Sony is back to their typical mudslinging ways (because we all know Microsoft is an angel) when, in an interview with GamePro, Sony's Marketing VP Scott Steinberg mocked Microsoft's marketing strategy saying that they "may have punched themselves out of the fight". Really?
In the interview, Steinberg decided to gloat about the PS3's upcoming catalog of games, console features and superb Blu-ray tech all while pointing out that their "competition has already leveraged all their big assets in the first couple of years" and doesn't have anything left to offer. A metaphorical knockout to one's self. Steinberg further went on to say that they "are the [HD movie] standard" with a "formula [that] is going to drive consumers to the PS3" ... amazing. So, we guess a hugely successful Xbox Live Arcade, a Video Marketplace, games like Halo Wars, Ninja Gaiden II, Fable 2, Banjo-Kazooie 3 and Gears of War 2 don't mean much to Mr. Steinberg and his magical, global warming ending, world peace bringing Blu-ray technology.
Posted Mar 14th 2008 10:00AM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
It's time once again for our monthly dose of NPD sales numbers and for the second month in a row the Xbox 360 falls behind the PS3 in terms of hardware sales. Though, February's 254.6K Xbox 360 sales were only slightly lower than the PS3's 280.8K, so it wasn't a huge walloping. And, for the second month, Microsoft's excuse for lackluster hardware sales is due to hardware constraints and not being able to keep up with demand. A problem that should be rectified for March. Oh, and that console called the Wii ... 432K units sold. Ouch!
Hopping over to the software side of life, February was stellar for Xbox 360 games seeing five of the ten top spots. Among the big winners was Call of Duty 4, Devil May Cry 4 and our friends at Harmonix were finally able to break into the top ten with Rock Band selling 161.8K units. Click towards the break to get your fill of February NPD hardware and software sales and let's just hope March brings a turnaround. Otherwise we have a feeling the big guys in Redmond may be forced to do some North American price cutting to stay competitive and strike fear in the eyes of their enemies.
They may have to support it for some of their products, but Microsoft is being vocal about their non-support of Blu-ray technology when it comes to the Xbox 360.
Microsoft's own Aaron Greenberg flat out told Reuters that Sony's Blu-ray technology would not be integrated into the 360 saying that "Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience". So, can we now officially put to rest anyrumors or talk of Microsoft releasing an Xbox 360 Blu-ray attachment? Please?
Well, well, well. If it isn't the lowly PS3 finally making a move in January and actually beating the Xbox 360 in terms of number of units sold in North America. Yes sir, you can color us NPD shocked and impressed.
According to the just released January NPD sales numbers, the Xbox 360 has come in a disappointing third place in the console wars, only managing to sell 230,000 consoles while the PS3 moved 269,000 and the Wii sold 274,000. But before you storm the streets in a fit of rage, know that there is some sort of explanation for the third place outing ... there wasn't enough stock. You see, according to Microsoft, they haven't been able to replenish the retail channels quick enough post holidays, resulting in less Xbox 360s on shelves and less 360s available to consumers. So, if that theory makes you sleep better at night, then go with that and know Microsoft is producing 360s as fast as possible and should regain its sales lead over the PS3 come February NPD. Hopefully.
We also wanted to mention that not only has Call of Duty 4 claimed the number one sales spot selling another 330,900 copies in January, but Rock Band made its top ten NPD sales debut too. You can review the rather gloomy NPD ranks and numbers after the break, though we advise keeping one thing in mind. It was lack of stock at retail ... lack of stock at retail ...
For whatever reason, the analysts over at EA decided to put their betting chips on the PS3 as the predict its sales to eclipse the 360's in 2008. For reals.
EA released their 2008 hardware sales estimates saying that the Wii (not surprisingly) is predicted to outsell all consoles, but EA's second place prediction is what has our heads confused. In Europe alone EA believes the PS3 will move 5-6 million consoles while the 360 only sells a measly 1.5-2.5 million units. EA goes on to predict that North American sales of the two consoles should be equal and, after the dust settles, worldwide sales in 2008 should put the PS3 at 9.5-11.5 million while the Xbox 360 will only manage 6-8 million. Either EA is smoking a lot of illegal drugs, simply decided to agree with Sony or they've gone off the deep end, because we do not see the 360's 2008 hardware sales to be that bleak. Eesh, eesh, eesh.
Sony CEO Howard Stringer is happy go perky when it comes to talking about the future of the PS3. Oh how bright the future is. Talking with Reuters, Stringer says that the "PS3 has now gone past XBox on the Christmas market" and that it is "moving into its own". Comparable to the growth of a tween becoming a teenager or something like that. Stringer then happily proclaims that the "PS3 is out of the woods and beginning to hold its own" when it comes to its competition with the 360. And we just hope that he's talking about Japanese sales numbers, because if he's referencing to North American sales then we'll have to be the bearer of bad news and say that the woods is much deeper and scarier than he thinks. But we'll let Stringer live in his fantasy world for as long as he wants, because he is a CEO. We'll just keep mum and let the numbers speak.
We can finally put the guessing and speculation to rest, because the US's December NPD video game sales are here! Let's jump in head first without a helmet.
The Xbox 360 sold 1.26 million consoles (wowzaz!) in December, barely trailing the Wii's 1.35 million, but completely dominating the PS3's 797.6K. But that isn't all friends, because the December NPD brings the added benefit of recapping what 2007's total sales were as well. And in 2007, the Xbox 360 made us proud selling 4.62 million consoles, with the Wii selling 6.29 million and the PS3 only managing to move 2.56 million. It should also be noted that the 360 leads in lifetime sales with 9.15 million units. Just saying.
Onto the software side of things, last December Call of Duty 4 on the 360 took the number one spot with 1.47 million copies, while Assassin's fell into number five (893.7K), Halo 3 at number six (742.7K) and GHIII at number nine (624.6K). Sorry kids, no Rock Band. And we're very proud to say that Halo 3 is the number one selling game of all platforms in 2007, moving a respectable 4.82 million copies, just edging out Wii Play's 4.12 million.
Our heads hurt, so feel free to click towards the break and look over the complete listings of December and 2007's hardware and software sales in list form. Remember, numbers are fun!
Posted Jan 10th 2008 11:15AM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
As we continue to monitor the HD DVD and Blu-ray drama, today both HBO and New Line Cinema announced that they're leaving HD DVD behind and going exclusively Blu. The news shouldn't come as a shock to anyone though, seeing that both HBO and New Line's parent company is Warner, who made the Blu-ray jump last week. So, this means that starting now and through the foreseeable future, all HBO television shows as well as New Line releases will only come out on Blu-ray. We guess no more Sopranos HD DVDs for us.
The HD format war is an icky mess of ickiness, with numerous companies taking sides, making money, losing money and acting like hormonal teenagers in high school. It's bad. And Microsoft has always been a backer of HD DVD for its own business reasons, but what if the format were to fail?
That question was posed to the big M recently when they were asked if they would release a Blu-ray peripheral for the 360 (similar to the already released HD DVD player) if Blu-ray were to win the HD format war. Microsoft's answer, sure, why not. Group manager for Xbox hardware Albert Penello said that the HD format "should be consumer choice; and if that's the way they vote [Blu-ray], that's something we'll have to consider". That's a very open minded stance by Microsoft on the issue, but why are they so flexible? Well, because they don't see the HD format war affecting their gaming rivalry with the PS3 and Wii, so if Blu-ray were to win, they'd consider supporting it. And it wouldn't be like they'd have a choice, one company can't save a media format. Just don't bank on a 360 Blu-ray player anytime soon.
Update: Paramount released a statement today saying that their "current plan is to continue to support the HD DVD format". Good news we say, although the the whole "current plan" wording doesn't put us at complete ease.
HD DVD is getting its metaphorical bum whipped lately and things do not look to be getting any brighter.
The Financial Times has cooked up the latest HD DVD versus Blu-ray rumor and are claiming that Paramount may be close to announcing that they're going Blu-ray exclusive and abandon their multi-million dollar partnership with the HD DVD camp. The rumor is based on sources close to Paramount's deal with Toshiba saying that there is a clause in the contract that allows Paramount to back Blu-ray in the event Warner Bros. goes blu. And wouldn't you know, last week Warner did just that. If Paramount were to jump to Blu-ray then Sony would have a massive choke hold on the HD format war further pushing their movie studio support higher than their current 70% rate. The other question mark in the equation is Dreamworks who are best buds with Paramount and are said to have a similar contract with Toshiba. Oh well, there's always Universal. They got HD DVD's back ... don't they?
OXM started a new monthly feature in their magazine where they do reviews of various brands of HDTVs seeing that tons of gamers are in the market for new sets. And their monthly feature has been going fine until recently, when they contacted Sony to get a Bravia HDTV for a review in their next issue. Let's just say Sony didn't want any part of the review.
Upon giving the Sony Bravia folks a ring, OXM was taken aback to hear that they refused to send them a Bravia to review due to OXM's affiliation with the Xbox 360 platform. They're probably scared that a magazine with "Xbox" in their name would be biased towards a Sony brand TV. Funny thing is, OXM's Dan Amrich owns a Bravia set and loves it to death. Snap! So, OXM didn't get a Bravia HDTV and thus no review will get published. We guess Sony Bravia doesn't want Xbox 360 fanboys to purchase their televisions. Sucks for them.
Our friends over at Sony HQ must be at their whits end with all this Halo 3 talk, because they devilishly and secretly stuck it to the Halo franchise with a ::gasp:: Wikipedia revision! Using WikiScanner, it was discovered that an IP address originating out of Sony's UK studios edited the Wikipedia entry for "Halo series" dissing Halo 3's graphics. Sony's Wiki revision poked fun of the game's graphics by saying that they "wont look any better than Halo 2". Ouch Sony, just ouch. But don't worry Halo fanboys, because the Halo series wiki entry has since been corrected and set to a semi-locked status. Take that Halo haters!
But in all seriousness such Wikipedia revisions are quite common and aren't a huge deal. Although, when it comes to business, these types of online tactics are somewhat sophomoric and sad. Maybe Sony will learn from this and hire someone from outside their company to do their Halo 3 hating. Oh snap!
See the awesomeness that is the game trailer above? It's Unreal Tournament 3 and fellow Xbox 360 fanboys we'll have to wait a little longer than our PS3 brothers to play. Sony and Epic Games just announced that UT3 will be a timed exclusive for the PS3 platform which will launch this November. But the wait will be short lived, because the game will be available on the Xbox 360 platform early 2008. Epic is obviously feeling love from everyone this generation and it looks like Sony played the right hand this time. Sorry fanboys, this is one game the PS3 will get before us ... consider it a fluke.
Chris Kohler of Wired magazine recently took a moment to list exclusives that Sony has lost to Microsoft. Perhaps the most intriguing titles on the list are GTAIV and Assassin's Creed, both of which were offered as exclusives to Sony. Sony didn't pursue the titles as exclusives, and two major titles became simultaneous releases for multiple platforms. Another interesting story is Beautiful Katamari which began as a mutliplatform title and is now slated only for Xbox 360. Finally, according to the article, Metal Gear Solid 4 on 360 is only a matter of time. The article is a decent read and serves as a good conversation starter (without even considering once Sony-only franchises like Ace Combat). It begs the question: are console exclusives as important as they once were?
When we found out that Project Gotham Racing had been used to promote the PS3 for a third time, it took every ounce of strength we could muster to avoid making a 300 "This is madness!" joke. The truth is though, this is madness. First, PGR3 was used by Sony to promote a trailer for Gran Turismo HD, then it was used again by Kia for a PS3 promotion. This time the offending publication is from Media Markt, one of Europe's largest electronics store chains, which overlays a PS3 on top of this image from PGR3. In an ironic twist, the article in question is apparently about the Playstation 3's future.
At this rate, we'll be seeing PGR3 images in the next ad for Ratchet & Clank.
It's time once again for our monthly dose of NPD sales numbers and for the 
They may 
For whatever reason, the analysts over at EA decided to put their betting chips on the PS3 as the predict its sales to eclipse the 360's in 2008. For reals.
We can finally put the guessing and 
As we continue to monitor the HD DVD and Blu-ray 
The HD format war is an icky mess of ickiness, with numerous companies taking sides, making money, losing money and acting like hormonal teenagers in high school. It's bad. And Microsoft has always been a backer of HD DVD for its own business reasons, but what if the format were to fail?
