My brother and I have been frequently debating the viability of Microsoft's position going forward, and he pointed out this article which came as somewhat of a surprise to me.

Xbox One pre-orders a record-breaking hit for Blockbuster.

Tech Radar goes on to report that since the Xbox One reveal, Blockbuster (Yes, apparently they still exist) U.K. has received a record breaking number of pre-orders for the console. Surpassing the PS4 in about 24 hours, not to mention that the PS4 has been available for pre-order since February.

In spite of the negative press, and the growing number of concerns held by gamers, perhaps Microsoft delivered their message to an audience un-wavered by the recent debacle.

How do you interpret this? Is Blockbuster U.K. a strange anomaly? Or will Microsoft be successful in spite of the current opinions of the vocal few?

I haven't pre-ordered it.

I'm guessing because it appealed incredibly well to its target audience?

I think that people who shop for electronics at Blockbuster are obviously fucking crazy. I don't think that this "data" is valuable in a predictive sense, anymore than the tastes of people who do their grocery shopping at 7/11 or buy all of their clothing from the Ferrari gift shop.

Who the hell preorders a new console at Blockbuster?

Wait...Blockbuster still exists? Also, people pre-order at Blockbuster?!?!

Maybe the previous record was TWO console preorders. This time, they got THREE!

Yeah like @rebgav said, I doubt the market share coming from UK Blockbuster is at all significant. The real question is if there are similar trends seen from the big stores like Best Buy or Gamestop etc. That article stinks of clickbait, it's really non-news made to look like news. The stock prices of each company are more telling of consumer confidence.

Who is taking preorders?

Seriously.. This.

People who don't go to video game websites, in other words the target audience MS was aiming at with their conference.

I think in general the Xbox audience is way more "dug in", so it makes sense that many of them would pre-order at the first opportunity. I'm not sure what kind of sampling Blockbuster speaks too, but it's probably part of a wider trend, too.

Only the most hardcore people are pre-ordering this early, either way. The majority of people are at least going to wait until ... a price exists.

Does anyone know if anyone is taking pre-orders in the U.S. yet? I'm on the Microsoft Store waiting / e-mail list but haven't heard anything. I'm going to pre-order the day someone starts accepting them.

You can pre-order things at Blockbuster? I don't know if I believe that.

Even then I think people like that would be much more apt to pre order at a Best Buy or a Wal-mart or something. Block buster is just.... an odd choice.

@mr_skeleton: That doesn't explain why Blockbuster, of all places. It's an almost dead chain of video rentals. When did the five locations still in existence start selling game consoles?

I'm pretty sure no one can pre-order one yet...
Might be a notification list like Gamestop has.

Im pretty sure we also got reports of record breaking preorders for the Wii U over here in the UK, we all know how that turned out.

@hailinel: UK Blockbuster have sold consoles for ages I got my PS3 from them a few years back. Cheaper than Amazon at the time.

Still that place and most of the other local Blockbusters all shut when Blockbuster went bust at the beginning of this year.

Blockbuster is a dying concern. If you pre-order and have to put cash down it's like putting your wanger in a sleeping dog's mouth. It's bad at best.

...........Blockbuster?.........

Don't always trust Pre-Order numbers. Anyone remember Splinter Cell Conviction?

Also, the PS4 is not up for pre-orders yet, and I think it will smash the Xbox One

Ha, Blockbuster.

About twenty people is record breaking for Blockbuster.

The Wii U also had some record breaking pre-orders iirc. Also pre-ordering at Blockbuster takes some balls, I hope they didn't pay anything upfront...

Yeah I saw that you can preorder the XONE and PS4 in the UK already which is weird. Can't do that in the states yet.

Yeah I saw that you can preorder the XONE and PS4 in the UK already which is weird. Can't do that in the states yet.

It goes to show you that no matter how anti consumer a product is if it has a well known brand people will buy it regardless. This is why the gaming industry is the way it is right now.

This really isn't significant news. Numbers can be easily manipulated to suit whatever story you want to tell, and this is such a limited and strange sample audience that I can't imagine it's a solid indication of wider trends. Not that I don't believe them, I just don't think these numbers mean much.

Blockbuster still exists?

Blockbuster still exists?

Blockbuster is a small chain lately and even HMV which nearly died earlier this year is still bigger than them. If a shop like Game (the UKs gamestop) says the same thing as this article, then we can start to discuss what the article is trying to allude to

Even if we still had Blockbuster's around here, I really can't imagine anyone preordering a console from them, when they did still exist, the stock they had was ancient, they were not moving consoles, they still had elites in stock over a year after the slims came out, people did not buy consoles from Blockbuster.

@jouseldelka: I love that episode. :)

If supply constraint is not in play, I strongly believe the Xone will outsell the PS4 this holiday season. But honestly, they will probably run neck and neck for the first several months as they will likely sellout everywhere.

That mo-capped dog must be a pretty big draw.

Exactly what I came in here to say.

@theveteran13: Think you are not too far off with that. "We need the new xbone for our CoD!" They are also the only ones who would pre-order at this stage.

I honestly had no idea you could even pre-order consoles.

Also, Blockbuster is still a thing that isn't just poorly trying to compete with Red Box or Netflix!?

Well, it's easy to see why preorders would be "record-breaking" for them, then. It couldn't have been a difficult record to break.

BLOCKBUSTER!?

don't scare me man...... I still haven't returned my ps1/snes games....

A few weeks ago, I was at a movie/music store that sells used DVDs and albums. I actually stumbled across one DVD that was a former Blockbuster rental. The DVD case has the logo stamped in the plastic on the inside.

I don't think Blockbuster is going to be needing it back.

Show me some Amazon,Wal-mart, Target BestBuy and Gamestop numbers and then I'll care.

Pre-ordering these consoles already is kinda weird. But the way our biggest online tech store, Komplett.no, has done it almost makes me want to do it. They have put the price to what they believe is close to the actual price, 4990 NOK for the Xbox One and 5595 for the PS4. The thing is, they turn out to be cheaper (which I hope to God, cause those are some pricy boxes) then you get it for the actual retail price. But if they turn out to be more expensive you get them for the pre-order price. Which is probably why they have set them so high, but you never know. Either way you kinda win. Now, this might be perfectly normal when it comes to pre-ordering consoles though...

Let's put this into context. First of all, console userbase has grown dramatically since the release of the current generation. Secondly, the media coverage of the announcement is much bigger and way more focused to a specific day. Which leads to the third point, the record mentioned is pre-orders within the first 24 hours. So with a much bigger audience that all learn the news at the same time ofc the amount of pre-orders in the first 24 hours will rise dramatically.

Also, the amount of pre-orders you see at this point is completely insignificant, and there is not really any question if Microsoft will be successful or not. So ye, it's a non-story.

So lets understand this.

XBone reveal was "TV TV TV TV TV TV MOVIES! MOVIES!! SPORTS!! TV! Game....."

Blockbuster is a Video and game rental company. mostly dealing with TV and Movies on dvd with a section for game rentals.

this all equals that the people who would preorder and buy an Xbone from Blockbuster mainly wants it for the TV and Movies.

Lol Blockbuster...

In all seriousness I think even if there are record breaking pre orders, it still doesn't mean anything since the same thing happened with the Wii U. Also, we still have E3 to see and in my opinion, those pre orders are just the same kind of fanatic tech weirdos that need to have the latest and greatest the day it comes out. Until we actually get to see some games running on this thing, I don't think these pre orders count towards gamers who will more than likely triple the amount of pre orders if the games are at the level they want.

@jouseldelka said:

@d0tti said:

@extomar said:

Wait...Blockbuster still exists? Also, people pre-order at Blockbuster?!?!

Seriously.. This.

Where is Turner and Hooch???

People that love TV and films...

>_>