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The days of seeing stories like 'PS4's outselling Xbox by almost 2-to-1' could be over as Microsoft looks to have called time on the console sales war.
Last week saw the Big M announce its quarterly results - yes, yes, fiscal announcements, yawn - but the interesting thing noted by Game Informer was the lack of Microsoft's usual hardware shipment metrics.
When quizzed on this a Microsoft source responded saying it was no longer using such figures as its measurement of success. Instead it would be focusing on user engagement, choosing Xbox Live figures as its leading stat. Essentially Microsoft has made a tacit announcement that, in terms of hardware sales at least, it has lost the sales war of this generation of machines.
Long-time industry analyst, Michael Pachter, told Fortune yesterday that he believes Sony's PS4 is set to have another excellent holiday period, outselling Microsoft's console, and would probably do so with or without the price cut which has given it price parity with the Xbox One.
"Microsoft should cut price only if it cares about how many consoles it sells," he went on to say.
And, given that it's both halted reporting on its own sales and refused calls for a price cut of its own, it sure looks like Microsoft has now stopped caring about such figures. Or at the very least wants everyone to stop talking about it...
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2015, @10:13PM
I wanted to upgrade my Xbox 360 to the One but decided not to because of all the anti-privacy bullshit surrounding it. Microsoft walked back some of the more nasty requirements before launch but the capabilities and potential for abuse still remain and I no longer trust them to honor my rights. I bought a lot of Xbox stuff over the years and I was prepared to continue doing so, but MS spoiled the fun. Console gaming is an expensive hobby and, frankly, I'm SICK of paying a premium to be abused and have ads shoved down my throat. They've turned the Xbox into a spy platform, leaving me no choice but to give it up. Now they're pulling the same shit with Windows 10. Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo are evil and will get none of my holiday spend...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2015, @11:53PM
What did Nintendo do?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 27 2015, @12:36AM
Sorry, I should not have included Nintendo. The point that I was trying to make (poorly) is that Microsoft's disregard for privacy may have contributed to lackluster sales. I'm sure there are other factors but perhaps sales would have been better if they hadn't made the platform so creepy. I didn't mean for it to turn into a personal rant...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Pino P on Tuesday October 27 2015, @06:18PM
Nintendo has a more restrictive policy for use of its games in videos than some other publishers have. It is also more likely to assert copyright against game modders than, say, Blizzard or Valve. Case in point: its recent takedowns of videos of tool-assisted speedruns and level hacks of Super Mario World on YouTube.
(Score: 2) by Daiv on Tuesday October 27 2015, @02:16PM
I wanted to upgrade my Xbox 360 to the One
I didn't think you could upgrade a console. I thought you had to replace it.