Xbox One Sells 3 Million Units In 2013

[lunavixen]

And yet I can still find Xbones everywhere here but I can't get a PS4 for another few months due to a lack of supply and an order list a mile long

I think we should take into account that sony is not capable of producing same amount of console as MS, they are kinda poor at the moment

Pretty much all the stores in my area got the same amount of Xbones and PS4s (apparently) so while that may apply elsewhere, it doesn't where I am

 

[Albino Boo]

All major retailers, these days, operate a system of supply chain management know as Just in Time. Major retailers do not carry vast amounts inventory but only keep in stock just enough items to cover demand. If there was not a large demand they would not have bought 3 million xbox's. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_in_time_(business)

Except that demand for a brand new product is usually unknown or unconfirmed.

What retailers actually do is buy a warehouse full of product, know the shipping time to their various stores, and track in-store inventory. When the in-store inventory drops below a caluclated units-sold-per-unit-shipping-time amount, a pre-set amount of warehouse stock is sent to the store. The idea is that the original stock will sell out right as the new stock arrives. Rinse, repeat. Because in retail, product sitting on the shelf actually loses the company money (rent-per-square-foot costs, inflation, etc). They want things going out the door as soon as it's delivered from the warehouse.

JIT for retail is actually adapted from manufacturing processes called kahban (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanban). It works a lot better in manufacturing because productions schedules are set in advance and demand is known. Retail tries to use the same process, but we customers are a fickle lot.

As evidenced by the pile of XBox Ones sitting in the middle of my local Best Buy. I can't even imagine the money that Best Buy has lost over the holidays by that pile of unmoved goods. But rest assured, Microsoft already got paid for that pile.

I also refer you the second paragraph in the article

"Over 3 million Xbox One consoles were sold to consumers in 13 countries before the end of 2013.

 

[Lightknight]

You still have failed to understand that the retailers would not have order 3 million units if they were not selling.

<spoiler=Better responses lower, leaving this here for Albion Boo specifically and because of the fact I can't delete posts>I didn't say they weren't selling. I'm questioning the statement that they have a reliable number on how many units CONSUMERS have purchased. A statement they made which is not something they're able to verify. They know that they've sold 3 million units to retailers, but they have no idea how many of those units have actually been sold from the stores, nor do they really care. Do you honestly believe that Toys R Us, Amazon, Gamestop, Target, Walmart, Best Buy and all these companies make a list of how many people buy a product in their store and then give Microsoft that information?

No, it's not worth their time to give other companies free marketing. All Microsoft sees is an order for more units and that's the only place that they're involved in the process. I get that they "said" consumers. But if they really had that level of information, it would be truly impressive. As in, never-before-done impressive.

So I think it was a miss-speak. They just used the wrong word. They have sold 3 million consoles and consumers have likely purchased well over 2.5 million units. I'm just correcting their statement. I'm not saying anything like there are 3 million consoles in stores holding dust. Just that most stores I've seen have 5-12 units stocked up. That times thousands of stores can really add up.

So before you continue defending the console sales. Get that I'm not questioning the popularity of the console or that it has sold to millions of consumers. I'm just stating that they likely meant retailers and there could be hundreds of thousands of XBO's included in that number that are actually just sitting on shelves across the country.

Please keep in mind, I would say the same thing about the WiiU or PS4 if they made such a difficult to believe assertion. It'd literally be like me mailing you a box of 100 jellybeans and saying that consumers have eaten 100 jellybeans without having any feedback from you. Maybe, maybe not. It's only more believeable for the ps4 because it's still hard to come by in stores. Or it was as of the last week of December. I have since stopped researching it.

 

[Lightknight]

@Dragonbums, I like the new Avi.

Let's be somewhat clear. Microsoft doesn't sell to consumers. They sell to retailers who sell to consumers.

Now, if their comment really was that those sold to consumers, then that's much better than I suspected. If those are just the number of consoles they sold to companies like Best Buy, Amazon, Gamestop, etc., then it's misleading. Every game store I walk into had dozens of XBO's stacked high with an empty PS4 section (until a couple weeks ago).

Over 3 million Xbox One consoles were sold to consumers in 13 countries before the end of 2013.....selling out throughout the holidays at most retailers worldwide

They make the distinction between consumers and retailers quite well in this paragraph. Come on Lightknight, I'm sure you noticed this part of the article.

I'm not questioning what they said. I'm specifically questioning their use of consumers even though they clearly meant to use it. Either way, we know that millions of consumers have likely purchased the console. I'm just a stickler for having valid numbers.

Unless 3 million people ran home with their consoles and immediately downloaded the update then they can't know that 3 million units sold. On this site, we're gamers. We do run right home and plug our consoles in and get them running. But all 3 million units getting plugged in? We'd see console failures at some non-zero number (microsoft has already owned up to at least some hardware problems), people who still haven't opened the boxes, units that will never have the update installed, and some other possibilities like people who have refused the update or bought the console without being in a valid region.

It is FAR more likely that they simply sold that number of units to stores. Which is fine. That means these stores saw enough demand to order that much. It just doesn't make their words correct. However, maybe they sold 4 million units to stores and then know that 3 million users have signed in? That's possible, but saying "we shipped 4 million units" is more impressive than saying 3 million units were sold. That's why companies report the larger number whenever possible.

The reason why I don't think this is consumers is because consumers don't tell Sony or Microsoft when they sell a console. The only information they really have is how many orders they get.

Your forgetting one Key element from prior console releases ...

The Day 1 Download,

Microsoft knows EXACTLY how many XBOX Ones went to Consumers (especially after Christmas Morning)

Just wanted to reiterate this as noone else commented on it.

They have exact numbers on their install base. Or would be within 1% margin of error for people who have reformatted and downloaded the update more than once.

But yes, they know very well how many boxes are in homes.

If they have had 3 million consoles run the update, then yeah, that's how many have sold. I would like them to clarify that this is how they know the amount. If they say it is, I fully accept what they've stated.

Otherwise, is it really bad of me to fall into the "not believing everything I hear" camp? I would question any other company the same way, Sony, Nintendo, anyone.

Had they said that over 3 million units have downloaded the update then that would be different. They, however, said "sold". A metric between downloading the update and selling to retailers that they don't have a God's eye view of.

Funny thing, i live in a small town in Victoria Australia... and what did i see behind the counter last week in my little EB Games store? A day-one XBO for sale . Made me chuckle.

I've seen several in multiple stores. I've spoken with store managers who are concerned that their current stock (which they ordered when demand was at its strongest) may not sell before a newer/cheaper/better model is released.

I think demand has been high enough to indicate that they will mostly sell in-time. Except maybe one store that I saw with over 50. He sounded quite worried.

 

[Lightknight]

And yet I can still find Xbones everywhere here but I can't get a PS4 for another few months due to a lack of supply and an order list a mile long

I think we should take into account that sony is not capable of producing same amount of console as MS, they are kinda poor at the moment

Yes, there appears to have been a shortage on Sony's side. However, even then, the number of units the PS4 has sold is significantly higher than XBO's. So how would any disparity of production capabilities come into play here when Sony sold more units than Microsoft?

VGChartz has the ps4 at 3.91 million units and the XBO at 2.88 million units (as of a week from Dec 28). The numbers aren't exact so Microsoft could really have reached those 3 million pretty easily. However, with the number of units I've seen on shelves, I have difficulty believing that shelves don't have hundreds of thousands of units in stores which is one reason why I think they mis-spoke. But Sony's numbers are 1 million more than Microsoft's so this argument simply doesn't fly.

 

[james.sponge]

And yet I can still find Xbones everywhere here but I can't get a PS4 for another few months due to a lack of supply and an order list a mile long

I think we should take into account that sony is not capable of producing same amount of console as MS, they are kinda poor at the moment

Yes, there appears to have been a shortage on Sony's side. However, even then, the number of units the PS4 has sold is significantly higher than XBO's. So how would any disparity of production capabilities come into play here when Sony sold more units than Microsoft?

VGChartz has the ps4 at 3.91 million units and the XBO at 2.88 million units (as of a week from Dec 28). The numbers aren't exact so Microsoft could really have reached those 3 million pretty easily. However, with the number of units I've seen on shelves, I have difficulty believing that shelves don't have hundreds of thousands of units in stores which is one reason why I think they mis-spoke. But Sony's numbers are 1 million more than Microsoft's so this argument simply doesn't fly.

Well basically sony is capable of selling twice as many console unites because of the demand, it's just that they can't provide more for apparent reasons, I'm not basing that on any market research though, it's just an observation.

Also MS could go higher but unfortunately for them they decided to launch Xbone in only 13 countries, whereas Sony was gaining sales in Eastern Europe. As much as I intend to get ps4 at some point I still don't get it why people would buy so many of these immediately after launch when they have barely any games and are not even backward compatible.

 

[Lightknight]

Well basically sony is capable of selling twice as many console unites because of the demand, it's just that they can't provide more for apparent reasons, I'm not basing that on any market research though, it's just an observation.

Also MS could go higher but unfortunately for them they decided to launch Xbone in only 13 countries, whereas Sony was gaining sales in Eastern Europe. As much as I intend to get ps4 at some point I still don't get it why people would buy so many of these immediately after launch when they have barely any games and are not even backward compatible.

Hmm, I must have missed the intention of your comment. I thought you were (like some other posters here) saying that the XBO only has more products on shelves because they can manufacture more consoles than Sony. My point being that they do have a higher manufacturing capacity but a lower demand than what Sony has been able to manufacture/sell and so their capabilities don't really impact anything unless their numbers had been comparable.

As such, we see an XBO that has sold less and is currently well stocked in most stores I've been to or called into for the past month (the first two weeks saw difficulty getting either console, for sure). Depending on what the average number of available consoles are per store and the number of gaming retail stores there are, we could be looking at a non-trivial number of consoles sold to retailers that are being counted as customer sales.

All we know for sure is that Sony has sold more than a million more units than Microsoft and Microsoft is the only company with product consistently on the shelves at the moment. Some of it even day-one consoles.

 

[Fox12]

Let's be somewhat clear. Microsoft doesn't sell to consumers. They sell to retailers who sell to consumers.

Now, if their comment really was that those sold to consumers, then that's much better than I suspected. If those are just the number of consoles they sold to companies like Best Buy, Amazon, Gamestop, etc., then it's misleading. Every game store I walk into had dozens of XBO's stacked high with an empty PS4 section (until a couple weeks ago).

Now, what I want to know is how successful it was in comparison to the PS4.

"we were honored to see Xbox One become the fastest-selling console in the U.S. during our launch month in November," he said.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that the hard numbers had not been released yet. Saying that their console dominated the market during the opening month seems insincere. Lacktheknack did post a chart above, but I believe that was total sales, not just North America, correct? I don't know where you live, but I can say that I have seen way more Xbone's in stock then PS4's, and that I've seen a larger demand for the PS4 then the Xbone. I'm curious how much of this is Microsoft PR nonsense.

 

[Lightknight]

Let's be somewhat clear. Microsoft doesn't sell to consumers. They sell to retailers who sell to consumers.

Now, if their comment really was that those sold to consumers, then that's much better than I suspected. If those are just the number of consoles they sold to companies like Best Buy, Amazon, Gamestop, etc., then it's misleading. Every game store I walk into had dozens of XBO's stacked high with an empty PS4 section (until a couple weeks ago).

Now, what I want to know is how successful it was in comparison to the PS4.

"we were honored to see Xbox One become the fastest-selling console in the U.S. during our launch month in November," he said.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that the hard numbers had not been released yet. Saying that their console dominated the market during the opening month seems insincere. Lacktheknack did post a chart above, but I believe that was total sales, not just North America, correct? I don't know where you live, but I can say that I have seen way more Xbone's in stock then PS4's, and that I've seen a larger demand for the PS4 then the Xbone. I'm curious how much of this is Microsoft PR nonsense.

They both revealed the number for their launch and there are sources that track game related sales.

http://www.vgchartz.com/tools/hw_date.php

That's the link to a great site dedicated to this kind of data. I specifically linked it to the hardware sales by date. It's never going to be exact, but it is usually darn close.

However, I'm not really seeing evidence that they surpassed Sony even in the US for November. This link sorts filters by USA and Monthly [http://www.vgchartz.com/tools/hw_date.php?reg=USA&ending=Monthly]. It seems that in the US, Sony sold 1.22 million units whereas Microsoft sold 970 thousand units. Both are phenominal numbers

Maybe they meant they were the fastest selling console for one week within November? Their launch week sold 652k units which was far above the other consoles. That was also the PS4's slowest week at less than 100k (Sony didn't have units in stores, hard to sell consoles when no one has them). So maybe they're saying they "became the fastest selling console" for one week, and then never again? If that's what they mean, then sneaky sneaky...

The thing is, Microsoft traditionally owns the US and Sony traditionally owns the rest of the world market. If Sony has really gained a lead in the US market then they are truly doing well. As of right now, globally, Sony is 33% higher than Microsoft (4.2 million to Microsoft's 3 million). What's more is that neither console has launched in Japan yet and Sony is more than king there whereas Microsoft has a weird past with them bordering national insult from what I've been led to believe.

 

[smithy_2045]

Let's be somewhat clear. Microsoft doesn't sell to consumers. They sell to retailers who sell to consumers.

Now, if their comment really was that those sold to consumers, then that's much better than I suspected. If those are just the number of consoles they sold to companies like Best Buy, Amazon, Gamestop, etc., then it's misleading. Every game store I walk into had dozens of XBO's stacked high with an empty PS4 section (until a couple weeks ago).

Now, what I want to know is how successful it was in comparison to the PS4.

"we were honored to see Xbox One become the fastest-selling console in the U.S. during our launch month in November," he said.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that the hard numbers had not been released yet. Saying that their console dominated the market during the opening month seems insincere. Lacktheknack did post a chart above, but I believe that was total sales, not just North America, correct? I don't know where you live, but I can say that I have seen way more Xbone's in stock then PS4's, and that I've seen a larger demand for the PS4 then the Xbone. I'm curious how much of this is Microsoft PR nonsense.

IIRC, PS4 was available for 2 weeks in November, Xbox One was available for 1 week. Since the number of consoles sold on any given day is consistently in decline, PS4 had a slower rate of consoles sold per day in the month of November compared to Xbox One. Sony sold more consoles, but less consoles per day.

 

[Lightknight]

Let's be somewhat clear. Microsoft doesn't sell to consumers. They sell to retailers who sell to consumers.

Now, if their comment really was that those sold to consumers, then that's much better than I suspected. If those are just the number of consoles they sold to companies like Best Buy, Amazon, Gamestop, etc., then it's misleading. Every game store I walk into had dozens of XBO's stacked high with an empty PS4 section (until a couple weeks ago).

Now, what I want to know is how successful it was in comparison to the PS4.

"we were honored to see Xbox One become the fastest-selling console in the U.S. during our launch month in November," he said.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that the hard numbers had not been released yet. Saying that their console dominated the market during the opening month seems insincere. Lacktheknack did post a chart above, but I believe that was total sales, not just North America, correct? I don't know where you live, but I can say that I have seen way more Xbone's in stock then PS4's, and that I've seen a larger demand for the PS4 then the Xbone. I'm curious how much of this is Microsoft PR nonsense.

IIRC, PS4 was available for 2 weeks in November, Xbox One was available for 1 week. Since the number of consoles sold on any given day is consistently in decline, PS4 had a slower rate of consoles sold per day in the month of November compared to Xbox One. Sony sold more consoles, but less consoles per day.

Interesting, let's do the math.

PS4's total consoles sold in the month of November in US markets only: 1,220 million units.
XBO's total consoles sold in the month of November in US markets only: 970 thousand units.

PS4's total days available in the month of November: 16 days (from Nov 15th)
XBO's total days available in the month of November: 9 days (from Nov 22nd)

PS4's average units sold per day in US markets in November: 76.25k/day (1,220 million/16days)
XBO's average units sold per day in US markets in November: 107.78k/day (970 million/9days)

Wow... that's actually true. The XBO also appears to have sold more in the US markets in the month of December (ps4= 800k, XBO=870k). So the XBO does have a mild advantage in rate of units sold per day. The gap has closed significantly but it's definitely there. Great catch. We'll have to see the next few months to see if either side drives ahead but it's neck and neck at the moment. Sony's majority is thoroughly gained in the rest of the world then.

 

[SSJBlastoise]

We'll have to see the next few months to see if either side drives ahead but it's neck and neck at the moment. Sony's majority is thoroughly gained in the rest of the world then.

That's one thing that some people seem to be forgetting. The PS4 is currently available in 48 countries while the XBO is only available in 13. This is something that should be interesting to watch as more countries get the XBO. I know outside of the major markets there aren't huge amounts of sales but to only be behind by 1.2 million consoles is fairly decent when it has 35 less countries to sell to than the PS4.

 

[Lightknight]

We'll have to see the next few months to see if either side drives ahead but it's neck and neck at the moment. Sony's majority is thoroughly gained in the rest of the world then.

That's one thing that some people seem to be forgetting. The PS4 is currently available in 48 countries while the XBO is only available in 13. This is something that should be interesting to watch as more countries get the XBO. I know outside of the major markets there aren't huge amounts of sales but to only be behind by 1.2 million consoles is fairly decent when it has 35 less countries to sell to than the PS4.

The thing is, Sony usually dominates the rest of the world anyways. Microsoft's strong side is the US. Sony appears to have largely closed that gap while maintaining their non-US dominance. Heck, they appear to have strengthened their markets in other worlds. That's fairly bad for Microsoft. What's more is that when they launch in Japan, Microsoft is at an extreme disadvantage. For example, last month the 360 and ps3 sold a combined 101k units. PS3 accounted for 98.5k of that with the 360 having only 2.5k. Over the entire year, 836k PS3's have been sold in Japan and only 23k 360's. In fact, over the entire lifetime of the 360, it did not have a single year in Japan where it reached 350k units sold for the entire year whereas the ps3 usually shot over 1million per year. While in the US, the ps3 has maintained a solid console generation, it looks like they never had a year where they beat the 360 in sales. So the fact that the ps4 sold more than the XBO in 2013 in the US, even with the rate of XBO accounted for, is a significant improvement over the previous generation. Sony is basically playing ball in Microsoft's house and it looks like they're getting half the cheers. The European market then looks a lot like the US but with the Sony and MS consoles reversed. This is largely why the ps3 has managed to outsell the 360 over time despite starting a year late. So Sony playing a close game in America is a huge blow to Microsoft.

For some reason (some say national pride), Microsoft is almost vehemenently disliked Japan. Nintendo and Sony are the movers there. Whether this is because Sony and Nintendo are Japanese companies or because of some past Microsoft insults that I've read about, I don't know.

So Microsoft's 13 countries aren't necessarily a bad idea for them. They're trying to focus on their areas of competence. You've got to think, if it's 13 countries then how many 360's sold in the 14th country? I assume this is mostly how they decided the 13. I don't think they're losing too much that way. If they wait to expand their markets to other countries when their consoles are cheaper to make then maybe they'll make a profit off of them. This could be a way to shore their losses in countries with low attach rates. Though I believe Microsoft's console is only something like $471 to manufacture. So they aren't taking that big of a hit after shipping and retailer fees. I would point out that not competing in those markets means that they will never have a decent market share there again. This also means that games may not be translated into some languages that typically are given attention.

However, look at the countries. They plan to launch to 21 total countries. They are NOT launching in Japan. I just learned this while researching for this post:

http://news.xbox.com/2013/08/xbox-one-confirmed-markets

So they aren't even trying in Japan. The only countries they're trying to include in 2014 are: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland

No other plans for additional countries have been amentioned. Do you think those nations will particularly make the difference? Wow, I didn't know they were giving up in that region.

 

[SSJBlastoise]

Snip

I really don't blame them for giving up on Japan. It is entirely Sony's market and when you keep hearing about things like stores not even stocking the Xbox 360 because it's sales are hopeless. Another reason why Microsoft wouldn't have bothered with Japan is the Kinect, the average apartment in Japan is just far too small for it to work. I had also heard Japan as a country is moving away from console gaming in general but that's most likely made up.

It would not surprise me if the sales Sony get from Japan are better than what Microsoft get from the extra 8 countries. Considering those countries aren't exactly small or extremely poor, I don't see why 100,000 sales in each country is unbelievable which would help close the gap by 800,000.

I would point out that not competing in those markets means that they will never have a decent market share there again. This also means that games may not be translated into some languages that typically are given attention.

While I agree they won't get a dominant market share, I don't agree that being late will mean they'll sell less than they would have if they sold there on launch. It kind of assumes that anyone interested in either console will just buy the first one available. There are most likely people waiting for the XBO because they feel it is the better console or other people that want to see what exclusives are on offer and choose accordingly.

 

[Lightknight]

Snip

I really don't blame them for giving up on Japan. It is entirely Sony's market and when you keep hearing about things like stores not even stocking the Xbox 360 because it's sales are hopeless. Another reason why Microsoft wouldn't have bothered with Japan is the Kinect, the average apartment in Japan is just far too small for it to work. I had also heard Japan as a country is moving away from console gaming in general but that's most likely made up.

I think people are quick to see the end of every generation as the end of console gaming. The last few years of a console generation are most often slowing and so it looks like the market is shriveling up quickly. But in reality, you have anticipation of new consoles getting in the mix and you have pcs that are cheap enough to easily outpace the previous generation. You also have a market in which most of the people who wanted consoles have purchased them and so the market is a lot more saturated. Then, when the next console comes out, it gets huge numbers and analysts begin talking about the death of computer gaming all over again. Though, I suspect steam's introduction during the 7th generation of gaming may finally break that cycle or significantly hinder it.

Personally, I think analysts are keenly aware of the cycle of things but just know that "the death of X gaming" is nice reader click fodder. So it's more convenient to ignore that this has happened before over and over again.

It would not surprise me if the sales Sony get from Japan are better than what Microsoft get from the extra 8 countries. Considering those countries aren't exactly small or extremely poor, I don't see why 100,000 sales in each country is unbelievable which would help close the gap by 800,000.

Agreed.

While I agree they won't get a dominant market share, I don't agree that being late will mean they'll sell less than they would have if they sold there on launch. It kind of assumes that anyone interested in either console will just buy the first one available. There are most likely people waiting for the XBO because they feel it is the better console or other people that want to see what exclusives are on offer and choose accordingly.

Just as several people purchased XBO's when ps4's were harder to come by, so are several people going to buy a ps4 when the XBO isn't even available in their country. Basically, the people who have next gen systems have the ps4 now. Anyone making the decision to buy a console based on what their friends have are going with the ps4 at the moment.

So yeah, I don't think they necessarily won't sell. I just think that this will significantly detract from the sales they would have gotten. Do you find it true that people are generally willing to wait for a year or an indefinite amount of time for a console when a viable alternative exists now that is cheaper? Additionally, do you think they're particularly willing to do that in countries where Sony has traditionally been the big seller?

 

[Tono Makt]

...how? Really, how? I legitimately do not understand how this happened. The god-awful PR, the invasive anti-consumer practices, the obscenely huge price tag, the schizophrenic multimedia focus, and the dull and micro-transaction filled games should have made it sink like a stone. Are there really that many people desperate for an Xbone?

People want to play X-Box games. In the future, we're only going to be able to play them on the XBone, so they're stuck getting one if they want to play Xbox games. Get in now and you can play the new releases, instead of waiting for a year and watching the number of new games you can buy dwindle down to nothing.

Kids are telling their parents that they want an XBox for Christmas, parents go to the store, see this brand new XBoxOne on sale for Xmas, buy it for the kids. Kids might have wanted an XBox360, but the parents don't know enough about it all to know there's a difference. Or the salespeople tell them "You don't want the 360, it's being discontinued and there won't be any new games for it." which is true, so the parents decide to just get the Xbone instead.

You've also got a huge, HUGE segment of western populations who just don't give a damn about the possible security issues. People who don't care that the Kinnect is probably going to be Always On, no matter what settings they use, and that it might be possible for Microsoft to listen in on things whenever they want to. Most people just don't care about it - they subscribe to the notion that they aren't doing anything wrong, so why should they worry about it? (It's a blind and stupid thing to think, but as long as they aren't the ones getting screwed over they just don't care that someone else might be.) So many of the issues that most of us online have with the XBone are non-issues for a huge segment of the population.

Really, it's not too difficult to see how 3 million units could be sold so far. And as long as things don't turn out stupid, all the stuff we've bitched about will die down and people will continue to buy XBones. It's been 12 years now and people still have to go through an absurd amount of security at airports, for instance, and airport security has a far, far, far greater impact on the general population than a video game system. If England had bears, it could conclusively answer the question about bears shitting in the woods because England has cameras in the woods. (And the toilets. And the dens. Also on four on each streetlamp. And three on each taxi. Five are in the Queen's crown. One is behind each of Prince Charles' ears. Harry stuck one up his arse by accident.) Etc.

I'm probably not going to buy one until they've been out for a few years and I've gotten utterly bored with my Xbox360 library. But then, if I still want to play the XBox games, I'll probably get one just because it'll be easier than trying to get a Steam machine up and running and connected to the TV. Assuming that there isn't a huge problem with the Xbone, or that the problems we've anticipated actually come true.

 

[Evonisia]

I just find it funny that a single game, Tomb Raider, sells 3 million copies in 1 month and is considered a failure while an entire gaming system sells 3 million over nearly 2 months and is a smashing success. I guess the profit margins on consoles must be so much better than that of games.

Well consoles are intended to be in it for the long haul, games are supposed to sell a lot of copies in a very small amount of time. Selling 3 million in what is essentially a month is a damn impressive feat. At this rate it shows promise for the console's future. The PS4 is outselling it, too, which suggests that it will also have a bright future.

Though it is still pretty funny.

 

[SSJBlastoise]

So yeah, I don't think they necessarily won't sell. I just think that this will significantly detract from the sales they would have gotten. Do you find it true that people are generally willing to wait for a year or an indefinite amount of time for a console when a viable alternative exists now that is cheaper?

While I'm sure it's not the majority but I don't see why people wouldn't wait for a year. I know people like me aren't the majority but right now both are available in my country and I simply don't have enough money for either console so the only option for me is to wait. Even if I did have enough I would wait so I know any major bugs are ironed out and after more exclusives are revealed because it's how I usually choose my consoles. I know I'm not the majority but I know I'm not the only person who thinks like this.

Additionally, do you think they're particularly willing to do that in countries where Sony has traditionally been the big seller?

Sony seemed to have done well in North America so far