Citing February NPD numbers against those in the past couple of years -- and Microsoft's own, mysterious Xbox Live numbers on GTA IV's exclusive downloadable expansion -- Xbox 360 product management director Aaron Greenberg did quite a bit of chest pounding to Gamasutra's Chris Remo yesterday. Broaching the subject of competitors head on, Greenberg says, "What we hear from our partners is that it's not just PS3, it's also PS2 down 62 percent year over year. With that business declining, and with the PS3 business declining, it's been described to me as hemorrhaging at retail right now, and it just keeps getting worse."
Moving right along to the subject of Killzone 2 -- a game released on the 27th of a 28 day month -- Greenberg compares the title to the aforementioned GTA IV mystery numbers, "If that content was sold at retail, it would be one of the best sellers across all platforms. It would have outsold Killzone 2." Considering GTA IV's astronomical sales numbers, if even half of the game's owners have the 360 iteration and a quarter of those people bought the expansion, that's over 1.5 million downloads. Still, without hard numbers to back up his statements, Greenberg's words amount to little more than our monthly rendezvous with executive smack talking.
Update: SCEA responds to February NPD numbers on Joystiq PlayStation. "We have no doubt [Killzone 2] will deliver a next gen experience and will be responsible for driving hardware sales throughout the year."
Oh, Aaron Greenberg: PS3 'hemorrhaging at retail,' GTA IV DLC would have beaten Killzone 2 at retail
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Reader Comments (148)
Posted: Mar 20th 2009 1:40PM (Unverified) said
...it's been described to me as hemorrhaging at retail right now, and it just keeps getting worse."
You know what just keeps getting worse? 360 failure rates. BURN!!!!
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You know what just keeps getting worse? 360 failure rates. BURN!!!!
Posted: Mar 20th 2009 2:25PM Jack Tretton said
Why don't Joystiq and Kotaku merge already and get it the fuck over with?
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Posted: Mar 20th 2009 2:29PM MarkezJM said
Because I enjoy Joystiq considerably more than Kotaku. Please don't say that, I feel like I have to take a shower now. Seems like half the time they'll have a post up about some new scantily clad plastic model of some obscure anime character. No thanks. Plus I don't like their writing either.
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Posted: Mar 20th 2009 3:33PM phinn said
Well yea, Joystiq is posting a lot of senseless crap. It's easy enough for some company to talk themselves up, but for the company with one of the biggest video game franchises in history to do it (Grand Theft Auto) against a smaller company that made Killzone 2 is unfair.
That been said, I have both GTA4 and Killzone 2 (ps3 has all the best game after all) and Killzone 2 is BETTER than GTA4 in many ways. It's nice to have them both of course.
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That been said, I have both GTA4 and Killzone 2 (ps3 has all the best game after all) and Killzone 2 is BETTER than GTA4 in many ways. It's nice to have them both of course.
Posted: Mar 20th 2009 4:09PM darkinchworm said
I still can't forgive Crecente for his overreaction to the CheapAssGamer prank/experiment a few months back. The man has some deep character flaws. Not that we don't, but hell, if you're gonna be blogging for a highly-trafficked gaming blog, maintain some professionalism. Please.
The site's really bad about fishing for additional pageviews too - much moreso than Joystiq could ever dream of being - but hell, I still visit it.
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The site's really bad about fishing for additional pageviews too - much moreso than Joystiq could ever dream of being - but hell, I still visit it.
Posted: Mar 20th 2009 4:37PM Mr Khan said
I may have my disagreements with certain contributors here, but none of them are as bad as Crecente, that's for damn sure. On the whole, quite agreeable. And despite the fact that joystiq has more trolls, i think it actually makes for a more colorful discussion. Its less civil, but more "real." Discussions i've witnessed there seem so sterile
Joystiq's been on a roll the past few days. It's felt rather sober around here since the 2.0 changeover, but all is right with the world again :)
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Joystiq's been on a roll the past few days. It's felt rather sober around here since the 2.0 changeover, but all is right with the world again :)
Posted: Mar 20th 2009 2:19PM Ridgecity said
no need for flamewars, Microsoft paid around $50,000,000 for that exclusive content, Sony didn't.
You can only brag so much once you have already paid for stuff. It's just like having sex with a beautiful woman for $1000, maybe it was good but you can't expect respect for doing it.
Sadly, this is a race for the second spot.
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You can only brag so much once you have already paid for stuff. It's just like having sex with a beautiful woman for $1000, maybe it was good but you can't expect respect for doing it.
Sadly, this is a race for the second spot.
Posted: Mar 20th 2009 2:22PM Troy Powers said
Okay, I'll say it! If the PS3 is hemorraging in retail, the 360 is hemorraging in their own repairs department. :-D
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Posted: Mar 20th 2009 3:31PM mynk said
Microsoft is a business, they made profit after the expense of 50 million, or whatever that figure may be, and sony made loses from not selling as many GTA IV on their own console as people went for the 360 version instead. thats how business work, expense and revenue.
nailing a whore for 1k isnt going to make you any profit. therefore your statement is void. plus, even if its no respect. we all do it :P
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nailing a whore for 1k isnt going to make you any profit. therefore your statement is void. plus, even if its no respect. we all do it :P
Posted: Mar 20th 2009 6:58PM Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell said
mynk
They haven't made a profit on the $50 million purchase of two episodic packs yet. I think they are still in the hole something to the tune of $30 million at this point. I think the 360 version would have outsold the PS3 version regardless of the DLC. However, there is no way to quantify how many additional copies have sold because of the exclusive DLC. In terms of strict numbers they have yet to turn a profit from their $50 MIL investment.
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They haven't made a profit on the $50 million purchase of two episodic packs yet. I think they are still in the hole something to the tune of $30 million at this point. I think the 360 version would have outsold the PS3 version regardless of the DLC. However, there is no way to quantify how many additional copies have sold because of the exclusive DLC. In terms of strict numbers they have yet to turn a profit from their $50 MIL investment.
Posted: Mar 20th 2009 1:18PM Benjamin Gilbert said
Stop right there. Flaming is a great way to get BANNED. So before it even starts, don't bother.
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Posted: Mar 20th 2009 1:22PM Benjamin Gilbert said
And you get an A for Dr. Strangelove references, good sir.
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Posted: Mar 20th 2009 1:23PM Benjamin Gilbert said
@Huey2k2: No, we write them because it's the news and our job is to deliver news. People getting into wars over their respective plastic boxes is entirely up to them. My reminder about banning is simply to try and quell that nonsense before it even begins.
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Posted: Mar 20th 2009 1:25PM MarkezJM said
Seems like there's been a lot of chum thrown out into the water as of late, Ben, but I do appreciate that you all have been more hands-on than I'd seen in the past. Kind of like the EDIT bits as well. Would I get banned if I said I'd never seen Dr. Strangelove? Purely hypothetical, of course...
*flees
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*flees
Posted: Mar 20th 2009 1:25PM darkinchworm said
I'm gonna run over Ben's kangaroo and bury it!!!! in a PS3!!!@453642q you know the BS3's so big it could be a gawddamn COFFIN LOLOLOL go back to haze u noobs
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Posted: Mar 20th 2009 1:27PM Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell said
Ben Gilbert
You know thats like pulling a fresh hot cake out of the oven and telling the kids they can't have any because it's bad for them. Maybe not exactly like that but you know what I mean.
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You know thats like pulling a fresh hot cake out of the oven and telling the kids they can't have any because it's bad for them. Maybe not exactly like that but you know what I mean.
Posted: Mar 20th 2009 1:57PM Levi Partridge said
Markez, it's the best satire of American warfare next to Team America. Watch it as soon as you can! In fact you can watch it online right now if you have Netflix.
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Posted: Mar 20th 2009 1:25PM Uncle Jesse said
"GTA4 on the Xbox360 is the best video game ever"
"I disagree. It's a very good game, but I think Killzone 2 is the best video game ever.
"Killzone 2 sucks!
"You know somethin'? You suck!"
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"I disagree. It's a very good game, but I think Killzone 2 is the best video game ever.
"Killzone 2 sucks!
"You know somethin'? You suck!"
Posted: Mar 20th 2009 1:47PM Bagels said
"I'm sorry, I do believe you just smacked me with your white glove"
"Oh! I'm most terribly sorry!"
"Oh, no bother, you just have to be more careful in the future! Have a good day, sir!"
"...What?"
"I said have a good day."
"...what'd you say about my mom?"
(2 british gentlemen degraded into teenagers)
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"Oh! I'm most terribly sorry!"
"Oh, no bother, you just have to be more careful in the future! Have a good day, sir!"
"...What?"
"I said have a good day."
"...what'd you say about my mom?"
(2 british gentlemen degraded into teenagers)
Posted: Mar 20th 2009 1:59PM (Unverified) said
Both pictured look a bit flabby, so pounding isn't very apt. It's more chest flubbing.
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Posted: Mar 20th 2009 1:23PM (Unverified) said
What will become of the earth on the day that "Fanboyz" of all stripes no longer care to engage in "Flame Warz"?
I doubt we'll ever know.
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I doubt we'll ever know.
Posted: Mar 20th 2009 2:20PM Rick James said
wouldnt that be a great idea for a video game 'flame warz'. I'm guessing it would be a RTS game and you can pick between the 3 factions, Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony.
If you beat the game, you can unlock the panasonic 3do, atari jaguar, and any other previous gen consoles.
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If you beat the game, you can unlock the panasonic 3do, atari jaguar, and any other previous gen consoles.
Posted: Mar 20th 2009 1:24PM Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell said
I can see the sh*t storm on the horizon. I'm going to stay clear of this one because after yesterday I haven't got the energy for this shit. I'll just say that these are some backhanded, antagonizing and trollish statements.
Someone needs to tell him that second place is the first loser. I guess it's easier to rally the troops for this cause than to get into the whole Wii thing. It's like he is beating his chest about beating Sony and isn't living in reality where Nintendo and the Wii have him bent over backwards. Such a strange creature that Aaron Greenberg. It would be like saying the Zune is outselling the Sony Walkman MP3 player by 3:1 and touting that as victory when Apple is completely owning you harder than you are Sony.
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Someone needs to tell him that second place is the first loser. I guess it's easier to rally the troops for this cause than to get into the whole Wii thing. It's like he is beating his chest about beating Sony and isn't living in reality where Nintendo and the Wii have him bent over backwards. Such a strange creature that Aaron Greenberg. It would be like saying the Zune is outselling the Sony Walkman MP3 player by 3:1 and touting that as victory when Apple is completely owning you harder than you are Sony.
Posted: Mar 20th 2009 1:28PM (Unverified) said
All of this 1st 2nd and 3rd garbage is BS anyway, they don't mean anything. All that matters is making money, and if sony does that while being waaay behind everyone else then they "won" too.
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Posted: Mar 20th 2009 2:25PM Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell said
I had that shirt as well back in high school (late 1990's).
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Posted: Mar 20th 2009 4:58PM Mr Khan said
Placement only really matters for 3rd party support. If 360 or PS3 were in first place, there would perhaps be more 3rd party exclusives for either. If Wii wasn't in first place, 3rd parties would be able to more actively ignore it. Otherwise you're right
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Posted: Mar 21st 2009 3:08PM (Unverified) said
If the wii and nintendo have microsoft "bent over backwards" where does that put sony...in the reverse piledriver? donkey.
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Posted: Mar 21st 2009 3:13PM Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell said
Rogue Status
Nintendo has Sony chained in the basement at this point.
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Nintendo has Sony chained in the basement at this point.
Posted: Mar 20th 2009 1:25PM skyzbig said
It's got to the point where it is clear that both Microsoft AND Sony enjoy trading these insults at each other.
Kaz, Tretton, Kim and Greenberg have all started firing insults....it's pathetic and reflects badly on both companies.
Still, it's fucking funny though :D
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Kaz, Tretton, Kim and Greenberg have all started firing insults....it's pathetic and reflects badly on both companies.
Still, it's fucking funny though :D
Posted: Mar 20th 2009 1:31PM KaneRobot said
You forgot Reggie. That guy sucks hard and is annoying as hell.
Anyway, that's why I sort of miss Peter Moore. Yeah, he towed the Xbox company line, but he wasn't really a dick to the other companies and rarely made ridiculous statements about how they were so much better than the others.
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Anyway, that's why I sort of miss Peter Moore. Yeah, he towed the Xbox company line, but he wasn't really a dick to the other companies and rarely made ridiculous statements about how they were so much better than the others.
Posted: Mar 20th 2009 1:34PM baby sea tuna said
Every time one of these guys opens their mouths I miss Peter Moore. What a classy guy.
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