Microsoft: 360 'only console to show growth this year'
by Richard Mitchell 
{ Aug 14th 2009 at 4:58PM } 
Microsoft now reports that number is down to 17 percent growth over the first seven months in 2009, as compared to the same period last year. Granted, the number isn't quite as remarkable, but given that the Xbox 360 is the only console to achieve any growth at all -- as long as you don't count those pesky handhelds -- it's impressive nonetheless.
Microsoft also touts that the Xbox 360 is the number one platform for third-party titles. The company claims that third-party game sales totaled $101 million in July, which "maintains the streak of leading third-party games sales for every month of 2009." See, little red arrows aren't all bad.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Quinton @ Aug 14th 2009 5:01PM
Care-copter is off duty today.
Ignatius @ Aug 14th 2009 5:01PM
Well, good luck with that. I'm just glad I have GameFly to keep up with the new releases.
Ridgecity @ Aug 14th 2009 9:17PM
The forgot to add that The xbox360 was the first console to reach 10 million sold, so all that has happened since that day is not important.
Good Job xbox!
Ashdude @ Aug 14th 2009 5:02PM
Probably due to a surge of RROD replacements. A lot of those launch systems are outside that 3 year warranty this year.
Zach @ Aug 14th 2009 5:05PM
I'm pretty sure that's the reason, for some reason people keep buying new consoles to replace their dead ones and I'm talking about people buying 2 or 3 replacements if not more after they get tired of getting refurbished systems that they have to keep sending to Microsoft.
R (Planeteers | Power of Penile Pulse) @ Aug 14th 2009 5:05PM
As a 360 lover, I have to admit this probably is kinda true. I know when my elite (2nd xbox I bought) breaks out of its warrenty (ends next may), I will just buy a new arcade unit.
TheCoats @ Aug 14th 2009 5:32PM
true I have bought 3 in the past six months......luckily got my money back on the first 2.....
Petebot330 @ Aug 14th 2009 5:36PM
You know, there are people that will just fix those 360s. The girl and I looked into it when our 360 RRod'd earlier this year. We were still under warranty, though, so we sent it in and gt it back in a week.
LegendaryRedass @ Aug 14th 2009 5:58PM
For some reason I hear this excuse every time 360 shows good numbers. "ooh! It must be rrod!" well I call bullshit on that. If something I paid good money for fails, I always buy a different model/brand. But there is no replacement for a 360. And at least MS didn't design them to fail like some companies products do. I know a lot of people with new lcds etc. that go out right after the warranty is up, then you're told to piss off.
MS extended their warranty for 3 years. You don't see samsung doing that. Anybody had the capacitors go out on their LCD yet? They will and your tv want turn on. Google it.
I got nothing against ps3, I own one, but don't say 360 sells better because of it's fail rate. Stop and think how those last 8 words sound.
Ordeith @ Aug 14th 2009 7:43PM
why not? it worked for the PS2.
Ashdude @ Aug 15th 2009 11:40AM
The PS2 didn't have the same high failure rate. That's a fact and everyone knows it.
dAnixx @ Aug 14th 2009 5:02PM
Sony sony sony... you used to be cool...
Nerdy Desi (formerly Chin-Poh, Ninjakamster) if anyone gives a damn. @ Aug 14th 2009 5:02PM
IMO, Nintendo used to be cool with the NES and SNES, they lost me after the N64 and now I feel Sony's also lost their way. Wonder when it will hit Microsoft.
Rumors48 @ Aug 14th 2009 5:11PM
sony is still " cool " if not the " Coolest" out there. all you guys just wait Sony si coming back up and i think it will all start to fall in place on the 19th then by summer 2010 Sony well be back on top if you don't believe me just wait mark my words.
sony boy @ Aug 14th 2009 5:18PM
they have the best first party support tho. just like the n64 did...
WhatIsThatThing @ Aug 14th 2009 5:18PM
This rumors guy is funny. Can I keep him?
TheCoats @ Aug 14th 2009 5:31PM
I think (more like Hope) sony's next console will be a little more on target. Not trying to get into a console war but lets face it, they have just been runner up this generation. Hopefully, They will come back around with the next console.
Rumors48 @ Aug 14th 2009 5:33PM
sorry you can't keep me yet. i was due for sale in october but got delayed until 2010 so you gonna have to wait a while to get me
Captain Craphead @ Aug 14th 2009 5:37PM
Sony still cool! You pay later! LATER!
Steven @ Aug 14th 2009 5:44PM
Opposite for me. I started out with Nintendo, moved to the Xbox. Then I got sick of the prices on the 360, so I moved to the PS3 (my first PlayStation). Now I think Sony is the "coolest", where Microsoft would be the loser.
Marty @ Aug 14th 2009 6:19PM
Rumors - All you had to do was announce that "2010 will be the year of the PS3!" at the end, and your idiotic rant would have been perfect.
Filthy Assistant @ Aug 14th 2009 7:17PM
Thing is, he's kinda right. This year has more PS3 exclusives I'm going to get than any previous year I can think of. Uncharted 2, Demon's Souls, Ratchet and Clank, and some others I'm sure I'm forgetting because my mouth is stuffed full of chinese food.
Ordeith @ Aug 14th 2009 7:35PM
I think it happened when linux was ported to the PS3.
Now the PS3 suffers from the same "year of" ailment.
It keeps trying, maybe next year.
David @ Aug 14th 2009 7:59PM
Why are you downvoting Steven? I also think the PS3 is the coolest.. Whats wrong with that?
David @ Aug 15th 2009 10:15AM
Ooh, I get it. It is because im on the Xbox section, isnt it?
[tre, loquacious lover of long names and anti-activision ambassador that likes alliteration)] [blogs at trespeak.tumblr.com] @ Aug 14th 2009 5:02PM
This makes no sense whatsoever.
And no, it is not genius like riding a dragon after you kill it. It just doesn't make sense.
ArchiGamer 2.0 [Planeteer I Power of Irony and Sex] @ Aug 14th 2009 5:04PM
Why is it every time MS sells poorly, along with Nintendo and Sony, they always manage to put an insane positive twist to their sales?
Spartacus @ Aug 14th 2009 5:08PM
Every company spins news in order to paint them in a good light and appease shareholders.
That said, this isn't as much spin as just pure statistics.
ThatPCgameryouhate @ Aug 14th 2009 5:18PM
And when did MS sell poorly? They just hit 9 million in Europe.
Dirk Dorkelson @ Aug 15th 2009 11:34PM
It's not at all uncommon for businesses to compare revenue/sales to the year-ago period. In industries whose sales fluctuate throughout the calendar year, such as most consumer products, it's the smart thing to do. After all, if sales are traditionally slow in the summer months, your investors are more interested in how you did this summer versus last summer, as opposed to, say, last fall.
Ashitaka @ Aug 18th 2009 11:55AM
OH I get the microsoft fanboyism now.
I am sure the 360 sure looks good up your ass like that!
B3astofthe3ast @ Aug 14th 2009 5:06PM
That might change with the slim+price cut.
Spartacus @ Aug 14th 2009 5:11PM
The Pro model is being replaced with a $299 elite, so the playing field will be leveled and Sony will still have no answer at the $199 price point.
Rob S. @ Aug 14th 2009 5:14PM
All I want to know is if they are lowering the price on their hard drives, because I don't want to buy a new console just to get the larger hard drive.
ThatPCgameryouhate @ Aug 14th 2009 5:24PM
That's what I'm hoping for Rob. I'm thinking of buying an elite for 300, and then selling the actual console with a 20gb HD for 250. Then keep the 120gb HD for myself, he he.
Abriael @ Aug 14th 2009 6:37PM
@Spartacus: given that the PS3 offers quite a lot more featurees than the competitors the playing field won't be quite as leveed as you might think, expecially since a big percentage of the ones that wanted a 360 already got it because of the previous price cuts. while there's a lot of people that are holding back to buy a PS3 until this price cut.
The 199 model doesn't really count for much, because to actually enjoy a 360 one has to spend quite a lot more (HD, Battery pack for controllers and gold subscription at the very least).
IF sony really cuts the price to 299 dollars/euro (which I will believe when I see it in an official press release), they'll find themselves offering quite a lot more value for the same price, with a large amount of people that were waiting for nothing else to buy their console.
Microsoft will find themselves quite hard pressed to respond to such a move. Price cuts help only up to a limit. And I'd say the 360 already reached that limit. Now it's the PS3's turn to benefit from that, and it has the potential to turn the market around.
While not exactly benefitting gamers and early adopters (no one will screw up early adopters more than microsoft this generation, anyway), Sony's tactic of holding back a price cut until now and then delivering it in style alongside other features (i can think of a few, but after all Sony's conference at GamesCom is three hours. You don't have a 3 hours conference if you don't have a lot of stuff to talk about) and a very strong line-up of holiday first party titles, might be quite sound from a marketing point of view. They cut their losses while the production costs were high, and waited until they actually lowered considerably before lowering the price, counting on all the people that were initially holding back due to the high price point to overtake the competition during the second half of the generation.
Probable? Possible? we'll have to see
Ordeith @ Aug 14th 2009 7:47PM
Abriael:
Sony will learn that a large part of the 360 value perception is in its software. Sony doesn't have that software so it doesn't have that value.
Abriael @ Aug 14th 2009 11:58PM
@Ordeith: Don't they? Looking at their holiday and post holiday lineup for this year it definitely seem that they know that very well. This is the first year in which sony has a considerably stronger software lineup than the competition, and pushing with price cuts, a new model, and more on such a year is, at least from my point of view, a very sound strategy.
sk8monroe81 (PSN--XBL) @ Aug 15th 2009 12:06AM
slim slim slim is BS BS BS until available and might be expensive...
think clearly now- pspGO will = $ 249, psp3000 does = $ 169 and the GO even cost less to manufacture.
and the 360 will always cost less to manufacture than a ps3 (fat, slim, gimped, etc) and MS will always be able to lower the price of the 360 to be lower than the ps3 at all times, thus making the ps3 always less desirable from day 1 from the mass gaming market as a whole.
the ps3 is a great console but will never win or take 2nd place this gen IMO.
Ordeith @ Aug 15th 2009 2:13AM
Abriael:
no, they don't. They still don't match the features and usability of Xbox Live.
They don't have Netflix.
They aren't getting Twitter, Facebook, and Last.fm integration.
The multi-platform party titles are notoriously worse on the PS3.
360 First party games outsell PS3 first party games by a wide margin.
The PS3 has dropped to an unheard of 77k a week sales worldwide.
Sony just doesn't have a product that people want.
Abriael @ Aug 15th 2009 2:19AM
Price isn't the ONLY factor in the desirability of a console. The 360 has already juiced almost all it could out of price cuts. The PS3 didn't. Can only lower the price so much before the effectiveness of such a manouver is dampened.
It's basic marketing.
Abriael @ Aug 15th 2009 2:49AM
Ordeith: i'm afraid not, good sir. The PS3 might not have netflix but it has it's own TV service, and it has Bluray, while the 360's attempt to HD disc video sunk.
the PSN is pretty darn near to Live now, in functionality, and it's free (aren't we talking about prices). Home is far superior, for the moment, to the 360's avatar service.
Twitter and facebook? Aren't we getting on a pretty laughable level here? The PS3 has a full blown web browser, lol. You have twitter, facebook and any other web-based services by default on a PS3. I thought you would have known.
Even more than that, the PS3 is the only region free next generation console.
Multi platform titles notoriously worse? Most of them are on the same level, some are better on the PS3, some better on 360, and the PS3 has still some very desirable third party exclusives.
The first party lineup for the PS3 this holiday (GT5, Uncharted 2, GOW 3...) simply blows the 360 out of the water.
The PS3 has dropped in sales because everyone is waiting for a price cut. Only a moron would buy a console when there are strong rumors of a sizeable price cut incoming.
Abriael @ Aug 15th 2009 3:12AM
Oh, did i forget built in wi-fi (while on the 360 you need to get a quite overpriced dongle) and bluetooth? Connectivity with a portable console? Compatibility with any (cheap) laptop HD? rechargeable controllers (batteries.. lulz) by default? Much better sound quality? The ability to turn in a full blown personal computer with Linux? HDMI 1.3 instead of the 360's 1.2?
Don't get me wrong. I like my 360 as the next guy (and I'm one of the few that still has his pro from day 2 after launch and it never flinched on me besides some disc read errors). But Even just considering the price of a stand alone blu ray player, the PS3 offers quite a lot more value for the price as it stands now, even more considering the rest of the features it has. With a sizeable price cut there will simply be no comparison.
Ashitaka @ Aug 16th 2009 10:37AM
Ouch!
Ordeith was completely owned by Abriael.
Ordeith @ Aug 16th 2009 2:09PM
If by owned you mean three posts with a bunch of factually incorrect "information" in response to facts that his fanboyism can't admit too, then yes. I was owned.
Ashitaka @ Aug 16th 2009 3:38PM
Actually, by owned I really mean that you got told, dumbass.
Keep living in your world where "Sony doesn't have that software".
Uncharted 1 & 2
Resistance 1 & 2
Killzone 2
Ratchet & Clank Future ToD, QfB, CiT
Metal Gear Solid 4
Socom
MAG
inFamous
Motorstorm 1 & 2
Gran Turismo
Little Big Planet
The Last Guardian
Heavy Rain
Gow III
Final Fantasy XIV
Heavenly Sword
Wipeout HD
PixelJunk Eden
PixelJunk Monsters
Flower
There's nothing like Sony's line-up and the console's value is undeniable, just like Abriael said. Seriously, you make me laugh.
Ordeith @ Aug 16th 2009 8:30PM
OH I get the sony fanboyism now.
I am sure the PS3 sure looks good with your head in the sand like that!
protofunc @ Aug 17th 2009 1:07PM
@Ashitaka
Yeah, and it only took 3 years to finally get there. The people who paid $600 for a launch console have been royally fucked in the ass out of all this.
The year they get their best 1st party (exclusive) games is the same year their console might get a price cut AND remodelled.
Markez @ Aug 14th 2009 5:11PM
Ruh roh, cue that dumbass moron Kizzle to show up and claim everyone who doesn't like this news to be a huge emotionally devastated fanboy.
Nerdy Desi (formerly Chin-Poh, Ninjakamster) if anyone gives a damn. @ Aug 14th 2009 5:11PM
Oh no, my console didn't show growth this year, its a piece of crap, I hate it, waaah!