CrimsonFox13

Its is the worst quality console.

It has a sad line up of games - only 3 worth buying over 2 years - Halo 3, Gears of War, and Bioshock (the best of the 3 easily)

Xbox Live is pathetic, and MS charges for such a lame service. It doesn't even work properly.

xbox 360 users were directed towards buying an overpriced and useless HD DVD drive which is no better than a doorstop now.

Bottom line stop obsessing over console sales numbers. Xbox 360 is out of the game this year - it was quick out of the gate and will be the last place console by the end of 2008.

Numanthia

This is a real rant as my first gaming post ever, as I've had it, reading posts from fanboy morons & their b*llsh*t.

oldskool

giovonti

Personally I'd rather the wireless accessory be the peripheral than the ethernet port. Right, Nintendo?

RawSteelUT

Lot Krotan

Akmed

theprof00

Phenom88

An the 360's been kicking some ass so far. There's no good reason to assume it won't continue to in 2008.

I think it's just wishful thinking from xbox haters. And as for me; hey, if the ps3 had some great multiplayer games on it I'd want to pick one up, until then i'm not terribly interested.

giovonti

KingBroly

This would be my suggestion: keep the AAA multiplats rolling, and work on building successful exclusives (an arena where Xbox has never been as strong, beyond obvious titles like Halo, etc). Don't succumb to hubris like Nintendo or Sony, and work hard to convince publishers that you've got a viable platform.

In other words, keep me happy as a gamer, and you'll get sales. Try diversifying too much and you'll lose out to the competition. Not all of us want a home-theatre box or a party-game machine, guys.

splines

If you want my opinion, I think many people who play games are far too paranoid and feel if they define themselves with a commonly accepted title, they've become less "Independent". Honestly, the "parroted" terms used by publishers, developers and manufacturers are about as irrelevant as worrying what defines a gamer. A chess player is a gamer, A D&D player is a gamer; Hell, a damn Candyland player could be considered a gamer.

Like an Artist is a producer of Art, A Gamer is someone who plays games. Period. Percentage of games owned or frequency of playing them is not part of the definition; When people start factoring words like those in, then it becomes a term for marketers. Remember, a title derives from those who participate in it's namesake, not those who profit off of it after. Game on "Players".

KeroseneClimax

Insomnia Bob

Seriously, if Bioware isn't ALREADY making Mass Effect 2, I'm going to juice up on PCP and kill you all.

Hugs,
Insomnia Bob.

Insomnia Bob

Sugaray

LOL I couldn't have said it better myself plus don't you find it rare that the 360 is pointed away to not see what the real problem is... the RROD. It's all lies.

FP Shindokie

Witzbold

jk.

mentalboy11

It's a little like how the nature of the business forces distinct labelling of products. It's always funny to me to see the press bend over backwards to quantify games whenever we get genre-bending. We've barely got names for games like the GTA franchise that describe them.

In the same way, i think it's sad how the feedback loop works, when developers set out to meet the standards of a genre, rather than simply follow their own way and make some bizarre shmup/rave/rpg/brawler/space trader.

I miss the time when buying games meant something really new, rather than an incremental shift of an existing formula with a new set of characters. For me personally this has made games about great stories and art, NOT so much about great gameplay, because it all seems to be the same basic stuff that fuels it all that i'm willing to put up with some pretty shoddy stuff to get at the parts that i like. For instance i thought Scarface was bloody brilliant for what it did, but by "school standards" it's clearly an inferior product.

I think we ARE in a creative rut, because the source of the creative energy that drives a game today can be any random factor of investors, several producers, in-house drama. The scale is just off the chain now; the filter an idea has to pass through to reach fruition is near kevlar.

When a game like Halo 3 hits and delivers so perfectly on its advertising, it actually makes me a little depressed, because every minute of that game SCREAMS fear of failure. There is nothing to that game that challenges us for a moment.

I've become so starved for it that when Bioshock comes along and retreads Shock 2, i'm just totally stoked about the harvest/save mechanic because it does something at ALL to the formula. That's pretty sad to me.

Sunjammer

Stormrider

/clap

I also think as gaming is becoming more mainstream, it is getting the 'Hollywood effect' too. Partial what you said, and partial what Hollywood is going through.

EnigmaNemesis

If you, as a player of video games, require AAA big budget slop to be satisfied, you're not only missing out; you're contributing to the demise of the industry, and why we've been in a creative rut since the 90s. You're also part of the reason why smaller and smaller teams and casual games are the new wave in development.

Arms race technical masturbation doesn't serve anyone.

Sunjammer

They come off no different than Sony or Nintendo in my eyes.

All corporations, who care about money, and maybe, just maybe, the little guy in the companies care, but that is it.

EnigmaNemesis

Sunjammer

djpaec

I'm assuming by "accessories," he's talking about all the crap you have to buy and tape to the back of a 360 to make it playable online? Or is he talking about HD-DVD accessories? Or the MS Fire Suppression Kit?

PlayerX

It's just marketing making use of certain kinds of elitism within the industry. Over the past week the two games I've played most are Unreal Tournament 3 and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. Are they going to classify me as 'casual' or a 'gamer'? I own a PS3 and a Wii. Casual, or gamer?

The whole thing is ridiculous. If you play a lot of games then you're a... well no. If you play a lot of games then you play a lot of games. That's it really.

GregoriusH

homernoy

DELETED

In fact, (drum roll please) Sony will come in first and here's why:

1) Sony will sell the most consoles due to another price drop and a killer lineup of games

2) Sony will have better titles to choose from

3) Sony's online service is STILL free, but will be rebuilt from the ground up with the addition of the Music/Movie download service and Home.

4) Blu Ray will win the format war. Dont think it's that big of a deal? Wait till all retailers push HD TV's and Players, oh yeah, and Microsoft will release an add on BD drive

5) LittleBigPlanet will win game of the year.

Alright so I ran out of ideas and threw in a bone for number 5, but I still believe it to be true. And before everyone starts flaming me, I'm talking about WORLDWIDE sales. And a few other things to remember...

1) Devil May Cry 4 and MGS4 are extremely popular franchises in Japan, which Microsoft (hardware wise) is not. Both will sell in 3-1 ratios against it's 360 competitor

2) When I say Sony will win in 2008, I also mean Sony in a whole. PSP, PS2 & PS3. And remember, each sold roughly 1.2 million units this past Holiday season ALONE!

The sky's the limit for Sony and if you havent gotten on the bandwagon yet, now's the time

mugoldeneagle03

kingclip

If MSFT pumps out games for the system like they did in 07' then gamers can care less about who outsells who.

We dont play for console sales, we play for games.

EnigmaNemesis

What is a true gamer? is it the persons favorite genres, is it how many hours they play, is it what systems or games they own even if they dont play them?

Are Carnival games playing Wii'ers gamers? how about viva piñata party animals 360'rs or PC counterstrikers, or, is it all of em?

Is it some exclusive club where the amount of product you own or buy a certain month gives you membership and failure to keep up gets you thrown out?

How about the people that play Mario Kart on their super nes still or that exclusively do their game playing on their Dreamcasts?

I somehow think that such a label, a exclusive, meaningless label is a disservice to the industry, and all of us.

Seiryuu

theprof00

They all have something worth playing.

Turael

So let's try to cut down on the dick measuring contests this year? New Year's Resolution!!!

2NinjasTapedTogether

Lionkitten, you said that dvelopers love the 360 'cause if a game is good it'll sell well; I just hope that you didn't imply that the 360 has a monopoly on that line of reasoning.
I mean, the PS3's got a lot stacked against it (price was a big one, I guess losing exclusives was another) and it seems like it's only beginning to finally receive attention from (some) developers (i.e. they're beginning to say "let's make ps3 the lead console, it's easier to port out"); people are beginning to pick it up because it's a little cheaper now.
The 360 didn't have these problems, so people were buying it up, and obviously with a larger (I think I'm using this term right) install base it was obviously very lucrative stuff for all involved.

I don't really wish ill upon the 360, and I'm aware that it's PR making the claim , but I really don't see how they're "on track" to have a breakout year, definitely not without a game that practically every xbox owner will pick up. I think the PS3 will definitely get a boost from MGS4/MGO, and FFXII when that comes out, and God of War if it ever comes along; that is, the PS3 has some big things on the horizon but the 360...not so much.

not_tom_brokaw

This is an exact quote from MSFT's web site:

"Sales of 17.7 million consoles this holiday season surpassed original expectations and put Xbox 360 on track to register the biggest year in video game history as U.S. consumers spent more on the Xbox 360 platform in 2007 than on any other gaming platform."

If you read it, the way it is written. One would take it as them selling 17.7 this holiday season, no mention of the word "through" or "lifetime".

Now since it sounds way too high, I think MSFT needs to be more clear. The Kotaku headline is ripped straight from the press release, hence why it says MICROSOFT:

EnigmaNemesis

Not talking about the stars, but there is another one to check rating under your blade.

Gears was a downer for a LOT of people. The Halo freaks waiting for halo 3 to come out.

EnigmaNemesis

jonfiredaman02

My comment on the Dreamcast was only that first to market does not ensure any kind of success. Not any comment on it's quality. In fact, I have been playing Skies of Arcadia for the umpteenth time all day over the last week. I don't know anyone that owned one that doesn't agree that it was the best console ever. It's too bad so few people knew.

And I absoletely agree with your assessment of the 360. I love it. I'm starting to love my Ps3. It's my Wii that hasn't done anything for me yet.

Smadubaku

Stormrider

You have a point about EA, but I don't remember the management decisions.. nothing big jumps out at me, that is.

Still, lack of EA didn't stop quality sports titles being made and it was the birth of the 2K franchise, which - at the time - was taking a direction that EA is taking now with the 08 releases. Granted, they've now done it ten times better, but back in the day, if you wanted a more simmy type game, you'd go the 2K route.

Then again, EA sits on a lot more than that, but for casual market, EA Sports can make your console bunches of money.

dunetiger reads kotaku, seems pleased

It's going to be a big battle between PS3's first real second generation titles (the ones that really set the pace) and I honestly think they will win 2008.

But a upgrade is not out of the question. Sega did it with moderately successful Sega CD. Nintendo has done is several times (NES-cd, the failed snes-sony CD system, the n64 expansion pack, 32x) It's not out of the realm of possibility to have post retail upgrades (as steve jobs)

But just because Ps3 has a bigger storage medium, doesn't mean it is a game breaker feature. I will admit a hard drive being optional does hurt, but it will not be a game breaker any time soon. If anything, you might see games use downloadible content to the hard drive if they need additional space.

Those that don't have a HD, yes might be locked out, but alas, it wount halt a system's progress

huginn

"It's because of your efforts this holiday and throughout the previous year that we've been able to drive this historic growth and sell over 17.7 million consoles worldwide."

At this point last year, they claimed 10.4 million sold to retailers. That means, this year, they only added 7.3 million.

jsf49

Whether a large portion of those Wii buyers turn into gamers (people who regularly purchase games) remains to be seen.

That is a good point that I think a lot of people need to realize.

EnigmaNemesis

NeoAkira

EnigmaNemesis

Always play shooters with it off.

Funny thing was, I played many sports games and racing games online ... never talk much on them, unless there are cool people. Preferred to play rating was always 90%+ ... as soon as Gears hit, I spent one week in it, with no mic, it dropped to 60%! Stars didnt change cause the system knows when people pick trash talking and you have no mic, but man, certain games, bring out the assholes.

Been play CoD4 heavily, and it has been going up. Stay away from Halo 3 like the plague, unless I play with just friends and family.

There was a huge threads about people asking the same shit when Gears hit. How come their player rating has dipped, and that people are that pathetic to cause it. Such a bad experience in such a great game.

EnigmaNemesis

I love it how Sony fan boys are all of a sudden all about how cutting edge their system is. It is almost as if they forgot that the Sony system was the raw performance laggard for both of the prior two generations.

If Sony "wins" this generation, it would basically be the first time ever that the most powerful system was the best selling. Gaming history is flush with "Cadillac" systems no one wanted: ColecoVision, NeoGeo, Lynx, and XBox spring to mind.

Of course nobody is gonna beat the Wii in consoles sold. Whether a large portion of those Wii buyers turn into gamers (people who regularly purchase games) remains to be seen.

Ess

Yeah Call of Duty 4 as an online environment went down hill about a month after release and the Halo 3 people migrated over. Still love to play just have my headset volume off.

Pornosaur

Saith17

Saith17

PS3 will have GT5, MGS4, Killzone2 (although I hate that FPS nonsense like Haze and all ), Wipeout HD and flOwer on the PSN as well (always good). Are both FF13s coming in 2008 as well? And maybe Motorstorm or Resistance 2?

So yeah next Holiday season will be interesting.

Kaneda

I run into trash talkers so damn much. And its funny, it always seems they have to find SOMETHING to talk about. Once about the clan tag. Once about the name. Once because I didnt have my mic in. Once because I was still on 55 and hadn't prestiged ( I dont plan to.), Once because I was on top, once because I was on the bottom, etc, etc.

Eh. Thank god muting people is just a click away.
Now I just want to be able to play the damn thing without freezing up.

Terrorsaur.

Tepoz

Tepoz

I don't know of a single person who owned a Dreamcast that didn't love it (maybe there are some here), and yet something that was so well-loved simply died because it didn't say "Sony" on it. I remember people simple passing it off saying, "I'll wait for the PS2." It took so long for PS2 to get a foothold, too - if I recall correctly, a good long year before anything really decent came out for it. DC took a gamble, came out first, and failed.

This time, however, the 360 came out first and it's served them well. They have a very well-established fanbase, devs love its architecture, and overall, despite the RRoD, it's a solid machine. Anyone who believes that the 360 will fail like the DC is kidding themselves.

dunetiger reads kotaku, seems pleased

So don't forget that one, Kaneda. I think that's looking to be a bonafide franchise.

Smadubaku

AnonUserAnonymous

doing

Wishful thinking, you want the 360 to fail, but it is and will be a success over it lifetime. While even I feel the PS3 will outsell all 3 consoles over the long run due to its brand name alone, the 360 has and will continue to be one hell of a system. Had the PS3 not been $600 at launch none of us would know the 360 existed. For that, I thank Sony.

AnonUserAnonymous

Kaneda

None. Then again I don't know which system has any games coming out this year with the Halo hype-punch you mention, that game is in a league of its own.

The PS3 to my knowledge right now only has one which is Metal Gear. We can speculate how big the other games will be but we have no idea yet. So far the 360 seems to have interesting titles just like the PS3.

AnonUserAnonymous

The 360 has 30 million sellers already. That's a ton. Developers love the 360, because if the game is good it sells. Compare that to PS3. They put out awesome games like Ratchet, Uncharted and Warhawk, and none of them have sold a million yet (though December numbers aren't final yet). They had only 5 million sellers, 2 of which were pack-ins (motorstorm and Resistance) and the other three were non-exclusive. In 360's first year there were 11. That's why they are bragging.

lionkitten

I agree on that. MS did have a great start, but it won't survive the next 4 or 5 years without an upgrade. And what upgrade? The 360 needs HD-DVD support for it's games and a big standard hard-drive. But if that is being released (as an add-on or a an "ultimate" version of the 360) it means all devs are going to start making games on HD-DVD. Which means that all those that now have a 360 would be screwed (or forced to upgrade). Many of those people would choose not to upgrade, meaning MS wouldn't sell many of those new "ultimate" 360s.

So yeah. Seeing how PS3 games are starting to look and how much potential it still has left, it seems the 360 is in trouble. And although weaker systems have survived and even risen to success, I don't think the 360 has the games for it. The PS1 kicked ass because it had FF, MGS, GT and a bunch of cool first party games. I don't think Mass Effect and Bioshock are gonna cut it.

Kaneda

You just beat me to my question. OK, Xbots, I actually need you now. What games are actually coming out for the 360 this year?

Lets keep it to exclusives only. I'm looking forward to Too Human and Ninja Gaiden 2. What else?

Laxcat

Oh, and Gekyo - two words - Dream Cast.

Smadubaku

not_tom_brokaw

That was a very intelligent and well worded arguement, how long did it take you to come up with that?

Slim-66

Right?

*Cough*

TetraNitroCubane

That is true achievement for only bit over two years old console. The largest attach rate I know is 13.8, that's PSOne in Japan till 2005. Microsoft might have a change to dent that. At least they are well on track to get over the average of console lifetime that is around 9 games. Though it can be debated whether or not the upcoming console buyers are as eager to get games as the ones that already got the system, might well be that the rest won't buy as near as many. It certainly won't continue in rocket like acceleration as it has been till today, but the total will be great.

ara

sainraja

lol that must be some mighty powerful sheet your smokin bud :P

PlasmaMachine

Gekyo

Dimipapa

Crazyeyez15

I'm not going to say there AREN'T Little kids playing or total assholes on the 360, but no matter where you go to get your video games online you'll run into something like them.

I'm just saying that from my experiences on XBL, nothing else that plays fun video games compares with it. All my friends that are into gaming I got to get a 360 and not one of them was dissapointed.

(besides the recent "live outage")

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Stormrider

My360broked

Marcus117

That is blistering and brilliant. Shows they have games people want to play, and the fact that this is things developers look at. They see than millions buy good games on there, where you think all the games will go to?

EnigmaNemesis

Probably the time of day you play ... but my overall experience with the players and lack there of shit talking in CoD4 was more than positive.

EnigmaNemesis

Crazyeyez15

@EnigmaNemesis: I tend to get partnered up with Europeans a lot in COD4. I haven't played it online much, having only gotten the game at Christmas, but I can't say I've been in any english language match yet. It's weird.

Marcus117

PBT2009

asianmacker

Avinash_Tyagi

Yeah, once in a blue moon I hear it. But mostly in the more aggressive games like Gears and Halo3.

Shockingly it isnt so much in CoD4!

EnigmaNemesis

Stormrider

Everyone else has been really polite and friendly, even the Americans that I've become clan members with. I'm English myself, and I've heard stories about name calling and the like over Live, but I've just never encountered it.

Maybe I just know how to use the service better and avoid people like that.

Marcus117

Stormrider

Marcus117

/agree

I rarely see them ... of course if you have the "underground" tag, you may run into the heathens a bit more.

EnigmaNemesis

okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)

/ditto

As well as Force Unleashed, Fallout 3, etc.

EnigmaNemesis

Marcus117

CFStang

smellyelite

smellyelite

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Truepatriot

Captain Internet

ara

Truepatriot

That being said the Wii is awesome.

Seiryuu

Moonshadow101

ara

BUT...

You can't honestly say that the Wii can compete with the 360 and its games. You people gotta realize that, yes it is selling well, but do any of you stop and realize the people who are buying it? This holiday season, everyone I know that got the Wii were parents over 40 y/o and got it for their kids 12 y/o & under.

Is that really the kind of people you want to play games with??

I didn't think so.

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Marcus117

SaiZn

syl1985

CFStang

lionkitten

[wm.istreamplanet.com]

Truepatriot

SaiZn

Sidenote: Getting close to winning the HD format war will also do a lot to push their console as the multimedia gaming machine to own this year.

Looking forward to seeing the numbers this time next year.

sascha23

Spiffyness

@myd12: Impossible. There's no way that 5.7 million 360s are sitting in the retail channel. Retailers wouldn't keep ordering them from Microsoft if they had that kind of backlog.

Stormrider

shaunomacx

mikeluisortega

But hey, 17.7 mil is still good. I don't care how much you hate MS, you've gotta give credit where credit is due. Bravo, MGS (or whatever they call the videogame branch of MS).

Spiffyness

Though it still entertains me.. damn that orange box.

ChinezePanda

It will have a slower year, but at the same time they need to spin how "superior" they are to get the masses to flock to them.

It's typical consumer baiting, and MS is damn good at it. It's the same thing as what is done with the MGS 4 on 360 "rumor". It's one giant corprate cheerleading effort directed towards the masses.

weasl

Marcus117

Truepatriot

Jazhuis

darkslide

more and more people are getting into gaming every year.

this is just dumass propaganda for people who cant really think

PINK UNICORN

I think the numbers are somewhere aroun 12 millino ish myself though. I REALLY doubt they sold 17mil

NessD12

Seiryuu

MCWHAMMER

reilo

Erwin

Belain

Aha! That's what Live's problem has been! They rolled over at 9,999,999!

Jazhuis

syl1985

Jun581 won't give you tree fiddy!!

StrifeHawkins

engijoe76

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remanance

It will be interesting to see what happens by this time next year.

I have a feeling 360 is going to have a much slower year than they're predicting.

sascha23

Those are total sales as of this holiday season.

KagaSakai

Jesus Christ

Moonshadow101

Jazhuis

If it is customers, the PS3 is going to have a harder way to climb than I imagined.

remanance

tamushrek

FreedomFries

Seiryuu

Jesus Christ