It’s getting to that stage of the month that I dread, just a few days away will be the official release of the September console sales figures in the US. At the release of this news, every game site, blog and 2 bit hack will get themselves into a spin to syndicate and analyse the figures, a million articles of why Sony needs to cut the price of the PS3 and how Microsoft/Nintendo can own Christmas will be posted within 4 hours. In response, thousands or even millions of 14 year old boys will stop doing what 14 year old boys do and put their overworked wrists to work, hammering away at their keyboard with an ever more incomprehensible series of mildly offensive and derogatory internet slang. My question is, and really always has been, why the hell should you, me or anyone outside of the console makers give a damn?
I just can’t get that in my head. I have a PS3 under my TV and I love it like it is my first born but I don’t understand why anyone would be in anyway bothered by a statistic that last month X hundred thousand more were sold. Sure, if my friends buy a PS3 I am pleased as we can play together, share games and tips (try PixelJunk Eden, it is awesome) but why should anything beyond that matter.
The number one default defence for this kind of thing is that people say if sales figures for console X or Y then there is a better chance of great games coming to that console. This is true to an extent but even then surely the only people who need to see the figures are at EA, Activision and Capcom; you can talk about it as much as you want but you are still just a consumer and the decisions are made way higher up the food chain, often making little or no sense at all (Dead Rising on Wii, 300 being exclusive to PSP etc; feel free to think of your own bizarre platform choices). Joe Bloggs from Minneapolis (love that name, must visit one day) thinking it is good the 360 has outsold the PS3 2:1 means bugger all in the grand scheme and to think it does is not only deluded, its plain stupid!
I assume that at this point you are expecting me to go on a rant about fanboys, using an ever increasing series of big words to make me sound smart (I don’t use a dictionary, or a spell check, I am just this good) and to an extent you may be right. No-one can deny that the level of fanboy banter has sky-rocketed this generation of consoles; though it can be argued that this is because in the past there has not been the venue for such rants to be heard. The simple point is that these figures serve no purpose to most gamers other than serving as a stick to beat others with, sadly something even the console makers have started gleefully indulging in to get their champions all riled up.
The point therefore is that sales figures, whether from ChartTrack, NDP or VGChartz have absolutely no relevance to gamers other than to encourage chest beating and generally idiotic behaviour. Play the games you want and enjoy them, do you really need to hear game/console X has sold x units to make you enjoy it more.
There may be a console war but it is between corporations. You are a gamer, not a foot soldier or a propaganda expert!
Microsoft announced its financial results for Q3 of fiscal year 2026, including an update on its gaming Xbox business and more.
Not looking good. Hopefully Asha Sharma is able to turn Phil’s disaster around.
To me it's still quite remarkable how they can cash-in 5.3bn in revenue in a single quarter, since their hardware is basically dead.
The stock mark is what makes Microsoft remarkable, They have convinced every institutional and retail investor to just keep piling money into them. Like many big tech giants they are just a big growing pyramid scheme. As long as people keep dropping money into ETF's that cover the market Microsoft will always be liquid. At the same time it is completely stifling innovation and competition. People need to start being more discreet in how they invest their money as it's killing the system.
Riiiiight because people will just flock back to them for one or two games per year.
15+ years of bad performance is what they call irreparable in business. It is time for them to sell off the assets and get out of entertainment.
These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse
The charity event will be streamed live from Gamescom in August.
Thanks to the slip-up of an artist working on the title, we now have more evidence that a new Injustice game is in the works.
Exacty what i said on a story not long ago. 'Why do people care which is selling the most? How many of you work for Sony or Microsoft? How many of you can't enjoy your games as much now because of these figures?
Enjoy your games.'
Like you, I simply cannot understand peoples obsession with sales figures. At first I thought it was simply penis insecurities rearing their ugly faces (ewwww), trying to justify their purchase, and basic competitive behaviour, but nowadays I think it goes a lot deeper than that. Hand in hand with the reason behind fanboyism, trying to belong to a group, feeling as part of "we" in contrast to "them". As in: "we" the smart consumers and "they" the stupid ones. Strong sales numbers increase the amount of "we" while proving that "we" are indeed right in our assumptions about being the smart consumers (why would the system we chose be selling so well otherwise!?!?).
Wow, that's a lot of ""...
I dont, and anyone who does that doesnt work for ms,sony,nintendo is dumb.
I agree wholeheartedly that sales figures seem to be something that is overly-emphasized by some gamers. I've spoken on this sort of thing many times before, but I suppose I'll share some of my thoughts once again.
First of all, while I feel sales figures shouldn't be at the forefront of a gamer's mind... I also believe it would be wrong to say that sales should not matter 'at all' to those within the gaming community. I believe that sales, if cared for, should be on a more personal level. This is to say, one shouldn't use a product's financial success to pad their own ego or to attempt to 'prove' something in an argument over superiority. Rather it is my belief that interest in such aspects of the gaming industry should be almost purely based upon the desire for continued supply and/or support of the products (whether it be consoles, franchises, etc.) we enjoy. It is at this level I feel we are justified because we're looking for a specific, continued experience. This in turn can benefit the gamer.
It's funny that we argue over small differences and neglect the strong similarities that we share. This seems to be particularly true with gamers on the Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 side of the 'console war'. For many it's not just about finding a simple pleasure in their system of choice. Though overall they may seek to merely have the best experience for themselves... they need to have this feeling that they've 'won' something. It's not enough for them to enjoy their preferred console. In their minds they must also feel that what they have is the 'definitive' or 'best' experience possible. While losing sight of the fact that what is 'better' falls squarely on the shoulders of one's own tastes and opinions.
It's such a subjective matter that's fought over... but they don't see it that way. One must be right and one must be wrong in their minds. There's the saying, "We hate what we do not understand." and perhaps that could be applied to your typical fanboy. Those who cannot grasp another's excitement may think, "What's up with that?" and be pushed to respond with opposition when they feel that this person is holding something in higher regard than what they have. This can often come down to the interpretation of an individuals mind. How we view certain comments.
For example, someone may say, "I love Gears of War! It's awesome!" Some will look at this just how it's written and the thought that appears in their mind is "That person really seems to like the game." Even if they might not feel the same, they are not threatened by it. Then there are others who will look at the same comment and in their heads twist it around to mean something totally different. These people may think something along the lines of, "That fool. He thinks that's so great... pfft, I bet he's never played Resistance. It's way better." I think that a fanboys perception is that when something is held up... something else must be getting put down. It's as in their mind is a vary narrow shelf, and they feel that only one game or console can fit on this shelf. Their can be nothing that sits on an even level because they simply don't see room. They believe that one product must be pushed off to make room for another.
Of course this is just my analysis of the behavior of fanboys and I feel I may have covered far more than I needed to. It is just, to me, silly when I see gamers looking beyond themselves to determine their own experience. Reviews, Metacritic, sales, and PR folks can not tell you what you will ultimately like. They may be able to persuade you in a certain direction and bring to your field of vision something that you may never have considered or taken notice of... but these things do not define your experience with a game or console. It is up to us to spend time with a title and/or system and form our own thoughts and opinions. If you play a title prior to viewing a single review for that said title... and you feel that it is 'bad' or 'medicore'... your experience and feelings should not change, even if it is critically branded as 'AAA'. If the general consensus is that it is a 'good' or even 'great' game that doesn't mean you were wrong. It simply means that you deviate from what might be called the 'majority'.
There are very few 'facts' when it comes to aspects of a title. If one half of the gaming community praises a titles control scheme and another half loathes it... neither side is incorrect in their opinion. Sometimes it's hard for people to accept that fact... hat there are very few facts. If we can realize that differences are not all bad and accept views other than our own then I believe there would be alot more respect to go around. After all, what PS3 and 360 gamers have in common is a passion for games. We're all bonded by that hobby and it's funny that think that two owners of HD consoles can find more to fight about than agree on. There's alot more common ground... but yet we're all caught up in the little things. Too many out there are concerned with what others are experiencing that they almost seem to forget that our personal experiences are what matter most. What goes on in our lives. The things that touch us... the things that pull on our emotions.
Well, I don't have any answers... but those are some of my thoughts. Sorry for the long rant. lol
Let's expand the example and ask why do people care about Blu-ray sales figures?
Because it's an indicator how well the technology is accepted. Aha! So back to consoles - it's psychology: People want to be reminded that they made the "right" choice. Sales figures is their monthly fix.
Personally I own all consoles so I have the luxury to not care on what platform the game is published. If it's good, I buy it. Not everybody wants to or can't buy all major consoles and so the first thing you ask, what's the best selling product - because it's just like in music charts, best selling music must be the "best" music (personally not my opinion but this seems to work for most people).
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A very real reason why I'm interested in sales figures is that I want all three competitors to succeed but I don't want that Sony stays as dominant (arrogant). It's good to see that in the last time even "David in Japan" (Xbox 360) enjoyed little victories in weekly sales over the mighty "Goliath" (PS3).