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Xbox360 Pricing, 2 Models at Launch
Tom writes "According to news in the LA Times, Microsoft will release two Xbox 360 packages when the console is launched later this year. The basic package will retail for $299 and will not include a hard disk, nor will it include a wireless controller, instead shipping with a wired pad.
The second package will retail for $399 and will include a 20 Gb hard disk, wireless controller, wireless headset, Ethernet cable and remote control. No release date has been revealed, but a mid to late November date is expected."
The $299 version doesn't ship with an ethernet CABLE, it still has an ethernet jack on the box though.
odds are the version without a hard disk will still have the connectors on the inside, happily protected by "warranty void when opened".
As I understand it, all models of the XBox 360 will support an external removeable hard drive; the $399 version just ships with said hard drive. If you get the $299 version you'll still be able to buy the hard drive add-on seperately without voiding the warranty or even opening the 360.
Well this has just flashed up on the BBC News latest news ticker...
"Microsoft says price of new Xbox 360 games console will start at £210"
What if you play rpg's for hours on end and want the comfort your control won't run out of batteries, but still want a hard drive and ethernet?
Then you buy the external hard drive as an add-on (it's a removable, external drive) and buy an ethernet CABLE. Note that both versions will have an ethernet jack, the $399 version just also includes an ethernet cable.
the memory sticks go in the controllers..
no, seriously, the memory sticks go in the console.
The Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 Controller (left)
You plug in the wireless controller...(you can play wired with the wireless controller).
Trust Your Technolust
The IGN article has more info on the differences in the two versions. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/642/642656p1.html/
In fact, here's the info!
not to mention that Major Nelson has confirmed it on his blog.
Mike
Found it. ... 'There may be a scenario in the future where we don't want to have a hard drive, and in that case, we have to make sure that the games that you've created are accessible to the broadest possible audience.'"
According to Microsoft's J Allard (who ever he is?), is quoted as saying in the September issue of Game Informer: "We've said [to developers], 'Hey look, don't bank on the hard drive always being there,'
If the "cheap" model doesn't have a hard drive, that means that developers aren't going to use the thing in their games.
Bingo! The hardrive on the original Xbox was rarely used well anyway. A few games took advantage of it, but most games were released on multiple systems, and therefore didn't. The reality is, only a few games really needed it. By adding a hardrive, Microsoft thought they were adding a component that would make the XBox significantly better than the PS2. Instead they added a component that just made it a lot more expensive to build. (And unlike the other components in the console, a hardrive's price doesn't drop over time. Capacities go up, but prices don't go down). To avoid hemoraging money again, Microsoft needed to drop the hardrive from the Xbox 360. To maintain compatibility with the original, though, they needed to at least make it an option.
I'm just surprised they would split the market like that.
Perhaps, but as you and I said, developers aren't going to use the hardrive. People who just want to play Xbox 360 (not Xbox 1) games will be able to get by just fine with the base model. People who want extras, (downloadable content, Xbox 1 compatibility, probably some media options), will need the upgraded version. Many people don't care about these extras, so why should they pay for hardware to do it?
actually, seagate's "U" series still has 20gb drives, and im farely sure western digital still sells them too. they wont be in your local $COMPUMART on the front shelf, but most online stores still sell them if you know how to use the search function :P
Not a bad deal? For 400 bucks it should at least come with fucking wifi.
The same Sony that removed the hard drive bay from the new slim PS2s? Frankly, unless you were playing FFXI, the PS2 hard drive was practically useless. The only people who ever really made use of a hard drive in their PS2 were people using HDLoader/HDAdvance to load PS2 games onto it and run them off there.
I used up all my sick days, so I'm calling in dead.
Sec. 238.0 Bait advertising defined.1 Bait advertising is an alluring but insincere offer to sell a product or service which the advertiser in truth does not intend or want to sell. Its purpose is to switch consumers from buying the advertised merchandise, in order to sell something else, usually at a higher price or on a basis more advantageous to the advertiser. The primary aim of a bait advertisement is to obtain leads as to persons interested in buying merchandise of the type so advertised.
Since Microsoft has told developers not to rely on the HDD being there, it's clear that they aren't insincere about selling the $299 version, any more than Honda is insincere about selling a Civic versus a Accord. Take a deep breath and don't let the anti-MS paranoia get to you so much.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Once again Europe pays more. 299EUR($369)/£209.99($377) for the base version and 299EUR($491)/£279($506) for the "Value pack".:
Source:
Joystiq.com
Along with the announcement of $299 and $399 pricing levels for the Xbox 360 in the US, Microsoft has revealed European recommended retail prices for the two consoles and accessories. Not surprisingly us Europeans are getting shafted. Instead of £165/242 and £220/323 respectively (what US dudes will pay), EU prices are £209.99/299.99 and £279.99/399.99 for the basic and extra pack. That's £45/58 and £60/77 more! With such an inspired simulateous worldwide release day it'd have been nice if everyone paid the same price.
Along with announcing the console prices in Leipzig, Germany today, Microsoft revealed how much the accessories are gonna cost ya'. Here's a rundown:
Hard Drive (20 GB) - £69.99/99.99 (aren't there 120GB PC drives available for less than this?)
Memory Unit (64 MB) - £22.99/34.99
Headset - £14.99/19.99
Wireless Controller - £32.99/34.99
Rechargeable battery pack - £9.99/14.99 (lasts for 25 hours of wires free power)
Wireless Networking Adapter - £59.99/79.99 (eek!)
Universal Media Remote - £19.99/29.99
SCART AV Cable - £17.99/24.99
VGA HD AV Cable - £19.99/29.99 (very useful if you have a PC screen)
http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000173054784/
The DualShock is a controller, though. It costs, what, $30 at most?
You mean criminal? Pretty much every state with sales tax requires you to declare purchases made elsewhere without sales tax on your federal return. I take it for granted that nobody does this, but still, if you're going to break a law to save a few percent and call it smart, I'm going to propose the brilliant solution of stealing one outright.
This is where I get my recommended daily allowance of "Foot in Mouth."
Tell that to Sony about their PS2 HD upgrade. Oh, wait, only two games took advantage of it, and it was so poorly received that the PSTwo redesign removed support for the HD entirely. Now the real question here is what do you mean when you say 'take advantage'? If you mean games can use it to save state if the hard drive is available, then of course that'll happen. If you mean games will use it to make your gaming experience better (caching on the hd to reduce or eliminate DVD load times, allowing for multiplayer patches, etc), then I really doubt that will happen. As an example, take Halo 2. It's designed in such a way that once you start the game you'll never see another load screen (talking single player here, not multiplayer where you'll certainly see load screens before each match). It can only do this because the Xbox 1 has a built-in hard drive that Bungie could rely upon. No built-in hard drive, no loading-free gameplay regardless of whether or not you bought the HD upgrade. It's that simple.
Yeah that rings a bell. But not from history.
The quote you are thinking of referred to the Xbox launch, not the Playstation 2 launch. Billy G himself said it:
Gates said the 3-D chips in the Xbox would be three times faster than anything on the market and offer nearly unlimited graphical visuals. "We're approaching the level of detail seen in Toy Story 2," he said, referring to the computer-generated kids film from Disney/Pixar.
The original Wired article.
Somehow people keep repeating this quote as a Sony quote. I don't know why. I don't blame you - its very common.
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.