CONSOLERAMA

[sep4ir0tth]

It always confuses me when they talk about sales , surely they cant ring every shop in the world to get a total so i gather it is Units shipped which in itself would be an easy way to get ahead

[dessy]

My local paper reported that the Boxing Day sales had big movements of consoles locally... lead by the PS3, then the Wii with the 360 third... No numbers were quoted it was just from interviews with 'representatives' from KMart and Target - so it could well be incorrect.

[smelck]

Yip.....ditto many of the above comments..the PS3 is definately gaining momentum, but tbh imo the differences in performance are only being seen in exclusives ....and even then the leaps are not huge, for me UC2 was a big step up this year ..

That aside , multi-plat I still think the 360 is holding an edge with devs, I bought AC2 today on the 360 purely because the game is a little more solid on the 360 ( was close to buying the PS3 version for trophies but relented ) and I know bayonetta is noticeably better on the 360 from the reading I have done....

[IPityDaFoolYo]

far out 360s are getting cheap - $199 for an arcade from like kmart atm! any serious video game fan who doesnt have one really has no excuse now. for the price of 2 games you can open up a huge back catalogue of awesome exclusives, better multiplatform games, and all the upcoming exclusives.

[smelck]

Yip...and the elite is now under 400 NZ dollars which imo is a great deal

[Deevo]

Perhaps in preparation for the release of a new console in 2010?

[Gunslinger_75]

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dessy wrote:

I very much doubt a new XBOX will be released in the short term. My gut feel is that late 2011 will be the earliest and rather than be an 'XBOX 3' it will be more of a completely new platform to focus on digital downloads. M$ have put a huge effort into their gaming division and yet it has only just made its first full-year profit (I'm sorry I am unable to quote a source at this time). Conventional business wisdom would dictate that it is time to consolidate those profits, reduce manufacturing and support costs and develop the next 'console'.

Personally I am against 100% digital downloads. This is partly because I am a bit of a traditionalist who likes having something physical in their hands for their money. Mostly its because I know many people who don't take their console online at all (15 odd months ago I met a bloke who still had FW 1.7 running on his PS3). There are many people who have no interest in it and many that just have their console nowhere near an internet access point.

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I suspect any platform holder that may have been considering going all-digital for their next console would be having second thoughts after seeing the sales figures for the PSPGo.  The simple fact is that there's no advantage to the consumer with digital downloads, since they seem determined to charge the same price for them that they charge for the physical product.  They might argue that that's to avoid undercutting the physical market, but that doesn't hold water when there are music and video downloads available cheaper than the same product on CD/DVD/BluRay.

I'm sure we'll see all games available in digital AND physical forms (although we'll still see the smaller digital-only stuff similar to what we already see on XBLA and PSN), but I seriously doubt any console manufacturer will be willing to risk a digital-only console.  Even Sony were having a bet each way by dipping their toe in the digital distribution water by releasing the reviled PSPGo alongside the popular PSP.  If they'd been serious about it they would have made a genuine "PSP2", but then they'd be risking an entire new platform, and that's too expensive a risk to take.  And I suspect the risk would be even bigger if they did it with a home console instead of a handheld.

Once we go digital-only, we wave goodbye to anything resembling competition in the marketplace.  The only place you'll be able to get a game is from PSN or XBL, and if you don't like the price they're charging (which will likely be something equivalent to EB without the price matching), then bad luck - you won't even have the option of shopping around for a better price.

[Gunslinger_75]

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IPityDaFoolYo wrote:
far out 360s are getting cheap - $199 for an arcade from like kmart atm! any serious video game fan who doesnt have one really has no excuse now. for the price of 2 games you can open up a huge back catalogue of awesome exclusives, better multiplatform games, and all the upcoming exclusives.

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Yeah I saw that - even a few bucks lower than $199 in some places.  I nearly grabbed one myself but my wife was with me and is of the opinion that the PS2, PS3, Wii and DS are enough   But ultimately, the only games I'd really play on it are Gears 1 & 2.  They're about the only games that I want that I can't get on PS3 (well that and Left 4 Dead 1&2, but I'm not paying for online play, which rules those out - I'll stick to the PC versions).  Fact is I don't even have enough time to get through all the games I want to on PS3.  Buying a 360 would just open up a range of other games that I don't have time to play   The Wii just gathers dust except for wife using it for the Fitness Trainer thing.

What's the difference between the Arcade and the Elite?  Is it just the lack of HDD?  I don't suppose they've cut the price of the HDD, wireless network adapter and XBL subscription as well, have they?

[DualShock73]

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Gunslinger_75 wrote:

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IPityDaFoolYo wrote:
far out 360s are getting cheap - $199 for an arcade from like kmart atm! any serious video game fan who doesnt have one really has no excuse now. for the price of 2 games you can open up a huge back catalogue of awesome exclusives, better multiplatform games, and all the upcoming exclusives.

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Yeah I saw that - even a few bucks lower than $199 in some places.  I nearly grabbed one myself but my wife was with me and is of the opinion that the PS2, PS3, Wii and DS are enough   But ultimately, the only games I'd really play on it are Gears 1 & 2.  They're about the only games that I want that I can't get on PS3 (well that and Left 4 Dead 1&2, but I'm not paying for online play, which rules those out - I'll stick to the PC versions).  Fact is I don't even have enough time to get through all the games I want to on PS3.  Buying a 360 would just open up a range of other games that I don't have time to play   The Wii just gathers dust except for wife using it for the Fitness Trainer thing.

What's the difference between the Arcade and the Elite?  Is it just the lack of HDD?  I don't suppose they've cut the price of the HDD, wireless network adapter and XBL subscription as well, have they?

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hey,

well i just bought an Elite yesterday...It got 120 gb HDD thats like the only diff, and its black, comes with a wired mic and 1 month free gold LIVE. I havning problems connecting it to LIVE-its just not working for me, maybe its my router...

[PllayStation]

What I don't understand is...

XBOX 360 had a 1 year sales lead to SONY PS3...Yet! SONY PS3 is gaining good ground, and looks to be leap-frogging XBOX 360 in sales next year?

Ditch the 360 now, Microsoft, because it's time for a new console...

EDIT: As they say...In with the new...
Out with the old...