Analyst Nick Parker has shot a warning at the Xbox 360, stating that declining European sales could lead to a delisting in some territories. He was speaking at the 2008 Nordic Games Conference when he spoke of the potential trouble.
"The trouble with Xbox 360 is it hasn't managed to shake off this urban, irreverent adult male feel; so it hasn't gained traction in the more casual gaming markets of mainland Europe such as France, Spain and Italy, where it's stalled," Parker stated. "And there are already rumours of Xbox 360 being delisted from certain retailers."
Parker later explained to Spong that "There were rumours a couple of months ago from people who know that region - Spain and Portugal - that some retailers were looking at de-listing. If you had to create space for those things that were going to make profit, Xbox 360 could be a candidate. It's what you'd expect in any markets where products are slow moving. Independent sales data is indicating that sales in certain regions are proving to be a challenge."
Is the Xbox 360's marketing inherently a problem? Is it really so wrong to find a stable demographic and market to it? With Nintendo capturing the hearts of mainstream audiences and likely keeping them for a while, surely it's actually a good idea to stick with the market you know and put out the games they want to play. Just because Nintendo had massive success with the Wii, it doesn't mean other companies will have the same success if they copy it, or need to do so in order to survive. it's not like the young males are a dying breed. There will always be a market for so-called "hardcore" games. When Grand Theft Auto games are unable to sell, that's when I'll worry.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
7:54 AM on 06.06.2008
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I take anything they say with a spoon, not pinch of salt.
I doubt he has considered, the 360 games on the way at all in this equation.
those crazy wanks would do anything.
Am I bad if I dont care about another country.
It seems a litte premature to drop it at this point, but what the shit do I know? I'm not an analyst.
If this is the trade off for not having Halo Kart, Halo Party, Dr. Halo, Halo RPG and 1,982 other shamelessly whored out titles so be it.
Then there's the fact that Spain & Portugal, I would think, weren't huge console markets anyway.
The problem is that those hardcore games are buying PS3s and not 360s. At least in those countries listed.
I just felt a huge tremor in the force. As if millions of fan-boys cried out but were suddenly silenced.
We do have amazingly fast internet (24Mbits and growing) but we also have traffic limits. If we want unlimited downloads, we need to pay extra. There are others that even limit the uploads.
Our country was first a place of success for Sega until Sony jumped into the market.
Nintendo and Microsoft lack image here, I don't even know how the RROD problems are going here, but I can guess that getting warranty is as complicated as everything else.
For Nintendo, I blame it's representative here, Concentra, whose website has been like this for more than five or six years.
Also there's only ONE person that repairs consoles for Nintendo users, and if he doesn't know how to, he ships it to Spain.
But I digress.
There aren't many solely gaming-related shops and while GAME and GameStop are finally arriving, the previous main providers of such entertainment, hypermarkets and toy shops, have always the PlayStation hardware on a pedestal and the rest, white as ghosts, blended with the white walls, inside a glass closet, within a cluster of non gaming related junk.
At my local retailer there's a "Halo (1)" still in it's wraper from it's original release at a reduced price.
And hey, I never realised there existed a place where the PS3 outsold anything other than Japan...
He probably considered it and then realized that there are other consoles out there with better line-ups on the way.
But seriously, Spain and Portugal? Of course they're not buying 360s, their countries are filled to the brim with hot, non-obese women and sexy men. They obviously have better things to do.
There's also the point that Nintendo have made the look of the Wii and the Wiimote into extremely recognisable, possibly iconic items. With those so burned into the public consiousness its highly unlikely that this 'Newton' controller for the 360 is ever going to make any headway if the people they're chasing with it decide as soon as they see it that its just a knockoff of the Wiimote just from its look.
So I think he's right, not necessarily about the 360 being taken off shelves but certainly about its current perception problem.
06/06/2008 08:53
If retailers in the US have not yet dropped the PS3, why should Europe drop the 360?
because the PS3 is selling ok enough in US and the 360 not at all in europe that's why
I remember 10 years ago when they had just a tiny section dedicated to console gaming.
Now it's Gamestop and it's a fucking TUMOR.
Rumors are rumors. I heard a rumor the xbox 360 spring update would bring netflix to xbox live. I heard a rumor that there is going to be a blu-ray 360. I heard a rumor...blah blah blah.
The PS3 wasn't exactly doing that great in the US for awhile there, and retailers stuck with it. Now it's doing alright. So is the 360 really doing all that badly, and if so, has it been doing badly for a long enough time for this to make any sense?
I really would like to know, and can't be bothered to look the info up for myself, being at work and not actually caring as much as it might seem.
@ Volomon
Analogies have to make sense to be good. Just so you know.
Go figure.
If a 360 exclusive like Gears of War 2 helps sales, then it could rip that theory to shreds.