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Analyst Says Two 360 Versions At Launch
An analyst with Piper Jaffray believes that there will be two Xbox 360 skus at launch, reports GameDailyBiz. From the article: "Microsoft knows $299 is important...They know that historically that's been the launch sweet spot, but they also don't want to take such large hardware losses this time. Of the 1 million units Microsoft is expected to have available at launch, I expect 80% of them will probably be the more expensive SKU, because that's what early adopters are going to want."
Why not 360$?
This company just like to sell 5 different versions of everything to you. After all M$ marketing guys need to keep themselves employed.
The best I can guess is that a $350 model would have a larger HD, extra controler, and possibly some type of memory card for transporting saved games. I see this as rather pointless since you could buy an extra controler for around $30 tops or get a cheap 3rd party controller for less. I don't know the initial size of the Xbox 360 HD but I've heard 20 GB as an expected starting point. But why not just spend $100 on a nice 200 GB HD and put it in yourself. I'm sure that people will figure out how to hack or mod the box to get it to accept one that large.
The $399 model would almost need to have a game bundled in with it along with the other stuff. The only problem I see is that not everyone will want the game that comes with it. People will just buy the $299 version and pick whatever game they want for themselves.
"Of the 1 million units Microsoft is expected to have available at launch, I expect 80% of them will probably be the more expensive SKU, because that's what early adopters are going to want."
I don't know if I can agree with that. Unless Microsoft doesn't give users a choice, I'd bet most would go with the $299 model. At least that's what I'd be going with. I can't justify the extra cost for a slightly larger HD when I'll eventually want to throw in a really big one and mod it to run Linux. Then again I'm probably not the target customer for the Xbox 360 so maybe it's just me. Either way I don't see how consumers knowingly shelling out an extra $100 ($50 possibly) for a few extras that aren't necessary.
It would be a big mistake for MS to launch the 360 with multiple versions. I don't think that there has ever been a successful console that launched with more than one version/price point. Now if they want to launch with different colored models, that's fine, but if they start monkeying around with the inclusion of the HD, then they'll be giving the game back to Sony. Honestly, the HD and Xbox Live are the Xbox's only advantages over the Playstation 2. Look at how poorly the PS2 HD add-on fared, and the promises of support that Sony itself broke. If the HD is not standard in all 360s, then it will fail as well, putting 360 on the same level as the PS3.
In the console world, the launch is a one shot deal. Whatever comes out at launch is what is going to be supported. Enhancements and redesigns may come later in the console's life, but that base model that rolled out on day one is the one that gets full support by developers. Splitting the market on day one would be very foolish.
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