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Microsoft Attempting to Recruit App Store Developers for Zune HD?
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Bottom line, the Xbox brand has been a bloodbath for Microsoft since day one, and Sony is too busy self-destructing to take advantage of it. Meanwhile, Nintendo continues to crank out profitable products.
It's too bad, really. I like my Wii, but I'm desperate for better tech. I don't buy Microsoft products. Period. That leaves the PS3, which Sony seems determined to make unappealing to me. Lame controllers with the same crap buttons from the original Playstation, no cohesive media strategy, unimpressive online efforts...geez. It's like politics, where you have to choose between 3 crummy candidates.
Look at the bigger picture. In other territories other than the US, the PS3 is either outselling or selling just as much as the 360. Also remember that the PS3 sells for significantly higher prices in the UK.
In the US however, yes the 360 is barely selling double of the PS3. So the only territory that the 360 has locked down is the US. If Sony drops the price of the PS3 to $299, then it SHOULD be able to outsell the 360 by a large margin. The 360 is already at $199, but it still isn't able to outsell the Wii. I think the 360's multi-sku system has screwed their sales up. If they had just one SKU at $199, it might have had a chance.
Look at last month's NPD sales:
Data care of NPD Group
PlayStation 2 108K
PlayStation 3 121.8K
PSP 122.8K
Xbox 360 202.9K
Wii 252.5K
Nintendo DS 538.9K
Wii SPORTS RESORT W/ WII MOTION PLUS (WII) 508.2K
NCAA FOOTBALL 10 (360) 376.5K
NCAA FOOTBALL 10 (PS3) 237.4K
WII FIT W/ BALANCE BOARD* (WII) 164.3K
MARIO KART W/ WHEEL (WII) 156.6K
MARIO KART DS (NDS) 132.2K
POKEMON PLATINUM VERSION (NDS) 116.4K
FIGHT NIGHT ROUND 4 (360) 116.4K
NEW SUPER MARIO BROS (NDS) 101.8K
EA SPORTS ACTIVE BUNDLE (WII) 96.8K
(*includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)
What does that tell? The PS3 is selling only 80k units behind the 360. $399/$499 vs $199/$299/$399. Sony's selling VERY damn well for having a console priced well above $299.
Judging by the number of MS-fanboys in this forum, it seems like MR should be bought by Mr. Thurrott and renamed "MS Rumors"...amazing how many astroturfers populate this place in the name of "choice and innovation"...
It is quite amazing. I personally have no interest in spending time in a Microsoft user forum, yet here these growing-in-numbers people are day in and day out, raging against Apple and singing the praises of Dear Leader (Microsoft). Yet there are those who deny the possibility of any concerted astroturfing efforts here on MacRumors. Uh huh.
Oddly enough, when a new iPod demo video is posted somewhere, I don't immediately run over and post the link on WinSuperSite or some Zune user forum. (See user "scroto" above...)
Things that make you go "Hmmm..."
Don't forget the $100 wireless network adapter (which the PS3 and Wii have built-in) and $50/year for online play...
I think fanboys of any sort are silly. I just don't happen to own any Apple products. If someone handed me an iPod touch or a Zune, I wouldn't refuse either D:
Don't forget the $100 wireless network adapter (which the PS3 and Wii have built-in) and $50/year for online play...
Haha I know that, but 360 fanboys insist on "options" that can be added on later. So they don't think about the overall cost, just the lead price.
I just added NPD results to my previous post.
Bottom line, the Xbox brand has been a bloodbath for Microsoft since day one, and Sony is too busy self-destructing to take advantage of it. Meanwhile, Nintendo continues to crank out profitable products.
It's too bad, really. I like my Wii, but I'm desperate for better tech. I don't buy Microsoft products. Period. That leaves the PS3, which Sony seems determined to make unappealing to me. Lame controllers with the same crap buttons from the original Playstation, no cohesive media strategy, unimpressive online efforts...geez. It's like politics, where you have to choose between 3 crummy candidates.
The Playstation controller is just perfect. They got it right the first time, I don't see why there would be any need for improvement there. It's very comfortable, has all the buttons it could need and is just the right size.
As for Sony killing the PS3, I think they're just still trying to milk the PS2 for all it's worth. When they are done, which should be this year or next, I think we'll see an aggressive push on the PS3 and price drops which should put it ahead of Microsoft.
However, it's true that they need to get into gear and stop all these exclusivity deals MS is signing left and right and they need to aggressively defend their own and right now. Hardware doesn't win console wars, games do.
Bad website - hated within the industry for fabricating figures and then changing them as soon as official numbers become available. Avoid!
Zune
The Zune doesn't work on the Mac (yet.... Maybe MS might fix that in the future).
Hugh
The Zune doesn't work on the Mac (yet.... Maybe MS might fix that in the future).
Hugh
Serious? The benefits are widely known... True blacks, contrast, & colors, aka better, crisper image, greatly improved battery life due to no backlighting, thinner design possible also due to no backlighting. Those are some good benefits. Why you think OLED is so hyped?
True, but you also have to consider the lifetime of OLEDs. They're less than that of LCDs, plasmas, etc. We'll have to wait at least a couple of years before the technology becomes mature enough to have a better life expectancy. I'll wait until then.
I am glad for the competition too. Looks like Apple will already be dropping iPod Touch prices in September because of the Zune HD. And the OLED screen will make Apple hurry OLED into their products more too.
I assume you are joking with regard to Apple price cuts.
MS can afford to design in OLED because they won't sell enough units to impact OLED manufacturing. Apple would.
Note what has happened to flash memory when Apple starts buying up billions of dollars in production.
We will see an OLED in an iPhone when cost and manufacturing volume allow, not before.
I downloaded the Zune player for my PC for a laugh.
Honestly - try it - then try to get it to play a video full screen.
It isn't as easy as 'cmd1 cmd3 cmd3'...
Personal preference, I suppose, but I rank controllers 1) Nintendo Wavebird, 2) Xbox 360, 3) PS 3/2/1. I hate the Playstation D pad. And the controller itself isn't very ergonomic. Love the analog sticks though.
It doesn't help Sony that developing a game for the 360 is effectively developing a game for PCs too. You almost get to sell 2 games for the development price of one.
I don't understand what the big deal is about drawing developers from one platform to another.
Maybe its wrong of microsoft to do that but ok for another company to draw away executives and engineering experts from IBM or AMD, or hire someone from Europe who associated with the XBOX 360.
Maybe its wrong of microsoft to do that but ok for another company to draw away executives and engineering experts from IBM or AMD, or hire someone from Europe who associated with the XBOX 360.
This is all nerd porn. I said tangible. You say it's thinner design, is the Zune HD actually thinner than a iPod touch ? If not, oh well, LCD would've been cheaper. Crisper image and colors remain to be seen, but again, how useful is that ? Am I really going to be bothered by true blacks when listening to music ? Watching video in all sorts of poorly lit or bright areas ?
I don't think OLED is hyped, I think the Zune HD uses it as Nerd porn more than anything. Is there a tangible benefit to using OLED in the Zune HD vs a standard LCD to justify the increase in costs ?
See, because now, hundreds of people are going to be saying things like "Zune HD has OLED! Where is the OLED Apple ?" when in fact, the tangible benefits aren't even there to justify the price.
Yes I know the Zune HD is less expensive than the iPod touch.
I don't exactly get what is tough about programming the PS3. Either Sony really messed up the SDK or newer programmers aren't pulling their own weight.
Apple is going to ship technology to help with coding for multiple cores in the form of Grand Central any week now. There are a lot of standard APIs, like OpenGL available for graphics, OpenAL for sound that Sony could provide and port over. If they did all this, people wouldn't be complaining unless like I said, piss poor programmers who only know DirectX and are about as willing to learn as a piece of cardboard is.
It looks like this depends on the colors showed, a white background on OLED drains 3x battery than on LCD:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news...r-oled-no-longer-three-to-five-years-away.ars
Pretty massive parallelism by the standards of the day, but useful for game/physics engines. Parallelism or multithreading is difficult which is one of the reasons that Apple is adding some developer tools in Snow Leopard.
I think Sony made the correct call, but it was an uphill battle to get developers up to speed on the cell processor.
why are you here? you are not a 'fanboy'. No, you simply have nothing to do, and therefore read what 'fanboys' have to say.
I think that is pretty silly... but who cares any way.
in any case, if someone gave me a zune, I would run and sell it it and buy an ipod.
I like keeping up with all sorts of tech news. This site has Apple-related tech news, so I keep up with it.
