Xbox 360 Still in Short Supply

Spad writes "The Register is reporting that the Xbox360 is likely to remain scarce well into the spring, citing component shortages and a lack of manufacturing capacity. In an interview with USA Today, Circuit City said that due to the shortages they won't be promoting the console, as there's no point throwing resources at a product it can't sell. Microsoft had hoped to ship 2.75m consoles in the first three months, but are currently well short of that mark, having shipped a mere 600,000 units since its launch two months ago." Supply issues continue to harm the system's sales, moving back the Australia launch of the console until late March. Update: 01/27 15:19 GMT by Z : Despite these setbacks, Next Generation reports that Microsoft expects to ship their goal by the end of their fiscal year.

Comments

Similarities?

[marshallh]

I am beginning to see some interesting parallels between the game industry now and the game industry back in 1983.

1. We are seeing more and more games that are rehashes of earlier titles... remember all the crap titles for the 2600?

2. The game industry has reached a point where people are going to college just to write games, and end up mediocre programmers. Much like the ones that got hired in 1983.

3. Do you see much heart go into the games today? Reminds me of Atari 2600 Pacman. The programmer was able to make it a great game but didn't have any spirit for the game. So, it sucked.

I predict an explosion of the game industry as we know it - and the Nintendo Revolution may be the one sole survivor (or pioneer, as it was back in 1985 with the NES.)

Is there any way...

[casualsax3]

... I can just write "hahaha" and not get modded a troll? Pretty please? What Sony and Nintendo need to learn from this, is that they need to stockpile the crap out of their console before it hits market. Sony for example should be pumping out PS3's right now, that way when it hits market they can actually sell 3 million immediately. This is a huge blunder for Microsoft - they've blown their head start pretty badly... and not Dreamcast blown - Saturn blown.

Playing into their hands

[stylee]

Back in E3 05 I described the general strategies heading into the next generation for Sony, MS and Nintendo. I thought that if Microsoft had a strong launch with several good titles, they could gain a lead that they might be able to hold onto this generation. On the other hand, I thought that if Nintendo and Sony could generate enough hype surrounding their systems, consumers might be reluctant to shell out a lot of money on the 360 too soon.

Well, here we are and I think it is obvious what has happened. The 360 has had a poor launch by any stretch of the imagination. Sure retailers in the US are sold out, but that isn't hard to pull off with so few in supply. Japan on the other hand, has tons of 360s available, so I think MS attempt at a simultaneous worldwide launch has made the shortage in the US that much more embarassing. Now, add in the fact that there are no really strong launch titles and MS totally failed to pull off their strategy.

Nintendo and Sony though have been nearly perfect in building hype for their platforms. By slowly letting out details about their innovative hardware designs Nintendo has by far built the most interest in their system. However, that won't last unless they start showing some gameplay footage. No one but Nintendo fan boys will be completely sold on Revolution until they see it in action.

Sony has also done a good job of building hype, though not as much as Nintendo. Sony has periodically released some gameplay footage and cinematic clips they claim are real time. Of course, after the emotion engine fiasco people are skeptical. But, it has kept them interested.

I think that the fact that the 360 launch has been so poorly executed has probably led to more people wanting to wait to learn more about PS3 and Revo. If the supply had been adequate, and the games had been excellant, people would be going to the 360 in droves. Core systems on Ebay are selling for barely more that $20 above retail, and Premiums not more that $50 - $100 above retail. If the demand was still so much higher than the supply those units would still be selling for the markup you saw the week of the launch. I think that Sony and Nintendo probably could have released absolutely no more information about their products, tried to generate no hype at all to counter the 360 launch, and they would have been fine. That is how bad I think things have gone for the 360. The longer the supply shortage goes on, and the longer the 360 goes without any decent games, the better position Nintendo and Sony will be in when they launch.