Microsoft in GTA IV Panic? Posted by XanTium | March 20 23:32 EST | News Category: Xbox360

From gameplayer.com.au: [QUOTE] It's not that simple: it's not even a question of which is the better console as it certainly looks like the Xbox 360 version will be the superior buy. It's because a large proportion of GTA's fans aren't traditional gamers. They're casual gamers who couldn't resist the style, flair and gameplay offered by Rockstar and added a GTA to their library of Need for Speed, SingStar and FIFA. And as such, millions of GTA fans are not up to speed on the console war thing. They don't care which format has the best games, offers the superior online service, or has the more proficient hardware. They see GTA, and they think PlayStation. We heard something the other day, a line of dialogue that must scare Microsoft to death. It came from the mouth of a twenty something electrician as he installed a car stereo for a mate. He said "I bought my PS3 to play GTA IV". That wasn't the comment of a fanboy, or an educated decision by a gaming enthusiast who had weighed up all the pros and cons of the two systems: it was simply all he knew. There was a GTA coming out, so he went and bought a PlayStation. Microsoft is desperate to change that mentality, but what started as a broad plan has seemingly deteriorated into panic. [/QUOTE] Full Story: gameplayer.com.au (3 pages)

So one person says "I bought my PS3 to play GTA IV" and MS is in a "panic". Sounds pretty sensationalist to me.

MS is doing fine and I think the success of the 360 (excluding hardware issues) thus far has had Sony in a "panic" more than once.

Exactly what I was thinking. I don't understand how this ended up on a front page.

Where in this story points to MS in a panic? It sounds like a made up assumption. Wow, he has 1 person he heard buying GTA IV for the PS3. I know many former PS2 owners that have moved to 360 because all their friends have and they are all getting it for the 360. Maybe Sony is in a panic?

MS has been orchestrating the GTAIV release since last year when it was supposed to come out until the PS3 and Sony rolled in and screwed that all up( http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/12709.cfm ). MS paid 50mil because they knew this would be a big release and that it has been primarily a Playstation franchise but just like MGS was a Nintendo franchise and now is identified with Playstation, MS is attempting to do the same.

No offence, but as a frequent user who likes to read the articles and forum posts, lately the content is to be blunt, crap.

I want to read 'real' news about the xbox and its hardware and so on, not stories that a 12yr old can write and are full of biased opinions without truth or facts.

Proficient \Pro*fi"cient\, n. [L. proficiens, -entis, p. pr. of
proficere to go forward, make progress; pro forward + facere
to make. See Fact, and cf. Profit, (?)]
One who has made considerable advances in any business, art,
science, or branch of learning; an expert; an adept; as,
proficient in a trade; a proficient in mathematics, music,
etc.
[1913 Webster]

There is no real news as nothing new has happened lately. M$ have not made any new changes to the console to hardware and the hacking scene is either hitting brickwalls or just keeping quiet. The firmware mods seem to have satisfied a lot of people. No company is panicking as they are doing just fine....

Maybe if you RTFA instead of just the summary you would get it, the fact that the link says the article is 3 PAGES should have tipped you off that this is more than just an account of something this guy overheard... it's explained quite well and I tend to agree with his points.

I read through all 3 pages of the source article and I have to say - his conclusions are weak. He makes jumps in reasoning without backing it up with hard statistics. This *IS* news....from the rumor mill.

It's not news, and it's not rumor and it never claimed to be either... it's speculation based on marketing tactics.

you can get all of this right from the title of the article... which ends in a "?"

He speculates that GTAIV will be one of the most important titles in deciding the console war winner... then he shows things MS has done to try to ensure that GTAIV swings in their favor, and then theorizes why it might not work.

I guess I don't see what's wrong with this article, nor what's wrong with XS linking to it. It's pretty well written and doesn't try to pretend to be something it's not (though everyone else seems to be doing a good job of taking it the wrong way).

it's certainly better than the rumors/"news" based off of a single out of context sentence that someone heard that some exec said at some conference and then reads into it way too deeply. this is blatantly an opinion piece and displays itself as such.

Simple. It's lame.

Uh that guy probably don't know what a 360 is lol. Oh well his loss on the exclusive content.

hmmm, still I agree that MS should act a little bit harder and use this release to get more momentum over sony.

First they should lower there prices now (in the USA that is). Second, they should start a new marketing campaign where the focus lies on GTA4. Third, they should make a bundle with GTA4 for 300 dollars (premium). Maybe even a bundle with the arcade version.

You will sell you xbox360 guaranteed for months.

Looks like Xbox-Scene is in "Panic" for good news.

obviously this isnt a problem in the uk, on all the games websites, the pre-order charts have GTA IV for the 360 right at the top, then a few steps down for the PS3.

In fact, for fear of sounding like a fanboy, this is always the case with a x-plat games here, in the pre-order and top sellers charts the 360 version is always higher than the ps3.

Obviously this may be due to installed fan base, but that surely means that they have nothing to worry about.

And personally, i hear GTA, i think Rockstar, but hey, thats just me.

Of course everything is rumour and speculation, and i guess we will find out on april 29th

This isn't entirely inaccurate. Casual gamers don't really keep up with the scene, so how are they supposed to know? It's only natural that a game that hit the PlayStation first will lead many to believe that's what they have to buy it on. Hell, I was in EBGames yesterday and some mom asked the sales clerk for Pokemon on the PS2, so they really have no clue. It'd be the same story if Halo became a multiplatform title.

ok this whole "console winner" bullshit talk is getting tired. What will make a console a "winner"? Do people think it will be like a blue-ray - hd-dvd type winner? where one will just shut down shop? cause that aint gonna happen in either case. Christ its getting fucking lame with all these comparisons by people i could give 2 fucks about their opinion and the best part is people who listen to that opinion, how bout this THINK FOR YOURSELF and form your OWN OPINIONS. If you like one system better than the other great for you, no one cares.

LOL. While the author does bring up some good points in the article, it becomes clear by the end of it how biased he really is.

Sure MS shelled out a lot of cash for episodic content. You can argue that MS did this to anticipate the PS3 version would outsell the 360 version. Stupid? Hardly. Desperate? Possibly. In the end, it does give 360 owners a "better experience". I'm not sure if the content is a timed exclusive or EXCLUSIVE exclusive.

Dropping the price, of the 360? Why not? If MS can do it without taking a loss, good for them. To succeed over your competition, pricing and timing is key. I think the Aussie's a little bitter the $50 price drop hasn't hit Australia yet.

The average consumer is an idiot - they don't research enough and then complain when they get a shitty deal in the end. The informed consumer does the complete opposite - they research and research and only make a purchase when the price is right.

You know that's going to happen this time around when PS3fanboy owners who don't look outside of they're little box realize the 360 has more content and thus... getting more than what they paid for. It's arrogant for SONY to say.. you know... the GTA series is tied to our brand so we won't do anything to make sure it sells more on our platform. The fact remains the last GTA game sold equally on both the PS2 and XBOX consoles. The only way to tip the scales this time around is to either market the hell out of it, or offer the gamer a better experience. I'll take the 500 MS points too thanks!

As for casual gamers... aren't they all on the Wii playing Major League Eating?

If the person said "I bought my PS3 to play GTA IV" to me. I would say back "You know the game is also coming for 360, at the same time right? And that the 360 is going to have EXCLUSIVE Downloadable Content."

Then he be like, "Oh crap! I guess I'll go return my PS3 to walmart, and say its broke and want a refund. (I work at walmart, people do this WAY to much)"

Or you just tell him he could have gotten the 360 and the game for at least 120 less if he bought the arcade pack ( which is perfect for casual gamers)

Honestly I read the article and I tend to disagree with his theories on things, sure there are going to be some people that don't know better. However the average consumer has been hearing about the console war for some time now.

He just seems to go from one angle, then keep piling it on from there. I think Microsoft will still win out in all of this. They are already raking in more money than the others combined from attachments.

Where do you get that. It's not correct across the board mate.
See Here

OMG who cares if people buy a PS3 for GTA? It will be just as good on any system and at least they will be getting a more future proof console at the same time.

Why should someone who is only going to be buying one game consider the 360 anyway? These are people that will likely enjoy their console as a blu-ray player than a console.

i dont know all the facts etc etc

but it does seem to make atleast some sense that when people heard GTA they think Playstation cause it's been a playstation exclusive (or at least they get it first) for ages up until now.... so it seems to make sense that there has to be a decent percentage of people who will get a PS3 just cause of GTA4.

p.s. main games im waiting for (ON PC!) are Hitman5/MAFIA 2/GTA4 .... other than that there's no games i really care about off the top of my head.... o yeah, maybe Rainbow Six VEGAS 2 ... and since MAFIA (ON PC) was one of my favorite single player games ever i cant wait for MAFIA 2

Great argument...

We don't all read the sodding articles that XS links to mate! I read the summary and if it looks interesting then I click through, simple.

This did not look interesting, it looked like the scrawlings of a retarded 12 year old who didn't know what he was talking about and making ASSUMPTIONS that are based on his own way of thinking, thinking which he seemed like an idiot and unknowledgeable.

Sorry, but that is a crap article and XS shouldn't be posting it if people are going to take it the wrong way.

An article, yes even the summary, should be written FOR THE BLOODY READER!

Its not our problem if we come to the wrong conclusion, from reading this thread it seems quite a lot of "normal" people came to the same conclusion I did.

I blame XS, they should have known better, but from the junk that gets posted these days....I'm not surprised.




Hang on a minuite, PS2 has historically got GTA games first yeah, we know that.

But what about the "casual gamer"? The people the article is specifically talking about! The way the article is written, I use the term article loosely. You would think the "casual gamer" wouldn't know this...

The reality is that we're not quite at the stage where there is such a thing as a "casual gamer" for a console that costs more than £250-£300. I don't know anyone who owns a games console and doesn't have some pretty good idea of whats coming out on what console etc.

The "article" is null & void, its also written in Australia. I don't know if you've spent time there (which I have) then you'd know that their whole culture on games etc is completely different. (i.e, they don't really play them, except the geeks)

Still XS fault for linking to it.

(from "article")

....Yes, in australia...Who does this dick think he is? Everyone connects their console to xbox live...

Does he know how many people are connected to Xbox 360s live service? How many consoles sold?

Its about 2\3.

Now, how many people who own a 360 are casual gamers? There will be a lot more of them than any other type of gamer (believe it or not)...

Do the sums, this guy is a prick who makes assumptions on his limited arrogant knowledge based in a country that well....its only got 20 million people in and what would he know about statistics when that country doesn't even have any accurate trackable statistics on consoles...he obviously hasn't even looked at any...

I would hazard a guess that he wrote this whole article based on "something he heard while HE was installing the bloody radio" - twat

i did say games websites, as opposed to entertainment media websites, i probably didnt make that clear enough.

http://www.gameplay.co.uk/
http://www.game.co.uk/

my point is that sales will be pretty equal between the 2 consoles, i dodnt think that many people will specifically associate GTA with playstation anymore.

Yes it is across the board

Only the ignorant and the stupidly rich shop at HMV online and instore, unless they're doing one of their voucher promotions...

Go check out a real website

http://www.play.com
http://www.game.co.uk
http://www.gameplay.co.uk

I guess the reason they dropped the limited edition GTA 360 is a marketing campaign to make people aware. But this is not a problem with GTA, it's a problem with all games. A lot of people were surprised to see Katamari only appear on the 360, and when they think of other big franchises like MGS and Final Fantasy, people think about PlayStation because it's what made them famous too. Don't forget these games have been exclusive to PS for a long time, and even when some of them did appear on XBox it wasn't until a long time after. Even MGS3 didn't go to XBox right away. And the big things is a lot of people are still using PS2 or were still using it until recently, and were just waiting for the PS3 to have these games to go out and get them, and they probably think even if there's going to be a 360 version of GTA, that's not the only game they want to get. Still at the same time, why worry about the casual gamers? Most of them are just going to get a Wii anyway.

Also I'm really confused though as to why they say there's no question the 360 version will be superior... Rockstar said they had problems with the 360's limitations... plus look at Bully.

heh i think ms is exaggerating to much its one person but then again its true a lot of people in the past have known gta mostly for playstation but alot of people through this gen have have switched to 360 a lot of my friends did and they were so sure they were getting a ps3 and i couldn't believe it b 4 i knew it there on xbox live saying "yo man i decided i will go with 360" and yet they enjoy it to which is cool

Holy crap, where to start. Let's start here.

"Microsoft is shitting itself. The console war has been raging hard for over two years, and it is all set to come to a head on April 29th. The day GTA IV releases. At that moment Microsoft could lose the fight… and they know it!"

By the end of the first paragraph I knew this guy was an idiot. This is Microsoft we're talking about here. This is the company that convinced people to buy Windows 95 that didn't have a computer. This is the company that convinced people to buy Vista. I don't think Microsoft is worried about anything.

On a side note, has the PS3 been out for two years already?

"GTA and Sony helped each other become the biggest game series and biggest console in the world. "

Flaming sony fanboy. How can everyone forget that Nintendo is in the console war? Nintendo kicked the living crap out of both Sony and Microsoft. (Plus Microsoft has been doing well for themselves compared to the PS3 so far). If Halo3 didn't win the war for Microsoft already, GTAIV isn't going to do anything ether.

"They’ve got a much better way of ensuring that the millions of casual gamers that fell in love with their brand last generation remain true to their cause. Free online for everyone, and a deal where you get one of those new-fangled HD Sony Bravia TVs with your PS3."

On second thought I may get a PS3 for GTAIV. If I can get another HD TV by just buying a PS3... I know that's at best twisting the truth or at worst an out rite fabrication. And free online? That hasn't been winning too many gamers so far.

Most casual gamers already have their system. It's called the Wii.

On one file note:

" In fact, since the price-drop the console has been selling quite well we are told, with reports of a 40% increase in sales. There’s nothing like an opportunity to save a bit of cash to lure those in the cheap seats. "

First, I don't think xbox fans like to be called cheap and second, Sony could do the same thing. $400 + $60 for system and game or $280 +$60 for system and game (with a possible price drop)?

I purchase from HMV when I am in the white rose. Nothing wrong with it as a store and they sell as much in the way of games as everything else. Your comment could easily apply to the rip off place that Game is as well.
Only the ignorant say "It is across the board when it clearly is not. That was just one place I had in my favourites but it only needs to be one place, there will be others. So It is not across the board.
Oh and about your other lame comments. If you don't wish to read the full news post that is fine but don't count yourself as more qualified to comment than TS who actually did read the whole thing.

One thing I do agree with you on is, all this tit for tat war and who beats who shit. It is getting terminally boring.
the way GTA is being hyped you would think it was going to be the greatest thing ever. It won't be not on any console, unless you like to pretend to be a gangsta

who doesnt? fo' sho!

I have pre ordered it (I am not a gangsta honest) but I don't count it as a must buy game. It's for the kids to play.......honestly

me neither, but for some reason i am obsessed with spending excess amounts of money on special editions *sigh*

If it wasn't for special editions, I'd own only games I thought were great....

i have talked to at least 5 people that have thought GTA4 was a PS3 exclusive. and moreover, they argued with me about it until i showed them numerous articles and other info to prove that it will indeed be on the 360 and released at the same time as the ps3. so, i'd say it's true when the average person thinks GTA, they think PlayStation.

MS in panic? are you kidding me? what a completely sensationalistic marketing PR ploy that this game could decide the fate of anything. GTA, even across both consoles, won't sell more than H3 did and that was a 360 exclusive.

wow, what a completely ignorant author...

if ya need proof, this quote had me laughing so hard i was almost in tears..."Your casual gaming fan probably won’t even connect their console to the Net, and just as few will even have a basic understanding of the concept of DLC, or episodic content." really, won't connect to the internet, huh? amazing...

this is even better...

he goes on to bash MS's marketing attractions to the game with some free MS points and a console price drop and then praises Sony for attracting their customers with "Free online for everyone, and a deal where you get one of those new-fangled HD Sony Bravia TVs with your PS3." really, they are giving away HD TVs with PS3s now? this is the worst biased, illogical, and ridiculous claims i have heard in a long time. i don't like to use the term too often, but this author truly defines the word "idiot."

SONY in HALO 3 Panic?



Here's a Hanky.

This article has written PS Fanboy all over it.

People are going to buy the console that are in th shop, with the title that says "big GTA 4 bundle! for 199 €"

That's sort of the point. The casual gamer is someone who doesn't know any better, like the people who would buy at stores such as HMV

exactly my point...that sounds just as ridiculous as this article's intended thoughts...and GTA will be a smaller blip on the gaming radar...

Microsoft isn't what it used to be. The stock has been stagnant for years, which has the company VERY WORRIED, hence the huge push to try to compete in the console arena to begin with. Vista sales are FAR BELOW expectations, and it is considered such a failure by the company there is wide speculation that they will be releasing a successor as early as next year. Don't mistake sales number for Vista as a success story, almost all sales of Vista come from OEM installations - which they would have gotten with any OS - including XP. Retail sales have been pitiful - and those are the sales where Microsoft earns the most profit when they get people to pay them twice by upgrading to a new OS.




Well, I'm no fanboy, but considering the fact that I own 4 Xbox's, 1 Dream-X 1480 - 3 Xbox 360 Premiums and 1 Elite - and only 1 PS3 and 1 Wii, I can hardly be considered as biased against Microsoft.

People don't consider Nintendo because it's a market unto itself, and it doesn't really compete directly with either console. The market for the PS3 and the Xbox is directly competitive - and the fact that Halo 3 DID NOT boost sales of the console very much is a huge problem for Microsoft.

Remember, Microsoft has always publicly stated that they felt that they lost the previous console war because Sony had a 1 year head start on them. Well, for this generation instead of starting out against a formidable opponent with a 1 year head start they launched with a year all to themselves. They had a great lineup with a ton of exclusives, not the least of which was Halo 3. What did that get them? At this point of it's life the original Xbox had sold roughly 14.5 million units. The Xbox 360 has only moved 17.5 million units in the same timeframe. That is EXTREMELY telling, considering the head start, the huge price advantage they have over the PS3 and the complete lack of quality titles that Sony had in the past. That's not fanboyism, that's reality.



Sony has moved a lot of consoles by bundling them with Bravia TVs, not the reverse.



And the PS2, which continues to outsell all current gen systems, but they will all upgrade someday - including Wii owners. The fight is for which system those people upgrade to, and it will eventually be a PS3 or an Xbox 360.

On one file note:



Don't get offended by the terminology, the 'Cheap Seats' are the most coveted market for all console makers - that's the mass market, and that's where the real money is, since no matter what you pay for your console - you will still be buying the high margin games which is where they all make their profit from.

The trend is not good for Microsoft. Trust me on this, there will be new bundles offering MUCH better value from Microsoft VERY SOON. They need to do it, and they know it. I just hope they don't wait too long - because momentum is very hard to reverse once it gets going.

Thats the thing though, casual gamers don't really exist! There's people who simply don't like any computer games - they won't buy it, you know the type that might have a quick go on the wii at a mates house after coming back from the pub...

Then there's the "gamer" - plays games all the time and could be a sony\ms biased goon (could be!)

Then there's the "jaded gamer" - people who have been going since the master system\nes or earlier and don't really care about "who wins" but they know whats going on and when a big titles is coming out...

There simply isn't such thing as "the casual gamer" anymore, I don't think there ever was!

i dont think very many people still think gta = sony the xbox only has had it for years now. now they might still think its still going to hit sony first then evently make its way to the 360 like all the xbox releases in the past. of course this time thats not the case.

agreed thow if m$ whants gta iv to sell like crazy on the 360 cut the price like today in the usa to increase your pickup rate and combine with gta 4 you have a huge seller.

on the side of sony gta 4 is pretty mutch weather the ps3 is gonna survive as a decent gaming console or just a cheap blueray player.

I really doubt that Microsoft ever intended to break even when they paid out all that cash to get GTA 4 on the 360... afterall the 360 console doesn't make anything at current price points and games only pay out what $5+ each in licensing fees.

They just wanted to bring the brand over to the Xbox so it wouldn't be a Sony exclusive.. I read that article over from start to finish and almost the entire article is based on the writers own opinion.. Sure it's true Microsoft seems to be going out of its way to make the 360 version a bigger bang for your buck but thats called being competitive and I'll bet they've made some pretty big media buys coming up on the release date to educate people that its coming out for both systems..

I think MS will write this one off as a win even if they lose in sales to the PS3 because by the time GTA 5 and up come along peoples perception will have changed from auto buying a sony product... The person who wrote the article simply look at this release but theres a much bigger picture here

hey maybe they should send 500 more 360s

There are over 120 millions PS2s out there, and considering that even now it is STILL outselling the PS3 AND the Xbox 360 who do you suppose is buying them? The casual gamer is the young child, or the parent or grandparent that buys games for them without knowing anything other than what the salesperson recommends. It is the vast majority of the market.

I really wish there was some kind of viable homebrew scene on the 360. If nothing else, people would have something better to do that read and argue over some moron written piece of console war drivel.

Certainly the 360's price should give Microsoft an edge. Why pay 200 dollars more to play the same game at the same quality? MS should try to push that.

^And yeah, homebrew does seem a bit overdue. How quickly was the original xbox made to run homebrew?