MS Announces 512MB Mem. Unit for 360 + Increased XBLA Game Sizes
- Thread starter Hardknock
- Start date
And they charge more for it?! You can pick up 512MB SD from newegg for $6 - retail! A gig can be picked up for $8. I can understand overpriced memory cards last gens when it was a fairly new technology, but prices are tumbling rapidly now. Someone needs to make an SD/CF adaptor for the Memory Card slot.
DuckThor Evil
Legend
Well to put things into perspective the first party 8MB memory card for PS2 costs 25$ today, how ridiculous is that? The companies make huge profit on these and it has been that way forever. 50$ for a mem card of that size is really expensive and I'd rather buy the harddrive, but compared to the original 64MB it's not that bad of a deal.
Yes, the old PS2 tech is overpriced by comparison to now. But at the time of release, it was okay value. Now with PS3, an 8mb card, or 64 mb, or 512mb, isn't fair at those prices. And Sony have dealt with that by allowing any old flash storage as an option. Likewise Nintendo. Heck, Sony are even allowing SD and CF or whatever, rather than tying in to the (relatively) overpriced MemStick format! And they allow any old HDD too.
Where you say companies make huge profit on these accessories, at the moment it looks to me like only one company is (in this next gen). The others are providing a far more consumer-friendly service. Last gen overpriced memory cards didn't look so bad 'coz they all did it. This gen, MS just looks really bad IMO.
Where you say companies make huge profit on these accessories, at the moment it looks to me like only one company is (in this next gen). The others are providing a far more consumer-friendly service. Last gen overpriced memory cards didn't look so bad 'coz they all did it. This gen, MS just looks really bad IMO.
I agree. Of course, it's a direct result of the financial success Sony has had with the Memory Card. One of the things that Microsoft took from the previous generation is that you can earn a lot of money on peripherals.
As a consumer, however, I was looking at the whole thing exactly the other way around. One of the things I liked best about the original Xbox was the built in HDD and not needing a slow and tiny memory card. A big mitigating factor for the PS2 was that at least for stuff like racing wheels I could use my wheel for both the PS2 and the PC, as well as keep using some of my PS1 equipment.
I keep firmly believing that the most critical to the success of the Core unit is the memory card. If they make that a genuinely attractice option, then it can do some good. But right now, it's still too close to a HDD expansion at a fraction of the capacity.
As a consumer, however, I was looking at the whole thing exactly the other way around. One of the things I liked best about the original Xbox was the built in HDD and not needing a slow and tiny memory card. A big mitigating factor for the PS2 was that at least for stuff like racing wheels I could use my wheel for both the PS2 and the PC, as well as keep using some of my PS1 equipment.
I keep firmly believing that the most critical to the success of the Core unit is the memory card. If they make that a genuinely attractice option, then it can do some good. But right now, it's still too close to a HDD expansion at a fraction of the capacity.
DuckThor Evil
Legend
You are correct, but we must not isolate this one particular matter from the big picture. Manufacturing costs and retail price of these systems lay out the foundations for these different strategies. Sony charges more for the PS3 unit by a significant margin and MS tries to steal a penny everywhere it can, because of the lower price. I think both strategies have pros and cons. I basically don't have a problem with the MS strategy, because I have the premium unit and I feel I have some legroom in making my decisions. I don't have a problem with Sony's strategy either...(other than the huge price difference between Japan VS Europe)
Wow, this all the sudden makes this a great move.
I knew about the 512 MB card for 49.99, after all it had been on EBgames website for some time. But I didn't know if they were going to eliminate the 64MB, or what.
This makes core a more attractive option. The bottom barrel price of entry (core+cheapest memcard) drops $10.
Your first sentence is right, and therefore your second sentence is wrong. Microsoft is trying to make more of a profit on the hardware right now than Sony whichever way you look at it, peripherals or base units. Sony will try to make it back later on hardware (if ever) and for now depends wholly on other areas (software / platform licencing, both games and movie).
Any inventors out there to make an actual interface adaptor??(I see potential money maker on Ebay). Homegrown you could probably manage making a "cord adaptor" out of some USB extension cables and Hardwire it in. Materials to build with a current priced 512MB SD, would be 1/4 of the price.
Question though?? If you could make an adaptor of some form or another, what would stop you from adding a 1GB SD or even a 2GB?? Is this Possiable?
Rainbow Man
Veteran
Not vcertain I would agree to that..
Surely you can get at least two iggs of flash for fifty bucks today perhaps even more.
If MS had dropped the 64MB card in price and slotted in the new card at the old price it would have been a BETTER deal though not exactly a great one. Raising the already beyond stupid price evne more just goes to show once again that MS isn't in it to provide value or even a good product.
They just want to make more money.
Peace.
inefficient
Veteran
I'm thinking that if it were possible someone would have already done it. It just seems too lucrative to have gone untapped for a full year for something that technically trivial.
There must be some legal or technical reason. Like algorithmically checking for a valid device key or something.
64MB card = ~47cents per MB.
512MB card = ~10cents per MB.
20GB HD = 0.45 cents per MB.
Anyone who is foolish enough to buy the 64MB memory card is going to get f*k'ed so hard.
DuckThor Evil
Legend
Are you sure about that. I mean do we know for certain that Sony takes bigger losses with PS3 than MS with X360 atleast in the western markets. I'm personally not so sure about that. We are looking at a rather large price difference between these systems, and all the estimates of the manufacturing costs that I have seen have something fishy about them.
scooby_dooby
Legend
Agreed, and they will suffer losses in marketshare if they don't clean up their act.
Though, I do think they still have a year or two before this peripheral pricing will really have any impact on their sales, the high price of PS3 has given them alot of leeway in this regard.
I sort of think MS still porposefully does not want to sell core units, because if they really did, a couple key moves and they could turn the core into a huge mover.
DuckThor Evil
Legend
Yep I think so too, and I see the manufacturing costs to be the primary reason. They lose more on the core and try to make that up with high mem card prices.
scooby_dooby
Legend
Hopefully for MS's sake, this is the case, and is part of a larger strategy, rather than thinking that this is the correct way to price the core unit.
The 64MB should've been cheaper, $19.99. They need to lower the barrier to entry on the core unit as much as possible.
All i can say about a $50 512MB unit is that its sole purpose must be to drive people to a $70 or $80 - 20gig hard drive. You have to figure that the HD pricing will come down this year to at LEAST $80, maybe less. Who in their right mind would spend $50 on a memory unit with a 20G HD only $20 or $30 more. Surely MS wants to drive people to a Hard drive (no pun intended), thats where all the money will be made on DLC...
All i can say about a $50 512MB unit is that its sole purpose must be to drive people to a $70 or $80 - 20gig hard drive. You have to figure that the HD pricing will come down this year to at LEAST $80, maybe less. Who in their right mind would spend $50 on a memory unit with a 20G HD only $20 or $30 more. Surely MS wants to drive people to a Hard drive (no pun intended), thats where all the money will be made on DLC...
scooby_dooby
Legend
Well it is important to note that 40% of 360 owners have never logged into live, so they aren't hooked up to the internet. For these people, the HDD holds little value, they aren't downloading anything other than game saves.
For these people, a $30 savings could be worth it.
It really is nickel and dime pricing though, if they really wanted to move cores they could just price the HDD at $50 and the memory cards at $10/$20 respectively.
