Kotaku
Despite just narrowly beating out its higher priced, current gen high definition console competition, Microsoft sounds like it's pretty pleased with its April performance, at least on paper. And despite being outsold near four to one by the standard definition competition, the Xbox 360 manufacturer sounded almost ecstatic about its Grand Theft Auto IV numbers.
Microsoft's favorite numbers were its games per console attach rate (7.6!), spending to date on the "Xbox 360 experience" ($9.7 billion) and the roman numeral "IV" which it tossed around an impressive eight times in a post NPD release statement.
It even busted out review scores, saying "Not only are we selling more games, games play better on the Xbox 360. Xbox 360 has 91 titles with a Metacritic review score of 80 or higher, compared to just 50 for PS3 and 22 for Wii." Alright! Let's party! First place in the U.S. ain't gonna last much longer.
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has sold 10.1 million units in the U.S., making it the first current generation gaming console to break the 10 million barrier in the U.S., and contributing to global sales of over 19 million. (April NPD data)
By the numbers: Xbox 360 is the most significant contributor to industry spending and growth
* 188,000 Xbox 360 consoles were sold in April. (April NPD data)
* Xbox 360 has a record-setting attach rate of 7.6 games per console, the highest attach rate in history for a console at this point in its lifecycle. (April NPD data)
* Consumers have spent more than $9.7 billion on the Xbox 360 experience. (April NPD data)
* Xbox 360 titles accounted for $186 million of all third party game sales this generation, or 53% of share. (April NPD data)
* Xbox 360 games accounted for three of the top ten games in April, and secured the #1 spot with “Grand Theft Auto IV.” (April NPD data)
* Not only are we selling more games, games play better on the Xbox 360. Xbox 360 has 91 titles with a Metacritic review score of 80 or higher, compared to just 50 for PS3 and 22 for Wii.“Grand Theft Auto IV” on Xbox 360 snags top spot in April, boosts LIVE memberships to over 12 million
* In its first five days on the market, the Xbox 360 version of “Grand Theft Auto IV” sold 1.8 million units, outselling the other platform’s version by nearly 2:1 in the U.S., and making it the top selling game in April. (April NPD data)
* Gamers eager to experience “Grand Theft Auto IV” online helped boost Xbox LIVE global membership totals to over 12 million this month. Fueled by an unparalleled combination of access to friends and family, the best online gaming features and the best entertainment content, the Xbox LIVE service has doubled in membership in only one year’s time.
* Microsoft sales data shows Xbox 360 consoles saw a 54% lift week-over-week as a result of “Grand Theft Auto IV,” and retailers are reporting that roughly four out of every 10 Xbox 360 consoles sold included the sale of a copy of “Grand Theft Auto IV.” (Microsoft internal data)
* Beginning this fall, Xbox LIVE will be the only place gamers can go for exclusive “Grand Theft Auto IV” episodes.“Grand Theft Auto IV” marked the beginning of what promises to be another landmark year for the Xbox 360 platform, with an all-star games line up in 2008 including “Gears of War 2,” “Fable 2” and “Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise.” Stay tuned for more announcements in the coming months.
Comments
Might I request/suggest a Cool Spot for the Sony is please post...
:-D
I would like to see one of them be like, They respond and are pissed off like you wouldn't believe.
That would make my day
Bud...light....OH GOD MICHAEL WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!! *gets sucked into a black hole*
yes....Play better just like coors light
Next April Fools you should be Beertaku. =D
i would have prefered the budweiser frogs over spuds mckenzie
PS: is that Spuds McKenzie?
Money in, Piss out.
XD
...ROFLMFAO!!
YOU WIN MCWHERTOR
and i havent seen Sonys's!
bud? blasphemer!
Oh, Microsoft, when will you learn that flat numbers mean nothing?
I remember there being some sort of survey way back about which consoles had the most AAA titles. Similar to this, they ran a check on all the top Metacritic scores, but ended up with The Ps3 in the top. Of course, they used percentage to rank the scales. 360 has more games than Ps3, so it's unfair to do a straight number-to-number comparison. Shame on you, Microsoft.
"the Xbox 360 version of "Grand Theft Auto IV" sold 1.8 million units, outselling the other platform's version by nearly 2:1 in the U.S."
Hahahahahaha, wow.
visited frontpage for first time today (rss and adblock user). finally i get the coors thing.
folks, this wont be something anyone at kotaku wanted. crecente will have been told from up high. its not the first time either, although i have to say, never beer before, thats a new level of suckitude. and for a first time... coors? and coors light? is it some kind of joke on us?
"Not only are we selling more games, games play better on the Xbox 360." I hate it when Microsoft writes this stuff. It's on practically every PR statement they release. The PS3 and the Wii NEVER mention the competition or diss it.
Here's to hoping Sony gets the Budweiser frogs
So does this mean Sony will respond too? Party!!!!!
BYOB!!!
Man, this is getting to be like the Presidential elections.
But but but but.........
Bud?
NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! Do not turn against the Silver Bullet!
(cries in a corner...then takes a sip of smooth and crisp Coors Light)
"May 16, 2008:
In a throwback to the Gerstmann-Gamespot scandal, the Internet is in uproar today after Michael McWhertor was fired from Kotaku for illustrating one of his articles with a photograph that appeared to be promoting Budweiser, a rival to prominent Kotaku sponsor Coors Light (the cool, refreshing choice for the discerning beer-lover).
Gawker Media representatives have declined to comment, in what some are already calling the Kotakugate."
It's easy to be pleased when you're delusional about sales, I guess.
wonder if MS is going to put up the figures that show on average PS3 games are rated higher than 360 games...naaahhhhh
MGD for Sony. Wisconsin pride!
In other news, my 360 sometimes gets jealous when he sees me petting the memory of my Dreamcast.
Why wouldn't they be pleased? they are still selling more than last year in North America without having to drop the price. And every month they keep even at least or within a few thousand either way, they maintain their lead on install base in the single biggest market.
You should see how pleased they'll be if they tie or are close over the next couple months when the full GTA numbers and MGS4 numbers come in. When you have the lead over your competitor, a tie is a win because they can't catch you that way.
The Wii is so not a competitor for either one of these companies. Nintendo so hit the home run. Amazing sales month after month. And the software for them is really starting to move as well, although still skewed way too heavily to the first party.
Bud Light? I'm sorry, i think that should say Coors Light.
Ah, taste that cold crisp wonder.
@cheesecake000: seconding
@red: you bet it is
@Sparx: that would be awesome. a Frog for each of the system Sony currently has on the market.
Pretty much the last month that Microsoft can claim first place in the U.S. If they're lucky they'll have May by 20,000 units or so, but before July is over Microsoft won't even have that crown.
I guess it will be all "attach rate" and "oh the Wii doesn't count."
I've yet to see the figure from Microsoft that entails a ratio comparing the number of shooters on their console to everything else. That number is sure to exceed 1:1. Anyway, I hate Microsoft's corporate positioning, but they do have some good games on 360. Do me a favor Microsoft, release good games and shut the fuck up.
"* Xbox 360 games accounted for three of the top ten games in April, and secured the #1 spot with "Grand Theft Auto IV." (April NPD data)"
Where's the third game in the top 10? I only see 2. Unless they mean Wii Play, which sold 360k.
Not how most half of the bullet points have nothing to do with this months NPDs... not much to talk about here :(
Are you going to use the Schlitz mascot for Sony's own announcement?
Also, all these Coors ads are making me thirsty. I think I'll have a nice, refreshing... glass of soda.
@Huckleberry: Well, what can you expect with the 360 user base in the US compared to that of PS3?
@jun581:
Heh, didn't think of it that way, good idea man
Know what could have helped? Microsoft could have thrown in a refreshing Coors lite with every console. Mmmmmmmmmmmm. Coors.
@HamThePharoah: nintendo has no competition, so they don't need to reference them. Sony references 360 all the time in Europe, and they will here when they have stuff to say. Bet on it.
What's up with all the piss beer talk! Newt Castle, Beck, Heinekins, and of course oh-so-smooth delicious chilled Guinness! *drools*
They'd be even more pleased if they had a coors lite, the cold activated bottle
why does he always say seems pleased? y cant it be like seems happy or stoked
@okenny :):
But nothing beats ice cold coors lights, brewed from the hands of god (and the rockies) themselves.
*whispered tones*
Dude! Dont anger the sponsor gods! I heard of this one commenter who said he didn't like Coors, we didnt hear from him ever again.
@Huckleberry: hehehehe I love that too!
I don't care what it is. If Spuds McKenzeys selling, I'm buying. Unless Spuds start promoting the 360, then I go back on my word.
@Komrade_Kayce: I hear if you close your eyes, you can still hear the tortured screams of the ghosts of those who defied the sponsors...
Did I mention I love Coors?
I have no idea how we thought such commercials were cool. Really. I blame it on being a kid.
+ Watch video
@Komrade_Kayce: auhh dude! you wouldn't beleive it. My dog ran across the keyboard! OMG... LOL.. the hilarious part was that the random keys he typed like sent an insult to some haxsor on the internet and they hacking into my Kotaku account and typed that shit about the nasty foreign beer.
I LOVE FUCKING COORS MAN! GOD BLESS AMERICA THE GREAT ROCKYS! GOD BLESS KOTAKU!
...also RROD.
Ahh, Coors' advertising...
"Our beer's the coldest!"
I don't know for you, but I keep ALL my beer in a fridge.
I like how Microsoft uses only US numbers on their speeches :P
So.. Sony will be Coors?
@Antiterra: Thanks for the nightmare!
@sariah: *Awesome*
@Raziel Dune: "In the US"..
@HamThePharoah:
Tis is the american spirit stomp on people when you are up and run away win you are loosing unless you are at war. Then you run away, carpet bomb everything behind you, then walk back into wherever you are and declare victory.
Btw I'm a proud American and love guns.
@CockroachMan: Well, this is their speech about the NPD sales report, not by any means an international sales report.
"Microsoft's Xbox 360 has sold 10.1 million units in the U.S., making it the first current generation gaming console to break the 10 million barrier in the U.S., and contributing to global sales of over 19 million."
Gotta love it when MS starts out their spin with a blatant lie. :)
This piece was interesting:
* Beginning this fall, Xbox LIVE will be the only place gamers can go for exclusive "Grand Theft Auto IV" episodes
Quite a ways away wouldn't you say.
@liquidcross:
Do elaborate. :