Achievements and Gamerscores are two features of the Xbox 360 that have developed a strong following, particularly among "ch33vo-holics." We can already imagine the internet
[Via X3F]
"We've also heard that Microsoft is already putting into place its philosophy for the new console, and one thing that will definitely be included is letting existing Xbox 360 gamers migrate their Gamertag over to the new system. Your achievements would also transfer onto the new system instead of having you start from scratch. Loose talk has also heard that Microsoft is already approaching developers about the new system." -- Game Informer (June '08)
[Thanks to Matt at GI for the actual text]
(Page 1) Reader Comments
Second, of course Gamerscore will come over. MS makes a lot of money off gamescore whores, they're not going to reset their figures and give them a reason to think of going to another platform.
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They shortened the live of the last Xbox to get onto a cycle a year ahead of PlayStation. Now that they've done that, they don't really need to do the same this time through.
Uh, could you imagine the shareholder revolt if they admitted it was true and essentially killed off new 360 sales for the next 12 months?
They are free to deny everything and in fact most companies (including MS) do so quite regularly. By and large announcements tend be be done on the companies terms.
Nintendo denied the DS Lite the day before they released it. Major corporation denials mean nothing, especially when a confirmation would hurt sales.
They're not having that problem with the 360 so they have no need to rush into the next gen this time.
You can say things like "we have no plans for blah" when you don't have plans yet, even though you know next week you'll be going into a planning meeting to set that up. But you can't actually lie in public statements about what you are doing that might affect the value of the company (stock price), cause it sets shareholder expectations and then they can sue when they determine the information was false.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osbourne_Effect
Happy Gaming!
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Losing the feature could only lead to angering users and having them jump to another console (or at least refusing to buy the new one). That would be supid.
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Have you been living under a rock or under Nintendo's/Sony's tit?
They probably make a fortune on Xbox Live. Wonder if that's enough to cover the RRoD though.
And I'm sucking no-ones tits. Simple common sense says that if you're not making money with X product then either get it making a profit or cut it off. It's been 7 years now.
Microsoft is making a killing on that front. Obviously they've taken a loss on the hardware in total (even though they're turning a profit on currently sold consoles) - every ~3 year old console not named Wii does.
"Xbox and PC game revenue increased $650 million or 19% as a result of increased Xbox 360 platform sales..."
"EDD operating loss increased primarily due to the $1.06 billion Xbox 360 charge recognized in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2007 and Zune launch-related expenses. The increase in operating loss was partially offset by increased Xbox 360 platform sales and decreased Xbox 360 console manufacturing costs. Headcount-related costs increased 15%, driven by a 9% increase in headcount and an increase in salaries and benefits for existing headcount, partially offset by a decrease in stock-based compensation expense. "
Revenue [in millions] (2007)$6,083 (2006)$4,756 (2005)$3,515
Operating loss $(1,892) $(1,284) $(539)
http://www.microsoft.com/msft/reports/ar07/staticversion/10k_fr_dis.html (Its the entertainment division)
In the end, they net lost about $100 a unit sold.
360 is doing better, I don't know about huge success, it's going to end up in last place this generation (after being 2nd last time), outsold in Japan and Europe by the PS3 (and of course Wii). The design is extremely poor from a reliability point of view, but it is a more cost-effective design.
I'd say if it weren't for the $1B writedown, 360 was a success. With it, it's probably just a minor success. But it is a huge step to build on, they learned a lot more about making and marketing a console in this generation. This might make the difference next time around.
Crazy, I know.
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Microswirl has it pretty much in the bag with his predictions. It won't be a huge step of a generation but more of a refinement of what we are currently using.
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