The Gamer's Quarter

[SuperWes]

So by now we all know that the Xbox 360 costs $300 for the "core system" which comes with a wired controller, regular TV hook-ups, and no hard drive, thus no backwards compatibility or $400 for a system with a wireless controller, HD Hookups, a 20 gig hard drive which allows backwards compatibility, an Xbox Live headset and (for a limited time) a Media Center/DVD Remote.

I wanted to see what everyone's opinion is on this.

I think I'm of the rare mind that actually thinks it's a good idea. Hear me out on this one though.

I worked at a game store from high school through college. You would be sursprised how many parents would actually buy their kids a PS2 or a Gamecube without a memory card despite the fact that the system is basically worthless without one. It's a huge number. Like, over 50% of parents, despite how much the sales clerk insists that the system is basically worthless without a memory card, would leave the store with nothing but the system and the cheapest game they could get their hands on. The core Xbox is meant to be sold to these people, and this is an important audience because parents buying the system for their kids make up about 50% of the people who buy the systems post-launch.

Also consider that the other option was to only offer the system for $400. That number just sounds way too high. It's the road Sony took with the PSP in the US. You could buy the "Value system" for $250 or none at all. In Japan they offered a core system for $200. This core system had everything you need to play games except for a memory stick. If they would have released this version in the US the system would be doing a lot better. $200 makes the system sound a lot cheaper than $250, but Sony dropped the ball.

There are also other PSP parallels to consider. A lot of people claim that part of what you're being charged for with the PSP is the ability to play UMD movies, listen to music, and look at pictures. They'd rather knock $50 off and forego these features. The Xbox 360 allows people to disregard the non-gaming frills if they don't want them. Outside of developers using the hard drive to cache their games and for backwards compatibility, its only practical use is saving games and putting music, movies, pictures, and downloaded Xbox live stuff on it. People can forego (or put off) paying the $100 for these features if they just want to play Xbox 360 games on it.

That said, forcing developers to cater to both people with and without hard drives is asking a lot. It's essentially asking them to make games that stream data from the disc instead of the hard drive, and DVD access speed is much lower, limiting what they can potentially do.

Personally, I'll be getting a $400 Xbox 360 at launch, but I won't be buying as many launch games and I may even forego getting a second controller for a while. I've been wanting to play Kameo for 4 years now and nothing's going to stop me! And I'm glad that this two tier system launch means that I won't have to put non-system money toward a headset, remote, wireless controller, and memory card.

-Wes
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[Mister Toups]

I'd rather spend that kind of money on a girl, to be honest.

In all seriousness, I think people who complain about the Xbox360's price are misguided. The truth is, Microsoft is selling the thing substantially below cost; if you wonder why the games and peripherals cost so much, it's to make up for that difference. It's... maybe a little dishonest of Microsoft to price it this way, but it's smart to sugarcoat things a little bit. The cold, unvarnished truth is that the graphics and capabilities that people are desiring from this console run on expensive hardware; even with increased peripheral costs Microsoft is still footing some of the bill for you. But there's no such thing as a free lunch: if you want a console that powerful then you'd better be willing to pay for it. The graphics whore generation is reaping what it sowed.
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where were you when nana komatsu got a wii?

[SuperWes]

[dhex]

i dunno about that. girls tend to be rather enticing.

just wait til you spend thousands on them!
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[Shapermc]

How much are the external harddrives going to be, and why the fuck are they external?

BECAUSE: If $299 Package + HD < $399, I would get that.

All this aside, why the fuck am I even saying this? There is nothing on it I want.

[SuperWes]

$299 Package + HD = $399 (hence $99)

Why would ANYONE get that? Do you not want a wireless controller (as opposed to wired), headset, and remote?

Here's the full accessory list:

* Xbox 360 Faceplate (Suggested Retail Price: $19.99 U.S./E19.99/£14.99)
* Xbox 360 Hard Drive (20 GB) (Suggested Retail Price: $99.99 U.S./E99.99/£69.99)
* Xbox 360 Memory Unit (64 MB) (Suggested Retail Price: $39.99 U.S./E34.99/£22.99)
* Xbox 360 Wireless Networking Adapter (Suggested Retail Price: $99.99 U.S./E79.99 /£59.99)
* Xbox 360 Wireless Controller (Suggested Retail Price: $49.99 U.S./E44.99/£32.99)
* Xbox 360 Play and Charge Kit (Suggested Retail Price: $19.99 U.S./E19.99/£14.99)
* Xbox 360 Rechargeable Battery Pack (Suggested Retail Price: $11.99 U.S./E14.99/£9.99)
* Xbox 360 Controller (Suggested Retail Price: $39.99 U.S./E34.99/£24.99)
* Xbox 360 Headset (Suggested Retail Price: $19.99 U.S./E19.99/£14.99)
* Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote (Suggested Retail Price: $29.99 U.S./E29.99/£19.99)
* Xbox 360 Component HD AV Cable (Suggested Retail Price $39.99 U.S./E29.99/£19.99)
* Xbox 360 S-Video AV Cable (US only) Xbox 360 SCART AV Cable (Europe only) (Suggested Retail Price: $29.99 U.S./E24.99/£17.99)
* Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable (Suggested Retail Price: $39.99 U.S./E29.99/£19.99)

Speaking of wireless controllers, has anyone read anywhere how you're going to have to charge that beast?

-Wes
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[dhex]

can't people install their own hd's ?
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[Shapermc]

[dark steve]

[SuperWes]

You CAN, but you can't use external hard drives for game saving or backwards compatibility.

And they are giving everyone free Xbox live weekends to give people an incentive not to hack their Xbox 360s.

-Wes
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[dhex]

what about internally?
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[Shapermc]

[Lockeownzj00]

Hm. Is there any actual game reason to buy/anticipate the 360 yet? I mean, so far it feels much like the PSP...that is, no innovation.

I guses it'll be like the original xbox...unfortunately, some good games were exclusively on it so i'll wait years and years to buy it at an incredibly low price

[SuperWes]

[Mister Toups]

[SuperWes]

Please Toups, you don't like anything made in the last 10 years that doesn't have "Silent" or "Hill" in the title. It doesn't matter if it was made by Rare or not, Kameo is good.

-Wes
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[Shapermc]

[Mister Toups]

I haven't enjoyed anything Rare has done since goldeneye.

And yeah, I kind of dislike a lot of games. And I'm being sincere when I say that are only one or two games for the Xbox360 that really grab my interest at all.
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where were you when nana komatsu got a wii?

[Shapermc]

Ok, so there is an E for Everyone ESRB rating on the XTREME pack for the 360 but not the core system.

Pre-installed game on the HD?

[SuperWes]

Yah. It comes with an Xbox arcade game. They've said that the hard drive comes pre-installed with a bunch of crap too and they're "working with their partners" to figure out what the best content would be. I'm betting a Korn song, a Death Cab for Cutie song, and an episode of Joey in HD.

-Wes
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[SuperWes]

But wait, there's more! Check this picture out:



Look in the lower-right. Apparently the $400 version has "premium chrome details." Hell yeah! How can anyone say no to chrome?

-Wes
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[dessgeega]

look in the upper right! it falls over!
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[Shapermc]

Brian Johnson is sooooo lucky.

[SuperWes]

Dare you to buy it! Check out the page count!

-Wes
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[dessgeega]

[Mister Toups]

What I thought that was a photoshop. That shit's real?






guh guh guh guh guh guh guh
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where were you when nana komatsu got a wii?