Next-Gen.Biz writes: "In this Next-Gen interview, Xbox 360 group product manager Aaron Greenberg shrugs off Blu-ray, explains why we still have a hard drive-less Xbox 360 SKU, and fires a shot or two back at recent comments made by Sony.
With US NPD sales figures coming out on Thursday, the most urgent of those issues for Microsoft is Xbox 360 supply. One analyst said this week that the Xbox 360 shortages reported in January have now been addressed, and the console is in ample supply.
But Greenberg disagrees, saying that Xbox 360 is still tough to find, adding that the PS3 likely outsold the console for the second month in a row in February. "Our expectation is that because of our shortages at retail during February, we will sell less than PS3," he says. "That's not a surprise to us. I don't know what Sony's reaction will be to that, but it will definitely be a bit of a hollow victory. The competition sure didn't show up [in February]."
Gary Green said: You’ll be forgiven if you haven’t heard of the Ar Tonelico trilogy. The previous two games arrived so late in the PS2’s life-cycle that they simply went unnoticed. While most were tinkering with their shiny new PS3s, Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia and Ar Tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica were being ‘returned to sender’ by your local Game stores. Luckily, you won’t need to have played them to understand and appreciate this third and final chapter, Qoga (pronounced k-yoga) tells the story of a racial war between humans and Reyvateils, a breed of biologically produced female cyborgs capable of reproduction, while still having a digital mind.
Oh my god. I kinda wish this would get a remaster on PS5, it would be awesome. One of my favorite games on PS3.
That and 3D Dot Game Heroes. It's a shame that some stuff is stuck on PS3.
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.
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.
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.
you should apply in MS PR team buddy, I think you will do a great job in my humble opinion :)
MS: "Xbox services and content without AB up 1%, with AB up 62%. Hardware down 31%. In total a loss of 350 mill."
darthv72: "Seems about right."
MS: "Excuse m ..."
darthv72: "I don't hardly play on my consoles directly."
MS:
What he said was facts. How he plays games is no concern of you. Don't get too mad about it.
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.
to you it may seem like the minority... but your bubble is shrinking because more and more are following suit. convenience is a hell of a drug and its also why physical sales only amount to 30% of overall game sales. times are changing, you either get with them or you get left behind.
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.
Hardware sales are so bad that Sony and Nintendo are blowing the sales off the water with their hardware.
If Xbox are losers, others aren’t..
Xbox already tried everything with Xbox live then subscriptions went down so much that they had to find something else. Their fans subscribed then reached saturation rather quickly.
Hardware and exclusive games is where it’s at! Keep gamers excited, announce decent software and people will support you
@shin
Well keep it simple Sony 's operating income is down 26% and Microsoft's is up 32%. No MS spin there, just facts. 😉
Cheers
MS is after diminishing consoles as a medium. They want to destroy this market because they couldnt win. MS’s vision is to dissolve console gaming.
Odd that a company that touts you dont need the hardware to play is already touting another console in the works.
They are not reliant on the HW but still want to maintain a presence (no matter how small) is a good thing. It shows commitment to the craft. It reminds me of SNK and how they made games for their own hardware (Neo Geo) while also making them for others because they knew there was a market to do so. They knew they would sell more to others but also sell to their own niche fan base.
Perfectly reasonable post down voted by insecure corporation friendly folk.... But not gamers. Real gamer want accessibility and ease of acquisition for all.... Company shills are the only ones still telling us that hardware locking people from games is good for us.
In the last two years they've started exiting the consumer market altogether. All of the newest Surface products are business models only. They can't seem to work out what they want to do with it.
Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.
"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.
Activision: "we gonna need a bigger rucksack/backpack please"
Microsoft: "why's that"
Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'
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
The only growth MS will get out of the console industry is if it supports it's rivals platforms. Xbox is a pointless machine now. I can see them on a big push for live next, and they won't give up on trying to buy Steam.
omg what scum bag liars. The cut the price because they are losing and try to say its a hollow victory hahahahahah WHY CUT PRICES WITH DEMAND SO HIGH YOU ARE SHORT IN SUPPLY MICROSFT??? WHEN CONSOLE IS 255$ AND WAY CHEAPER ALREADY??? See BOTS. Microsft is fvcking PATHETIC. He is LIEING through his teeth because Sony won again. Sersiouly LAME. Sony just took it on the chin and hid while losing. Now Microsft cuts prices while getting owned wihle at the same time blaming them losing on "shortages" and whatever Sony says.... they will be celebrating a "hollow victory" When demand is high u dont cut prices.... wow its such a blatant lie... and just the fact that 360's are EVERYWHERE. Available all over the web... my bestbut, target... even walmar. Microsft want to pretend Sony isnt coming back already and winning. WHAT PATHETIC LOSERS.
You should be ashamed BOTS. Please leave the dark side before these idiots buy out EA and ruin gaming forever.
Very optimistic guy, MS should be proud to have him on their payroll. And judging by his husky frame he seems to enjoy a lot of pork, good for him.
you gotta give the guy some credit - there are some good points in here. not convinced by certain things however and some things are just plain spin.
i dont understand why you would initiate a price cut if the console is in high demand? that blatently goes against everything we've been taugh on supply and demand.
secondly the comments aimed @ sony's blu-ray. he says that you buy a console for its games - not for its media player and that that should be a red flag for sony. later on however he contradicts this by saying a certain proportion of LIVE users are willing to pay online services solely for messenging and movie rental. plus i'm not entirely convinced @ the comments for getting involved with HD format war in the first place. i doubt the market has changed all that much. if anything its more consumerable. (if thats a word?)
i know its not entirely the same thing, but i think more than a few people will read that article and go...."meh". bottom line is that its a reasonably good interview.
Does anybody else see Microsoft’s game division sinking into the same arrogant behavior that Sony fell into towards the middle of the PS2’s lifetime?
I feel that they have become arrogant in their thinking so much so that they never mention their issues with the RROD and other such failures. They base their success on their games yet have more shovelware than the PS3 and continue to fight for genres that do not broaden their horizons.
I love playing my 360 but despite all that the game division at MS has offered, I am still peeved about the failure rates and have gone through way too many 360’s to be as ambitious in my thinking as this guy in the interview. It would seem better to me that they climb down off of their soap box and begin fixing their problems before further attempting to “gain market share” on Sony.
What this guy doesn't realize is a Happy Meal a day won't keep the PS3's from going away...