Rumor: Australian retailers consider the 360 dead [Update 2]

by Terrence Stasse { Apr 6th 2008 at 10:00PM }

Update 2: According to iTWire, Microsoft has denied the Smarthouse article, which claimed that the Xbox 360 was "dead" in Australia. Mariana Cidade, PR Manager of the entertainment and devices division for Microsoft Australia, noted that over 2 million pieces of Xbox 360 software have been sold in Australia and New Zealand, which is "nearly double [the Xbox 360's] next-gen competitors combined." Also noted was the Xbox 360's attach rate of 7 games per console in Australia, hardly the kind of sales garnered by a dead console. The data comes from GFK, a market research firm, and puts something of a damper on Smarthouse's already dubious (and anonymous) claims. Find our original post after the break.

Update: Added a link to the original Smarthouse article.

According to a recent news channel survey of 10 different Australian video games retailers (with over 2000 stores spread across the continent): "The Xbox 360 is dead. We are stocking it because of our relationship with Microsoft ..." If that's not a big statement to you, just wait, we've got more. The same retailer claims that the other two consoles are succeeding due to the appeal to children/women, and Blu-ray, respectively. They think the 360 brand can't really be redeemed after the RROD, and that the value proposition offered by Microsoft did not seem equal in comparison to the competition.

Furthermore, the Australian retailers are considering dropping the console from stores entirely: "We are stocking it because of our relationship with Microsoft, however all our energy and marketing is going into the PS3 and the Nintendo Wii unless Microsoft come up with something new or additional marketing dollars,." "Halo 3 was big on the Xbox but that was about it." "They have tried discounting and value add offers and even that is not working. We are even thinking of dumping the console all together."

Tags: australia, hardware, land-down-under, microsoft, xbox-360

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Miguel @ Apr 6th 2008 10:28PM

tell them Australians to go try out call of duty 4.

Jake @ Apr 7th 2008 3:48AM

Yep, it's pretty cool and PS3, better and cheaper than the 360 version.

Darko @ Apr 7th 2008 7:17AM

Yea... the 360 is dead .... *laughs* Take a look at the sales charts(AU)

Xbox360: 345,000
PS3: 200,000

cumulative sales:
http://vgchartz.com/hwcomps.php?cons1=Wii®1=Australia&cons2=PS3®2=Australia&cons3=X360®3=Australia&start=39173&end=39537&weekly=1

The non cumulative don't look as nice but it doesn't spell death for the 360. I don't think out pacing the 360 by 800 consoles for one week of one month is a defeat.

http://vgchartz.com/hwcomps.php?cons1=Wii®1=Australia&cons2=PS3®2=Australia&cons3=X360®3=Australia&start=39173&end=39537

I say pull this shit news for inaccuracy and stupidity.

James @ Apr 7th 2008 1:42PM

Yeah, I play late at night every once in a while and every time Aussies are playing, so it must not be doing THAT badly. It's more likely to run into someone from Australia playing xbox live than say Bulgaria or something.

Daniel @ Apr 6th 2008 10:29PM

^ it's on PS3 :P

Wow, they make some great points but they are being a bit harsh...

mcwattersm @ Apr 6th 2008 10:30PM

I took me a good 10 minutes to figure out what the hell Italy was doing in Australia. Nice touch.

SadisticHam @ Apr 6th 2008 10:33PM

XD

Made me laugh, rough for MS. Deserve it though they rather screwed australia on a lot. :$

SharpBlade @ Apr 6th 2008 10:37PM

Anybody get their Dualshock 3 yet?

Since this site is PS3fanboy I thought we might as well start discussing PS3 related news..

Oh wait, this is 360fanboy you could of fooled me.

Btw - An unknown/anonymous source tells me that 360fanboy will be closing it's doors as of June 1 2008. This site is just not popular and a recent internet survey conducted by asshat TV said people just don't find anything appealing about the 360 news being delivered.

See how easy that is?

This is nothing but FUD!

PeterF @ Apr 6th 2008 11:08PM

Um, this article is about the 360, and this site is about 360s...

anton @ Apr 7th 2008 12:33AM

@ PeterF:

Have you visited PS3Fanboy? Last year it's articles were almost all about how much the 360 sucked.

RE: the article.
I think we're seeing massive sales in the PS3 not because people want it more as a console, but because they want it as a BluRay player. Until recently it cost $1000 to get a PS3, and no one was buying them. Now they're a more reasonable $600 (although you'll still need around $150 more to the most out of it). Of course, we only have the 40gb, so no BC for us.

I'd be interesting at seeing connect rates / game sales.

In the words of the local Gametrader's owner when I bought my PS3 - "Why on earth are you buying /THAT/?" - to which I answered "meh? I have all the other consoles".

Roto13 @ Apr 7th 2008 6:00AM

The title is misleading. You see, these people are journalists, not raving fanboys like you. If something happens that will make Xbots cry, they're obligated to report it.

mike @ Apr 7th 2008 12:03PM

i know 2 friends who bought a ps3 only as a blu-ray player. If the good stand alone blu-ray players on the market where cheaper priced and didnt have changing specs all the time, the ps3 would be selling way crapier then it already is. The games just blow on the ps3, plain and simple. We as gamers have evolved, American games are now fun, unlike in the ps2 days where it was almost all about the japanese games. Unless the ps3 adopts more american/european games, its never gonna succeed outside of japan.

Bravo6 @ Apr 6th 2008 10:46PM

ouch

Disco Ball @ Apr 6th 2008 10:46PM

worst news story evar?!

Davis @ Apr 6th 2008 10:49PM

Wait I'm retarded. What is "Italy" doing there?

mcwattersm @ Apr 6th 2008 11:58PM

Kicking the Xbox symbol away!

Zach @ Apr 6th 2008 10:52PM

FUCKING KANGAROOS!!!!!!

Dean @ Apr 10th 2008 11:34AM

LOL smartass

Xav de Matos @ Apr 6th 2008 10:57PM

Dammit! What will Microsoft do without Austria's support?!

Wait. What country are we talking about?

John @ Apr 7th 2008 1:01PM

That'd be "Australia", numb nuts!

luigi @ Apr 6th 2008 11:02PM

Speaking as an Australian who works in retail I can say that this is a load of rubbish, We still sell plenty of 360s and as with most countries (except Japan) 360 software sales are way up on all competitors.

Nick @ Apr 7th 2008 5:01AM

Might want to check your facts again. Wii and PS3 are beating the 360 in Europe. Same goes for Japan. If things are turning sour for MS in Australia, then there goes another market. They without doubt have a stranglehold on the US though at the moment. 10 years ago this would have been a big problem. But today the US market is beating Japan in sales and margins. And that might be enough to win out in the end, even if the rest of the world is going a different direction.

Matt @ Apr 6th 2008 11:08PM

Yeah, this is bull unless we actually get some numbers and some info on WHO said it and WHAT stores specifically are thinking of dropping it.

*NEWS FLASH*NEWS FLASH*
Sony is closing it's doors because Wii sales are too high. "They just raped us...we couldn't take it," one un-named high level Sony executive was quoted as saying. "Raped us good and hard."

This is non-news.

Terrence Stasse @ Apr 6th 2008 11:49PM

No one made up anything.

Follow the link.
http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Gaming/Industry/X7T4A4P6

Matt @ Apr 7th 2008 12:29AM

I wasn't trying to imply that YOU fabricated anything. When you read the original article, ask yourself, "WHAT retailers is he talking about, WHO made these statements (specifically) about the 360 being "dead" and why do we care what he has to say?" It just says a Melbourne retailer. Well I've worked retail. So did that make me privy to some super-secret sales numbers that no one else knew? No. And the whole second part of the story is just Sony saying "Man, we're really stoked!!"

Where are the numbers that actually show the 360 seriously suffering in Australia compared to the PS3 and Wii? If they exist, then great! There is a story! But this is just unnamed people making stupid claims about what they THINK buyers want. It's based on a SURVEY of ten retailers operate 2,000 stores. Notice it doesn't say that they actually polled all 2,000 stores. Is there a link to the actual data?

I'm not trying to bash your POST, I'm saying the STORY is bogus and half-assed. The story is just link pandering.

Xav's boyfriend @ Apr 6th 2008 11:10PM

Xav you're such a fag.

BillyJoe @ Apr 6th 2008 11:21PM

Who said what?

Xav de Matos @ Apr 6th 2008 11:51PM

Someone should probably google how IP's work.

cdog @ Apr 6th 2008 11:52PM

This story is teh bollocks

David @ Apr 7th 2008 12:09AM

That's why New Zealanders are much cooler.

stinger503 @ Apr 7th 2008 12:26AM

Anybody actually look into this? The entire site seems biased. Not to mention David Richards the author, who last year made this article titled "Why The Xbox 360 Failed" with "anonymous" asian manufacturers. Shoddy website at best.

Tony @ Apr 7th 2008 1:11AM

Yeah, I'd kind of like to hear more about that too. A lot of places are just popping this news up, which is great, but it would be nice to see some sort of commentary on how trustworthy this is.

stinger503 @ Apr 7th 2008 1:16AM

Also if this site is so trustworthy than why not make the new article about Microsoft drive production companies making Blu-Ray drives for the next generation of Xbox a headline?

Paul @ Apr 7th 2008 12:46AM

Hmmm, you know now that you mention it i do see alot more advertisments for PS#'s & Wii's than i do for 360.

Whatever...I'll just buy my games brand new online for $30 less like i always do.

Deck @ Apr 7th 2008 12:51AM

Roflz. This is full lulz.

MDJ2010 @ Apr 7th 2008 1:03AM

I love my 360, I could genuinely care less whether another country is enjoying it or not. Im just off to throw another shrimp on the barby.

Stephen @ Apr 7th 2008 1:11AM

I wonder what the customers think, I've ran into a lot of Aussies on Xbox Live so what the hell are the retailers talking about?

Tony @ Apr 7th 2008 1:12AM

Personally, I don't know what to think, but at the same time as long as developers continue to find a reason to put games on it where I live I can survive. That doesn't appear to be stopping.

I don't know much about the sales charts there, so beyond that I can't really say too much myself.

Either way, I've never understood Australia's love affair with Nintendo considering how horribly their local groups their treat their customers... the prices and delays are insane, far worse than Europe ever has to deal with.

Also, I get the image. It's getting the "boot". Italy looks like a boot. Clever lol.

bigedd5000 @ Apr 7th 2008 1:57AM

personally i am a hardcore 360 fanboy, and i could careless if Australians like it or not!!!!!!!!!!!

Shane @ Apr 7th 2008 3:45AM

ok i live in aus and i can tell u one thing 360 is not dieing.

my local JB hifi has 2 times the space for 360 then ps3 or wii.

also i no many people with 360s and only 2 with ps3s sooo i dont no what people are talking about dead :S
also i always see people in the 360 area and hardly in the ps3 area, and i no because i look in both.

and some of the retailers were most likely EB and Game who have never really had much 360 stuff to start with even when it just came out hence why i never buy my games from them.

Jake @ Apr 7th 2008 3:50AM

360 is also dead in Europe, sales are dire, and have been for some time. Retailers are no longer pushing the 360 to customers looking for consoles.

You can thank the RROD fiasco for that. There is no faith left in the Xbox brand.

SadisticHam @ Apr 7th 2008 6:07AM

No it isn't? o.0

sacaranda @ Apr 7th 2008 4:11AM

I AM AUSTRALIAN!
And this simply isnt true at all. I own both 360 and PS3 (just for the bluray player) and the majority of stores devote more shelf space to the 360. not to mention catalogue space. you only have to take a stroll down any aussie shopping centre to see what I mean.

COD4Grl @ Apr 7th 2008 4:36AM

Surprising - here in Australia the x360 seems to be the most popular in the stores....most retailers say that the PS3 is not shifting units at all here.

Maybe if these stores charged less than $110 per game in Australia (that's the usual price), they may get more customers!!!

Dirk Dorkelson @ Apr 7th 2008 4:39AM

So this may very well be true, but what are the sources backing it up? Anonymous retailers? Come on. Give me more than that, and I'll believe you. GameRush even edited its post saying it should be classified as rumor. The SmartHouse article doesn't even include any sales figures to back up their survey's assertion. Come on, guys, this is weak.

Mythor @ Apr 7th 2008 4:51AM

Another Aussie chiming in to say that that article is full of shit. There's still plenty of ads being run in all the catalogs, particularly the new Arcade bundle - why would anyone pick that up if it was "dead"?
All my friends who don't already have one would prefer a 360 over a PS3 due to the price difference and how many good games there are on the 360 vs PS3.

The Wii, of course, is caning the 360. But isn't that the case everywhere? Cheaper and the novelty value is hard to go past. And as soon as we get Smash Bros and Mario Kart, it'll probably do even better.

But the 360 dead here? What a crock. I don't buy it at all.

ericdrum @ Apr 7th 2008 5:15AM

This is a bad news story. Here's real news: http://www.sonydefenseforce.com/?p=363

kfresh97 @ Apr 7th 2008 5:26AM

I guess it's unnessecary for me to pipe in on the topic as well, but why the hell not? I too am Australian, and also a store manager at a "major" retailer.

I too, can vouch for this article's bullshiticity. The 360 is selling WELL above the PS3 in gaming's target demographic (17-25 yo males). The Wii is obviously selling truckloads to the younger family demographic, but that's not the point. There is just no chance that ANY Australia retailers will drop a platform that's making them more money in software sales than it's competitor makes in hardware sales.

Also, who the hell are these people? I've certainly never heard of "Smarthouse" or "ChannelNews". Not only is the first page covered in flat-out lies, the second page decends into fantasy with the "new model Xbox" and BR-360 crap from an "unnamed European distributor", and that's BEFORE the atroious spelling and grammatical work that makes me think the article was written by a quadrupledgic moose.