Microsoft responds to PS3 slim with a 360 price drop

primesuspect

Microsoft responds to PS3 slim with a 360 price drop

lordbean

For that price, I might almost think about a 360. I dread the RROD problem though... is the 360 elite subject to that, or was it fixed?

primesuspect

It's been fixed for over a year now.

Cliff_Forster

I saw a model with a mfg serial in 2008 Red Ring not too long ago. I'm 1 for 6 on 360 hardware (son has a model circa 2008 that still works, for now)

I honestly think Microsoft is going to have to do more if they want to run neck and neck with the massive loss leader that has become the PS3 slim. If not straight price, perhaps a compelling game bundle or something.

I think the tide is about to turn Sony's way again.

Now, What about that Wii price? It has been the darling of the console gaming industry for a while now, but with the HD consoles so close to it? Nintendo does have a highly differentiated product offering, that is how they have been able to maintain their price in the market, but with the pressure on, perhaps we will finally see a cut there?

This also leads me to wonder how ATI and Nvidia will position their next generation gaming products in Fall? Evergreen especially. With the console price cuts, will they be able to demand a real old school premium for high end graphics tech, or will they scale pricing to compete in hopes to re invigorate the PC gaming market with the release of Windows 7.

Watching this all unfold in Fall/Winter is going to be very exciting.

Snarkasm

The Wii market is pretty saturated anyway. Not sure a price drop will do much for them.

That said, I think Netflix and Live are incredibly compelling next to Blu-Ray and the abomination that is PSN. Sorry, but it sucks out loud compared to Live, and Netflix lets you stream multiple movies per month for less than the cost of a single BD.

Thrax

It's entirely possible. Xbox 360 units using the Jasper mainboard that fixed the RRoD issue did not appear in retail until June of 2008.

Cliff_Forster wrote:

I saw a model with a mfg serial in 2008 Red Ring not too long ago. I'm 1 for 6 on 360 hardware (son has a model circa 2008 that still works, for now)

I honestly think Microsoft is going to have to do more if they want to run neck and neck with the massive loss leader that has become the PS3 slim. If not straight price, perhaps a compelling game bundle or something.

I think the tide is about to turn Sony's way again.

Now, What about that Wii price? It has been the darling of the console gaming industry for a while now, but with the HD consoles so close to it? Nintendo does have a highly differentiated product offering, that is how they have been able to maintain their price in the market, but with the pressure on, perhaps we will finally see a cut there?

This also leads me to wonder how ATI and Nvidia will position their next generation gaming products in Fall? Evergreen especially. With the console price cuts, will they be able to demand a real old school premium for high end graphics tech, or will they scale pricing to compete in hopes to re invigorate the PC gaming market with the release of Windows 7.

Watching this all unfold in Fall/Winter is going to be very exciting.

Johnell

To anyone thinking of getting a game system. Get a Ps3 its better trust me. The machine is just better in so many ways. The Ps3 and 360 are the same price now. Why would you buy a 360 when the Ps3 has Bluray,Wifi,Bluetooth,Web Browser and the best exclusive gaming. Pretty much everything the 360 doesn't.
The Ps3 is a complete media Hub unlike the 360. You fanboys can say we have Net Flix so what streaming quality is nowhere near the picture quality of a Bluray disc. Not to mention the disc is mine to own. If I buy a movie from Playstation Network it's mine to own, unlike the 360.
The 360 has no true Hi-Def picture capabilities. It only has HDMI 1.2 the Ps3 has HDMI 1.3. The 360 has Dolby digital 5.1 suround sont the Ps3 has Audio output: LPCM 7.1ch, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD, AAC.
The Ps3 is just a better machine and it's reliable too wich should be the main concern when buying electronics. You fanboys better not say the Ps3 dont have games. Your exclusives can't compete with ours at all. When the 360 can offer something better than Uncharted,Killzone,GT5,Infamous,MGS5,LBP and these are only a few what are you gonna throw at me Halo and Gears. Lol! If at fist you dont suceed try again.

Snarkasm

Get out of here, fanboy. I won't even bother refuting everything in there.

Cliff_Forster

Snark,

Johnell is a PS3 fanboy, so what? He gave a few compelling reasons for his preference.

Being a fanboy is not a crime. Johnell digs the PS3, and from a technical standpoint, and now from a cost standpoint it makes a very compelling case when pitted against the 360.

Now, Johnell, one thing I would urge add, have you considered gaming no PC? If not I highly recommend it.

Thrax

Maybe not a crime, but ignorant and obtuse.

CrazyJoe

One of the other reasons that I do not want a PS3 as a blueray player is that my Harmony remote will not work with the PS3 without an extra adapter at extra cost.

primesuspect

Why would you pit one console against another?

That's like pitting one movie against another. You can like A, B, either, or.

GnomeQueen

I prefer Q.

Cliff_Forster

There was a time when the argument was impossible to have. I could not argue that my Atari 7800 was going to provide an experience superior to the Nintendo Entertainment System. These days, all three options are compelling in their own ways, it can be easy and kind of fun to plant your stake in the ground and choose a side. Frankly, there is nothing obtuse about that, its the exact opposite of obtuse.

NiGHTS

Snarkasm

Basing your argument on falsities and pure, unadulterated opinion is obtuse. You can't use phrases like "best exclusive gaming," the 360 has "no true high-def picture capabilities," or that buying a movie from PSN is different from BUYING a movie from XBL. Sorry, fanboys - all your arguments immediately become invalid when you have to wade through propaganda like that.

Cliff_Forster

Five out of the six 360's I have had have failed.

Nothing obtuse about that....

I kinda hold a grudge when I'm sold junk, I'm just crazy like that.

Snarkasm

You're an outlier. Welcome to statistics 101.

Everybody's sorry you've had such a crappy time, but MS has fixed every one of them for free, hasn't it?

When only 3% of people won't buy your console because of hardware failures, that should give you a pretty good idea of how loyal people are to the experience - the games library, the backwards compatibility, the online experience all matter more to them than being without their console for 2 weeks.

Ryder

You do realize you sound like just as much a fanboy for the other side Snark?

Snarkasm

Somebody's gotta balance it out. At least my arguments present facts.

I have both, I like both - I can't stand fanboys.

lordbean

i r steme fanboiz.










Except not. I game on my PC, but the only reason is because my parents raised me with computers, and actually forbade consoles in the house. Call it parental training. At this point in life, I'm so used to the keyboard / mouse interface that me trying to play an FPS on a console controller is sort of like a baboon trying to write a thesis.

Chyron

Gamefaqs just hosted a survey that put the xbrick's failure rate at 54%. I cant see how anyone would defend microsoft and say they make a good product. Not to mention they dropped support for the original 6 months before the 360 came out which is a huge f u to anyone who bought it, where sony still supports the ps2. Buying a sony product is a long term invesment, buying a microsoft product is buying a testbed for the next product they plan to gouge you on.

Thrax

(I own no consoles)

Except for that whole 3-year warranty, and console lifecycle that's equal to the PS3's lifecycle, you're right.

Snarkasm

Sony still supports the PS2 SO MUCH that they removed PS2 backwards compatibility from the PS3 so they could continue to sell people PS2s.

At least MS supports nearly all (and definitely all of the most popular) first-generation Xbox games on the 360.

The failure rate you mention comes from a 5,000-person online survey from a gaming publication - hardly a scientific number - and as Thrax mentioned, both of them are claiming to have a 10-year lifecycle, even though the PS3 got a major redesign one year (40 and 80GB PS3 revision) and two years (PS3 Slim) into the cycle and the 360 came out with the Elite and is removing the Pro.

I guarantee new consoles from both of them will be out before 10 years from their respective launch dates either way.

Garg

So, in summary:

• The 360's failure rate is high, regardless of whose statistics we use. How high is a moot point, because:
  
• People are apparently not mad enough about the failure rate to stop buying Xboxes as a group.
  
• Individuals are welcome to not buy into a platform they're not comfortable with, for whatever reason.

There. Is there anything else to say on the matter?

Thrax

And most importantly:

• Xbox 360 units produced after July, 2008 contain the Jasper mainboard which eliminated the cause of the RRoD issue.

ledbetter

I will give MS credit. When they build a POS, they stand by it!

Cliff_Forster

Thrax wrote:

And most importantly:

• Xbox 360 units produced after July, 2008 contain the Jasper mainboard which eliminated the cause of the RRoD issue.

The product launch was in Nov 2005 so they more or less beta tested inferior product on the public for nearly three years.

I'm just saying, if someone on the Sony side of the argument (I'm honestly not), were to say, hey look at the MS track record here, you can't say, well that boo boo is all better now and have an argument that is any more or less valid than theirs. All I know is this, I'm 100% done with the 360, I'll never spend another dime on it. The fact that thing was generating and retaining enough heat at one point to bend a printed circuit board enough to render it useless just turns me off, fixed or not.

Moving on,

We could have a whole other article on the perceived value of backwards compatability. I used to think it was a huge deal, but I find that once I discover all those sexy new current gen games, I rarely go back to the last gen experience. I think for console gamers, especially at the launch of a new system, its important for them because they feel like if they can't have that backwards compatible system their previous investments will all be wasted. Fact is, the value of a game is in the amount of joy that it gives you while you play it, and lets face it, who really is sticking their old copy of Jak and Daxter into the PS2 just for kicks? Now, I'm not a backwards compatibility champion by far, but I would say if backwards compatability is what you want, you should be gaming on Windows. Windows is the ultimate backwards compatible gaming platform.

ardichoke

I'm sorry Cliff but you may have gone off the deep end with your backwards compatibility argument this time. I still love playing a number of my PS1 titles (MGS, FFVIII, Xenogears, THPS2, Parasite Eve, all classics in my mind and games I play every now and again). Since the PS3 doesn't have compat for PS2 titles (last I checked it does for PS1 titles at least) I won't be ditching my PS2 for a long time as I have a large investment in games, some of which I still haven't gotten around to beating. As for Windows backwards compatibility... are you kidding? Some software producers can't even produce NEW games that don't effing crash like a 16 year old driving drunk. Don't even get me started on the classic games that I can't get to run reliably on Windows Vista/7. Windows is only as backwards compatible as the patches released by the game developers let it be...

Garg

I've been pretty upset about Sony removing PS2 compatibility in the PS3s for awhile now. But now with the PS3 price drop, I'll probably just buy a slim PS3 and a slim PS2 to replace my dying release-version PS2. It would have been nice to reduce console clutter under the TV, though. It also would have been nice to play with Linux on the PS3, but realistically, I probably wouldn't have actually done it.

I hope one day PS2 emulation is as effective as PS1 emulation. I want a "forever" solution to playing these games that have become classics to me.

Koreish

Simple solution to this argument. Buy a Wii, super cheap, backward compatibility, huge library of games, doesn't break down or overheat. Clearly the Wii is superior to your fancy boxes and stations.