Comments on: Ensemble: Microsoft made a mistake

By: David Macphail

David Macphail — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:16:10 +0000

It’s Sony who underestimated the competition this time around. They were so reliant on the PS3’s power alone blazing them into the lead they never stopped to think about price point. The PS3 is more powerful than the competition, it it a better media centre and it has, overall, better games. But the price point is enough to put even the most die – hard Sony fan off purchasing one.

And one thing that Sony SERIOUSLY never expected to happen was to see developers get more attracted to making games for the 360 because of it’s easy – to – develop – for, last – gen hardware. I’m sure they never thought, in a million years, that Square Enix would turn their backs on them and make their flagship RPG multi – platform.

The PS2 had the best software lineup and that’s why it blew the competition away…..the PS3 just doesn’t have that right now.

And the total hardware sales for the 3 consoles currently stands at:

WII – 35 Million

Xbox 360 – 24 Million

PS3 – 17 Million

In case you were wondering.

By: Trev Daddy

Trev Daddy — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:39:30 +0000

Coffee – To wuote the great Sam Jackson, “English… do you speak it?”

All of you need to grow up! Who cares who sold more consoles? When is the last time either company came to your house knocked on your door and handed you a check for working so hard marketing their product??? Oh I forgot, you all just need to validate your purchases by knocking someone elses…

What a bunch of children!!!!!!!!

By: coffee

coffee — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:18:40 +0000

honestly 6mil for a 1 year lead is pathetic. and if m$ didnt underestimate ps3, they wouldnt have that fear till they need to be so desperate dropping their system price below what that cost a wii. its almost retarded when you look at it. thats just an evidence of desperation, get it? it doesnt take too much intelligence to understand this logic that you dont need to do such thing for something that really sell. more over i know this is something that many ppl wont admit it althou its true. one of the main factor that 360 sell a lot its not really because its a great hardware but its actually the exact opposite. i know people who buy more than 1 360 because of rrod. but you can hardly find someone who buy an extra ps3. counting the numbers is useless. cuz all these are numbers are just added up but the conspiracy behind it many just didnt figure that. i do agree in overall 360 still actually sell more than ps3 even with those rrod case added up but look. if you are 1 year ahead and still not selling more, you should really consider walking out of the industry and stop wasting your time here. so all in all ps3 is actually doing pretty well. i aint siding either of the thing but honestly this is just a fact. one more thing ppl haven figure is also that almost most of the time ps3 actually cost almost double of the cost of getting a 360. but when you look at it m$ doesnt have double the hardware sales of what ps3 does. that doesnt balance out either. with a 1 year head start + if they really do well. they should have over 30mil units sold by now. so all in all both ps3 and 360 are actually doing a pretty good job in their sales so far. and its indeed as we can see over the course of 2008 ps3 actually pick up a lot. so much that its starting to close up the gap compare to 2007. why ppl just cannot think and look straight. i can understand fanboys thinking but come on… does twisting facts really make ppl feel better? since it doesnt change the real fact even if you wanna think like wise….

By: sluffmo

sluffmo — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:05:45 +0000

@anti-fuze

Worldwide means worldwide sales total. According to vgcharts Xbox has outsold PS3 by over double in the US and a little under a million outside of the US and Japan. PS3 has only outsold the Xbox by a little under two million in Japan. Worldwide the Xbox has outsold PS3 by about 6 million units. Japan and European sales far from make up the difference in the US.

I’m not saying either is better but maybe you should focus more on sales numbers than whether a country has a strong knowledge of geography. Either way it’s hard to say a company over estimated another when their sales are so much higher.

As for closing Ensemble that’s sad but seem like they are keeping the talent who wants to stay. They are just consolidating. I’m not sure why that’s so bad.

By: Anti Anti-Fuse

Anti Anti-Fuse — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:50:19 +0000

Anti-Fuse are you dumb? Xbox 360 is in 2nd place and PS3 in third as ALTOGETHER the xbox 360 has outsold them!!!! Xbox 360 may have not sold as much in Japan or Europe but their sales in America are more than enough to put them in the lead! Furthermore the xbox 360 has even kicked their ass in game sales with releases like Halo 3, Gears of War 2 etc. You must be stupid to think PS3 has any chance, over priced, over hyped and over estimated!!!!!

By: Sarge

Sarge — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:15:24 +0000

Is it a mistake to look at your bottom line and realize that this studio isn’t making money. Companies don’t shut down companies that are making money, they shut down ones that are costing them money. Its not only Microsoft but the entire economy cutting back on things. RTS games are not exactly the most popular games, and even less on consoles.

By: bob

bob — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:12:21 +0000

how the hell do you spend 4 years on halo wars? you could create an awesome fps that sells millions more in 4 years then you could with halo wars.. seriously thats why they shut you down. rts is more of a pc type game anyway but putting the halo brand on it and spending 4 years for something like that.. comeon you cant say you didnt see this coming..

By: red facade

red facade — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:52:55 +0000

yup, way to prove the ignorance of gamers fellas. i mean, why talk about the state of smaller developers being bought up by the top publishers (activision/ blizzard, sony, ea, microsoft, and ubisoft) and being completely dismantled, or creatively neutered, when we can talk about something that has no meaning to gamers at all like console sales. why talk about real gaming issues when we can talk about how much money one multi billion dollar corporation is making in comparison to another.

the problem with publishers in general is that theyve become too much about the bottom line, and less about the gaming. we’ve allowed a few giant publishers to monopolize the industry, mostly because they pump out the same mundane archetype that the average consumer loves. spider man 3 made more money than the departed, and even though the departed won best film, expect to see more spider mans and less the departeds. gaming consumer have never taken responsibility for their role in the industry (taking a more passive role. let the industry feed us what we crave and ask questions later, long after theyre relevant)

let it be said that gaming consumers like the ones above me are the real problem with gaming. its sad to think that they cant comprehend the fact that microsoft and sony are not gaming companies, they are just massive companies with gaming divisions, that spend more on public relations than actual gaming product. we’re fighting a war where only the gamer stands to lose. keep up the good work

By: Anti-Fuse

Anti-Fuse — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:43:56 +0000

For all of you reading ignore fuses comments. Sony and Microsoft have both closed down studios to strengthen other projects, because of the weak ecomomy they need to assure what they DO release is of high quality. Closing of Ensemble may mean that someone at MS thought that Halo Wars might not sell all that well, be it a great game or not. RTS games are almost completely a PC domain, and a console controller is not the best device for such a complex genre.

By: clint

clint — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:41:57 +0000

Ensemble is garbage, Halo Wars will be garbage, good thing they shut em down!

By: Anti-Fuse

Anti-Fuse — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:40:35 +0000

Give us a break fuse. The PS3 is not third in WORLD sales son. Sony is ahead of Microsoft in Japan AND Europe. Why don’t you research before posting your lame thoughts. Look it up boy, 360’s lead is mainly here in the US, the same country that has citizens who have college degrees and still don’t know basic geography.

By: Fuse17

Fuse17 — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:15:51 +0000

Underestimating the Ps3 i dont consider them underestimating them when currently the Ps3 is in 3RD PLace in the console war and lags way behind in software that sells 1 million copies or more.

By: Wizeguy

Wizeguy — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:14:23 +0000

There final mistake is to tell them they are shutting down the studio before they even finished the game!

Epic Fail M$

By: kisses

kisses — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:28:00 +0000

Microsoft’s first mistake was not working on fresh new IPs. Their second mistake was rushing faulty systems out the door. Their third mistake was underestimating the PS3. They’ve made mistakes alright…