Will Microsoft quit console after kinect failed ?

[Felix]

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/co ... 703891.htm

rather old news but

DISCUSS!!

 

[CryptRider]

leave consoles and all the money? no way

 

[Felix]

While the Xbox is a strong No. 2 in the video game market (after the Nintendo Wii), the entertainment division has lost $8.6 billion on sales of $49 billion since 1999, estimates Katherine Egbert of Jeffries & Co. An initiative to build Internet-based TV systems has yet to take off, and its iPod-like Zune music players have bombed. While Apple (AAPL) just sold its two millionth iPad, Microsoft recently scrapped a tablet code-named Courier. In smartphones, Microsoft's share in the first quarter was 6.8 percent, down from 10.2 percent the year before.

Where is all the money?

 

[Some Moron On Welfare]

Nah, they'll just make more Halo games if this shit fails.

 

[Secretninja]

Yes, the xbox is a huge flop and not financially viable for microsoft.

 

[Xor]

If not when kinect flops then soon after.

 

[Black]

While the Xbox is a strong No. 2 in the video game market (after the Nintendo Wii), the entertainment division has lost $8.6 billion on sales of $49 billion since 1999, estimates Katherine Egbert of Jeffries & Co. An initiative to build Internet-based TV systems has yet to take off, and its iPod-like Zune music players have bombed. While Apple (AAPL) just sold its two millionth iPad, Microsoft recently scrapped a tablet code-named Courier. In smartphones, Microsoft's share in the first quarter was 6.8 percent, down from 10.2 percent the year before.

Where is all the money?

Actually, #1 is PC.
Surprise, surprise.

 

[Drakron]

Actually, #1 is PC.
Surprise, surprise.

Not really, the consoles started to dominate the market with the PS2 that had a huge market share advantage over its competitors.

Now the Wii leads but its not even close to the dominance of the PS2 and the PS3 and Xbox 360 are simply too close to each other and even if lagging behind the Wii they are no N64 or Xbox in terms of being behind.

So what you do? make a Wii game that is not going to sell that well? make a PS3 or Xbox 360 exclusive that is also not going to sell that well or do a multiplataform PS3/Xbox 360 game that can sell better but costs will rise due to having to pay BOTH Sony and Microsoft.

PC sells better became the potential market never gone away and they dont have to pay for a development kit and royalties to someone else, the console market is just too fractured.

 

[Zed]

I don't care what happens to Microsoft's gaming division. What games have they distributed for the PC that were good except AoEII?

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Yes, the xbox is a huge flop and not financially viable for microsoft.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-0 ... llion.html

 

[Xor]

You do realize that revenue is only the money they earned and not how much they spent, right? Last time I checked, the xbox division was either losing money or turning a small profit.

I also like how that article doesn't mention Nintendo who is crushing both MS and Sony's game divisions in pretty much all areas.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Except the article is about online gaming, which is one of those areas that Nintendo is completely retarded in.
http://www.neoseeker.com/news/13687-mic ... e-revenue/
And that's certainly not World of Warcraft levels of profit but it's something.

 

[Konjad]

I don't care what happens to Microsoft's gaming division. What games have they distributed for the PC that were good except AoEII?

AoE

 

[Twinkle]

Freelancer, MSFS, Crimson Skies, Rise of Nations, early Close Combat games.

 

[Achilles]

I think Kinect is a win-win situation for PC gamers. If it flops, it may force MS to leave the console business, as that article points out. If it sells, every major game company will adapt their games to support it, resulting in a stream of casual minigames, cries from the xbox kids that Gears of War 4 was dumbed down and endless lulz for us PC folks.

 

[MetalCraze]

If it flops, it may force MS to leave the console business, as that article points out.

Eye-Toy flopped two times, that's in addition to very bad sales of PS3 in the beginning - and somehow Sony is still in console business.
Why would they leave because some shitty camera didn't sell well?
Microsoft said themselves that they are planning to milk X360 for 5 more years - so relax, you still will be enjoying your 5+ years old outdated graphics on PC for years.

 

[ricolikesrice]

Eyepet failed because Sony/Playstation3 are more dominant outside the US and eurofags/slavs/japs dont like being infront of cameras.

The xbox360 however is mostly a US thing (in worldwide sales PS3 already caught up with despite later release) popular with Niggers and Wiggers
as intelligent US-Americans are PC-gamers.

And if you need any proof that Niggers and Wiggers enjoy jumping around like a moron infront of a camera then i suggest you simply take a look at MTV -> Kinect will prevail where eyetoy failed.

 

[Achilles]

Eye-Toy flopped two times, that's in addition to very bad sales of PS3 in the beginning - and somehow Sony is still in console business.
Why would they leave because some shitty camera didn't sell well?
Microsoft said themselves that they are planning to milk X360 for 5 more years - so relax, you still will be enjoying your 5+ years old outdated graphics on PC for years.

Sony had the massive success of the PS2 to fall back on, while both the original Xbox and Xbox 360 thus far have generated a loss for MS. Plus Sony are mainly a consumer product company. MS is basically a software company and most of their profits come from that department, it's not like they'd lose something significant if they dropped the entertainment division. It will probably never happen of course, but I wouldn't go as far as to completely write it off if Kinect doesn't sell as much as they expect it too.

 

[MetalCraze]

while both the original Xbox and Xbox 360 thus far have generated a loss for MS

You are very wrong. Just because M$ was selling consoles with artificially lowered place (like Sony and Nintendo btw) doesn't mean they were at a loss - remember about %%% they get from game sales. The fact that M$ decided to keep Xbawks around for more years says that it's more than profitable - much less profitable XBox which was losing hard to PS2 didn't have such honor.

but I wouldn't go as far as to completely write it off if Kinect doesn't sell as much as they expect it too.

Kinect is nothing. It isn't something M$ bets high on. It's just another controller. 2 crappy web-cameras that can only provide 640x480 at 30 fps isn't anything special or expensive to make.

 

[commie]

I don't care what happens to Microsoft's gaming division. What games have they distributed for the PC that were good except AoEII?

I liked the Rise of....series. ROL is very underrated.
Combat Flight Simulator/MS Simulator
Close Combat A Bridge too Far
Age of Mythology(only Age of...game that I liked)

 

[Achilles]

@Skyway:

About your first point, I know about the revenue from game sales and Xbox Live membership. It doesn't change the fact that the entertainment division is operating at a loss. Even if this loss is not wholy attributed to the Xbox, the article from Business Week suggests that investors are clearly not happy with the division's financial results. Besides, the fact that MS plans to keep the 360 around for 5 more years may be an indication that they still haven't recouped their initial investment.

Second point: The article refers to the Kinect as a 'gamble'. I'm inclined to believe that Microsoft poured a lot of money into this project and expect hefty returns. If it flops, it could give them trouble.

 

[MetalCraze]

Besides, the fact that MS plans to keep the 360 around for 5 more years may be an indication that they still haven't recouped their initial investment.

So they will keep a financial failure around for 10 years total? Don't be silly.

 

[ScottishMartialArts]

Microsoft said themselves that they are planning to milk X360 for 5 more years - so relax, you still will be enjoying your 5+ years old outdated graphics on PC for years.

How can you milk something which isn't turning a profit? Microsoft has lost nearly 10 billion dollars on the 360.

 

[ScottishMartialArts]

Besides, the fact that MS plans to keep the 360 around for 5 more years may be an indication that they still haven't recouped their initial investment.

So they will keep a financial failure around for 10 years total? Don't be silly.

Because they've always believed that overtime, as their place in the consumer electronics marketplace is solidified, they'd be able to make a profit. So far that hasn't happened, and the whole point of the article is that investors are losing patience, believing that Microsoft should just go back to what it's good at: software.

 

[MetalCraze]

Microsoft said themselves that they are planning to milk X360 for 5 more years - so relax, you still will be enjoying your 5+ years old outdated graphics on PC for years.

How can you milk something which isn't turning a profit? Microsoft has lost nearly 10 billion dollars on the 360.

So we lost 10 billion dollars in 5 years on XBawks 360, let's lose another $10 billion in another 5 years.

Microsoft are idiots and totally fail at business right?

The Entertainment and Devices Division of Microsoft, which includes the Xbox 360, PC games and Zune, showed a $165 million profit on revenues of $1.67 billion for the quarter -- alongside record revenue of $14.5 billion for the company as a whole for that period.

For the first three quarters of the company's current fiscal year, Entertainment and Devices Division revenues are down five percent, to $6.46 billion from $6.68 billion. However, profits are up a tremendous 242%, moving from $249 million for that period of 2009 to $851 million so far in 2010.

Sounds like M$ entertainment division has loads of financial problems indeed

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/2822 ... _MS_Q3.php

 

[Elzair]

Why Microsoft will exit the console market