Slashdot Mirror
The Elite's Sour Side
Now that the news about Microsoft's Elite has had a chance to set in, there are a few objections being raised by commentators. That 120 gig hard drive (the really expensive one) is going to come pre-loaded with content; all well and good, but the content transfer cable and software is a bit odd. Additionally, there are serious objections being raised over the frustrations of early adopters. Despite the easy dismissal out of hand heard on Major Nelson's Wednesday podcast, it's not as easy for early 360 buyers to roll with the changes. "Current Xbox 360 owners, who can purchase a separate 120-gigabyte hard drive at a cost of $179, appear to be getting a raw deal. Not only are these early adopters stuck with an older model of the console that offers less in the way of high-definition support, but factor in the cost of a current premium Xbox 360 ($399) and the price of the larger hard drive and the figure is close to $600 dollars, far exceeding the Elite's retail price, due to be $479."
So, the system has been out for like 1.5 years... The "Early Adopter" phase has come and gone. I picked one up last April and I wasn't an early adopter -then-. People are just being whiny.
Current Xbox 360 owners, who can purchase a separate 120-gigabyte hard drive at a cost of $179, appear to be getting a raw deal. Not only are these early adopters stuck with an older model of the console
So do the same complaints apply to Apple, when they release a new revision of the ipod every 12 months? What about Dell, when they release a new computer?
Are these people completely unfamiliar with the concept of purchasing goods and services?
Does Ford owe you a coupon because the new Taurus comes with more trunk space, which your year-old model lacks? Give me a break.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
.. is those bloody Thargoids. I don't want to turn on my console only to find myself transported into witch space surrounded by a billon octgonal spaceships. This stinks of sloppy design.
Like making sure they regret buying your product when they did.
Yeah, because nobody could have predicted electronics to get better/faster/cheaper over the past year and a half.
I am so mad at Microsoft for improving their product. The existing XBox 360 models are now useless. Sure, they play the same games the same way, but they are now 30% less fun because I know I don't have the best SKU.
Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
This strikes me as more about being obsessed with always having the latest and greatest than a real issue, grow up...
Here's what consumers need to learn:
;)
* Products get updated all the time.
The benefits of "buy now" versus "buy later" is the time between now and later in which you will own and enjoy your product. I remember buying Final Fantasy X for $55 and then seeing it in the Greatest Hits bin for $15 a year or two later. If you cry about it and the companies want to make you feel better, they won't do it by releasing something at a medium price like $35 forever, they'll do it by releasing it at the full $55 and never dropping MSRP. (At least those who got the 'tard pack can upgrade to a hard drive for the next difference in the price difference of Core versus Elite. It's not GREAT, but it's not a slap in the face, either.)
* What's top dog now won't be top dog later.
PC gamers have already figured this out. The fact that there are even "generations" of gaming consoles should have taught you this applies in the console world as well.
Here's what console companies need to learn:
* Newer, more premium products need to push existing prices down.
While it makes better sense for your bottom line, your base gets green with envy instead of less green by giving you money. Nintendo figured this one out already.
* Think about upgrade capacity.
Wouldn't it have been neat, instead, if you could take your existing 360 hard drive and piggy-back it to the new hard drive (like a daughterboard) and the drives would automatically move your contents and digital signatures to the new one and restore your old one to factory fresh? When I bought a new cell phone I set my old one to send all my contacts via infra red and set my new one to receive and it was quite nice to get it all done without a whole lot of pain. Nintendo tripped up on this with the WiFi being matched from the DS game to your DS's MAC / serial number, but they got it together on the Wii by using a standard and portable SD card for data transfer.
That said, with the said problems, if the Elite 360 is targeted for holdouts who don't already have a 360, it fails. I don't have a 360 but I've been waiting for lower noise/power consumption 65nm, HD-DVD, bigger HD, and HDMI and Elite represents only 1/2 of that. Oh, plus BLACK. Wee. Here's hoping for a Super Elite come Christmas for $399.
More Twoson than Cupertino
"Each time they're creating something new and eventually people will have to upgrade just to stay current, just like with current PC's."
Upgrades are optional. If you like the same PC games, no need to upgrade your hardware. If you can handle lower resolutions and detail, many new PC games are perfectly playable on non-cutting-edge hardware. If you want it all, though, you want it all. And that costs. No different from anything else in the world.
In the interest of calling a spade a spade:
The NES had "optional" upgrades. These Elite features are optional: nothing more. If there was a "penultimate NES", it would include a Zapper, R.O.B., Action Pad, NES Satellite, and maybe other things I'm forgetting. Remember, that system also sold in different level "trims". Hell, the overwhelming majority of NES titles had additional memory banking hardware in each cartridge to enable the game to access more than 64K of memory.
Genesis: Penultimate would have: Genesis, Master System adapter, Sega CD, 32X.
The N64 came the closest to a "required" upgrade, that 8M memory upgrade that sat right there in front of the cartridge port. Even then, most games didn't need it, let alone used it, and those that did were clearly marked.
In the end, upgrades will have value based on applications. If you want downloadable content and want your games to run better by caching content on the HD, then get a 360 with a HD. If you've got more time than money and can live without demos, forget it. If there ever ARE games that require optional equipment, Microsoft would do well to make sure it's VERY obvious they need it.
More Twoson than Cupertino
That's why people buy consoles instead of computers. These things are supposed to be a constant. Microsoft more than Sony or Nintendo (but Sony has it's multi-SKUs as well) are trying to warp the console business into an evolving world like PC gaming. The reason console games are as bug free (mostly) is that they are in a controlled environment. They don't have to worry about branch code for different hardware. Evolving your console is possibly the worst thing you could do. Developers than have to determine the correct system and plan for it. Even a difference like the Core/Premium XBox360 and one version not having a hard drive is a BIG mistake in terms of consoles. Twenty vs. Sixty Gig drives doesn't really matter all that much. You likely not going to use all that space, but you don't have to check if the hard drive exists and run different caching code.
Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.