|
 |
|
|
Could Xbox be the new Dreamcast?
|
|
Could Xbox be the new Dreamcast?
Microsoft's much-vaunted Xbox games console is struggling to meet sales targets, it has been revealed.
The machine, launched to a fanfare in Britain two weeks ago, was hailed the most sophisticated games platform yet but its European sales have fallen 25 per cent behind target.
But experts fear it could go the same way as Sega's doomed Dream-cast system, which failed to match Sony's PlayStation when it was launched in 1999 and struggled to make profits.
The Xbox is Microsoft's first attempt to crack the gaming market,
and its launch in America last November was hailed a success. But the Japanese launch earlier this year was marred by disappointing sales and a defect which scratched DVDs put in it.
John Riccitiello, president of software firm Electronic Arts, said Microsoft 'had its teeth kicked in, in both Europe and Japan'.
A report by investment firm SoundView Technology said European sales of the Xbox between March and June were likely to be more than 300,000 below the hopedfor 1.3million. Microsoft expects to sell between 4.5million and 6million worldwide in its first eight months but experts predict the figure will be nearer 4.3million.
Sounds like it's doing ok to me.
Source: @Brint.com
|
 Article Tools
|
|
|
Search on Newegg.Com |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
By
SKYHN
on
04-03-2002, 04:57 PM
|
Aw...poor xbox  |
|
|
|
|
|
X-Box = Dreamcast
Great system... but eveyone is stuck on PS2.
Sorry Bill.... you f***ed up.
|
|
|
By
SKYHN
on
04-03-2002, 06:13 PM
|
|
Immagine what they could have done with just the $500,000,000.00 they spent on Xbox advertising.
|
|
|
By
iTaL
on
04-03-2002, 08:55 PM
|
|
The problem is the price of the unit and games, layoffs everyday everywhere nobody knows what to do where to go .
So once the rich and wealthy buy there units thats it then the sales become slow ..
A console system should never cost more then 150 bucks
|
|
|
By
SKYHN
on
04-03-2002, 09:35 PM
|
Quote:
Originally posted by iTaL
The problem is the price of the unit and games, layoffs everyday everywhere nobody knows what to do where to go .
So once the rich and wealthy buy there units thats it then the sales become slow ..
A console system should never cost more then 150 bucks
|
Then why does the PS2 contiune to dominate? It costs the same as the Xbox.
And the GC is below both of them and its $100 cheaper and cant play dvd movies. |
|
|
By
SKYHN
on
04-03-2002, 10:28 PM
|
|
I think this will be Xbox's downfall...
Here is the Xbox upcomming releases for the next 8 months:
April:
Gauntlet Dark Legacy
Spiderman
Crash Bandicoot
2002 Fifa World Cup
Morrowind
Recdcard Soccer
Burnout
May:
ESPN NBA 2Night
Sega World Series
Smashing Drive
Test Drive
Outlaw Golf
Gravity Games Bike
MLB Slugfest
Back Pedal
Ghost Recon
Rayman Rush
Ballistic
Lengends of Wrestling
Hunter: The Reckoning
Jedi Starfighter
June:
Wave Rally
Antz Extreme Racing
Sega GT 2002
Commandos 2
House of the Dead 3
Shayde
Matt Hoffman Pro BMX
Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing
Prisoner of War
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Terminator
Pro Race Driver
Splashdown
July:
Kelly Slaters Pro Surfer
Dead to Rights
Armada 2
Street Hoops
August:
Tetris Worlds
Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter
Xmen Next Dimension
Agressive inline
Turok evolution
September:
Seablade
TransWorld Snowboarding
Loons
Taz Wanted
October:
Fuel
Unreal Championship
Outlaw Valleyball
November:
The lost
|
|
|
|
|
|
It's always hard to break into the business when you have a longtime veteran for competition.
It's not the Xbox technology that is at fault here. The games are a big factor, granted, but the bigger factor is trying to convince people that a new product, that costs roughly the same as a product that has already gotten a one year headstart as well as a proven track record, will be better in the long run...
Not to mention those who refuse to buy it coz it is made by Microsoft. Brand-name zealotry can affect business...
|
|
|
|
|
|
The xbox isn't a failure. It's still picking up steam. What you have to realize is that a lot of games have 2+ year development time. That leaves a curve before games start to really flow en mass.
I mean think about it... when did the really big PS2 games start coming out? 8-10 months after it's release. Well, it hasn't even been 5 yet for the xbox.
Also skyhn, you make the mistake of assuming that your list is the be all end all list of games to be released. I guarantee that there are more games than that which will be released in the next 8 months.
Also, there are a lot of potential blockbusters in that list. And some off that list.
Point in case: Bioware's Star Wars Knights of the Old republic is set to be released in the fall... I don't see it on that list, do you?
Also, there is the wildcard of microsoft's internet launch, which will be bigger than anything sony has planned, I guarantee. And considering that the xbox caters more towards a PC audience, the multiplayer will be a much bigger selling point on the xbox.
|
|
|
By
SKYHN
on
04-03-2002, 11:21 PM
|
|
What mutliplayer games are planned for xbox? Ive only heard of Halo.
|
|
|
By
Xtren
on
04-04-2002, 07:29 AM
|
|
You seem to forget that the PS2 started off slowly and then became really popular. It will be much the sam case with the Xbox, which of course is much better hardware-wise and is capable of playing better games.
|
|
|
By
SKYHN
on
04-04-2002, 03:50 PM
|
Quote:
Originally posted by Xtren
You seem to forget that the PS2 started off slowly and then became really popular. It will be much the sam case with the Xbox, which of course is much better hardware-wise and is capable of playing better games.
|
Started off slowly? The things were sold out everywhere in 24 hours. People were fighting for them. I read one story in PSM where a guy grabbed another guy out of his car after he bought one, threw him on the ground, kicked him in the head and groin and then grabbed the PS2 and drove off.
My cousin worked at circuit city durring that time and he told me they would get at least 200 calls a day asking when PS2's were comming in. The first 500,000 were launched in September, anothe 500,000 didnt show up until February and those sold out almost as fast.
When has Xbox ever been sold out? Or even Gamecube? I went to stores in Stockton, Sacramento, Monterey and San Francisco, all had plenty of Gamecubes and Xbox's from the day of launch to any day after it.
This past Monday I was in Circuit City and there were at least 3 gamecubes and 7 Xbox's. There was 1 PS2.
Fact is that Xbox is not as big as MS thought it would be. You saw in the article that sales are 25% BELOW what they estimated. |
|
|
By
Xtren
on
04-04-2002, 03:52 PM
|
|
That is of course because they haven't come out with many good gamesfor the system yet. When they do sales will go up.
|
|
|
By
SKYHN
on
04-04-2002, 04:01 PM
|
Quote:
Originally posted by Xtren
That is of course because they haven't come out with many good gamesfor the system yet. When they do sales will go up.
|
So how long is that going to take? Another year or 2?
Nintendo has the strongest lineup between all 3 consoles for this year.
Look at the Releases I posted, just look at the next 2 months, forget about the others. Theres about 3 games on there that arent ports or sports games.
And games that arent on the lists yet, what is there? Halo "1.5"? DOA "1.5"? Is it going to turn into a bunch of add-on discs that add new costumes to the game?
And what about Xbox's online plans? Are people going to pay $50 to get DSL, another $20 for the Xbox gaming service that is required to play ANY Xbox game online(Unless of course you do the Gamespy backdoor thing) and any additional fee's from MMORPGS, if Xbox is even getting any? Not every console gamer owns a PC with broadband, and since Xbox can only use Broadband, it will create more problems. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
