Xbox 360 Beats PS3's Black Friday

Well, according to Microsoft...

Posted by Staff
Xbox 360 Beats PS3's Black Friday
Microsoft has piped up about its sales results for Black Friday, the start of the holiday shopping season in the USA. The Xbox 360 has, Microsoft tells us, done really well. The company says it is on track to clock the best ever Black Friday* for the console and top the PS3 by a margin of three-to-one.

Note that's 'on track'. At the time of the release the figures weren't there yet. The exact wording goes - "Retailers reported Xbox 360 console sales over the Black Friday weekend were on pace to beat previous years, outselling the PlayStation 3 by a three-to-one ratio and estimating a 25 percent increase from Xbox 360 Black Friday sales figures from 2007." Yes, as well as not being firm figures, they're from "retailers", rather than NPD, which impartially collates national US games sales data.

SPOnG's not saying these figures won't prove to be accurate, just that they've not been audited yet.

What was a bit less equivocal was the assertion that, "Xbox 360 sales have also surged worldwide since the September price drop, outselling the PlayStation 3 week over week across Europe. Console sales in Europe are up as much as 400 percent, with sales nearly double year over year and reaching seven million consoles sold this generation."

Mysteriously, no mention was made of the Wii's performance in comparison to the 360's. You can probably translate that as Microsoft-speak for 'we think the Wii did better than the 360, so we're not going to talk about it.'

* We are unsure why it's called 'Black Friday' when all our American friends appear to do on it is buy white goods - oh, and stampede over innocent Walmart staff.
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Comments

SuperSaiyan4 2 Dec 2008 16:20
1/13
Spong I like how whenever there is fantastic news about how the Xbox 360 is doing you like to twist it against them by not being in their favour or being remotely neutral either.

In any case we all know how the Wii is doing but Microsoft does not see the Wii as a direct competitor but sees the PS3 as its competitor in this situation the Xbox 360 is doing extremely well, soo well in fact it still has far more consoles sold than Sony even if the machine has been out 1yr ahead of Sony's PS3 which shouldn't matter really since the brand Sony built with the PS2 should surely have all the Sony PS2 owners running at getting a PS3...But instead the PS owners I have come across converted to the Xbox 360 even after the PS3 was launched.
TimSpong 2 Dec 2008 17:37
2/13
SuperSaiyan4 wrote:
Spong I like how whenever there is fantastic news about how the Xbox 360 is doing you like to twist it against them by not being in their favour or being remotely neutral either.


SS4 - Microsoft might not see Wii as a competitor... but Mr and Mrs and Granny Jones and their wallets certainly do.

When we run Sony stories we try and give context; when we run Wii stories the same. It's not down to us to agree with what Microsoft 'sees' as competing with it if we don't agree.

I've also been trying to find out, for example, of the PS2 install base what the conversion to PS3, 360 and Wii is...

Cheers

Tim
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some one 2 Dec 2008 18:05
3/13
So when Granny Jones buys a car the Honda Civic and the Ferrari are the same. Buyer beware. If Spong did car reviews you all would try to compare the Honda Civic to the Ferrari? I'm not trying to say the Wii is a Honda Civic, but come on there is a difference. And when the Ferrari puts out a report on how many cars they sold they need to include the Honda Civic sales figures.
TimSpong 2 Dec 2008 18:11
4/13
some one wrote:
So when Granny Jones buys a car the Honda Civic and the Ferrari are the same. Buyer beware. If Spong did car reviews you all would try to compare the Honda Civic to the Ferrari? I'm not trying to say the Wii is a Honda Civic, but come on there is a difference. And when the Ferrari puts out a report on how many cars they sold they need to include the Honda Civic sales figures.


If a Honda Civic and a Ferrari were price competitive with each other in the same way as a Wii and an Xbox 360 Arcade then, sure.

Microsoft has been pushing its price cutting and "cheaper than a Wii" line while also saying "We are not competing with Nintendo"... go figure.

When Ferrari brings out a Civic-priced car and then puts out a report saying how well that is doing against a Maserati, then we would ask the same question.

Cheers
Tim
some one 2 Dec 2008 18:56
5/13
Can you give me a link to that slogan that the xbox is cheaper than a Wii put out by Microsoft? Not some industry article or blog making the statement or is it just that, the industry saying it and not MS? You stated that it is Microsoft I just wanted to see where that is.
I'm trying to follow Spong logic here.
All comparisons between products are done by like pricing. Not what is under the hood? Could we take price out of the equation? To clarify Spong thinks the Wii and the Xbox are in the same ballpark because of price? But the PS3 is not because of the higher price.
You can get a Ferrari at a Honda Civic price. That is exactly what MS did. Does that mean the Honda and the Ferrari are now comparable (price only anything else no)? Or does that mean you can now get something that is way better (matter of speaking) and not even technically comparable to what you normally get (Honda) because it is too pricey. Even if Honda sells five times the amount why would people not state the fact that you can get a Ferrari for the same price as a Honda?
Some One 2 Dec 2008 21:42
6/13
Hello no answer. I will answer it for you then, the Honda (Wii) is more appealing to the family as a family car. I can’t see Grandma driving her grand kids around in a Ferrari. So ya Grandma will buy the Wii for entertainment sake and for the grandchildren. Not because of the price if so then they would buy the 360. The XBox and the PS3 (Ferrari) are more for the gamers. And not being bought because of price but because of what they can do, that is why the PS3 sells. The point is you can't take like priced item (360 & Wii) and do a comparison (that would only work if we all bought things base on price not functionality even then the 360 would win). But you can take like items and compare pricing (PS3 & 360) to determine which one you would want. This is the reason why Microsoft never stated anything because like everyone else (except Spong) thinks the Xbox competitor is the PS3. Just as much as Ferrari see Lamborghini as it competitor not Honda. When Ferrari gives numbers it might be compared to the Lamborghini not the Honda civic. But now I question is the Wii too expensive and should it not be cheaper? Now the Nintendo is in a position of looking like Honda selling the Civic for the price of a Ferrari.
Some One 2 Dec 2008 22:07
7/13
Is there more grandma then gamers?
Gill Bates 3 Dec 2008 06:46
8/13
There is no such thing as brand loyalty when your seling to mallrats. Plus a reasonable percentage of this gen's consumers were not even consumers in the last generation.

A lot of people will buy whichever's cheapest. And MS have that down.

Some people, hoever, won;t buy Microsoft because they are simply an evil company that manipulates its monopoly to subvert and crush competing technologies.
Plasmoid 3 Dec 2008 09:42
9/13

Analogies like cars don't really work. The bottom line is a 45 year old dad turns to me and tells me he is getting his Kid an Xbox 360 or a Wii for Christmas. Thats competition. Of course he will get the 360, because you can't find Wii this time of year.

Bottom line is Microsoft says it sold 3x as much 360's as the PS3's, says nothing about its other competitor and gives no figures to back it up. Time will tell. 3x is quite a margin all of a sudden. I think that allows a bit of criticism.

Since when was the wii a 4 door family car and the 360 a 2 door sports car... i thought they both supported 4 pads and both had ugly avatar fiends.
TimSpong 3 Dec 2008 11:32
10/13
some one wrote:
Can you give me a link to that slogan that the xbox is cheaper than a Wii put out by Microsoft? Not some industry article or blog making the statement or is it just that, the industry saying it and not MS? You stated that it is Microsoft I just wanted to see where that is.


I can actually point you to 2007 when Bill Gates went 'off message' and declared that "Nintendo is Our Toughest Competition" - and I don't think he was talking about the server space or Office productivity suites.

Let me pre-empt, "but that's 2007 and Bill Gates doesn't even work for Microsoft any more and he didn't have anything to do with gaming and... and... " by saying that if Bill Gates voiced the sentiment then - internally - it was the thinking and remains so.

Not good enough? How about Microsoft UK's Stephen McGill and Microsoft US Jeff Bell both stating in 2008, "this Christmas, it’s the perfect time to launch a family orientated Xbox 360 package that plays games, video and music for everyone to enjoy.

"In addition to offering an incredible all-in-one package for families to get right into the fun, the Xbox 360 Arcade system features the industry leading family settings that allow parents to control what their kids are watching and playing, and we know how important that control is to families around the world.”

Does that seriously sound like the company is not competing with Wii? Does it sound like a hardcore, tech-spec, 'under the hood' onslaught onto the 'family friendly PS3'? Why on earth do you think that 'industry articles' or blogs do say that Microsoft is competing with BOTH PlayStation and Wii when statements such as the above are put into the public record.

some one wrote:
I'm trying to follow Spong logic here.


SPOnG logic? It's real world logic. There is a store. In that store there is limited shelf space. On the shelves with "Video Gaming" written about them sit: Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation. They are competing.

They are competing for new users and to transfer users from PS2 or from each other.

some one wrote:
All comparisons between products are done by like pricing. Not what is under the hood? Could we take price out of the equation? To clarify Spong thinks the Wii and the Xbox are in the same ballpark because of price? But the PS3 is not because of the higher price.


You are not clarifying anything here. SPOnG thinks that there is a market with three major platform holders. SPOnG thinks the Wii and the Xbox 360 in some of its guises are in the same ballpark in terms of price. The Black Friday (why is it called that?) release from Microsoft was not about what is under the hood. It was about who sold most video game consoles. SPOnG was commenting on the information provided by Microsoft about sales not tech specs. We are not going to take price out of an analysis of that.

some one wrote:
You can get a Ferrari at a Honda Civic price.

Oh dear, oh dear... why would Ferrari price a vehicle with its name at the same as a Honda unless it was competing for the wallets of people who would usually only be able to afford a Honda?

This is our job - to ask questions like that; especially if other people won't (but thankfully some other people do).

some one wrote:
Even if Honda sells five times the amount why would people not state the fact that you can get a Ferrari for the same price as a Honda?


Everybody is stating that you can get an Xbox 360 for the price of a Nintendo Wii. I say "everybody" but this would appear to be everybody except you.

The issue is that, while Microsoft talks about sales figures versus PlayStation, it fails to mention Wii. We simply ask "Why is this?"

If the response is supposed to be, "Microsoft does not see Wii as competition" , we say "Nonsense - look at the price. Look at the point of sale. Look at the family targeting."

No more analogies - it's fact. All three platform holders are competing in the big real world. The 360 Arcade is an excellent, excellent tool to get people to look twice. Once this is achieved, a half-decent sales person can then upsell the consumer to more expensive 360 product.

Cheers

Tim




PreciousRoi 3 Dec 2008 12:30
11/13
Retail workers started calling the Friday after Thanksgiving Black Friday.

People DIE, man...look it up...they get trampled and shot and stabbed...mostly trampled...
TimSpong 3 Dec 2008 12:34
12/13
PreciousRoi wrote:
Retail workers started calling the Friday after Thanksgiving Black Friday.


Well I know that. But why did they? It's all about white goods. I don't get it.

PreciousRoi wrote:
People DIE, man...look it up...they get trampled and shot and stabbed...mostly trampled...


Aye, I saw news of that. The trampling was not good. Not that the shooting and stabbings are good....

I'll get my coat...

Tim
SuperSaiyan4 3 Dec 2008 16:55
13/13
Anyways the 360 is doing extremely well, how the tables turn...Sony had their victory with the PS2 last gen and the console was launched way before the Xbox 1 came out yet this gen PS3 owners use the excuse the 360 came out a year before hence why its got more games LOL!
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