There can be no doubt that sales of the Xbox 360 in the US have remained strong over the last 12 months, surprising many who had claimed that 2008 would be the year of the PlayStation. With the holiday season fast approaching sales can only go one way - up.
Back in late 2007, Microsoft was heading into the festive season having wrapped up Halo 3 and Gears of War - both huge system sellers that helped the Redmond giant put it’s stamp on the year as having the most consumer £/$’s spent on its platform.
But many questioned whether Microsoft could continue its dominance through 2008 - with only a few anticipated titles on it’s schedules for the year ahead such as Fable II and Too Human (lol?).
Tell that to those crazy folks below though - This was spotted during Black Friday sales in the US as bargain hunters stalked Xbox 360 Arcade units. Only in America...
GameStop CEO Dan DeMatteo has warned video game publishers that measures they maybe considering to discourage the sale of used games will "eventually get the consumer upset, as well as GameStop."
DeMatteo says that when a consumer decides to buy a game, they take into account that it will have a "residual value" of $20 which they can retrieve with a trade-in.
DeMatteo then says that gamers will then use their trade-in credits on new games which leads to better sales for publishers anyway.
To quote: "Also, we will give out approximately $800 million in credits this year -- trade-in credits that will go toward the purchase of new video games.
The consumer, oftentimes and especially now, needs that residual value from those games as a trade-in to be able to afford a new video game."
Today, 7-Eleven announced that they will start carrying certain video game titles for sale, including Fallout 3, Gears of War 2, Call of Duty: World at War and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.
Additionally, they will make several prepaid game cards available for companies (and games) like Nexon, Habbo, Gaia, Guild Wars, Runescape, Aeria, City of Heroes, ijji and Neopets.
Press Release: Gamers never die; they just grow up … and continue to play ... and play ... and play. Today, the average gamer is not in his teens, but in his early 30s and, not surprisingly, most likely male. They play at home, at social gatherings, at work (shhhh) and online.
That’s good news for 7-Eleven, Inc. whose customer base skews heavily male between the ages of 18 and 34. The world’s leading convenience retailer is ready to take the proverbial plunge into video game sales after dabbling in it over the past years with successful Slurpee® beverage promotio... More »
The infamous Xbox 360 "red ring of death" (indicating a failed unit) has caused Microsoft - and its customers - untold pain in the three years since the console's launch in 2005, and cost it $1.15bn (£738m) last year.
Microsoft has never said publicly why the console was plagued with faults: it seems that poor production quality was at the heart of the failures - an all-round problem with no single cause except impatience on the company's part as it tried to become the leader in videogame consoles.
It was an ambitious attack. Microsoft's engineers started working on the Xbox 360 at least a year after Sony's engineers began work on the PlayStation 3, yet wound up shipping a year earlier. With the first Xbox, the company lost $3.7bn (£2.3bn) over four years, mostly because costs of the box - particularly its hard drive - were too high.
Bill Gates didn't really care about the losses; that was simply the ante for getting into an exciting ne... More »
Google's hotly anticipated push into operating systems for mobile phones was a media sensation, but HTC's version of its Android-powered device is falling short of the hype. Critics say the "Google phone," which went on sale Oct. 22, is a little clunky with design flaws like no earphone jack and an oddly jutting chin. Close, but no iPhone killer.
Zune video MP3 player - Price: $230
Microsoft's latest answer to the iPod, with 120 gigabytes of storage and a 3.2-inch high-resolution color screen, is a vast improvement over the original Zune, which debuted in 2006. But the new Zune faces the same problem as the iPod: Smartphones and other Web-enabled devices chock full of features (think iPhone) threaten to render these one-trick players obsolete.
More »
Per Grace Chen (Senior Manager, PlayStation Store) today:
Hey, everyone. It’s time again for the PlayStation Store weekly update.
Price Promotion SIREN: Blood Curse Halloween 1-week sale (from 10/30 - 11/6)
Full downloadable game for $29.99, or chapter bundles for $10.99/each.
Add-on Game Content Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution Artifact/Wonder Pack: The Mythic ($3.75)
Turn your civilization into a tale for all-time with this mythic wonder and artifact pack. Included are: Ancient Wonder: Lighthouse of Alexandria, Medieval Wonder: Leaning Tower of Pisa, Industrial Wonder: Scotland Yard, Modern Wonder: SETI, Artifact 1: Camelot, Artifact 2: Tower of Babel.
File size: 2.92 MB
Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution Artifact/Wonder Pack: The Iconic ($3.75)
Inspire civilizations for ages to come with this Iconic wonder and artifact pack. Includes: Ancient: Coliseum, Medieval: Ta... More »
According to many reports (including several in our own Forums HERE), retailers including WalMart and Target have been selling copies of LittleBigPlanet despite the game's official launch being delayed due to the alleged offensive material included.
Needless to say, it's probably best to call your local store up before you rush out to grab a copy though. ;)
To quote: It seems that two huge retailers seem to have missed the boat on the recall, namely Wal-Mart and Target. That’s right, I just picked up my copy of LittleBigPlanet at midnight here in my hometown. A quick phone call to all the surrounding cities’ superstores brought similar responses. It’s for... More »
Reports indicate that the Samsung BP-1500 Blu-ray player, which usually sells for $400, will go on sale on Black Friday for just $149.
To quote: You might want to hold off on buying a Blu-ray player for a few weeks, because thankfully, finally, seriously, and almost too-latedly, Blu-ray players will soon drop into truly affordable territory.
A source close to Ultimate Electronics has told us to expect the Samsung BD-P1500 — usually about $400 — for $149 on this particularly welcome and poignant Black Friday.
Ultimate Electronics is a primarily Midwestern chain, but look to be offering this deal in cooperation with Samsung — in other words, it's probably not the only place you'll see stupidly cheap Blu-ray players come November 28th.
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