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Lower Xbox 360 sales drops Microsoft's games division revenue

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Dela @ Apr 29, 2007 22:47 | 59 comments

While Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division has announced a drop in losses, the company has shown a loss in revenues for the division. The Culprit? - Microsoft is blaming lower Xbox 360 unit sales. In the three months ending March 31st, the division made an operating loss of $315 million, compared to $402 million last year. Revenues fell to $929 million from $1.2 billion, a drop of about 21%.

500,000 Xbox 360 consoles were shipped during the quarter, compared to 1.7 million in the same period of 2006, which was the first full quarter the console had on the market since its launch in late 2005. The total number of shipments since the console was launched stands at about 11 million.

However, the first nine months in total of the company's fiscal year tells a different story of the division's performance, showing a rise in Xbox 360 console, peripheral and software sales. Adding on the sales of the Zune music player, there is a 42% year-on-year increase in revenues to $4.9 billion.

Source:

GamesIndustry.biz

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Comment by: hughjars (May 02, 2007 19:40)

S'funny, I thought this thread was about the XBox 360 and the revenue situation.

Of course the revenues are down.
Of course shipments are down.

Wake up.
Do none of you guys have even a little bit of your 'minds' tuned to the actual business involved?

.....or are the most pointless, dreary & superficial fanboy ravings the most you can manage and the best you have got?

They are obviously clearing stocks and preparing for their new model.
I don't mean the Elite either, that is a mere publicity generating stop-gap bringing the bigger HDD for IPTV to owners of the original mk1 XBox 360(s).

The new and significant development is the imminent 65nm CPU/GPU version - and all the options it will bring in terms of their revenue strategy.

We await developments but my guess is that by Q3 of this year the really aggressive pricing begins.

Microsoft are about to end or have already ended subsidising the mk1 version of the XBox 360 now.
With the new 65nm hardware the costs reduce even further and they will be in a position to choose to make net profits on each unit or go back to subsidising at much reduced expense to the company.

Clearly this allows them the option of a seriously aggressive pricing policy but, as I said and most importantly, at much lower net costs.

Oh and I'm not really into consoles but everything I've read about the PS3 says there are very few games worth even looking at and those that are even half-way decent are short shallow games.

So much for those 50gbs.

Still, what else are the resident fanclub going to say about it?

Comment by: Baccusboy (May 02, 2007 20:10)

I think what we're saying here is that it took the 360 almost 2 years before Gears of War came along. We're starting to see titles on the PS3 which are comparable, and it's barely been out 6 months (and developers are just now learning how to write for it).

See the above photos for comparisons.

Where the 360 will have one to three "good games" that look 2nd gen (and they will have to be short, due to capacity of the drive), like Gears, the PS3 will have boatloads of them. See the above pictures for proof of just one. I'd post more from other games, but I've been accused of "picture spam."

The PS3 games will be much longer and have greater framerates at 1080p, as well.

The 360 is two year-old technology, guys.

Comment by: ChromeMud (May 02, 2007 20:20)

@ Baccusboy

The PS3 is as old as the 360 in design.
The Blu-ray player spec wasn't finalised until late
last year which is what held it back in the first place.
That being the HDMI 1.3 port and Blu-ray diode.
That's why it has an old RSX graphics chipset.
For what it costs and being a year and a half late,
it should of had 2 CELL's,a better graphics chipset
with a total of 1 gig RAM and I would of definitely got one.
As it is,it struggles to surpass the 360 and that is lame considering
the extra time Sony had to improve the hardware.
It Truly sux for what it costs,and I don't want a movie player!

Comment by: Baccusboy (May 02, 2007 22:16)

The hardware in the PS3 is of a much newer technology. The Cell doesn't utilize ram in the same way as previous chips do. I'll dig it up, but somewhere I have an explanation of this. In truth, it has more than enough ram.

By the way, here is a shot of the typically color-starved Xbox360 title, "Gears of War". The scenes with color are typically muddy and inconsistent. Only the black/white scenes pop best.

Note a consistent problem with this title: tearing (off-center section near the blast). They system can't keep up. Check out the blast:

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/200...6_screen016.jpg

Comment by: Baccusboy (May 02, 2007 22:37)

Some cool images from the PS3's upcoming, "Ratchet & Clank.":

http://www.playfrance.com/news-images-ra...ank-future.html

Here's one. Sorry these are so darned big. I actually shrunk this one. Click the link above for more detailed versions with less compression:

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t147/Greenmatiz2/8170j.jpg

Comment by: Baccusboy (May 03, 2007 05:28)

As I also said, the 360 is reaching the peak of its development.

But don't listen to me... take it from the mouths of the developers:

X-box 360 is limiting Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar games says:
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=163233

Comment by: hughjars (May 03, 2007 07:44)

The point of this thread is the XBox 360, it's sales, their future strategy and how the current revenue implications fit in with what is going on.

It isn't about cherry picked PS3 pictures.
.....and ChromeMud was right, the PS3 being delayed just meant the PS3 was delayed, it did not get a further year+ of hardware development, they just had to await BD components.
The PS3 also has the handicap of the Cell being difficult to work with.
Like all these consoles a sheer lack of RAM remains a problem.

But at heart the PS3 & XBox 360 are very very close in capability - one is slightly better at one area of activity and the other another.
ie so little in it it makes claims of hardware superiority ridiculous, it really does come down to ease of coding, game availability etc etc - and there it looks like the XBox 360 is well ahead.

.....and turning up a quote in some games magazine from someone in the games industry (cor, wow full house, games journos & games makers, what a bunch of totally unconnected, completely independent and wholly reliable sources there, not a risk to advertising revenues, sub-contrating nor a vested interest of any kind in sight at all, not) proves nothing.

In any event we can see from the Wii that high def is not an 'answer' alone, ditto 'needing' to go beyond DVD9.....although why on earth a multi-disc set is beyond them I don't know.

.....and the fact that under 25% of Americans even have HD TVs (and far less in Europe) ought to again high-light the pointlessness of a dubious and highly questionable set of claims regarding the graphics capability of one high def console against another.

A wholescale reliance on pretty pictures is a gross mistake......as Nintendo sales ought to be saying - to anyone not blinded by their ludicrous 'love' of a CE company - loud and clear.

Naturally the fanboy element isn't interested in the obvious signs that Microsoft's 65nm CPU & GPU are immininet, nor where 65nm leaves things.

They just can't help trying to turn every thread into a 'Sony is great' banner.

Laughable.

Comment by: ZippyDSM (May 03, 2007 08:56)

hughjars
prehaps MS has stabilized the 360 and they are no longer resaling consoles at a high rate :X

Anyway MS dose have a limited niche they have a good bit of access to 2.3rds the "pie" but in all MS is still a niche console compared to what the PS2 was and what Nintendo general is,Nin might get dissed but the haters have their latest and great hidden with the "other" console they hate so much :X

the WII is everyones "2nd console" thos that only have a wii and no other consoles tend to do movies or sports as their main hobby the WII is more than a niche product.

the PS3 has started out as a japan only and high end niche its moving SLOWLY to high end niche but wont really leave their until the price drops 100 or more.

Comment by: spydah (May 03, 2007 09:28)

Hughjar's,

I can agree a little to what you typed but when you said that;

They just can't help trying to turn every thread into a 'Sony is great' banner.

Laughable.

That votes the same for the 360. No matter what this will always be the same debate that goes no where. Honestly we can all make claims about what we like but no matter what the opinion will always be divided. We all got a good point to a certain degree.

Comment by: ChromeMud (May 03, 2007 09:50)

As for tearing on the 360,I've rarely seen it,some people
see it more than others.I don't know whether it's a TV
problem with vertical sychronisation or a problem with
the 360 itself.
The thing is,it's not just related to the 360.It's affecting
the PS3 aswell and people are reporting it and some are
saying they havn't seen it.
Check out the link at Eurogamer for PS3 review of
Ninja Gaiden Sigma.

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=75934

Well I'm bored with Bacusboy's biased pic display of what
constitutes poor 360 graphics in comparison to PS3 so here's
some picture spam to back my argument that the 360 has great
colourful ingame graphics!
http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1167/full-res/1162870056.jpg
http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1167/full-res/1162870055.jpg
http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1324/full-res/1166749064.jpg
http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1182/full-res/1159456852.jpg

End of SPAM!

Comment by: ZippyDSM (May 03, 2007 10:01)

ChromeMud
well the 360 is nothing to sneeze at but I think the PS3 dose a bit better in graphics at least when it comes to stills,when you boil it down the differences are so few and far between the PS3 is just to costly for to few games.

the 360 is "better" but I am not happy with it at least not happy enough to spend 500 in 1 setting I will wait another year before I dig in a buy one.

Comment by: ChromeMud (May 03, 2007 10:15)

@ ZIppyDSM

All I'm saying is that the PS3 isn't offering anything
more substantial than what the 360 is, at a cheaper price.
For high def gaming,there is virtualy nothing between them
and when it comes down to price and game availability
it's a simple choice to make.

Comment by: ZippyDSM (May 03, 2007 10:25)

Originally posted by ChromeMud:
@ ZIppyDSM

All I'm saying is that the PS3 isn't offering anything
more substantial than what the 360 is, at a cheaper price.
For high def gaming,there is virtualy nothing between them
and when it comes down to price and game availability
it's a simple choice to make.

Agreed
the PS3 has so far only brought propaganda it cant deliver becuse of the price and the lack of games it will take 2 years at the least for it to grow enough of a libary to have a relook and even then if its not under 500 its not worth fooling with I like FPSs and RPGs ,FF has become a shallow Jpop inspired fantasy/Sci fi nightmare take the best of anime remove it and you have a new FF game....as for FPSs devs no longer give you all the small options you need to be able to enjoy the game blahing welcome to gaming 6.o ><

Comment by: Baccusboy (May 03, 2007 10:29)

Again, very very little color in the first several Gears of War Xbox360 photos, and the one photo you have color in shows an explosion, which has little definition to it. The background graphics are really not that impressive when color is added. Notice the lack of definition in the final Gears photo, as well.

Comment by: ZippyDSM (May 03, 2007 10:34)

Originally posted by Baccusboy:
Again, very very little color in the first several Gears of War Xbox360 photos, and the one photo you have color in shows an explosion, which has little definition to it. The background graphics are really not that impressive when color is added.

god this reminds me of the SNES v Genesis days.....give it a rest....you're posting propaganda in the wrong room.....*sigh*

FIGHT THE M.A.F.I.A.A.

Comment by: hughjars (May 03, 2007 12:45)

Originally posted by ZIppyDSM:
hughjars
prehaps MS has stabilized the 360 and they are no longer resaling consoles at a high rate

- That might be a possibility zippy.......if it wasn't for the fact that we know that a substantially revised version is coming
(and like I said, a paint job to produce the 'elite' is not it - it's really just a publicity vehicle for getting the much bigger HDD out for mk1 XBox 360 owners).

The 65nm CPU & CPU version will be the real mk2.

Originally posted by spydah:
That votes the same for the 360. No matter what this will always be the same debate that goes no where. Honestly we can all make claims about what we like but no matter what the opinion will always be divided. We all got a good point to a certain degree.

- I would never deny anyone their right to take whatever view they like and of course I realise that the argument between people who prefer one brand over the other will probably always go on - and to a point that's even fair enough.

What I do find that stands out is that the 'fanclub' on one side in particular is at it every time and I don't think that always holds true of the other.

All too often any notion of 'debate' is swiftly lost - staying on topic at least once in a while would be nice.

Points raised are rarely even attempted to be discussed as things degenerate into a 'ya boo' PR flag-wave for 'you know who'.
Hydra, anyone? *rolls eyes*

God knows why they even bother tho as it's so obvious that it's got to be a seriously counter-productive bore to any geniunely neutral interested parties looking on.

Comment by: ZippyDSM (May 03, 2007 13:14)

hughjars
I was being slight sarcastic :X

I wish MS had a better upgrade plan for the 360 its all been rather fcked,the HDMI is imperfect as well it dose smack of a paint job to boost sales I hope the double 65NM gpu/cpu 360s elites will have slightly better HDMI but who knows MS tends to slop thigns on last minute....

Comment by: hughjars (May 03, 2007 14:11)

Originally posted by ZIppyDSM:
hughjars
I hope the double 65NM gpu/cpu 360s elites will have slightly better HDMI but who knows MS tends to slop thigns on last minute....

- I'm far from convinced about HDMI.
I have it on my HD TV so I guess it's it's a handy additional connection point.
But I have no intention on updating my receiver at great expense for some time yet, which you have to take full advantage of HDMI.

It's really at heart another DRM mechanism.....and let's not forget that it'll be a very very long time until it means anything in the wider mass-market - if ever.

....and anyways which version of HDMI?
We already had 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.3a & 2.0 is being rumoured as coming soon.
The elite's 1.2 may not have the same range as the 1.3 version but really, who cares that much right now, 'spec-sheet jockeys'?

I have 5.1 DD, full DTS, SACD & DVD-A sound via my lving room receiver & my PC can output 8.1 sound but tbh I just don't attach the importance some do to HDMI.

Maybe in time I'll feel differently about it when I get a Dolby HD receiver but I have a hard time doing so just now, it's just really not that big a deal to me either way.

Comment by: ZippyDSM (May 03, 2007 14:21)

Quote:
Originally posted by ZIppyDSM:
hughjars
I hope the double 65NM gpu/cpu 360s elites will have slightly better HDMI but who knows MS tends to slop thigns on last minute....
- I'm far from convinced about HDMI.
I have it on my HD TV so I guess it's it's a handy additional connection point.
But I have no intention on updating my receiver at great expense for some time yet, which you have to take full advantage of HDMI.

It's really at heart another DRM mechanism.....and let's not forget that it'll be a very very long time until it means anything in the wider mass-market - if ever.

....and anyways which version of HDMI?
We already had 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.3a & 2.0 is being rumoured as coming soon.

I have 5.1 DD, full DTS, SACD & DVD-A sound via my lving room receiver & my PC can output 8.1 sound but tbh I just don't attach the importance some do to HDMI.

Maybe in time I'll feel differently about it but I have a hrd time doing so just now, it's just really not that big a deal to me either way.

ya really all it is is a mini all in one cable,still it be nice to have a fully working HDMI and not just a video with crippled sound HDMI..blahg

FIGHT THE M.A.F.I.A.A.

Comment by: hughjars (May 03, 2007 15:23)

Quote:
it be nice to have a fully working HDMI and not just a video with crippled sound HDMI..blahg

- But that's just it zippy, what does this idea of "crippled sound" actually mean
(assuming you are being serious, which is often not the case I know)?

HDMI 1.2 (and in fact there is a 1.2'a' version of it too) can handle SACD spec 8 channel audio, hardly "crippled" by any serious standard.

.....and like I said utterly meaningless to the vast majority - except those 'spec-sheet jockey' types.

(consider this, if under 25% of Americans and far far lower numbers of Europeans have HD TV just how many do you seriously imagine have HDMI receivers?)

Comment by: ZippyDSM (May 03, 2007 15:32)

Quote:
[quote]it be nice to have a fully working HDMI and not just a video with crippled sound HDMI..blahg

Comment by: hughjars (May 03, 2007 15:58)

Quote:
sorry sorry the elites HDMI sound output is 2 channel only,or did I misunderstand again...LOL

- Naaa zippy mate, it's HDMI version 1.2a.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_Elite

There's really nothing 2 channel about it - though I'm sure one or two around here were happy to maintain you in your mistaken ideas on that one.
Dolby Digital, DTS & WMA pro are all very high quality (if not quite the highest out there) multi-channel audio sound specs (to 5.1).

Perhaps you were confused by the talk of "This means the Elite will be able to output Dolby Digital, DTS, WMA Pro, and 2 channel PCM audio via the HDMI connection"?

(from Wiki link)

Interestingly I've also seen it said that the reason Sony got 1.3 so early on their PS3 is because they are HDMI 'founders' (surprise surprise, Sony paving the way & inventing new routes to DRM) as opposed to Microsoft being HDMI 'supporters'.

I suppose it might be interesting to see what the real mk2 version (the 65nm version) appears with later in the year.

Comment by: ZippyDSM (May 03, 2007 18:38)

Quote:
[quote]sorry sorry the elites HDMI sound output is 2 channel only,or did I misunderstand again...LOL

Comment by: hughjars (May 03, 2007 20:14)

The difference is HDMI version 1.2a to 1.3.

You'll find the answers to your questions (oh great one!?) here -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI

To be brief -

Bandwidth is up from the 1.2a's 4.9gb/sec to 10.2gb/sec
(both specs are a huge amount of bandwidth and plenty for HD picture & sound)

Basically if you have the right kind of receiver (which aren't exactly 'thick on the ground' right now) you'll get better audio with HDMI 1.3 compared to HDMI 1.2a

(but it really is a question of degree - can you tell the difference between full DTS 5.1 and Dolby HD or a lossless PCM output?
How does DVD-Audio sound to you or SACD?
Cos HDMI 1.2a is good enough to output both fully).

There is also provision with 1.3 (if your screen permits it) for the 'deep colour' higher bit colours.

Like I said zippy, a mountain has been made out of this and I really just don't see it in any practical and honest sense at all.

Spec-sheet jockeys waving flags for their beloved is what it's been about as far as I can see......and I bet almost none of them have an HDMI receiver (of any kind for any of the specs).

That and a load of indulgent childish BS about 'future-proofing' which, as the soon to be appearing version 2.0 shows all too clearly, there is no such thing.

IMO it's merely a slogan, an ad-man's dream, aided and abetted by those who want to willingly kid themselves into the delusion they are so smart in their purchases.

Comment by: ddp (May 05, 2007 22:19)

all pictures edited as links because of dialup members.