360 Tops Console Sales in April: So?
It’s funny sometimes how if you really sit and think about something, the initial bang of the announcement can fizzle out into a “yeah and?”.
A gaming stat that went around the wires last week was the fact that for the first time, the Xbox 360 outsold the PS2 in April. It could now claim the top selling console spot for Microsoft, wrenching it out of the clutches of Sony’s perennial champion. The 360 sold 295,000 units to the PS2’s 205,000, which sounds mighty impressive, but is neither applause worthy, nor surprising when you really get down to it.
First off, trumpeting the victory of a next-gen machine over a current-gen machine strikes me as amusing only in that Microsoft can now say “nana nana boo boo” at Sony. It is, however, a bit of a mismatch in comparisons. The PS2, although it was top dog until April, has also been on the market for about 6 years now. It has current-gen games, graphics, hardware; the whole kaboodle. It has not undergone advertising and marketing campaigns on the same scale as the 360 (why would it? Day-to-day marketing would rarely add up to launch marketing). It’s a solid machine, make no mistake, but it’s also old news. The 360 on the other hand, was last year’s shining glory in the gaming world. It’s the glitziest, the coolest, the most powerful; the first next-gen console to be released on the market to the slavering hounds. You would expect it to take off like a rocket for the top of the charts once the initial hubbub died down and the early adopters were satisfied. The fact that it has taken six months to finally eclispe a six year old competitor is not impressive. It’s not embarrassingly long mind you, but it’s not exactly landing in the console market with a bang.
Contributing factors to this delay of course, were the pre-order fiasco, the difficulty in actually getting your hands on one of the consoles, and frankly, in my case, the utter lack of compelling, diverse games at launch. Some of those have now been rectified, oddly enough, in April (coincidence?). My launch favourite/continual delay victim Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is now out loud and proud, and the mass of 360’s promised to supply starved consumers has begun to trickle in. Couple that with the fact that the PS2 has already sold over 100 million units, and most Sonyphiles are beginning to turn their attention towards saving up for a PS3…is anyone truly surprised to see the 360 sitting pretty? Shouldn’t it be considering it’s capabilities?
Joystiq’s big question was whether or not Microsoft could carry its momentum into the summer. I really don’t think that’s a question at all. With neither the Wii or the PS3 threatening to hedge in on 360 sales for another few months yet, if Microsoft can’t hang on to the top slot, then I don’t feel the least bit of trepidation in saying a) there’s something wrong over at MS, and b) the 360, despite its flash and glamour, ain’t gonna make it.
1 opinion for 360 Tops Console Sales in April: So?
Jeremy Wright
May 22, 2006 at 3:17 am
While normally I’d agree, in this case it is quite astonishing. The 360 was the fastest console ever to 5M sales, and is now also the fastest to ever get to top console in a month.
No, 300K units isn’t absolutely mind boggling (1M would be), and largely this is due to continued lagging between supply and demand, but the fact that it has kept demand past the first 5M is a good sign for the console.
Yeah, I love my 360, but you’re right: summer sales will be key. As will Christmas sales. If the 360 can hit 7-10M consoles sold by November, it’ll command a massive lead. I fully expect this gen to be a 30/30/30 ish split, as the 360’s lead gives it a nice hold, the PS3’s price tag pulls it down, and the Wii’s price tag carries it to new heights.
However we’ll see. It’s an interesting market for sure.
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