$199 Xbox 360?!

[French Ninja]

Link

There it is (full size after the jump), according to VGChartz.com. (Thanks to eagle-eyed reader LoadedStatement). One of the site's members did a SKU inquiry on the 360 and got that screen, which shows the $199 price taking effect Sept. 7.

This apparently shows the SKU for the no-hard drive Arcade model. Other cuts are said to be coming for the Pro (60GB, $299) and Elite (120GB, $399), a development first reported by Ars Technica.

VGChartz follows the pic with a detailed analysis of what the new price points could mean for Microsoft, and the timing behind the price change. An excerpt:

The scheduling of the drop is telling as well. It takes place 1 week after Square Enix's 'Infinite Undiscovery' and 2 weeks before Harmonix/EA's 'Rock Band 2' - both exclusive to the Xbox 360 platform at the time of release and pricedrop (obviously, Rock Band 2 will ship in November for the other platforms).

The writer also peers into a crystal ball of sorts to guess at the production costs of the 360. Conclusion, down from $525 at launch to $140.15 to $182.19 today.

I found this while surfing /v/. Not really sure what to make of it; if it's real or not.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Isn't the Pro $279 now? How would it go up $20? Or it some other shiz?

 

[ailevation]

xbox arcade is $279.99, 20 gig pro is 299.99, 60 gig pro is 349.99 and elite is 449.99

399.99 elite catches my eye. I need to purchase another one and swap it with my current to get the new Jasper revision.

 

[Krynn72]

God damn, those consoles are still that ****ing expensive?

 

[Stormy]

God damn, those consoles are still that ****ing expensive?

They are the same price as a decent GFX card, so they are pretty cheap really!

 

[VirusType2]

You can get a more powerful card for about $150.

 

[Lucid]

They are the same price as a decent GFX card, so they are pretty cheap really!

Throw in a few games and controllers and a subscription to Live. D:

Still way too pricey for me, my friend's actually selling me his old XBOX and all of his games for $60, just need to buy new controllers.

 

[VictimOfScience]

$199 for one without a HDD? Why would anyone in this day and age ever even come close to considering seriously a console without a HDD? Even the 20GB ones are pitifully small for what MS's vision of the future holds (i.e. DC).

 

[Stormy]

Genearly getting a top of the range gaming rig is at least a ?1000 so ?250 or so in comparison isn't half bad for what you get with it. Good GFX, good games and some pretty decent online action.

 

[AiM]

Genearly getting a top of the range gaming rig is at least a ?1000 so ?250 or so in comparison isn't half bad for what you get with it. Good GFX, good games and some pretty decent online action.

Sounds reasonable, the price might fluctuate depending on the amount of re-usable parts. However, the key difference for me is that my gaming rig also functions more than just for playing games.

My friend also mentioned this to me the other day and I was a bit skeptical. Now I realize that it won't come with a HDD. I suppose that's more of a blessing in disguise though if you can purchase a cheaper HDD from elsewhere. I would seriously consider getting one if I didn't already own a high-end PC though, but I might think of it in the future.

 

[smwScott]

The problem with the 360 is that you can't just buy the non-HDD model and then put your own in. MS forces you to buy a proprietary HDD that will only work on the 360. I don't know what the prices are now but around launch they were charging ~$100 for a 20GB HDD .... ****ing absurd. Of course they also charged ~$100 for a wi-fi adapter and then it's ~$50 a year just to use the ****ing thing online. Then they nickel and dime you over X-BOX live with "micro-transactions". The controllers are expensive as **** too (I think $60+, not sure though). Yet because of the relatively low price of the base hardware itself stupid people who didn't do the research thought it was the cheaper console.

The console has come down a fair bit it looks like though. It's getting pretty close to the price of the Wii in fact...

 

[joule]

That is not cheap at all for the Arcade Package. I bought a fully loaded 360 for $225 out the door.

 

[Krynn72]

They are the same price as a decent GFX card, so they are pretty cheap really!

An 8800gt is cheaper than any version of these consoles.

 

[VirusType2]

I'd be fine with the arcade version. I don't need wi-fi, xbox live, or a hard drive. I can still play Condemned 2 and any other game that came out for the system. I can still pick up a used memory card for like $13 and be done.

I still won't pay $199 for it though. Maybe towards Christmas time they will give you a free game with it. That would make a big difference.

anyway, I'll stick with PC games I think.

 

[Sedako]

Knowing this, I just dropped $500 on the PS3 MGS4 bundle (my first new system), because I know that PS3 will have something that the 360 will never have: TEAM ICO PROJECT #3!

 

[[Matt]]

An 8800gt is cheaper than any version of these consoles.

yes but youi need to buy all the other crap to go along with it.... motherboard.... memory... CPU... case... etc etc...

 

[Iced_Eagle]

Knowing this, I just dropped $500 on the PS3 MGS4 bundle (my first new system), because I know that PS3 will have something that the 360 will never have: TEAM ICO PROJECT #3!

I'm sure everyone said the same about Final Fantasy 13 as well last year... Look how that turned out.

Never say never!

 

[PvtRyan]

Genearly getting a top of the range gaming rig is at least a ?1000 so ?250 or so in comparison isn't half bad for what you get with it. Good GFX, good games and some pretty decent online action.

That's just not true. It's not fair to look at a gaming PC as 1000 dollar purchase, it's only fair to look at the added cost of turning a PC into a gaming PC. A 250 dollar graphics card will get you a LONG way, it won't run you Crysis at 1920x1280 with 16xFSAA, but then, neither will an Xbox 360. What else do you need to turn a normal PC into a budget (read: good bang for buck, but certainly not slow) gaming rig? Not much, perhaps a slightly faster CPU than what a normal PC would come with, but the added cost can't be more than 100 dollars. Other than that, you're pretty much done.

A console has a lot of hidden costs, too. The initial purchase price is overshadowed by those costs during its lifetime. For example, I paid 60 euro for Live, just to play my games online, for only a year! If you use the console for 2 years, you can add 120 euro to the purchase price of the console if you want to make a fair comparison to the price of a PC. You might also wanna buy more controllers, which aren't exactly cheap. Games on consoles are without fail 15 euro more expensive than PC games, which adds up very quickly. To actually play the console like it's intended, you either need an expensive HDTV that many people don't have yet, or cheaper, but still relatively pricey, cables to play it on your computer monitor.

PC gaming is no more expensive, and probably a little cheaper, than console gaming.

 

[Sedako]

I'm sure everyone said the same about Final Fantasy 13 as well last year... Look how that turned out.

Never say never!

Except Team Ico is a division of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan. Square Enix is it's own developer. It would be like Halo 3 being released on the PS3. For the same reason, you won't be seeing God of War 3 on the 360.

 

[OmegaX]

Except Team Ico is a division of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan. Square Enix is it's own developer. It would be like Halo 3 being released on the PS3.

Sony owns quite a bit of stock in Square Enix (Around 20% I believe). That still didn't help them make it exclusive. It all comes down to making the most money possible.

 

[Acepilotf14]

So you bought a console for 2 whole games? Wow.
Really, I didn't like Ico. Too puzzly for me. I still have it, bet it'll be worth a lot when Ico 3(?) comes out.

 

[Sedako]

Sony owns quite a bit of stock in Square Enix (Around 20% I believe). That still didn't help them make it exclusive. It all comes down to making the most money possible.

Sony still doesn't completely own Square Enix like they do with Team Ico. Team Ico is 100% Sony.

So you bought a console for 2 whole games? Wow.
Really, I didn't like Ico. Too puzzly for me. I still have it, bet it'll be worth a lot when Ico 3(?) comes out.

No, I bought it for a long list of games that the 360 won't have or will also have (including some games that are already out), as well as for watching Blu-ray movies. I can play much of what the 360 has to offer on my PC, with better visuals to boot. Also, I'm not just referring to Ico, but also Shadow of the Colossus, which is easily one of my top 5 favorite games. I may also pick up a PSP at some point, as I've been wanting one for a while. Being able to remotely play PS1 games is sexy.