Slashdot Log In
Xbox Price Cuts Confirmed
Posted by
Soulskill
on Wed Sep 03, 2008 06:16 PM
from the nice-timing dept.
from the nice-timing dept.
Kotaku notes that the suspected price cuts to the various Xbox 360 systems have been confirmed. Xbox Live's Major Nelson posted the new prices ($199 for the Arcade, $299 for the Pro, and $399 for the Elite) and pointed out a BusinessWeek story discussing the changes. The price cuts will take effect on September 5th.
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Place your bets... (Score:5, Interesting)
...the Wii will still sell better.
Even at $199, the majority of consumers feel like they're getting half a system when they get the 360 without a hard drive. As a result, they're going to be looking at the higher $299 price tag. The Wii doesn't have that problem (at least not yet) because the system has the exact same fixed storage on all systems. What you get is what you get. You do not miss out on anything because you purchased the cheaper model.
(Anyone reminded of Henry Ford's, "You can have any color you want as long as it's black"? ;-))
Re:Place your bets... (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
In the case of Sony, I don't think that price is Microsoft's problem. Sony is finally starting to see some of the titles that they've been developing (or waiting on developing) come to fruition. Since a few of those are still PS3 exclusive (e.g. MGS4), consumers are looking at the two consoles and deciding based on whether they want Little Big Planet, MGS4, and Resistance 2 or Viva Pinata, Halo 3, and Gears of War 2.
Sony's hype train is pushing the PS3 as the perfect HD entertainment center for your home. I
Re: (Score:2)
Quite frankly, it must be horrendously embarrassing for Sony to be unable to compete against their own last-gen console
I don't know how embarrassing this is considering history. The original playstation was sold for a long time after the PS2 was released, and in a way it's still selling as the PSP. Having its last generation console going strong while its next generation console is still competing strongly against the XBox is a position I'm sure the sony executives are glad to be in. At the $120 price point that the PS2 sits at right now, it's not cannibalizing a significant number of PS3 sales, and it keeps developers and
Re:Place your bets... (Score:5, Insightful)
Disclaimer: I love the Wii, respect the value of the PS3 for those who want Blu-ray and sold my 360 last year.
Parent
Re:Place your bets... (Score:4, Insightful)
I think this is more important than you are giving it credit for...
Most of us still have not moved on into HD. For those of us looking into it (like me), we know it's more than simply buying an HD TV; without a useful HD source (over the air is nice, but I doubt it's compelling enough to invest in the television). In other words, what's the point unless you get a blu-ray player?
Sure, you can upscan your old DVDs, which we'll do a lot of, I'm sure, but when I'm adding up the total to buy a complete HD system, I'm including the blu-ray player as well as the TV and a I know I'll need a new entertainment center to fit it all.
The reason I'm going on about it is because every review of blu-ray players seems to come to the same conclusion: the PS3 is a better blu-ray player than the standalone units, and it's cheaper, and on top of that... it's a PS3, so you get a gaming system, too!
I wasn't even considering it; I'd have gone right ahead and sunk $300 or $400 on a standalone player when I can get an 80GB PS3 for that amount (plus $20 for a remote) and people are saying it's actually a better player than the standalone units (starts up faster, for one thing).
So it's not just gaming; people who might not otherwise have gotten one (me) might end up getting it just for bluray; and since I do play games, I'll use it for gaming, too.
Win-win.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Nintendo has plurality, and sits a little over 3 million from majority share of the current generation console market. And if they continue to innovate at the current rate (improved sensors
Hypnotism all right... (Score:2, Insightful)
It's called super smash bros!
I'm still not buying a 360, anyway. I do hope this moves sony to panic and lower the price on anything able to run anything with "metal gear" slapped on it, though.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
We have an Xbox360, PS3 and an old N64. When the kids friends come over (ages 12 to 17), they all jump on the N64 and super smash bros, pretty amazing.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
That's the sad thing about the Wii, it's in a small slump because developpers laughed at it (now the assholes are paying with blood), and Nintendo can't release smash hits every year.
I think that's the reason why they started VC in the first place. Well, that and they had made a promise a long time ago in a certain magazine of fame... :)
Re:Hypnotism all right... (Score:4, Insightful)
The Wii's been out for almost 2 years, which is longer than the development cycle of a game, so I don't think that's it. And Nintendo has a 30 year history of screwing over developers, so I think there's a natural resistance to develop for them on the part of some people. There's also the problem with the Wii being underpowered in terms of hardware, which discourages multiplatform development.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm thinking the problem has more to do with your choice in games than the system itself.
Ah, the Wii. Let me count the ways...
Excite Truck
Blast Works
Lost Winds
Defend Your Castle
Mario Galaxy
Geometry Wars: Galaxies
Zackuuuu and Wiki
Link's Crossbow Training
Ghost Squad
Wild West Guns
Super Paper Mario
Twilight Princess
Mario Kart: Wii
Paper Mario 64
Super Mario RPG
Blazing Lazers
Axelay
Toki Tori
Internet Channel (Go challenge someone to a web game. [wiicade.com])
Gate of Thunder
Simcity
Zelda 64
Guitar Hero 3
Super Smash Bros Brawl
That's j
Re:Place your bets... (Score:4, Insightful)
I love this argument. I have both a Wii and a 360, and the 360's been played during exactly three weeks in the last six months. Once for Viva Pinata, once for GTA4, and again for GTA a few months later. Compared to that, the Wii is in constant use. I'm still playing through Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3, I've recently beat Lost Winds, and Smash Bros is a constant obsession, especially when anyone comes over. Boom Blox gets played every time there's anyone over as well. My wife uses My Pokemon Ranch to store excess Pokemon from the DS games every single day.
So there's my anecdotal evidence. My 360 has a thick layer of dust on it; my Wii is played regularly and even comes with me when I visit my friends. It's possible that the reason I still have so many games left to play is that I have maybe 2 hours or so per week left over for single-player gaming, but this whole "Wiis just sit around gathering dust" bullshit is really baffling to me.
In my opinion, the only thing the Wii is lacking is a good splitscreen shooter. Red Steel is crap, and Metal of Honor: Heroes 2 dashed my hopes by being online-only. I hate this stupid online-only trend this generation.
Parent
Re:Place your bets... (Score:5, Interesting)
Basically the opposite situation here. I'm a Wii and 360 owner and the only game I've finished on the Wii was resident evil 4, which I never played on any of its other platforms but can't imagine it was half as good without the wiimote. I was excited for Mario and Zelda but really never picked them up after the first few days I had them. They were well done for sure, but they just didn't hold my interest like I thought they would. Maybe my tastes have changed since the n64 days. I picked up smash brothers for cheap one day, but it plays far too loose to appeal to my fighting game loving side. Generally, the Wii is now used to show friends who come by who haven't played with one very much. I certainly don't discount the Wii though. RE4 proved that they could definitely utilize the machine in a way that would interest me; They just haven't done it since.
The 360 gets played all the time though, largely due to the friends list I think. I turn it on for a couple of quick geometry wars games and end up being invited to some other gaming session that ultimately lasts 4 times as long as I planned on gaming. Halo is a big culprit here, not because it's a particularly great shooter (I'm partial to cod4 on PC), but its good enough and nearly ubiquitous among 360 owners. If you know some 360 owners, you probably all have halo and can play that together. Between the friends list and voice chat, I've probably maintained friendships with college buddies who I may have otherwise lost touch with.
Additionally, soul calibur handles my fighting game fix, putting friends-filtered high score lists on the main screen in geometry wars turned it into an ever-present obsession, and the draw of the online music store within rock band is downright lethal once I've had a drink or two...
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Interesting, because my story is the exact opposite. I've played the Wii once in the past 3 months, and that was for an hour, playing Brawl with my cousins.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I don't have the exact stats to hand but the vast majority of Wii owners apparantly just buy the basic console with Wii sports and never buy another game. Some people buy one or two. Very few have any sort of library. As a result, despite its market penetration, it's a brave company that spends a lot of money on developing a Wii title.
Microsoft's Xbox Fiasco (Score:5, Informative)
Slashing the price of the 360 to below Wii levels isn't going to do anything.
The first Xbox sold around 24-25 million between November 2001 and June 2005 when it went out of production.
The Xbox 360 has sold just over 19.5 million worldwide(sorry vgchartz fake sales numbers) with about 9 months left before it reaches the same point in the Xbox's life where Microsoft pulled the plug on the console.
The Xbox and Xbox 360 are selling at a virtually identical rate.
Microsoft only shipped 2.3 million new Xbox 360's worldwide for the first half of 2008.
The Xbox 360 is selling at a virtually identical sales rate in the three major console regions, Japan, US, and Euopre.
Dead in Japan.
Dead in almost all of Europe outside the UK
Almost all the remaining sales coming from the US.
The Xbox 360 is selling to the exact same people who bought the first Xbox. Cutting prices isn't going to do anything. The demand simply isn't there. Just like the first Xbox there already is talk of the next Halo on the next Xbox being the savior of the platform.
Microsoft is letting PC gaming die from neglect while they waste their time getting nowhere in the console market. The 7 billion dollars Microsoft wasted in the console market could have been better used to revitalize they dying PC game market and keep PC developers from jumping to the console market.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Why is parent modded troll? It's really informative to say the least.
Remember kids, troll isn't "I hate you", it's "You're cruising for a bruising!".
Re:Microsoft's Xbox Fiasco (Score:5, Insightful)
That's some shoddy logic there. Extreme oversimplification. The 360 has lost a lot of money due to the technical problems. The logical conclusion there is to fix those problems and not make the same mistakes, yet you seem willing to declare a microsoft console as fundamentally a bad idea that can never work. Tell me it's not just because you're upset about the state of PC gaming.
PC gaming is dying out because people like to play games rather than wasting time on computer maintenece. I know what your opinion of us must be, but I get no joy out of installing new software or hardware so I can play the latest game. I could definitely learn how to do that, but I much prefer plugging my console into the TV, putting the disc in, and playing immediately. I play games to relax, not to do work. MS spending money on the PC market would be a waste.
I also have to point out that the PS3 is not doing great either. You'd have me believe that the next console is going to be just nintendo out there alone?
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I admit I don't have much proof that the PS3 is doing poorly, but the wiki pages say the PS3 has sold numbers that are lower than the 360. Hard to account for the gap in releases, but the point is that it's not a blowaway sucess compared to the 360. It's also not very scientific, but I don't personally know anyone with a PS3, I know of many with 360s. That could be due to the Japan thing. And with games, the tide certainly seems to be going in the favor of the 360.
Reguardless, the 360 is not the worst c
Re:Microsoft's Xbox Fiasco (Score:4, Funny)
Bitter Sony Fanboy?
Parent
Alright (Score:4, Insightful)
"Here's to hoping that helps Microsoft's recent hardware sales woes." - Kotaku
Hardware sales woes? Its the summer season, a time that has historically shown a decline in sales due to the fact not many publishers release at this time. September through December are the hot months for releasing a game and a perfect time to lower a console price to make the system more appealing.
Re: (Score:2)
So you drop price when demand is higher? That is something I have a hard time believing.
Re: (Score:2)
So you drop price when demand is higher?
Yes, you make the console a loss-leader. You make it back on the consumer buying software titles, xbox live service, downloadable content, and peripheral sales.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
And that's why there's people smarter than you running businesses.
Red Ring of Death Now Cheaper! (Score:2)
I'd feel better if there was a hardware revision along with the price cut... are people still experiencing the red ring of death? I have held off on next gen consoles to this point due to low availability and high price points. I have held off on the 360 specifically due to hardware quality issues.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Yet it still doesn't erase the legendary 33% failure rate ths 360 still has going.
I hear from an anonymous coward claiming to be a walmart higher-up that this is the biggest failure of a product without being recalled...
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I hear from an anonymous coward claiming to be a walmart higher-up
I'm not sure who I trust less - an anonymous coward or a Walmart higher-up.
Re:Red Ring of Death Now Cheaper! (Score:4, Informative)
Microsoft already switched to 65nm parts from the original 90nm parts quite awhile back.
http://www.google.com/search?q=Xbox+360+goes+65nm [google.com]
From what I remember, after that people were liking how cool the systems ran. There also were some obvious ways to check your system, to identify which it was. (I think this was aimed at those getting potential refurbs from the RRoD)
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
The problem seems to be with cheap hardware, something you'd be hard pressed to avoid while trying to build what's basically a computer for under $300. I'd be skeptical of any claims that these issues are totally resolved without a price hike of $200+. However, Microsoft is offering extended 3 year warranties for hardware failures. I've owned an xbox for about two years and a Wii since launch day. I've had no problems with my xbox, but have returned my Wii to Nintendo for repair three times due to hardware
$199? (Score:2)
But red ring of death might still be a concern.
Noooooo!!!! (Score:4, Funny)
$199 model (Score:4, Interesting)
I'd never buy one without a HDD, but that is just me. Even with the new avatars and dash, the XBox is aimed at a different audience than the Wii. I don't think they honestly compete directly. The real competition here is Sony. Microsoft still has a larger install base, though Sony was catching up.
Now if Sony wants to honestly compete in this generation, they need to drop their core model to $300 before Black Friday. Microsoft is losing tons of money on the hardware because of RROD problems (which continue to persist, even on new Elite models) but Sony is also losing quite a bit.
The difference is that Microsoft has other business models to produce plenty of profit. Sony's other divisions are doing decent, but they aren't producing Microsoft-type revenues.
They're both shooting themselves in the foot to see who will lose the most money before the other one pulls out of the race. Why?
Because next generation, if only one competes, they don't have to lose so much money. Nintendo is competing for another segment, and either Microsoft or Sony could in theory run away solo with the high-end, hardcore console market.
Then again, neither see the true solution. Sony has BluRay, and Microsoft doesn't want to pay to license it. Microsoft has DirectX, which Sony doesn't want to utilize, even though it makes development easier for PC/Console games. Microsoft also bought the rumble patent that Sony didn't want to pay for. Neither have incredible first-party titles, and both end up shelling out money to bribe third-party developers for console exclusives, killing potential profits.
The solution really is one console. Developers would love to have a larger install base to develop for, and not worrying about porting to two platforms.
Imagine a console that could be developed for easily (DirectX), that had BluRay, and featured both Halo and Metal Gear Solid? Both Sony and Mirosoft could turn a profit on the venture. They both put their best technology in the box, with their combined patent portfolios and also combine console exclusives. Together they'd reclaim some of the market share they lost to Nintendo, even though most of Nintendo's market really is a different audience.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't think either Sony or Microsoft would want that. On Microsoft's part, they simply want to drive Sony out of the console market like Sega was driven out. Why? Because they see winning the console market once for all as the first step in establishing a monopoly on all home networking.
If you're running Windows on your home computer and Windows on your TV, what are you going to use in the rest of your house? No, this isn't a conspiracy, just the marketing seminar I had to sit through that was essenti
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
One console would harm competition though. For example, Sony briefly was deluded into thinking that Blu-Ray and the PS3 were going to conquer all. As part of the Blu-Ray standard at the time, there were serious, serious limitations on existing HDTVs when playing Blu-Ray content - basically you got near-SD picture because you had an unapproved device. It sucked, and HD-DVD could thump it for that. Just before the PS3 was released, Sony dropped that limitation.
Without that competition that wouldn't have happe
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I didn't say best for the consumer, I'm saying best for Sony, Microsoft and game developers. Frankly either one loses and leaves the market, or they consolidate. However, they're losing so much money I don't see both in the market indefinitely.
As far as DRM goes, every console maker uses DRM. The PS3 is the most open console in history, and Sony's online service is free. All three companies (Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo) have done some shitty things in their day, so I won't claim any is good and/or evil
Lazy (Score:2)
I'm lazy but still kind of care about what this article is talking about. Anyone care to let me in on what the various levels of xbox denote?
Re:Lazy (Score:5, Funny)
Arcade: public place; most people don't keep their porn stashes in public. No HDD.
Pro: somewhat private; maybe you've spent one or two afternoons entertaining yourself on company time. Small HDD.
Elite: parent's basement; pretend this is spelled "1337" and everything falls into place.
Parent
Upgrading basic version? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Upgrading basic version? (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
When the 360 first came out with its two versions, I was like many who considered the non-HD version to be "lame." Since then, considering the price reduction and the improvement of the package (wireless contr
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I was wondering the same thing so I did some looking around. It is easy to find used drives (especially 20GB) - look on ebay, amazon, your local game shop, etc.
If you want a larger drive, you can hack one in. I don't think anyone has had luck getting any SATA drive to work, but you can buy the exact same model that MS uses and flash the firmware [xbox-scene.com] to make it compatible. Then you can either swap out the case [xbox-scene.com] with another 360 hdd, or solder up a cable [rbjtech.net] to use the drive internally.
Re: (Score:2)
Man, are you guys even TRYING anymore? It was just a few months ago that every first post talked about cold urine. What happened? Ran out of meth?
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
trade up (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
That's a good idea, and if I ran console design that's what I would do.
sony said "hay lets change it all again and then make even double hard to do - w00tz cell pwn ftw n00b" (*choke*)
To be fair to Sony, the PS1 was notoriously hard to develop for, but that didn't stop it from being extreme
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Well that's the problem, the hardware just isn't as fast as it should be. They should have gone with something faster and more powerful, and they definitely should have put in HDMI/DVI support.
Somethings gotta give.
If they'd put in Hidef support, on the existing CPU/GPU, the framerate would have sucked. You can't just pump 5x as many pixels by adding an HDMI connector.
So they would have had to significantly bump up the CPU/GPU just to deliver the same performance on HD.
And then you want more available CPU t
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
You don't HAVE to transmit in 1920x1080 mind you, but having that option would be good. Action games with a lot of things on screen could use a lower resolution, but static images and puzzle games could take advantage of the higher resolution.
I don't know at what level they should have done the CPU, but I do know the level they did do it at was to