$299 or $399 official Xbox 360 prices, take your pick |
Loading ...According to the LA Times (registration required, grrrr), Yahoo and other sources, Microsoft has officially announced their Xbox 360 pricing plans: $299 or $399 USD.
The $299 version will come with the console, cables and 1 wired controller, but the $399 version will come with the 20GB hard-drive, a wireless controller, headset, ethernet cable and also a wireless remote control.
After taxes and a game (what good is a system without a game?), it looks like this (November?) purchase will set us back about 500 bones. The hard drive and wireless controllers (if they don’t suck, because some wireless controllers do) should be well worth the extra hundred dollars. Even though it appears at launch time like most titles will be sequels, our household is stoked for the 360, so bring it on.
I counted 14 of the 21 Xbox 360 launch titles as sequels. This could prove to be a real issue. Of the second wave of launch titles, 5 of 6 are sequels. Ouch.
The reason for sequels by publishers is clear: sequels have a better chance of making $$$ than new, original titles. In a business where making games is a million dollar plus gamble, the safe bet is the sequel. A sad trend in this long time console gamer’s mind.
As for the PS3 which is slated for release in 2006? Sony is saying it will be expensive, but no official word on pricing there yet, as far as I’ve read anyway. There is real danger in going over $300 in gaming hardware and I think Microsoft gets this one better than Sony. Sure, the hardcore gamers will pay more than that, but the masses will need lots of good reasons — and a launch schedule filled primarily with sequels may not qualify. If Sony can’t pull off a more original launch schedule than Microsoft might just leapfrog over them. The early bird gets the ….
What about the Nintendo Revolution? Ever played the lottery and expected to win? Forget about it.
Related Posts- Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks no Xbox Live functionality
- PS3 $499 with 20GB HD and no HDMI, $599 with 60GB HD, both available 11/17
- $500,000 for MTV Xbox 360 show
- Your favorite PC Gamepad?
- Got first peek at Xbox 360 in game action tonight
- Unique Nintendo Revolution controller
I’m not too fussed over the price point(s) of the 360 but what does concern me is the fact that the systems potential audience will be split between those who get the HD and those who don’t.Also most developers will surely produce a game with the bottom spec machine in mind (one without a HD) so games won’t utilise this feature.
Don’t get me wrong I’m a big X-Box fan but the news that there are two differing units has kinda let me down.
PS Keep up the good work with the blog and stuff!
Comment by Dan — August 17, 2005 @ 2:23 pm PST
[…] I’m 99.9% certain we’ll be going with Xbox 360 Live too at launch time although so far what I’ve heard about launch titles has left me underwhelmed (14 of the 21 proposed launch titles are sequels, the second wave titles 5 of 6 are sequels). […]
Pingback by Make You Go Hmm: » Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks no Xbox Live functionality — September 30, 2005 @ 1:21 pm PST
[…] I do think Microsoft is going to turn it around, but I’m starting to doubt if the Xbox 360 will be the start of it all. Yes, that launch will certainly help, but not enough people buy game systems to seriously impact their stock results. Guys like me that buy every new game system are there, but it’s getting tiring buying systems with mostly sequels for titles. We all know sequels are cash cows for the developers and new, experimental games are a huge risk, but players don’t care about the financial side of gaming, they just want fun games. Nintendo gets this, Sony sometimes gets this. […]
Pingback by Make You Go Hmm: » Yahoo acquires Upcoming social events calendar — October 5, 2005 @ 11:21 am PST