As if we were not confused enough by the bulk of facts and figures thrown at us by the game industry spin-doctors, we now have to consider, one of the most futile press release wars to ever randomly access our memory. It seems that the XBox and GameCube divissions of Microsoft and Nintendo respectively, have decided that the only thing that their products lack is a constant supply of triumphant press releases. In that light then, the media gurus employed by both companies have decided to meet the challenge head-on since they believe that you have to be proud to be second best.
Although both companies have been claiming the second spot for quite some time now, an official war had not yet been declared since neither party had immediately followed its rivals press release with one of its own. As market conditions become more constricted however, the second place competitors have realised that the gloves will have to come off. No sooner had Nintendo issued a statement claiming to have gloriously captured the second spot in the U.S., Microsoft released their own interpretation of current figures claiming to have a firm hold on the coveted No. 2 position in Europe.
The U.S. giant also claimed to have reached the 13.7 million console shipment mark since launch and to be well on target to reach the projected 14.5 to 16 million XBox units shipped by the end of June 2004. A figure which had been described as cautious when first announced but which is likely now to be triumphantly reached.
The shipment breakdown by continent for XBox so far is, 3.7 million consoles to-date in Europe and 8.6 million and 1.4 million in the U.S and Asia respectively over the same time period.
It is certain that the battle between the two companies, interesting though it is, has the more practical purpose of convincing gamers to purchase one console over the other The prestigious research departments of both companies must have alerted their employers to the imminent danger posed by the fact that Microsoft and Nintendo consoles appeal to exactly the same age group and type of gamer, something understandable when considering the vast amount of similar game titles available on both platforms.
We wait on the edge of our seats for Nintendo's reply, since they cannot afford to be perceived as second best to second place since that would make them... third best?
