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  (Source: Gamerhelp)
Xbox 360 in the black for Q3 -- and not just the Elite console

Amidst wrestling with the public perception of the Xbox 360’s apparent hardware quality, Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division reported a profit for its third quarter.

Thanks to “robust demand” for Xbox 360 consoles, the Entertainment and Devices arm of the software giant saw revenue for the quarter grow 68 percent over the comparable period last year. The division had an operating profit of $89 million for Q3.

"During the three months ended March 31, 2008, Xbox platform and PC game revenue increased $418 million or 85% primarily as a result of increased Xbox 360 console sales, Xbox 360 video game sales, and Xbox Live revenue," the company said. "Xbox platform and PC game revenue increased $1.4 billion or 42% during the nine months ended March 31, 2008, as a result of increased Xbox 360 console sales, video game sales led by Halo 3, Xbox Live revenue, and Xbox 360 accessory sales."

Interestingly, the Xbox 360 was one of the bright points for Microsoft even though the company claimed that its console was in short supply for the first two months of 2008. For the fiscal year to date, however, Microsoft said that sales were up 34 percent to $6.57 billion, with 7.5 million Xbox 360s shipped.

For 2008 thus far, 1.3 million Xbox 360 consoles were shipped, bringing the cumulative console sales to more than 19 million. The Zune music player, which shares the division with the Xbox 360, is also said to be a contributing factor the operating profit, though Microsoft did not go into such detail.

Nearly a year ago, Microsoft’s Robbie Bach forecasted that the Xbox 360 division will turn a profit in 2008, something that has come true for at least the past quarter.

Microsoft said that it expects further increases in revenue for its Entertainment and Devices division thanks to the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto IV, which is expected to drive sales of both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

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Hats off to Microsoft
By gaakf on 4/25/2008 10:43:43 AM , Rating: 5
They deserve to finally be making a profit. It's true that they did put many customers through hell with the Red Ring of Death, however I must say that Microsoft has created the best multi-player experience I have ever had on a console. I happily pay my $50 a year to game on XBOX Live. The other two don't come close in providing the Live! experience.




RE: Hats off to Microsoft
By DanoruX on 4/25/08, Rating: -1
RE: Hats off to Microsoft
By Cygni on 4/25/2008 11:23:10 AM , Rating: 5
Which are all on PC... and the guy you replied specifically mentioned CONSOLES.

Reading comprehension 101.


RE: Hats off to Microsoft
By Locutus465 on 4/25/2008 11:28:02 AM , Rating: 2
Additionally the services he listed also don't offer everything offered by live anyhow... The 360 like the PS3 doubles and a HT device, included with this is the movies digital download service. I use it almost exclusivly for rentals these days.


RE: Hats off to Microsoft
By afkrotch on 4/28/2008 3:05:43 PM , Rating: 2
A PC offers everything either console does and more. But as the post mentioned, he did specifically mention console and not a PC.

I don't mind paying $50 for XBL, but I am sick of having to pay for little downloads here and there. It's like they make you buy half the content that was free before.

I feel like it'll eventually lead you to buying something like R6: Vegas 3 and getting only 2 multiplayer maps and all other maps will cost you like $1 - $5 per map or buy a new gun for 50 cents. That or they give the game away for free. You get to play the 1st lvl, then any additional lvl will costs $5 - $10.


RE: Hats off to Microsoft
By tallcool1 on 4/25/2008 12:10:45 PM , Rating: 2
I think the point he is trying to make is that online gaming on the consoles, and XBOX in particular (since they make you pay to play) still has improvements to be made.
For example, a co-worker of mine whom has a 360 is heavily into COD4. He stopped by my house and I showed him COD4 on the PC and he was blown away by how much better it was!
1.) PC online multiplayer is FREE, along with CHAT programs.
2.) You can pick from a "list" of over 10,000 servers at any given time to play on.
3.) Player count can go up to as high as 50 players per server!
4.) Graphics in his own words looked better on my PC/monitor combo than it did on his 360/HDTV combo.


RE: Hats off to Microsoft
By erwos on 4/25/2008 12:29:38 PM , Rating: 3
1. The chat is free, yes. But you also have to set it up per server you play on, which completely sucks, and also hope everyone is using the same program.
2. I don't care about a list of servers. I want the game to pick me a good server and get me going ASAP.
3. 50 players is indeed nice.
4. Graphics is going to depend heavily on the system. I doubt they're going to look as good on a $350 PC as on a 360.


RE: Hats off to Microsoft
By ImSpartacus on 4/25/2008 3:02:29 PM , Rating: 2
Well I don't know about you, but most people still need a computer for Email, school, etc. Therefore, you add the 350$ average console price plus 450-700$ for a meager PC and you have 800-1050$ for a decent gaming PC.

Even then, do you actually play games for the graphics?


RE: Hats off to Microsoft
By PAPutzback on 4/28/2008 9:24:48 AM , Rating: 1
There a huge difference in the performance needed to do word and email compared to play the latest game.

An old celeron will work fine for word and email. You need atleast a 2.5GHZ dual core and a 100+ video card to play cod or crysis at anything playable. And it would look no better than the 350 dollar 360. You need a hefty computer to make those games look good at 1680x1050 which is the mid range res for people buying lcd panels today.


RE: Hats off to Microsoft
By afkrotch on 4/28/2008 3:10:23 PM , Rating: 2
Let's not forget the HDTV to compliment the 360. Or a nice surround sound system. To fully enjoy either a PC or 360 will cost you more than $350.


RE: Hats off to Microsoft
By Reclaimer77 on 4/25/2008 2:35:28 PM , Rating: 5
quote:
1.) PC online multiplayer is FREE, along with CHAT programs.


Are there 7 million people playing COD4 at any given time ? I think World of Warcraft is proof enough that things being free don't always make them more compelling. And you pay far more for a year of WOW than Xbox Live.

No console is EVER going to be exactly like a PC. Your comparison is really unfair and just totally biased.


RE: Hats off to Microsoft
By Omega215D on 4/26/2008 2:58:56 AM , Rating: 2
With Gears of War MS ported Live to the PC and now they're supposed to be able to play against those on the XBOX. I wish I had the game to find out how it is.


RE: Hats off to Microsoft
By s3th2000 on 4/27/2008 7:40:48 AM , Rating: 2
It sucks unless u have Live! Gold membership. Even silver membership sux if ur in Aus, there are NO servers that are under 200ms ping...


RE: Hats off to Microsoft
By BansheeX on 4/25/2008 7:27:09 PM , Rating: 2
You give subtle differences that I don't care about and forget to mention the one that matters most which MS should not have neglected: mouse support. I have a PS3 and was a bigtime PC gamer before it, but let me give you some things PC sucks at:

1. Online cheating.
2. New API made exclusive to new OS to force upgrade, but the OS may suck (Vista/DX10)
3. Catch 22 slows development: gamers waiting for games to take advantage of new hardware before upgrading, developers wanting to get the largest number of sales and developing for low end hardware. Look at Starcraft 2 - it would have looked three times better if developed on a new console.
4. Video card specific bugs, drivers breaking old games
5. Larger and non-standard game packaging... still
6. More expensive for a smaller number of games


RE: Hats off to Microsoft
By SlyNine on 4/26/2008 12:11:02 AM , Rating: 2
Actually

1. I think most online cheating is due to lack of skill on the "victims" part , not to say it doesn't happen more on PC.

2. Name one game you need Vista for, and I'll give you ways around it. Not good enough for you, Name one Good NEW game that requires Vista. Or that even benefits from it.

3. Still plenty of good games out there. I find the PC has a better experience then Consoles, but hey you win some you loose some.

4. Haven't been a problem for me. I had to use a driver cleaner too run Crysis on an 1900XT but other then that so what. My Xbox360 broke and that was a WAY bigger inconvenience.

5. So I like the PC game cases.

6. Games are generally cheaper and their is a HELL OF ALOT more PC games then their are PS3, Xbox360, or Wii.

If you are talking about the price of a PC, well lets figure that you are going to get a PC anyways right, 300 for the PC and 300 dollars for the Console, you can buy a decent gaming PC for 600-700$. As far as how long it lasts, well it's a bit more expensive then the consoles but you have to figure that it lasts for generations with better graphics. My cousin has a 3000+ A64 and a 9700Pro, he can play a good game of Gears of War, at med settings at 800X600. He has 1 gig of memory. Cost him about 580$ before the Xbox360 even came out.

Does it cost more , yea maybe a bit but not much and their are 1000 more uses for it. For each their are positives and negatives.


RE: Hats off to Microsoft
By BansheeX on 4/26/2008 1:56:39 PM , Rating: 1
1. You're out of your mind. Cheating is rampant on the PC and nearly impossible on the 360 and PS3 due to the very nature of the locked down hardware and Live/PSN. Like I said, I was a PC gamer for years and years, played Counter-strike all the time. Cheaters would come into the room and just speed knife everyone, and it just ruined everything. Then you get the guys who use wallhacks and not aimbots to be less obvious. And I'm not talking false accusations based on frustration, either. Probably 90% of my accusations were accurate, I knew the game in and out. It was common and grows moreso as the game ages and hackers figure it out.

2. See #3, they're related. Why would a developer use the latest API when everyone is still on the older one? Why would a buyer go to the newer API when the developers are too scared to make games for the lowest audience?

3. PC gaming has turned into a low genre, penis comparison fest and SLI is a fucking joke. It has a ridiculously small number of exclusives now, and things like fighters and shmups and adventure games never show up for it due the lack of a standard and widely owned controller, which is superior to a keyboard for many genres.

4. Crysis isn't even an old game and you still had driver issues? LOL. AMD and NVidia have an impossible task in maintaining drivers for hundreds of different models going back for years with constantly changing featuresets and API support. Console development has ONE type of everything and treats gaming as an era. Far better direction for gaming, IMO. And look at how long it took the PC to accomplish what the PS2 did just by launching with the DVD media transition. There are STILL developers releasing onto multiple CD-ROMs, because they want the most sales (a CD-ROM will work on both a CD and DVD-ROM but a DVD will only work on a DVD-ROM drive).

5. You like PC logos differing depending on the maker? You like the pointlessly wide double sized dvd cases wasting shelf space? You like the companies like Bethesda and Blizzard using cheap non-durable cardboard.

6. Cumulatively? Even then, what did I say about old games not guaranteeing to work because they were written on old versions of Windows, and because AMD and Nvidia don't care about fixing issues if new driver releases break them. They only care about new games. DOS was completely abandoned for god's sake. Some guys had to write an emulator themselves for it.


RE: Hats off to Microsoft
By SlyNine on 4/27/2008 1:55:22 AM , Rating: 2
1. I play/played CS, Americas army, UT2004/ UT3/UT99, Age of empires 1&2&3, Supreme commander FA, Stalker, Crysis, Gears of War, Call of duty 4, Halo ,Fear combat and more. . I only run in to a few cheaters here and there. The worst was Americas army 1.7 But still its rare(except that horrid version). I did say their were less cheats on consoles but I have seen them so it definitely is possible.

2. You act as if DX9 has run its limits, May I remind you that both consoles have hardware that was originally designed for DX9. DX9 has alot of life left, Because of the performance issues for many with Vista we will probably see DX9 compatible titles coming for the next 2 years.

3. For now maybe, It does seem to be in decline but trends do change and I could see PC gaming coming back when these consoles reach 4 years old. It almost always happens, The same debate was waged when the PS2 came out.

4. Yea I had an easy to fix driver issue, that had nothing to do with the game. But for many people that almost never update their drivers they tend to play new games on way outdated drivers with not a lot of problems. Yes we know PCs are not all built equal but you act as if its just one problem after another, its not.

5. Yes I like my over sized cases with differing depending on the maker. Sue me.

6. I play tons of old games with NO driver issues. If you have a new driver break a game , then go back to the older driver. If you are a PC gamer then that should be second nature, I didn't say PC gaming was for every one.

Im not even mentioning the major plus side to PC's like mods and customizations/ optimizations. You like Consoles now, theirs not a problem with that. But I dont think PC gaming is going anywhere.


RE: Hats off to Microsoft
By DanoruX on 4/25/08, Rating: 0
RE: Hats off to Microsoft
By DanoruX on 4/26/08, Rating: 0