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It's the battle of the financial stats once again! Just moments after Sony released their big numbers, Microsoft countered with an even more impressive set. We are expecting Nintendo to drop a big bombshell at one point as well (or maybe not). Read on for the full release. Microsoft just also announced their fiscal year 2004 earnings, and a few things are abundantly clear: This is the year of the Xbox, and we are just hitting our stride. Microsoft had a breakthrough year for Xbox, driven by continual innovation in games and the undisputed premier online gaming service, Xbox Live. We closed out the fiscal year successfully reaching our cumulative worldwide shipment goal of 15.5 million consoles since launch - at the high end of our 14.5 - 16 million forecasted range The regional shipment breakout is North America - 10.1 million; EMEA - 3.9 million; and Asia Pacific - 1.5 million. Moving into the next fiscal year, we are targeting a worldwide cumulative shipment goal in excess of 20 million consoles, as more mainstream consumers have come to realize that Xbox delivers on the promise of an unrivaled, incredible gaming experience. June NPD numbers reinforce that Xbox success is continuing, while competitive consoles' lifecycles continue to taper off. - Xbox was the only system to see year-over-year unit growth for June in both console hardware and software sales. Xbox console unit sales grew 55 percent while Xbox software units were up 69 percent.
- Market share for Xbox has increased 10 points from June 2003 (23 percent) to June 2004 (33 percent) in the United States: this is the eighth consecutive month that Xbox has grown its market share year-over-year.
- Xbox continues to lead the industry with a 6.9 software attach rate for June (7.8 with retail bundled games), the highest cumulative attach rate of any console at this point in the lifecycle. Halfway through 2004, Xbox continues to be the only system growing year-over-year, as console sales were up an amazing 45 percent, while PlayStation 2 sales are down 21 percent for the same time period.
- On the software side, Xbox continues to outpace the competition, as year to date 2004 software sales for the platform are up 56 percent year-over-year, as compared to PlayStation 2 software sales, which have dropped 3 percent this year.
The most recent NPD data culminates an already great year. Let's look at highlights for this past fiscal year: - After the price move to $149 in March, Xbox console sales grew an impressive 135 percent in April and represented the number one selling console in the U.S. with a market share of 51 percent. This represents the first time ever that Sony has been knocked off the leader board by another console in this generation.
- "Halo" surpassed four million units sold worldwide in December.
- Xbox maintained the highest cumulative software attach rate of any console at this point in its lifecycle.
- In the first half of 2004, three Xbox exclusives launched from three different third party partners heralded immediate success:
- Tecmo's "Ninja Gaiden" was the number one title across all platforms in March and the second best selling Xbox title this year.
- UbiSoft's "Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow" broke into the top five games across all platforms in March with less than two weeks of sales and is the third best selling Xbox title this year.
- "Full Spectrum Warrior" from THQ, debuted as number two best selling title in June across all platforms.
One Million Strong and Growing Last week, Microsoft announced that Xbox Live, as expected, has broken the 1 million member mark. To further reinforce online gameplay's broad appeal, Xbox Live reached the million-member mark three times faster than other subscriber-based entertainment services such as HBO, America Online and TiVo. By the end of next year, we are forecasting at least 50 percent growth of the service, reaching more than 1.5 million members. Contrary to claims made by early skeptics, online gaming has become an important pillar in the digital entertainment landscape. Let the numbers speak for themselves: - Players in 24 countries have spent more than 160 million hours (or 20,000 years) playing Xbox Live.
- Members are playing an average of 265,549 hours every day.
- More than 100 game titles from a host of top publishers including Electronic Arts Inc., Microsoft Game Studios, THQ and Ubisoft Entertainment are playable on Xbox Live, and the number is expected to rise to 150 by the end of the calendar year.
- Players have logged more than 220 million online sessions, an average of 10.5 million sessions per month.
- More than 200 pieces of downloadable content are currently available to expand and enhance already great games, including new levels, new characters, new multiplayer modes and updated sports rosters.
- The top cities worldwide boasting the most Xbox Live members are; Calgary, Alberta, Canada Chicago; Houston; Las Vegas; London; Los Angeles; Miami; New York;; San Antonio; San Diego; Seoul, Korea; Seattle; Tokyo; and Toronto.
Last week also marked the debut of "NCAA Football 2005," the first EA SPORTS game to launch on Xbox Live. The game joins an already impressive Xbox Live portfolio that includes UbiSoft's "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow," "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3" and Microsoft Game Studios' "Project Gotham Racing 2," "MechAssault" and "Counter-Strike." The Heat is Rising Why is Xbox continuing to lead the industry in 2004 while others are announcing the end of their current hardware's life cycle with next generation console announcements? The answer is exceptional, world-class content. Xbox was well-represented in the June NPD software charts, as four of the Top 10 titles across all systems were on Xbox and three titles Xbox-exclusive. Exclusive to Xbox, THQ's "Full Spectrum Warrior" and Vivendi Universal Games' "Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay." "Full Spectrum Warrior," an Xbox Live-enabled title, received an average of 84 percent according to GameRankings.com (www.gamerankings.com) while "Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay" has received a 90.5 percent rating average among product reviews. They were joined by Activision's "Spider-Man 2" and Microsoft Game Studios' "Halo." We have even bigger things in store for the next twelve months, with the release of Bungie Studios' "Halo 2," the most anticipated video game of any platform. Since its launch in 2001, the "Halo" franchise has become the top-selling game in Xbox history and has become a pop culture icon, synonymous with the meteoric rise in popularity of videogames with mainstream audiences. November 9 doesn't just mark the launch of a blockbuster videogame. It marks a new, exciting chapter in digital entertainment. Microsoft Game Studios' role playing game, "Sudeki," is just hitting store shelves this week. "Sudeki" breaks the mold of traditional console role playing games with fast-paced, cinematic real-time battles. Gamers can step into the shoes of a band of four fierce heroes: a beautiful and deadly sorceress, a steam-punk gunslinger, a powerful man-at-arms and a dark huntress to battle legions of monsters with dozens of moves, earth-shattering spells and hundreds of destructive melee and ranged weapons. And coming in September is "Fable," the highly anticipated role playing game from renowned developer Peter Molyneux and Big Blue Box. "Fable," which was nominated for the Game Critics Awards: Best of E3 2004 "Best Role Playing Game" category, places the hero's destiny in the hands of the gamer: will they be good, evil or something in between? Players nurture a living legend from childhood in a breathtaking, expansive interactive world with the power of Xbox. Additionally, UbiSoft has just announced the next installment of the legendary "Splinter Cell" franchise will be called "Splinter Cell Chaos Theory" and will be available on Xbox this holiday. "Splinter Cell Chaos Theory" introduces a completely new gameplay experience that showcases a totally open level design, immersive and interactive environments and even more intelligent and dangerous AI enemies. This past twelve months, we've led the games industry with innovation in online services and game content. During the next twelve months, we plan on transforming innovation into market leadership. We're looking forward to the unprecedented growth not only for Xbox success, but also for the games industry because it is red hot.
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