Yeah. The Xbox Series systems have (only just) out sold the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. This, ah, news was brought forward by VGChartz.com, which reports that the Xbox Series X/S has sold around 34.10 million units during its lifetime so far. For comparison, the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive sold 34.06 million over the course of its lifespan. S0, uh, that’s a win for Microsoft, I guess.
Beyond this being a funny comparison for someone to make, I think it’s very telling in regard to the state of the Xbox brand. For one, this really puts Xbox’s popularity (or lack thereof) into perspective. In a market that’s orders of magnitude larger than the one the Sega Genesis participated in 30 years ago, the Xbox Series X|S has only just now managed to only just surpassed the older system. Not very good, that. It’s also something of an exclamation point on the brand’s decline over the past decade.
Xbox went from being the hot console brand to absolutely not the moment it shifted from games and focused on “entertainment” and gimmicks. It’s also just never delivered on the potential promised by Microsoft’s very numerous acquisitions of developers and publishers. All thos IPs, all those studios, and all that money, yet they can’t seem to actually get any games made besides Call of Duty, Diablo and the occassional market stinker like the Outer Worlds II and Avowed. PlayStation isn’t doing that much better, mind you, but at least it’s getting games out the door.
If this continues, one wonders if Game Pass too will fold in the next couple years. They already jacked up the price and took its major selling point (Day 1 exclusives) out of the lower tiers of the service. But I’m thinking those exclusives won’t continue to be a draw anyway considering how few there’ve been and how horrible the quality typically is. Seriously, Xbox won’t even be a publisher like it wants if it keeps this up. Then again, though, perhaps that’s exactly what Microsoft wants.
So, yeah, that’s where it’s at, I guess. What’s your take on the situation? Let’s talk about it below!
VIRTUAL BASTION 
That’s pretty embarrassing five+ years in. While the console market has stagnated over the last couple decades (in terms of the overall number of console owners), gaming itself is the largest entertainment medium in the world.
Video Game Physical Software and Hardware Sales Just Had the Worst November in the U.S. Since 1995 – IGN
The stagnation/decline in the AAA console marketplace, its implications on the health of the industry, and what can be done to reverse the trend | Install Base
LikeLiked by 1 person
It doesn’t help at all that console makers have thrown out decades of convention over the past couple of years. Old hardware is supposed to get progressively cheaper, not go up in price five years in.
LikeLiked by 1 person
All in the name of greed, sadly. At least computer gaming is thriving, although that sector has its own issues (overpriced parts (especially RAM sticks and graphics cards), poor game optimization, DRM nonsense that impacts game performance, and overly large game sizes (i.e., 200 GB COD)).
I mean, the Nintendo Switch is almost 10 years old, and that console’s price increased. Like, what the? I remember getting the GameCube for $150 in 2002 (I know that’s because its sales were initially terrible).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nintendo has always had its issues, but modern Nintendo just doesn’t care about keeping up appearances anymore. They’re charging more both because they can and because they want to push people towards the Switch 2. Stuff is selling regardless, so thy must think that customer opinion no longer matters.
LikeLiked by 1 person