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Xbox 360 - What You Get For Your Money
1up.com has a news post throwing together information from various sources, and revealing some release details about the Xbox 360. Scans of marketing flyers finally make clear the differences in the two skus. From the article: "There's ... a handy chart comparing the Core system to the standard system. The accessories are perhaps the most interesting, with specs and suggested retail prices listed. The wired controller is compatible with Windows XP, and the hard drive comes with some pre-loaded data, including an HD puzzle game. Of course, everything in the brochure is subject to change without notice, so check back for more confirmation as we get closer to the launch date." More commentary is available from Chris Morris's always excellent Game Over column. A transcript of the J. Allard chat is available at Major-Nelson.com.
It's a good setup, and the hardware is coming cheap(er) than what I expected, thanks to Microsoft subsidising it. Anyone know how much they'll be losing per xbox?
I'll subscribe to Slashdot when I see a month without a dupe, a typo, or an article the "editors" didn't read.
A whole lotta marketing hype....
I'll wait until November to see if it can outdo my Dual Core Megabox that only cost me 4 1/2x that of a 360...the fancy one.
Irrespective of how powerful it is, I've got the basic issue that my PC won't play PGR3. But then, an X360 won't play Battlefield 2 or GT-R, so I'm stuffed with just either one machine.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
Do you mean hard disk defragmentation?
...that 1up always makes out that it is the first with everything. One question...why bother getting scans of the brochure, when they could just refer to Microsoft's official press release that stated all of these facts last week?
What next? "RIDGE RACER TYPE 4 COMING TO PSONE!"
My Mind Is Rewired. Is Yours?
"I'm not trying to push you into the high cost option ... I'm saying the lower cost option doesn't exist." Link
when I get sucked in by hype. When my Xbox popped-its-clogs on Christmas Eve last year (boy was I angry). I prommised myself that I was an adult now and that I didn't need a games console. So confident was I that I sold all my games and accessories.
I can actually feel my Maestro card burning in my pocket at the moment. I'm going to take a cold shower.
Scared of flying, pointy things snce 1979!
Does anyone have the slightest clue what you are talking about? Please someone drop me a line if you do.
-- I have fans? Wow.
Value for money?
I'll probably pick up a Xbox or Playstation 2 this year. Hopefully the second hand market will get flooded with consoles from avid gamers trying to get the latest stuff.
Sample this!
get this the ps2 had spcs. 6.2 gflops. but xbox 1 only had 2.5 gflops. why?, it's all about the gpu and big S PR...
And so it begins...
He would appear to be just another xbox 360 weenie predicting impending doom for Sony.
I gotta say the xbox 360 looks nice from the specs.. but I haven't seen one game that would make me drop that kinda cash.
Tetris.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
Hit 'Parent'. The X360 weenie was just taking the piss out of a PS3 weenie by replacing 'Microsoft' with 'Sony'.
Somehow, something about the X360 launch was a Very Bad Thing according the the parent, but they didn't state quite what or why.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
So to get a new xbox with wireless controllers and that plays old games is going to cost over 500 dollars? Over 600 dollars by the time a game or two is added in!
WTF is MS smoking? There are a couple of games that looked interesting, but I am sure as hell not going to blow that much cash unless the games look phenomenal - and so far the 360 stuff looks somewhere between crap and meh. Even the latest PGR3 news is talking about the game having frame rate problems. And that was supposed to be the big release title.
This pricing broadside by MS has made the PS3 seem like something attractive now. Even if it means no more Halo.
"Somehow, something about the X360 launch was a Very Bad Thing"
Heh.
Yeah, what crack smoker could possibly claim the 360 launch isn't going BETTER THAN EXPECTED. Clearly everyone is jumping on the 360 BANDWAGON. All the reputable console news sites like www.teamxbox.com clearly are reporting that MS really has MOMENTUM with the 360.
Sony is teh DOOMED!
ooops.. my bad :P
:-|
Anyway it will be interesting to see what packages Sony comes up with when PS3 is released... maybe they'll make everyone buy it with a Spiderman bluray
Now this is just rediculous. One of the comparison columns (one reading :Good experience/Best experience" or something similar)reads
Good Experience: Faceplate
Best Experience: Multiple faceplates
Seriously who is going to waste money on more than one plastic faceplate for these things? I can see maybe one to match the room, but several?
I think whoever in marketing over there came up with the face plate thing is getting a little desperate.
"Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
The retail prices shown for the accessories don't really leave any doubt as to what most people will end up buying ($399 system). I do like the ideas of some accessories like the wireless ethernet adapter, controller recharger, etc. I do wish the headset was bluetooth, similar to a cell phone headset. Whether or not I'll be purchasing more accessories than what comes w/ the $399 is yet to be determined. What this does show however is the evolution of the XBox.
Since they didn't have hard drives, the PS2 and Gamecube failed just like the Xbox360 is going to.
Sure.
[PowerPoint] is a tool for capitalist presentation
I wish they'd put a nice RGB SCART cable in the UK systems, instead people without fancy new TVs that take YUV / HDTV are stuck with yukky composite again (well, it's better than RF), unless they buy an extra cable. Wow, that's going to be great to show off the extra power of the 360 on older TVs (which usually take RGB SCART, but not YUV). Although I suppose the YUV cable is good for the rich gits with really new TVs, and Microsoft's HDTV message.
Then again, they are offering a VGA cable, that is going to be good (I love my Dreamcast VGA box), I don't have a HDTV, so beig able to use my monitor is good, if this HD stuff is all that it's cracked up to be. (But I find my Xbox on a good TV through RGB SCART is great already).
10 PRINT "LOOK AROUND YOU ";
20 GOTO 10
The XBOX360 will only be assigned two different SKUs by retailers, as SKUs are NOT assigned by the manufacturer. The manufacturer assigns the product an EAN.
In fact, the XBOX360 will probably have hundreds of SKUs if you consider the number of retailers that will carry it...
I never spellcheck and I freely admit it. Save your karma for more worthwhile "lol erorrs" replies
It looks like your cost will be:
$399.99 for console
$ 49.99 for a second wireless console
$ 59.99 for a game
$ 59.99 for a second game
-------
$569.96 for a system
Then you must wait until the PS3 comes out to get Halo 3. While I'm extremely excited about the XBOX 360, I may have to wait a while before I pick one up.
Oh, that's right -- "Backwards Compatibility" is only for NEW purchases of Xbox games so they'll play on the X360 , not for Xbox owners who are upgrading their systems and want to continue raising havoc in [insert favorite havoc-raising game title here].
Where does that leave the PS3? Well, it's already been covered that the PS3 is moving away from the traditional PS1/PS2 memory cards in favor of supporting many other memory card formats... but it is certainly possible for a manufacturer to come out with an adapter that could be used to load/copy data from the old memory card to a PS3-supported card. (maybe a copy "service" would be more cost-beneficial than a one-time-use peripheral. Even so...)
Look at the peripheral list. They are selling a thingy that loads the wireless controller's battery while you play. Via a cable. Plugged to the XBox. With a (probably) shorter cord than the regular wired controller.
On a related note, I hate wireless controllers. Hate, hate, HATE them. It makes me a saaaad panda that of the next generation consoles only XBox has wired controllers.
Why does the Slashdot post point to a one paragraph article with links to people who actually have the information instead of just posting those links directly?
Recent articles haven't got any posts. Is there an international boycott of Slashdot that no one told me about?
Good war parody.
Dreamcast 2.
But without backward compatibility. (Yes without Xbox 1 compatibility either.)
That's it.
Dreamcast 2, without backward compatibility. That's it.
Those who want Halo 3, wait 1 year and get Xbox 360 @ $199 including 2 free games!
Here we go with everyone complaining about the base price of the console, but we should really be all up in arms about the accessory prices.
One look at the brochure, and all I can say is HO...LY...CR...AP that stuff is expensive!!! $40 for a memory card?!? $40 for a WIRED controller?!?
$30-40 for an AV cable ?!? I can't think of any console in recent memory that cost THAT much for BASIC accessories, let alone the specialty ones.
And combine this with the news from a few weeks ago that says that 3rd part manufacturs will have to pay up to MS or their hardware won't work with the system, so there goes any chance of cheaper options for cables and such.
Folks, we are getting ripped off here, regardless of which package we buy!
The total cost of ownership is more like 650. Even with the 400 dollar version you still will want to buy a few add ons, such as an XBox Live subscription, a 2nd wireless controller, and Wireless Ethernet adapter.
The 300 low end box is just a marketing ploy.
If an adapter can be made for legacy PS* memory cards, an adapter can be made for Xbox 1 memory cards. You'll just need to do the extra step of copying the save from the Xbox HD to the memory card beforehand.
(If it comes as a surprise that the Xbox 1 can use memory cards, that's only because they're a very rare sight because the hard disk is so much better that nobody needs them.)
From a UK perspective, those prices seem about the same as I'd pay now anyway.
I looked through the UK RRPs (Recommended Retail Prices), and all the various acessories seem about the same price, RRP-wise, as the Xbox 1 equivelants (or in the case of the wireless controller, the Nintendo Wavebird). And they tally with the US prices you give, in rough GBP->USD conversions.
Although looking at PS2 accessories, they're slightly cheaper than Xbox stuff. (PS2 controller RRP is £20, Xbox is £25, same for memory cards)
One thing to remember is that these are RRPs, you can nearly always get stuff cheaper than that, they're basically the upper limit, shops (especially online ones) nearly always have discounts (although perhaps not at launch).
10 PRINT "LOOK AROUND YOU ";
20 GOTO 10
Yes, the lower model is a colossal mistake, talk about segmenting your user population. The only mitigating factor is that I can't figure out why ANYONE would buy the cheap version for $100 less. Wireless controller is $10 more, Component HDAV cable is $40 more, headset $20 more, Hard drive $100 more = $170 diff + no premium (good) games and no xbox1 games.
http://www.tomandemily.com
But at the same time, that $400 will be just enough to buy a new model graphics card for a PC. Then you still need a mobo, RAM, sound card, case, power supply, keyboard, mouse, etc.
True, PCs can do other things. But most of those other things can be done on a $150 used PC you pick up out of the classified ads.
As far as gaming goes, consoles are usually a great value.
Put them on a memory card, dingus. What are you, a retard? Or are you just going WAAAAY the hell out of your way to bash Microsoft?
Comment of the year
$40 for a memory card?
x +controller+ceramic&btnG=Search+Froogle
+ s-video&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&client=firefox-a&rls=or g.mozilla:en-US:official&tab=wf&pid=47854049772643 76141
You mean as opposed to $25 for an 8MB Playstation 2 memory card? That's $3.1 per MB vs the 360's $0.63 per MB (assuming it's 64MB) - for the capacity the 360's memory card is five times cheaper.
http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/181973.asp
$40 for a WIRED controller?
The ceramic white Playstation 2 controller is $45. Sure, the regular ones are $30, but my point is: there's a wired Playstation 2 controller that you have to pay more than $40 to get (if you can get it) anywhere:
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?scoring=pd&q=ps
$30-40 for an AV cable?
The official Playstation 2 S-Video cable retails for $30 (I paid about $35 when I bought mine from my local game store a few years back). 3rd party ones are cheaper ($7-ish), but they're too cheap to carry a decent signal (I've tried them):
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=playstation+2
So the prices are actually pretty similar to the Playstation 2's. Except that the Playstation 2 has been out for years and from the way you're behaving you'd have thought everything would be $2 a pop by now - the official accessories are still expensive (and in my experience, 3rd party brands sometimes have inconsistent quality and are not usually worth it). So the grass isn't really any greener on the PS2 fanboy side of the fence.
From a UK perspective, those prices seem about the same as I'd pay now anyway.
Those are US prices. You'll probably be paying the same amount over that you would be on anything else video game related. If I recall right, that means about half again what it costs in the USA, so $60 for the memory card, etc.
No. Actually you're completely wrong. (well you could also be right about old xbox games expecting a harddrive. I don't know for sure. It just depends)
"(Microsoft has) implemented compatibility purely through emulation (at the CPU level). It looks like emulation profiles for each game are going to be stored on the hard drive, and I imagine that a certain number will ship with the system. They already have the infrastructure to distribute more profiles via Live, and more and more can be made available online periodically."
Second page of this IGN article:
http://xbox.ign.com/articles/639/639136p1.html
I also remember reading other Microsoft quotes about this in various other places but I don't feel like finding them all right this very second.
Folks, we are getting ripped off here, regardless of which package we buy!
You're only getting ripped off if you, you know, actually buy one. Nobody's forcing you to do so.
You probably shouldn't click this.
Uhhhh yeah dude. $100 for 100 megs in the 90's? Early 90's maybe. That was 15 freaking years ago dude. Would you be happy spending $2,000 on a 15 year old TV also? Because that's pretty much what you're saying.
t egory=15
$100 for a 20 gig harddrive is INSANE!
You can buy a 300 gig drive for nearly the same price!
http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/Category.asp?Ca
It seems to me everyone is bitching and moaning about having to buy an Xbox 360 at $400 and a PS3 at god knows how much (I'd get my bank's loan department on speed dial) so instead why not buy Revolution? Yes I'm suggesting you forgo getting the latest and greatest from Sony & MS and yes you probably won't be able to play GTA on it and you won't be able to play Halo on it but look at what it's got. First off it'll probably retail at $200 so that puts it at a $100-200 advantage against Xbox and god knows how much against PS3. Secondly it'll support real backwards compatibility, it'll play Gamecube games and if you're willing to pay a little bit of money it'll also play your favorite NES, SNES & N64 games. There are plenty of good Gamecube games that aren't full of violence and blood that are actually fun! (yes you can have games that are fun without blood it's a shock to the system I know you'd better take a lay down and come back later I'll wait) Better? Let's just look at launch day for Xbox 360 & Gamecube. So on Xbox 360 launch day after you pay your $400 + $50 game (we'll assume they're not $60 yet) + tax you're at ~$480 (I used my sales tax of 6.5%). Now lets look at revolution launch day. You pay your $200 + $50 for a game + tax and you get ~$267 so you have about $213 left after buying revolution which you could use to buy a spare controller, more games (new Zelda anyone?) or just old games through the online game service. Now I really doubt I'll sway anyone with this but I mean just look at the numbers guys why not save your $400 now buy a Revolution and then wait for the eventual price drops that you know will happen by Christmas '06 or at worst May '07 Yes you might miss out on the latest GTA but by the time you do buy it it'll be $20.
You mean as opposed to $25 for an 8MB Playstation 2 memory card? That's $3.1 per MB vs the 360's $0.63 per MB (assuming it's 64MB) - for the capacity the 360's memory card is five times cheaper.
Well I don't see a smaller or cheaper memory card do you? What if I don't want to spend $40? What if I don't need 64 megs? What about the fact that saved games are getting bigger and bigger? Who cares if the card is 64 megs if it can't hold many saved games? Price per meg is pointless in that respect.
Think about it this way. If you buy the base system for $299 you can't even fucking save your games with out buying a $40 fucking memory card. That's almost half the price difference of just buying the god damn $399 package.
While we're on the price per meg subject why not take a look at that $100 20 gig harddrive. How does that compare to the 300 gig drives I can buy on newegg.com for $150 bucks or cheaper.
The ceramic white Playstation 2 controller is $45. Sure, the regular ones are $30, but my point is: there's a wired Playstation 2 controller that you have to pay more than $40 to get (if you can get it) anywhere
Gee you managed to point out one controller that costs the same. I'm proud of you. You completely dodged his other point. The fact that you might not be able to buy a controller for LESS than $40 for the 360. Tell me something. Can you buy a controller for less than $40 for the PS2? Oh wait you already answered that question.
So the prices are actually pretty similar to the Playstation 2's
No. They aren't. The HIGH end prices for the PS2 are on par with the LOW end prices for the 360. How is that similar?
The whole idea behind the XBox's hard drive was so you didn't have to buy a memory card in order to save games. There was no way to avoid buying a memory card if you wanted to enjoy PS1/PS2 games.
That being the case, you're saying that I should go out and purchase an Xbox memory card for the sole purpose of transfering games to my "backwards compatible" X360 console?
Doesn't make sense - not after Sony let the PS2 read PS1 memory cards as part of *their* "Backwards Compatible" strategy.
Have we seen that the X360 will support the Xbox memory cards at all? I'm fairly certain that I read the X360 won't support Xbox peripherals such as DDR Dance Pads and maybe the Xbox Music Mixer microphone. Again, could be wrong. (I'll assume the PS3 will support PS2 peripherals like the Eyetoy, as that was USB-based.)
Wasn't that part of the original XBox 360 proposal? I guess those IBM processors are pricier than originally anticipated.
Sure, Windows PCs dominate the market. But so do cheap toupees.
I'll apologize for him. We're sorry. I guess you don't have any friends, otherwise you could have thought of mooching off of them, or having them all pitch together so that you all could share the memory card to transfer all of your saves over.
Has anyone thought of just networking the XBoxes, and transfering saves that way?
Already said that in my original post where I mention that a one-time use peripheral would not be the best purchase to make. But thanks for playing.
Has anyone thought of just networking the XBoxes, and transfering saves that way?
Whatever it takes -- it certainly wouldn't be unheard of (yes, all of you with modded XBoxes; I see you waving your hands wildly in the air).
For example, XBox Music Mixer had software that allowed you to download specific files to your Xbox (but not transfer files back up). But because of the (overly, but justifably so) convulted file structure/naming conventions that MSFT put in place for the various games, it could be a complicated process to select and transfer the files to the PC and then back down to the X360... assuming that the X360's HD file structure/organization is even compatible with the Xbox's. Using a crossover cable would certainly be easier, but still run into the same file placement issues.
My point, which seems to have been lost although I've been saying it for at least a year now, is that MSFT may be creating a console that will play the older games, but they have not -- at least publically -- seemed to address what it takes to make a console truly backwards compatible with the previous systems.
Sony did it right with the PS1/PS2; we have to see what approach they'll take with the PS2/PS3 upgrade path. Just being able to play the older games is part of the battle. When is MSFT, and soon Sony, going to tell us the other part of the equation?
There's a rather nice Defrag game from Outernet Productions.
Now that has got to be ported. NOW.
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
Why are you comparing five year-old stuff to something that is not even out yet? Of course the 360 memory card will store more considering it's half a decade newer tech!