Xbox 360 Price Drop

#21 @Blake - Read my entire post, not just the part that obviously gets under your skin. I said xbox has a lower shelf price, but PS3 is cheaper. If you took all of the things that the PS3 has and added them to the 360, the 360 becomes more expensive than the PS3. How can you dispute that? Look to end of post for an exact 'best buy' comparison of the parts to make them equal. Again, let me rephrase so you don't repost your same reply the xbox is cheaper on the shelf but more expensive overall when features are compared.

@mb - #1 don't compare systems that aren't even released or available yet. Even so, I'll do a comparison of it along side the other ones now:

Xbox360 Premium (0)	Xbox360 Elite (0?)	PS3 (0)
*unit			*unit			*unit
*high def (0)		*high def (0)		*high def
* 40GB HD			*120 GB HD		*60 GB HD
*recharge controller ()	*recharge controller ()	*recharge controller
*802.11 (0)		*802.11 (0)		*802.11

5			5			0

#22 Most people still dont have HDTV (less than 20% do) and don't require the wireless addon either.

#23 @Johnathon:


Premium 360 Hardware Price:

Console: $399
Play and Charge Kit: $17.99
Wireless Adaptor: $99
HD-DVD Drive: $199
King Kong HD-DVD: FREE with HD-DVD player
Media Remote: FREE with HD-DVD Player
Headset: Free
HD Cables: Free

= $715 total
w/ out HD-DVD drive by subbing in the ability to watch full HD movies through Live = $515

PS3 Hardware Price:

Console: $600
Headset: $50
HDMI Cable: $50
BluRay Movie: $25
Media Remote: $25
Rechargable Control: Free
Wireless: Free

= $750 total

All these prices are at www.walmart.com comparing equal tangible items you get with both rigs to make them as equal as possible. Either way, the PS3 is more expensive.. and a lot more expensive if you just want to rent your HD movies over Live...

#24 Jonathon:
If I wanted a cheap Blu-Ray player that has support for games, I would definitely buy buy a PS3.

If I want a game console thats more focused on, well, gameplay, I would go out and buy myself a 360, or even better, a Wii.

Now in the future, if there ever came a time when I needed something that can play HD movies, I could run over to the nearest Walmart and buy the HD-DVD drive for $200.

Now think about it Jonathon. I own both a 360 and a Wii. Does it make any sense whatsoever for me to purchase a PS3 just so I can watch Blu-Ray movies?

#25 @Blake - twist the numbers how you want (i got 4 free blue-rays with my ps3 when i bought it), what i put was a fair complete comparison and showed an obvious difference. I'm not going to keep fueling this since you are basing your opinion on your emotions and not the facts at hand.

@Ryan - I never said you should buy the PS3 because it has blue-ray. I simply said the PS3 isn't a pile of crap and I wouldn't watch movies on ANYTHING else but blue-ray. To each his own. If you are happy with what you have, I could care less. On a feature by feature basis, I showed my comparison and a fair one.

I'm done with this thread as it's moving into the realm of uselessness.

#26 @Jonathon: Everything I put were facts..

#27 Another one bites the dust.

So in an attempt to get this thread back on track, has the price drop been confirmed?

#28 Saying there's over 180 blue ray movies available isn't much there's an insane amount of movies out there 180 isn't even a scratch, as for me I prefer to watch my movies in the theatre then on my tv and I have a huge panasonic plasma hdtv.

But I would have to agree with the points some others were making I don't ever buy my gaming console to watch movies I buy my gaming console to play games, So I prefer to have one that doesn't have and hd-dvd player included or a blue ray included. I do wish the wireless came standard on the 360 though.

And if I were to go out and buy a console right now (being that I buy them for games) I'd probably pick up the Wii because it seems very enjoyable and there are very few games for both xbox and PS that amaze me right now.

#29 There are more blueray than HD-DVD was the point. When DVD first hit the scene, in the same timeframe as hd-dvd and blue-ray has been out, it had less than half the movies on it that currently exist for either hd formats. Everything is relative.

#30 Interesting info:

gear.ign.com/articles/782/782359p1.html

gear.ign.com/articles/781/781378p1.html

#31 I just wish they built the 360 better. Mine kept dying and so has everyone I know with a 360. I haven't had a problem with my PS3 yet and I haven't heard about units going back for repair in mass quantities either. I'm still debating getting the 360 Elite or not. I'm still traumatized but there are still a lot of games I want to play on the 360. I'm very happy with my PS3 though and I love watching movies in 1080p. I really don't understand why anyone would buy a console that has the ability to play movies and then turn around and buy a stand alone movie player. It's like buying one car to drive on the freeway and buying another only for city streets.

Anyway, when you do the math and consider everything the PS3 offers, the 360 comes to more if you try to match it. I guess "choice" comes with a price. But to be fair, I don't use my wirless lan thing for my PS3. I personally don't need the flash card readers. What I do need is a PS2/PS1 memory card slot built in.

But back to 360, considering the Core 360 requires a memory unit at around $40 your only saving about $60. Not a very good value at all considering what your missing out on with the Premium like the wireless controller, 20 gig HDD, headset, online connectivity, demos, videos, XBLA games. Only a fool would buy a Core. Then factor in the $50 a year for Live while PSN is free and online is just as sturdy as Live.

Then how about how everyone who bought an HD-DVD player or add on will be turning around and buying a Blu-Ray player once Universal finally jumps ship. Blu-Ray is killing HD-DVD and it's all thanks to the PS3.

And if you think downloads are the future and the answer to not getting a Blu-Ray player, consider how long you have to wait for downloads to become available after DVD release, think about the smaller selection of movies, consider the fact that you can only get 720p, and consider the fact that pay per view has been around for years and people still rent and buy movies. Also consider you'll never be able to buy and own a movie again. Not with a 360's 20 gig or even 120 gig HDD anyway. You'll have to delete them eventually. Movie files are huge, even at 720p.

-Ajari-

#32 Ten Reasons to Love PS3

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5044&Itemid=35

Insomniac's chief creative officer Brian Hastings has outlined ten reasons why the PS3 is the next generation standard bearer, and why it will reign supreme in the years to come. Click through for his Big Ten...

In his post on Insomniac's website, he began by stating, 'First of all, let me make it clear that Insomniac is a 100% independent development studio. Sony has neither endorsed nor authorized what I'm writing here... I wanted to address an ongoing industry phenomenon. Specifically, the sheer volume of negative spin toward Sony from both the mainstream press and the internet community... it's downright controversial to suggest that the PS3 may yet be a success. So, in the spirit of sensationalism and controversy, let me present to you 10 reasons why the PS3 will be the console market leader by 2010.'


Here are Hasting's ten choices and a selection of his comments.



1. Home & Little Big Planet: Hasting's labelled the pair 'the next best thing.' He suggested Home, Sony's avatar based virtual experience 'is exactly what the online console community needs. Sony has been quietly working on two of the most innovative ideas of this generation. "Mii too?" Give me a break.' On Little Big Planet he wrote, 'most important of all, it has an absolutely ingenuous system for creating and sharing your own levels. This is HUGE. This is something that's never been done on consoles.... Gamers who previously had no way to get their foot in the door as a game designer will have developers calling them in the middle of the night if they make a top-rated LBP level.'



2. Free Online: While admitting that 'Xbox Live is overall offering a better online service right now,' Hastings baulked at the amount Microsoft charge annually for their service, and suggested it would not be long before Sony caught up with them in terms of quality, with rapid improvements already being made to the messaging system and background downloading over the free to use PlayStation Network. He then said, 'Sony is offering virtually lag-free dedicated servers at no cost, while on Xbox Live you are paying for a more laggy peer-to-peer service', before criticising Live's matchmaking services.


3. 50 GB games: 'If you ever hear someone say "Blu-Ray isn't needed for this generation," rest assured they don't make games for a living.... As games get bigger, more advanced and more complex, they necessarily take up more space.... There's no question that you can always cut more levels, compress the audio more, compress the textures more, down-res the mpeg movies, and eventually get any game to fit on a DVD. But you paid for a high-def experience, right? You want the highest resolution, best audio, most cinematic experience a developer can offer, right? That's why Blu-Ray is important for games, and why it will become more important each year of this hardware cycle.



4. Casino Royale: Hastings suggested that the success of the latest Bond movie on Blu-Ray was proof that next generation movies were finally being adopted by the mainstream. He went on to say, 'A lot of people have been waiting on the fence to see whether Blu-Ray or HD-DVD would emerge as the winner of the format war. Well, at this point the war is as good as over.... Blu-Ray has already surpassed HD-DVD in overall discs sold, and is currently outselling HD-DVD discs at about a 3:1 rate.'



5. HDMI: 'In a couple years, HDMI devices will be the standard. The PS3 was the first consumer device to support it, and this is a very important future-proofing step. When you go to buy higher-end TVs, the PS3 will support the highest possible audio and video input the TV and receiver can accept. If and when high-def movies start requiring an Image Constraint Token, the PS3 will still be able play them in high definition.' This appears a strong argument, and the confirmation of the imminent Xbox 360 Elite, as Hastings correctly forecasted, 'effectively forces early adopters to re-buy the system to get the best results.'


6. Standard HDD: 'Sony made the hard drive standard for both SKUs. This added to the cost of the PS3, but it also let developers use the HDD in games.... The problem with including a hard drive in one version of the 360 and not in the other is that developers can't use it for the games.... To a developer, an optional hard drive is roughly equivalent to no hard drive at all.... Another advantage of the PS3 is that it will let you put in any third party hard drive you want.... PS3 owners can choose to buy larger hard drives at the best market price. The more this happens, the more developers will be encouraged to create better and better downloadable games.'

7. The Wii Fad Will Fade: 'OK, this one's going to be controversial, but I have to say it. I like Nintendo a lot. I think Nintendo has innovated far more than any other company in the industry. And I think the Wii is really, really fun. But... Mainstream fads usually run their course within a year. As the honeymoon period fades, the Wii will be going up against more and more graphically impressive games on the PS3 and Xbox 360. More people will be buying HD televisions and looking for the most immersive and stunning experiences available. For these reasons, I think the Wii will be more successful than the GameCube or N64 but in the long run will still be outsold by the PS3.'


8. PS3 Has a Major CPU Advantage: While he admits that the 360's GPUs may hold a slight advantage over the PS3s, Hastings praised the PS3's greater CPU power. 'The PS3's eight parallel CPUs give it potentially far more computing power than the three parallel CPUs in the Xbox 360. The problem is that it has been challenging thus far to take advantage of the Cell's parallel architecture..... The complexity of the distributed processing architecture means that PS3 engines won't fully blossom until a little later in the lifecycle than the PS2. This has put the PS3 at a disadvantage early in its lifecycle, but within two years you will see games that surpass what is possible on the Xbox 360.


9. PS2 still outselling 360: 'Anyone buying a PS2 at this point is probably not going to buy a PS3 or Xbox 360 in the next year. And when they do choose to buy the current generation of hardware, the PS3 will be in a lot better position. The price will have come down, the game library will be broad, and the top PS3 titles will probably have the edge in both graphics and sound. Just as important, the people buying into the PS2 now will be getting into many of Sony's exclusive franchises that they will then later want to play on the PS3.

10. Something For Everyone: Hastings suggested Sony's wide ranging game franchises compared favourably to Microsoft's 'mostly M-rated, and Nintendo's... mostly E-rated' titles... When a 30-something gamer (like me) goes to buy a game console, it's a lot easier to justify the purchase when there are games he can play with his kids as well as more mature stuff.'

#33 Sony is improving their services
initially didn't have background download now it has.
Online gaming is solid and fast
I'm looking forward to the PS3 version of Oblivion which includes additional content (I think expansion pack built in) and look much better than how it looks on Xbox or even PCs. Plus some more great looking (hopefully with good gameplay) games coming out soon.

Yes, number of titles available isn't great right now but that will change quickly


Until a few weeks ago I would have bought a 360... then the time came to make a decision because I had to buy one... that's when I started to look deeply into which one to buy and for the reasons mentioned by others in this thread ...(PS3 appears to be more expansive but it is not! The only difference is that witht the PS3 you get more to start with so you pay for it)... and for the fact I won't be buying both within a short time frame (too much money for me) I went for the PS3.

Another factor was that while the 360 has lots of games out... there are only a few I consider worth buying (maybe 4 or 5, of which some will be out on PS3 anyway)... so 'personally' there was no advantage in buying a 360 on the grounds of available titles.

#34 I liked the way the PS3 presents itself (interface), the simplicity of access to online content, the fact that I could go online straight away without having to buy a 60 (uk pounds) wifi adapter and $50 'per year' to play online. The included USB cable/charger for the wireless control, the Card Reader (I have plenty of family pics on SD cards I can now just plug into the PS3 and watch on the big TV with relatives) and they have just released a system update to improve compatibilty with PS1/PS2 titles (download titles as well)... and more.

It will take longer to get more out of the PS3 in terms of good use of its power but that simply means there is plenty of longevity in it considering current PS3 titles are not bad at all to start with.
I'm not saying this is better than that... I'm saying this was a better buy for me.

Last generation I went for the Xbox 1st, very happy with it and only years later I bought a PS2 Slim after a good drop in price... This time around I preferred Sony offering more... and depending on Xbox exclusive titles am I am I not buy a cheap 360 later on.

#35 Ajari, you make some very good points.

But you must agree that the Xbox 360 has the upper hand when it comes to choice. While the PS3 is "cheaper" than a 360 with matched specs, someone who's interested in playing games rather than watching movies in HD would probably find the 360 to be the cheaper solution rather than an all-in-one console / media center with features they probably won't use.

I've owned an Xbox 360 since it's release, and it's never broken down on me.

@ Blake
Interesting. That would definitely have an impact on the format war.

#36 @Hokuto: "10 Reasons to buy a PS3" says a guy that is paid by Sony. Insomniac makes games for Sony, 2nd party I believe.

You sound like a Sony PR rep too. Its almost as if you are trying to sell everyone that reads this Xbox 360 thread a PS3.. :) You and Jonathon should go apply for PR jobs at Sony!

#37 Strange, I wouldn't peg an Indie community as the type to conform. I already stated I owned both an Xbox360 and a PS3 and stated which I preferred. Also of note is that I was sent to GDC by Microsoft to build a game using their platforms for the Xbox360, so I would hardly say that I qualify as a Sony PR. =P

#38 That you have an opinion and a preference does not mean you work for someone.
I was very against PS3 until I looked into it and I don't work for Sony :)

#39 @Ajari to say that the 360 keeps breaking and so does everyone you know, My cousin has had a 360 since it came out, I got it a short time later so that we could play games together, it has never broken in any way at all. What in the hell are you doing to your 360 to have it "keep breaking" either your hitting it with a hammer everyday for fun or your exagerating an awful lot.
Did you buy it from a store or did you buy it on ebay where someone had already broken it?
Neither my cousin or I have had the mic die yet or the controller or any other component let alone the xbox as a whole.
I am all for a fair discussion and I don't like microsoft that much but don't exagerate and lie.

#40 A few of my friends had 360s for a while now.... no one has reported any issue with it. They all working.

Sadly there will always be a certain percentage of machines (PS3, Wii, 360s) that will break down... it's a pain for the owner when that happens but I'm not aware of mass problems so far with either 360 or PS3