XBox 360 Price Announced: $299 Standard/ $399 Premium (1 Viewer)

[EricW]

what's wrong with choice? if i'm an entusiast i'd be glad price concious parents are supplementing the costs of the 360, much like i'm glad popcorn buyers supplement the cost of movie ticket prices.

 

[Nathan A]

I'm not so sure that they are supplementing the costs of the 360. If they didn't offer the standard bundle, do you think that the premium would be more than $400? I don't think so. This may sound selfish, but I don't care if it helps MS' costs. I only care about the prices that we consumers have to pay.

I thought of one more thing, too. What about the gamer kids whose parents buy them the standard one? If they like it, fine, but if they want the hard drive to store their Madden franchise and music for custom soundtracks then they don't have much recourse if their parents won't budge.

I just think there should be one package, and it should sell for $300. But I suppose I'm in no position to tell MS how to run their business. They just need to know that many of us (I can't be alone) aren't happy with how it is, and we're simply not going to buy into it. I'll talk to MS with my wallet, and I'm afraid I might have to do the same to Sony (though I'll have to wait until they announce specifics before I make a fuss). I hope Nintendo keeps the Revolution at $200 (that's what the GC went for, right? I can't remember anymore).

 

[Jonathan Carter]

Well, I for one had full intentions of picking one up, but not now. Between them gouging customers on the cost of the accessories, the lack of support the hard drive will get, and the fact that full backwards compatability is still not really happening, they have lost my $400. The HD is one of the bigger fumbles because by not making it standard, and by telling developers they need to develop the game to be played without a HD, they have ensured it's insignificance outside of being a 20GB memory card IMO.

I also hear that the wireless controller that comes in $400 package doesn't come with the rechargable batteries or the charging cable. So I buy a $400 console and instead of just having to buy a game, I have to buy a game, batteries, and a charging cable. If pretty much every other hardware company (digicams, videocameras, Ipods, etc...) is capable of including a charging cable and most of the time, even the battery pack, for their hardware, I'm not sure why MS can't, especially when they are charging $400 for a system. Of course, I also refuse to spend an additional $80 for a 2nd wireless controller and battery pack & cable.

Between Nintendo seeming to do everything possible to alienate me as a gamer these days and MS making one huge blunder after another, I'm definantly going the Sony route 1st this generation. It's sad too since I own all 3 systems this generation. Maybe in a couple of years when the Xbox drops in price I'll find it to be a worthwhile package. Until then, I can wait until next spring for my next-gen gaming fix.

 

[Ken Chui]

Xbox365.com claims (from their discussion with MS sources) that the production of Premium and Standard Packages will be split 85:15 respectively. Developers have been made aware of these production numbers and their code will be written to take advantage of the HDD's disk caching feature; data will be cached to RAM for those without HDDs in their consoles (via tags in the code). Non-HDD owners can expect increased loading times for games (2-3x longer in some instances).

The HDD utilized in the Premium Package is a 20GB SATA 2.5" laptop drive which is supposedly 3-5x faster than the HDD present in the current Xbox; with online prices for this size and model ranging between $65-100, perhaps MS' asking price of $99.99 is well within reason.

There is no consensus opinion by developers on MS' two-tier pricing strategy or the optional HDD. Epic Games VP Mark Rein viewed the announcement in a favourable light:

 

[EricW]

i have the world's smallest violin playing just for those kids

 

[EricW]

that's probably wishful thinking and hype to get software makers to use the HD capabilites. though it may be true, it's the market that will determine the true ratio. if the standard packages outsell, or sell as well as the premium, do you think MS is gonna stick to that ratio and restrict the standard package? i'm sure Apple thought the premium priced iPod photo would sell more than it actually did, but everybody buys the cheapest iPods models.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

No HDD standard? DVD-based media? What next to disappoint developers.

About the wireless controllers, I'm betting the extra cables/batteries are added things or extra ones you can buy. I think the unit requires AA-batteries to work and you can buy a rechargeable battery w/cable separately.

And in all honesty, who came close, CLOSE, to filling the X-Box's HDD? Do we really need 20 GB? Why not give us a cheaper model with less storage?

 

[Chris Bardon]

Right here! Filled the sucker playing KOTOR 2 (granted that was with 100+ saves), but it still counts as filling the drive.

I can see not including the rechargable batteries-I'm actually looking forward to the docking station charger for the wireless controllers myself. As long as they're decent batteries, and as long as the dock is smart enough to allow the controllers to live on it (i.e. not overcharge and kill the battery).

 

[David Galindo]

The wireless controller comes with 2 AA batteries. Woo.

More bad news: Microsoft announced they are not going to allow any third party wireless controllers for the system...only Microsoft can make those. So $50 for wireless controllers will be the standard for a couple years for the system.

They want to control the 3rd party market on the 360 as well...not a good idea, if you ask me.

 

[Nathan A]

 

[Eric Samonte]

All in all, it all adds up to...if u wanna play on it, u better save for it. Gamers will find the funds for it and would likely brag about it. Me? Well, not at launch...maybe a couple of months later...when I've saved a good $500!

 

[Ken Chui]

MS will be losing money on every 360 console sale (the actual figure per unit hasn’t been formally revealed though). At what point is securing market share a paramount objective over continued losses? If the attach rate of peripherals and software can’t offset the losses from console sales, what is MS’ incentive for remaining in the console market?

 

[MatS]

I think I'll use my $399 (before games) for a couple gallons of gas instead

 

[Ken Chui]

The official Xbox 360 brochure has been leaked onto the Web (image links below):

General Info
System
Core System
Accessories Overview
Accessories 2
Accessories 3

There are some inaccuracies/notables within the brochure:
1) The Core system comes with a wired controller, not wireless
2) A hard drive is required for backwards compatibility (officially confirmed by MS)
3) The hard drive will come pre-loaded with bonus content, including the puzzle game Hexics HD (a non-HD version of Hexic can be downloaded from MSN Game Zone)
3) 30 days trial of Xbox Live Gold will be included in both packages

 

[JamesED]

I feel for you guys that the hard drive won't be in every console. Hopefully that ratio will keep up. Polls on gamesites (though obviously taken with a grain of salt)are also showing an 8 to 1 ratio for the $400 package. The extra $100 definately includes a lot more, and $100 is a small initial amount to eat for a 5 year system life.

I'm very curious how this launch will go, I plan on going with Sony and Nintendo again, but I'll definately be watching.

 

[BrianB]

Microsoft's track record is 4 by the way

 

[mike_frontier]

Can the xbox360 be reserved online anywhere yet??

 

[MichaelPR]

No not yet...you can sign up at ebgames.com to receive info on when u can reserve online. I know most BnM are taking reservations though! I can't freaking wait! I just sold my old xbox in anticipation. I was never a console gamer until xbox and this will be the first time I purcahse a console at launch.

 

[Ken Chui]

The temptation is there to pre-order a unit, but none of the tentatively-announced launch titles appeal to me (well, not enough to qualify a $400 investment off the bat). The PS2 and Xbox offerings this Fall look to be fairly solid and there may even be potential GOTY (Game Of The Year) candidates:

PS2:
Jak X: Combat Racing
Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence
Ratchet: Deadlocked
Shadow Of The Colossus
Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves
SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy Seals
Soulcalibur III
We Love Katamari

Xbox:
Blazing Angels: Squadrons Of WWII
Ninja Gaiden Black

Multi-Platform:
Burnout Revenge
Call Of Duty 2: Big Red One
Castlevania: Curse Of Darkness
Heroes Of The Pacific
Marvel Nemesis: Rise Of The Imperfects
Midway Arcade Treasures 3
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
Need For Speed: Most Wanted
Prince Of Persia 3
SSX On Tour
Star Wars Battlefront II
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge
Ultimate Spider-Man
X-Men Legends II: Rise Of Apocalypse

With the 360 not offering backward compatibility on these titles for a while, for me, the decision to forego a 360 at this time isn't a difficult one.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

As the last post shows, I think Microsoft is cutting the X-Box's lifespan short to its own detriment. The current gen of consoles might not have any power left to exploit, but good games can certainly make them more revenues rather than the immediate losses the 360 will bring on.

The PS2 has more games coming out in the next year than the 360 that I personally want. I think the same can be said by most people (FFXII and Kingdom Hearts 2 will probably be stellar titles that sell better than most 360 titles combined).