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

These companies usually just give shipped numbers (they call it sales because it is sales to them though). Sony's giving sold-through numbers for PS4, but that is kind of unusual. They're probably just doing it because it is selling so well, and the shipped number wouldn't be much higher. They'll eventually go to shipped numbers too I think. Wii U, PS3, 360, etc., numbers tend to be all shipped as well. It is certainly easier to report those vs trying to track sell-through at all the retailers around the world.

It is obvious why MS is giving shipped numbers, but I don't think it is that big of a deal, as long as it is properly communicated. It sometimes isn't though, which is when you get articles about how the XBO is less than 2M units behind the PS4 in sales (which is a bit inaccurate).

I'll have to check NeoGAF again later, but I think people are guesstimating a ~4.2M total for XBO sell-through. That probably isn't too far off the mark.

On a side-note, I remember Sony's "shipped" number used to mean "produced." Haha, those were good times.

 

Some Titanfall tidbits:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=109439116&postcount=7048

Also, not really console wars stuff, but Shu and Mark Cerny had a good talk in this video:
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Some of you might enjoy it. Shu does say he buys every console (two of them actually), and even will buy them on eBay at launch if he can't find one in stores ("I'm a very good customer!"). He also got banned on Miiverse twice.

 

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The store closures are overdue. I've been to a mall with 2 of them, a shopping center with 2 of them, and used to have 3 of them in a 1 mile radius in my city.

 

I live in west Houston, there is literally a GameStop within 2-3 miles or less in every single direction of me. (5 or 6 of them)

Over in Copperfield there's 3 right on top of each other (they're basically each on an opposite corner, no joke).

Did they really think it would be necessary to have that many stores? Logic?

 

I'm not going to lie, I'm a little surprised by the number of Titanfall sales. That to me explains why they were so quiet about the numbers. That includes PC?
I figured it would sell at least 2 between the platforms. Especially on Xbox One due to the lack of other quality FPS' to play.

 

People can also buy games at Walmart, Best Buy , Target and online.

 

Okay? So we still need more GameStops than Starbucks?
For the record as much as I dislike GameStop, I'd buy from them before Walmart any day. (Stepping inside a Walmart instantly raises my stress level 75%, between just having to explain what you want to the mongloids they pass as customer service, not to mention having to wait for 12 hours for them to actually come open the game case. Target is usually very meh on selection.
Best Buy is okay, but generally Gamestop has better deals in my opinion. (There's always exceptions)

I generally go to Gamestop just to be around other nerds. I don't think they need one on every corner, I'd still probably go there over other places most of the time.
Gamestop Powerup Rewards is a large draw for me also, they actually have cool stuff on there.

 

2M is pretty unrealistic IMO. I guess if you assume 1M each, but PC retail sales rarely get that high I think (especially in the US). I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I think there's only ~2.5M XBO consoles in the US, so there's only so many units that could have been sold. Selling ~1M on XBO is actually quite impressive given the userbase.

I'm actually surprised EA didn't announce sales. This is pretty impressive for a new IP IMO, especially one limited to PC and the XBO.

 

It's on 360 as well though (although it was delayed a bit), I know PC sales don't hit a million but the game was riding a huge wave of hype and had solid review scores. I guess the lack of quality single player really hurt. I know the userbase is small in the US, but it's not like they're only selling Titanfall to US users. The gunplay is also really similar to cod, which I thought would be a bit of a draw to those users. *shrug* My mistake.

 

I believe Titanfall 360 was released in April.

 

Powerup Rewards is nice. I think I've earned enough for another $10 off anything coupon.

But I agree that they don't need them everywhere. I'm pretty sure the Playstation 2 kept them in business back in the days. Now it's too easy to just order a game online and for a cheaper price then what they offer. But when they have that extra 50% on trades I do hit them up

I think they have an extra 40% trade going on right now that is only if its going towards certain games. But don't know whether to put it towards Watch Dogs or MLB14

 

Hmm. I didn't imply anything in my statement, just listing other options to buy games.

 

All I know is Gamestop gives you like $1 trade in for certain games and resells them for $15

 

True, but they had a ton of trade in deals for PS4/new games earlier this year and during Christmas time. Yeah the value isn't really what you should be getting (they raise their values due to the new competition of Walmart), but it's something. With that said, I think the values are a lot closer to what they should be due to Walmart's interference.

Don't get me wrong I'm not defending Gamestop either...but they're not all bad. There's just way too damn many. (and now thankfully less, though I'm sorry to those losing their jobs)

Si.

 

Yeah, I was only talking about XBO/PC. I think I said this earlier in the thread, but I actually thought/think the bulk of TF sale could come from the 360 (though the delay hurt). With 360, I could see 2M+ easily (though EA/MS have not really marketed that version of the game). Also, those numbers were US only (and that was what I was talking about). Though the story wouldn't be TOO different with global totals. Also, I believe this is retail only (I imagine most people will download TF for PC), so keep that in mind when considering sales for PC.

It did have a lot of hype, but there's only so much you can do with ~2.5M in sales. And while 86 is solid, you usually need 90+ to really get a sales boost from reviews IMO. Mid 80s is "Eh, maybe I'll check it out in a few weeks" range (not for me, but for most people it seems). All things considered, a ~40% attach rate is REALLY good. Comparable most high profile AAA games. That's the result of the hype, solid COD-style gameplay, etc.

 

MS getting ready to launch in China
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(not sure if I posted about this before)

 

How are they expecting sales to go in China? If they hooked the Chinese market up just right you'd think it would be huge for their sale numbers.

One area the XBone is not delivering on for me are "small" Indy games and ports of older games. Not recent titles you might have seen on the 360 but arcade classics and things like that. I'd have bought a few older, cheaper games just to pass the time between releases of new games but they are just not there.

Also, the apps are pretty average, especially the ones in the Australian marketplace. We don't get Netflix, Hulu, WWE, NFL, MLB or any of that. We get a few free to air TV channel apps and that's about it.

Having said that, I'm still really enjoying Titanfall. It's a strange game, I'm not playing it every day like I did say Assassins Creed, but when ever I do play it it's a hell of a lot of fun.

 

xbox one the first console ever to be sold in china legally? i think it could be huge in china but its gonna take some time and commitment

 

Things will be difficult in China for a few reasons. American McGee gives his opinion here:
https://www.facebook.com/americanmcgee/posts/10152134506387075?stream_ref=10

McGee lives in China and actually has a development studio over there, so he's got some experience with the market over there. Having said that, I think it is a good idea to go after China. Certainly if you manage to get things right, you will have a great success.