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Forums - Microsoft - $99 for an X-Box 360.... Smart move? Or an act of desperation?

madskillz on 07 November 2009
ZorroX said:

1) I see Arcade 149$ and Elite at 249$ next Christmas, yes.
2) 99$ Arcade won`t be here untill atleast 2011.
3) Even though, PS3 is kicking x360 ass right now, x360 still has a huge lead and a Natal thing next year, instead of 99$ Arcade.

Also, other thing, even at 99$ Arcade, you still won`t be able to play Uncharted 2, Killzone 2 or LittleBigPlanet and other games. This mean, that after some point, price won`t matter that much.
And in late 2011, PS3 will probably cost 199$.

As much as I enjoy Uncharted 2, there are more than enough 360 games that aren't on the PS3 that Arcade owners would enjoy.

With a $99 Arcade, you can play:

Gears of War 2

Halo 3 ODST

Forza 3

and the list goes on and on.

AND - you can also play these fine MP hits:

Modern Warfare 2

L4D and L4D2 (PC too)

RE 5

Mass Effect 2 (PC)

Borderlands

and a slew of other stuff. Even if they opted for LIVE - $40 max at Newegg, though I have never paid over $30 a year for it, you'll still be coming out cheaper than buying a PS3.

Folks enjoy gaming with their friends. If you have more friends with a 360 than a PS3, you'll likely go with a 360. Sony killed any attachment to the PS2 for folks by axing backwards compatiblity.

In the end, it's your opinion and mine. We'll see who is right.

 



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squarehead on 07 November 2009

that would be cool since i need a new xbox, but i don't think it will happen for at least another year.



my top 5 right now. 1. uncharted 2 2. assassin's creed 2 3. god of war 3 4. final fantasy xiii 5. blue dragon: awakened shadow.

madskillz on 07 November 2009
Steroid said:
madskillz said:
Steroid said:
kowenicki said:
desperation is when you continue to sell your console at a loss to gain market share and save face.....

Exactly. And even though the Arcade has been $200 for a year now the 360 still can't seem to take any marketshare from the Wii. And the PS3 has outsold the 360 by 1.5 million units in 2009. So the question is: if Microsoft won't drop the Arcade down to $99 then what can they do? If they do nothing then by January the gap between PS3 and 360 will be lower then its ever been. 

 

 

Please tell me this - and you claim to be a 360 *owner* - why does MS have to drop the price of the Arcade to $99? They aren't losing money on the 360 - they posted a profit while Sony is losing money on every console sold. And MS is desperate? They were last gen when they kept cutting prices to match the PS2.

This time? Sony is the one rushing the Slim, cutting prices to within striking distance of the 360. Of course it would sell - but the big question that is way too premature to answer is - will it keep selling at this pace.

Sony has been desperate this entire gen. They showed how desperate they were when the discontinued two skus in less than a year after launch, dropped the price to $499 - and then $399 and now $299. The Arcade/Core 360 was $299 at launch - the Premium was $399. In the 4 years it's been on the market, the Core dropped just $100. Think about it - the Core never had a hard drive - and neither has the Arcade. The Elite was $499 - and has dropped $200 - but no where as fast as the PS3.

I'm not talking about 2006 or 2007 or PS2, PS1 or SNES. I'm talking about 2009 and how any time the PS3 and 360 have had a comperable price point the PS3 has outsold the 360 in any and every region. Also I never said Microsoft was deseperate but if they dropped the arcade to the same price as as a PS2- cheaper then a DS or a PSP even- yes that would be an act of desperation. At what point does Microsoft consider this option?

If PS3 closes the gap, after the 360 had a year headstart, after they made all that effort to gather all those games that made a PS2 a success, after spending all that money on advertising ($40,000,000 marketing for Halo 3 alone), after being $100 or more cheaper for the majority of it's lifetime then yes absolutely yes that would be a humiliating defeat for MS. 

But 'Roid - the 360 is still making money - and isn't the Xbox. The PS3 is not. How long will it be before it starts making money? Sony is the desperate one. Even with the $6B loss, MS is on the verge of becoming profitable. How long will it be before Sony recoups the profts from the PS1 and PS2 lost by the PS3? For past champs, you have to wonder who thought it would such a bright idea to release a console at that price point.



dobby985 on 07 November 2009

*post deleted*

That was flamebait I'm really sorry.



themanwithnoname on 07 November 2009
Steroid said:
ZorroX said:
Desperation with 9 mln. lead in NA? NO.

But 99$ is really cheap.
This shows, that Microsoft is ready to secure NA at any cost.

It's more important then people realise that 360 not lose marketshare to the PS3. Every 360 owner or potential 360 owner that goes to PS3 is the possibility of an XBL subscription that gets cancelled or never gets created. For me it's a no brainer to not be a goldmember, why the hell am I gonna pay a fee to play COD online when I can do   it for free? Sweet sweet free. I love free.

Way to "tie in" your point to XBL bashing. Nice one.



themanwithnoname's law: As an America's sales or NPD thread grows longer, the probabilty of the comment "America = World" [sarcasticly] being made approaches 1.

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loves2splooge on 07 November 2009

A $99 Arcade would be sweet. Good backup solution in case your system fails after the 3 year warranty period. I just hope that it wouldn't be an indication that MS would be ending the generation prematurely though.



nightsurge on 07 November 2009
psrock said:
Ronster316 said:
Steroid said:
whatever said:
Ronster316 said:

PS3 slim launching sooner than sony intended to launch it, act of desperation on sonys part?

...

Do you have any proof that they launched it sooner than they intended?  If not, then you are just making it up.

He's said it twice in this thread already. How many times have they revised the 360 hardware? Seems like every other month we're hearing about a new chip like the Jasper, or the Falcon, or the cyclops etc. etc.

Oh, so if ps3 was initially selling well do you honestly think sony would have dropped the slim on us as soon as they did? in previous gens slims were introduced to keep sales momentum going, this gen it was to prevent sales from going desperately low.

Bottom line______________________________

but they never offered a gift card, right?

They did.  Same thing, exactly.  Last year Walmart has PS3's with $100 gift cards.  They did it twice even.



Squilliam on 07 November 2009
Steroid said:
madskillz said:

Please tell me this - and you claim to be a 360 *owner* - why does MS have to drop the price of the Arcade to $99? They aren't losing money on the 360 - they posted a profit while Sony is losing money on every console sold. And MS is desperate? They were last gen when they kept cutting prices to match the PS2.

This time? Sony is the one rushing the Slim, cutting prices to within striking distance of the 360. Of course it would sell - but the big question that is way too premature to answer is - will it keep selling at this pace.

Sony has been desperate this entire gen. They showed how desperate they were when the discontinued two skus in less than a year after launch, dropped the price to $499 - and then $399 and now $299. The Arcade/Core 360 was $299 at launch - the Premium was $399. In the 4 years it's been on the market, the Core dropped just $100. Think about it - the Core never had a hard drive - and neither has the Arcade. The Elite was $499 - and has dropped $200 - but no where as fast as the PS3.

I'm not talking about 2006 or 2007 or PS2, PS1 or SNES. I'm talking about 2009 and how any time the PS3 and 360 have had a comperable price point the PS3 has outsold the 360 in any and every region. Also I never said Microsoft was deseperate but if they dropped the arcade to the same price as as a PS2- cheaper then a DS or a PSP even- yes that would be an act of desperation. At what point does Microsoft consider this option?

If PS3 closes the gap, after the 360 had a year headstart, after they made all that effort to gather all those games that made a PS2 a success, after spending all that money on advertising ($40,000,000 marketing for Halo 3 alone), after being $100 or more cheaper for the majority of it's lifetime then yes absolutely yes that would be a humiliating defeat for MS. 

Profit: 1. Wii 2 Xbox 360 3 PS3

Level of humiliation: 1. Sony 2. Microsoft 3 Nintendo

 



Tease.

Xoj on 07 November 2009
Squilliam said:
Steroid said:
madskillz said:

Please tell me this - and you claim to be a 360 *owner* - why does MS have to drop the price of the Arcade to $99? They aren't losing money on the 360 - they posted a profit while Sony is losing money on every console sold. And MS is desperate? They were last gen when they kept cutting prices to match the PS2.

This time? Sony is the one rushing the Slim, cutting prices to within striking distance of the 360. Of course it would sell - but the big question that is way too premature to answer is - will it keep selling at this pace.

Sony has been desperate this entire gen. They showed how desperate they were when the discontinued two skus in less than a year after launch, dropped the price to $499 - and then $399 and now $299. The Arcade/Core 360 was $299 at launch - the Premium was $399. In the 4 years it's been on the market, the Core dropped just $100. Think about it - the Core never had a hard drive - and neither has the Arcade. The Elite was $499 - and has dropped $200 - but no where as fast as the PS3.

I'm not talking about 2006 or 2007 or PS2, PS1 or SNES. I'm talking about 2009 and how any time the PS3 and 360 have had a comperable price point the PS3 has outsold the 360 in any and every region. Also I never said Microsoft was deseperate but if they dropped the arcade to the same price as as a PS2- cheaper then a DS or a PSP even- yes that would be an act of desperation. At what point does Microsoft consider this option?

If PS3 closes the gap, after the 360 had a year headstart, after they made all that effort to gather all those games that made a PS2 a success, after spending all that money on advertising ($40,000,000 marketing for Halo 3 alone), after being $100 or more cheaper for the majority of it's lifetime then yes absolutely yes that would be a humiliating defeat for MS. 

Profit: 1. Wii 2 Xbox 360 3 PS3

Level of humiliation: 1. Sony 2. Microsoft 3 Nintendo

 

u know second place still a loser.



AlkamistStar on 07 November 2009

Who seriously thinks the Xbox 360 will be for $99 anytime soon?...Seriously?...If anything Microsoft needs to just bundle more things in with the box for the same price points. Bundle in a game, a Wifi adapter, or bring back the 20GB hard drive as the basic Arcarde version.



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