Microsoft upset over leaked images of the 360

[a688]

The real problem is that
Halo 2.5 = $50
40 GB Harddrive = $50
SYSTEM = $299

wtf... a 40GB harddrive should NOT cost $50 in Fall 2005.

Most of the hard drive cost is in packaging and materials which is a relatively fixed cost. Also add the cost of a case to put the drive in.

 

[Carl B]

I was about to post the same thing, but when you read the entire sentance, something isn't quite right:

If true, smart move; the $399 console with the hard drive has a pack-in game and everyone now has a reason to buy the hard drive separately

If the price of $399 is for an Xbox360 + a game + the harddrive, wouldn't that nullfy the reason to drive the harddrive seperately, as they can get it at a very very good deal?

The above sentence, while very specific in that it's the price for with the harddrive, is awefully confusing in the following subset.

I understand the confusion with the article, but I think what it's trying (badly) to convey is that - here's the 'deluxe' console version for $399 with all this great stuff - now all you people who bought the 'base' console will definitely want to be upgrading with the hard drive sometime soon down the line!

Anyway, that's what I got from it at least.

 

[BigGamer X]

Four-hundred bucks? Heh. Microsoft may just be leaving the door wide open for Sony.

Personally, I'm kind of relieved. Pricing like that will give me another reason to wait. I typically buy hardware on launch day or soon after, but it's getting to be a pain finding room for all these consoles. Besides, I have a ton of current games I need to finish.

If the rumor is true, perhaps "Halo 2.5" will be the catalyst to sell these higher-priced systems... Myself, I find the Halo games to be some of the most repetitive and uninvolving titles I've ever played... another reason I'm feeling lukewarm about the whole thing.

Kind of funny to me that for a company that wants so badly to pry the living room from Sony's hands, they don't seem to be putting their (considerable) money where their mouths are. They're the underdogs; I expected them to fight a lot harder and scrappier than this.

Guess the losses they sustained with Xbox really made them blink. Not good when you're up against Sony and PS3.

Great post. I also think Halo is highly overated, especially the 2nd one. (it's ok but not a system seller to me.) I also agree that if they want to beat Sony they will have to make a KILLER system, no punches pulled. The games have to then play good and take advantage of said specs... And yes, $100 for a mere 40GB HDD with a game I already own preloaded on it doesn't sound very enticing either!

 

[Inane_Dork]

And yes, $100 for a mere 40GB HDD with a game I already own preloaded on it doesn't sound very enticing either!

How about $100 for a 40 GB iPod and a game you already own? It would be a real steal if that were the case.

 

[jvd]

Four-hundred bucks? Heh. Microsoft may just be leaving the door wide open for Sony.

Leave the door wide open for sony and what ?

Sony doesn't have a new system for this holiday season . So they really aren't leaving the door open for sony .

Not only that but the non hardrive version is 300$ . So i wont see how its any diffrent than sony launching a system at 300$

 

[Phil]

Personally, I don't see Sony launching PS3 with a harddrive either - not for anything below what Microsoft will be asking for.... then again, it all depends what Sony hopes to achieve with PS3 in the long run. In addition, Sony is expecting to have sold at least the amount of PS2 after 5, 6 years - what can Microsoft expect if they're overly concerned with making a loss? Realistically 20 million in the same timeframe?

 

[Kolgar]

Leave the door wide open for sony and what ?

Sony doesn't have a new system for this holiday season . So they really aren't leaving the door open for sony .

Try and tell that to Sega.

Not only that but the non hardrive version is 300$ . So i wont see how its any diffrent than sony launching a system at 300$

You know your Xbox experience is going to be crippled if you don't get the hard-drive version. Microsoft will do everything they can to encourage adoption of this model, and that means if you cheap out, you're going to miss out.

Has Sony said anything about a hard drive for PS3, add-on or otherwise? I guess all this depends on whether Sony approaches online as Microsoft is. But I'm in no hurry to spend $400 on a console, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

Now I expect Sony to take advantage of this situation and work it to their advantage. In an ironic move, I can see them including a 20GB hard drive or something right out of the box. Even if it costs them money, it may be worth it if they can lower the boom on Xbox a second time, and possibly drive Microsoft from the market.

 

[EPe9686518]

The real problem is that
Halo 2.5 = $50
40 GB Harddrive = $50
SYSTEM = $299

The Xbox 2 system with the HDD that comes with it is going to have Halo 2.5 pre installed. It will also have Tvio like features, home media center features and appreantly web tv features too. You also get DLC over Xbox Live and unlimited saved game space in that same package.

Not a bad deal at all considering for 300 bucks you get an Xbox 2 that does not have any DLC abblity over XBL for anything other than game patchs. You don't get a game with it, you also can listen to any of your own music in game and you have limited space to save your games on.

MS knows what they are doing, everyone always 2nd guesses them but they usaly come out on top when all is said and done.

 

[UKt@xman]

Leave the door wide open for sony and what ?

Sony doesn't have a new system for this holiday season . So they really aren't leaving the door open for sony .

Try and tell that to Sega.

Well, the DC sold over 9million units in its short lifespan. I don't think hardware sales were SEGA's problem, it was the fact that everybody that owned one was just downl;oading their games off the net.

Not only that but the non hardrive version is 300$ . So i wont see how its any diffrent than sony launching a system at 300$

You know your Xbox experience is going to be crippled if you don't get the hard-drive version. Microsoft will do everything they can to encourage adoption of this model, and that means if you cheap out, you're going to miss out.

Has Sony said anything about a hard drive for PS3, add-on or otherwise? I guess all this depends on whether Sony approaches online as Microsoft is. But I'm in no hurry to spend $400 on a console, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

Now I expect Sony to take advantage of this situation and work it to their advantage. In an ironic move, I can see them including a 20GB hard drive or something right out of the box. Even if it costs them money, it may be worth it if they can lower the boom on Xbox a second time, and possibly drive Microsoft from the market.

I quite like the way m$ are doing it(from a maketing perspective), as it gives the buyer the impression of an option, when in fact you will by all accounts need both(a bit like SONY with their memory cards).....the reason I like this is because it gives m$ the opportunity to really slaughter the price of the base unit as soon as PS3 hits the shelves, and put real pressure on SONY to hit a decent pricepoint.

 

[Carl B]

The Xbox 2 system with the HDD that comes with it is going to have Halo 2.5 pre installed. It will also have Tvio like features, home media center features and appreantly web tv features too. You also get DLC over Xbox Live and unlimited saved game space in that same package.

Where'd you get the information on the TiVo like features?

 

[UKt@xman]

I'd buy it in a second if it had TIVO. I sold my TIVO in the UK a while back, not realising that you can't now buy them over here! I really miss it - by far the best bit of AV gadget type gear I've ever bought!

 

[Kolgar]

Well, the DC sold over 9million units in its short lifespan. I don't think hardware sales were SEGA's problem, it was the fact that everybody that owned one was just downl;oading their games off the net.

My take is that Sega's problems had less to do with piracy than 1) poor marketing, 2) no money, 3) no EA, and last but not least... 4) Sony PS2.

I quite like the way m$ are doing it(from a maketing perspective), as it gives the buyer the impression of an option, when in fact you will by all accounts need both(a bit like SONY with their memory cards).....the reason I like this is because it gives m$ the opportunity to really slaughter the price of the base unit as soon as PS3 hits the shelves, and put real pressure on SONY to hit a decent pricepoint.

I think it's a poor move because it paints buyers into a corner. Any educated person will realize they're getting screwed if they don't buy the "deluxe" version.

It reminds me of a slickster sales person: "Now there's this model here, but see, it's not going to do what you really want it to do. Now THIS baby" - he points to hard-drive version - "This here is where it's at."

All for a cool four-hundred plus tax. So Microsoft can later charge you even more money through these new microtransactions.

Never mind the fact that they've now segmented their user base between the hard-drive haves and have-nots.

The end result is that a simple video game purchase becomes confusing. Which model do I get? I don't want to spend $400. But I don't want the rinky-dink version, either. Screw it, I'll just wait for PS3."

That's the way I'm leaning.

 

[BigGamer X]

And yes, $100 for a mere 40GB HDD with a game I already own preloaded on it doesn't sound very enticing either!

How about $100 for a 40 GB iPod and a game you already own? It would be a real steal if that were the case.

I want a game machine, not an iPod. The HDD isn't even standard so all it is going to do is play custom soundtracks and do gamesaves. (on the gaming end.) I doubt it'll be used to preload games and or cache game data to speed things up. The hardcore will snap this up, the masses will go PS3... (due mostly to the reasons Kolgar pointed out in his latest post.)

 

[Confidence-Man]

You know your Xbox experience is going to be crippled if you don't get the hard-drive version. Microsoft will do everything they can to encourage adoption of this model, and that means if you cheap out, you're going to miss out.

How would the lack of a HDD cripple one's Xbox experience?

The Xbox Live experience may be crippled without it, but since Live subscribers account for only a fraction of the userbase it won't make any difference to most people.

 

[Brimstone]

How are you guys coming to the conclusion about the add-on hard drive cost? Maybe they'll bundle a few months of LIVE service with the hard drive also?


A hard drive for console gaming is a good thing. If you want to download large files you have to have some type of mass storage device that is somewhat inexpensive.

 

[UKt@xman]

I quite like the way m$ are doing it(from a maketing perspective), as it gives the buyer the impression of an option, when in fact you will by all accounts need both(a bit like SONY with their memory cards).....the reason I like this is because it gives m$ the opportunity to really slaughter the price of the base unit as soon as PS3 hits the shelves, and put real pressure on SONY to hit a decent pricepoint.

I think it's a poor move because it paints buyers into a corner. Any educated person will realize they're getting screwed if they don't buy the "deluxe" version.

It reminds me of a slickster sales person: "Now there's this model here, but see, it's not going to do what you really want it to do. Now THIS baby" - he points to hard-drive version - "This here is where it's at."

All for a cool four-hundred plus tax. So Microsoft can later charge you even more money through these new microtransactions.

People buy the BMW 318i despite it being a cripple of a BMW, then on top of that they have to pay extra for a stereo/aircon/sunroof etc.........and the public lap it up!

 

[Kolgar]

How would the lack of a HDD cripple one's Xbox experience?

The Xbox Live experience may be crippled without it, but since Live subscribers account for only a fraction of the userbase it won't make any difference to most people.

Hmm, let's see. Microsoft launches two consoles, one with a hard drive and one without. The hard-drive versions are ready to go Live and that's where new vistas of money-green mountains await (for Microsoft, not us). We'll be charged for annual subscriptions and microtransactions up the ying-yang for everything from new levels to Xbox dating services.

Which model does Microsoft want you to buy? Right. How will they get you to do that? I don't want to say they'll put out half-finished games, but there's every chance they could ship a racing game with 12 tracks and save another 12 for Live purchasers to download for free or an extra cost.

It seems very clear to me that Microsoft got stung by the losses it took on Xbox and now someone in the company is insisting that this new box will make money, amen and goddamn it to hell. There's no doubt in my mind that they will not only make the new "deluxe" box more attractive, but they may even go so far as to make the non-hard-drive box unattractive.

(Which may backfire when people who bought an original Xbox for less than $299 - complete with hard drive - see the new model and say, "WTF? They want me to pay EXTRA for the hard drive this time?")

In any case, splitting the user base is never a good idea. Ask Sony. They must have realized it, because in the end, they never really bothered with the add-on hard drive for PS2. And they built the ethernet port into PStwo. I bet that's a lesson they won't forget with PS3.

Right now I'm fascinated by the idea that Sony may once again use the hard drive (or lack of one) against Microsoft and Xbox. Early on, people thought Microsoft had a real advantage by building the hard drive into Xbox, but the biggest impact it had was to strangle Microsoft's profits. Now MS may NOT include one and Sony may find a way to exploit this as a weakness.

 

[pegisys]

it might be a smart move for microsoft even if people don't buy it for $400 at luanch and wait for the ps3, and if the ps3 is $400(cause I don't see it at $299) microsoft can drop the price for the harddrive version to $300 and when parents take there kids to get a new system they are going to say this one is 300 you sould get it.

 

[Mythos]

Plus.. throw in that MS according to rumors will have supply capacity of X 360 as: 20% of low end X360 @ $299 and then 80% premium w/ HDD and stuff for $399. You're either forced to go high end or you're screwed with the low supply of the low spec. X360.

 

[Ooh-videogames]

I guess by showing a render and not the console, they can get some feed back from gamers on the design of the consoles shell.