The New Console Generation is Finally Upon Us
THIS WEEK IN BUSINESS | The Xbox Series X|S and PS5 offer two competing visions for the future.
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This Week in Business is a collection of stats and quotes from our sister site GamesIndustry.biz that sheds light on console sales, new trends, and more. Check back every Friday for a new entry!
It's finally next-gen console time, but it's a little different than we're used to this time around. Microsoft and Sony are set to launch their new systems next week, but there have been no superfans camping out in advance. There will be no midnight launch parties. In Microsoft's case, there won't even be any next-gen exclusives.
But they're still new game systems, and they're new game systems coming at a time when people could probably use a good diversion.
Not that you needed any prompting for this, but this week let's take a minute and just look forward to something.
QUOTE | "If Xbox and Game Pass is the 'Netflix of gaming' then PlayStation is cinema. Xbox wants you to pay $10 every month to play loads of different things of all shapes and sizes. PlayStation wants you to spend $70 on that single, special, blockbuster experience." - GamesIndustry.biz's Chris Dring makes an interesting comparison about the next-gen systems.
QUOTE | "From the reviews we've perused, the reception is generally positive for both the high-powered Series X and the more affordable Series S, with high marks for quality-of-life improvements offset by a number of issues that kept the outlets from giving unqualified recommendations to buy into Microsoft's next-gen for now." - Me, summing up a whole bunch articles I read for a round-up of Xbox Series X and Series S reviews.
QUOTE | "While critics were certainly pleased with the Xbox Series X|S, the praise was carefully measured and weighted with a handful of caveats. With PlayStation 5, it's unequivocal—if you're looking for a taste of what the next generation of gaming will be like at this point in time, Sony is really the only choice." - GamesIndustry.biz' editor-in-chief Matt Handrahan, summing up a whole bunch of articles he read for a round-up of PlayStation 5 reviews.
QUOTE | "Please don't plan on camping out or lining up at your local retailer on launch day in hopes of finding a PS5 console for purchase," Sony Interactive Entertainment senior director for content communications Sid Shuman announces there will no PS5 available at brick-and-mortar locations for launch day due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
QUOTE | "You always have to balance the desire to work on these great new platforms—which your teams really want to do on the one hand—but on the other hand you want to make sure there's enough of an installed base to make it make sense. Usually it's the second Christmas after the initial launch that you see it hit its stride. You'll see more titles next year." - Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick suggests the true next-gen AAA blockbusters may not begin arriving in earnest until late 2022.
QUOTE | "We like to experiment each game with procedural stuff, and then if it's not working out, go in and touch it. The stuff we're doing now, we're pushing procedural generation further than we have in a very, very long time." - In a wide-ranging interview, Todd Howard teases a bit about what's different with the upcoming sixth installment in the Elder Scrolls series.
QUOTE | "My generation is, for better or worse, holding the game industry back. There are a lot of people who take their company's commitment for granted and don't work as hard as they should." - Keiji Inafune, 10 years ago this month, explains that the problem with game developers is they have too much job security.
STAT | 650 - The number of employees Sega Sammy hopes will agree to "voluntary retirement" by December 25. The company had a rough week, selling off its arcade operations business and posting millions in operating losses for the most recent quarter.
STAT | 5.21 million - Number of copies Super Mario 3D All-Stars shipped between its September 18 launch and the end of Nintendo's quarter less than two weeks later.
STAT | $973.48 million - How much Take-Two might offer to acquire racing game specialist (Dirt, F1) Codemasters.
STAT | 10 years - How long it will be before EA's newly extended exclusive licensing agreement with UFC will expire.