Xbox Vs Xbox 360 Vs Xbox 720: FIGHT!

Nintendo is sitting firmly at the top of the games console tree right now, having just been 'bigged up' by the release of the US sales figures for October which show the Wii on 803,000 and the DS on 491,000. Both well ahead of nearest rival, the Xbox 360 on 371,000. The old, original, Xbox quite unsurprisingly does not feature in the top six list. That said, the PlayStation 2 does, at the bottom, on 136,000. So why mention the Xbox at all then?

Simply because the Xbox 360 has yet to manage to sell more units than the original Xbox overall, since release.

Now that is a surprising fact, surely? This is predicted to change by the end of the month. According to Mindy Mount, corporate VP and CFO of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division "we expect our global installed base to reach 25 million units, surpassing that of the first Xbox."

With Christmas fast approaching, and Xbox 360 prices free falling, it stands to reason that sales will start rising. Trouble is, while the Xbox 360 is performing really well compared to the much more expensive PlayStation 3 by selling twice as many units at the moment, the same cannot be said of it's performance against the Wii where it trails by pretty much the same margin.

Only the most brazen of die-hard retro gamers, or those on a real tight budget, would champion the Xbox over the far superior Xbox 360. Despite the ongoing Red Rings of Death problems, despite the fall of HD-DVD and lack of Blu-Ray, the Xbox 360 continues to kick PlayStation 3 ass where it matters: gameplay. From the titles themselves, through to the whole Xbox LIVE experience, the downloadable content and the gaming community it seems to have it all.

So why does it continue to trail the Wii by such a margin? Same reason, gameplay. Sure, the Wii might not have all the bells and whistles, controllers apart, but it does have gameplay in spades. What's more, it has that gameplay concentrated in one specific area: the family. Games that everyone can play, from the youngest kids through to Grandma, are key to the Wii success. On the evidence of Xbox 360 family titles over the last year, I am not convinced that Microsoft has an answer to the current Nintendo market domination.

Which leads me to conclude that while the Xbox 360 will undoubtedly deliver a knockout blow to the Xbox within the course of the next few months, it will ultimately lose on points to the seemingly lightweight Wii overall.

Of course, with Nintendo apparently having no immediate plans to update the Wii (if it ain't broke) and Microsoft looking at the Xbox 720 that could all change within a year anyway.

[kokidkane]

I had to register just to write that this is the worst read I have read all year. First the reason why there is no mention of the orginal xbox at all is beacuse they stoped making games for it, they did the whole hey theres a new system out screw the old one sorry kids play. Second the ps3 has sold more than the 360 this year just beacuse in october after the price was cut it got a boost from christmas buyers does not mean they have done that all year long. The xbox arcade is cheap hey people like cheap stuff and microsoft love to make real real cheap hardware hence the ring of death. I am a gamer and can say that gears of war is a cool game with fun fast paced action but if you think by any strech of the imagination that ps3 doesnt have kick ass games like, GT5, drakes, ratchet, FF13 and verses, Infamous, RFOM2, Lil big planet, killzone, RE5, COD5, and the bunch of games up there sleave like team ICO's stuff or jack and daxter or GOD OF freakin war, I can go on and on you would be stupid to think that ps3 does not have some crazy fun well rounded games now and forthcoming. Ohh and lets not forget with the fact that the ps3 is so close to the 360 in total life sales even though 360 came out a year before the ps3 and the wii.

[chris the gamer]

I also had to register just so I could reply to Kokidkane, I can only say one thing to you. "The war is over", the wii has won the most consoles and will not be passed, the 360 has won on the software side and the PS3 was won on Blu-ray. What this means for next gen is now the battle ground. This will be very interesting as there will be another Wii and also a 360, but I would not bet against there being no PS4. Sony have lost so much ground this gen, Blu-ray is still not selling great and as a company things are starting to look bad. There will be another xbox in the next 2-4 years but I think it will be different to all the other gens, because the next console will compliment the 360 and all games will be released as one and if you have a 360 you will get one game but if you have a 720 you will get enhanced graphics and what ever... But I hope that all consoles stay in the race as it is good for games. But just regarding this articale I do think the 360 is Jicking the ass of the PS3 and i don't mean in hardware I mean in profit which is where a console is successfull.

[subarna4d]

check http://yahoo.com

[Sergemeister]

After looking for information on the XBox 720 I stumbled on this gem. The read is good unbiased and sincere. I own all three consoles and play the 360 a lot more than the other two.

I had to register to respond to kokidkane here. First, your are correct there is no mention to the original Xbox because M$ quit making games for it. And that's fine because you have to move focus to your new property. You don't see Nintendo pounding out new GameCube games do you? On the other hand you do see new PlayStation 2 hardware and games being sold. This is because Sony has spent so much money making this system that it's all a lose/lose situation for them and the PlayStation 2 sales have been steady. In fact Sony was so concerned for their PlayStation division with top execs quitting, including Ken Kutaragi and Phil Harrison, that they almost scrapped it altogether! Why? Among other things, because hardware developers usually begin the project of building a new console as soon as the current one launches and Sony amidst all the bad press didn't greenlight R&D for a PS4 until late this year. Your second comment said M$ had a huge problem with the RROD problem, they did and fixed it by extending their warranty service for 3 years from time of purchase; this has happened to me many times with different 360 consoles and it usually takes 2-3 weeks for a refurb to arrive, they pay for shipping, and they give you a month free of Xbox Live Gold subscription. (and from what I've noticed, you get a completely new console!)

[johndaniweb]

I'm just excited for the open-world expansiveness that not even the 360 (or ps3, for that matter) can match up to. Single player will probably be even more flawless on the Xbox One, but multiplayer (same as Ps4) will require a wifi, perhaps lan, or broadband connection. But I think Xbox One is up to par, as I really enjoyed oriinal Xbox titles such as Halo 1, 2 , and multiplayer map pack. Also, Microsoft has stated they'll be charging head-in to exclusive titles. So let's just hope the 720p resolution doesn't get in the way, right? On the other hand, the contender (the ps4) goes for the traditional single-player experience but on the near-same level as the Xbox One's Live, so it's really just a question of which you prefer and how it enhances the single player and multiplayer experience, even if it be in very subtle ways, but I don't suspect Microsoft will let down its dedicated player base.