xbox 360 confirmed pricing

[Shifty Geezer]

Do you not believe prospective buyers of the PS3 will be extremely upset if the console launches a full $100 more than was expected? Because that's essentially what has happened with the X360.

What's the expected price for PS3? Rumours are high. KK's talking of needing money. A $500 price tag might not shock people, though they'll be slow on the uptake. A $400 price tag will probably be a relief to many, and that'd be all inclusive (save maybe a memory stick for saves but a cheapo 32/64mb could be bunged in free). I think it'd be quite hard for Sony to blow people's expectations. I guess they've had that trouble already with their 'only 200 GFlop, single Cell, what-no-super-computer-teraflop-processor-lying-scumball-Kutaragi' moment some months back.

 

[g35er]

They were going to price a 20-Gig hdd 360 at $400 either way. It's not as though if they only had one version, that you would be able to save any money. So what would you rather have, that they not do a non-hd version at all?

Looks like the PS3 has a really good chance of being $400+ now. IMO, both consoles at this price is too expensive. With all the peripherals and games, you're talking about a $500+ initial purchase. This won't go over well with the Christmas crowd. Mom and dad, or wife or girlfriend is not buying Johnny a $500 present.

 

[scooby_dooby]

My only hope..that I cling to...is that these peripherals are still listed as "estimated price" whle the console prices are not.

hopefully they get a clue, if they want to give us options than GIVE us options! They have to be affordable!

 

[scooby_dooby]

They were going to price a 20-Gig hdd 360 at $400 either way. It's not as though if they only had one version, that you would be able to save any money. So what would you rather have, that they not do a non-hd version at all?.

yes. 2 reasons

1. that woud ensure 100% support for the HDD,

2. they wouldn't feel the need to mark up the peripherals to such a degree

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I'll add that high price-points is very good for Sony. Units won't be so quick to leave the shelves, meaning the current gen drags out a bit longer. Great for Sony. Not sure about MS. With no XBs to sell (unless they've lots of stock) they won't be expanding much of the XB1 or XB360 userbase next year. I really expected them to sell XB360 to fuel that massive take up they were talking about. Maybe it costs more to produce than people anticipated?

 

[PG2G]

yes. 2 reasons

1. that woud ensure 100% support for the HDD,

2. they wouldn't feel the need to mark up the peripherals to such a degree

This is getting annoying. Do you not understand that there was NEVER going to be 100% support for the HD? For the last few months we have read that games cannot require the HD and we all agreed that the HD was purely a extra (nothing more than a big memory card).

I don't see what the problem is. You want a HD, get one. Nobody is forcing you to. You don't want one, save $100.

You haven't lost out on anything because the HD is nothing more than storage for saves and media.

 

[Joe DeFuria]

yes. 2 reasons

1. that woud ensure 100% support for the HDD,

No, the only way to get 100% support of the HDD is if it were non removable, like the xbox1.

2. they wouldn't feel the need to mark up the peripherals to such a degree

Don't see the correlation.

 

[valioso]

according to Major nelsons damage control blogcast, the developer can still use the hard drive to cache and lessen loading times.. I guess we'll find out how often this gets used.

 

[scooby_dooby]

well, essentially 100% support. end result is full dev support which is the point after all.

the correlation is they are driving up the peripheral costs to 'force' people to buy the premium package,

 

[Acert93]

No, the only way to get 100% support of the HDD is if it were non removable, like the xbox1.

Actually, because of the importance of cross platform development, the only way I could see significant support would be if MS and Sony had the HDD standard.

I am still for the HDD, but since they were not requiring games to check for it and content caching seemed to be on the way out + the free WinXP streaming and the like for demos, microtransactions, trailers, etc + No TiVo features, I think MS pretty much saw it uneccesary--but only because they did so.

The possibilities one has with a HDD--for content caching, free demos, trailers, game expansion packs, user created content, TiVo, Audio Storage, etc--are HUGE HUGE HUGE.

But it seems MS dislikes it due to 1. cost 2. PS3 is not supporting HDD standard 3. do not want to hurt WMC sales, etc...

i.e. the same junk that KILLED Sony in the MP3 market

A better strategy for MS, IMO, is to require the HDD for Xbox Live GOLD. This means EVERYONE playing games ONLINE will have the HDD feature.

Online gaming already fragments the userbase. Doing so further like:

Xbox
Xbox + Live
Xbox + HDD
Xbox HDD + Live

Is stupid. HOPEFULLY, Live GOLD requires a HDD. Heck, package the external HDD with a year of Live GOLD. Just don't sell GOLD w/o a HDD!

That would be the only saving grace IMO because you would have

Xbox
Xbox + LIVE/HDD

That I could live with

 

[g35er]

I said in another post that most games should benefit from but not require an hdd and a few games should require an hdd as needed for gameplay. As long as the hdd version has decent penetration (>70%) there will be developers who make hdd required games. And as long as it's marked clearly on the box that this is an hdd only game, I don't see a problem with consumers.

 

[Joe DeFuria]

well, essentially 100% support. end result is full dev support which is the point after all.

As PG2G and I said, the fact that the hard drive is removable (whether or not it is bundled), means that MS has dictated that games should (must?) be developed with the assumption that it is not present. This is nothing close to 100% support.

the correlation is they are driving up the peripheral costs to 'force' people to buy the premium package.

While many of the peripheral costs are very high (which is my main gripe), I don't see how the hard drive correlates with any of it.

 

[PG2G]

Are you sure that things like demos and trailers can be streamed? Seems like they would want to keep things like demos, gamesaves, etc... on specially formatted drives that aren't easily accessible by say Windows.

 

[Joe DeFuria]

A better strategy for MS, IMO, is to require the HDD for Xbox Live GOLD. This means EVERYONE playing games ONLINE will have the HDD feature.

I don't see that as a neccessity.

I believe live requires a storage device (either HDD or mem card). Sure, the more storage you have, the more options / usability you'll have with live. But requiring a hard drive might make the entry to live gold too steep for some people who may want to just try it out and see what it has to offer.

On a related question...does anyone know if MS going to allow standard USB drives / pen drives to be used for storage...or only MS memory cards?

 

[Tap In]

The prices are structured in such way to make the Premium pack to sound like a bargain. This is just a cheap marketing tactic.

Well if the only choice (for MS) was to release the system at $399 anyway (due to costs and losses) then $299 is a bargain to those who do not want all the peripherals or are looking for a cheaper jumping off point.

It's all perspective. The only people who are really upset are those who talked themselves into believing everything would come in a box for $299. That was ALL speculation.


I doubt Sony will be able to afford to release their system for less than $399 and if they do MS will match it or beat it since it won't have been taking a bath for the 1st year.

 

[Tap In]

So basically, North America got the shaft on this one it seems.

Especially canada, like who the hell can afford this shit? We don't make much more than americans per capita, and we're looking at $480+ with no games and 1 controller.

Weak man, weak....

ohhh you're Canadian... it all comes together for me now Scooby.

j/k

 

[Tap In]

Problem is..its sorta like a play on words. They are doing all those things, there just forcing you to get it in a "Beefed" up version. It is one of the first, it is being shipped with a HDD and the no matter what the HDD will be in "That" version. Its an obvious mislead and it may backfire on them.

ONLY if you believed that $299 was the price, before it was ever announced.

If you waited until today to "decide" in your mind what the full system would cost, we wouldn't have anybody pissed off.

They are giving just what they promised, but they also included a cheaper "option".

 

[Tap In]

something Acert93 said got me wondering... CAN we stream TO a Windows XP platform from the LIVE interface?


Could we download demos and content directly to an XP HDD?

 

[PG2G]

It'd be nice if some little Save As File Dialog popped up when you wanted to download something

 

[Acert93]

something Acert93 said got me wondering... CAN we stream TO a Windows XP platform from the LIVE interface?


Could we download demos and content directly to an XP HDD?

http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews/20050816_174728.html

Microsoft enables streaming between PC and Xbox 360

Microsoft today released a beta version of its Windows Media Connect 2 to developers and beta testers. The software, which allows digital media receivers (DMR) to stream music, video, and photos stored on Windows XP-based computers, will support in its second generation a range of new devices, including the upcoming game console Xbox 360.

According to Microsoft, WMC2 connects the Xbox 360 to home PCs as well as online services such as Napster and Yahoo and allows streaming of digital content, including images, music and video. PlaysForSure verified digital media receivers such as those from Roku and D-Link are supported as well, the company said.

WMC2 will be offered as a free update for Windows XP before the end of year, Microsoft told Tom's Hardware Guide. (THG)

That is all we got at this time. Will it go both ways... :shrugs:

From what MS has said in the past my guess is you will be able to use the HDD for some things. But for a game demo... hmmm, they are aweful big. With a 100Mb Ethernet connection (re: no Gbit) that would be one SLOW transfer!

Really, if it were me, I would have included the HDD just so I could shove demos, game trailers, news and interviews, and free content at users to maximize sales. Downloadable expansion packs like HL2's After Life!

Oh well... I don't run MS now, do I