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PS2 price cut expected; Xbox 360 date unlikely, price leaked? News
Xbox 360 News by Games Industry.biz
With announcements due from both Sony and Microsoft at Game Convention in Leipzig tomorrow, rumours at the show suggest that Sony will be dropping its PS2 price point - but that Microsoft may have little news to announce.
Sony has traditionally chosen late August or early September as the time for its final pre-Christmas price adjustments, so a hardware price cut certainly isn't out of the question - but while in Leipzig today senior sources described the cut as "common knowledge", back in the UK several retailers denied having heard anything to that effect.
On the Xbox 360 front, however, reports that the date for the console and possibly even its price point could emerge at Game Convention appear to have been off the mark, with none of Microsoft's three key Xbox executives - Robbie Bach, J Allard and Peter Moore - making the trip over to Germany for the event.
In the absence of those executives, who have become the face of the Xbox 360 project, it's unlikely that an announcement about date or price will be made - with further announcements of European software support for the console perhaps more likely.
However, one strong hint about the price point for Xbox 360 did emerge today from Microsoft itself - with a German language page on the company's own website fingering CHF 600.- as the value of the console.
The page, which describes a new initiative offering incentives to resellers who sell certain volumes of Microsoft software, notes that an Xbox 360 console worth 600 Swiss Francs is one of the bonuses on offer.
That translates roughly as 386 Euro, or GBP 264 - which is broadly in line with the upper end of price expectations for the Xbox 360.
Although the figure is likely to be a rough estimate more than anything else, it does still suggest that Microsoft may come in at 399 Euro or thereabouts for the Xbox 360 - probably translating as GBP 299 - adding fuel to speculation that the console may be priced at a level somewhat higher than Microsoft's last system was at launch.
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Poster
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Now I'm not one to really moan about content, but can EG from now on refuse to run articles which quote "sources"? Its just pointless and is coverage for coverage's sake. Rather than scour the internet for rumours and outright bollocks (which we can all do easily enough), maybe their time would be better spent writing articles like the Indie one?
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I think £299 would be a mistake for MS. With the PSP costing £179.99 (right?) and a price drop on the way for the PS2 you could probably get a PSP and a game and a PS2 and a game for the same price as an Xbox or a PS2 with a total shed load of games. (very appealing to johnnys parents)
I think MS should be looking at £249 at the most if they want to take advantage of being the first next gen hardware on the market and want to see maximum sales. Its not like they cant afford it. |
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jumpdeveraux
16/08/05 @ 16:41
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/awaits first price cut.
If they do split into models with and without HDD and also offer option for those without to add an HDD it'll be utter confusion for Johnny Average's parents figuring out what to buy him for xmas. |
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Furbs - think about what you're asking. You're basically saying "please stop writing any articles except ones about official statements".
The reason we quote "sources" is because we've spoken to people in the industry who have told us things but asked not to be named because they'll get into trouble, and possibly lose their jobs. That's a real fear - in the past, people have lost their jobs because of things they've told me, and that I've written about. That's not a nice feeling for me, and I'm sure it wasn't very nice for them either. That's why these articles are this way. Believe me, much of the time we'd LOVE to name our sources, but we can't. All journalism suffers this problem, and it's never going to go away - unless we decide to become mindless drones regurgitating press releases, which would be pointless for everyone involved. By the way, I'm not sure I appreciate the implication that we pick up our "sources" from trawling for online rumours. If we pick something up from an online rumour - which does happen - we'll cite the rumour and try to link back as far up the originating chain of articles as possible. When we say something comes from industry sources, we mean it - people within the industry who have talked directly to us about something but can't be named. |
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I wish the Xealots would go away.
If the XBox360 pricetag/launchdate is going to be unveiled, it would be ludicrously out-of-character for Microsoft not to do it at a key event, and have it announced by Gates, Bach, Moore or Allard. Their marketing campaign would never allow it. The interesting news (that the Xealots have willfully ignored) is the possible pricetag of £299. Which means that it's increasingly close to the anticipated preicetag of the PS3 ($399: Likely £299) And they should really stop accusing Eurogamer of touting rumour and supporting the PS3 (which it doesn't seem to be), when they themselves actually are touting rumour and fanatically supporting the X360. [EDIT] Cocked up the hyperlink.
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most recently on 16/08/05 @ 18:10
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The difference is that Eurogamer sources are real, but can't be named for fear of getting them into trouble - and the sources suggested by the types who trawl the Internet ranting at anyone who says something they might not want to hear about a console...
Is that the former is real, and the latter tends to be a teenage boy who wants everyone to think what he thinks. |
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If we are to believe that MS are changing their minds about their console price (by alligning it to Sony's proposed PS3 price), am I the only one who is questioning why Sony would have revealed such details to begin with? IMHO I think the PS3 proposed price is a trap by Sony marketing, and MS may have fallen for it. All this talk about £250 versus £300 is irrelevant and smacks of short-termism by MS, to achieve a large user base either of these prices is too high. If MS were to price it at £150, Sony will have a real problem on their hands when they finally come to a saturated marketplace with the PS3. The user base is extremely important to the economics of the console market. Having a bigger user base, and developers will want to develop specifically for that platform (rather than port it over from another platform), and maybe even exclusives. This in itself will attract further sales of the console.
Yes £150 is very cheap, but that's the entry price. Lob in an extra controller, hard-drive, head-set, RGB scart lead, etc. and it all mounts up. And all those optional accessories cost a pretty penny, and carry a far more healthy profit margin, than the console. Finally, I hope that MS do surprise us all an release the XBox360 with a next-gen drive or at least present us early adopters with an upgrade path. |
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SlackMaster
16/08/05 @ 17:34
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Where would we be if the only news reported was from press releases ... **Yawn**
It's good to have news from inside sources or a little speculation as it helps to build the anticipation. |
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Thanks for the reply Shinji, and generally I think the coverage on EG is great. I guess part of the problem is that its sooooooooo quiet at the moment. I wasnt implying all your news comes from scouring websites, but it is frustrating that nowadays usually the first we hear of alot of things come from the forum, to the extent its now nearly a running joke with a "frontpage delay timer". I know this has been mentioned before, but in the last couple of months it has got much worse imho.
I guess its just boredom find at the moment every gaming website out there are just posting the same articles and rumours over and over, with a different slant. Hell, if theres not alot of news out there, use official statements and stick some editorial to go with it. Would certainly be more interesting than another rumour to go in the nexgen mill. Or a non-item about Allards bike crash delaying an worldwide release of MS's new console (like that would ever have happened). Still the best games site on the web though, and I hope that didnt come across as overly critical. After all, you guys are the pros :) |
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If this it true (highly unlikely) then they don't got my money. I'll simply wait for the price cut. I simply don't need another console right now and let's face it who in europe has a high definition plasma screen (besides a few idiots who don't realise their sets will be out of date when hi-def finally transmits)
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I wasnt implying all your news comes from scouring websites, but it is frustrating that nowadays usually the first we hear of alot of things come from the forum, to the extent its now nearly a running joke with a "frontpage delay timer".
I can't say I'm aware of that - as some of the regulards have probably noticed (yeah, I know, "you were gone?"), I haven't been on the forum a lot of late, simply because I'm too busy. I know Tom and Ellie don't really read it either... So we're not nicking the forum's news or anything, seriously! I guess it comes down to the fact that there's only so much stuff to write about, and as such it's pretty natural for the hundreds of eyes on the forum to pick up on much of the web coverage before the six eyes we employ do... :) |
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If 1up is right, and the price will be $300-350 and in europe 400 €, I'd speak about ripping off. But if MS really does make a global launch, I doubt it.
$ 60 - 100 for a 20 GB hdd? Ugh, what does it do? Give you a massage? It's sometimes funny to read about analysts guessings, when they go worse than mine. But I still can't believe that they were right about the name. Honestly, X-box 360? Could better, could be worse. Could be a hell of a lot better, but not much worse. Good thing that "Nomen est Omen" doesn't apply in electronics. And I thought Carmack said that because he would take graphics over physics anytime. And physics being PS3's speciality...
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most recently on 16/08/05 @ 21:43
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penhalion, I think you may have taken that a little out of context.
For starters, he stated that ps3 has an advantage over xbox360 in that it's a more open coding enviroment (hell, it has Unreal engine3 in the dev kits ffs). Ps3 may seem harder to get to grips with then xbox360, but that doesn't necessarily make it harder to program for as you suggest. For starters, the ps3 will probably improve its code libaries and useability as it becomes more and more finalised. Remember that 360 is very close to its final form, whereas the ps3 has a way togo before it enters a similar level of completedness to 360. I remmeber Oddworld Inhabitants whining about ps2 being hard to code for after they announced their switch to xbox. Didn't stop Square, Namco, Capcom and the rest from knocking out technically impressive game engines quite early on. At the end of the day, I suspect it's not as clear cut as you suggest |
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Objectively, the PS3 looks more powerful than XBox 360 and THATS THE WAY IT SHOULD BE, what with it coming out at least six months later! Guys, remember, PS2 was also hard to program for, while Xbox was a PC in party - no, halloween frock, that's why you see so many XBox to PC ports (and vice versa).
Did it translate into less games for PS2? No. Did it translate into less sales? No. What it DID translate into was late in the generation, PS2 is still coming up with astounding looking games (God of War, GT4, WRC 4, Burnout 3) which keep it in close proximity to XBox, graphics-wise. HArd though it may be to program for, no major publisher can afford NOT to bring its entire portfolio to PS3.
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most recently on 17/08/05 @ 04:47
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The problem MS has is that they don't know how much the PS3 will cost . Pricing it too low will create the perception for Joe public that it's a inferior pruduct . Remember , joe doesnt read these forums , doesnt know technology , so he'll judge on aesthetics , graphics capability and all too importantly , price .
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Carpathian
17/08/05 @ 07:20
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We have the '/ignore poster' on the comments so can we also have the '/ignore EG constant speculation masquerading as news' button too please ?
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i want to sell my the xbox i use for the Live games on ebay with a few games so i can get max leverage on the price to buy the x360. even if this means going without LIVE! for a couple of months.
I need to know the date of release and the price. the price is important cos i will need at least one game with it (apparently my halo 2 will work on it) and what ever price they charge to export my live account. I need to know these things and soon so i can make a decision about whether to do this "upgrade" or not if it is £300 i think i will knock it back though.......hurry up and make these anouncments Bill |
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