1. It' s unreliable. As Microsoft finally acknowledged this month, Xbox 360s fail more often than the company " is comfortable with." Some reports pin the " Red Ring of Death" failure rates as high as 33%. As a result, Microsoft increased the system' s warranty from one to three years at a sizable and appreciated expense, but the company' s unwillingness to fully disclose what' s causing the problem undermines the solution. Gamers don' t want to risk $300-400 at the chance to play games on 360, they want to make sure it can and will play games for years to come. Pile on the recent class-action lawsuits claiming that the machine scratches discs at random, and it becomes clear that the Xbox 360 isn' t nearly as dependable as it could be.



2. It only sells marginally better than Xbox.



Launch-to-date sales of Xbox 360 in the US are only 200K units more than the original Xbox for the same period. That' s a bad thing. Granted, calling the first Xbox a failure would be unfair. But the machine was hardly a success as it lost billions of dollars throughout its life and only managed to sell 24 million units worldwide (14% market share) in comparison to PS2' s 115 million (67%) and GameCube' s meager 22 million (13%). Microsoft needs to sell more 360s than it did Xboxs -- many more -- if it wishes to secure a long-term place in the video game industry. The company' s unprecedented and steadfast reluctance to drop the 360' s $399 price despite Sony' s exorbitantly priced PS3 could come back to haunt them.



3. A recent string of bad publicity. Microsoft' s long-running denial of Xbox 360 failure rates mentioned above isn' t the only public relations gaffe experienced this year. Robbie Bach, parent president over the XBox division, dumped $6.2 million in Microsoft stock just weeks before the company announced the costly $1.15 billion warranty extension. It marked the first time Bach had traded stock in eight months at a non-scheduled time, according to filings. Microsoft called the incident " unrelated," but the appearance of an insider selling stock right before a huge loss just looks bad. In addition, having Xbox president Peter Moore leave right before its biggest and most important holiday season doesn' t look good either, whether voluntary or not.



4. It has limited appeal. You' d be hard pressed to find a better " hardcore gaming" console than the Xbox 360 at the moment. But how does Microsoft intend to infiltrate the living room (assuming that' s their ultimate desire) without first offering software for the entire family? You know, that whole casual-games thingy that seems to be doing so well right now (" Hi Wii!" ). While Xbox 360 delivers traditional games in spades, it needs to start doing something different in lieu of superfluous first-person shooters if it wishes to sell more. By all means, keep the good core games coming, but Microsoft needs to surprise gamers with something fresh while broadening the console' s appeal. The Viva Pinata series and Scene It! DVD games just aren' t enough.


5. It bleeds money. Microsoft has lost unthinkable amounts of money on its Xbox business. In the six short years it' s been in the industry, the company hasn' t made a dime. When adding the recently announced $1.9 billion losses incurred in fiscal 2007, total life-to-date Xbox losses are conservatively estimated at somewhere around $6 billion dollars. Despite Microsoft' s luxury in funding said losses with its monstrous war chest, the fears of investors are easily justified. But why should gamers care how much money is being spent so long as Microsoft keeps footing the bill? Because gamers should want team Xbox to stick around for the sake of competition and quality of play, not to mention long-term support. Every man has a breaking point, and anyone can pull a Sega and quit the hardware business -- even a rich kid with deep pockets.



6. It still doesn' t sell in Japan. Can a console achieve ubiquitous success without the support of the second largest video game market in the world, i.e. Japan? That' s the billion dollar question Microsoft is trying to answer while striving for moderate success in the country. Since first launching in December of 2005, however, Microsoft has sold a paltry 420,000 units in Japan -- hardly a dent, though not unexpected. And the allegation by some that the Japanese public don' t buy American products quickly loses merit when realizing that even the native PS3 struggles in sales. Microsoft doesn' t need to dominate Japan. It never did. But a larger variety of software, and smarter marketing efforts, targeted squarely at Japanese gamers would reinforce the company' s global efforts in the video game industry.



Looking ahead to fall of 2007, the Xbox 360 has the biggest games lineup in recent memory, a lineup that includes BioShock, Mass Effect, Madden 08, Assassin' s Creed, and more in addition to the hugely anticipated Halo 3. Master Chief' s last adventure could easily be the best-selling game of the year and shift hundreds of thousands of 360s in the process. If there' s one thing that sells consoles, it' s great games, and Xbox 360 has them. Sadly, Microsoft' s ongoing string of mishaps may keep them from truly ending the year (or the season for that matter) on a high note.

Source

i think it' s good MS has done some mistakes so that Sony has got a chance. It' d be too bad if MS dominated completely.

It' s all speculation.

1. Yeah its unrealiable, I dont think people are moving away from the xbox because of the recent reports, MS is making good service for the troubled people. Iv read reports about people waiting 3 months for their PS3. Most get their xbox within a month

2. MS has t he most sold consoles this generation, and the backing of more and more publishers, Xbox 360 is the main console to develop for, most games are ported out to PS3. This isnt likely to change since the devs are getting familiar with the workings of the console.

3. The bad publicity isnt reaching the masses yet, as they dont follow the game sites. for price conciouse consumers who doesnt like the Wii appeal, Xbox 360 is the obvious choice, and making steps to make good on something bad ads trust.

4. It has the same appeal as the PS3, just a different name, there is no difference between the two, you can add the wii into the mix, but its moving too far away from Sony and MS to actually be a real game console.

5. Everything bleeds money, except for the one company that choose to put in old hardware. MS has stated its in it for the long run, so i doubt the money is a problem

6. Its selling way better than the original Xbox in japan, more and more japan friendly games are jumping on board, evne some turning exclusive. But japan is relatively small compared to Europe and the US, and the rest of the world, where Xbox 360 is the console thats launched most places fastest.


Thats my speculation and my opinions, i dont think MS is going to bend over and die, i believe a 50/50 marketshare (this time not counting the wii, since it cant really be compared between the two!)

if Microsoft pull out from this war, i' ll never trust any console maker BUT SONY. MS is no SEGa so i hope they will really pull hemselve together as they are going through a bad storm. how things could change and get out of control very fast, months ago sony was in the same spotlight.

Diffrence from SEGA was that they lived on these gaming money,while MS doesn' t.

ANyway gamepro is a huge sonyfanboy site who laughed at sony pr ppls anti xbox jokes constanly and spin every news,now wonder they did a article like this after E3.

the company hasn' t made a dime. When adding the recently announced $1.9 billion losses incurred in fiscal 2007, total life-to-date Xbox losses are conservatively estimated at somewhere around $6 billion dollars.

The PS2 was considered a failure for the first year & a half of it' s lifespan, and we all know what a failure that was.

Xbox was never expected to make money. In fact, Microsoft expected to lose around $5 billion on the original Xbox alone. The goal of the original Xbox was for Microsoft to get their foot in the door, and it was a success in that regard.

Another thing also never included in the article was that over $1.0 billion of their $1.9 billion dollar losses haven' t even been " lost" yet. They' re expecting to lose $1 billion dollars rectifying a problem they know they have. If they were really in that much of a pinch, they' d cut their losses by half & not fix a single unit.

Microsoft has sold a paltry 420,000 units in Japan

Microsoft is making an enormous push with Japanese RPGs and you know that. It' s not selling because they' re not out yet. Half a million units is quite an accomplishment for the sequel to one of the biggest Japanese market console failures.

4. It has limited appeal.

Let' s not open that can of worms if we can get away with it. The Wii' s title list is just as limited. It' s just different. You don' t see a Gears of War, or a Blue Dragon or a Metal Gear Solid on the horizon for Wii. You see party games and 1st party wonders. That' s not broad, or innovative, or blue ocean, or whatever the hell their PR idiots are calling it this week... it' s just different.

Also, you' re looking at a fairly biased opinion when you state that the 360 doesn' t have casual games to keep you occupied, or games to play with your non-gamer friends. Xbox Live Marketplace is neck and neck with Wii' s retro service. Short of the Wii' s (albiet good) first party list, absolutely nothing pops off of the page. Plus, the 360 AND PS3 have regular updates releasing or supporting new games that hit their arcades, a service the Wii still has to meet or beat.

My point? If limited appeal isn' t carbon-copy ports and movie games with little to no online support in the near future, I don' t know what is.

-- if it wishes to secure a long-term place in the video game industry. The company' s unprecedented and steadfast reluctance to drop the 360' s $399 price despite Sony' s exorbitantly priced PS3 could come back to haunt them.

This stuff reeks of ignorance. They complain about the 360' s price point? You can still buy a 360 for $299, brand spanking new. You can get it for the same price as a Wii if you' re smart & buy used.

Seriously, if you' re going to bring this stuff here, at least make sure the article itself isn' t bias-ridden.

Is this really necessary??

4. It has the same appeal as the PS3, just a different name, there is no difference between the two, you can add the wii into the mix, but its moving too far away from Sony and MS to actually be a real game console.

i would strongly disagree with you here though, the 360 is just for hardcore gamers, viva piñata and stuff cant do anything about it, most of its best selling titles are M rated, while SONY has a lot of casual games, games like.


SINGSTAR
Ratchet and Clank FToD
Mina no Golf
Formula 1
Loco Roco
EyeToy
Major league Beisball
WipeOut
and they are adding to the list
MotorStorm
LittleBigPlanet
Echocrome,

In my opinion, Nintendo relies heavily in T rated games, therefore thats their audience, MS relies heavily in M rated games, therefore thats their audience, and SONY has a little bit of both, even if they don have the price to attract causal gamers.

if the xbox division doesnt shows any profit this gen, is their ass

Huh?

MS can' t let Sony dominate. The whole idea with the Xbox wasn' t to conquer the videogame industry, it was to stop Sony from taking over hom entertainment, and ultimately to stop Sony from hindering the success of Windows.
MS will never ever give up. If Sony manages to dominate with a console that threatens PC' s in the area of Home entertainment then MS will lose more money on lost Windows sales, than on the 360.

Sorry but the 360 is not in trouble at all.

MS might be in a bit more difficulty they they anticipated, what with the failures and still having trouble breaking into japan even with some key japanese games and publishers deveoped/ing for their machine.

In the market they are in the best position:
Large install base compared to the competition (Sony, that is. Wii is not included here in this post unless specifically mentioned- sorry).
Their plaform is the lead for most games which for the foreseeable future means superior 360 version
Price - MS can easily put the price down when sony start being competitive. It would sure cost them, but they can afford it.
A lot more exclusives from 3rd parties, not to mention taking once PS exclusives away.


Sony have a lot of catching up to do, they have a solid product, and some great first party titles to come but the entry cost really hurts them... Were the systems the same price and PS3 started getting some decent games then i' ve no doubt the PS3 would equal or supass the success of the 360.

To think MS would go the path of Sega is moronic, it will not happen. Period. They have enough to gain once they get a real foothold.

ORIGINAL: ginjirou

MS can' t let Sony dominate. The whole idea with the Xbox wasn' t to conquer the videogame industry, it was to stop Sony from taking over hom entertainment, and ultimately to stop Sony from hindering the success of Windows.
MS will never ever give up. If Sony manages to dominate with a console that threatens PC' s in the area of Home entertainment then MS will lose more money on lost Windows sales, than on the 360.

never said they would just give up, i said the big shots could possibly get fired.

I didn' t REALLY believe that MS will goes Sega way and just get out of this war but still the situation about MS is very worrying... i' ve said many times that if the general public knows about 360 failures, the console will hardly sale. we' ll see how this fall lineup will shake things up, hopefuly it' ll drives 360 sales way up specialy in Japan.


The 1 billion dollar loss is not ALL LOSS, it will be used to considerably decrease the Taxes.

ORIGINAL: fernandino

SINGSTAR
Ratchet and Clank FToD
Formula 1
Loco Roco
EyeToy
Major league Beisball
WipeOut
and they are adding to the list
MotorStorm
LittleBigPlanet
Echocrome,

Dude, do you know that you are talking complete bs? What makes games like Ratchet, WipeOut or MotorStorm " casual games" ? You know that casual games are not defined by the age rating they get but by their appeal to the masses. And well, while you are right with games like EyeToy, Singstar or Buzz (you forgot that one), some of those other games don' t really appeal to the mass market and therefore can' t be considered " casual" .


As for Gamepro' s second point(Update: Woah, I was wrong here. I thought globally, while Gamepro was talking about US only):

Where the hell do those numbers come from? If we compare Microsofts reports of the financial years 2003 and 2007 we got 9,4 compared to 11,4. That' s no 200,000 - that' s 2 million units. Of course they didn' t launch simultaneously back then, but on the other hand they had a price cut so that makes the situation pretty even. And, they have even improved their tie-in ratio, which is one of the biggest reasons why 360 is so NOT going to fail (Back with xbox after 19 months they had a ratio of about 5:1, now they are close to 6:1).

Overall I find those articles emerging the last few days REALLY funny. All those people are acting as if Microsoft is in " big trouble" and are just about to pull out of the console market. Just, the thing is, Microsoft doesn' t give up. They stay and fight. And if they lose, they fight again. They won' t pull out - even if they lose 10, 15 or even more billions (Which they won' t).

Overall though I still think we should see and wait for this holiday season to see what happens. If the factors mentioned here (some that aren' t even true) would really affect the 360 it would be reflected in the sales. But I strongly doubt that and I still predict 360 is going to win this holiday season with quite a big margin over Sony.

1. True, but the problem will soon be fixed and people who got fucked can exchange it for another one within three years of purchase. By the end of the year MS should be building 360' s that work. If you have one that doesn' t you can exchange it for one that does. EVERYONE is covered for a free replacement up to November 22nd 2008. If you paid for repairs MS is offering a refund. A lot of people in the know (i.e. the people who know about the console failure) either already own a 360 or are waiting for the revised model(s).

Is this annoying yes, but not a deal breaker when the 360 is the plaform with the games.

2.Fuck Xbox, 360 is still in the lead THIS GEN. When Halo 3 and other big titles will be released sales will skyrocket, when the price drops sales will increase, when they go 65nm sales will also see a boost. If last generation mattered so much Wii wouldn' t be selling and PS3 would be in the lead. Your point is devoid of any logic or common sense. The simple fact is that the higher price of this gen is proving to cause a slow takeoff for console sales (PS3 and 360). We can say that sales for Wii are limited by supply, whatever the reason for such. All the PS3 and 360 need to increase momentum are a price drop and/or the big hitters to be released (which are all lined up for release soon).

3. 99.9% of consumers are not aware about anything you just mentioned, I didn' t even know about the dumping of the stock. Most of that 0.1% already own a 360 so it' s totally irrelevant. No one will make buying decisions based on minor business dealings of any company. Stock is sold and bought all the time, so what? Besides I seem to recall Sony losing shit loads of money and the President of something or other leaving the company. Nintendo lost a large percentage of it' s marketing division, what was it? 90 FUCKING PERCENT OF THE SALES/MARKETING STAFF! And you' re trying to make one single representitive seem like a huge blow (a man with a history of moving around no less).

You' re bias against MS is so transparent.

4. Says who? You? We' ll see how limited it' s appeal is once Halo 3 is released. I know you' re thinking of Wii when you say this and you' re confusing wide range of consumers with vast numbers. I can' t imagine Wii' s appeal lasting in the long term for casual gamers once the price drops for the other two. Only people with one of the other consoles will buy it. After that, you' re only left with the hardcore pokemon fans. The problem with Wii is two fold. One, casual gamers won' t buy a lot of games especially since they' re expensive compared to the console. Secondly, once supply meets demand, that' s it. Nintendo will top out in early 2009 (latest). Nintendo won' t even need to produce more Wii' s because EB games will cover their walls with used models. Everyone will want to get rid of them.

I' m not even sure about this, nor can I predict how PS3 will turn out marketshare wise, but I do know that MS will finish in a much better position than last gen.

5.True, I have to call this irrelevant though. This changes nothing. MS has very deep pockets and they' re a bully. They' ll throw money at the problem untill they win. You have to understand the " cause and effect" here. Cause=Rich Corporation makes a billion dollar blunder, Effect=Rich Corporation throws money at problem. That' s it, there' s no other effect. Are consumers pissed off, yes but they already own a 360, and it only takes one phone call to have a new one at no charge. Assuming you weren' t dumb enough to open the case (no offence Eddie).

6. I don' t think anyone expects the 360 or any of the three consoles to dominate the way that the PS2 dominated last gen. The days of the Uber popular console are over. That being said the 360 is still in a good position in the minds of consumers. The 360 has been around the longest and it lost that figurative new car smell. In that sense it seems difficult to surprise anyone with a 360. However I don' t see that necessarily as the end. Everyone is waiting for Wii and PS3 to do something to surprise us as it seems like MS has been the one landing all the punches. The burden of pulling off something big lies with Sony and Nintendo not MS.

As for Japan, meh. MS knew they would need to dominate elswhere as Japan would be near impossible to win over. They' re actually not doing too bad compared to Xbox (not that I want to compare it with Xbox). They demonstrated that with the right games they can appeal to the Japanese (somewhat).



I don' t care which one sells the best, all I know is that in a few years from now when gamers reflect on which was the BEST console this gen. Not too many will suggest the Wii, infact I' m willing to bet that a good number of gamers will agree that the 360 was the best gaming machine of it' s time regardless of how much money these rich chuds at MS made with it.

5. It bleeds money. Microsoft has lost unthinkable amounts of money on its Xbox business. In the six short years it' s been in the industry, the company hasn' t made a dime. When adding the recently announced $1.9 billion losses incurred in fiscal 2007, total life-to-date Xbox losses are conservatively estimated at somewhere around $6 billion dollars. Despite Microsoft' s luxury in funding said losses with its monstrous war chest, the fears of investors are easily justified. But why should gamers care how much money is being spent so long as Microsoft keeps footing the bill? Because gamers should want team Xbox to stick around for the sake of competition and quality of play, not to mention long-term support. Every man has a breaking point, and anyone can pull a Sega and quit the hardware business -- even a rich kid with deep pockets.

Wow, that paragraph is stupid. I don' t think the writer actually grasps how much money Microsoft has to play with. Yeah, they' ll probably lose a $1 Billion or so because of the warranty issue, but when your company makes $51.12 billion revenue for the fiscal year ended June 30, a 15 per cent increase over the prior year, it doesn' t mean shit. Heck, they finished the last quarter with a net profit of roughly $3 Billion! That' s $3 Billion that they can do whatever they want with.

So in just a single quarter, they' ve made up for 50% of the all time losses of the Xbox division! (Going by the $6 Billion figure) Yeah, these " Unthinkable Amounts" as so eloquently put are really taking its toll on Microsoft...

ORIGINAL: Evilkiller

Dude, do you know that you are talking complete bs? What makes games like Ratchet, WipeOut or MotorStorm " casual games" ? You know that casual games are not defined by the age rating they get but by their appeal to the masses. And well, while you are right with games like EyeToy, Singstar or Buzz (you forgot that one), some of those other games don' t really appeal to the mass market and therefore can' t be considered " casual" .

I forgot Minna no Golf

I just dont know if a game has to be appealing to the masses in order to be casual, if so Katamari Damaci certainly wouldn' t be one and MotorStorm, WipeOut and most certainly Ratchet would be casual games, but my point is that those games are appealing to a very different audience, people who aren' t necessarily interested in games like Killzone, Gears of Wars, Mass Effect, Uncharted, Too Human, God of War, Halo, SOCOM, or Resistance.

Let me give you an example, my girlfriend wouldnt come near God of War II, Gears of War or GRAW2, never ever, she is sometimes even mad at me for playing that stuff, but when she saw MotorStorm she flipped, the tec and the fun side amazed her and she was willing to give it a try because it had pretty much zero violence, zero blood and was kinda easy to get into, almost the same happened to my sister with the demo of minna no golf 5, and to my brother with Formula 1 C.E. so thats the deal, not everybody is into FPS´s, or violent games, theres a huge audience out there who would take LittleBigPlanet-Minna no Golf 5 over Mass Effect-Halo 3 any day, and yes i believe is pretty much for the rating, to that audience the 360 is not appealing and MS know that, thats probably the reason why they purchased Rare in the first place (BTW, not helping), they lack the family titles while SONY has both the M rated and the E rated games.

Also they just compared USA sales,that isn' t fair since XBOX360 had a worldwide launch thus making USA getting lesser console at launch.

Compared to ps3 who didn' t bother about Europe.

I' ve got my own six reasons why the 360 is in trouble:

1. The d-pad sucks
2. It' s noisy
3. It doesn' t have Metroid prime 3
4. The HDD is way too small
5. Paying for Live is not fun when Sony and Nintendo fans get their stuff for free
6. It doesn' t have any Metroid Prime game at all

5. Paying for Live is not fun when Sony and Nintendo fans get their stuff for free

atleast it works properly :)

The D-pad do suck,but since hardly any game req you to use it,it doesnt matter anyway.

And you can buy a bigger HDD if you want,on wii you can' t which just prove that wii online will always be crap.