![]() ![]() As was the case with the original Xbox, the Xbox 360 was by far the most successful in North America and lagged far behind in Japan.ĭespite being something of transitional period between two console generations, 2005 saw some huge releases on pretty much every single active platform. Still, despite these problems the Xbox 360's launch was generally considered a success and by the end of 2005 the console had shipped around 1.5 million units worldwide. Estimates of the failure rate varied from around 15% all the way to over 50%, depending on the source. The most infamous of these technical issues was the 'Red Ring of Death', which denoted a general hardware failure. Secondly, and more seriously, the rushed launch meant there were significant technical issues present in the console, which lead to an unusually high failure rate. ![]() Microsoft had been unable to generate sufficient supply to meet demand and this limited the platform's early sales lead. This gave Microsoft time to build up an early lead before any of its rivals could launch their platforms, but the early launch created some notable problems for the Xbox 360.įirst of all the Xbox 360 experienced significant shortages at launch. Microsoft had pushed the 360 to launch early in order to capitalize on being first to market for this new generation. By the end of 2005 new original Xbox consoles were no longer being produced and the platform's sales would very quickly begin to diminish. The original Xbox had fallen so far behind Sony's PS2 that the unveiling and eventual release of the Xbox 360 took away what little steam the console still had left. With both platforms having successful launches the market was seemingly blown wide open.īut it would be Microsoft that would be responsible for the most important new hardware launch of the year when the American firm released the Xbox 360 in November. Of course, Nintendo wouldn't go down without a fight and it had its own brand new handheld console, the DS, on the market. The PSP's launch would effectively mark the first time in over 15 years that Nintendo's hold over the handheld market was seriously challenged. On the handheld front things were even more one-sided, with the Game Boy Advance having been the only notable handheld for the past few years.Ģ005 would, however, finally bring about a change for both markets new consoles and handhelds were on the cards and the console race in particular was about to start anew.Īs mentioned in the previous article, Sony's PlayStation Portable had already been launched in late 2004 in Japan, but it wasn't until 2005 that the system received a worldwide release. Sony's PlayStation 2 effectively controlled well over 60% of the home console market and both the GameCube and Xbox were struggling to push past 20 million units sold. By Taneli Palola, posted on 07 June 2016 / 13,464 Viewsīy 2005 there was no question about which console had won the race for first place.
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