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Legionosh (297)   Jan 03, 2007 - 09:23 am

While buying the 360 HD-DVD add-on (which I own and am happy with by the way) does bring the price to PS3 levels, the thing is it's optional (something that seems to go over every PS3 lovers head, regardless of how much you tell them). That being said, if Sony was only losing $125 per unit like MS was at first with the 360 (which is now turning a profit by the way), the PS3 would cost $675 and $725 respectively (although I am sure the pricing would be adjusted to make things seem "more in line"..just some food for thought) If you are buying a car, the $2000 v8/hemi/xxx option isn't required. It's optional. To play games with the 360 all you need is the 360. HD-DVD is something you can buy if you want, and if not then fine, or simply buy it at a later date if indeed HD-DVD takes off (my moneys on HD-DVD, since I can buy some HD-DVDs for only $20..last I checked I have yet to see ANY Blue Ray movies for $20).. (the whole HD-DVD and DVD on one disc is a very cool idea, and I guess for $30 that's not a bad price, but I'd prefer HD-DVD only..then again I know by including both on one disc people can buy it now without owning an HD-DVD player and still watch it, and then buy an HD-DVD player at a later date and have an HD-DVD movie..oh well).. (the only real negative about the 360 is having to buy the play and charge kits, but for $20 you get a battery that is USER replaceable and the USB charging cable. I think most people are ok with that..or you can get the sixaxis controller with NO user replaceable battery...sure Sony says they will replace the batteries but that's entails the gamer being down while their controller(s) are being shipped to Sony..sort of silly if you ask me) I have always said the PS3 was a lot of tech for the money, but the $600 price point is simply far beyond the mass of people who simply can't afford $600 for a game console. (yes it's also a blue ray player, but that has nothing to do with gaming, other than Sony's own claims that the space is needed..well if you have every region on one disc I would imagine you would need the space).. (for comparisons sake, for the money a corvette is a heck of a car, but most people cannot afford a $55,000+ car). At $600 (even $500, but EVERYONE seems to want the $600 60GB version) Sony will have an incredibly hard time getting anywhere near the user base they had with the PS2. Unless I am mistaken (and someone please correct me if I'm wrong) in the last gen sales really only took off (aka..mainstream sales) when the price hit $200 and below. I mean for $150 each (and $100 for the GC) who wouldn't try to own all three consoles? Sonys 3rd party support and exclusives (although all consoles have exclusives, or at least had..it's getting rarer and rarer these days) only strengthened that position. These days with a 360 being $400 (I would say the core is $300, but we all know better), a Wii being $250, and a PS3 being at least $500 (but in reality $600 since that's the version people want) that is at least $1150 BEFORE taxes, accessories or games (save for special pack-in deals and Wii sports). No battery packs, no cables (HDMI, component, VGA or whatever type you may need), no extra controllers. So with tax you're looking at least at $125xish (again without games unless there is a pack in) and no extra controllers (which means you'll be playing by yourself unless online)... Speaking of online while XBOX live cost a whole $8 a month (or $50-60 a year, depending on your billing choice), ANYONE will tell you XBOX Live is a far superior service hands down. Sony's service may be free, but we'll see how it stacks up once there are 8-9 million online playing at once. I would like to see the infrastructure they have for the online service. If it stays free there is no way it can compete with XBOX live. Of course if Sony implemented an online service equal to or even better than XBOX Live for the same price, the Sony fanboys would STILL scream "What!?!? We have to pay for online??!??" ..but wait, without any games you won't be playing anything, will you? So let's say 1 game per console, at $50 each (yes, a tad lower than the standard $60 but I'll go with it anyway). Add $150 + tax..at least $161 (depending on where you live)..so now we are up to $1411. Ok, let's say you want 1 extra controller per system. At $50 each (or $60 for the Wii with the nunchuk add-on, but I'll just say $50), that's at least another $161...total so far $1572 (and if you want a couple of play and charges that's another $40)..so $1612. So that's $1612 (more or less depending on the taxes for your state) for 3 systems with 1 new game per system and 2 controllers per system.. Then there is the issue of the TV.. ..by now we all know for the maximum effect we need an HDTV for the 360 and PS3 (and you can buy component cables for the Wii for 480p, but I've heard you're better off graphically not going that route since the lower tier graphics REALLY show their shortcomings in HD).. ..Ok, we've all heard that "1080p" is the only way to go for the PS3, but since their are PS3 games that don't even support that *"R:FoM" cough*, we'll go with 720p (and besides, with 1080p TVs being so expensive, 720p is a much more economical solution). ..Ok, even at Wal-Mart, a 26" LCD 720p HDTV is at least $636 (plus tax), give or take. I own a 26" 720P LCD, and although it has served me well, this year at tax time I am looking into getting a 37" LCD 720p HDTV...if the 42" are priced low enough I MAY look into those,,,but the price would have to come down a bit (and Plasma, while an option, is a second choice for me..and at this size LCDs tend to be cheaper anyway).. ..So let's say $650 for a 26" LCD 720p HDTV, added to the $1612 from our previous total.. *GASP*..That's $2262!!!! Let's think about this for a moment. $2262 (with tax, roughly) for 3 game console, 3 games, 2 controllers per console and a new 26" LCD 720p HDTV (not to mention any HDMI or component or VGA cables, etc).. That is a LOT of money. Even at the most expensive period last gen, the consoles themselves were only $800 total (plus tax) at their combined, respective launches. And no one (save for the hardcore gamers out there) really owned more than one until they dropped to less than $200 for the PS2/XBOX and $150 for the GC. Once the PS2/XBO hit $150 and the GC hit $100, that's when people REALLY started being ok with owning all three. Buying one at a time it was an even easier thing to deal with. I've gone through periods of owning all three and only one and two of the above systems. You get bored, nothing new is out for your GC, so you trade it in on the new game for PS2/XBOX..been there done that. Anyway, my point is that it will be a while before the casual gamer (aka, the one who won't spend $500-$600 (even $400) on any given console) will own even 2, much less all 3 systems. I guess we are at a point where everything is getting very expensive (cars, homes, etc), but still for the most part electronics have been respectively going down in price (save for new technologies, etc)..will game console continue to go up in price? I think the $400 price point is where it stops being a "video game" and turns into a serious purchase (for me anything over $30 is serious purchase, but that's what budgets are for..lol).. At the $500-$600 price point, it is indeed a major purchase for most anyone. I doubt anyone thinks $500-$600 is chump change. That is just a substantial amount of money any way you look at it (especially for what it is viewed as by most people, a gaming console).. ...which goes back to my original argument about why the Wiis price point is it's biggest advantage (speaking of which, while the wifi lan is cool, not everyone has a wireless router in their home. And since their is no hardware lan connection for the Wii, you can't even get online without having a wireless router). Sure we all want to go wireless (I know I like the option to go wireless where I live, but sometime it isn't 100% dependable...and depending on the size of your home you may get a very weak signal or no signal at all. Sure you can add wireless access points but that's even more money. Well gaming has never really been cheap I guess (console launched at around $200 for a long time..the 2600, Odyssey, intellivision, SNES, etc), until the launch of the Playstation and Saturn, at $300 and $400 respectively. But simply put, $500-$600 is above the mass markets means for a gaming console..bottom line. ..and the mass market are the ones who gave the PS and PS2 their 100 million user base. ..not the minute few who make up the hardcore gamer. My two cents, kevin » Login to reply to this  Eclipse (434)   Jan 03, 2007 - 04:06 pm That was only two cents? What do I get for a dollar? So, basically, the PS3 is too expensive and they should have sold the blue ray drive separate? Without the blueray I bet they could have matched the 360's price. Then we really would have a console war. » Login to reply to this  GX-Alan (78)   Jan 08, 2007 - 11:57 pm I wonder what I get for $10,000... » Login to reply to this

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xephyris (155)    Dec 30, 2006 - 06:19 am

So, maybe, put a keyboard and mouse into the console - I bought them for my dreamcast, but I hear that these fancy shmancy new 'uns can even take standard USB! » Login to reply to this

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Yoshi (2227)    Dec 31, 2006 - 01:03 am

Really the Xbox 360 Core already comes with a puzzle game made by the creator of Tetris. While not really on par with the Wii it at least has a game to play out of the box. Though if Microsoft did add an extra feature like a game to the $299 bundle or a download game with an extra controller it could help them beat the Wii. As for the Wii it is a great system but the graphics do kind of look weak and will look worse over time. Right now I wouldn't rule the Wii a hit tell I see 3-5 well done titles. The remote could lead to some very gimick games instead of fun games. As for the retro games remember that Nintendo really only have Metroid, Zelda, and Mario games. While great games where released on Nintendo systems if it wasn't made by Nintendo it could show up on the Xbox 360 or the PS3 just as easy. Then you have Sony which is just a more expensive console with the same power and games as a Xbox 360. The biggest thing I see people talking about is the hard drive being bigger but this is Sony we are talking about who is trying to make money off of Blu-Ray. So basicly what will the hard drive be used for? Well Sony won't want downloading HD movies since that would hurt blu-ray sales. They also own the record lable so they wont want you putting pirated music on. My guess is they will probably tie in some music download program in with the PS3 and it will be lame. » Login to reply to this  Legionosh (297)   Jan 03, 2007 - 09:25 am I just had to comment...the 360 core does NOT come with Hexic as it comes installed on the Hard Drive (not included with the core system). Kevin » Login to reply to this

Anonymous (-) Dec 29, 2006 - 01:54 pm

Cliffs? » Login to reply to this  Legionosh (297)   Dec 29, 2006 - 03:15 pm I'm afraid I don't get your "Cliffs?" comment...care to elaborate on that a little? Kevin » Login to reply to this  ripfire (430)    Dec 29, 2006 - 06:47 pm Here's the short version: PS3 sux; 360 rulez; Wii is popular because its cheap. » Login to reply to this  Anonymous (-) Dec 29, 2006 - 04:42 pm Cliff-notes. ;-) » Login to reply to this

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