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Following October's sales boost, Xbox 360 is now poised to do in three years what its predecessor, Xbox, failed to do in its four short years in production. "By the end of this month, we expect our global installed base to reach 25 million units, surpassing that of the first Xbox," declared Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division CFO Mindy Mount at yesterday's BMO Capital Market conference in New York. Mount was confident that this milestone was "only the start," though, since historically, more than 75 percent of a console's total sales come after its price has dropped to $199 or below.
And here's the part where we all say: Great, kid. Don't get cocky.
You know that song, "Live Like You Were Dying?" You know what near-death activity you won't find in there between "Rocky Mountain climbin'" and going "2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu?" "Turning forgettable Frogger 2 rip-off Zapper into an Xbox Original." Likewise, "playing Zapper" or "ever thinking about Zapper" are also conspicuously absent. In fact, we'd wager that you could gather the bucket lists of every member of humanity and never see Zapper mentioned once.
This is why we should have been consulted before a single member of humanity was tasked with spending one nanosecond of their time turning Zapper into a 1200-point Xbox Original. Then we could have advised them that they'd be better off wadding all that time into a big chrono-ball, putting it in a rocket and shooting it into the sun.
The original Xbox was no toy. It weighed more than your kid. The controller brought new meaning to "man hands" -- the darn thing was known as the "Duke," after all. In short, this was a man's console. And what could be manlier than a "mankind-vs-aliens space opera," its featured launch title?
Time has honored the big rig as one of its "Top 10 Microsoft Moments," barely nudging out the disastrous Vista launch for the #8 spot (er, chronologically, at least). To make this moment more meta, let's all share our top Xbox moments in the comments below. Was it when your house burned down? Or the time dad nailed it to a tree? Or how about installing that really groovy mod chip?
You want details? We don't got 'em. But, there might be something hidden in the video. Watch the new video above, or head over to Bungie's "Meet Our New Game" page to download the goodness of the Halo 3: Recon trailer, available in both Quicktime and Windows Media flavors.
Bungie / Microsoft really didn't agonize over choosing a name for Halo 3: Recon, did they? Maybe this hints at a slew of Halo 3 Fill-In-The-Blank titles that'll stretch your H3 experince from now until the year 2041, when your brain just gets dropped right into the game. Who knows, by then you might actually be able to just get an injection that'll make you Master Chief.
By the way, this Halo 3: Recon video footage is also available in sparkling high-definition on the Xbox Live Marketplace, so if you're really jonesing for something to pick apart and agonize over for the next umpteen months, then get to downloading. It's free and waiting for you. %Gallery-34046%
In an effort to promote more heinous killing sprees*, Rockstar is hosting a Grand Theft Auto IV Xbox Live weekend September 26-28. Instead of going the Call of Duty 4 route and offering extra experience points, the developer is running a Play & Win contest for various GTA IV gear.
There are 24 prizes each day for those who sign on and play multiplayer, and each of those winners will be entered into a drawing for the grand prize that includes the Xbox 360 Elite, a 12-month XBL Gold card and 4,000. To be eligible, register your gamertag either online or by downloading the GTA IV Live Weekend gamer pictures.
The Guardian's excellent interview with Peter Moore continued yesterday with a frank discussion of his final days at Sega after the Dreamcast's death, as well as his arrival at Microsoft. Moore talks about some of his early discussions with Microsoft's Steve Ballmer and admits that while the company always planned on warring with Sony, Nintendo wasn't necessarily seen as a threat.
Moore said, "[Ballmer] wanted to know how I was going to win for Microsoft, how we were going to take on Sony, how would we compete with - or acquire - Nintendo. Those were the conversations in those days. It was a classic build or buy conversation. ... Interestingly, we were just completely fixated on Sony - Nintendo didn't even come into the conversation."
Would "buy" have been the right move? That consolidation probably wouldn't have been good for us consumers but, if MS had kept a hands-off approach, Bill Gates might have finally had the cash to buy that moon he's always wanted.
OK, fanboys, before you hit that spittle-flecked "post comment" button after just reading that inflammatory headline question, hear us out. We're not just idly speculating here -- we're basing our query on an unusually frank quote from Microsoft Senior Vice President of Interactive Entertainment Business Don Mattrick. In an interview with BusinessWeek, Mattrick said that he's "not at a point where I can say we're going to beat Nintendo." Coming from a guy whose job it is to promote Microsoft's position in the market, that's a pretty big admission of doubt. It's not just Mattrick that's doubtful-- analyst Billy Pidgeon told the magazine, "I expect the 360 to remain in second place this generation. But it's going to be close."
The question, then, becomes how much this sales position really matters. Microsoft's sales might fall just shy of Nintendo's, but that doesn't seem to be hurting the company's ability to attract big-namegames or roll out newfeatures for the system. In fact, with Nintendo's decidedly less powerful system catering to a decidedly different audience, Microsoft's position relative to Nintendo might not matter nearly as much as their position relative to Sony. And on that score Mattrick has no doubt: "We will sell more consoles this generation than Sony," he told BusinessWeek.
Microsoft has long acknowledged that it considers $200 the "sweet spot" of console price points. Now that the manufacturer has finally hit that sweet spot with the new $199 Xbox 360 Arcade, we've been wondering exactly what kind of impact Microsoft can expect, historically, in its bottom line. Luckily, Matt Matthews over at Edge Online did all the heavy lifting for us over a year ago, looking at the effect of system pricing on sales numbers in the last generation of the console wars.
The results, as you can see above, are pretty clear. Only 13% of original Xbox systems sold at the $300 price point, and a plurality of sales came at an eventual floor of $150. Sony's PS2 similarly only sold a quarter of its eventual installed base at a price greater than $200 (Nintendo's Gamecube never sold for greater than $200).
Of course, history is an imprecise guide here. The original Xbox dropped under $200 within six months of its initial release, while the Xbox 360 went nearly three years (exactly 1018 days) before hitting the sweet spot. And while the original Xbox also had competition from Sony and Nintendo, it didn't have to compete with "premium" configurations offered by Microsoft itself. Still, we can't imagine being the first current-gen system to be available for under two Benjamins will hurt sales of the system. For now, the unanswerable question remains: Exactly how much will it not hurt?
We're starting to head into the holiday season, which means our collective capitalist guilt tells us it's time to start thinking about the less fortunate for five seconds as we spend $4 on a Frappuccino. Electronics trade-in site VenJuvo.com is now offering its Trade4Cause program. The program appears to be fairly painless: Pick your console from the list (we did the PS2), get a quote on its value ($35), choose the charity from the dropdown menu to receive the donation, print the shipping label, pack and send. The company tests the product once it's received and donates the payment on your behalf to the charity.
Another nice touch is that if the charity you're looking for isn't on the company's list, there's also the option of filling in the organization's information. Obviously, we're big fans of Child's Play, but there are plenty of other worthwhile gamer-centric causes out there. VenJuvo also has a no-cost recycling program for products that qualify, just in case you're looking to be charitable to our little planet this holiday.
The Rooster Teeth gang had a rather interesting reveal at this year's PAX 2008 ... an anime of Red v. Blue. Yes, the known machinima has crossed the threshold into Japanese animation. Of course, the voicing and ad lib comedy that's made them famous is still intact. Check out the shaky came footage after the break.
According to DFC intelligence figures cited by Dave Perry, Sony has lost more money on the PlayStation 3 hardware than it made on the PlayStation 2 during its five most popular years. In pure numbers speak it's lost $3 billion on the PS3, which is about equivalent to everything it made selling PS2s during its peak years. This story would actually have a lot more impact if Carl Sagan was around to say "beelyuns."
Perry, best known for his stint at Shiny Entertainment, was speaking at the really long-named Games Convention Developers Conference, which appears to be both a Convention and a Conference, and was just using the figures to underscore how much Sony was spending on hardware development. However, the 1UP article doesn't mention until near the end that the original PS2 lost money in its first year, and that Sony (and the other console makers) does this so it can make bank on the software/games that people need to fuel their systems.
In all fairness, the article goes on to explain that Microsoft lost $4 billion on the original Xbox, and has had to spend over $1 billion replacing faulty hardware in the 360 and extending the warranty for original purchasers. So, we tend to think $5 billion trumps $3 billion. The real winner in this struggle? Nintendo. It has been churning a profit on that little Wii since it hopped out of the gate. Rassin' frassin' wand-wagglin' profiteers.
After having "warned [their] 3 boys about their behavior while playing the Xbox," a rather vengeful father had decided to create folk art with the console, according to the mother's CNN iReport. In the comment section, the mother said the kids do not "totally hate dad ... There was a problem, and the problem was addressed properly."
Not to worry for the kids, however, as a replacement Xbox can be found on eBay for well under $40. In fact, the Xbox shown above can be found on the online auction site as well, with 50% of proceeds reportedly going to the local school system and 50% towards the children's college fund. So, now that we know it can be nailed ... will it blend?
You may recall that, a little over than a week ago, some purported concept art for a Halo movie based on Eric Nylund's Halo: Fall of Reach novel surfaced on the web. If you don't, here's a convenient link back through time. Pretty nifty, huh?
So it's going on 10 days later and a new, less "Spartans in Spaaaaace!" piece of art has sprung up, appearing to depict our finest future-soldiers in training. Make with the clicking on the image above or Source link below for a larger version ... and keep hope alive that the fight for a Halo film is eventually finished.
The biggest question we hear every single year with the Madden franchise (and in fact, most EA Sports titles) is, "How is this game any different than last year's?" Snarky responses about the roster change aside (and even that gets fumbled sometimes), the gridiron gang at our sister site X3F have assembled the Season Update, calling out the differences (both good and bad) between Madden 09and its immediate predecessor. For those still on the fence about picking up a copy, click here for the play-by-play.
Huh, looks like EA doesn't have everyone ... covered. Less than a week after Madden 09's cover athlete Brett Favre jumped ship for the Jets (single-handedly thrashing millions in Madden marketing materials) EA has come through with its "plan": you can now download a replacement cover (in handy PDF format) for your copy of Madden NFL 09 featuring Favre donning his new team's colors ...
... that is, if you happened to purchase either the Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, or PS2 release. Those of you that bought the Wii or DS versions, sorry. And for the four of you that bought the Xbox version ... you should know better.
Also released today: a "new online roster download" for Xbox 360, Xbox, PS3, PS2 and Wii which "features Favre as the starting quarterback on the New York Jets." Rocking something a little more portable, are we? EA advises you hit up Franchise Mode, transfer "NFL Great" Favre to the free agent roster pool, and then scoop him up "on any of the 32 NFL teams for the 2008 season."
[Update: If you don't want to blow all of your green ink printing out the new cover, stop by either Sam's Club or Wal-Mart to pick one up in-store. It's unclear if you'll need to purchase the game there as well but our money's on "probably."] %Gallery-29488%
With Brett Favre booked for a one-way ticket out of retirement and into New York (as a Jet!), Madden NFL 09 will look decidedly vintage when it releases next week with Favre on the cover ... as a Packer. Some may attribute the gaffe to evidence of the "Madden Curse" at work (c'mon, it can do better than that!), but EA Sports boss Peter Moore assures, "There's a plan."
While IGN has already confirmed there will be no second printing -- Favre will remain a Packer on the surface of Madden 09, at least -- a Crispy Gamer interview with Moore and marketing director David Tinson published last week addressed the possibility of Favre switching teams; to which Moore offered his vague assurance. "It will ship with what you've seen. Yes. And then we'll have a plan if he's not [a Packer]," Tinson added. Day-one roster update confirmed!
Update: EA will indeed release a day-one update placing Favre on the Jets (and reflecting any other relevant roster changes), reports MTV Multiplayer. But that's not all: "We do not plan to re-issue packaging, but WILL offer a free downloadable cover in the coming days on easports.com featuring Brett Favre in a Jets uniform. Fans can print this new cover out and insert it into the case of Madden NFL 09," a company spokesperson revealed to MTV. See, EA did have a plan! ... But if you're not feelin' it, why not make your own cover?
So there was talk about Stuart Beattie - you may know him better as that guy adaptingGears of War for the big screen - giving the stalled Halo movie some much needed TLC in the form of a new script based on Eric Nylund's novel Halo: Fall of Reach. The original source of that rumor now claims to have five pieces of concept art from the new script, which are all part of "an eventual presentation" to be given to the fat cats at Microsoft. Here's where you come in: they'll be dropping one a week on y'all for the next five weeks.
We've got some concept art for a Halo movie right here: it's called Halo 3 and it's a whole DVD full of aliens, 'splosions, and Master Chiefs. But if you've just got to see a larger version of the above concept art, we won't stop you from clicking that Source link below.
In anticipation of next week's E3 Media and Business Summit, we've prepared bingo cards for each of the big press conferences, filled with some likely (and some not-so-likely) predictions for what each of the big three console makers intends to announce at arguably the biggest trade shows of the year.
Today's card is for Microsoft (special thanks to X3F). We're going out on a limb and giving Avatars away as the free space. Click on each of the slides above for more information about our predictions. Microsoft's E3 press conference is scheduled for next Monday at 10:30 am PT (that's 1:30 pm Joystiq Time / ET). As always, we'll be liveblogging the event, so you can play along in real-time with us.
Stay tuned for more press conference bingo cards in the days leading up to the conference. (Also: check out our bingo card for Sony's press conference.)
Just a friendly reminder that today (July 7) is Bungie Day, which means free Bungie-related gamerpics and themes available on Xbox Live today (and only today). Additionally, the new Halo 3map Cold Storage is also available free of charge for today. As for that announcement that was teased over the weekend, we've heard nothing so far. Trust us, though, if and when Bungie announces something, we'll let you know.
No sooner does Sony (briefly) improve the PS3 user interface with the much-talked-about version 2.4 firmware update, than some at the company feel cocky enough to start badmouthing the competition's interface. Speaking to Next-Gen, PlayStation Network Director of Operations Eric Lempel took the bait, comparing Sony's redesigned PlayStation Store to Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace. "I think if I look over at the competitors' UI they may have some issues just displaying content," Lempel said, "and scrolling up and down lists isn't the easiest way to find things." Tell that to McSweeny's, why don'tcha?
Lempel also pointed out that the PlayStation Store interface has "a lot of room with virtual shelf space to put a lot of things," a not-so-subtle jab at Microsoft's recently announced plan to de-list some Xbox Live Arcade games. "Depending on what type of UI you have you can accommodate a lot of titles," Lempel continued, "and specifically with our new store redesign which launched back in April we have a great ability to merchandise a wide variety of titles." That's all well and good, assuming your PS3 is currently working.
. To be eligible, register your gamertag either online or by downloading the GTA IV Live Weekend gamer pictures.
According to DFC intelligence figures cited by Dave Perry, Sony has lost more money on the PlayStation 3 hardware than it made on the PlayStation 2 during its five most popular years. In pure numbers speak it's lost $3 billion on the PS3, which is about equivalent to everything it made selling PS2s during its peak years. This story would actually have a lot more impact if Carl Sagan was around to say "beelyuns."
