The video game industry has been fading for three years, but you wouldn't know it by the way that Microsoft (NAS: MSFT) is gushing.
Here's last night's tweet from the Twitter account of Microsoft's corporate communications department:
#Xbox360 is No. 1 U.S. console for 18th straight month & top three selling titles are Xbox games
Microsoft claims to have sold 257,000 Xbox 360 units last month, and that's good enough for a thick 47% of the market that it shares with Sony's (NYS: SNE) PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's (OTC: NTDOY.PK) Wii.
A brutal reset, a smarter story, and a return to what made it great—Mortal Kombat (2011) revived the series.
Underrated comment. I used to hate that game so much that any time my siblings asked me to play it, I just picked Hom and shut myself down mid-match.
15 years went by so fast. I remember playing through the story mode at launch.
The name "Hewson" carries a special weight for anyone who grew up during the golden age of British computing. As the son of Andrew Hewson—the man behind legendary publisher Hewson Consultants—Rob Hewson didn't just grow up playing video games; he learned to spell his name from their title screens. However, Rob didn't just rest on his family's 8-bit laurels. From leading major LEGO franchises at TT Games to tackling the high-stakes world of technical porting at Huey Games, Rob has carved out a unique path in an ever-evolving industry. In this candid interview Rob to discussed the burden and beauty of a family legacy, the technical "scar tissue" left by the ambitious Hydrophobia, and why porting a masterpiece like Inscryption to consoles is far more than a simple copy-paste job.
To celebrate Tomb Raider: Legend's 20th anniversary, the official channels have shared an early in-development gameplay demo.
What? An article getting all gloomy about the home console market and speaking highly of iOS devices and mobile games?
I've never seen this before! /s
Seriously, mobile games are great if you're sitting in the subway or bus. But it's not going to replace my console or PC for real games at home. I don't care how many times you mention these stupid controller attachments or streaming to my TV. These 1 dollar to 10 dollar games on the Android store and iTunes very rarely have the depth of a XBLA or PSN game.
Stop with this junk, it's obvious why the 360 is dipping. It's getting OLD. 95% of the people who want a 360 right now, have one or there is a easy cheap pre owned option.
Sales numbers for hardware are stupid - it's a stupid argument to hang your hat on. 360 was plagued by the RRoD, and to a much (much) smaller degree, PS3 with the YLoD. Slim models always spike numbers, and then you enter this whole grey area where you have re-purchases, and double console households, etc.
The real numbers are in software, and NPD doesn't count every retailer, so again, discussing sales numbers is a moot point. Also, there's the whole NPD vs international number aspect that people on each side of the 'fanboy war' like to bring up. Who really cares?
The only thing I feel that the article brings up that's worth talking about is the tidal wave of mobile devices and the impact it supposedly has on console gaming. I'll argue all day long that mobile gaming and console gaming don't belong in the same conversation (as of right now) and should be treated as separate entities. You have only a midgets handful of mobile games that compare to console games. They serve two very different purposes. Mobile games are a 'quick fix,' while console games are more of an in-depth 'spend more than 10 minutes on the toilet' experience.
Lastly - that's a kick-ass console skin - does anyone have a source for either PS3 or 360 skins like that?
I think the whole mobile gaming / free to play move is going to get a big market correction its self.
When I can plug a mobile device into my 55" LG tv and play with a proper controller AND get the same or better experience, then mobile might usurp traditional consoles. Until then its as Deffer said. Mobile gaming is for a few minutes of amusement until you get a frigging headache from straining to make out details on a tiny screen. Its cheap and quick, but ultimately unfulfilling, its the fast food of the gaming world.
Let's see how Microsoft's tablets do. See If they tweet those #'s. Sony might gain market share with a price cut in the US, but seems to be outselling Xbox in other countries. Guess America is all that matters to them