I don't think its unjustified for 360 fans to be excited about this news, Halo is a proven franchise and the 360 hasn't had much news lately so I don't see the fuss in all the excitement. It's not like they're attacking the competition or egging on a flame war. It's not like your typical Sony thread at least.

A price cut wouldn't convince me to buy a 360 instead of a Wii, but it might convince me to buy one in addition to a Wii.  And I'm betting there are more people like me out there.

I would not pay 199 for a core 360, unless it came with at least a 64mb memory card. I want one with a HDD for 300$.

do Xbox360 Memory Cards seriously cost $50? aren't they only 50GB?

considering I can get a 128MB MicroSD card (about the size of my fingernail) for about $10, what the hell is Microsoft's excuse for charging $50 for the memory card?

If they didn't gouge customers and charged a reasonable price ($20), then maybe more people would be willing to buy the core model. Especially once it gets below $200.

 if I could put a MS or SD into it, I'd buy it at 300$. I just dont see the point in paying 300 for a core, and then paying 50$ to save... and then hell, the premium you get the wireless controller... 20$ more than wire, and now you are 30$ cheaper than the one with the HDD in it, so you can download trailers and stuff.

...Which is why the core typically sells at a 1:10 ratio.

IMO, the dumbest thing MS did was prevent people from using simple USB flash devices for saving, or just USB HDs, and release their own line of them.

Either that, or really really really push for a $199 core + free 512mb or even 64mb memory card.

a good idea, but really all they need to do is not completely rip people off with the memory cards. The idea behind the core is good. When the xbox gets down the a mass market price that hard drive is going to really keep the costs up. However, by charging so much for the memory card, you're effectively increasng the price of the core unit by $50.

It can't cost MS more than $5 to make, this is completely ridiculous. I know I would buy the core uni myself if it was $150 and the memory card wasn't such a bloody rip off. 

I don't believe a sales drop to the 360 would affect the Wii - they are very different machines.

The main threat to MS come from Sony/PS3 - and they will make a huge move in the next couple of months. In fact, I don't think price is *that* relevant when comparing the 360/PS3 - its games/performance that is.

MS have to make sure they don't lose customers to the PS3. Their first target should be to take the PS3 out of the equation for this generation. If they don't - and the PS3 catches up (or even looks like it will catch up), this could be disasterous for the 360 (long-term).

...

Once MS have shown they have turned this generation into a two-horse race, they can address the Wii. And the only way to do this, may be through a "next-generation" device that is more accessible/casual (similar to the Wii), cheap and powerful.

...

I personally don't believe MS can actually come 2nd (Japan prevents this from happening) - but if they work hard, they can turn it into a really tight fight for 2nd place.

The dumbest thing MS did was release a console that is totally unreliable.  I wouldn't touch a 360 until I'm sure it has a good chance of lasting the 5 years I'd expect to get out of it.  Until then, anything more than $100 is too much.

shams -

MS only worrying about losing customers to Sony is just like Nintendo worrying that it was going to lose customers to Sega's Saturn versus the Playstation 1. Any console is a threat.

If the people believe the Wii is going to sell high, or any system, sell over 60m+ units, it's not just going to cater to some supposed "blue ocean", but to everyone. If the anyone assumes (and 99% of people here do) that the Wii will pass that number, it's because it'll start carving off a bit of the Playstation 2 crowd that gave it such huge numbers.

Because of that, and the threat of Wii ending #1, it WILL erode at MS's base, and Sonys. Even if Wii is after a different crowd, the lead console WILL bring in alot of people outside it's target audience. The PS2 had a VERY large target audience, and if the Wii really did start selling very well, then they'd get in on the Wii, not the PS3, and not the X360.

whatever, MS made a system that was far from perfect, but the current ones on market are quite good. I've been happy with my system, as have many many of the other 10m-ish owners.