Really? I thought after the whole faulty ass Microsoft Xbox 360 debacle that frankly Microsoft would be waiting years (if ever) to make anything from the 360. I remember it wasn't until the original Xbox was just about to be axed that they finally turned the corner. I think they made $5.00 on it, which they then wisely spent on the R&D for the 360 cooling system. That appears to have been their entire cooling budget ;-) That was a joke btw... there is no WAY they spent as much as $5.00 on the R&D on the 360's original cooling system! ;-)
Official sales stats can be found, wait for it... Wikipedia! In terms of profit for the gaming division as a whole, sure. In terms of profit per unit it's been profitable for ages now. Someone posted about the $250 loss per unit that Sony were soaking up when the PS3 was launched, and that's long since dropped. Again, Wikipedia has sources for you to check this out, I'm not going there again today for the same thing.
I don't think Sony will die. Too many idiots that have boners for anything with the Playstation logo on it. Now the PS1 atleast deserved praise. But Sony has done a complete 180 since the PS1. The PS1 was cheaper, easier to develop for, and I don't think they made a big deal over it playing audio CDs. The PS2 design I think was lazy, and they focused alot on the DVD movie player early on when games were lacking. With the PS3 they've gone even further. Expensive, hard to develop for, and they pitch so much "capability" that has nothing to do with making great games. The 360 seems to follow the PS1 in that it's cheap, easy to develop for, and while it also plays the act of the swiss army knife, atleast they didn't raise costs to do it like Sony did with Bluray. Yes I know Blu-ray adds storage for games, but we all played multi disc games before so that's a bullshit feature when it adds over 100$ to the unit cost.
I hate to be rude mate, but did you actually read what you quoted? "Again, Wikipedia has sources for you to check this out". I'm not asking you to believe what some basement dweller imagines is the number of units sold. Go read the sources and decide for yourself.
the 360 and ps3 are so similar. i really don't understand the hate coming from either side. they offer a lot of the same functionality (they excel in different areas though.) they play the same games with almost identical graphics.
That would truly be amazing, since they lost money on every machine sold on launch, and has since then cut the price by nearly half, if not more. (Not counting all the money they've put on making new versions of their machines.)
I agree that the PS3 price has got to drop I mean I posted a thread the other day that ZAVVI are selling the arcade 360 for £99....PS3 £270 or whatever it is.......so it has a blu ray player.....who wants to pay £20 on average for a blu ray disk, I know can be had cheaper if you hunt but just using for an example. It just can`t go on like this at this price.............as well as so many versions then with / without backward compatibility and then without / with rumble pad and now so many hard-drive variants..............no wonder people don`t want to buy it...............apart from hardcore gamers or Sony fanboys. I would not have one if I didn`t get mine for nothing
At the end of the day, if you don't want a PS3, or a Wii, or a 360, just don't buy the damn things and stop moaning about the competition! No bugger is forcing you to buy one, if someone enjoys their PS3/360/Wii and you don't, leave them to enjoy their console(s) Honest to god, it's like a bunch of school kids fighting about who is the best football team.
Alchy, I don't doubt microsoft made money and I bet more than sony did on there console, but I do like somethings about the ps3 like its exterior looks for 1. Parris, You sound alittle bit cranky and anti microsoft in your last post? why my dear friend?:shrug: Did you own a 360 console?
http://gizmodo.com/5116869/ps3-cheaper-than-ever-to-make-sony-still-losing-money-on-every-one aking a PS3 today costs Sony less than half of what it did at launch—$445, down from $840. And Sony, wouldn't you know, still loses a bucketful of money on every system. So, at launch, the PS3 cost Sony about $840 to make, according to iSuppli, and they sold them for $599, resulting in a tidy loss of $200 a pop. By stripping out over 1200 parts and features like PS2 backward-compatibility, Sony has cut their costs to just $445 per PlayStation 3. Which they sell for 400 bucks, meaning they still lose about $45 a system. That, friends, is why you didn't see a cheap PS3 for Christmas, and why you won't see one until deeper into next year at the earliest, even as the Xbox 360 outsold it 3-to-1 on Black Friday. [BusinessWeek via PlayStation Forums via PS3Fanboy]
Umm, I did! Go and read my posts again ;-) The data I posted was OFFICIAL - from trade journals, not Wikis! I also posted the links to the research companies who compile this data. Someone DID provide links to the official stats. You have to pay to view the data. Your choice whether you do or not, but don't say noone gave you the source ;-) There's a reason the data isn't readily available all the time for free - those who publish it have to pay for it! Trade journals can afford to do this, but websites possibly can't due to limited funds.
Parris, You sound alittle bit cranky and anti microsoft in your last post? why my dear fiend? Cranky yes, anti-Microsoft..... no! I primarily questioned your statement that the 360 had been (and I quote) '...In terms of profit per unit it's been profitable for ages now', which I found dubious. Microsoft Games division are relying upon after sales, peripherals and Xbox Live to generate the vast bulk of profits. I was merely saying I didn't thing the units had been profitable for 'ages', and I was expressing my concern at where you obtained the information from. Don't take it as a personal attack against you. I remember reading this :http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/bach-xbox-will-make-a-profit-in-2008 and thinking it was amazing that the original Xbox never turned a penny until it was actually about to be scrapped. In the article, it is stated that at some point in 2008 the 360 should (will / might / is expected to) break even and then begin to generate a profit if a set of conditions applied. Both Sony & Microsoft games divisions posted profits during 2008. Albeit, as Barc0de mentioned the PS3 is still a loss leader in terms of the cost to produce against price paid at the till. So, I was wondering what it cost Microsoft to produce the 360 against it's sales receipt if they are generating profit from a console that costs £99.00 in Zavvi? If Sony are losing money when it is a full £200 more to purchase! In asking for links to something more official and up-to-date, it would determine exact data on the unit costs / production and sales figures for the 360. I am not keen to pay for the information, nor take it from Wiki. I also think there is a HUGE amount of misinformation on the Interweb and wondered whether there was a source that could be generally relied upon to offer up a true reflection. Given the huge amount of crap Microsoft have had to endure with the 360 I am surprised that they have generated any unit profit on the 360 so quickly (if indeed they have). Not cranky with you I assure you. Cranky in general ;-) Certainly NOT anti Microsoft Xbox 360. I've owned several of the flaky fuckers since the day of launch and have finally found one that works (albeit I barely switch it on due to lack of time). Out of the people I know who have owned or still own an Xbox 360 only a couple of them have had no problems with them. The rest have had to send them back as part of the recall. Perhaps MS are making a profit because many of us have purchased multiple units? I have only ever owned 1 PS3. Guess which hardware I prefer? However, guess also who wished the 360 controller (far superior) was compatible with the PS3 AND also guess who wished the PS3 had as many titles available ,and of the quality that the 360 enjoys!
I'm going to end up sounding a little cranky myself now, but in the time it took you to write that rather lengthy post you could've gone to wikipedia, found the references, and made your own mind up. I just did a quick google search and found Microsoft were making a profit from some time in 2006. Go look.
