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$1200 Cheap!
Pinky3 writes: "The LA Times is reporting that Microsoft is encouraging retailers to bundle Microsoft games with each XBox. "Beginning next month, many retailers will be requiring customers to pay from $499 to as much as $1,200 to reserve an Xbox console that, like it or not, will come bundled with games, peripherals and warranties. The reason: Microsoft will provide additional marketing money to merchants that agree to include the software giant's games in their bundles. That's because Microsoft's games carry higher profit margins for the Redmond, Wash., company than those published by third-party companies such as Activision Inc. and Electronic Arts Inc.""
Oh, and I forgot to mention... We're going to buy up half your competitors (at least 5 in the last 2 years), then release new versions of their well-known old titles (Marathon, MechWarrior, etc.) for our new console and bundle those with it at a "discount" so you can't hope to compete with us. Have a nice day.
Now the console game publishers can find out how it feels to be a Microsoft developer. The Behemoth is doing to this industry what it keeps doing to its Windows patners - promising them the world and then slowly screwing them over by bundling competing products and eating away at their market. Why can't one of these companies figure this stuff out?
== Paul Rickard, Editor of The Microsoft Boycott Campaign ====
How is it bad? Customers get some games to start off their systems, and Microsoft gets lots of money from the game developers. Some people might not care for the fact that "the evil company" is "forcing" them to buy these games, but it's just common business sense. That's how companies make money, which is what companies are supposed to do. We don't complain when the free version of Opera "forces" us to look at banners, for example. If enough stores go along with this nonsense, the $299 sticker price for Xbox means nothing, and will end up being a huge boost to the competition. When you buy a car, you don't have to add an extra $1000 for the included yacht.
That's an absurd comparison. A more appropriate comparision might be paying some extra money with your car to get a moon roof, or better sound system, or some other thing. Just because the company involved is Microsoft doesn't mean that their actions must necessarily be evil.
Naked Woman Seeks Sex at Airport
Got Rhinos?
When you go and auction that new XBox on eBay, will it get pulled because you are including copied of Microsoft software?
Or, if you return the console...will they force you to keep the games because they have been opened (despite the fact that you didn't open them)?
This is really quite a big mess. We have software and we have hardware. When you try to mix the two (unless you are including it free of course!) there are all kinds of sticky devlopments.
- JoeShmoe
-- I wonder which will go down in history as the bigger failure: the War on Drugs or the War on Filesharing
Here's the thing... let's say Merchant A has the $499 version, and Merchant B has the $1200 version which comes with all kinds of 'neat' toys that M$ thinks we want. Anyone who doesn't want some or all of the toys bundled with the $1200 version is going to go buy the $499 one assuming it's available. I mean, there are several types of games I personally loathe. I can't stand racing or football video games, so if any of those come bundled with the $1200 version (or let's face it, any version) I'm not going to buy it. I'd much rather have the option of buying the bare-bones system and picking up anything else I need as I need it.
M$ thinks it is providing more options, but what they are doing is limiting the number of bare-bones systems by bundling other goods. Doesn't matter if the best game in the world (YMMV) is in there, someone will not like it and go elsewhere. So how does this help the vendors selling the XBOXes? Do they try and buy a couple of each 'version' or do they stick with one and hope to hell it sells?
Am I surprised by M$ doing this? Hell no. They seem to think that they are the best judges of what everyone wants already, so it's not a shock to see them applying this to the XBOX. I'm just wondering how many vendors will end up stripping the bundled stuff out to sell the bare-bones systems to recoup some money. Or do they have the option of sending them back? (I only ask that because in a lot of stores, especially bookstores, product that doesn't sell gets shelved or destroyed...)
Kierthos
Mr. Hu is not a ninja.