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$300 XBox 360 by Thanksgiving
frikazoyd writes "According to Gamespot, Microsoft corporate vice president J Allard discusses potential pricing and release targets for the XBox 360 in a TheStreet.com interview. From the article: '"It's going to be in the neighborhood [of $300]," he said, apparently dispelling fears of a $399 or even $499 machine, although $350 could still be possible.'"
I would say I'm suprised but, I'm not.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Laziness is the father.
With that warchest they have backing them...
Not until there's a modchip available.
when it comes officially from M$. Anything else is just the same old speculation.
I have to post this anonymously or I'd get fired in a heartbeat. I work at Microsoft in the XBOX 360 marketting group. The big news is that Allard and Gates will announce the 360 with a retail price of $269, far less than the hints suggest. It will take the wind from Sony's sails.
if this was the same Vice President who wore a hooded sweatshirt under his sportscoat at E3. Anyone else see that? The position of VP has really slipped over time. What a clown.
$360?
The obvious price is $360.
Before you walk a mile in someone's shoes, you should insult them so you know how they are and what they're doing.
I'd rather pay $360!
Don't think that a small group of dedicated individuals can't change the world. It's the only thing that ever has.
Its interesting to me that $300 is still the magic number after all these years, as we are making more and more money. I understand that your average parental video game console buyer (aka Mom & Dad who want the hot new toy for Billy) gives little thought to inflation and is more focused on a finite number, hence $300 still being right at the limit for the masses to embrace a product.
The reality though is that a $350 or $400 system would only make sense proportionally when you account for the steadily increasing Cost-of-living and salary bumps.
Has anyone seen a study or chart breaking this down?
I think your acounts been hacked , either that or youve been smacked
is it possible that MS may be trying to set a really low price point as a last attempt to get more people to not wait for the PS3? i mean MS has never lost a ton of money on a product to try and attrat more buysers right?
oh wait....
Anyone ever notice how the "Market Analysists" who predict the launching price of new consoles are *never* right??? Ever..
The price of $300 should really help 360 sales, especially if the PS3 is coming out at $465 (as rumor says). There's a point where consumers will stop caring about numbers of polygons more than the number of dollars.
Comes packaged with "Halo 3: Master Chief in the Quest to Become Master Chef", and a 1080i hi-def oven timer with kick-ass visualizations.
Interesting that Allard says this in the interview, especially given the rumors (perhaps now confirmed by Gates in his Time article) that Halo 3 will be released on the launch day of the PS3.
Don't spread it around, but here at Nintendo, word is the Revolution will be launching in late October, for $76.
Anyone else notice that the previous two posts occured with two minutes of each other? What are the odds?
"A wolf's eyes can see into your soul"
My writing
..and it will include a pack-in girlfriend!
or else it gets the hose again
Here's your pre-modded PowerPC based set-top entertainment system for just 519 USD. It's even the right size such that a GameCube stacks on top of it.
Maybe I missed a story, but last I had heard they didn't even know whether XBox 1 games would play on it.
"It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
Microsoft's XNA also sounds promising. Though that FAQ has not been updated since the announcement of the Xbox 360, it seems that XNA will give us the ability to develop for it. Here's hoping that livingrooms across the country will have access to games hobbled together in the garage.
____
Try Epidemic Groove - A game of real-time-strategy and action for Windows PCs.
We're indie. We're working on our 14th game.
You apparently missed E3 entirely. Go check gamespot or IGN and come back when you're up to speed.
However, I fear that the same thing'll happen with the original Xbox and Playstation 2 when it is released in the UK. What generally happens: the Xbox is released in the US for $300, Microsoft releases Xbox in the UK for £300. Not the £200 that it should be, based on exchange rates. What i'd like to see, is a US release at $269 and a similar UK release at $269 -- ie, £147 + 17.5% VAT --> £173. Then, it'll sell like hotcakes.
I'd be very annoyed if they still release at £269... even though at the moment, GBP is worth almost twice (1.85x) as much as USD.
Anyone familiar with how much console manufacturers usually eat on the cost of new consoles?? According to rumors, the Athlon 64 dual-core will cost over $500 when its introduced later this summer... and the 360 has a three-core processor. Add in a brand new graphics card, and 512 RAM, and it seems like there will be at least $600-700 worth of hardware in there, if they are getting a sweet deal on all of it. Is it really that common to sell consoles for half of what they cost, or does microsoft plan to not make any money on the 360 either?
Here is what he actually said in regards to the price in the original article:
Q: How much is the Xbox 360 going to cost?
JA: Not sure. It's probably about two months away before we make the decision on that.
Q: The last Xbox went out at about $300 initially. Will the 360 be priced higher, lower?
JA: It's going to be in the neighborhood.
Where is gamespot getting that other stuff from? I know it is common to take another paper/site's news and write up your own interpretation, but from what I can tell all they are doing is spreading misinformation and making stuff up. I didn't see anything in the original that said the Xbox360 would be in the $299-$350 range. JA just said "neighborhood," and made clear that they still are not sure about the final pricing.
For all we know his definition of "neighborhood" might mean $299-399 or it might mean $250-299. And again, he said they are about two months away from figuring a final price.
hundred bucks for the hard drive.
Perhaps part of the reason that the original XBox didn't get adopted quickly earlier is because of that high price point. Of course, the PS2 had already been out for awhile as well. I'm sure the PS3 and XBox360 will be priced in the same ballpark and be released around the same time this go around, so it'll be interesting to see who gets the bigger piece of the gaming pie in the short run.
AnimeNEXT anime convention
is in October, not November.
B-A-R-G-A-I-N ! I'll start with 100, thanks, mate!
Fast boxes that won't ever run Windows for $269? Yes, please! We'll be ripping out Windows workstations like a potato harvester!
After all, you get a blu-ray player included in the price. But just a few.
Anyhow, I think the deciding factor for people who doubt will be the games. If the best games with the broadest appeal are available for the 360 at a lower price, then the 360 could stand to gain market share for playstation.
I for one might buy the PS3. Eventually. Being 29 years old, the latest and greatest is not as important as it was ten years ago.
Stop the brainwash
I'm glad I didn't pay $800 for it!
What really bugged me, though, was how many European stores, particularly the ones that are franchises of American establishments, have started using the (n-1).95 prices instead of n. Darn it, it was kind of nice to be able to do business without accruing pockets full of change.
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