Console Wars Thread! PS4 vs. Xbox One vs. Wii U Fight!

Cool story bro.

What part of that did you actually have a problem with? The numbers all game from other verified sources for the most part. I use them as the "source" because I'm too lazy to grab 5-6 different links.

Their predictions (on the whole) were pretty good for the month too IIRC. So they're not THAT bad.

 

It doesn't take rocket science to predict that both consoles would sell 3 million units total through the holidays. In fact, on Christmas day I predicted that both devices would sell 3 million units through the holidays... So I guess I should be credible source on sales numbers, trends and demand now?

Sales numbers this early on mean nothing. Look at how many Wii's sold compared to PS3s and Xbox 360s - and was Wii even considered the "winner" of last console generation? Hello no.

We are months away from knowing the strength of either brand, because neither has delivered console-selling exclusives. Either way, the market is clearly big enough for both of them. This is a marathon, not a sprint - so anyone from either side claiming one is superior to the other on sales numbers is kidding themselves.

Sony's demand is more than likely higher because it is being sold in nearly four times as many markets as the Xbox One. Microsoft was smarter, and scaled back their release to markets they could properly ship to.

 

I hope MS is paying you, the majority of your posts is defending this or that MS product. My evidence is my eyes and the Xbox is stacked full in every retailer while the PS4 is sold out. But hey, spin it how you want, after all, you did say you worked for them and MS is the masters of manipulation.

 

Supply and demand isn't a tough subject to comprehend - I think they actually teach it in junior high now. Will there be higher demand for a product being sold in 48 markets, or 13? If a product is being sold in 48 markets, will it be harder to fill shelves in 48 markets or 13? Until consoles are in the same number of markets overall demand simply can't be predicted one way or the other. Either way, just because you can't find one on store shelves doesn't mean demand is any higher - the world economy is just slightly bigger than your local Walmart.

Also - Microsoft does pay me, I work for them (and have stated so many times) but my arguments are just as valid. The facts are, only Sony and Microsoft know how many consoles and games have been sold. Until either releases sales numbers, which is required because they are both publicly traded companies - everyone is "speculating."

I defend Microsoft because I see people talking out of their asses about subjects they clearly don't know anything about. I also have no problem bringing up faults with Microsoft either and have done so many times on these very forums.

 

Haha...what? What are you going on about?

Who is taking credit for a prediction like that? Why are we even talking about predictions when my post was primarily about recorded sales (and the predictions that ended up being similar to those detailed sales)? You're right that this is an easy prediction (both will sell about as many as they can make, and ~3M is rough estimate of what they can make). But I'm not sure how that is really relevant to anything you're saying (i.e., NeoGAF is not a good source for numbers/predictions/etc.).

FWIW, I was talking about something like this (NeoGAF's aggregate predictions for December):

Not too bad. Better than what I would have predicted (I'd be too lazy to do actually). Better than actual analysts. To your point, it is somewhat pointless to do this (at least for anything other than "fun") since there is such little data to base these predictions on. But even then, their predictions weren't too bad.

That's what I was talking about. Nothing like "hey, the Wii U might not sell well next month."

OK...

I don't disagree...but what makes you bring this up? Was anyone claiming anything like this? I don't think I was. Just checking out/posting some sales numbers (and joking around about people who DO want to make some crazy conclusions based on them).

Are we not talking primarily about the US market here? Maybe I'm wrong. I'm not sure what this discussion is about to be honest.

We have US sales, so we have some idea about demand. You could try to figure out supply based on availability of the consoles, though yes, it is hard to nail down exactly. Combined with the sales we do know, you can make some assumptions. I don't particular care to go too crazy with that (I'd rather just wait and see how things play out), but some people like that kind of thing, and that can be OK. Assuming they explain their thought process, including possible assumptions they made (i.e., PS4 can't increase supply much since they're holding back stock for Japan, XBO is unlikely to do well in certain regions, etc.).

 

What do you even mean by "winner" here, anyway?

Yes, they didn't sell the most software, but they sold the most systems, and as far as I know it was at a profit the entire time. Pretty impressive, even if it crapped out earlier than the other two due to being underpowered and the novelty wearing off. Not sure why everyone is always so dismissive of the Wii.

 

Juicy,

I was given an XBone as a gift. I understand that it's powerful (2k14 looks amazing) and has a bunch of features, but now is not the time to get it.

The Xbox 360 (as a whole) might be my favorite system ever considering the incredible library and entertainment it brought me although Gamecube had some incredible moments as well.
I am slightly disappointed with the XBone:
COD is a marginal upgrade in graphics. 2k14 is a big upgrade in graphics. I do realize it will take time for developers to take advantage but it's clear the margin right now doesn't support the need to buy the console.
I'm not sure what MSFT was thinking, but some of the interface and technicalities are pretty broken or potential pipe dreams.
Maybe they're looking far into the future, but the Kinect is only a hindrance for the console. The sign in feature is a waste of time. Voice-recognition is pointless considering you can do half the commands much more efficiently with the controller or by getting off the couch. I tried Insanity for the kinect feature and you have to have a big living room for it to work correctly. If your body is slightly out of the frame, it would lose you and you would have to re-calibrate by standing still. The frame of reference isn't realistic for anyone wanting to play within 5-7 feet.
COD and 2k14 have a fair share of bugs that are pretty annoying. 2k14 for some reason signs out a player randomly or freezes up and you lose progress of the game you were playing. COD isn't consistent in setting up online play.
The interface and menus are cool, but is cool worth it when you have to deal with minor problems every now and again?
I suppose I'm not following the business aspect of the gaming industry enough, but MSFT is doing all it can to force people into getting MSFT email accounts or XBOX Live. For christ's sake, a friend can't even make a profile without entering their hotmail or outlook account.
Either I'm doing it wrong or MSFT has system updates in the foreseeable future.

ON THE OTHER HAND:
I recently purchased a Wii U for Super Mario World 3D. The system took forever to download updates and connect to the internet, but man is it a crisp interface.
The Gamepad is damn awesome and I can't wait to see Zelda with it.
My girlfriend likes to play games with me, which is the reason we went after Mario 3D. It is hella fun. Nintendo is unmatched when it comes to creativity. The game has so many moments where you step back and say "wow that was pretty cool". It's too bad mainstream gaming is on other consoles these days.
Definitely worth it considering the best are yet to come: MarioKart, Super Smash Bros, Zelda, etc.

All in all, the Wii U > Xbone for me right now.

 

I'm not going to argue numbers anymore because it is pointless this early in the game and there are too many unknown variables. One thing is certain, both Sony and Microsoft are happy with their current sales.

My entire point was it doesn't take a genius to predict sales numbers after the initial sales results were released from both Microsoft and Sony. But the only people that know how many consoles have been sold, and more importantly how many consoles are on order from retailers, are the two hardware manufacturers.

Anyone who predicts demand is just blowing smoke, that is my point. There isn't any quantifiable way to predict demand without knowing what retailers are requesting from Microsoft and Sony. And you can't compare demand for two products that are in vastly different markets. We're not talking a small discrepancy, we're talking 13 vs 48.

Several people in this thread have said "since I can't find a PS4 it is clearly in higher demand than the Xbox One!" And my point was, no... since Xbox One is in 13 markets and PS4 is in 48 markets it is much easier for Microsoft to keep consoles in stock across the globe. To me, this isn't even arguable - it is common sense.

Those same people have also stated that the only reason that Xbox One outsold PS4 was because of availability. Well, availability is a huge part of sales in general. If Sony can't supply demand, that is on them - and doesn't take away from Xbox One's success in December.

 

Well after debating which one I want the past couple of months I bought an Xbox One today. They were available at pretty much any Best Buy.

 

Congrats, make sure you get the TV setup... I think I enjoy the TV and apps just as much as the actual gaming!

 

I think the Wii will always have diehard fans because of classic Nintendo IPs. However, the Wii U is a flop - and not the gaming console that most gamers want. Nintendo just slashed their sales forecast by 70%.

http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/17/wii-u-not-selling/

 

Actually the PS4 has been in 53 countries for a month now.

You are trying to spin it as if this is a strategery by MS. Russia, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark are probably just getting hosed from problems MS is having with localization. Sony has had 5 releases across the world. MS stopped after one, possibly no more until late 2014. That's a problem, not really a staged release to insure ample supply.

Exclusivity provokes more demand, ample supply doesn't. I think they actually teach that in junior high now.

 

Bleh...I'm tempted to just talk about how vanilla ice cream cones are the best dessert you can get from Dairy Queen (value-adjusted). We love irrelevant tangents in this thread after-all.

But OK, one more try...

What numbers? Who is arguing?

And yes, they are very happy with their sales. I am too! It is kind of crazy how well both are selling.

My entire point is that pizza is delicious. But how is that relevant to anything here?

No one was claiming it did take a genius to predict those kind of sales numbers. There wasn't even much talk about predictions period (just my side-note about how NeoGAF was pretty decent with their December predictions, as I posted).

FWIW, I agree with you about only Sony and MS knowing what has been sold overall (and I guess they only know about their own numbers). But we do know rough sales figures for the various regions. That can be pretty interesting for discussions. Sony and MS gave us totals, but it is interesting to know how that total is broken down into regions (hence NPD numbers and the numbers from the other regions). We'll never get all 13/50+ regions reported separately, so we'll always have to rely on Sony and MS for their overall totals. We can get some pretty good chunks of data for some regions separately though (and discuss how the market is in that specific region or regions).

I more or less agree, although with sales data trickling in, you can come up with some approximate "demand" value for the consoles for the US (this makes the 13 vs 48 number irrelevant IMO). Since PS4 outsold the XBO, some might want to claim that the PS4 has higher demand, based on certain assumptions. Are those assumptions safe to make? Maybe XBO demand was higher, but people couldn't buy it? Are we assuming that isn't the case? Maybe that's worth discussing.

Given that sales for both platforms are roughly the same in the US, and you are claiming that MS should have a supply advantage in the US (I agree with that assumption...common sense, like you said), does that not imply some things about the demand for the platforms?

I don't like using PS4 availability as a way of judging demand either, but if we have sales figures (and they're pretty high), I wouldn't completely dismiss that evidence. If PS4 only sold 400K units in December, the availability issue would clearly be a supply problem (maybe demand was high too, but who knows?). Given that its sales numbers WERE pretty high, it seems supply was pretty good (at least enough to sell ~860K units in December, and ~2M units in 2013). FWIW, I believe the XBO was still pretty tough to find for much/all of December (this wasn't a "PS4 = sold out; XBO = overflowing stock everywhere!" situation), so I still wouldn't make any broad claims about demand (essentially, both were selling out). I think XBO supply has started to meet demand here in January (from what I understand), but we don't have any sales figures for that date range yet.



My apologies for being so...blunt. I'm sleep deprived, so perhaps I'm just missing whatever links/points you're trying to make. But just seems to me like you're making irrelevant tangents and avoiding the actual details being discussed (or at least the issues I'd like to discuss...I couldn't care less about people who somehow want to declare the console war over based on 2 months of sales).

 

Did anyone dispute that?

It doesn't matter whose "fault" it is that PS4 isn't in stock at a lot of locations, some folks in this thread are just saying that if it were in stock more places in the US, it likely would have sold a bit more in the US. That, also, is common sense. The comments are about potential sales in a hypothetical situation where there was infinite supply, not about Sony's ability to deliver the supply.

Yes, Sony is in more markets. Everyone gets that. Sony could do better to create enough supply to meet the demand in the US. Everyone gets that too. So I guess your point is that speculation about demand for PS4s based on walking into stores that are out of stock is some kind of criminal offense, while evangelizing Microsoft's supply chain is totally okay? Seriously, I don't get where the defensiveness is coming from.

 

BOTH consoles are selling great. So what the hell are you people arguing about!

It doesnt matter which one you buy, you made the right decision. We are already past the concern that either console will fail simply because they numbers they are selling them at so early are already so high.

Its not like one of them has stumbled out of the gate like the Wii U. Its not like an Xbone or PS4 owner needs to be concerned that their system will not sell enough consoles that it won't get long term support.

Both systems are great, both are selling, both have long term futures. We all won! Now the software needs to step up and do its job.

 

Ugh, this thread is a mess.

Half the people think that any sales/tech discussions mean there are a bunch of fanboys battling to defend their purchases (and not just trying to discuss interesting topics).

Half the people get very defensive about pretty much anything regarding their console of choice.

And half the people have a brain that isn't functioning properly, so they start talking about pizza and vanilla ice cream cones.

Is anyone actually enjoying it? I've kept coming back, just in case people do want to discuss sales, tech specs, etc. It works on other boards IMO (and I enjoy it, when it works). But that seems like a lost cause here for some reason. Bleh.

Grumpy RC Cola needs sleep.

 

Get out of here with your voice of reason!

 

http://arstechnica.com/science/2011...m-of-favorite-brands-as-threat-to-self-image/