I don't know about anyone else, but this format war stuff is getting a little old. It seems like every 15 minutes we get more propaganda from one camp or the other. These days I don't believe what's being put out for numbers sold, attach rates, blah, blah, blah. The only thing that this is doing to the industry is causing confusion and irritation. Let's look at the situation as it applies to our favorite toys.
Microsoft launches the Xbox 360 with two SKUs, and a pretty good price point. The HD-DVD would be released in late 2006. Good news for the HD-DVD camp? Kinda. The problem with the 360 is that the console seemed rushed to market and did not include an HD drive. In my mind, next gen means an increase in all the systems capabilities, and this just doesn't hold true with the 360. The exclusion of an HD-DVD drive did, however, lower the price point and help to achieve the early build-up and install rate for the system.
Next comes the Playstation 3 (the Wii does not have one of the two competing formats so I'm not including it in this blog). Sony did some things right and some horribly wrong. At almost double the price of the 360 when it launched and amazingly stupid statements from Sony (you know the one, about people wanting to work more hours to buy one), plus the other acts of blind arrogance by the previously mentioned Sony, just about killed all momentum for the system. If it wasn't for the inclusion of the built in HD drive, we might not have seen the capabilities of Blu-ray. With all PS3 games on Blu-ray disks, the results of the product can be seen out of the box (with the minimal cost of cables).
The results are still out on whether either system truly has an impact on this current situation. Both Microsoft and Sony have pushed hard with deals for free movies with the purchase of their systems and good price cuts to boot. With the current situation though, if the analysts are correct, we may not see a resolution at all.
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.
