Microsoft - 3000 Developer Kits Out

[shermanparker]

When referring to the next system's hardware, Allard stressed that the system is not a "science fair project" in the sense that it is not only meant to be technically impressive. In a thinly veiled snipe at Sony he noted that developing impressive technology and giving it a fancy name does not create good software. Microsoft was instead focusing on development tools that would cut down time and ease lines of communication between increasingly growing game development teams. This went hand-in-hand with Microsoft's continuous theme that it has spent three years working on the next generation system with the developers in mind. This includes a new development tool called XNA Studio. Allard stated that they have already shipped 3000 Xenon development kits.

http://xbox.ign.com/articles/594/594698p1.html

I know this is a PS3 site but fill that Xbox Next maybe big. I just want to know your thoughts on this. I mean 3000 developer kits is a lot i didn't know there was that many developers were out. I really just want to know what you think about this one paragraph and what you think Sony is thinking about right now.

[DezNutz]

There is a X-Box2 section that would be a more correct place to put this string.

Instead of thinking there are 3000 developers out there, think of it in another way where EA may get 5 dev kits, ect.. not every developer only gets one develop kit. And oh yeah if 1000 no name computer crossover devloper making games no home console gamer wants to play is big, then X-Box would be better of then they are now.

MicroHype is just that, hype. Microsoft knows they have the weaker technical next generation console, they also know they have fewer AAA exclusive game titles, and 1/4 console market share then Sony. They (like every company including Sony) are focusing on what they believe are their strengths, and in this case they are focusing on their development software, and console online software. Sony is only worried about them becuase they are competition just like nintendo, but you have to keep in mind X-Box has much easier development software with the X-Box then the PS2 and they are getting beating like a drum in this generation still (20 million units to 80 million units).

Now sony has developed a better technical system then X-Box2, made their development software ALOT easier and more close to on par with Microsoft, and oh yeah they still own more and better AAA exclusive game titles, not to mention a by far larger existing consumer base.

[Epsilon-Zero]

more and better AAA games is a matter of opinion.

xbox still has the highest game to console attach rate, so maybe that says something about the quality fo the games?

[DezNutz]

more and better AAA games is a matter of opinion.

xbox still has the highest game to console attach rate, so maybe that says something about the quality fo the games?

better is an opinion, more is not. I guess depending on how you define AAA games. I use an industry defnition that goes to sales of each game in which PS2 has by far more top selling elite games then X-Box by far.

If X-Box has a higher console to game attach rate (and i say if becuase I have yet to see a source for all three consoles) it does have more to do then just game quality. Atari Jaguar may have the best all-time game to console sold rate, but it was not the best system of it's generation (sales) or by any means the largest in numbers. It had more to do with the few people that actually bought the system where "more wealthy" gamers who could afford to buy more games and more systems, where as the more poplular systems appeal to far greater market of gamers who sometimes only buy one genre or a very few titles.

The fact is the larger you get the smaller your attach rate will be becuase you appeal to a larger market.

[siren]

That logic would make sense unless you have tracked the console market before.

For consoles attach rate normally has more to do with 2 main points

1) Time on market

The longer a console has been out the higher it's attach rate will be. This is due to gamers that bought the system early still buying games and driving up the attach rate

2) Console sales dropping off

As your system stops selling the attachrate will shoot up. You still have gamers buying games but you no longer have systems selling.


So, in other words, attach rate is a 2 headed beast.

With a system like the GC that has had steadily decreasing system sales for over a year, the fact that their attach rate has been taking off is not a positive sign. It just shows that their system is dying off.

For the Xbox which continues to sell stronger each month over month, an increasing attach rate is a good sign. Not only is it's system continuing to sell, but the games are helping to move it.

Then you have the PS2 whose attachrate is also climbing. it is kind of in the middle though. It is approaching the saturation point so it's sales are leveling out. Yet its game sales are still quite high. This is in a lot of ways the best boat to be in. You already sold your systems and now your just making profit off the games.

One of the more important #'s to compare when talking about attach rate is time post release

In other words, what was the system's attach rate at X months after launch compared with their competitors at the same time post launch. This # is only valid assuming that the systems being compared both had comparible growth rates of consoles sold over the time period called out (even if the quantity was not equal)

The PS2 and Xbox actually have almost identical growth rates over the first 36 months on market.

Taking this into account, at 36 months on market this was the attachrate in the US (sorry, I don't have complete data for EU and Japan on hand, just NPD #'s)

PS2 - 7.4
Xbox - 8.6

That means that on average after 36 months, Xbox gamers had purchased 1.2 games more than PS2 owners did.

While this is not a definative statement of quality of games vs. quantity, it is generally accepted that people won't buy games they don't want. So even if they might not have enough games of quality in certain people's eyes. Most of their consumers have seen more than enough quality to keep buying games.

[Epsilon-Zero]

actually i think those who do have an xbox in japan have more games than you would think. i remember seeing something about this. ill see if i can find a link

[bustabusta196]

probably the reason why xbox is doing bad in japan.. is because 80 Million of them have PS2's. lol joking.. but yeah 2 billion people and they arent gonna side with a US product im sure.

[MiThRaZoR]

2 billion? China has around 1 billion. Even if there were 2 billion people and japan you'd see some people fallin' off that island.

Anyway, it's not doing good in japan because it started off bad. With the disc scratching and all.

[SessDMC]

Not to mentions the size for the Xbox wasnt really appealing.

[DezNutz]

Not to mention X-Box had problems scratching disk at release in Japan. Not to mention.. well I could go on and on.

Games per Console is a very specific and minute stat that dose not really show the status of games or the system. You can spin it almost anyway you want to.

Look at the PSP and Game Boy, I bet the PSP has a higher game per unit attach rate then the GameBoy, but does anyone in their right mind think the PSP has more AAA titles then GameBoy? Hell no, or is PSP even in same league as far as sales as gameboy? Again hell no, it is just newer and the few select gamers who have been lucky enough to get one, also got a alot of games. Now half the gameboys probably are not even used anymore, and I am sure their game sales have dropped greatly over the last year or so.

[CashMoney]

I think it's just that Xbox gamers buy more games because they have to hop around and hope they can find one that's actually good and want to keep playing longer than 20mins............

[siren]

Wow, that is such a poor excuse.

Do you honestly believe that gamers would be willing to waste that much money on games for a system if they are getting that poor of quality?

You can figure the average price a game sells at is about $35. Are you really trying to say that the average gamer would shell out over $250 before they gave up and just bought games on the competitors system? Yet on the PS2 everything is quality so they don't have to do this?

[Epsilon-Zero]

Just looking at my library of 26 xbox games, 13 of them i consider AAA games and thats excluding the ones that are multiplatform. Thats just in my library. I can think of alot of games that i want that are AAA and arent in my library currently.

[DezNutz]

Just looking at my library of 26 xbox games, 13 of them i consider AAA games and thats excluding the ones that are multiplatform. Thats just in my library. I can think of alot of games that i want that are AAA and arent in my library currently.

Yeah well obviously that is your opion, and has no bases in any other fact. I am sure X-Box has many fun games, and it sounds like a great system for you, so that makes it great, but if you honestley think X-Box has more AAA exclusive title games then PS2, then what is your reasoning for PS3 far outselling X-Box?

You can run around this for awhile but we all know it is the games and to be more specific the AAA exclusive games. Not just one persons opions, but a large percentage of the entire world market, based soley on sales figures of systems and individual games.

Siren you got to know that is a weak "excuse" try not to respond and focus and weak respones, they are not worth your time, I would like to hear your response to my arguments! I love ya man!

[siren]

Of course the PS2 has more AAA games in general on it. This in part due to its large market share. It's a chicken and egg game. The PS2 had larger market share to start with, it was guarenteed to have a large market share the entire generation, thus it got the games from day 1. The Xbox didn't. Thus it didn't. In reality, the Xbox got almost no AAA games until about 14 months in. Now it is getting them monthly.

[heerokenshin]

A few days back, the Official Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom website has sprung up. It is a nicely presented flash site with Features, Storyline Info, Character Bios, Downloads, Media pages, Forums, and a Developer Diaries page. There is enough information here to keep you busy until the game comes out!

But don't take my word for it, check it out here.

http://darkkingdom.station.sony.com/

We are LIVE! Oh snap!

Nice write up.

[luxurys]

This is really really old!

[heerokenshin]

a lot of our news is old we re still catching up right now

[luxurys]

This was posted back in September....on the 19th.
http://www.ps3land.com/phpBB2/viewtopic ... ld+legends


This is hella old

[heerokenshin]

i deleted this article... my bad, didnt realize it was that old and had already been covered