Dean Takahashi over at the Mercury News posted a memo he received from Microsoft games head Dan Mattrick, one that is far from ordinary and reeks of success, pride and optimism. Actually, the memo is so optimisticlly enjoyable it goes as far as to claim that the "Xbox 360 is on track to register the biggest year in video game history" for 2007. Yeah, it's that good.In the memo, Mattrick goes on to gloat about the 360's success in North America including figures like $3.5 billion in Xbox 360 hardware, accessories and software were sold in 2007, which is $1 billion more than the Wii and $2 billion more than the PS3. And the goods don't stop there. Mattrick also talks about the 360's third party revenue eclipsing both the Wii and PS3's totals combined and that the 360 should break the record for most revenue generated in a year, breaking the PS2's record. Wowzaz!
Dan Mattrick continues his celebration memo with other facts and figures including such gems like Xbox Live serving 380 million downloads since launch, Live hosting more than 560,000 years of network time and that Halo 3 has logged over 1.5 billion multiplayer matches to date. And with all that info we think it's safe to say that the Xbox 360 is in a solid position among the big three and that 2008 will bring more success. We guess Dan says it best; the Xbox 360 will be "the leader of this generation of consoles". Oh it will.
[Via Joystiq]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
1-08-2008 @ 9:29AM
SadisticHam said...
Seems over confident. The competition is pulling out the big guns in 2008 and I've yet to see MS announce anything that'll blow us away.
Other than NG2, i love that game.
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 9:55AM
jtedesco33 said...
I completely agree with you, instead of taking time to beat on your chest MS you should be trying to snag some exclusives.
1-08-2008 @ 10:00AM
Mark said...
I couldn't agree more. 2007 spoiled us with awesome games. 2008 will be a much harder year for the 360. Many great games for the 360 this year are multi-plat and some of the exclusives aren't killer apps like a Halo 3 or Bioshock. The PS3 has had a year to mature and the success of BLu-Ray (as much as I hate to admit it) will help fuel the fire. Don seems to be writing this letter based on financial success which is fair for compairing against the PS3, but the Wii is in a different price range completely which I feel is an unfair argument. It is foolish to disregard the success of a console that is still flying off the shelves.
MS will have to step up their game if they want 2008 to be as good or better than 2007.
1-08-2008 @ 10:00AM
Mark said...
I couldn't agree more. 2007 spoiled us with awesome games. 2008 will be a much harder year for the 360. Many great games for the 360 this year are multi-plat and some of the exclusives aren't killer apps like a Halo 3 or Bioshock. The PS3 has had a year to mature and the success of BLu-Ray (as much as I hate to admit it) will help fuel the fire. Don seems to be writing this letter based on financial success which is fair for compairing against the PS3, but the Wii is in a different price range completely which I feel is an unfair argument. It is foolish to disregard the success of a console that is still flying off the shelves.
MS will have to step up their game if they want 2008 to be as good or better than 2007.
1-08-2008 @ 9:46AM
number9 said...
It's DON...not Dan... :)
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 9:53AM
TORO said...
Wohoo...Sony sucks big huevos!
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 9:55AM
Deezul said...
I had a Wii for a few months, but sold it. Guess what? I don't like Platformers, so for every, "Mario Galaxy is the greatest game EVAH!" I ask, what else you got? I bought Wii Play for the extra controller, and Mario Party 8 so I could play with my sons. But both of THEM are more interested in my 360 games. And yes, I buy kid friendly games. Plus, the 360 just looks better in HD. And I read of list of new games coming this year to the PS3. Half of them weren't exclusives, so there's no incentive for me to get a PS3. How many reports did we hear over the holidays of PSN crashing? As bad as it was, it means MS is DOING SOMETHING RIGHT. Plus, with the free game, this will be I believe the 3rd free game MS has offered up. Texas Hold 'em was free for a week when it came out, Carcassone was free during he Live is Five celebration, and whatever else is coming. Has Sony or Nintendo offered up free games? PSN has given free games to some users, but MS did it for everyone.
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 10:20AM
xenocidic said...
Don't forget Aegis Wing and GOTY-candidate "Yaris". And of course, Doritos Dash to Destruction is on deck.
1-08-2008 @ 10:56AM
Boff said...
Maybe for you Yanks - where's the British love??
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 10:56AM
Corleone said...
Not to mention we've almost lost the format war as far as HD DVD goes........may be a tough year for MS??
Still looking forward to Burnout, Alan Wake (if it actually releases) Madden and NHL 09, GTA, etc, etc......
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 11:14AM
KilgoreTrout XL said...
It's all about Ninja Gaiden 2 and Fallout 3 for me this year.
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 11:20AM
TORO said...
Who cares about movies!! Blu-ray vs HD-DVD crap, I'm much more interested in games/software, and M$ beat the crap out of Sony in that respect. To all who say, "victory in format war", I don't give a shit victory in videogames. So hah!
sorry, little rant about all the format war, PS3 can play movies, we can play good video games ;)
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 12:24PM
Fuck Sony said...
Some of you are clowns, at least Toro got it right.
How can any of you say "oh, 360 doesn't have any games to compete this year, Sonys bringin the big guns"
What big guns are those? Fuck MGS and fuck GT. You mean you waited almost 2 years for that shit, for those 2 games that everyone raves about for PS3 is supposed to be the be all end all saving grace for the PS3? Get real.
No disrespect to Kojima and Polyphony, they put excellent prodoction values into their games, and as a gamer I respect that, even though I don't like the MGS series and GT while impressive to me isn't fun, game recognizes game and for PS3 owners I guess they should be excited that finally there movie player will get some AAA games.
With that being said, i've been gaming for a very long time and for me i'm not buying a PS3 for blu-ray movies, I want damn games and Sony doesn't have them. Period. There are millions of gamers like me who would love to have a reason to buy one, but with no interest in blu-ray, no interest in the MGS series, and not to mention the multiple insults to Sonys customers over the past couple years in reference to the PS3 and PSP, i'm not biting.
360 has the games, and they have an EXCELLENT lineup for this year, only you haters don't see that. With the announced releases such as Ninja Gaiden, Too Human, Alan Wake, and the games yet to be announced, Halo Wars you can run the list. Not to mention 3rd party support is much stronger on the 360 than it's rivals, i'm not stressing at all.
In conclussion, the 360 is poised to kick Sony in the nuts again this year, with a steady stream of great games and some AAA's. As a gamer, I support Nintendo as well, they make great first party stuff that's fun. Fuck Sony. I don't like being insulted, lied to and screwed over by being forced into buying a damn blu-ray player that I don't want. Hell, most of the movies I can download in HD on my 360 anyway so whats the point? You wait almost 2 years for Sonys promise of "the potential of PS3"? Fuck that, give me games that warrant the shit talking and high entry cost and then we can talk.
Rant over.
1-08-2008 @ 1:26PM
TORO said...
lol let it all out man
1-08-2008 @ 12:07PM
VampireHunter Z said...
I don't think he is being over confident. The fact is 360 is a monster when it comes to selling software. Multiplatform titles sell more on the 360. Look at CoD4. This year we will see multiplatform titles like RE5 and GTA4. Those will be sell millions on the 360 alone.
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 12:35PM
absolute_nonsense said...
Oh, and one more thing...
Sooner or later someone will bring up the fact that the 360 isn't selling in Japan, yada, yada, and to that I say, big deal.
Japan is not the monster in gaming that it once was. The fact that the 360 is doing so well without Japan is
evidence enough of that fact. MS tried in Japan and for whatever reason, be it nationalism or "lack of games" it really doesn't matter.
The market there is in cell phones and handhelds, consoles don't have the hold they once did, witht the exception of the Wii which is kicking Sonys ass left and right, not to mention the DS. Nintendo knows what MS knows, that gamers want games and not blu-ray players that play the occasional game. Again, MS is getting stomped in Japan but they don't need Japan to win. The money is in the states and in Europe and to that affect the proof is in the pudding, at the pudding has a green X plastered all over it.
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 1:03PM
Tony said...
Sony has also managed to create a lot of buzz for the new Killzone title, which you can't forget either. As far as "innovative stuff" goes they have Little Big Planet too. I'm not saying that these games (in addition to MGS4 and GT5) will necessarily do amazingly well and push the PS3 to new heights, but it's been very clear that Sony has done a better job of showing off 2008 than MS has.
And really the main reason for that is E3. MS's push was "this thing is good right now" and Sony's was "this thing will be good /eventually/". And so Sony blew most of its load on 2008 titles that we're now all aware of. MS chose to completely ignore them and, I guess indirectly, created this situation where most of us are just completely unaware of what's coming this year (100% for sure) and when.
I'm sure at some point this will be rectified, but it kind of stinks in the meantime. But clearly given how well the 360 did compared to the PS3 this past holiday, all of that did what MS wanted it to do.
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 1:33PM
Xiru said...
This is great and all but MS needs to cut its price if it wants to stay ahead of at least the PS3. It will never catch up to the Wii. Currently, PS3 is besting it in worldwide sales for the month of December and January. MS can still counter by dropping the price and announcing more blockbuster games. I really think 2008 is the year of the PS3 though.
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 2:10PM
Deezul said...
Yes, MS could drop the price of the 360, but why, if it's still selling well. It took MS almost 2 years for their first price drop, and really only in response to Sony's drop. Sony? Less than A YEAR. Plus, the Wii has been out as long as the PS3, and Nintendo has no intention of dropping their price. Why? Again, it's sell well at it's price point. MS makes money on games and accesories, not the console.
Reply
1-08-2008 @ 2:23PM
Fuck Sony said...
How is 08 the year of PS3? I don't see it.
Granted, KZ, MGS and GT are going to be AAA's for Sony, but then what? All the 3rd party stuff is coming to 360 as well. I would argue that most gamers, myself included, outside of the PS3 club are far more excited about what's coming up for MS this year.
The reason being is that besides previously announced games for 360 this year, those I mentioned earlier, MS seems to have a goal of introducing more original IP's that i'm interested in, Alan Wake being a prime example. Hopefully Project Offset will make it this year and despite what the haters say, Too Human will be huge.
The futures bright for 360, I don't have any worries at all. Last years E3 I think hurt Sony, the whole show was about what's coming in distant future, not what you can buy now, which is why MS shined, I knew that sometime this year I could walk into the store and buy the games I wanted and not have to wait for "future potential" coming from Sony. Why buy a PS3 now if the "big guns" don't hit for another year?
Oh yeah, so I can watch Spiderman 3 on blu-ray.
Fuck that.
MS did exactly what they needed to. E3 last year shouldn't have been about 08, it should be about whats crackin soon. I can't wait until E3 this year, it will be awesome for all 3 companies. Allthough I hate Sony, I wish them well for gamers sake. Nintendo and MS will do the damn thang, and for that i'm pysched.
In conclussion, I would just warn people not to shit on MS, they know what they are doing and a company like MS is going to bring their A game. MS is playing for keeps, make no mistake about it. It's a good time to be a gamer, no matter wich side you fall on, i'm just glad to see Sony getting their asses handed to them by the big N (poetic justice?) and MS.
Reply