360 News and Rumours - 18/03/08

[Kage]

I have been a bit busy, just ben able to look at news now at the moment.

Fresh in - UK 360 sales figures after the price cut!
I have been waiting for this.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=34274

UK Xbox 360 sales up 40%
Johnny Minkley 11:34 (BST) 18/03/2008

Price cut spurs significant response over the weekend

The Xbox 360 enjoyed a 40 per cent spike in UK sales over the weekend following the Europe-wide price cut, according to Chart-Track.

The leap was welcomed by retail and will serve as a timely boost for Microsoft's platform in the build up to the busy Easter period, as its bitter rival Sony prepares a new PlayStation 3 hardware bundle to support the arrival of Gran Turismo 5: Prologue Edition.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Chart-Track director Dorian Bloch revealed: "Xbox 360 is up 35-40 percent - that's from Friday, when the price cut came into effect, up to midnight Saturday.

"Now it's a question of Easter," he added. "The real litmus test will be over the next three to four weeks – it's too early to read too much into it at this stage."

But while Xbox hardware was up, software did not enjoy an attendant rise. "That's mainly because the week prior there were big new 360 releases like Army of Two, Bully and MX vs ATV," Bloch noted, explaining that a drop-off in the following week is typical.

As for the rest of the hardware market, Sony's indefatigable PlayStation 2 was a surprise star performer. "The greatest surge was on PS2," Bloch said. "There was a lot of price promotion going on, with certain titles being well and truly flogged. It's now the calm before the high point of Easter."

Meanwhile, pleased by the weekend uplift, UK retail is confident that 360 will continue to gain momentum in the coming weeks. "Generally the market as a whole lifted between 35-40 per cent and we were in line with that," offered HMV spokesperson Gennaro Castaldo.

"That's obviously fairly significant, given we didn't have too much time to communicate it to our consumers. So with a lot more of the marketing kicking in now we expect it to grow even more in the coming days and weeks."

Microsoft slashed the price of all models of 360 in Europe last week, with Arcade down to GBP 159, Premium at GBP 199 and Elite at GBP 259. While no imminent price cut for the PlayStation 3 is expected, Sony is to release a hardware bundle featuring GT5: Prologue for GBP 299 next week.

Elsewhere, despite 360's leap, Nintendo topped the software charts for the week ending March 15th, with Wii and DS title Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games returning to the top spot for a seventh week since its release in late 2007.

"Longevity has been skewed by Nintendo formats," Bloch said. "The average length of time for a title in the top 40 now is 18 weeks – but that's been skewed by Brain Training, which has been there for 93 weeks, and New Super Mario Bros on 90 weeks. Those titles are really lengthening the tail."

[Kage]

Well this is interesting, if it means more money to MS to build great games, bring it on.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=34270

EA signs Massive in-game ad deal
Phil Elliott 10:45 (BST) 18/03/2008
Publisher extends relationship with Microsoft subsidiary for PC and Xbox 360 titles

Massive Inc has announced that it has extended its in-game advertising partnership with Electronic Arts, to cover a range of Xbox 360 titles and a "majority of EA's premium PC products" for the next two years.

Dynamic ads will be incorporated into a number of titles covered by the agreement, including the next two editions of EA's Madden NFL, NBA Live, NASCAR and NHL franchises, as well as a continuation of the existing deal covering Need For Speed and future work on Burnout Paradise.

"EA strongly believes that dynamic in-game advertising is an important growth area for our business, and is one of many opportunities we are pursuing in growing the advertising market," commented Kathy Vrabeck, president of the Casual Entertainment Label at EA.

"We selected Massive because they are the industry leader in this space with a global sales footprint, solid brand recognition and in-depth experience in video game advertising."

In-game advertising is seen as one of the possible ways for publishers to offset the cost of developing titles, and studies have so far shown that gamers are happy for advertising to exist in games, as long as it's appropriate and not intrusive.

[Oculate]

More money for MS? I know what that means... MORE GTA4 EXCLUSIVE DLC for xbox360

[Natas]

Once again, Nintendo's ability to breaks trends and to keep their titles at the top of the charts for LOOOOOOONG periods of time is testament to the fact that it is the ultimate maker of videogames

[Silent_Bob]

I am in the UK, the combo deals are pretty good, Xbox360 prem + extra controller + 2 games for like £260
Funny thing is I got a PS3 last friday at game with extra controller + 2 games for £299

Everyone here is welcoming the price cuts because they want the ps3 to get a price cut too

[SuPaStA]

Ps3 will never be able to compete with the xbox when it comes to prices.The Core system sells for £159 with a free game the ps3 will be selling at a loss if they tried to compete with that.

Before the price cut the xbox was about 8 million more consoles sold than the ps3, I see that number increasing rapidly after the price cuts.

[Messugga]

It's not really fair to compare. PS3's ALREADY selling at a loss and XBox came out a good year before the PS3 so you can't compare total number of sold units, only the number of units selling now. That said, I do prefer the XBox for the time being but I'm not buying either, even if the new reduced prices make them VERY tempting. The games will kill my bank balance

[snakepit]

Thats nice Xbox fanbois

[doobiwan]

Messugga, not really, the sales rate is important for the console manufacturers and fanboys. The install base is important for the game makers as it's the better indicator of game sales.

Even so, at pre-cut rates, it'll still take the PS3 3 years to catch the 360.

Alas, I don't think we'll ever see a PS3 for less than $250, if they ever plan to not make a loss on the thing.

[Messugga]

Oh I agree completely that month to month sales figures are important as a measurement of how successful a console is. What I don't agree with, is comparing total sales figures when the products launched at different time. I mean, if you want to do that, you can compared sales on the current generation of consoles with PS2 and come to the conclusion that PS2's more successful at the moment, which it isn't. Unless of course if XBox has sold more units in total than the PS2 by now...no Idea what the figures are like

[Mephisto_Helix]

but I'm not buying either, even if the new reduced prices make them VERY tempting. The games will kill my bank balance

I was in the same frame of mind but that changed when I heard that BT Games has that pre-played system. Got my Xbox now and so far have Bioshock - R320, NFS Carbon - R120 and SC Double Agent - R75 (from a friend). The only big outlay I reckon on having is GTA IV and SC Conviction. Every other game is gonna be pre-played. Don't deny yourself ... get an Xbox

[doobiwan]

Firstly, yeah, I agree with with Mephisto, game prices are no excuse, R2000 for an arcade or R2700 for a pro at Kalahari it's definitely worth it

There isn't only BT preplayed, there's also the likes of tradestation rentals or trade by mail via gameexchange. There will also be over 1000 360 games available by "summer" according to the man and considering that includes console exclusives like Battlefield Bad Company, Brutal Legend and Halo Wars, you sure you want to miss out?

But back on the intermalectuul subject at hand, the PS2 is a very good thing to bring up, and to reinformation my issue about which sells the most games. The PS2 still has the highest install base (ever, it's sold over 100million units, I believe it's a record) and in some markets it still outsells the 360 and even the PS3, However, total software unit sales are now eclipsed by the 360 and Wii, and some months by the PS3.

The point of comparing sales "from inception" is much the same as in a cricket game, past performance being the best indicator etc etc, but like I said, what it's really suppossed to do is predict when the two shall meet.

[SuPaStA]

Why is the excuse always used that the ps3 was released later hence the sales figures are not perfect.We need to keep in mind that the wii was released after both these consoles yet blew them out of the water when it comes to sales.

[Johnn0]

Originally Posted by doobiwan

considering that includes console exclusives like Battlefield Bad Company, Brutal Legend and Halo Wars, you sure you want to miss out?

Battlefield: Bad Company isn't a 360 exclusive, its on the PS3 as well, or did you mean that it isn't available on PC?

[doobiwan]

console exclusive = not on PC. Brutal legend is also on PS3.

That really is one of the things I like about the 360, it's the best of both worlds PC/360 "exclusives" and PS3/360 "exclusives"