Cheap remote included in x360 preimum

[jvd]

Because to MS the HDD is worth $100?

Not really . They are putting 50ish already in terms of useless fluff into the 400$ package with the hardrive .

Think of it this way, the Premium Package had the $100 HDD but you also get:

- Headset ($20... necessary IMO)
- Wireless controller ($10 upgrade value)
- Component Cables ($40)
- Remote ($20)
- Ethernet Cable ($10)

So you get an extra $100 worth of stuff ontop of the HDD.

Okay so your adding in 100$ worth of free stuff to a 300$ console + 100$ hardrive to bring u to 400$ . If your willing to loose 100$ worth of sales to sell that 400$ package why not loose 100$ in sales to sell a hdd based core system .

That is my point . They are putting in useless fluff to try and justify the cost . But the preimum package isn't giving anything needed .

 

[Carl B]

The HDD IS standard in the system it's just that it's $399, not $299 as many people wanted it to be.

I just don't understand. I agree with you that they COULD have offered thus and such or this and that instead of the bundle they did, but they didn't. They had to pick a list that would be the most commonly used features and to be honest, they are EXACTLY the features that I want. I will use ALL of them.

For those that want ala carte, go core and add only what you need. Yea, I know it's a rip compared to the std system but that just goes to show what a great deal the Main system bundle is!

That is awesome Tap In and I'm happy for you - you must have heard the news today and been *thrilled* - am I right?

But my point is simply that they could have gone the $349 or $360 route with the hard drive, and then everybody go a la carte to fill in the missing aspects they wanted. Don't you think that makes a little more sense? I can understand why Microsoft did what they did, it's just the expected paln, the one described, would have been the better move.

 

[Tap In]

Also.... in time I see the Core system having some seriously deep discounts to get into a LOT more homes than they did this gen and into homes that would never spend as much energy as we do on these things. An interview I heard today had an MS rep talking $99 at some point in the X360's life cycle.

that won't happen with a 2.5" SATA removable drive with a proprietary enclosure included or other peripherals.

 

[DeathKnight]

That is my point . They are putting in useless fluff to try and justify the cost . But the preimum package isn't giving anything needed .

Again, it's not adding anything you need. Not everyone sees this the same way you do jvd and not everyone is going to.

 

[Tap In]

That is awesome Tap In and I'm happy for you - you must have heard the news today and been *thrilled* - am I right?

But my point is simply that they could have gone the $349 or $360 route with the hard drive, and then everybody go a la carte to fill in the missing aspects they wanted. Don't you think that makes a little more sense? I can understand why Microsoft did what they did, I just the the expected, and my mentioned, plan would have been the better move.

I'll admit that I didn't want to spend the extra hundy.

and I'll also admit that because it was the exact system that I would have chosen for ME, that I was pretty happy considering that.

I understand what you're saying and yes $349 minus one thing or the other may have been better for more people even though I would have ended up spending probably OVER $400 to get MY desired set up.

 

[Carl B]

Also.... in time I see the Core system having some seriously deep discounts to get into a LOT more homes than they did this gen and into homes that would never spend as much energy as we do on these things. An interview I heard today had an MS rep talking $99 at some point in the X360's life cycle.

that won't happen with a 2.5" SATA removable drive with a proprietary enclosure included or other peripherals.

Yeah well no kidding, I've been saying that all along as well.

(This SATA crap on the MajorNelson is such BS though - what's the RPM on this 'super-speedy' drive anyway?)

I always expected a HDD-less version of the console eventually, I just didn't think it would be now!

Anyway I'm going to bed - I'll chime in again tomorrow.

 

[jvd]

Then don't use the remote. "But, but, but, I want to use the remote"... then use the remote... "But I don't want *god forbid* two remotes"... all I have to say to you is WAH. Why does it have to be the "full featured" one that only adds the number keys and volume control?

To me its not an added value . Don't see your problem. If i shat in a xbox 360 box for you would that be an extra value to u ?

Not everyone is going to think it's useless. However, there are people like you who think the world revolves around them. Maybe there will be that $350 bundle (either from Microsoft or a retailer) down the line to appease you jvd.

I am the gamer and I wnat the hardrive bundled . Which means the package should be aimed at me but it is not .

As for if its there later down the road perhaps I wont be. Which in the end is what ms does not want .

That doesn't change the fact that the media remote you get with the console is indeed free. It's just not the one you wanted....

I don't agree its free. Its there at the expensive of something usefull. As another pointe d out there is a 100$ worth of fluff stuff in that package to me that could have been better spent putting in the wifi adapter in that 400$ package or better yet taking out the fluff and having a 300$ hdd version of the console .

He was complaining because it wasn't exactly what he wanted. He could have gotten got free upgrades (better screen mainly), but refused it and accused us of baiting and switching. We never baited him in the first place and we didn't quote him a higher price for the next model up so it wasn't a switch.

That is just a bad customer . I know what I wnat a 300$ xbox 360 with 1 controller and a hardrive . That way I can spend that 100$ on acessorys I actually want and need like the wifi adapter .

Every single early adopter gets "screwed" no matter what it is. Almost everything drops in price over time. I guess I got "screwed" when I bought my original Xbox on launch day for $299. There's always a premium for the latest and greatest.

this goes beyond normal screwing . They have basicly added at least a 10$ price preimum to every single item on Hell the wireless controller is going to set me back 20$ more than a wave bird and with the charge pack and charger its going to set me back 80ish dollars for a controller .

The pricing is crazy . The things they give in the preimum pack are worthless. Instead of a cheap cut down controller they should have given a plug and play kit and battey. That would have made it a worth while package.

It's missing the volume control and numbered buttons, but it's FREE. The complaint is pretty baseless and nothing more than complaining for the sake of complaining. If they were actually charging you the price of the accessory remote THEN you'd have a legitimate complaint.

I don't see how its free. Its a 100$ more for the package with it . They could have included a full fledge controller or perhaps even another usefull item instead of it . Or reduce the price of the package .

People LOVE to complain. People want everything their way too.

why shouldn't we wnat things our way . Our way is most likely the best for ourselves .

The package doesn't meet what i consider preimum needs .

 

[jvd]

Again, it's not adding anything you need. Not everyone sees this the same way you do jvd and not everyone is going to.

I think you will find alot of people reserving the core system at 300$ with a hdd over the fluff in the 400$ version as the only worth while things are the component cables and the wireless controller .

 

[JasonLD]

Also.... in time I see the Core system having some seriously deep discounts to get into a LOT more homes than they did this gen and into homes that would never spend as much energy as we do on these things. An interview I heard today had an MS rep talking $99 at some point in the X360's life cycle.

that won't happen with a 2.5" SATA removable drive with a proprietary enclosure included or other peripherals.

I believe that $299 core system is the reason why this price announcement became such a big issue. Yeah, it is a good thing they reached $299 price point..and it is also a good thing that core system will have better curve in terms of future pricing.
But the big problem is that Xbox360 core system is not what people expected with Xbox360 and that is the problem. Sadly, I think with $299 price point, core system might end up selling better than $399 premium version and might end up pissing off lots of misleaded customers.

 

[Tap In]

I believe that $299 core system is the reason why this price announcement became such a big issue. Yeah, it is a good thing they reached $299 price point..and it is also a good thing that core system will have better curve in terms of future pricing.
But the big problem is that Xbox360 core system is not what people expected with Xbox360 and that is the problem. Sadly, I think with $299 price point, core system might end up selling better than $399 premium version and might end up pissing off lots of misleaded customers.

you might be right Jason, I see a lot of pizzed off people right now on several gaming forums.

OTOH, every forum community that I've ever been a part of (regardless the subject) always had me feeling that we were a *huge* community and that we made an indelible impact on the mass market.

I have come to find that it is often an illusion and that we (enthusiasts) are usually the minority. My assumption is that the majority of people buying an X360 (not at launch but over the next 3 years) will never even be aware of today or the events leading up to it.

 

[DeathKnight]

jvd:

THEN RESERVE THE CORE SYSTEM WITH THE HARD DRIVE IF YOU FEEL EVERYTHING ELSE IS FLUFF IN THE PREMIUM BUNDLE!!!! It's really that simple jvd. You want to have your cake and eat it too. You want more for less at an unreasonable price point. You want the core system with a hard drive and the wireless controller at a margin Microsoft is unwilling/unable to do at this point in time. Then there's the premium bundle which includes the hard drive and a wirless controller (both of which you want) for the added cost of just a hard drive alone and you don't want that either. It's obvious nothing is going to make you happy since your demands are far too great. Microsoft can't make everyone happy. However, you can't even appreciate the fact that they're trying to offer choices to try and make most other people happy. You may think the world revolves around you, but it doesn't and you need to see that (it's probably asking a little much of you to actually act like it doesn't either ). If you're so upset, if you're so hot and bothered that they don't have the exact bundle you want at the exact price-point you want then just don't buy it. Stop complaining though

Also, no matter what how you "feel", the remote still is free. The cost is padded in the retail price of the hard drive attachment alone.

[edit]

The amount of supposedly pissed off consumers can be reduced if Microsoft educates them as well as the retailers (so they can educate consumers too) well in advance of the launch.

 

[jvd]

jvd:

THEN RESERVE THE CORE SYSTEM WITH THE HARD DRIVE IF YOU FEEL EVERYTHING ELSE IS FLUFF IN THE PREMIUM BUNDLE!!!! It's really that simple jvd

No its not that simple . I just simply wont buy it . Ms did not meet my needs with packaging . They lost out on a sale .

its that simple and if you read over the internet even at xbox.com many many people are upset and many many people will be passing on the system even if its just a small % of those that actually claim to be passing it .


I think you don't understand that simply because ms prices the hardrive at 100$ doesn't make the hardrive + the system and fluff worth the money or a good deal. It simply means that ms is able to trick you again by making you think something is the better deal when it clearly isn't


I.e I can sell you a meal for 10$ that consists of hamburger , fries , soda . And then charge 7$ for a hamburger and 3$ each for the soda and fries. But it doesn't mean that the meal is a great deal because I'm not the only person selling these things and even compared to my old meals the pricing is skewed and wrong .

You want more for less at an unreasonable price point. You want the core system with a hard drive and the wireless controller at a margin Microsoft is unwilling/unable to do at this point in time

No . If you take the 300$ version . Add in all the things from the 400$ version in it . You get a 100$ of added stuff sans hardrive. Which to me shows that ms values the hardrive at 0$

So therefore taking out the fluff stuff would allow ms to sell this package at 300$ and make the smae money back . Because either way u look at it ms is loosing a 100$ in sales on acessorys or a 100$ in sales on the hardrive on the 400$ unit

 

[NavNucST3]

jvd:

THEN RESERVE THE CORE SYSTEM WITH THE HARD DRIVE IF YOU FEEL EVERYTHING ELSE IS FLUFF IN THE PREMIUM BUNDLE!!!! It's really that simple jvd. You want to have your cake and eat it too. You want more for less at an unreasonable price point. You want the core system with a hard drive and the wireless controller at a margin Microsoft is unwilling/unable to do at this point in time. Then there's the premium bundle which includes the hard drive and a wirless controller (both of which you want) for the added cost of just a hard drive alone and you don't want that either. It's obvious nothing is going to make you happy since your demands are far too great. Microsoft can't make everyone happy. However, you can't even appreciate the fact that they're trying to offer choices to try and make most other people happy. You may think the world revolves around you, but it doesn't and you need to see that (it's probably asking a little much of you to actually act like it doesn't either ). If you're so upset, if you're so hot and bothered that they don't have the exact bundle you want at the exact price-point you want then just don't buy it. Stop complaining though

Also, no matter what how you "feel", the remote still is free. The cost is padded in the retail price of the hard drive attachment alone.

[edit]

The amount of supposedly pissed off consumers can be reduced if Microsoft educates them as well as the retailers (so they can educate consumers too) well in advance of the launch.

If the remote is "free", why not include it as part of the package permanently instead of an incentive to "buy now"?

 

[JasonLD]

you might be right Jason, I see a lot of pizzed off people right now on several gaming forums.

OTOH, every forum community that I've ever been a part of (regardless the subject) always had me feeling that we were a *huge* community and that we made an indelible impact on the mass market.

I have come to find that it is often an illusion and that we (enthusiasts) are usually the minority. My assumption is that the majority of people buying an X360 (not at launch but over the next 3 years) will never even be aware of today or the events leading up to it.

Maybe, but every PR that MS had prior to this pricing announcement now seems extremely horrible now. They spoke about importance of High Definition (with lovely 10MB of eDram and guaranteed 720p), wireless controllers, and importance of LIVE and all the features possible with Hard drive..now all the sudden became optional. With all the hoopla they have done, Xbox360 is pretty well known to the mass now, but they will find out that all the great stuff that MS has talked about are NOT standard and will have to go for premium version to experience it...just a bad PR IMO. If there were no core version, people wouldn't feel as cheated as they are now.

 

[DeathKnight]

jvd:

I guess you expect to have everything handed to you at or below cost don't you? That's what you're wanting. You're wanting the console at the $299 price with their slim initial margins on it. On top of that you're wanting both the hard drive (a 2.5" one with SATA interface no less) and a wireless controller for $50 or less. You really don't realize that the $399 bundle is indeed a good deal. Do you honestly believe Microsoft is making any kind of worthwhile margin with all those accessories at $100 extra? If you do you seriously need to step back and think about it. You've totally lost your mind man.

No one's forcing you to buy it and you certainly don't have to. You just need to see that you're blowing this all totally out of proportion, as are many others.

If the remote is "free", why not include it as part of the package permanently instead of an incentive to "buy now"?

Because it's not free by itself. Why is this so hard for some of you to grasp? The cost to you is padded by the retail cost (to you) of the hard drive alone. It's not going to be included permanently because the party it's costing money to is Microsoft. On top of that it is indeed an extra incentive to pick up extra early adopters.

 

[PC-Engine]

If the remote is "free", why not include it as part of the package permanently instead of an incentive to "buy now"?

Because it's a limited time offer an incentive like so many other things in life. It's a reward for those who buy now instead of waiting.

Anyway regarding the controller. The Wavebird is around $25 - $30 and it doesn't come with rechargeable batteries nor a recharger nor rumble function. They probably could've added the wireless controller with 2 AA alkalines and kept it at $299 though.

 

[V3]

Think of it this way, the Premium Package had the $100 HDD but you also get:

- Headset ($20... necessary IMO)
- Wireless controller ($10 upgrade value)
- Component Cables ($40)
- Remote ($20)
- Ethernet Cable ($10)

So you get an extra $100 worth of stuff ontop of the HDD.

If you go backward, the core pack should have been $199 instead of $299. Think about it.
Don't get fooled by MS.

 

[PC-Engine]

If you go backward, the core pack should have been $199 instead of $299. Think about it.
Don't get fooled by MS.

Are you serious dude?

Xbox is $149.

 

[DeathKnight]

If you go backward, the core pack should have been $199 instead of $299. Think about it.
Don't get fooled by MS.

You don't go backward. The core pack has none of the extras. The core pack is $299 regardless. It'd start heading back to $199 if you took away the bundled wired controller, the video cables, the power supply, etc. Heck, we don't need that video chip in there either

 

[V3]

Are you serious dude?

Xbox is $149.

I am, well they can drop Xbox to $99 when X360 is released. Beside MS is discontinuing the original anyway.

You don't go backward. The core pack has none of the extras. The core pack is $299 regardless. It'd start heading back to $199 if you took away the bundled wired controller, the video cables, the power supply, etc.

MS said they want consumers to mix and match as they please, so they should have just have 1 SKU at $199 (the core pack) with all the upgrades on the side. It will work out the same to the premium pack for people that need all that. But people that doesn't need all that won't feel like getting rip off when they upgrade with those upgrade pricing.

At $199 they will get higher penetration before PS3 to boot.