Xbox division profits for second straight year, but ...

Hopefully Sony and Nintendo can do better, or investors will start pulling out of the gaming business assuming the video game bubble is one the way to burst.

I'm surprised how even with a lower price the console is not selling, has it peaked?

Sorry, fella. What kind of repair charge did MS say it'd be to fix it?

$100 minimum. I didn't check if I have to pay for shipping. But the moment I heard I had to pay, I gave up.

I'll try my own repairs at some point.

But this has turned me off to caring about this console and Microsoft. I only used Live for downloads. I didn't even play online.

Even if I get a new model system, I'm going to feel like I'm repaying entry into a park that has great rides, but you might be shanked by a killer clown. And it's your fault. "You" should be punished for the park manager letting out a deformed, homicidal clown.

Man, i can't believe I hear this about 360 systems...

Comparatively, I still have my PS1 and 2. I've even modded the PS2 for swap magic, and it's my DVD player in another room.

I know fanboys don't wanna hear this, but Microsoft REALLY needs to work on quality over quantity.

Especially now that they have a bigger install base.

I don't think we should consider quality assurance a point of contention.

Regardless where your loyalties lay (why are game consoles battlegrounds?), if you are going to sell a device, you better damn well make sure the shit can take a beating.

MS was lazy, and took it's "might" as a cause to push a sub-par product. And now they have a demographic by the balls that NEED to be constantly online. "I sent in my system 6 times" I read once. I wouldn't bother with the first.

My 360 has been replaced by my Dreamcast. Found memories are more important to me than achievement points that don't achieve anything.

my launch 360 died a few weeks ago and it's $99 to get it repaired. I didn't send it in yet, but I went through the first few steps and it seemed like after I paid they would send a box for shipment so I believe the money includes shipment. Man I miss Halo Wars.....

Does anyone happen to know if they'll do preventative maintenance? My disc drive has become substantially noisier over the last few months, and it'd be nice to have something done about that before it leads to a much more drastic issue...

@ enrique

Yeah, sure you're just asking. Asking like a total dick.

Did it RRoD, or something else?

Wow that's to bad but, that means he didn't even get the 3 red lights seeing as how it covered by a three year warranty and the elite came out April 2007. He really just should have forced a three red light with a towel or something, that way it would be covered.

try to repair it yourself. if it's just RROD it's not too hard to do, i did it on mine.

Really?

Why was i voted down?

cause you downed MS AND you dont work for Joystiq....cant do that round these parts buddy....people might then call you "Holier than thou"

Because we foresaw you questioning us

Think "politics". Say the truth, you get burned. Don't say the truth, you get burned.

But if you're corrupt, you're golden until you get caught. Then you can blame society.

Their entertainment division isn't a big part of MSFT. MSFT has always made a profit as a whole company. You're confusing the small Xbox division with the whole company.

@Monkeyman:

Correct me if i'm wrong, but doesn't the title of the article say XBOX division?

Reading.
it's fundamental.

The article does, but your comment does not. You should take your own advice. Also, "Reading." and "it's fundamental." are not sentences. You may want to use a comma in the future.

Good day to you, madam.

yea dude you dissed MS and mentioned Sony in the same post.....you can't do that. just be glad that you only got downvoted and you didn't get into a 2-page flamewar over it. i think your avatar might have saved you some trouble lol.

I voted you up, you said nothing wrong and you're statement was perfectly clear.

ummmmm MS as a WHOLE had sales drop.....for the first time in HISTORY....

so what if he DID mention MS as a whole.....its factual

*your

Capitalize the I, and "It's fundamental." is indeed a valid sentence. Grammar war, anyone?

The reason the original Xbox induced horrendous losses (to the tune of $5 billion, i think), was because Microsoft didn't own the tech inside it. They kept buying up CPUs from Intel and GPUs from Nvidia at the same price across the four years of availability, so every time they did a price-drop, they had to take an extra loss on each model equal to the price drop, because construction costs never, ever went down. 2005 Xbox cost as much to make as 2001 Xbox

The 5 GB HDD didn't help either. It was too small for HDD standards, and so actually cost more to make than if they had made it bigger

http://www.yodawgyo.com/wp-content/uploads/1177/Picture%205.png

@ kahn

Induced? Do you mean incur?

"Overall, however, shipments increased from 8.7 million to 11.2 million units. Go figure."

The number is the total number of 360's shipped in the last fiscal year compared to the one before it. So, even though this quarter saw a drop from 1.3 to 1.2 million in number of 360's shipped. It's still up quite a bit for the for whole the whole year.

Spoken like a intelligent business owner.

Oh wait.....

Why should they have kept that staff and ate their losses exactly?

I am a business owner....

and why should they?? maybe because I dunno....it would be a GOOD thing to do for people? I mean hell its NOT like they are FAILING....sure their sales are down for the first time in history....but they still made BILLIONS in Profit....those jobs they cut wouldnt have eaten into that to much,....they arent taking any TRUE losses....

OK, I don't know anything about your business, but you and i have gone back and forth a few times over business issues and always it comes down to the same problem - what you say makes no sense to me. (See your earlier statements regarding MS losses and profits in divisions) You have no idea why they cut certain positions, how much it costs or doesn't cost, how different aspects of management and shareholders wanted/needed things done, what did or did not drive profit and losses or a thousand other considerations.

You just feel that they should have kept the jobs and so you make a sweeping generalization about how they should have done things. Second guessing without any facts. Seriously, you give me a smartass retort like "maybe because I dunno....it would be a GOOD thing to do for people?" It's easy to scream that firing people is no fair and act like a man for the people - but reality is deeper than that. MS isn't a hippie commune, its a corporation that only exists to make higher profits.

There is more than biased second guessing to be considered in running a business. I had a business for many years too and I still don't assume to know better than people running corporations the size of MS or Sony. It blows me away that you constantly do without doing any of the heavy lifting involved with laying a factual basis for your claims.

I work for a gigantic company. They don't really care about the overall profit numbers. It's the number from specific accounts.
So in the 360s case, when MS bought Danger (for Windows Mobile) they added a huge amount of R&D costs to the EDD division. On a percentage basis, they were spending more on R&D in the EDD division then anywhere else so they cut staff to bring that percentage down.

It sucks but the shareholders will scream over stupid crap like this. The company needs to make it appear that they understand the shareholders concerns and attmept to reduce expenses.

I myself would invest more in R&D so that I could really kick ass when the economy picks back up and people are willing to spend again.

yea Duke we have gone over this before....lol

and I KNOW they have a responsibility to the Shareholders.....it just sucks ass that shareholders bitch and moan even tho their stock is still doing ok....

Why is it that every time i see your name its always transparent? If you hate "M$" or whatever it is you like to call it why comment on the articles?

I spent less than I like to think about. Still haven't played Gears 2, Fallout 3, Fable II, Resident Evil 5.. Someone should start a 'new games for college students" charity

I buy nothing at MSRP.

And unless the sale is at least 40%, I just wait.

Cranium, if you want to catch up on games, try a trading site like Goozex or Craigslist. For $1 per trade and about $2 to mail out your old games, you can parlay a newer title for several older ones. If you want to support game developers, then buy games on sale like captainprotonx suggests.

Yup, and they've spent a good bit of money developing the Zune HD.

This division also includes Windows Mobile (where they acquired Danger) and embedded software (things like cable boxes). Both of which are losing money.

The gaming portion of their business is doing well considering this economy.

It's the traditional business model because sales for everything (except summer stuff) are lower in the summer. A lot of people are either spending their time doing something else (like going to the beach) or spending their money on vacations (gas, lodging, camping fees, etc.).

Battlefield was also only $15. No way it sells that many copies if it was a full retail game release (with all the extra features a 60 game would have).

Great game by the way...

Ghostbusters the video game would like to have a word with you...

retail game, relatively new ip sold millions smack dab in the middle of the summer

this proves that the industry is still following an outdated model when the market trends have changed 3x's since this formula was valid.

Publishers are trying to get games out of the door for the x-mas rush...when the average gamers age is 35...it's not 12 anymore..