Peter Moore Interview at Joystiq

[bapenguin]

Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/) has an interview up (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/01/23/joystiq-interview-peter-moore-ces/) with Peter Moore from Microsoft that was conducted at CES this year. We know CES is pretty insane, so we really appreciate it. So how has it gone so far? It’s been a couple months now since the launch of the Xbox 360.

Yeah, actually it’s only been six weeks.

Has it really only been six weeks?

Yeah.


I just love that part. Sometimes as gamers we fail to put into perspective just how short of a time period it is between things. We already have people complaining about lack of new games since launch, lack of new games on Live arcade, etc. Yet...it's only be 8 weeks now.

[Citizen Philip]

"So awesome!"

[falcon]

Hey look, how to do a decent interview and not come off as a complete asshole...

[drakkarim]

i still think its funny how most of the 360 demo booths i see at stores don't get played anymore, i see more kids on the ps2/gamecube/xbox then the 360.

perhaps because they can't easily buy the 360 (availability/price), or maybe because the system is just so much 'fun', or maybe because you can only play one of the 3 demos so many times before you get bored with the whole thing.

personally i still can't stand (detest) control pads for shooters, so couldn't handle more then 30 seconds (literally) of CoD360 (nor did i care because the pc version looked just as good to me), kameo seemed too childish, and while king kong was nice, it was also too scripted/linear. i can't stand sports games, or racing games, so it doesn't leave much of a reason for me to even consider the system.

i hope now that the initial quick-release-take-their-money release is done, maybe they'll get to work on producing something of quality/value that is worth cost of the system/games.

oblivion will be good for their image.

[Kelegacy]

Hey look, how to do a decent interview and not come off as a complete asshole...
Yeah and a totally vanilla, boring one that makes Peter Moore's job so much easier.

[Heretic Machine]

Yeah and a totally vanilla, boring one that makes Peter Moore's job so much easier.

Yes, let's abandon gaming journalism in favor of sensationalist bullshit. Please, give me the gaming equivalent to Fox News, I need Bill O'Reilly to tell me how much my console sucks even while I'm having fun on it!

[bapenguin]

Yeah and a totally vanilla, boring one that makes Peter Moore's job so much easier.

I can't wait till the PS3/Revolution PR stuff starts picking up this summer. I'm curious whether or not people will say the same things about Reggie or Ken.

And I'm not targeting just you Kel....I'm just making a generalization that happens to include you. :)

[TrackZero]

i
perhaps because they can't easily buy the 360 (availability/price), or maybe because the system is just so much 'fun', or maybe because you can only play one of the 3 demos so many times before you get bored with the whole thing..

It probably relates to playing the same demos over and over. Myself, I still try it out when I'm in the store.

[thecrazyd]

Yes, let's abandon gaming journalism in favor of sensationalist bullshit. Please, give me the gaming equivalent to Fox News, I need Bill O'Reilly to tell me how much my console sucks even while I'm having fun on it!
No, we clearly need softball hype, and no real information. Making PR guys work is a bad thing. In fact, why not just let the PR guys write the questions while we are at it?

[Kefkataran]

I just love that part. Sometimes as gamers we fail to put into perspective just how short of a time period it is between things. We already have people complaining about lack of new games since launch, lack of new games on Live arcade, etc. Yet...it's only be 8 weeks now.

Not being anti-360 here, but I don't think your comment makes sense. Regardless of how long its been since release, a lack of new games is a lack of new games. If there isn't enough to keep people satisfied, then the company needs to address that. Of course a lot of the complaining about stuff around here has totally been overblown, so whatever.

I can't wait till the PS3/Revolution PR stuff starts picking up this summer. I'm curious whether or not people will say the same things about Reggie or Ken.

I think we just need to drop this line of questioning altogether. It's obvious that everyone around EvAv has a very different idea about what gaming journalism and interviews should accomplish. What no one seems to be willing to accept, though, is that there's plenty of room for both types and more. The gaming journalism industry has grown to that point -- that should be exciting, not something we shun.

Although the back-and-forth with Kelegacy, Perigon, and Crazyd is pretty humorous. It points out some of the weaknesses of BOTH types.

[Zanzibar]

Y'know, what the fuck. This guy Moore doesn't come out like the Sony asswipes who say Xbox1.5 and 'HD-era begins only when our Value Chain is complete' and 'Aged like fine wine' and you guys still come down on him. There's just no pleasing some people.

[bapenguin]

Not being anti-360 here, but I don't think your comment makes sense. Regardless of how long its been since release, a lack of new games is a lack of new games. If there isn't enough to keep people satisfied, then the company needs to address that. Of course a lot of the complaining about stuff around here has totally been overblown, so whatever.

But that's just it. It's only 6 (or 8 now) weeks. Look at it this way in regards to the 360. If you'd play 3 games a week every week since launch. It would take you 6 weeks. That's if you'd play everyone of the launch titles. The fact is, there's plenty of content out there and 6 weeks is an incredibly short amount of time for content of ANY type of media to come out.

My point really is we are a bunch of spoiled gaming brats with an insatiable appetite for something new.

[BlindSwordsman]

But that's just it. It's only 6 (or 8 now) weeks. Look at it this way in regards to the 360. If you'd play 3 games a week every week since launch. It would take you 6 weeks. That's if you'd play everyone of the launch titles. The fact is, there's plenty of content out there and 6 weeks is an incredibly short amount of time for content of ANY type of media to come out.

My point really is we are a bunch of spoiled gaming brats with an insatiable appetite for something new.

I take this an entirely different way:

These complaints shows how popular the machine actually is - gamers want more already. XBox 360 is doing way beyond expectation so far. Out of the gate the 360 has done very very well.

[Nite_Moogle]

I dunno about you guys but it's nice to hear somebody from a competitor say "of course their product is going to sell out at release, what did you think was going to happen?" Shows that MS has a good handle on what the market is going to do and the sort of battle they have to wage to make it.

[EternalGamer]

Touche baps. Point well taken. It's easy to lose perspective. Still it looks like we are in store for a long dry spell... much longer than 6 weeks.

Dan

[Kefkataran]

Y'know, what the fuck. This guy Moore doesn't come out like the Sony asswipes who say Xbox1.5 and 'HD-era begins only when our Value Chain is complete' and 'Aged like fine wine' and you guys still come down on him. There's just no pleasing some people.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's only one Sony asswipe, and no one's comparing Peter Moore to the insanity that is Ken Kutaragi (sp?). Besides which there's at least as many people on Moore's side here as against.

But that's just it. It's only 6 (or 8 now) weeks. Look at it this way in regards to the 360. If you'd play 3 games a week every week since launch. It would take you 6 weeks. That's if you'd play everyone of the launch titles. The fact is, there's plenty of content out there and 6 weeks is an incredibly short amount of time for content of ANY type of media to come out.

Yeah, but that's assuming you WANT to play every launch title. You might think, say, Perfect Dark Zero is awesome, but Random EA Football Game #105 sucks. It's unlikely you'll find someone interested in playing every launch game.

My point really is we are a bunch of spoiled gaming brats with an insatiable appetite for something new.

I definitely don't disagree with that. And like I said, I totally think some of the complaints of lack of content around here have been overblown. But my point was regardless of the amount of time since release, if fans are complaining there isn't enough content, Microsoft and game devs need to listen to and take into consideration those complaints. I'm definitely more on your side about the issue itself though. *shrug*

These complaints shows how popular the machine actually is - gamers want more already. XBox 360 is doing way beyond expectation so far. Out of the gate the 360 has done very very well.

That's a pretty skewed way of looking at it. You could take demands for more content that way, but it's always more likely that demanding more content means the people aren't satisfied with the selection you have right now. That said, I'd like to take this opportunity to use the age-old joke about Xbox 360 availability... done.

I actually really like this Moore quote from the interview:

No. I mean, first of all, Sony’s a great company. They’ve come off two spectacular generations of consoles. You never underestimate the power of your competition. The only thing you can do, the only thing you can control, is your ability to execute flawlessly with your own product, with your own marketing, with your relationships with publishers, building software that is innovative like Xbox Live, connecting people around the world. That’s what we’re about.

Followed by the stuff mentioned earlier about the inevitable success of the PS3 launch. It is really interesting to hear a marketing guy taking that side and being pretty realistic about things. I can dig that.

[rein]

OK Bap, don't back down on your backward compatibility stance now. :)

I agree that it has not been THAT long since the release and we are all spoiled brats. However, I think what disappoints me the most is the list of games that are out right now vs. the list of games that were supposed to be out right now.

[Dragos]

Yeah and a totally vanilla, boring one that makes Peter Moore's job so much easier.


And yet we got more information from it than the "Could you repeat what you said to all the other interviewers for us...Bitch?" crap that came from EGM, strange isnt it?

[Zanzibar]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's only one Sony asswipe, and no one's comparing Peter Moore to the insanity that is Ken Kutaragi (sp?). Besides which there's at least as many people on Moore's side here as against.

I actually really like this Moore quote from the interview:
Followed by the stuff mentioned earlier about the inevitable success of the PS3 launch. It is really interesting to hear a marketing guy taking that side and being pretty realistic about things. I can dig that.

The 'value chain' wasn't Kutaragi, as I recall. I was originally going to also mention the Sony PR guys at E3 2005 that said that the videos weren't prerendered. But then I didn't because I didn't want to track down the specific quotes, and didn't reorganize my post accordingly. So you're right; I was unclear.

I also liked Moore's take on the PS3. "We can't stop them, but if we make a better product, people will stay with us." ALSO unlike Kutaragi, who seems to only be able to talk about the X360 as a wimpy non-factor.

[Kelegacy]

Yes, let's abandon gaming journalism in favor of sensationalist bullshit. Please, give me the gaming equivalent to Fox News, I need Bill O'Reilly to tell me how much my console sucks even while I'm having fun on it!
Well why not just cut out the middle man and have Peter Moore (or whoever the PR penis of the week is for any company) just tell us what he wants? That's basically what most interviews are like these days. The Joystiq guys could have just ceased their "questions" and handed their mic over to Moore for the rest of the interview.

It isn't journalism. It's an infomercial, as are most gaming interviews.

[bapenguin]

Well why not just cut out the middle man and have Peter Moore (or whoever the PR penis of the week is for any company) just tell us what he wants? That's basically what most interviews are like these days. The Joystiq guys could have just ceased their "questions" and handed their mic over to Moore for the rest of the interview.

It isn't journalism. It's an infomercial, as are most gaming interviews.

Welcome to the world of business.

[bapenguin]

OK Bap, don't back down on your backward compatibility stance now. :)


I know, I'm guilty of it myself. It's just that question really put things into perspective for me.

[Kelegacy]

But that's just it. It's only 6 (or 8 now) weeks. Look at it this way in regards to the 360. If you'd play 3 games a week every week since launch. It would take you 6 weeks. That's if you'd play everyone of the launch titles. The fact is, there's plenty of content out there and 6 weeks is an incredibly short amount of time for content of ANY type of media to come out.

My point really is we are a bunch of spoiled gaming brats with an insatiable appetite for something new.

I don't know, but 8 weeks = 2 months. The next-gen, as most new generations typically do, began with a BANG and was followed by white noise. I think Live! Arcade and the Rev's upcoming oldschool game support is great, but it really can't substitute next-gen gaming. I have no delusions that the PS3 or Rev launch will be any different, but I complain because I believe most launches are awfully ill-conceived. Game droughts are one example of this.

[AspectVoid]

I also liked Moore's take on the PS3. "We can't stop them, but if we make a better product, people will stay with us." ALSO unlike Kutaragi, who seems to only be able to talk about the X360 as a wimpy non-factor.

That's actually a very nationalist point of view on Ken's part, I think. A lot of time the view that people have is based off of what they see in their own neighborhood, region, country, etc. The X-box (and the 360 so far) have been complete non-factors in Japan. Because that's what Ken is always seeing, its the way his viewpoint is tinted. Take it to politics, and go out side the US, and there are A LOT of people who think that the country is a bunch of arrogant bastards. Inside the US, though, most of us don't see the US that way. It's all a matter of the point of view.

As for the question of games, I always say that it takes a year for a console to get off the ground after launch, and the X360 is no exception. The same will be true of the PS3 and the Revolution. People just need to learn that its the price you pay for being an early adapter.

[rjcc]

I don't know, but 8 weeks = 2 months. The next-gen, as most new generations typically do, began with a BANG and was followed by white noise. I think Live! Arcade and the Rev's upcoming oldschool game support is great, but it really can't substitute next-gen gaming. I have no delusions that the PS3 or Rev launch will be any different, but I complain because I believe most launches are awfully ill-conceived. Game droughts are one example of this.

If they're so ill concieved, why do companies keep doing them?

because it's the best way from their perspective. Unless gamers stopped buying consoles at launch even though we know from experience that the best games probably won't be out for a while, theres a greater chance of hardware failure, etc., companies are going to launch as quickly a possible.

They need to show their investors what they are doing, and "delaying our console for 3 months to give the developers time to make what are essentially second gen games" doesn't play well, because they don't believe it will make a difference in sales, and they can make more money and get a larger base by putting the machine out as quickly as possible

[Kefkataran]

I also liked Moore's take on the PS3. "We can't stop them, but if we make a better product, people will stay with us." ALSO unlike Kutaragi, who seems to only be able to talk about the X360 as a wimpy non-factor.

Yeah, I think overall it's very hard to argue against Moore being more likable than Kutaragi. But, fuck. I mean Kutaragi is Kutaragi. He's nuts.

I think Live! Arcade and the Rev's upcoming oldschool game support is great, but it really can't substitute next-gen gaming. I have no delusions that the PS3 or Rev launch will be any different, but I complain because I believe most launches are awfully ill-conceived. Game droughts are one example of this.

See, I sort of disagree. I think that Xbox Live is absolutely the best thing 360 has going for it right now, and I really think that Revolution's old games service will be for it as well. But I don't think that's a bad thing at all. It may not appeal to everyone on EvAv, but goddamn if it doesn't bring in more casual gamers like crazy. The Revolution is the first system my girlfriend and my brother have EVER expressed interest in owning merely because it will allow them to play the NES and SNES games they grew up playing. They're both planning to have hold of one because of that. I think it plays a bigger part than maybe us more hardcore gamers are willing to acknowledge.

That's actually a very nationalist point of view on Ken's part, I think. A lot of time the view that people have is based off of what they see in their own neighborhood, region, country, etc. The X-box (and the 360 so far) have been complete non-factors in Japan. Because that's what Ken is always seeing, its the way his viewpoint is tinted. Take it to politics, and go out side the US, and there are A LOT of people who think that the country is a bunch of arrogant bastards. Inside the US, though, most of us don't see the US that way. It's all a matter of the point of view.

Ehhhh. I really hate when people bring up the idea that any of this games stuff is based in nationalism. I think some of that may be true, but it's so hard to definitively prove it that it all just becomes conjecture. Anyways, I know plenty of Americans who are willing to call our government arrogant -- probably more than I know who would take the opposite position at least.

As for the question of games, I always say that it takes a year for a console to get off the ground after launch, and the X360 is no exception. The same will be true of the PS3 and the Revolution. People just need to learn that its the price you pay for being an early adapter.

*nod* I really can't understand how someone would buy a system at launch and then bitch about there not being enough good games out. I may not like it, it may not make sense, but every gamer knows that's just how launches work. If you're more concerned with having a lot of good games than just having the system early, wait until it's been out longer and is cheaper.

[Kelegacy]

See, I sort of disagree. I think that Xbox Live is absolutely the best thing 360 has going for it right now, and I really think that Revolution's old games service will be for it as well. But I don't think that's a bad thing at all. It may not appeal to everyone on EvAv, but goddamn if it doesn't bring in more casual gamers like crazy. The Revolution is the first system my girlfriend and my brother have EVER expressed interest in owning merely because it will allow them to play the NES and SNES games they grew up playing. They're both planning to have hold of one because of that. I think it plays a bigger part than maybe us more hardcore gamers are willing to acknowledge.


And I agree. I think XBLA and the Rev's service are great additions, but they are plus signs next to the bigger picture. The 360 is a next-gen system, not a retro-arcade machine. I understand it's a little silly to stomp our feet after a couple gameless months but that's just what we are doing; and in a way, I feel it's somewhat justified. But isn't is sort of...embarrassing might not be the correct word but I'll use it...that the most popular thing about a next-gen system is the old arcade classics and "mini-games" it plays? I know this year will be a great one for the 360, but when will the ball start rolling? Right now it's in serious need of inflation.

I'm not a 360 owner, nor am I a hater. This is gaming "news" related and it's something I like to discuss, even if I'm not directly a card holding member of the Launch Crew.

[outontheporch]

Hey look, how to do a decent interview and not come off as a complete asshole...

A fanboy still bitter that that ign dude tore this fool up.

[bapenguin]

And I agree. I think XBLA and the Rev's service are great additions, but they are plus signs next to the bigger picture. The 360 is a next-gen system, not a retro-arcade machine. I understand it's a little silly to stomp our feet after a couple gameless months but that's just what we are doing; and in a way, I feel it's somewhat justified. But isn't is sort of...embarrassing might not be the correct word but I'll use it...that the most popular thing about a next-gen system is the old arcade classics and "mini-games" it plays? I know this year will be a great one for the 360, but when will the ball start rolling? Right now it's in serious need of inflation.

I'm not a 360 owner, nor am I a hater. This is gaming "news" related and it's something I like to discuss, even if I'm not directly a card holding member of the Launch Crew.

I don't know...honestly I've never really thought about this subject. When I just saw that number, 6 weeks, it blew my mind. Especially the way the Joystiq boys threw it out there. "So the 360 has been out a few months"
And Peter Moore is like, actually 6 weeks. We get so enthralled and so embedded in our hobby we forget how fast things really come at us. Am I making excuses for lack of games. No, not at all. That's Microsoft's fault for poor planning (or developers for poor execution on getting their stuff ready). My only point is we tend to not even let things mature at all before casting this unwarranted generalization.

To the most of the world the 360 just came out, but to a lot of us on the site the 360 is "old news"

[rjcc]

And I agree. I think XBLA and the Rev's service are great additions, but they are plus signs next to the bigger picture. The 360 is a next-gen system, not a retro-arcade machine. I understand it's a little silly to stomp our feet after a couple gameless months but that's just what we are doing; and in a way, I feel it's somewhat justified. But isn't is sort of...embarrassing might not be the correct word but I'll use it...that the most popular thing about a next-gen system is the old arcade classics and "mini-games" it plays? I know this year will be a great one for the 360, but when will the ball start rolling? Right now it's in serious need of inflation.

I'm not a 360 owner, nor am I a hater. This is gaming "news" related and it's something I like to discuss, even if I'm not directly a card holding member of the Launch Crew.


But how is that embarassing? Think back to E3 when J allard went on about Xbox Live arcade and micropayments, and then the G4 hosts immediately lambasted them for it and said it was dumb etc.

It's amazing to me that people will talk about xbox Live Arcade like Microsoft shouldn't want people to like it. Geometry wrs being successful doesn't suddenly make PGR3 crap, it means people like the conventional games and this new distribution that gives them games we probably wouldn't otherwise see on consoles. It would be embarassing if no one bought any of the launch titles, but if the 4+ tie ratio is true then I really think you may be incorrect in assuming live arcade is the most, or the only, popular thing about the 360 launch.

[Achilles]

The idea that the most popular thing about the 360 is the Live Arcade is incorrect. The best selling Live Arcade game is Geometry Wars, which sold roughly 45k copies as of the last news article they released on it, which I think was at the end of the year. CoD2 on the other hand sold over 500,000 copies and rising. The tie-in ratio for disc based games on the 360 is 4, which is considerably higher than any other console at launch, so people are buying the games, not just Live Arcade games.

There’s a gap right now, but if you look at the release list nothing of note is getting released for any system this month. Because if you miss Christmas you might as well give the team another 3 months to polish their games. There’s a bunch of stuff scheduled for March.

I agree with the stuff that rjcc and Blind Swordsman have been saying.

[Kelegacy]

But how is that embarassing? Think back to E3 when J allard went on about Xbox Live arcade and micropayments, and then the G4 hosts immediately lambasted them for it and said it was dumb etc.

It's amazing to me that people will talk about xbox Live Arcade like Microsoft shouldn't want people to like it. Geometry wrs being successful doesn't suddenly make PGR3 crap, it means people like the conventional games and this new distribution that gives them games we probably wouldn't otherwise see on consoles. It would be embarrassing if no one bought any of the launch titles, but if the 4+ tie ratio is true then I really think you may be incorrect in assuming live arcade is the most, or the only, popular thing about the 360 launch.
Embarrassing is too strong a word; ironic might be better suited here. I was just insinuating that the most popular aspect of the 360 experience, and the one that's getting actual games, is Arcade. This is the next gen! Many of these games could be played in-browser on a PC or emulated elsewhere. I think it's great that people can overlook graphics in terms of gameplay (something I though many could never do) and it makes me wonder if photorealistic games are truly the gaming utopia that we make it out to be. If the 360 owners that are frustrated with the lack of new next-gen releases can have just as much fun, if not more, playing quaint titles for 5-10 bucks, I think that speaks volumes for us gamers, the future of games, and the importance of simple fun.

Edit: Okay, I renege on my comment about the "most popular aspect", but after all the launch games are played and gathering dust, Arcade is the freshest thing on the system. Instead of playing through Kameo for the twelfth time or running through Condemned again, you can download a game for a few bucks from Arcade. It's popular, at least. Most popular, well I might have jumped the gun, I admit.

[Balthasar]

Welcome to the world of business.
Unfortunately, he was talking about "gaming journalism," which is pretty much the problem. It doesn't exist.

[bapenguin]

Unfortunately, he was talking about "gaming journalism," which is pretty much the problem. It doesn't exist.

But it references PR from any business aspect. PR people have a job, it's to spin their product in a positive light. You'll never see it done any other way, or that PR person won't have a job for long.

[Kefkataran]

Unfortunately, he was talking about "gaming journalism," which is pretty much the problem. It doesn't exist.

I disagree wholeheartedly. Still young? Sure, just like the videogame industry as a whole is still fairly young. Nonexistent? Nah.

[rjcc]

But see, you don't have to be frustrated with an of the major titles, to like Xbox live arcade. I'm sure there are people who fall into that category, but most of the people I know with one are like me, they own several games and have downloaded games from XBLA. When I heard I would be able to play Joust and Gauntlet online, I was like YO....I may have to get the 360.

The "XBLA is the only real next gen thing here" is played up on gaming sites because it makes a story, not because it's necessarily true. I really don't think that if you had one, you'd be playing XBLA games more than conventional ones, although I admit, I play a lot of hexic because I'm too lazy to get off the couch and switch discs. It's just easier.

The more attention XBLA gets, the better it probably is for gamers. I'm really waiting to see if the roboblitz game is going to be any good/sell well. It's based on Unreal Engine 3 and is apparently only a few megabytes to download, if that really works, then indy developers may be able to really get a foothold with the 360.

Embarrassing is too strong a word; ironic might be better suited here. I was just insinuating that the most popular aspect of the 360 experience, and the one that's getting actual games, is Arcade. This is the next gen! Many of these games could be played in-browser on a PC or emulated elsewhere. I think it's great that people can overlook graphics in terms of gameplay (something I though many could never do) and it makes me wonder if photorealistic games are truly the gaming utopia that we make it out to be. If the 360 owners that are frustrated with the lack of new next-gen releases can have just as much fun, if not more, playing quaint titles for 5-10 bucks, I think that speaks volumes for us gamers, the future of games, and the importance of simple fun.

Edit: Okay, I renege on my comment about the "most popular aspect", but after all the launch games are played and gathering dust, Arcade is the freshest thing on the system. Instead of playing through Kameo for the twelfth time or running through Condemned again, you can download a game for a few bucks from Arcade. It's popular, at least. Most popular, well I might have jumped the gun, I admit.

[Achilles]

Embarrassing is too strong a word; ironic might be better suited here. I was just insinuating that the most popular aspect of the 360 experience, and the one that's getting actual games, is Arcade. This is the next gen! Many of these games could be played in-browser on a PC or emulated elsewhere. I think it's great that people can overlook graphics in terms of gameplay (something I though many could never do) and it makes me wonder if photorealistic games are truly the gaming utopia that we make it out to be. If the 360 owners that are frustrated with the lack of new next-gen releases can have just as much fun, if not more, playing quaint titles for 5-10 bucks, I think that speaks volumes for us gamers, the future of games, and the importance of simple fun.

Edit: Okay, I renege on my comment about the "most popular aspect", but after all the launch games are played and gathering dust, Arcade is the freshest thing on the system. Instead of playing through Kameo for the twelfth time or running through Condemned again, you can download a game for a few bucks from Arcade. It's popular, at least. Most popular, well I might have jumped the gun, I admit.I think they're different kinds of experiences. Those small kinds of arcade games don't take the concentration or time that a larger game takes, so once you're burned out on those you go play some arcade games, then come back later to CoD2 or whatever. It’s like when you spend days playing a certain genre, you get burned out so you go play a racing game for a while, or an RTS. And at a time when not much comes out like January, people start looking at the arcade games.

Having both the small arcade experience and the full epic blockbuster experience is a really huge up-side for the 360. Some people want to paint that as a negative, but it's a huge advantage the system has.

Here’s an article on just how well CoD2 360 is doing. It made more money than RE4, or any PC game that was released this year, among others.
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/682/682495p1.html

Edit: It is popular, you’re right. I think a lot of hardcore gamers are shocked at how much attention it’s getting and/or how fun it is depending on if they own a 360 or not. And an extension of that is people who don’t own 360s look at the good press for XBLA and think to themselves ‘har har that’s all they’ve got on there.’ When in fact standard games are doing extremely well, and XBLA games and marketplace stuff are doing better than most anybody could have expected.

[RMan]

I can't wait till the PS3/Revolution PR stuff starts picking up this summer.
Although the other guys could have, and I just missed it, I haven't seen the Nintendo or Sony guys go nearly as far in the "impossible to fulfill expectation" category as MS did. Don't you think some of the backlash is warranted (at least expected). If they have gone, or do go as far as MS did, then I say fire away.

(on second thought, I likely should leave Sony out of that one :). Anyway, compiling a list of everyone's whacked promises and insinuations would be nice.)

[rjcc]

Although the other guys could have, and I just missed it, I haven't seen the Nintendo or Sony guys go nearly as far in the "impossible to fulfill expectation" category as MS did. Don't you think some of the backlash is warranted (at least expected). If they have gone, or do go as far as MS did, then I say fire away.

(on second thought, I likely should leave Sony out of that one :). Anyway, compiling a list of everyone's whacked promises and insinuations would be nice.)

Which thing did microsoft promise that they haven't done?

The only one I can think that you could nail them on is the "best launch lineup ever" claim, which is pretty much subjective.

[RMan]

The tie-in ratio for disc based games on the 360 is 4, which is considerably higher than any other console at launch, so people are buying the games, not just Live Arcade games.
BTW, I've heard you say this several times, but do you have numbers for other systems launch sales? Honestly, I don't doubt that it's a better ratio, but I'd like to know how much better.

I did think of another interesting thing, one of the gamers here mentioned that he bought a bunch of new 360 games with trade-ins. It’d be kinda cool to see a poll of how many people have bought 360 games, whole or in part, with store credit from used games (I’d like to see a poll for new games as well, but didn’t want to hijack the thread :)).

[Achilles]

Which thing did microsoft promise that they haven't done?

The only one I can think that you could nail them on is the "best launch lineup ever" claim, which is pretty much subjective.In one of their interviews J said that every game would be playable with or without the hard drive, which so far is true with the eventual exception of FFXI. So I guess that's a promise, but you can't push Square around.

For Nintendo they said that the DS wouldn't catch on right away. They were wrong on that one, but I'd say that's more speculation than a promise.

Sony, well they just say whatever comes to mind. The world will be connected on beams of light and we will be able to access any information instantaneously, and games will look like reality. HD era doesn't start until we say it does. The only real HD era is 1080p, which our TV's don't even support an input for yet. And so on. Give me a firmware update you bastards.

[RMan]

Which thing did microsoft promise that they haven't done?
Never said they did, I said "impossible to fulfill expectation". If you want examples of where they did what I said they did, I could look them up for you.

[Achilles]

BTW, I've heard you say this several times, but do you have numbers for other systems launch sales? Honestly, I don't doubt that it's a better ratio, but I'd like to know how much better.I don't think a site has given a breakdown yet. It sucks that we don't get leaked NPD numbers anymore out there to point to, or at least look at.

I heard the tie-in ratio for PS2 was around 2.

IGN or Gamespot should really do a story on this.

[Kefkataran]

I heard the tie-in ratio for PS2 was around 2.

You *heard* it? :P Well as long as you're not expecting us to take that as gospel...

[RMan]

IGN or Gamespot should really do a story on this.
Agreed. The "real" NPD stuff is just too expensive to buy for academic purposes, and of course you can't publish it. You know, since retailers and publishers will not release these numbers, it'd be great if some large site like Gamespot just had a way consumers could indicate products they bought, and how, it'd be less accurate but with enough samples it'd still be much more informative than nothing (of course, most people may not care :)).

[Achilles]

You *heard* it? :P Well as long as you're not expecting us to take that as gospel...No, I hope you don't actually. It's been in a couple articles that the 360 has an extremely high attach rate, and I believe some have mentioned that it's the highest for a launch console, but none of them ever mention what the other ones had. It's annoying. And it's newsworthy. Instead the game news sites spend time making up absurd lists of why blu-ray will change your life, or what type of coffee you should drink while playing Geometry Wars.

All you'd have to do to get those numbers is call a bunch of retailers and ask them. Or call MS and ask them. I assume that's what NPD does. If the news sites did that themselves they could print them all they want.

[Kefkataran]

It's been in a couple articles that the 360 has an extremely high attach rate, and I believe some have mentioned that it's the highest for a launch console, but none of them ever mention what the other ones had. It's annoying. And it's newsworthy.

I agree with your original idea -- someone should do an article on this.

[RMan]

It's been in a couple articles that the 360 has an extremely high attach rate, and I believe some have mentioned that it's the highest for a launch console, but none of them ever mention what the other ones had.
Well, although a direct comparison is tough to nail down, something would be nice. While I still think it is the highest for any launch, I get the sense that the press is parroting an assumption rather than something based on real numbers, but dressing it as an informed fact (something that likely happens often).
I assume that's what NPD does. If the news sites did that themselves they could print them all they want.
I think the NPD has an exclusive contract for the information from retailers. They sell the extensive breakdowns of the market for pretty high values (I think it was $1500 for one months figures, something really crazy), I'd think if it was that easy to get/publish the info NPD wouldn't be doing much business.

[Achilles]

I think the NPD has an exclusive contract for the information from retailers. They sell the extensive breakdowns of the market for pretty high values (I think it was $1500 for one months figures, something really crazy), I'd think if it was that easy to get/publish the info NPD wouldn't be doing much business.Yeah the NPD numbers are much more extensive than just having the numbers there. They provide year over year sales, as well as historical stuff, and attach rates and all kinds of other things. It's worth it to a company, but the price of the reports is plain prohibitive to people who are just curious about it. It would be disappointing if they did have exclusive arrangements with the retailers. Not much the news sites could do in that case.

[Achilles]

I found a blog that mentioned the Xbox’s attach rate of 2.4 (and that was with Halo) at launch. They also say that the Xbox 1 had the industry record before this, so that gives us a really good benchmark for where the other systems were probably at. The bullet points they presented:

· With software sales of 1.3 million units and an attach rate of 3.9 games sold per console, Xbox 360 launched well above the original Xbox’s industry record of 2.4 in November of 2001.
· With an attach rate of 3.1 accessory units per console, Xbox 360 also marked the highest accessory attach rate for a console during its launch month in the U.S. This is nearly double the previous recorded attach rate for a video game console.
· Additionally, wireless controllers attached to 98 percent of consoles as consumers took full advantage of the console’s wireless freedom.

http://blogs.msdn.com/xbox/archive/2005/12/14/504376.aspx

EDIT: Here's backup from a more official source.
http://news.com.com/Microsoft+exec+lauds+Xbox+360+sales/2100-1043_3-6018580.html
I guess I was too hard on the news sites.

[RMan]

With software sales of 1.3 million units and an attach rate of 3.9 games sold per console, Xbox 360 launched well above the original Xbox’s industry record of 2.4 in November of 2001.
Hehe, yea, it's still a nice number, but from what they've compiled there's pretty much no way to compare to something like the PS2, since MS is only sampling like 330,000 units and several weeks of sales, and the PS2 sold well over that in it's first day (there's no way to match a freako sales ratio). Kinda funny, it's a number that may never be beat, because it's a number that requires a serious lack of product in order to reach (I guess it's better to look at the positive side though).

[mister_slim]

I remember MS making comments about their attach rate before, claiming the Xbox had the highest rate, but their numbers were off. And since MS doesn't generally release sales breakdowns it's hard to check their numbers.