Poll: How well do you think the Xbone will sell? (Especially considering DRM scandal)

[Canadamus Prime]

Oh it will sell. There are more than enough mindless sheep who either don't know about, don't care, or don't care enough, about the scandals surrounding the Xbone to avoid buying it. There's also the issue of instant gratification, most gamers aren't committed enough to a cause to put aside their instant gratification in order to stick it to a company. They'll swallow whatever bullshit Microsoft, EA, or whoever shovels out as long as they get to play the latest Call of Duty: Modern Battlefield 63 or whatever. So yeah, it'll sell, whether it'll sell enough to meet Microsoft's sales expectations is another matter, but those expectations are probably rather unrealistic anyway.

 

[Soxafloppin]

Yea. Brand loyalty.

It probably won't touch the 360 in terms of sales though. The 50% of the bro dude community who play COD on 360 and not PS3 will still pick it up for COD and FIFA.

It will probably lose sales within the gaming community though.

 

[Gothproxy]

I work part-time at a video game retail chain and I can actually count on one hand how many people said they will actually buy the Xbone when it comes out. People either don't like the DRM possibilities, the Kinect concerns, or, now, they just don't like Microsoft (when they formerly did).

I think it will sell ok and in that regard, I am a little afraid. If the Xbone sells well that might be all Microsoft needs to think that people LIKE being told what they want and are willing to pay for it and they (and others) will continue along that path. If it does not sell well, then I will cheer for that means that the American consumer is not nearly as stupid as I am usually apt to believe.

Here's hoping people aren't stupid.

 

[Angelous Wang]

I don't think (as is it appears to be now) it will do as well as the 360. It definitely wont do as well as Microsoft's PR console sales prediction chart shows.

And I think they will be in same situation Sony was with the PS3, having a big loss due to not enough sales and the console costing more to make than they sell it for.

They probably will still somehow sell millions though.

However I bet 1 or 2 years after they finally realized they failed (and the idiot in charge gets fired), they will make an XBOX One Slim, that will be stripped out "core gaming" version with all the annoying features removed. Then they will sell millions and millions.

 

[xPixelatedx]

It will sell well initially in America.

There is a very large audience in the states that saw the 360 as "the second coming", the dude-bra crowd, if you will. These aren't the kinds of people who generally keep up with important video game news, either. The cruel irony to this all is the Xbox one will effect them negatively the most, as they were the people who traded everything to gamestop/bought used the most, since most their favorite games became worthless the moment the next numerical increment released. Once they realize their entire way of gaming life is forbidden on the Xbox, or comes with a high cost, they will likely bail. Well, the ones who don't have a brand loyalty hardon for Microsoft and a masochist fetish will bail, anyway.

That's not taking into account that Americas infrastructure won't allow what you actually need to even use a Xbox One, heck, there are other parts of the world where using one would be impossible as well. So technically speaking, the Xbox One cannot be a success... There is the proof right there it will fail, or, at the very least, come in third for limiting itself to a niche market.

 

[zumbledum]

none of all this stuffs going to matter, they release a cod exclusive that will sell 5 million units, release a fifa roster upgrade and a madden and you got another 5 , add in a killzone and whatever else the billion in bribes M$ is wandering around with throwing at devs to buy exclusives and the masses will buy it.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I see the XBone selling for the same reason the Wii U is going to sell: People are going to break down to buy the XBone because they genuinely want Halo 5 and Gears of War 4. I think Fable 4 is going to be dead in the water in the other two can still draw a crowd. If it turns out that Microsoft's many, many exclusive deals are only timed though then I think most people will just wait for those games to go multiplatform (like they presumably did with Ninja Gaiden Razor's Edge and Mass Effect).

I don't see the Xbox One being NEARLY as popular or selling as well as the Xbox 360 or even the original Xbox. As much as I want the XBone to crash and burn like some kind of wonderous amalgamation of the Virtual Boy and Saturn, I don't think that's going to happen. Microsoft will REALLY have to fuck up at E3 to make the XBone look any worse than it already does. Since they've already said they're not answering post-presentation questions though ya never know...

 

[Signa]

Mainstream Media Attention

Just remember that Microsoft owns NBC, which is pretty much the only major new network in America besides Fox. CNN might cover it, but as someone who doesn't watch news, I get a strong "stockholder viewer" vibe from their focus.

OT: I'm so pessimistic that I think it will actually sell well. I'm picturing something close to what the PS3 did last gen. Good first week sales, a strong tapering off, and then slowly picking up steam through the course of the generation to the people who don't care about the details.

 

[Palademon]

Well the pre-orders seem to be flying in purely because it exists.

When coming home for summer I visited the local GAME, where apparently a guy who worked there remembered me, and I asked him how many pre-orders there were.

There were many.

He was the first one.

He watch the conference live at work.

He watched the conference live at work and felt the need to be the first to pre-order one.

He said "Wait until E3".
Little does he realise that I won't feel better about being kidnapped and beaten if I'm promised cake afterwards.

 

[phatty500]

It will sell exactly as well as every other xbox sells because gamers are loud idiots who love to whine and complain about a problem and than throw all their money at it anyway. That or they just plain dont follow things on the internet and arent even aware there is a controversy.

 

[SinisterGehe]

Seeing most of the "features" are not available outside USA, I think it won't have a place in Finnish marketplace.
Also the always on camera and microphone is against so many Finnish privacy laws they need to ship them without it.
Also They wont be able to localize some of the features simply because the fact that our language is too complex.

 

[Nimzabaat]

on a side note Wii U sales on Amazon.co.uk post XBone reveal went up 800+%...

Yeah but what numbers are we talking about here? 800% increase of 2000 sold a week is not that impressive

From what i've heard the actual number was 7,000 in May jumping 800+%. So you're pretty much on the mark with that one. The WiiU is still being outsold by the Wii, which is really sad. Well... sad in a funny way.

That still makes the WiiU the best selling console of its generation, even if it's the worst selling console on the market

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

To be honest, I think this is going to happen to Microsoft's stocks once the initial XBone sales come in:


If the controversies surrounding it become widely known or if more controversy pops up between launch and now, it's very possible that my proposed outcome may be more severe than that.

All in all, most of the people I've talked to are looking more forward to the PS4, regardless of the exclusives that Microsoft will have.

 

[Aeonknight]

It'll sell. Microsoft may have alienated some gamers, but it also knows who it's core audience is (or at least who they're catering to.)

The Xbox name has nearly become synonymous with multiplayer online gaming. And to most of it's core audience, the always online DRM isn't a deal breaker. It's like this Penny Arcade comic:

Spoiler

About the only thing that's raising eyebrows to these gamers is the used games aspect. Sure they may buy CoD iterations on release, but that's not to say they aren't trading in games to pay for it. Xbone is definately impeding on that, but at that point it's going to be a measure of brand loyalty. "All my friends play on Xbox Live" is a very powerful motivator in making purchasing decisions (hell it's the reason I still play BF3 on PS3, despite having a PC that can run it.)

In other words, despite being a step backwards in consumer rights/control of the things we spent money on, the question is going to be how much it actually inconveniences when trying to play games.

The answer to the poll is going to be determined based on how badly Microsoft fucks up the launch, if servers have problems and people can't play their games as a result (and they will, it's just a question of how quickly they fix it and if it makes news or not.) Another RROD type scenario and Microsoft is done.

 

[siomasm]

It will sell , about average or below average , depending on the price and when it comes out compared to the ps4 . People that are knowledgable about games won't buy it en masse , however there is a small percentage who won't care . And the average comsumer , which i think is the grand majority of people , will buy it anyways .

Now do i think it will meet microsofts expectation? No. But we've seen how companies have surreal expectations . But it will sell . What i'm hoping is , that with time , people will stop using it because of bad practices .

Basically this. The average idiot probably doesn't pay attention to announcements, features or restrictions on the system until they encounter them firsthand. They're just going to buy the xbone because it's the latest and greatest.

But again, as quoted, I doubt it will meet microsoft's expectation. Eventually even the dimmest consumers will figure out it's a terrible idea via social networking or word of mouth and from that point sales will plummet from the initial rush.