Meridionals

One cant help but really chuckle every time one of these top dogs releases some numbers, may it be console numbers, sales, online service clients, whatever; only to be met by another such announcement from whoever wasnt first. I guess they both need to reassure their clients that they "are not losing". But theres is something fishy about some numbers released and I intend to get to the bottom of it.

Numbers can lie! Sorry but i needed to open with that, make sure no one is on the wrong page here. Numbers can lie, they are not set in stone and whatever truth they hold can be manipulated into a seemingly truth but a lie nonetheless. Want a clear cut example? Go here.

Now that we got that out of the way, there are numbers from these two companies I am very concerned about; from Sony, as doubt was raised by Microsofts UK Xbox Chief, y would like to know if Sony is manipulating the numbers or not. Think about it this way, one can have as many accounts as he or she likes in a ps3; so is Sony counting every account on every ps3 or just one account per machine? If its the later then that means something like 98% of all ps3 owners have a psN account, something that at this day and at age its still something difficult to believe.

However Sony is not the only one thats toying around with its numbers, what about Microsoft? Well they claim to have sold over 28 million consoles right? But out of all those consoles, how many are hardware malfunction replacements? Ah "Hardware Malfunction" doesnt it sound better than RROD, E74 Error and the new adjective "bricked"? Sadly many proud xbox owners are faced sooner or later with the experience of having RROD, some even have it multiple times; and if we are to believe people posting on forums and such, then there are many people on their 3rd and 4th consoles. So the new remplacements, if you are lucky to get a new one and not refurbished one, do they count in the sales total? After all its a console derived to client isnt it? There is also some people that are not covered by the warranty, the 3 years expired or in some rare cases because their XBOX died of something else than RROD ( basically if its something else than RROD you are screwed, however you can screw them back by making it RROD. Go here for suggestions on how) So should they count because they bought their console TWICE?

I know what you are thinking," so what if Sony counted some more users or if Microsoft squeezed some double XBOXs in there, its not like they are going to make a difference in the final number". And my response is, thats not the point; the point is that in a self persecuted slightly paranoid way; we are being lied to. And thats something i for one, dont like. Plus you never know what difference they can make until someone does count them out.

Well I guess we will continue to see numbers thrown around, from both sides of the fence, never really knowing EXACTLY what they mean. At least we know that if someone is lying, then everybody is; because after all, you always have to match up to the competition.

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About the Author:

I have loved video games since I was merely five years old and stumbled upon a friend's TK90 computer; I was simply amazed to see those pixels moving on the screen, after those long 45' minutes it took to load up games from an audio tape. Ever since then games have been my passion. I want to play them, make them, write about them, discuss endlessly about them, you name it and if it involves games I am there. So that's why i have this blog, basicaly to vent out on all my gaming related everyday crazy thougths! Please follow the link if you" would like to know more"! gamersbreed.com">gamersbreed.com