Xbox 360 for $300

Xizer writes "Wal-Mart employees have leaked the price of Microsoft's next-generation console. The Xbox 360 is set to be launched for $299.99. Additionally, games are set to be $59.99 each. Ouch. Looks like the next generation of consoles is going to burn holes in gamers' wallets even moreso than the current generation. One thing is for sure: It's time to start gearing up for an expensive Christmas."

Comments

Still $300

[TPIRman]

Looks like the next generation of consoles is going to burn holes in gamers' wallets even moreso than the current generation.

Launch price of Xbox 360: $300
Launch price of PS2: $300
Launch price of Xbox: $300

If you account for inflation, the Xbox 360 is cheaper at launch than its predecessor.

Re:Still $300

[mr_gerbik]

If you account for inflation the Xbox 360 is *much* cheaper than some of its predecessors.

Atari 2600
1977 price: $199.95
Adjusted for inflation: $648.83

Colecovision
1982 price: $199.95
Adjusted: $405.63

Nintendo Entertainment System
1985 price: $199
Adjusted: $353.16

Inflation based on the Consumer Price Index.

Inflation Calculator

Re:Still $300

[koi88]

One thing is for sure: It's time to start gearing up for an expensive Christmas.

Or wait a few months and get a Nintendo Revolution. Which should be cheaper.

Re:Still $300

[lobsterGun]

Your conversion sounds good to me.

Say, since I have your attention, could you transfer these $50 US into Canadian Dollars. That should be around $920 Canadian, but between the two of us, just give me the $900 and we'll call it even.

Re:Still $300

[The-Bus]

Not only that, but games for $60.00 aren't THAT expensive. I remember Mortal Kombat was over that amount when it first came out, and that was a decade ago. And Nintendo games in the mid-to-late 80's were in the $40-50 range, which makes them about $70-75 now.

What I do know is that, just like with current games, prices will plummet only a few months later. I bought Burnout 3 recently for $20 and I can't say that I minded waiting a year (or so) to play it.

Re:Still $300

[Fishstick]

I always thought 'burning a hole in your pocket' meant that you had money, and were anxious to spend it?

as in:

Look at him, he just got paid and that $20 is burning a hole in his pocket.

Re:Still $300

[shoptroll]

Actually, unless you've been living under a rock for the past 6 months, the price of AAA PC games is up to $55 (depending on the publisher).

Half-Life 2 was (and still is) billed at $55. I think Doom3 was the same at launch.

Also, Blizzard/Vivendi charged $35 for Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. So not only are new games going for larger amounts, but expansions are trying to pull in more money.

Re:Still $300

[Tibor the Hun]

You're right, but this is Slashdot, the home of misappropriated analogies.

Just you sit tight and we'll burn that bridge when we get there, OK?

Re:Still $300

[j-turkey]

Not only that, but games for $60.00 aren't THAT expensive.

Agreed. They're especially cheap when you consider entertainment time per dollar. A ticket for a full length movie is about $9. That's around two hours of entertainment, or about $4.50/hr. DVD's are even more expensive, not accounting for replayability. Supposing that your average game has about 20 hours of playability (I pulled that number out of my butt...but it seems pretty conservative). At $60, that's $3/hr, not accounting for replayability.

Even at $60, most games are a relatively good value in terms of entertainment...although books, broadcast TV, and radio tend to trump it.

Re:Still $300

[justforaday]

But it's sold by Nintendo of America...I mean, how much more American can you get?

Re:Still $300

[badasscat]

Atari 2600
1977 price: $199.95

This is disputed - I and many others have seen boxes over the years with an original $249 price tag, and still more people remember seeing them in stores at that price. The general feeling now is that $249 was the initial price of this system, although actual MSRP is not so simple to just go back and look up. (The old Atari no longer exists, there was no WWW back then, and people's memories are not always accurate.)

But, regardless, that would just make it that much more expensive, thereby further proving your point for you.

Nintendo Entertainment System
1985 price: $199

The NES was also originally available as a "Deluxe Set" for $249. I think this may have been the only set available when the system was first test-marketed in New York, but I'm not sure about that.

One thing to keep in mind about the earliest systems (though not the NES or above) is that prices were not "locked". There was an MSRP but manufacturers didn't enforce it - it was literally a suggested price, just like any other piece of electronic equipment gets. Stores could price as they saw fit. That changed around the time of the NES.

Some other hardware launch MSRP's:

Intellivision: $299 (mine was $280 in 1980)
Atari 5200: $249 (although apparently you could get them near launch for $199 if you looked)
Neo Geo AES: $699
Sega Genesis: $249
Sega Saturn: $399

All of those prices would be way over $300 in today's dollars.

Re:Still $300

[Lumpy]

Which is the unny part. i was a dyed-in-the-wool Sony freak, I have 2 PS-1's and 2 ps-2's and a crapload of PS2 games, I shunned the gamecube for the first year it was out until they dropped below the $100.00 mark, and made fun of Xbox owners that have to pay to play online (PS2 is Free on most games. I still play twisted metal black and the other older games online from time to time). So I got one for the $99.00 blowout price they have. and the last 10 games I bought have been Gamecube games. They simply seem to feel better. (Yes they typically are GC only titles.) Even games that are on both platforms look and feel better on the GC to me... 007 Nightfire for example, looks and has smoother gameplay on the Gamecube, and yes I have it for both systems.

The fact that I can play 4 people on the Gamecube without shelling out for a special adapter and there are more fun multiplayer games for the GC than the PS2 make it something I can not ignore.

to the point that I did not buy a PSP but a DS and I am ingoring for the forst time sony's new system that will come out...

I really hope that sony will focus the developers on gameplay for the PS3, because the PS2 failed miserably by not having even 1/2 the great fun titles that the origional PS1 had...

unfortunately, most games are headed down the eyecandy over playability road.

perhaps not as sure as you seem to think

[frovingslosh]

One thing is for sure: It's time to start gearing up for an expensive Christmas.

Do you understand that buying this, as well as lots of overpriced games, is entirely optional?

Re:perhaps not as sure as you seem to think

[frovingslosh]

Either that, or I raise them to think that they don't get everything they throw a trantrum for. One has to wonder about the next generation when parents make posts like yours.

Re:perhaps not as sure as you seem to think

[hal2814]

I have kids. It's still optional. You just have to learn to tell them no. I know that's not a popular thing to do becuase it requires effort on the parent's part.

I don't think so.

[Godeke]

It's time to start gearing up for an expensive Christmas.

Um, no, I don't think so. I own all three consoles from the current generation. In fact, I have two PS2s... one for the living room and one for dressing room. I didn't originally mean for it to be that way: we kept the Game Cube in the living room because when people come over: it is the best for party games. We kept the PS2 out there so my son could continue playing the games he had become accustom to. I bought the X-Box when the price dropped and put it the dressing room so at night I could play without disturbing others. The Steel Battalions reissue didn't hurt.

In the end I *had* to get another PS2 so I could actually play games I wanted. I felt like when I was a kid and we picked up an Odyssey instead of the Atari. There weren't enough games that *I* wanted to play. I still have my X-Box but I find myself working really hard to find games that have that slight edge on the X-Box to make buying them for it worthwhile. (Psychonauts is a recent example, one of a small number).

Combine that with the fact that Live is overrun with punk kids (and now the 360 offers the new "see me flip you off" feature... OH BOY!), the lack of full backwards compatibility and the high price games they are going for... I think I will wait like I did with the X-Box for the price drop and the bargain bins of games. Maybe... if the PS3 doesn't take all my money when it comes out.

Better than Atari 2600

[DoofusOfDeath]

Way back in the day (maybe 1980?) I got an Atari 2600 for Christmas, and I think it cost $250. Games cost about $25, IIRC.

Accoding to http://www.westegg.com/inflation/ that Atari 2600 would cost $634.91, and each cartridge would cost $63.49, in 2005 dollars.

So Xbox 360 is actually a great deal compared to the Atari 2600 if you just look at price.

I can't see any reason to complain about the price

[JudgeFurious]

  The price of the console is fine, exceptional even considering what you get. That's to be expected since they routinely sell these machines at a loss to get them in the hands of the game buying public.

  $60 a pop for the games is insane though. I was raised on video games and I love video games but I'll be damned if I'm ever going to give anyone $60 for a game.

  I still think the "optimum price" for a new game should be around $39. Anything more than that turns the game into an instant "I'll look at it again when it gets marked down, or I'll buy it used later on"

OT: where'd all the 4/5 comments go?

[Damek]

Is it just me, or has something drastically changed here at Slashdot? I'm seeing almost no 4/5-moderated comments on any Slashdot stories for the past few days...

Re:OT: where'd all the 4/5 comments go?

[Tsiangkun]

All the insightful comments were being submitted by a script.

I'm not seeing that stupid image/text thingy today, so I imagine the +5 posts will return shortly.

Re:EXTRA EXTRA! Slashdot covers lack of news!

[Momoru]

There is no one more knowledgeable about the industry then Walmart employees. Just go to any Walmart video game counter and experience the vast wealth of knowledge they possess.

Funny,

[kryogen1x]

The price of the Xbox 360 and one game at launch comes out to $360. Coincidence?

That's because ..

[dustmite]

This is a Microsoft product, no one on Slashdot is going to actually pay money for it

That's because most slashdotters' parents are going to buy it for them ;)

Combat rocked for it's time

[Monte]

So enlighten us - what spooky awsome video action were you using in 1977 that made Combat look so lame?

Here's the history lesson: The idea that you could actually interact with images on a television screen was pretty damned novel back then. Stuff moved around, you shot at it, it went boom.

Which, in the final analysis, describes most of today's popular video games as well. The images and explosions are just prettier now. But it all still boils down to "Push button, go boom", doesn't it?