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[outunderthestars]

So 26 months after launch, it'll be all of 25% / $100 cheaper than at launch? Are they even serious about competing with the Wii? (Aside from ripping off the controller next month)

<sarcasm>*Ooohh. Impressive*</sarcasm>

Personally I find the xbox 360 to be a much better value at $300 than the Wii at $250.

 

[Sgt. Killjoy]

it isnt about the size of the drop, its how its can be cheaper than PS3.

Personally I find the xbox 360 to be a much better value at $300 than the Wii at $250.

yea i think its crazy that someone would get wii with the small price difference, but im sure they still will. ya know. fads.:lol

will the arcade version drop too or does that not exist anymore?

 

[Absinthe (Permed)]

it isnt about the size of the drop, its how its can be cheaper than PS3.

I honestly think that there are way, way more people waiting on a PS3 price drop than there are people waiting for a 360 price drop. Sony could really, really be aggressive and announce a 100 bucks price drop or a 50 bucks price drop/package one or two games and be right there with them yet again.

 

[TheHeretic]

Not good enough, especially if this is the permanent price drop. Sales will go up for a month or two and return exactly where they were before. 50 bucks is just a drop in the bucket. People that wanted a 360 and couldn't afford one sure as hell aren't going to spring for a 50 bucks discount.

How much are they supposed to drop by? They should be aiming to make a profit day in day out from here on. 50 dollars is a pretty reasonable drop in my opinion, and I don't think the market the 360 is doing well in really needs the console to be $200 to "jump in".

 

[pr0cs]

Holy shit, that was quick. :lol

He fell off the fucking deep end in the too human thread.
though his comment here was about as intelligent.

 

[Sgt. Killjoy]

I honestly think that there are way, way more people waiting on a PS3 price drop than there are people waiting for a 360 price drop. Sony could really, really be aggressive and announce a 100 bucks price drop or a 50 bucks price drop/package one or two games and be right there with them yet again.

no way they could afford that though.

its gonna be scary when the 360 premium catches up to the wii price.

unless the arcade will now be $250, which makes it identical to the wii when you look at the features.

 

[Tmac]

How much are they supposed to drop by? They should be aiming to make a profit day in day out from here on. 50 dollars is a pretty reasonable drop in my opinion, and I don't think the market the 360 is doing well in really needs the console to be $200 to "jump in".

They had to have at least one system below the 200 mark.

The 360 is comparatively having one of its worst moments since release, if not the worst.

 

[domokunrox]

Its too late MS, MGS4 has already raked in all the economic stim checks, and you have nothing new to offer anyone other then the typical shooter title we see once or twice a year.

 

[outunderthestars]

They had to have at least one system below the 200 mark.

The 360 is comparatively having one of its worst moments since release, if not the worst.

Why? I don't think price is the major obstacle to the 360's popularity. I would say the lack of a wide variety of games is still the biggest problem for the system. As a family guy, there simply aren't that many games that appeal to my family. The 360 is still basically a hard core system for people who like shooters, racing, or sports games.

People are not buying the Wii because it is $30 cheaper than a 360, they are buying it because it has games that appeal to them. It is also a simple system to setup and use. Try setting up a 360 for a family. Every user has to jump through an absurd number of hoops just to have a username. And if one person in the family buys an XBLA game, nobody else in the family can use it while under their username. It's a total clusterfuck.

 

[Kapsama]

Sorry but $299 is still not cheap enough for a console that will be three years old in 4 months.

 

[mr_bishiuk]

I'm just so amazed its taken so long for the 360 to get to $299, traditionally the starting point for console pricing.

 

[TheHeretic]

I'm just so amazed its taken so long for the 360 to get to $299, traditionally the starting point for console pricing.

Thats a pretty hollow statement factoring inflation.

They had to have at least one system below the 200 mark.

The 360 is comparatively having one of its worst moments since release, if not the worst.

The price isn't whats holding back the consoles popularity, and the 360 isn't ever going to compete with the Wii at any price point.

Both the 360 and the PS3 are incredibly powerful pieces of hardware. I don't think you're going to see them dip much below $300 this generation.

I disagree. This generation of consoles is completely underwhelming in terms of power, in my opinion. I can't remember the last time PC's have overtaken consoles so quickly.

 

[outunderthestars]

I'm just so amazed its taken so long for the 360 to get to $299, traditionally the starting point for console pricing.

Both the 360 and the PS3 are incredibly powerful pieces of hardware. I don't think you're going to see them dip much below $300 this generation.

Is anyone out there SERIOUSLY holding off on buying a console over $50?

 

[mr_bishiuk]

And if one person in the family buys an XBLA game, nobody else in the family can use it while under their username. It's a total clusterfuck.

Not true, the game is tied to the console as well so any GT can play it.

 

[outunderthestars]

Not true, the game is tied to the console as well so any GT can play it.

I have tried, and for some reason none of the other accounts can play the unlocked versions of any XBLA game I have purchased. it reverts to the trial versions.

 

[mr_bishiuk]

Both the 360 and the PS3 are incredibly powerful pieces of hardware. I don't think you're going to see them dip much below $300 this generation.

I disagree, the 360 has a standard DVD drive and you can pick up dual core Pentiums for next to nothing, The arcade Sku at least i'm sure will match the bottom end of last gen's pricing eventually.

 

[SRG01]

I'm sooooo tempted to get an Arcade now, since I don't use DLC at all!

 

[pulga]

Proc
Banned
(Today, 01:45 AM)
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Holy shit, that was quick. :lol

Not really, the CliffyB thread is what killed him. :lol

 

[mr_bishiuk]

I have tried, and for some reason none of the other accounts can play the unlocked versions of any XBLA game I have purchased. it reverts to the trial versions.

It only works for games that were actually bought on that system, I take it you have swapped units or sent it in for repair? MS announced they are working on fix for this issue instead of doing their spring up date.

In fact I totally disagree with you that there are no games for your kids to play on 360 you are just not looking hard enough (rather not at all).

 

[Absinthe (Permed)]

How much are they supposed to drop by? They should be aiming to make a profit day in day out from here on. 50 dollars is a pretty reasonable drop in my opinion, and I don't think the market the 360 is doing well in really needs the console to be $200 to "jump in".

If they don't drop by more than 50 bucks then sales will come to an even slower crawl than they're at now. It's like I said, the 360 has been out the longest, therefore the hardcore Xbox user base has already jumped in. They will not attract casual users with a 300 bucks price tag.

Sony's future is slightly less dismal because I suspect that there are a ton of people that want a PS3, but they're waiting for some sort of reason to own one. Do you honestly think that Gears of War 2 is going to make as much of an impact in hardware sales as Final Fantasy 13 and Gran Turismo 5 will.

A ton of people that want to play Gears 2 already own a 360. It's silly to think that a lot of Final Fantasy fans already own a PS3.

 

[mr_bishiuk]

Thats a pretty hollow statement factoring inflation.
.

Consumer electronics has been in a state of negative inflation for decades.

 

[mr_bishiuk]

If they don't drop by more than 50 bucks then sales will come to an even slower crawl than they're at now. It's like I said, the 360 has been out the longest, therefore the hardcore Xbox user base has already jumped in. They will not attract casual users with a 300 bucks price tag.

Sony's future is slightly less dismal because I suspect that there are a ton of people that want a PS3, but they're waiting for some sort of reason to own one. Do you honestly think that Gears of War 2 is going to make as much of an impact in hardware sales as Final Fantasy 13 and Gran Turismo 5 will.

A ton of people that want to play Gears 2 already own a 360. It's silly to think that a lot of Final Fantasy fans already own a PS3.

You still have the 2005 Sony mentality, have you not leant anything?

 

[TheHeretic]

If they don't drop by more than 50 bucks then sales will come to an even slower crawl than they're at now. It's like I said, the 360 has been out the longest, therefore the hardcore Xbox user base has already jumped in. They will not attract casual users with a 300 bucks price tag.

Sony's future is slightly less dismal because I suspect that there are a ton of people that want a PS3, but they're waiting for some sort of reason to own one. Do you honestly think that Gears of War 2 is going to make as much of an impact in hardware sales as Final Fantasy 13 and Gran Turismo 5 will.

A ton of people that want to play Gears 2 already own a 360. It's silly to think that a lot of Final Fantasy fans already own a PS3.

Games don't influence console sales, so no I don't think any game you've mentioned is going to cause spikes in sales. The console war is more than just getting as many consoles into the market as humanely possible, its about making money and Microsoft still have massive software sales under their belt.

As long as Microsoft manages to satisfy their increasing userbase and make money, they will be fine this generation, even if they come third.

Consumer electronics has been in a state of negative inflation for decades.

You mean deflation? The gaming industry is more expensive than its ever been, theres no reason for anything to be getting cheaper.

 

[Absinthe (Permed)]

Games don't influence console sales, so no I don't think any game you've mentioned is going to cause spikes in sales. The console war is more than just getting as many consoles into the market as humanely possible, its about making money and Microsoft still have massive software sales under their belt.

As long as Microsoft manages to satisfy their increasing userbase and make money, they will be fine this generation, even if they come third.

Games don't influence console sales? I don't know about that. I think we're going to see at least a significant bump in PS3 sales just because of Metal Gear 4.

 

[TheHeretic]

Games don't influence console sales? I don't know about that. I think we're going to see at least a significant bump in PS3 sales just because of Metal Gear 4.

Halo 3, under the most bent circumstances possible, moved maybe 150,000 units in the month it released. That was the only time the 360 outsold the Wii last year. Halo 3 is a much bigger game than MGS4 and it barely made a dent.

 

[Mariah Carey]

yea i think its crazy that someone would get wii with the small price difference, but im sure they still will. ya know. fads.:lol

I saw a contest somewhere in which the grand prize was a Wii, and the second-place prize was an Xbox 360.

You can't compete with a product that's both valued higher and is priced lower than your own. Microsoft would have to undercut the Wii's price and probably by about $50, because to people the 360 simply isn't worth as much as a Wii.

 

[Absinthe (Permed)]

Halo 3, under the most bent circumstances possible, moved maybe 150,000 units in the month it released. That was the only time the 360 outsold the Wii last year. Halo 3 is a much bigger game than MGS4 and it barely made a dent.

We'll see.

A game might not move hardware but games (plural) absolutely do. People have to be able to justify that their expensive purchase was worth it. You're delusional if you don't think that games like Final Fantasy and Gran Turismo don't help that cause immensely.

 

[DCharlie]

$50 price drop?!?!? *tips over magazine rack* *sets fire to self in car park*

 

[Nutter]

We'll see.

A game might not move hardware but games (plural) absolutely do. People have to be able to justify that their expensive purchase was worth it. You're delusional if you don't think that games like Final Fantasy and Gran Turismo don't help that cause immensely.

Just like Halo, Gears, COD and all the other games helped the 360 out right?

right?

I wont include GTA in this arguement, because it was multiplatform, but if "the" biggest console exclusive game ( i.e Halo 3) couldnt push many units of hardware. No other game can. and MGS4 is not even in the same league as Halo. (talking about NA)

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Any data on the recent RROD rate?

 

[C4Lukins]

Halo 3, under the most bent circumstances possible, moved maybe 150,000 units in the month it released. That was the only time the 360 outsold the Wii last year. Halo 3 is a much bigger game than MGS4 and it barely made a dent.

I think more then anything these big games maintain sales more then they boost them. The sales brought on by a Halo or MGS occur over the life cycle of a console, but their single month boost is very small. When you look at GTA, if anything it helped the 360 and PS3 to not bottom out in the low 100K range over the past couple of months, but it did not give them much of a push upwards. I do think MGS is going to give the PS3 a nice 100K or so one month boost, but that is it. In reality though the game probably sold over a half million PS3's but it did it in a way that you could never measure over a long period of time.

 

[TheHeretic]

We'll see.

A game might not move hardware but games (plural) absolutely do. People have to be able to justify that their expensive purchase was worth it. You're delusional if you don't think that games like Final Fantasy and Gran Turismo don't help that cause immensely.

Don't take what i'm saying out of context. People have known GT5 and FFXIII have been coming since the PS3's release, and they have absolutely helped sales. People don't wait until the day a single game releases to buy a console, it just doesn't happen enough to make any real difference.

The idea of a game coming out and a console war being turned upside down is complete myth. Games follow consoles, not the other way around.

 

[Absinthe (Permed)]

Just like Halo, Gears, COD and all the other games helped the 360 out right?

right?

Collectively they absolutely did. If you take away all of those games from the 360's software library then the 360 definitely doesn't sell as well.

 

[Tmac]

Why? I don't think price is the major obstacle to the 360's popularity. I would say the lack of a wide variety of games is still the biggest problem for the system. As a family guy, there simply aren't that many games that appeal to my family. The 360 is still basically a hard core system for people who like shooters, racing, or sports games.

I agree with you. And thats exactly why i think microsft had to fo a step further on the price drop. Price will always help. Economics aint an exact science like math. There's no such thing like "if you dont buy something, its because you dont want or doesnt have the money".

Theres a million of things that an average customer take into consideration, without noticing, before buying something. Specially something that cost $300. Price is just one of those things, yet, one of the most important.

example: an average joe, who likes videogames, and plan to "someday" buy a 360. He currently has all the money he needs, but he's not in a hurry. He might buy next month, or next semester, he doesnt care. Then on a given day, hes shopping at a wallmart and spot the 360 just bellow the 200,00 mark. All kinds of toughts goes to his mind and he takes an impulsive decision and get the system right away. Even if he regrets the next day. That's how things work. :lol

Have you ever considered why you choose one brand of soap/milk/etc? Probably because they paid the supermarket to put then on a more visible shelf.

 

[TheHeretic]

Collectively they absolutely did. If you take away all of those games from the 360's software library then the 360 definitely doesn't sell as well.

That wasn't your initial claim at all.

 

[mr_bishiuk]

I agree with you. And thats exactly why i think microsft had to fo a step further on the price drop. Price will always help. Economics aint an exact science like math. There's no such thing like "if you dont buy something, its because you dont want or doesnt have the money".

Theres a million of things that an average customer take into consideration, without noticing, before buying something. Specially something that cost $300. Price is just one of those things, yet, one of the most important.

example: an average joe, who likes videogames, and plan to "someday" buy a 360. He currently has all the money he needs, but he's not in a hurry. He might buy next month, or next semester, he doesnt care. Then on a given day, hes shopping at a wallmart and spot the 360 just bellow the 200,00 mark. All kinds of toughts goes to his mind and he takes an impulsive decision and get the system right away. Even if he regrets the next day. That's how things work. :lol

Have you ever considered why you choose one brand of soap/milk/etc? Probably because they paid the supermarket to put then on a more visible shelf.

Thats right! Why do retailers price things at $99 rather than $100? Its all about perception, the 360 at $299 looks a lot cheaper than one at $349 which is approaching $400 in many minds.

By getting the price nearer to the mainstream retailers will push it more knowing that they are now pushing to a wider audience, this will boost sales for a couple of months until August when sales traditionally start to rise anyway.

The $50 move is quite clever as it leaves something in the tank incase Sony do anything, if Sony cut their price $50 in a couple of months MS can do a bit more the the month after if they feel the need to keep the $100 price disparity for Christmas.

 

[mr stroke]

so are we going to see comercials with "starting at 249" now or "starting at 299"???

 

[Pre]

It would be nice if it was a $100 drop, but I'm not going to complain, as I'll use this chance to pick one up around the end of next month.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

Sorry but $299 is still not cheap enough for a console that will be three years old in 4 months.

The PS2 is 8 years old and has yet to hit $99.

 

[supermackem]

Collectively they absolutely did. If you take away all of those games from the 360's software library then the 360 definitely doesn't sell as well.

Can i have the lotto numbers it seems you can see the future even the future that might of been.:lol

 

[disappeared]

The PS2 is 8 years old and has yet to hit $99.

Because, like the Wii, they're still selling fucktons at the current price. Sony doesn't necessarily need to worry much about the PS2's price at this point. Dropping it to <$100 (hope I got the alligator mouth symbol right) would be great, sure, but the NPD numbers still show that people aren't too concerned about it being $129, even for an 8-year-old console.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

People are already playing the Wii on their Wegas and Bravias dude.

Yeah. And as I've said before, the immediate cause of me getting an HDTV in 2006 was to play Wii in 16:9 480p. No higher resolution input was used until getting a PS3 a couple weeks back.

 

[Karma]

That's what we said last year. Holiday bundle, don't count on another price cut.

Last year they did not need a price drop for the Holidays because the 360 was selling double the PS3. This year the PS3 is outselling the 360. Microsoft may be forced to drop another $50 around November.

 

[Karma]

I honestly think that there are way, way more people waiting on a PS3 price drop than there are people waiting for a 360 price drop. Sony could really, really be aggressive and announce a 100 bucks price drop or a 50 bucks price drop/package one or two games and be right there with them yet again.

Microsoft would be fine with Sony doing that and losing another couple billion dollars.

 

[DCharlie]

Sony could really, really be aggressive

i think sucking up $3 billion in cost/price losses is already 'really, really aggressive'

 

[camineet]

I'll "Jump In" when Jasper arrives, and not before.

 

[mr_bishiuk]

I'll "Jump In" when Jasper arrives, and not before.

I'm going to swap my launch unit over for a jasper now with the new DRM fix, I hoping for a unit a bit more quiter

 

[Randy Lanzarote]

Given how the removable fascia on the 360 never took off (anyone use them here? Thought not ) I don't see why MS don't make a few cosmetic adjustments to the 360. Scrap the removable front panel and go for an all-in-one outer panelling, shiny white plastic with attractive curves. I'm sure they can create more attractive ventilation panels down the side too.

Yes, it'd be copying the iPods and Wii's of the world but who cares. (If they really want to copy the Wii, DVD disc slot which gives off a green glow)

My Falcon is still running like a champ though, unless the new revision brings with it quieter fans, or even on fan gone altogether, and a quieter DVD drive (unlikely) I'll stick with mine we get Xenos/Xenon on the same die.

 

[Dorfdad]

Sorry but $299 is still not cheap enough for a console that will be three years old in 4 months.

This is Microsoft what do you expect? They currently have the nextgen (I left wii out of this) console leader in the US and are doing well in Europe and currently selling close to the PS3 in those areas.

$50.00 reduction and a game tossed in is a huge savings for some people, and will help spur sales for a good few months. That said Microsoft is not going to lower the price of the HD enabled 360 to that of the Wii.. The Arcade might as they are the same. They are also setting a precedence we could be looking at 199.99 console 4-5 years into a life cycle now instead of 2/3 Companies want to make all that cash..

Microsoft needs to just include a standard 40 gig HD and include wifi out of the box that was an ubber rip off ans still is.

They need to make the price point 250.00 for the premium and 199.99 for the arcade.

and they need to quiet down that thing!

but as each week passes there is less and less reason to buy a 360 for me. The PS3 is catching up content and exclusive wise though it may never match current install or resell install rates for the 360.

 

[Emiru]

The Price needs to be

199.99
279.99
349.99

Oh this is originally from TXB not N4G