Microsoft in GTA IV panic

[shadow.sentinel]

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!

You’ve heard of console shifters before: games that go so supernova that their very existence is reason enough for many users to invest in an entire console. The Grand Theft Auto series is a genuine console shifter. And it also happens to be a PlayStation brand.

Yes the series has gradually become multi-format, almost begrudgingly, over the years, but the truth of the matter is that the brands PlayStation and GTA are snugly intertwined. Each game in the GTA III trilogy (the original, plus Vice City and San Andreas) debuted on the PlayStation 2 well before it saw the light of day on the competing Xbox. GTA and Sony helped each other become the biggest game series and biggest console in the world.

Here’s a telling statistic - it is estimated that San Andreas sold just under 14 million units across the two formats: 12 million of those were on the PS2. But this time it’s different; the slate is clean, right? Same day release across both formats in a new generation of gaming changes things, surely?

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. Here’s how…

Source: Gameplayer - Australia's Premier Gaming Website

Theres two more pages on the web page. Its just too much to copy and paste don't you guys think? xD

[Fyrus]

Whoever wrote that is an idiot. Fanboyism aside. That's just not true. There are still much more 360s than PS3s, and plus the DLC (I know that not to many people will care about it, but it's still a factor). I mean, it is a clean slate now. Why would people get a PS3 to play GTAIV if they already have a 360?

[rbbdrooger]

Misleading topic title confirmed.

[Icemage]

Originally Posted by Fyrus

Whoever wrote that is an idiot. Fanboyism aside. That's just not true. There are still much more 360s than PS3s, and plus the DLC (I know that not to many people will care about it, but it's still a factor). I mean, it is a clean slate now. Why would people get a PS3 to play GTAIV if they already have a 360?

For the people that already own a 360 this might - MIGHT - be true (assuming we're not discussing one of those people who are fed up with their 360s after multiple RRoDs - we have a couple of those right here on this forum).

The point, though, is that the 360 isn't even close to where the original Xbox was in install base, and the PS3 is even farther from the PS2 install base. But the vast majority of GTA3 owners are PS2 owners. And when they go and look at Grand Theft Auto - for the multiple millions of owners who have not yet pulled the trigger on a next generation console - where are they going to go? The box they have at home has a 7 to 1 chance of having a PlayStation logo on it, and that's quite likely to influence their decision, which is the point of the article.

I don't believe for a moment that a single game, no matter how big (even GTA) can singlehandedly turn the tide of the console wars in any major fashion, but there's some weird signals coming out of the Microsoft camp lately. All these excuses for why the PS3 has outsold the 360 for two months running in North America - the 360's stronghold... and then this nagging impression that they seem to think GTA4 will somehow magically put them back on top of the hardware numbers (which I find possible but highly unlikely).

Maybe Microsoft is starting to believe their own spin or something, but I really don't understand their position right this moment. They did everything right last year up to and including the launch of Halo 3, but it seems like Peter Moore's departure took a serious toll on their organizational skills or something.

[lol_pc]

I doubt this will be a factor since people check prices on the products they buy, and some people are gonna see that the 360 is cheaper than the PS3 and GTAIV is coming out on that one too.

[rbbdrooger]

You should never underestimate brand loyalty. A lot of GTAIII/Vice City/San Andreas fans still haven't bought a nexgen console. I do expect a lot of PS2 owners to get a PS3 eventually.

The thing is that the PS3 is way more expensive now than the PS2 was when VC and SA came out, and with the recent Euro price drop the 360 might be able to win over some of those PS2 owners when GTAIV comes out.

[Fyrus]

Originally Posted by Icemage

For the people that already own a 360 this might - MIGHT - be true (assuming we're not discussing one of those people who are fed up with their 360s after multiple RRoDs - we have a couple of those right here on this forum).

The point, though, is that the 360 isn't even close to where the original Xbox was in install base, and the PS3 is even farther from the PS2 install base. But the vast majority of GTA3 owners are PS2 owners. And when they go and look at Grand Theft Auto - for the multiple millions of owners who have not yet pulled the trigger on a next generation console - where are they going to go? The box they have at home has a 7 to 1 chance of having a PlayStation logo on it, and that's quite likely to influence their decision, which is the point of the article.

I don't believe for a moment that a single game, no matter how big (even GTA) can singlehandedly turn the tide of the console wars in any major fashion, but there's some weird signals coming out of the Microsoft camp lately. All these excuses for why the PS3 has outsold the 360 for two months running in North America - the 360's stronghold... and then this nagging impression that they seem to think GTA4 will somehow magically put them back on top of the hardware numbers (which I find possible but highly unlikely).

Maybe Microsoft is starting to believe their own spin or something, but I really don't understand their position right this moment. They did everything right last year up to and including the launch of Halo 3, but it seems like Peter Moore's departure took a serious toll on their organizational skills or something.

I don't understand this logic. I just don't. I mean when I only owned a PS2 ,and played GTA3, I didn't that it was on the PS2. It was just a great game. Right now the PS3 is still more expensive than the 360. Most people have 360s. GTA has online. I'm willing to bet that "casuals" don't care to much about the console. PS3 is expensive, 360 is less expensive, they can play online with their friends who already have 360s.

It just seems like the logical choice.

[PirateThom]

I don't know why Microsoft think they can win the year with a multiplatform title, especially for a franchise that is known as a PlayStation game to most people.

[downphoenix]

maybe they're pulling a madden with this and the 360 version runs at 60FPS and PS3 version at 30

[rbbdrooger]

Originally Posted by PirateThom

I don't know why Microsoft think they can win the year with a multiplatform title, especially for a franchise that is known as a PlayStation game to most people.

As I pointed out, for the casual gamer who hasn't bought a nexgen console yet, the 360 might be the better choise. It's cheaper than the PS3 in the U.S. and because of the price drop it's way more cheaper in Europe.
I agree that GTA is a Playstation game to most people, but that's because previous GTA games were timed exclusives for PS2. As you know, that's not the case anymore.

I still think GTAIV will eventually sell more units on PS3, but I expect the difference to nowhere near as big as last gen.