390°

Analysis: Xbox 360 Outsells PS3 At Higher Average Price In U.S.

As part of his monthly NPD Group physical game sales analysis, Gamasutra analyst Matt Matthews examines how Microsoft's Xbox 360 hardware sales are "defying gravity," as the console saw sales grow during September 2011 at an average price $35 more that Sony's PS3.

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gamasutra.com
Dante1125001d ago (Edited 5001d ago )

The way the annual rate of hardware sales continues to decline it makes me wonder if this evidently extended console generation (going on 5 and 6 years) has been the best move for all parties involved. I don't think one can dismiss this as simply a result of a poor economy since entertainment products like video games often do quite well despite (or perhaps even because of) recessions.

Edit: " To achieve these ends, he says Microsoft may cut its price on Xbox 360 system bundled with Kinect, especially if Sony begins to highlight its $250 system against Microsoft's more expensive Kinect systems."

I thought the 4GB Kinect bundle was $199 and the other one with the three games was at $249 with those $50 gift card deals?

iamnsuperman5001d ago (Edited 5001d ago )

I am not sure why Microsoft would cut the price considering the cheapest console is the 360 and not the PS3. I am not sure where the evidence for the PS3 being more expensive as the 360 is actually cheaper. In the UK its around £150 for a 4GB Xbox 360 and 180ish for the smaller memory PS3.

Iroquois_Pliskin5001d ago (Edited 5001d ago )

i blame it on the recession

zeeshan5001d ago (Edited 5001d ago )

Sony has terrible marketing and that will keep screwing them.

DaTruth5001d ago (Edited 5001d ago )

Sony's also not giving away consoles "free"! I think "free" helps toward an average lower price for the 360!

I'm sure the "free" 360 wasn't included in the analysis and I think the anylysis is wrong even if we don't include the "free" 360's!

This is just pure misinformative propaganda at its finest! Remember the days when if a writer wrote something proven to be wrong they had to write a retraction? He cites average price and then goes on to highlight the lowest price PS3 'barebones' package and the highest priced 360 packaged with an expensive peripheral and games!

VINNIEPAZ5001d ago

WE NEED SONY DEFENSE FORCE POWER NOW!!!!!

*power ranger music plays*

squallheart5001d ago

Its morphiin time
*spu* ill defend my fat boy *hand gestures* with the power of the cell >:D

Nes_Daze5001d ago

And in other news xbox fans like VinniePaz have a strange obsession for ps3 fans. Get over it dude.

fear885001d ago

If there is one thing that surprises me even more about this is the value of both consoles.

I cannot believe the PS3 with its greater value per dollar and more quality content still gets outsold by the 360 with its $60 Xbox Live and Kinect.

WANNAGETHIGH5001d ago

Lol I wonder what happened to this is the year of the ps3 just like for the past how many years. Don't worry 2012 will b the year of the ps3 when the world finaly ends :/

What happend to the people saying the people who bought the ps2 will soon jump to the ps3..lol. Well looks like majority of those people bought an xbox360. Just admit it Sony is dead last this gen,u can't b king for ever.

fluffydelusions5001d ago (Edited 5001d ago )

The PS3 does outsell the 360 worldwide. Not sure where you've been but how do you think a 10m lead got cut to roughly a 2.5-3m lead? I'm not sure if you remember the 360 did have a year head start on the PS3.

gamingdroid5001d ago (Edited 5001d ago )

@WANNAGETHIGH
Well, the PS3 did sell on the strength of PS2 user base. God knows anyone else would have been utterly destroyed with a console for $500-600 at launch with barely any games.

Playstation brand was very very strong at the beginning of this generation, but Sony screwed up!

@fluffydelusions
Worldwide MS shipped half a million more than Sony in the last two quarters before the price cut i.e. Jan-Mar and Apr-Jun. It's reported in the financials of each company.

I suspect that the PS3 will eke out ahead this latest quarter due to the price cut, which will have a bigger impact in Europe.

thawind5001d ago

Sales doesn't determine how good a game console is or the software it plays the majority doesn't always mean it's better

WrAiTh Sp3cTr35001d ago

If they cut the price to...$150, they wouldn't be able to keep up with supply for demand.

gamingdroid5001d ago

I doubt MS will drop the price seeing how it is still outselling the competition in the US.

As the below chart illustrates, PS3 average selling price is now below the Xbox 360, by $25 i.e. Xbox 360 $306 vs PS3 $271. You can also see the trend, MS increased their average price up $26 while Sony declined $40.

http://www.gamasutra.com/db...

"In a communication to us about September sales, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter described Xbox 360 sales as "defying gravity", a turn of phrase we feel captures precisely the dynamics of the current market. While everyone else is treading water or eking out modest gains on hard-fought price cuts, Microsoft's sales are strong and its system prices are going up."

DaTruth5001d ago (Edited 5001d ago )

What about the "free" 360 package! You can get a pretty good PC(six core Phenom with a decent graphics card) with a 360 for $600 in Canada now!

Are you saying that PC is worth $294 and the average $306 360 price stands? Throw in the copy of Windows seven and MS's probably spending the entire cost to give you a 360!

gamingdroid5001d ago (Edited 5001d ago )

That wasn't mentioned in the analysis so it begs the question, if it is even counted in the NPD numbers.

That said, a $200 Xbox 360 for free even if counted as a sale, would actually bring the Xbox 360 average selling price down and NOT UP!!!

So they must be selling a lot of those higher priced bundles to make up for it.... That doesn't add up.

Besides, obviously giving Xbox 360 away for free at a loss isn't a working business model, so that doesn't seem like a logical conclusion.

This was on select laptops, so this leaves room for cost/profit control similar to how bundles are done. Unless you think that giving away PS3 with TVs at a loss is viable business opportunity as well....

Anon19745000d ago

I know they do this type of analysis every month when NPD numbers come out - but come on. How is this news? It's no secret the 360 sells better in the US. You could just as easily write one about the PS3 outselling in Japan. These aren't some great, shocking secrets of this console generation.

As for price cut speculation, it's just that - speculation. I'm sure MS will drop the price of those Kinect bundles eventually. I don't know. I usually like reading this guy's NPD take. This month I just don't think he's saying anything new.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 5000d ago
tickticktick5001d ago (Edited 5001d ago )

There hasn't been a price cut on the 360 in a long time, and it's still selling great. I smell a price cut this holiday. It will be game over if MS cuts the 360 this year. $100-$150 360's will sell out everywhere.

Tanir5001d ago

not sure why the system is selling, I mean ps3 outsold the 360 for the longest time when they were the same price.

but now that its lower it doesnt happen?

you figure that people would buy the console with the most good games, 360 has great games but thats been reduced to gears, halo, fable and forza.

still people mostly just play cod anyway

iamnsuperman5001d ago

I am not sure the PS3 has ever out sold the 360 in america. The world is a different matter but in America I swear it never has.

Aclay5001d ago (Edited 5001d ago )

"I am not sure the PS3 has ever out sold the 360 in america. The world is a different matter but in America I swear it never has."

I remember the PS3 did outsell the 360 in June 2008 (the month MGS4 came out) in the U.S. http://news.teamxbox.com/xb... and the PS3 also sold more during December 2009 NPD http://news.teamxbox.com/xb... so it has happened a few times... but rarely.

JellyJelly5001d ago

Kinect was a bigger hit than Move, and still gets lots of attention.

Also, exclusive games like Gears 3 and Forza 4 have done really well while games like Resistance 3 and Infamous 2 haven't exactly flown off the shelves.

Uncharted 3 will probably boost the sales a little.

yesmynameissumo5001d ago

@Jelly
What PS exclusive ever flies off the shelf? They usually total sells well over the millions, but they just don't do it in 4 days or whatever.

evrfighter5001d ago

Gt5 did well. I would hope uc2 did also considering it's the ps3's best game.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 5001d ago
Queasy5001d ago

With the Xbox 360 pushing over 400,000 units in both August and September holding on to the number one console sales slot in North America, you can pretty much bet there won't be a price drop. There's no need with it selling at that rate prior to the big spending months of October, November and December.

Europe and Japan may be a different story though.

HeavenlySnipes5001d ago (Edited 5001d ago )

These types of articles are why I come to N4G. To see mindless people try to defend and praise a company they have no relation to, attempting to validate the purchase of their chosen console.

That being said, the cheapest 360 is like $100 less than the cheapest PS3

EDIT: I've seen the 4gig slim 360s go for $150 here in Canada

WhiteLightning5001d ago (Edited 5001d ago )

I don't understand why when a falme bait article like this comes out basicaly putting the PS3 down it's approved but when it's the other way round the chances of that article getting approved is slim. Remeber that article a while back trying to say why 360 exclusives sell more and it became a hot topic....an article from a PS3 site was wrote and it didn't get approved the mods got rid of it straight away stating it was "lame"

The fact is the PS3 is more expensive then the 360 so I don't understand where he's getting this BS from. I'm from the UK so it may differ but I have never seen a PS3 cheaper then an Xbox 360, even the used PS3's are more expensive then a brand new 360

Redgehammer5001d ago

How do you qualify an article that is illustrating the sales differences between consoles in a region flamebait? Just because we personally disagree with a topic does not mean the topic is in error or is flamebait. Gamasutra is a respected industry website, and not just some hacks trying to get hits.

palaeomerus5001d ago

This is Gamasutra, Whitelightning. It's a real news source covering the video game industry that does market analysis articles. It's not some weedy PS3 fan-blog trying to score a dumb point with a rumor they thought they saw in some badly mistranslated article.

WhiteLightning5001d ago (Edited 5001d ago )

@Redgehammer

"How do you qualify an article that is illustrating the sales differences between consoles in a region flamebait?"

It's N4G...you get hot topic articles which are basicaly about nothing and still people break out in massive arguments. It's just what happens

@Ju....I thought they were but yeah....latley.... <sigh>

Ju5001d ago (Edited 5001d ago )

Gamasutra...yeah...not sure what to make out of it, though. I also thought they were respected, but lately...

WrAiTh Sp3cTr35001d ago

I didn't read anywhere in the article anything putting Sony down. Are you an emotional teenager? If you're a guy, you need to man up and stop being so sensitive. A website loses credibility because it showed a certain console had something more positive to show based on the topic of sales? That's ridiculous, disgusting and rather pathetic!

Vega755001d ago (Edited 5001d ago )

" I don't understand when a flame bait article like this comes out basically putting down the ps3 it get approved. But when It's the other way the chances of that article getting approved is slim" your kidding right? You cant be serious.

I see mods fail so many article because sonyfanboys couldn't handle Sony or the ps3 getting negative press and reported the article ad lame. Yet I see articles bashing MS or Nintendo or saying pc is died all the time. Yet I don't see these same articles in the failed section. Why is that? Hum

@ Wraith sp3ctr3

There wasn't anything in that article that could be taken as a put down. Just some people can't handle Sony not being the top dog in
everything.

gamingdroid5001d ago

If anything Gamasutra is a very well respected website. Their analysis is always top notch, including this one.

It just so happens that it reports positive news for MS and not so positive for the competition and hence it is no longer credible to some....

death2smoochie5001d ago

YOU HAVE IT THE OTHER WAY AROUND WHITELIGHTING.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 5001d ago
etownthree5001d ago

The cheapest 360 is 50 bucks less then the ps3

Nes_Daze5001d ago

I think MS was smart with kinect, they're taking a huge pie of that casual crowd that Nintendo has been using throughout this gen. Kids are going to rush to the friendly green and white console with sesame street and that dance game.

Smart on Microsoft's part in terms of sales, now quality? That's a whole different story. :(

KwietStorm_BLM5001d ago

Oranges used to make orange juice. News at 11.

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90°

The 'Stop Killing Games' initiative is close to its final deadline

Ross Scott—also known as Accursed Farms on YouTube—has been fighting tooth and nail for almost a full year to help spearhead game preservation. Starting after it was announced that Ubisoft's The Crew would be shutting down, permanently ending support for the game, Scott launched the "Stop Killing Games" initiative.

That makes a twofold deadline for the Stop Killing Games initiative. Or, at least, one headed up by Scott: The UK petition, which ends July 14, and the EU Citizens' Initiative, which ends July 3.

M3talDiamond2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

If you live in the EU then Please sign this or our game ownership rights and game preservation is
at stake. I know there isnt much time left but please consider signing the petition

-Foxtrot1d 20h ago

I never knew Ross Scott was doing this

I love Freemans Mind

Inverno1d 10h ago (Edited 1d 10h ago )

People whine and in the end don't do a thing. Then whine more when they get screwed some more smh. If this makes it then it'll be monumental for consumers. That Pirate software guy was no help either smh.

GazCBG1d 2h ago

The EU Date is the 31st July not the 3rd

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50°

Project: Horned Owl Review

From the mid-1980s to the early part of the 2000s, light gun rail shooters were a staple in both arcade and home system gaming. Arguably, the genre started to really hit its stride in the mid-1990s. While games like Time Crisis, Virtual Cop, and House of the Dead, among others, dominated both the home system and arcade space, some one relegated to only home game systems. Today, we’ll be talking about a little-known cult game published by Sony called Project: Horned Owl. This game was developed by Alfa Systems, and all in all, this is a fun game.

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thelastgamestandingexp.com
170°

Xbox June Update: Copilot for Gaming Available on Mobile, Aggregated Gaming Library, and More

There are many exciting updates this month for Xbox. Copilot for Gaming is available now for early preview on mobile and will be coming to PC soon. Xbox PC app introduces a wave of new updates: Aggregated gaming library gives players quick access to games from Xbox, Game Pass, and other leading PC storefronts, and with publisher channels players can browse their favorite franchises. Updates for the Xbox Console includes customization for Most Recently Used, free-to-play benefits, Game Hubs, and dialog improvements for game saves.

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news.xbox.com
darthv723d ago

"Players can now hide system apps, pin favorites to the list, and reduce the number of tiles displayed. This update is part of our ongoing effort to make Home more personal, flexible, and responsive to feedback."

This is welcomed, i like a less cluttered home screen.

Profchaos3d ago

Not everything needs co pilot ms

1Victor2d ago

Gotta be a slow news day when a 18 hours and 3 comments (now 4)makes it to the front page🤷🏿
.
Well anything that adds and help gamers is a good thing even if some don’t need it there’ll be more that will use it.

darthv722d ago

Well its MS news... those are usually pretty dry, unless it has something to do with another game being ported to PS. then its top of the pops.

Obscure_Observer2d ago

"Well its MS news... those are usually pretty dry, unless it has something to do with another game being ported to PS. then its top of the pops."

Oh look no further than the "Upcoming layoffs at MS" topic. It will easily top the Hottest of the week.

Special guests like Mr. Dead might also show up. You just watch.