Speaking at the recent Nordic Game Conference 2008, respected games analyst Nick Parker has dropped a rumour bomb regarding the Xbox 360's lifespan in Europe.
Parker is
quoted as telling the conference in Malmo that "The trouble with Xbox 360 is it hasn't managed to shake off this urban, irreverent adult male feel; so it hasn't gained traction in the more casual gaming markets of mainland Europe such as France, Spain and Italy, where it's stalled."
He is then quoted as stating:
"And there are already rumours of Xbox 360 being delisted from certain retailers."
That sounds quite a huge claim to us, so we called Nick today and spoke to him in his role as MD of Parker Consulting. He explained the full context of the quote.
"There were rumours a couple of months ago from people who know that region - Spain and Portugal - that some retailers were looking at de-listing.
"If you had to create space for those things that were going to make profit, Xbox 360 could be a candidate. It's what you'd expect in any markets where products are slow moving.
"Independent sales data is indicating that sales in certain regions are proving to be a challenge."
It was not just Parker who sounded a note of caution though. The Xbox 360 took quite a hammering in terms of its European profile at the panel. David Cole an analyst from DFC Intelligence also weighed in with "If you're doing a first-person shooter title, you're clearly going to want to be on Xbox 360, and that's for years to come," he offered. "[But] their efforts at marketing outside of the first-person shooter crowd have been disastrous."
For now, we think we'll let sales figures do the talking... as soon as any of the platform holders get around to releasing the most up-to-date and audited ones that is.
Source: Gamesindustry.biz