How much would it cost to add wireless to the Xbox 360?
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I don't hold it against them because one of the things that they were looking for this generation was to lower the cost of the hardware.
We may say it's only a few bucks here, but that multiplies out quite quickly.
I think it also allowed them the flexibility of offering other wireless standards, like N. I wish the price point was better, say $15.00 above cost, but that's just me.
I also think the majority of the players are not using wireless anyway.
I'm of the opinion MS should forgoe profit, do the "right" thing and include wireless in every 360.
The cost is probably very little..I mean DS, PSP, Ipod touch, even have Wi-fi!
Sure, it would hurt the bottom line a little. But I think if you want to be known as a company that builds a box *for gamers*, something like the original Xbox was, you need it to be a wi-fi box.
At least, I wish they would drop the adapter price to 49, or more likely even 69.
However I dont see that happening.
From a purely *business* standpoint, the adapter is probably a good idea, though. It doesnt seem to hurt sales, and can help profitability and keep the bottom line box price lower. Which seems to have served 360 very well.
The cost is probably very little..I mean DS, PSP, Ipod touch, even have Wi-fi!
Sure, it would hurt the bottom line a little. But I think if you want to be known as a company that builds a box *for gamers*, something like the original Xbox was, you need it to be a wi-fi box.
At least, I wish they would drop the adapter price to 49, or more likely even 69.
However I dont see that happening.
From a purely *business* standpoint, the adapter is probably a good idea, though. It doesnt seem to hurt sales, and can help profitability and keep the bottom line box price lower. Which seems to have served 360 very well.
Blade47167
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Lack of wifi in the 360 is one of the main reasons I have yet to purchase one. Its such a pain in the ass to have to move the router and the modem when my friends bring their 360's over to my house. But its ok to do every so often for fun. But having to do it every day just to get on live screw that. And I'm not paying $100 for an adapter to do the thing. I don't see $299 entry point when there is an essential piece missing for me. I see a system missing a next gen feature that causes me an inconvenience.
why would u pay $100 for an adapter when you can find them for $15 to $40
How can you not? Sure, it's only a few bucks that multiplies, but the cost of their accessories (and the ridiculous profits they make from them) also multiply.
Basically, it was an oversight, and lacked vision. When Nintendo had the foresight to include WiFi into the $129 DS, there is absolutely NO EXCUSE for Microsoft to NOT include it into the XB360.
In my opinion, of course.
Granted, I may hold an extreme position / opinion on this matter, but I see it as a perfectly natural engineering decision.
Handhelds cannot be expected to be tethered to a wired network connection, so the best option is WiFi... you're going to tradeoff power usage, and network bandwidth for the ability to have a wireless network.
Game consoles, which arguably spend most of their time in one spot, makes most sense to be physically connected to the network. Especially for an application like online gaming where network performance is critical. For those whose network topology is limited to wireless, then provide them with an option to use WiFi, but that should not be the primary, default network interface.
Why? Well, just yesterday, I was using my laptop with a built-in wireless B/G interface, connected to my home 802.11B network, and reheated a cup of tea for 1 minute. In that minute, I lost network connectivity. When I'm playing online, I would hate for my own microwave, or a neighbors generating interferance that results in lag or disconnects.
Maybe I'm just too biased against wireless networks -- even though I've had one for almost 10 years now, but even my office LAPTOP is connected via 1000-B-T, with the wireless interface disabled because it spends the majority of its time on my desk.
If the average console owner was structuring their lviing room around their gaming, I'd agree with you. However I think a lot of houses and occupants work against the idea of ethernet cable, requiring long cables from where the console is to the router. For those with the savvy, cables tugged away behind skirting boards or under conduit is a good solution, but for a lot of folk I think it'd just mean a cable running around the room.
Wifi isn't particularly reliable, but when it works in my experience it works well. Certainly I've never known a cordless phone or microwave or half-dozen wifi routers in the area to interfere with my connection while online so it drops. Then again I don't know anyone on 802.11b. In Europe I think everyone pretty much waited until 802.11g. I also think there's so much other lag and network traffic that a player hasn't got any influence over that makes a bigger deal to the online experience, such that I don't think Ethernet versus wifi is going to make any noticable difference to online gameplay, but I may be wrong on that.
IMO the pros and cons are obvious, and the real deciding factor for whether MS were right to exclude Wifi or not should be based on how many XB360 owners are using it. If it hasn't seen large adoption, most buyers aren't fussed. Whereas if lots of XB360 owners also bought Wifi, that point a large nickle-and-diming finger at MS who will have milked that market for some very tasty profits insted of losing a few bucks per unit to offer a valued feature.
Maybe I just didn't jump onto the wifi bandwagon very early, but I think this actually becomes less of an issue over time, because:
1) most computers sold today are laptops which all include wireless, so the router doesn't need to be located next to them, and
2) most consoles are situated next to a broadband plug (either cable or DSL), so the router can be located next to them.
1) most computers sold today are laptops which all include wireless, so the router doesn't need to be located next to them, and
2) most consoles are situated next to a broadband plug (either cable or DSL), so the router can be located next to them.
I actually use internet sharing with my laptop to the 360. I haven't tried online gaming with it (maybe this weekend as I've got a 48 hour trial), but I'm not sure how bad latency will be. :s
There must be something seriously wrong with your network.
I'm running a PC, Laptop, Wii, DS, PSP, Printer, PS3 off of my router. I also have my receiver with FM / AM radio (and XM), Microwave, HDTV, Cable Box, and tons of other electronics. On top of that, there are about 9 wireless networks within range with 50% signal or more.
I have never once lost connectivity with my systems.
In other words, you may want to learn a bit more about wireless connectivity, etc.
Also, it's worth noting that WiFi is generally faster than mots broadband internet connections, so using LAN really doesn't offer any "speed" advantage, and at most, will give you "stability" if your network has serious issues. Mine does not.
Still, excluding a feature that a large portion of your user base would appreciate because you want to make so much money is a little...ridiculous. I understand business is business, but still...sometimes you have to put the consumer first.
I wouldn't be so sure about that... I've often seen interruptions when people make use of the microwave... Keep in mind it also depends on where those devices are in relation to the wireless receiver and the transmitter. If I have my laptop closer to the router than I do the microwave, there's not going to be much interference because the SNR is still good. But put a microwave in between and you're likely to see a very poor signal. Same applies to 2.4GHz wireless phones; I get interference while talking on the phone while being right next to the laptop whilst the router is on the other end of the house.
Interference from FM/AM is unlikely because they aren't operating at 2.4GHz. XM Radio is ~2.33GHz, just out of range from 2.4GHz that it should be fine for Wireless B/G (even if you consider the 11 channels). Similarly, 900MHz or 5+GHz phones won't have an effect (other than 900MHz phones being crappy).
I do the same. I have always used wireless on my consoles as that is the most convenient. Call me lazy, but I just don't want some long cable running throughout my apartment to reach my consoles. The fact that the Wii and PS3 both came with wireless cards built in were not only an added bonus but extremely convenient for me. For the 360, I previously had a dongle and now I just have it shared through my laptop. No issues at all for me.
As someone else stated, Microsoft is making too much money off their overpriced accessories. They like to call it a "choice" for the consumer but when you make that choice you pay out the rear or you resort to see what 3rd party accessories will work.
I don't have an issue with it I guess because I bought mine at the X360 launch before the PS3 and the Wii came out.
No other home console had it built in at the time and it wasn't an absolutely necessary feature in my eyes. I deemed it convenient to have it because at the time my router and Xbox 360 were on 2 separate floors and although I had a long enough Cat 5 cable, I didn't want to string it along the stairway.
If it came out after the 2 other systems, maybe I'd have an issue with it, but as it stands adding a feature to system when it's "pro-system" didn't have it at launch is just adding to the fanboy fodder. Again my only issue is that it should be priced at less of a premium.
BTW, I fully expect it's next gen systems to be not only wireless built in but wireless LAN capable, if possible, without the need of a router or hub.
No other home console had it built in at the time and it wasn't an absolutely necessary feature in my eyes. I deemed it convenient to have it because at the time my router and Xbox 360 were on 2 separate floors and although I had a long enough Cat 5 cable, I didn't want to string it along the stairway.
If it came out after the 2 other systems, maybe I'd have an issue with it, but as it stands adding a feature to system when it's "pro-system" didn't have it at launch is just adding to the fanboy fodder. Again my only issue is that it should be priced at less of a premium.
BTW, I fully expect it's next gen systems to be not only wireless built in but wireless LAN capable, if possible, without the need of a router or hub.
How is it fanboy fodder? That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.
Sony added an ethernet port to the PS2 well into it's life cycle. The DS got a huge revision with some additions as well IIRC, as did the GBA SP. The PSP has seen two changes, one which added TV out and a Mic.
I hardly think adding features to future iterations of hardware is 'fanboy fodder'.
The PS2 added that port into well into it's life cycle and fractured there market somewhat. How many games actually utilized this functionality? What if you had a launch PS2? They also added a peripheral hard drive (how many people actually used it).
At least with the X360 the functionality is there if you want it. From the DS fat to the DS Lite, you get a smaller DS with additional brightness settings (am I missing something?).
With the PSP, I think its great that they added the TV out feature, but if you were one of the early adopters, wouldn't you have felt screwed that it wasn't backwards compatible (this is what I meant by fanboy fodder BTW).
I think maybe I'm being misunderstood, I don't mind that it wasn't built in...I do mind that it cost so much to add it on. I'd be singing a different tune if the X360 came out after the Wii and PS3 and still didn't have it built in.
Don't take it too personal...I just happen to disagree with your POV...can't we just get along:smile:
Uh how?
Irrelevant, any online game could make use of wireless.
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