up in the TV show with your tag! Instant Immortality. There's more but I'm going to move on.

Second... MS could partner with schools for distance learning and even just build a program where not only could you get tutoring around the world via Skype, but earn real college credits and earn a degree without having to step a foot onto a campus. If they partnered with a Major University and you could attend lectures/classes and even ask questions to the presenter while taking notes on your Surface, it could revolutionize education by bringing the classroom into your living room. $500 is a small price for this kind of access.

Third.... Partner with a national Gym chain like LA Fitness and build exercise routines where a personal trainer can work out with you privately or in a Skyped Group class. Schedule it for any time of the day and have the personal trainer be able to look over your data, provide live motivation, and even make live recommendations without having to leave your living room. A number of people I know just don't like going to the gym. They could even offer the same subsidy deal as the cable companies. Add Fitbit or other device compatibility and you can get that data incorporated as well, which could be added to the next option...

Fourth... Partner with the VA to offer Physical therapy to injured Veterans. A nurse could make a house call to an injured vet, take readings, upload them with her surface, have a doctor look over it and call them via Skype to answer questions. Hell partner with any hospital system to provide the same service at homes for those post surgery or elderly patients who need to talk with a nurse if they need more close attention. If there is a problem call the hospital's helpdesk. Again paid for by your health insurance once it is listed as a medical device.

There's a number of other ideas, but any one of these could tilt the Xbox One in number of sales and once those sales are there, there's no reason to believe that the developers won't make apps and services that can do any of the things listed above. None of which the PS4 can do as well if at all.

The point is that this can fit into a broader community lifestyle and not just gamers. Will it and should it do gaming? Yes, can it do a ton of things else that the PS4 can't do and potentially reach a much broader audience??? Yes.

I know this will get a ton of disagrees and down bubble votes, but if you disagree, say why. I will read every comment and where I can I will reply. I will agree MS doesn't have the best track record on fulfilling visions or the promise of any tech they have produced, but I still see the Xbox One as having a lot of potential.

PONTIAC08G8GT4134d ago

Do you just cut and paste the same comments all over? Second time I've read this same response.

On topic, no, the X1 won't catch the PS4, but so what? Why do they need to sell evenly?

"Have a hard time reaching 5 million sold by end of 2014." Seriously? You seriously believe that? Closing in on 4 million and we are in March, not to mention the Titanfall bundle that will move systems, and the slew of exclusives. If Halo makes it out in 2014, that's going to add to hardware sales. From March until the end of the year, to reach 5 million sold they would have to average 100,000 a month. Going to surpass that when the games start to roll out. Plus I believe the X1 launches in additional countries this year.

VENOMACR12274134d ago

Yup, I read his same post in another article.

@GaryColeman, I hope you aren't responsible for predicting company yearly forecasts. Your assuming the numbers stay the same and no games come out. Both systems are going to increase in sales as games come out. The PS4 is going to run away with this generation but that doesn't mean the Xbox One is going to be bad. Over 3.5 million systems sold in 3 months ain't bad. Problem is, PS4 is over 6 million. By the end of the year, one system or possibly both might have a price cut so that will increase sales. To say they will have a hard time hitting 5 million is absurd.

Mikelarry4134d ago

the xbox one isn't doing so great now but personally i will wait till after e3 before i can say whether to abandon ship

GamersHeaven4134d ago

No chance Sony has this generation on lock down.

Neonridr4134d ago

No, I don't think the Xbox One will sell as much as the PS4. But then again I don't think it has to in order to be successful. The Wii sold more than the 360 or PS3 did but that didn't necessarily mean the console was better, just that it was more popular.

The Xbox One still has some great games coming out for it, and sales will definitely improve. E3 is a chance for MS to generate a lot of buzz for their machine. Maybe show people why it wouldn't be a bad idea to pick up their console.

But that being said, Sony is just killing it right now with the PS4. They made a lot of mistakes with the PS3 and it just seems like everything they are doing is based on really smart decisions. And this says a lot coming from me since I only recently joined the Sony family back in November.

But there is no reason why both machines can't be successful and have a healthy future in this generation of gaming.

Mikelarry4134d ago

this is the second common sense comment you have made today. STOP IT!!

Neonridr4134d ago

lol.. I got a fever! And the only prescription... is more cowbell!

mmcglasson4134d ago

I wouldn't say the Wii was more popular, it just attracted a much wider market. Especially people that thought they could lose a ton of weight and get in shape playing the Wii (it's called a gym lol). It also attracted older (elderly) people for physical therapy purposes. For most gamers (besides younger games) it sat and collected dust after the newness wore off.

Sony has been top dog every generation since the PlayStation brand came out. Last generation was a close battle between the X360 and the PS4 (PS4 pulling ahead at the end). The PS3 will continue to be on store shelves for years (just like the PS2).
People also forget PS3 came out an entire year after the X360 and still passed it in sales World Wide. Yes, Nintendo did beat the PS3 in console sales with the Wii but they weren't in the same market. The N64 was the same market as the original PlayStation, the Gamecube was in the same market as the PS2/Xbox, the Wii was not in the same market at the PS3/X360.

Neonridr4134d ago (Edited 4134d ago )

well by definition of what you just said, the Wii was in fact more popular. Because people of certain demographics that wouldn't normally purchase video games did so. There was more appeal to the Wii because of its perceived "ease of use".

And the Wii was still a video game console, no matter how you break it down, so it was in competition with the PS3 and 360. Are you now going to say that the Wii U isn't in competition with the XB1 or PS4?

GameSpawn4134d ago

"For most gamers (besides younger games) it sat and collected dust after the newness wore off."

Yep. It did for me. The only game for my Wii that actually saw some serious playtime was Super Paper Mario (fun as hell). I played Galaxy for a while and even tried to get into Galaxy 2, but both lost their lust very quickly in comparison to SPM. I even tried to give Smash Bros. multiple goes, but it didn't have the same fun-factor Melee had.

For at least 2 years now my Wii has just been sitting there doing nothing. All it has is the slim chance I'll catch nostalgia fever and want to go back and play the few Wii games I have for it.

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240°

‘I think Xbox hardware is dead’, says Microsoft gaming veteran

One of the founding members of the Xbox team has questioned Microsoft’s multiplatform gaming strategy, and said they believe the Xbox hardware business is effectively “dead"

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videogameschronicle.com
1d 6h ago Replies(3)
Goodguy011d 4h ago

Think that rumor that they'll still make a new console but at a profit at $1000 will be true though. The series consoles will remain their cheap alternative throughout next gen I would say. Keep in mind that game pass and pretty much going 3rd party is their main focus. They want to bring xbox everywhere.

1d 4h ago
GamerRN8h ago

If they don't maintain some kind of console presence, I think they will lose gamepass subscribers and just become a 3rd party publisher who eventually sells everything off

Cacabunga7h ago

Xbox games are releasing on all platforms. Who needs this hardware? PS or PC is all you need

Flewid6385h ago

I've never owned an Xbox in my life and I have GamePass.

thorstein4h ago

The only Xbox I owned was the 360. I have gamepass for my PC.

crazyCoconuts6h ago

Even if they could get it down to $800 for a box that can run with comparable performance to a PS6 (at, say $200 cheaper) the population of people willing to buy such a thing would be so limited.
It would be the worst of both worlds.

1d 2h ago
Futureshark17h ago

A slow, painful and public death too.

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300°

Looming Xbox layoffs threaten Microsoft's reputation

Even as the company sets out to overhaul the very definition of Xbox, cuts at its studios risk creating a negative image reminiscent of EA's worst era

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gamesindustry.biz
Jingsing3d ago (Edited 3d ago )

I appreciate the article but this guy must be living in a delayed universe, The reputation was ruined 10+ years ago and hasn't recovered since. As such people have voted with their wallets and stopped buying Xbox products in large amounts.

YourMommySpoils2d ago

Their reputation was lost way before that. From the moment Microsoft said they entering the console business, we all knew it would be a downgrade.

Bathyj1d 13h ago (Edited 1d 13h ago )

That's not true at all the OG Xbox had drive and they had hunger and they wanted to accomplish something. It was a great console.

they didn't quite reach their goals and they gave up prematurely because they couldn't win. It was halfway through the Xbox 360 when kinect released and that was when they lost their way and we're a rudderless ship ever since

Agent751d 10h ago

In all fairness, Xbox had some great games with online play, Xbox 360 even better. Xbox consoles started to die with the Xbox One. Ditch consoles for the PC and PS.

YourMommySpoils1d 2h ago

@Bathyj hard to compute ay. Xbox was never better than a PC and that's all they ever were. A demo box. Doesn't get more true than that.

3d ago Replies(1)
isarai3d ago

What reputation is this threatening exactly? 😂

Lightning773d ago

Rumors of Turn 10 being either shut down or hit with massive lay offs is on the horizon.

The issue is MS will do something right only to do something very, very wrong. And they do this what seems calculative at this point. Doesn't matter what they do the Investors and leadership want more and more money an endless bottomless pit of purr insatiable greed. A company that acts like it's broke or hurting is what really, really infuriates me. They've surpassed apple again well over 3 trillion who acts like they're a million dollar company is fk stupid. Pivots and changes for no reason and can't do things for more than a year with out a pivot or changing their metrics.

Christopher2d ago

That would be really bad since Phil just hyped up next year as a big Forza year at Summer Game Fest.

1Victor2d ago

@christopher: “ That would be really bad since Phil just hyped up next year as a big Forza year at Summer Game Fest”
The key word big can be ether good or bad 🤷🏿only time can tell

DarXyde2d ago

First Forza being generated entirely via AI?

If any company would do it, it'd be them.

Nacho_Z1d 18h ago

Isn't the point that it's irrelevant how profitable MS is, the suits have decided it's time that the Xbox division started making them money. Hence the layoffs, the pivots.

hennessey861d 13h ago

That wouldn't surprise me, as motorsport has been heading down hill since the great number 4. Where as playground have consistently put out better games. I think the two studios will be merged under playground games banner.

2d ago Replies(2)
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660°

Microsoft planning “major” Xbox layoffs next week

The cuts are expected to be announced next week.

Microsoft is also planning thousands of job cuts that will impact other parts of it businesses

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theverge.com
6d ago Replies(1)
6d ago Replies(1)
Obscure_Observer6d ago

MFs has been beating their chests over great quarterly results and big profits to shareholders while firing people by the thousands just like Sony.

I wonder if at the top of those rumored layoffs they´ll also cancel upcoming or unannounced games while shutting down more studios as well.

6d ago
pwnmaster30006d ago

Always got to throw shade at Sony smh.
Yes we get it,
MS good Sony bad
MS bad Sony is also bad lmao

6d ago
Obscure_Observer6d ago

F* them both!

Just for the record, I don´t care about your victim complex crap either. Find someone else who cares.

blacktiger6d ago

He was talking about both. Why you getting offended when he's using both names

pwnmaster30006d ago (Edited 6d ago )

@Blacktiger

Im not offended , that’s just his formula lol
He can’t help help himself, he needs to bring Sony down when the topic involves MS.
Whether is good news for MS or bad, it some how leads to Sony doing bad lmao.
It’s actually hilarious.

InUrFoxHole6d ago

He's not wrong but im tracking what youre saying. In this case is should just be MS bad. Thats a lot of people fired

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 6d ago
Tacoboto6d ago

"just like Sony"

Gosh you're insufferable, not everything needs to be both-sides'd. Sony's had layoffs, but nothing like what Microsoft has been doing and is continuing to do.

CrimsonWing696d ago (Edited 6d ago )

I mean, no offense, but this is why you’re not some corporate business person running a major corporation. Big profits don’t mean jobs are safe. Do you understand why things like this happen:

Cutting jobs to maintain or increase profitability, especially in underperforming divisions like parts of Xbox like other gaming divisions.

Corporate restructuring and relocating resources for strategic stability in ever changing markets and consumer behaviors.

Investor expectations and optimizing operations to maintain investor confidence. Whatever boosts stock prices and improves future margins.

And there’s many other factors at play. It’s never as simple as business doing well, everyone’s safe. That’s just you not understanding at all how corporations work and have been working since the beginning. This isn’t something that’s specific to Xbox, you can bet your ass Sony and Nintendo do this and if it’s not clear by now, game development is not a stable job nor has it ever been for many. A lot of developers are contractors and guess what happens when a project is done?

Ganif6d ago

Nintendo said they have no plans for layoffs, and you can't seriously claim that the scale of Sony's layoffs most of which involved Bungie which is self managed as even close to the same scale as what Microsoft has done since they purchased Zenimax. And that significantly less layoffs would have happened if those publishers had stayed independent. Keep in mind that much of these layoffs have been due to redundancies specifically related to these buyouts.

CrimsonWing696d ago (Edited 6d ago )

@Ganif

Nintendo:

https://gamerant.com/ninten...

Sony:

https://gamerant.com/playst...

https://techxplore.com/news...

I don’t think it’s realistic to treat Sony’s layoffs as somehow outside the norm for the industry right now. Even if Bungie is self-managed, Sony’s cuts went far beyond that like Naughty Dog, Insomniac, London Studio being shut down completely, and multiple teams across the globe took hits. These weren’t just minor adjustments.

Nintendo, I had to look up and you’re right. They seem to be an outlier, but rest assured at some point it happens. And even then there’s been layoffs, albeit a smaller amount and contractors.

Would fewer layoffs have happened if studios from acquisitions stayed independent? Maybe. But even independents have been hit hard and look at what’s happened with Embracer’s fallout, or smaller devs like Digic, Roll7, or Volition. This isn’t just a “Microsoft problem” or strictly tied to acquisitions; it’s a broader correction happening across the whole industry, and unfortunately, layoffs are a big part of that process right now.

Ganif6d ago

From your article:

"According to reports, Nintendo of America restructured its testing operations, leading to layoffs of about 120 contractors, part of a strategy for global integration.

Nintendo of America, publisher of iconic franchises like Mario and Zelda, is shifting some contractors to full-time roles for better development integration."

Contractors are not employees, and even if you want to count them as that, it's 120 people vs around 7500 since Microsoft purchased Zenimax.

In an era of game industry layoffs, Nintendo is hiring more people
https://automaton-media.com...

Nintendo Announces 10 Percent Pay Raise For Devs Despite Lower Profits
https://kotaku.com/nintendo...

Nintendo CEO’s refusal to layoff staff goes viral following industry-wide cuts
"Satoru Iwata took pay cuts to ensure staff didn’t have to be let go"
https://www.nme.com/news/ga...

And as for Sony you're comparing less than 1000 total jobs to an estimated7500

Has the industry faced layoffs, yes, but that still doesn't account for the mass layoffs due to redundancies that was easily predictable, or that fact that at least 1/3 of Microsoft's layoffs and studio closures happened before the industry downturn.

thorstein6d ago (Edited 6d ago )

Take the L, Crimson.

People hate Nintendo, but Ganif proved why they deserve support.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 6d ago
-Foxtrot6d ago

It's like banging your head off a wall, he just can't help himself.

Microsoft can do no wrong, Sony sucks at everything and Nintendo is bigged up because it's less hassle than trying to defend Microsoft all the time

What's going to happen when Microsoft finally turn completely third party, then what?

anast6d ago

I enjoy Obscure. Obscure does good work.

crazyCoconuts6d ago

Did you know that the first n4g was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program.

Tacoboto6d ago

I wouldn't be surprised at this point if anast and osbcure were both alts for the Admin.

We know how Obscure especially drums up additional comments and clicks with his spam-worthy remarks that somehow never get moderated

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 6d ago
Profchaos6d ago

Thats business present a strong front to your shareholders while your company burns around you.

Keep shareholders happy at all costs andnif not happy keep them numb to the reality of you organisation

Angyobangyo5d ago

" Just for the record, I don´t care about your victim complex crap either. Find someone else who cares. "

Just for the record, you clearly you do if you have to vent this hard.

TheExecutioner5d ago

Basically you think like kids when it come to choose between candy or chocolate.

Sonic18815d ago (Edited 5d ago )

Are you and Anast the same person?

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 5d ago
6d ago
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