Xbox One leading best seller chart at Amazon after Microsofts Uturn

Gaming enthusiasts were outraged by the strict limitations that Microsoft planned to enforce on the Xbox One. Amid a fury of negative feedback, the tech giant did a complete 180 – they announced yesterday that users will no longer have to establish an online connection every 24 hours to play games, and that trading disks with friends will be as hassle free as ever.

Perhaps the Microsoft retreat wasn’t sparked by the backlash of unhappy customers, but rather the fear of having no customers at all. Last week, Amazon ran a poll on their Facebook page which pitted the Xbox One against the PlayStation 4, and not surprisingly, the Sony console won in a landslide.

The poll was eventually taken down by Amazon, but at last glance, the final tally was 38,984 for the PlayStation 4 and 2,162 for the Xbox One. Gamers who visited Amazon’s Best Sellers list could draw a similar conclusion, seeing as the Sony system had solidified its position in first place. 

Following the Microsoft retreat, a huge debate ensued. Some users insisted that Microsoft’s reversal was too little too late, while others hopped right back on the Xbox One bandwagon. As a result, it became extremely difficult to assess whether Microsoft’s attempt at damage control was a success or a failure.

Currently, according to the Amazon Best Sellers list, the Xbox One has now surged into first place. If you look closely, you’ll see that the Microsoft console atop the leaderboards is the “Day One Edition”; a version that had already sold out for PlayStation 4 fanatics. Also worth noting is the fact that Sony's console has four different listings in the top ten -- the standard edition plus three bundles -- while the Xbox One has a single one.

That said, a similar response from game enthusiasts has been seen across Europe. Amazon UK shows that both consoles are pretty much even, with the Xbox One holding a slight 2.3% advantage in sales.

Regardless of who wins this horse race, the excitement surrounding the next-generation consoles is unbelievable, and probably pleases both Sony and Microsoft. After all, any publicity is good publicity.

Ketu Patel, head of video games at Amazon UK, added, “It will be fascinating to see how the battle between the two console giants develops over the coming months – the fight for who’s going to be the must-have Christmas present is only just beginning."

[Source: techspot]

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PlayStation 4 is destroying the Xbox One in Amazon customer poll

 

Amazon is running a poll on their Facebook page asking readers which next generation console – Sony’s PlayStation 4 or Microsoft’s Xbox One – they prefer. If you’ve been reading story comments or message boards since E3, the results probably won’t surprise you much.

With more than five days left to vote, the Xbox One has amassed 1,754 votes (as of writing). The PlayStation 4, on the other hand, has 31,689 votes. Yeah, it’s not even remotely close. Sony executives must be feeling pretty happy at this point but at Microsoft, the atmosphere probably isn’t as cheery.

True, we won’t know how all of this pans out for a few more years but right now, the results are pretty telling. That’s because, unlike other polls you may find on fan sites, Amazon is a neutral party with a huge fan base that consists of both Sony and Microsoft homers (as well fans of games in general).

A quick look at Amazon’s Best Sellers list in their video games category solidifies what we are seeing in the poll. As of writing, the launch day edition of the PlayStation 4 is already sold out. Sony’s standard edition console – with a release date of December 31, 2013 – is currently ranked first ahead of the Xbox One.

That said, do you agree with the findings in Amazon’s poll thus far? If you had to choose between the two right now, would you go with Sony’s offering or lean more towards Microsoft?

[Source: TechSpot]

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Kindle sparks Amazon profit fall

25 October 2011 Last updated at 22:40 GMT Amazon boss Jeff Bezos unveils the Kindle Fire last month

Profits at the online retailer Amazon have dropped 73% after the company invested heavily in the Kindle tablet computer.

The company, the world's largest online internet retailer, said third quarter net income was $63m (£40m, 45m euros).

During the period it launched the Kindle "Fire" model, which runs apps and streams films and other non-text content.

The results left Amazon shares down 12% in after hours trading.

The company said that sales had grown by 44% and that last month, on 28 September, it had its "biggest order day ever for Kindle, even bigger than previous holiday peak days".

It now offers four Kindle devices, including a 3G model.

Lower margins

Jeff Bezos, the founder and chief executive of Amazon, said: "In the three weeks since launch, orders for electronic ink Kindles are double the previous launch. And based on what we're seeing with Kindle Fire pre-orders, we're increasing capacity and building millions more than we'd already planned."

Amazon also forecast lower-than-expected sales for the next quarter, which includes the crucial Christmas period, and said it could even see an operating loss as it continues to invest in the Kindle Fire.

Amazon's profit margins have generally been lower than other technology firms, a situation that analysts say is now catching up with them.

"Investors have always given Amazon a hallpass to invest and it looks like they may have had their patience exhausted," Lawrence Haverty from Gamco Investors told the BBC.

"Its operating margin is only 4%. Most technology companies need an operating margin of over 20% so I think investors are asking themselves if the business will ever really be profitable," he said.

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Sony PSP Vita goes on pre-order at Amazon

Those excited about the release of the PSP Vita should check out the pre-order page over at Amazon.com. The next-gen portable gaming device gets a $249.99 price tag.

Amazon places the release date at December 31, 2011 — more than 3 months away but is expecting huge volume of sales so they’re taking orders as early as now.

Announced back in June 2011, the PSP Vita sports some pretty impressive hardware.

Sony PSP Vita
5-inch OLED display
ARM Cortex A9 (quad-core)
Quad-Core PowerVR SGX543MP+ GPU
Front & Rear Camera
Built-in GPS
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR
3G/HSDPA

The 3G+WiFi variant is priced at $299.99.

You can make your pre-orders here.

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Amazon suspends Nintendo 3DS sales

UPDATED: See below

If you were planning to finally pick up one of Nintendo's new 3DS gaming gadgets, you're going to have to pick it up somewhere other than Amazon.com. The online retail giant appears to have suspended sales of the gadget that lets you see video games in 3-D without wearing special glasses.

A visit to this Nintendo 3DS product page at Amazon.com reveals this message from the retailer:

While this item is available from other marketplace sellers on this page, it is not currently offered by Amazon.com because customers have told us there may be something wrong with our inventory of the item, the way we are shipping it, or the way it's described here. (Thanks for the tip!) We're working to fix the problem as quickly as possible.

Though oddly enough, if you visit this page at Amazon.com right now, you can still purchase the device. It's not clear what the difference between the two pages is. Both indicate that Amazon and Target will be fulfilling the order. And a visit to Target.com directly shows that it is still selling the device.

Perhaps there's just a rare bad batch of 3DS devices floating around at Amazon? There's also speculation sales were suspended because consumers found that the 3DS' top screen rubs against the bottom screen, over time leaving the top screen scratched up (as one customer posted here).

But for the most part, the device has been receiving positive reviews from customers at Amazon.com. Out of 359 customer reviews, 210 gave it five stars and 84 gave it four stars.

Still, this is just the latest difficulty Nintendo's new portable gaming gadget has faced since launching back in March. Initial reports suggested some 3DS owners were encountering a "black screen of death," though that did not turn out to be a far reaching problem. And some customers have reported feeling dizzy and nauseated when using the device's 3-D display.

But the biggest problem has been the sales — which have been significantly lower than Nintendo initially expected — due at least in part to a less-than-exciting line-up of games at launch.

I've reached out to both Nintendo and Amazon to find out why the 3DS sales have been suspended. Amazon has not yet responded, but a Nintendo representative told me they are checking into it and will get back to me. So check back here for an update.

UPDATE #1: An Amazon spokesperson has responded with this explanation:

We received customer feedback that there may be an inventory issue with the Cosmo Black Nintendo 3DS. The integrity of the product is not under review. Customers are still able to purchase the Amazon.com offer of the Aqua Blue Nintendo 3DS, however the Amazon.com offer of black Nintendo 3DS has been removed until the inventory issue is resolved. 

When I asked them to clarify what kind of "inventory issue" this was, the spokesperson replied:

Although I am not able to provide more detail on the inventory issue itself, I can confirm that there is no problem with the Cosmo Black Nintendo 3DS units themselves. This is an inventory problem that was brought to our attention from customer feedback and we are looking into it and will resolve as soon as possible. 

UPDATE #2: The Amazon spokesperson now says: "Happy to report that the Amazon offer of the Cosmo Black Nintendo 3DS has been reinstated."

So there you have it. Whatever the issue was, it doesn't appear to be a problem with Nintendo 3DS devices themselves and it appears Amazon has sorted it out.

(Thanks to Consumer Reports for the heads up.)

For more game news, check out:

Winda Benedetti writes about games for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things right here on Twitter or join her in the stream right here on Google+. You can check out the In-Game Facebook page right here.

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