Retail Ads Hint At $50 360 Price Cut

Following closely on the heels of Sony's $100 cut in price for the PlayStation 3, retail ads seem to indicate an upcoming $50 price drop for the Xbox 360. Gamespot investigates the rumour: "It's clear that a number of retailers are expecting an Xbox 360 price cut next week, so much so that they're willing to buy print advertising for it. If that's the case, Microsoft almost certainly told them to expect a price cut, and when it would be fine to start promoting it. When Microsoft actually decides to announce it remains to be seen, although sources close to the software giant are grousing through back channels that the discounting's cover has already been blown." This comes right on time for the annual release of Madden, Bioshock, and Blue Dragon.

How about you fix the problems instead?

I'd pay $50 more if it meant I didn't have to send my console back for repair every four months. The RRoD rate for 360s is ridiculous.

Re:

I'd pay $50 more if it meant I didn't have to send my console back for repair every four months. The RRoD rate for 360s is ridiculous.

They've had eyes on a subscription model for software for some time, perhaps this is their entry into doing it for hardwar

Re:How about you fix the problems instead?

I work in games retail. Xbox 360s have some hardware problems which result in the RRoD. This used to be a daily occurrence where I work (people returning faulty units) but now it's much less regular (still a few a week, less than 4 usually). Obviously, this is still a bit crap. However, the clip-on nature of the 360 harddrive means we can give customers a new console and have them playing again without losing any data in less time than it takes to serve a grandmother who wants to know about that "double-u aye aye thing". The thing about the RRoD is that while it's a (diminishing, IMO) problem, it's pretty much the only real thing MS haters can complain about with the Xbox 360. It's not a piece of garbage - it's a powerful console with a shit load of games, and a bunch of pretty spectacular-looking ones out between now and Xmas. The PS3 seems to be a very robust machine, I guess MS rushed a bit too much to be first out of the gate.

Re:

35% failure rate is total bull. Where that number originally came from I have no idea but I've seen it thrown around online over the last couple of months. If I had to guess, I'd say it's closer to 7 or 8% (still dreadful for a consumer electronics product

Re:

### 35% failure rate is total bull.

That number comes right from Microsoft. They never said that number directly, but they did say that they are going to spend one billion to handle the defects, given that 10 million XBox360 are released into the wild, just

Re:

I think the 10 billion is supposed to be the total cost of the warranty extension, so they're also counting the expected cost of replacements for 360s yet to be sold plus things like customer service and shipping. Anecdotal data about 30% failure rates cou

Re:

You must live in fantasy land where shipping a console both ways and paying someone by the hour to fix something, all of this at the cost of Microsoft, doesn't cost a thing.

Re:

I thought it was bull too until I turned my unit on last month and saw the three lights. Now I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was true.

Re:

Microsoft put away enough money to fix 100% of all sold 360s. I have no idea what the failure rate is, but Microsoft clearly expects it to be higher than 7% or 8%.

Re:

You slipped up, troll. You almost seemed like a MS hater who just felt strongly about it until you denied the PS2 failures. You know nothing about consoles. Although it's supposedly impossible to win arguments on the Internet, I just did. *smug mode*

Xbox Profitable in 2XXX

Exactly when Duke nukem forever is released.

Was I the only one...

Who thought "$50,360 price cut? I didn't think it was that expensive"?

XDK 360?

Who do they think they are selling something that expensive?

How much does it cost to become an authorized developer of commercial Xbox 360 games? The devkit alone probably doesn't cost 50 kUSD, but the required business overhead to qualify for an official console devkit (forming an S-corp or LLC, leasing office

The part the summary misses....

Two separate stores, so it looks legit, but the price drop is only on the Premium, not the Elite.

Re:The part the summary misses....

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17603 0 [neogaf.com]

The Core gets a $20 cut and the Elite is reduced by $30.

Re:

Okay, you've covered the Premium and Elite. What about the Core, "Halo 3 Edition" and the "Simpsons Movie Edition"?

Almost as complex as a product matrix as Vista. Is it any wonder the Wii is selling more?

Heck, even the PlayStation only has two models (at

Re:

Don't forget the playstation 2 is still for sale (and doing quite well).

Re:

Not sure about those special editions, but the Core is set to get a $20 price cut.

I can't believe...

So it'll drop from $400 to 350? I can't believe they aren't taking the opportunity to sell it for $360.

"XBox 360 - for $360"

niiiiiiceee....

Re:

niiiiiiceee....

God help me I laughed out loud at that. Bravo sir... bravo.

RRoD is sporatic at worst

I know I know I know, "The 360 self destructs! The numbers don't lie!"

True, but I think people exaggerate them a bit...I myself own 4 different 360's, and know of no less than 30 people that own at least one...out of everyone I know that has had one, only two people have gotten the ring (one of which is me)

My one RRoD came after I cracked the case open on one of them to clean out the dust...unbeknown to me at the time, I had accidently loosened two of the CPU heatsink screws a half-turn, and within 2 hours I had the rings...the other 3 that I own have never had an issue. THe only friend I know that has had an RRoD had one on a launch unit.

I'm not saying it's not a real problem. I'm saying people have exaggerated it a bit. (yes, I am aware that my 30 friends hardly constitute the entirety of the market, but those friends know people and those people know people and so on)

Basically, what I am getting at is don't balk at buying a 360 simply because of all the red ring talk...I own all three next gen systems and my 360 by FAR gets the most play time out of the three (not to mention IMO the 360 has the largest lineup of exciting games on the horizon)

Re:

I think it's related to how defective units bunch up. It might be the 360's are less resistant to jostling due to how it was designed and it's heating issues. So a little violence on the way to the store and you have a eventually defective unit. Since they

Re:

2 failures in 30 opportunities is a tragically bad failure rate. Even one failure in 30 is tragically bad. 1 failure in 30 is no better than a failure rate of 1 in 10 to a 95% confidence (if actual defect rate is 1 in 10, odds of 1 failure in 30 chances is

Re:

Not saying it isn't bad, I'm saying it's sporatic... I have seen people on here claim that every person they know with a 360 has had to return it at least once, and then there are others (such as myself) that barely know anyone with any issues. Hence the

Re:

Not saying it isn't bad, I'm saying it's sporatic... I have seen people on here claim that every person they know with a 360 has had to return it at least once, and then there are others (such as myself) that barely know anyone with any issues. Hence the p

Re:

4 of them...two are modified, two are not. one modified and one "vanilla" console are at my place, and the other modified/vanilla mix are at the ladyfiend's place.

Re:

Back before the spring update that allowed the unit to download in a low power state, there were two separate instances where I'd queue up a big demo, turn off the TV and receiver, and leave; only to find when I got home, that my wife, while cleaning up, h

Re:

Apparently, I'm pathetic enough to garner the attention of the slashtrolls.

I take it I should just go /wrists then?

Re:

How fucking pathetic do you have to be to sit around on Slashdot typing out damage control for the worst console hardware ever designed that has already had enough cash, 1.1 billion, set aside from the manufacturer themselves to fix ever single 360 ever ma

Re:

30 in base 2

zing!!!

Re:

What you described is the exact reason I sprung for the 50 dollar replacement plan on all of mine.

I've only had to use it on one of my 360's, but in the event that one of them did die I figured it better to get a brand new in box system rather than ship it

Re:

::sigh:: the shills are out in force today...when are you fuckers gonna start posting under an actual username? Just for kicks (and because I have one more hour at work and I'm bored out of my mind):

* Weeks to months of sitting around waiting for your 360

Re:

> I would love to respond to more of these

Honestly, why even bother? These aren't people out to be convinced, and the screaming matches just dumbs down the forum even more.

Re:

I enjoy defending any gaming system because they all can be defended...like I said, they all have their positives and negatives. As a person whose life centers around gaming, it is disturbing to even consider someone would be a brand whore as a gamer (wel

Re:

How do you figure? Because I was rebutting a system that I love?
Had you used the Wii or the PS3 in the same shill-like fasion, I would have defended both of those equally as well.

I'm a gamer. I enjoy any system that lets me play games. Being "brand loya

Re:

and by "rebutting a system I love" i meant "rebutting what you said about a system I love"

Must be all that toner dust floating around in my office...

Re:

I'm not a 360 owner, but doesn't it seem like theres a flaw in saying that its okay your 360 broke, because you had a replacement plan? A defect is still a defect, I think.

Re:

In this instance, it broke due to my own stupidity (not tightening the heatsink back down again) Still, defects are to be expected...happens with everything. I'm not saying that they should be happening on a mass scale, but in my own personal experience

65nm anyone?

Price drop, that's nice, but it's not why I'm waiting. What I want to know is, how do I know for sure whether the units shipping (and the one in the store I'm getting) has the new 65nm chip? Less power consumption means less heat and less Red Rings. I k

Re:

You can be 100% positive about whether or not they will have it, seeing as they haven't made a single 360 with that process yet.

For when they do, you can view the manufacturing date of the console by flipping up the little cardboard flap on the side of the

Works?

Wouldn't the "works" technically be the elite instead of the premium?

Not that I mean to criticize the purchase, the wording just struck me as odd. I know there's not much difference between the two models so I guess technically they are close...

Re:

$50 represents a 2nd game for you. Return that console and pick up a reduced one in a week: they don't announce price drops until very close to when it happens. Unless your time in waiting in line to return it is worth more than $50, of course.

Re:ps3 did not have a $100 price drop

Nobody with more than half a brain thinks the price of the PS3 is going to go back up to $599. Pretty much everybody accepts that they will start selling it for $499 but without the freebies after the 60GB models are sold out. (Which is almost everywhere now, though I personally have yet to see an 80GB model for sale in the US)

Re:

Nobody with more than half a brain thinks the price of the PS3 is going to go back up to $599. Pretty much everybody accepts that they will start selling it for $499 but without the freebies after the 60GB models are sold out. (Which is almost everywhere

Re:

/me hands you some reading glasses...

It says "more than half a brain". People with only half a brain are expected to think whatever nonsense they'd like.

Re:

/me hands you some reading glasses... It says "more than half a brain".

Thanks for the glasses. I'm getting old I guess....

People with only half a brain are expected to think whatever nonsense they'd like.

Stuff like "We will be the market leader

Re:

I completely dissagree, as do most people around here. It's completely unecconomical for them to sell the 80GB version at $500. I saw this comming even before they announced the drop. It's basically a repeat of what happened at launch: as a publicity stunt

Re:

I honestly don't expect it to be $499, but then again it's hard to predict console prices these days.

I'm not sure it matters either. Anywhere between $499-$599 dollars is still too much. So long as the bar for entry remains that high the PS3 will remain wh

Re:

I believe you're confused with nexgenwars.com, which extrapolates based on previous trends and tends to have varying levels of accuracy in its numbers. Otherwise I'm not sure where you're coming from.

Additionally, if you could link sources/articles relatin

E-rated 360 games?

Though I think a $250 core would have really given quite a lot more parents pause when buying a Nintendo wii for little Jimmy.

Not especially. Look at the ESRB ratings on the boxes in the Wii section and in the Xbox 360 section. How many Xbox 360 games are rated E [target.com], other than sport sims and Piñata Crossing [wikipedia.org]? On the other hand, isn't the $280 Xbox 360 Core going to be in s