New features coming for Marketplace, and statistics about downloads

At the Games Convention Developers Conference, Microsoft third-party account manager Steven Blackburn had some stuff to say about Xbox 360 and Xbox Live. Gamespot has the rundown of his presentation, and here are some of the things he said:
First, the numbers (There are a few statistics in the article I have not included, because I've already wrote about them. Also, Elle from Xbox.com stated earlier that there have been "more than 8 million Xbox Live Arcade downloads since launch", while the Gamespot article says "5 million total downloads so far" of Xbox Live Arcade games. I geuss Blackburn's information must have been a little older). 60% of the people with Xbox 360 consoles are connected to Live, sending an average of 900,000 voice and text messages a day. Over 2 billion hours have been logged on Live, which is around 228,000 years. 30% of users have bought Microsoft Points, spending over 1 billion points (almost $12.5 million), with about 45 million total downloads. On average, there have been around 25 downloads per user.
Next Blackburn spoke about Xbox Live Marketplace, and what new features are coming. In some games you will be able to browse and download content from in the game, instead of having to quit and work from the dashboard. An example he gave was for a combat flight simulator, where you would be able to look through planes and weapons in a hangar, and without ever leaving the game download the content you wanted. Another thing to be added to Xbox Live Marketplace will be the ability to preview Premium content before purchasing it. Pictures will be added, so you will know more about what you're buying before spending your money.

Those are some impressive numbers, and it looks like what Microsoft has in store for Marketplace just keeps getting better.

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HD DVD outsells Blu-ray

TG Daily says that HD DVD players outsold Blu-ray ones by 33% in the first six weeks after launch (sales began in April and June, respectively). So far there is only one Blu-ray player available, Samsung's BD-P1000, and it sells for around $1000, while there are many HD DVD players for sale for as low as $450. Although HD DVD players sold better, Blu-ray's higher price allowed it to make more money. Samsung took in more revenue from it's player than all the HD DVD ones combined, reaching 42% more revenue in the first six weeks.
These "next generation" DVDs are still not widely used though, as only 0.4% of all disc player sales were from HD DVD and Blu-ray, while 86.2% were from DVD players, and 13.4% from DVD recorders.
[Via QJ.net]

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Marketplace and Live Arcade Stats, Downloadable Content news

Gamasutra has an article about Xbox Live Marketplace and Xbox Live Arcade, summarizing things said by Microsoft's Marketplace Business Manager Rohan Oommen.
According to Oommen, there have been over 40 million downloads from the Marketplace since launch, and on average a user has downloaded 20 or more items from the ever expanding selection of more than 2000 downloads. Game demos are the most popular, having an average of 250,000 downloads when released (Prey had 300,000 in the first week alone). Timing is important for demos, and can help increase sales - 40% of the people who downloaded the Fight Night Round 3 demo bought the game.
Between 10% and 50% of the people who downloaded a trial version of an Xbox Live Arcade game ended up purchasing the full version, making the average conversion rate 22%. It was also revealed that the less expensive titles do not make more money, since $10 or $15 games have made more money in the their lifetimes than the $5 ones.
Downloadable content (like Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter's "Chapter 2") is also very profitable, and three games have already made $1 million on added downloadable content. Microsoft said they would like to get content out faster though, adding that companies should assemble a small team that can create additional content so it can be released early on, within the first 60 to 90 days after a game's release.
One new feature Microsoft is planning for Marketplace is "consumables". These would be items you would purchase, but would get used and you could then purchase them again. This seems to me like like a bad idea, just a way for Microsoft to get more money from our gaming addictions.

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Xbox 360 projected sales and more

Team Xbox has some interesting info on the Xbox 360. By this holiday, Microsoft expects over 10 million 360s to have been shipped, and more games, making a total of 160. 13-15 million are expected to ship worldwide by June 2007. The Xbox 360 is setting a record for the most accessories sold per console in the US, and for the past four months has held a steady attach rate of 2.9 accessories per console. The attach rate for games rose this month to 4.6 per console.

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Best Selling Games in April

Here are the Xbox 360 games that sold best in April, from Gamespot:

Last Month	Current Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
1	1	Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter	Ubisoft	Mar-06	$59
2	2	Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion	2K Games	Mar-06	$60
**	3	Major League Baseball 2K6	2K Games	Apr-06	$60
**	4	Battlefield 2: Modern Combat	Electronic Arts	Apr-06	$60
**	5	Tomb Raider: Legend	Eidos Interactive	Apr-06	$60
3	6	Fight Night Round 3	Electronic Arts	Feb-06	$59
6	7	Call of Duty 2	Activision	Nov-05	$59
**	8	Final Fantasy XI Online	Square Enix	Apr-06	$50
**	9	Top Spin 2	2K Games	Mar-06	$40
9	10	Far Cry: Instincts Predator	Ubisoft	Mar-06	$60

For overall best selling games, best selling games on other systems, go to Gamespot.

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360 is top selling console for April

In the month of April the Xbox 360 sold more than any of the other consoles, about 295,000 (90,000 more than the PS2). Plus, five of the top-selling games were on the 360.

More at Team Xbox and Joystiq

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The Halo Movie

There hasn't been any news on the Halo movie recently, but for those of you who don't know much about it here's a rundown. Feel free to use this, as long as you credit me.

On November 9th , 2004, Halo 2 shattered records with 125 million in sales the day it was released. Now it has grossed 600 650 million—in the United States alone. Together, throughout the world, the massively popular games Halo and Halo 2 have sold 13.8 14.5 million copies. On Xbox Live, 324, 362, 454 Halo 2 matches have been played. In each of those matches, there are many people competing, for a total of 2, 189, 713, 986 experiences. Those aren’t individual people, because on person can (and does) play many matches, but that’s still a whole lot of people. There have been 184, 137, 245 hours accumulated in matchmade games. That’s 21,006 years, and not including setup time, just actual game time. Not to mention people who don’t play on Xbox Live, and the many hours of campaign racked up.
With all this, a movie is a must. And in the summer of 2002, 6 months after the release of the first Halo game, the creators of the game, Bungie, started receiving calls from Hollywood. The movie companies wanted the license to the entire Halo universe, with no help from Bungie in the process of making the movie. But Bungie wanted to be part of making their vision into a movie, and wasn’t willing to just cash in, then be pushed aside. Plus, Halo 2 was in the works, and they wanted their full attention on that.
But that was years ago. Now, the Halo movie is becoming a reality. It is set for a release less than two years from now, in mid 2007 in summer of 2008. Twentieth Century Fox and Universal have partnered to create it, and the group who will bring it to the big screen is getting bigger, and more importantly better, as time goes by. Alex Garland, author of the book The Beach and the script for 28 Days Later has been paid 1 million dollars to pen the script. According to Bungie, so far it is looking great.
On the Bungie website, Joseph Staten explained they were searching for “Someone who's as committed to the Halo universe – it's characters and their stories – as Mr. Jackson was to Tolkien's Middle-Earth. The same goes for actors, production designers, you name it.” Well, they seem to have found the perfect person to fill the job—Peter Jackson. The winner of various awards for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Jackson will be the Executive Producer. “As a gaming fan, I’m excited to bring Halo's premise, action and settings to the screen with all the specificity and reality today’s technology can provide,” said Jackson. “Fran and I are intrigued by the unique challenges this project offers, and we’re delighted to be working again with our friends at Universal, and with our new ones at Fox and Microsoft. I’m a huge fan of the game and look forward to helping it come alive on the cinema screen.” Just the fact that such a renowned person will oversee the project is almost a guarantee it will be great. But, there’s more. WETA digital, the people responsible for the amazing effects accomplished in Lord of the Rings and King Kong, will be on for the ride. They will bring the Halo universe to life, from the aliens to the Halo itself. With all this, the Halo movie is sure to be awesome.


For more information go to Bungie.net and read The Great Hollywood Journey Parts I, II, and III, and Halo: By the Numbers.

The director for the Halo movie has been chosen. Click here to read more

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