I'm venturing to guess that a lot of users who are laughing or mad at this have smartphones that they purchased under a similar contract....
Sadly, I can see this being popular with the non-Gaf mainstream crowd.
Eh, maybe you missed the part where you're not the average person that this is aimed at. The average person probably won't have the money or be able to justify the heavy cost of the only other legit option, which is to buy for much more upfront. The mainstream don't value games hardware the way self-identified gamers do, they want to play a lot less, pay a lot less (upfront), and just focus on whatever the rest of reality has to offer people outside of games.
One could argue going by the math in this thread the difference between this deal and buying it all outright is $40. In which case since you aren't giving up all of your cash up front you could invest the money you wouldn't have to spend up front and make up the $40 difference + some actually if you played your cards right.
Do you also think rent-to-own is an amazing deal?
What's there to be sad about? If people consider it good value, and many do welcome similar monthly payments for other goods, then it's great to have that option as well, in addition to all the others.
I mean, if we're getting all theoretical up in this piece, one could just not subscribe to XBL, pocket that money, and then their cards would have been played pretty damn well, I'd say.
One could argue going by the math in this thread the difference between this deal and buying it all outright is $40. In which case since you aren't giving up all of your cash up front you could invest the money you wouldn't have to spend up front and make up the $40 difference + some actually if you played your cards right.
And?, you get what you pay for, having a mobile contract isn't just about buying a fancy phone monthly, you also get free minutes, data, texts etc, the service plan is very important.
This isn't a ripoff at all. Still, cellphone contracts have baggage with them that comes along with the benefits. It will be interesting to see how that effects Microsoft. Even if the terms of these contracts are reasonable, they could get painted with the same brush.
They tack on a pretty penny to your monthly fee due to the subsidies. In fact, it is worse in the mobile world(at least in the US) because that monthly fee does not go down even if you do buy an unsubsidized phone.
Eh, maybe you missed the part where you're not the average person that this is aimed at. The average person probably won't have the money or be able to justify the heavy cost of the only other legit option, which is to buy for much more upfront. The mainstream don't value games hardware the way self-identified gamers do, they want to play a lot less, pay a lot less (upfront), and just focus on whatever the rest of reality has to offer people outside of games.
Sho_Nuff82 said:This isn't a rental. You're own the console at the end of the two year period. You're simply paying for the console and LIVE as a staggered package.
So the deal isn't as bad as it seems at the outlook.
Currently:
Xbox 360 4gb + Kinect = $300
Xbox Live over 2 years = 2x$60 = $120
Total = $420
This bundle:
Xbox 360 4gb + Kinect = $100
Xbox Live + extra services (??) over 2 years = 24 x $15 = $360
Total = $460
If the extra services actually are going to be something that regular gold subscribers don't get then it could be a good deal.
No it's not in this case. It's a scam to hook people into mandatory payments and debt. Plain and simple.
So if they adopt this mentality for next gen...
What are they going to do with people like me who have my live paid until 2015? (thanks Amazon)
It's actually a bit more complicated that that. Your equations negate the time value of money that should be applied here as well.
What does being mainstream have to do with the fact that it's a bad idea to buy toys if you can't afford them upfront, especially if spreading out the payments causes you to pay more in the end? Or is your point that the average person is terrible with money?
$99 + ($15*24) = $459, $99 up front
$300 + ($60*2) = $420, $360 up front (this is if you buy both the system and both years of XBLG at full price... I guess we should also assume that the average person who is bad with money is also too lazy to get any sort of discount). There is also the added benefit of not having to put your CC# into XBL.
How is it any different than, for instance, taking a car loan and paying it back each month?
The idea is fine.. But it seems crazy to offer this at the tail end of the generation. We will probably have the next gen systems in 2 years right????
What's there to be sad about? If people consider it good value, and many do welcome similar monthly payments for other goods, then it's great to have that option as well, in addition to all the others.
Wow. That has to be the stupidest Idea that I've ever heard. So I'm sure plenty of idiots will fall for it and it will be a success.
I commend them on the $99 price point, but all the rest just fucking sucks and sadly some will get screwed by it.
If you buy a 360 off the shelf these days how long of a warranty direct from MS do you get? 1 year or 2 years?
This deal gives you 2, and I don't know what they current warranty period from MS is like.
I don't know why you're turning this into a debate over whether this is a fiscally responsible method of purchase, it's not my intention to argue the value to the consumer, only the method's value to the consumer. It works. People like it because they can get something now and for relatively little, depending on their monthly discretionary spending level or desire for maximum convenience. Nothing is new or revealed in doing some simple math the average person does to pay their bills or work out which contract is better. People aren't functionally fucking braid-dead, guys. They choose based on their own personal sense of value, just like any one.
Some financing is skeezy, some isn't. When the interest is relatively low, or the burden the interest imposes is less than the burden it lifts by amortizing costs, that's not skeezy. When the interest is relatively high, or the burden the interest imposes is higher than the burden it lifts by amortizing costs, that is skeezy. When the interest is so high that it vastly eclipses the equivalent of letting the balance float on a credit card for the duration of the purchase, then it borders on usurious and predatory if not legally than ethically--and it's directed specifically at people whose stupid decisions have wrecked their credit and encourages them to make even stupider decisions.
It's relatively easy to take twenty different financing propositions and lay them out on a continuum based on what I just said.
Because it sets a precedent. I dont want to live in a world where game consoles have early termination fees and monthly payments, online or not.
Oh I can tell you where this is going. It's not going to be pretty. When it's successful you can bet your ass Microsoft will repeat this next gen. Then eventually we'll only be renting our consoles from MS for a small monthly fee on top of our Xbox Live Fees. That's where this is ultimately headed.
I'm pretty sure it's a 1 year warranty.
Warranty Period" for Xbox 360 S, means 1 year from the date You purchased it; and for Accessories, means 90 days from the date You purchased it.
I really don't understand why so many people are so negative about this, and it's simply hilarious to see some people claim that "gah, dumb consumer sheep will be suckered into buying it".
Let's look at some facts. What it this deal about, basically? Subsidising the initial cost of the console hardware and making up the difference in other ways, through subscription to a service. So... how is that any different than the traditional console model?
When you buy a console at launch, you usually get hardware that is sold under cost. Then the hardware maker makes up the difference (and much, much more) through the selling of games and services. This is why a 360 or a PS3 was much cheaper at launch than a PC of equivalent power.
You have no right to call people sheep, or dumb, or whatever else because they might choose to buy this bundle. They're doing the exact same thing that you have been doing for years, apparently without even realizing it.
The only difference is that they'll pay this money for a service, while you pay it for games. Get off your high horse and realise that choice is a good thing.
I don't see how this initiative is a bad thing. You still have the option of buying a phone without a plan for $400-$600 everywhere in the world despite being able to get just about all of them for $199 or less with a 2-year service contract. This is introducing consumer choice, the choice of a 10% markup for a lower up front cost. The cellular phone market already indicates that many people prefer this method of payment. Hell, credit cards indicate that people prefer this method of payment.
RE: "Won't people do the math"?
There are whole financing stores whose business model is charging you 48 payments of $20 for something that costs $40 and then repoing half of what they sell when someone falls behind. It's huge business. No, people won't do the math.
Here's an example of a Canadian one:
http://www.easyhome.ca/easyhome/productsearch.aspx?tk=3&ck=20#
Xbox 360 = $15 a week for 78 weeks = $1,170 total cost of ownership.
Pfff... Xbox 720 is not backwards compatible with Xbox 360 Live, fool.
It's a massive ripoff, a contract should benefit you, otherwise it's a loan with an upfront cost.
I don't remember calling anyone a sheep, but the difference is that you can get an identical product + service for less money if you don't pay monthly. If I had a choice to buy individual games for $60 up front or $10 upfront with 6 additional monthly $10 charges, I'll pay the $60 every time.