News Xbox 360 to see yearly price cuts

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2005/09/20/xbox_360_yearly_price_cuts/

 

So...all we need to do is wait a few years, then they'll be giving them away for free
...although I can't see them being given away with a packet of cereal - it would make the box a little bulky

Mine's already pre-ordered through Game, and I don't care if they cut the price - by then, my home cinema room should be complete, and it will have an Xbox360 sized gap in the cabinet

Can't see them cutting the price until the PS3 launches though...

 

I'll be buying on launch day too. I don't really mind if it goes down a bit later, the value bundle is a good enough deal for me now!

 

I really wish they hadn't gone on record about the price cuts. Whilst I know that it's going to happen, it really does put me off investing at launch. Lets hope that they have enough sales to not have a repeat of last time.

 

OMG so in layman’s terms "don't buy one now because in a year it will be cheaper" I hate to tell them but they are over priced to start with and considering the state of the economy in some areas I don't expect the average Joe schmo on the street to run out and buy one for $400 when they can wait and get it cheaper. I'm sorry but if it cost over $200 then it’s to damn much. I have a kid to feed and gas prices are too high for me to let M$ try and have their fun without the benefit of using KY on me. I’ll stick with what I have now and if their lucky I will buy a slim PS2 when the price drops.

 

Satyric, good points, but you're not their target audience. You may not buy one for yourself, but if all of your son's friends were getting them and he'd be the uncool kid if he didn't get one too, Microsoft is betting you'd become a lot more willing to shell out $400. Remember, readers, if you are over 25 you are not the console market's target audience anymore.

Besides, don't they do that anyways? Xbox came out a bit over two years ago, and by now it's as far below it's original release price than the 360 would be two years after its release.

 

Not sure I actually agree with that (especially since I'm waaaaay older than 25 )

I'm part of the original wave of gamers: I started playing games in the 80s, and I'm still playing games now. There are a considerable number of people who are the same as me - playing games for 20+ years - and we're approaching our late 30's/early 40's (that doesn't sound so scary if you say it quickly ).

As the gaming market matures, so are the games - we're seeing a lot more mature-themed games and fewer twee characters (and as for GTA Vice City - it's a p1ss take of Miami Vice, and surely targetted at those old enough to have watched it first time around?). The Xbox was certainly targetted at the older gamer (perhaps one of the reasons why it didn't sell so well), and judging by the games to be released with Xbox360, so is the next generation. I think PS3 is heading there as well?

After all, it makes sense - people my age tend to have more disposable income, so that's the market you'd target - not a segment that has no money to spend


Or maybe it's just me trying to halt the inevitable progress of middle age?

Really? And there was me thinking it came out in 2001...

 

Agreed, Flibblebot. Over 25 has become a very viable market for game makers...and it's one they're not about to miss out on. A lot of us are from the 80's, remembering our atari 2600's with fond love. In fact, my wife and I joke about how we're children of the 80's, and you can tell because we play for completion in our games, rather than for mission goals. Playing guild wars, she gets fanatical about beating every single bonus to every single mission...or she didn't REALLY beat the game.

The gaming universe has expanded considerably, and these companies are not about to ignore that. In fact, a system that's $400 is being marketed partially to adults, who have the disposable income to afford such a luxury. Yeah, it may keep little Jimmy cool, but then dad can go play Madden 07 and GTA:whatever when Jimmy goes to bed. Even Mom is starting to get more in on the action...As the console becomes more of a 'family item', the price can go up more and people will still buy it.

 

Let's not forget M$'s speeches when they unveiled the 360. They have a target audience of 1 billion users. I don't think they care what age you are. They want every family to have at least one and every family member to be using it.

I will wait until the price drops. Maybe after the first year. I've heard too many unsettling things like they may or may not put in an HD-DVD drive after it has been out for a while (to compete with Sony's Blu-Ray). That and the fact that it's not only the cost of the system you have to worry about. Sure they bundle lots of goodies in the Premium Pack, but it comes with no games which each cost $60+ and it also doesn't come with the ability to play games on Live, another $50+ (if you don't already have a subscription). Silver level Live is useless as far as I'm concerned. And I won't even get started on hardware and software glitches that I'm sure the 1st revision of the 360 is going to have. I do enough forced guinnea pig work for M$ on Windows. I'll wait till a revision or two have been through the stores.

No... I will wait. You will not have my gas money just yet M$.

 

flibblebot and da dego both made excellent points the gaming market is much bigger than it used to be. when you throw in the fact this is not just a gaming console but a VERY trimmed down htpc (i know you can't record tv on to it but hey it is close) the price isn't that bad. considering inflation, the price honestly makes xbox look over priced now, not to mention its release price. everyone knows that the price will drop over time , hell name on piece of electronics that hasn't. it's just common sense that after hype dies down so does the price.

 

LOL I just turned 25 in July and I got to say I was an only child and I never got a game system unless the price was low enough for my mother to justify spending the money on it and my child will get the same treatment I refuse to buy anything more than $50-$100 right now unless it is a necessity or (god willing) we have plenty of extra money I think eating is more important than keeping up with the part of the populace that has more money than brains. But I'm sure that’s just the way I was raised.

 

Very magnanimous of MS to publicly announce that. WIll they be anouncing next that the sun will come up tomorrow? Of course the price will drop. After the initial surge of people who "have to have one now no matter what the cost" the price will have to drop to try to entice more people to buy them. Without continual lowering of the cost of the console (or lowering to a more reasonable price), sales will stall.

I've only just bought my XBox 6 months ago and still think that it was slightly overpriced.
EDIT. I aslo wait for my games to come down from $90 down to $40 or less before I buy them. Call me cheap? Meh. I just don't like to be ripped off.

 

Master Ninja: sorry mate, but you're wrong about that. I don't have the exact figures to hand, but research shows that way more than 50% of gamers are 25 or older. Flibblebot is a perfect example, but take me: I'm 27 and I've been playing games on various systems at home for over 15 years. True, kids these days are playing PS2 while still in the womb, but they don't have the money to buy Xbox 360.

Value is in the eye of the beholder: I personally don't think it's vastly overpriced, and us early adopters will pay it anyway. Anyone price sensitive enough to wait 6 entire month just to save $50 would be in Tier 2 of the adoption pyramid anyway. I feel bad for anyone who wants to wait until Xbox 360 becomes as cheap as the current generation are today - you're going to miss a lot of the fun for quite some time.

Constructacon: don't take it personally mate, but you're clearly not in the Hardware bracket. That's OK, but what it means is that the launch is not aimed at you, but rather nutters like me. Compare:

Constructacon
Bought Xbox: March 2005
Paid: AUD$199/239 ish (that's the £100 / US$149 pricepoint)
Impression: "Slightly overpriced!"

Geoff, Deputy Editor
Bought Xbox: November 2001, midnight of US day of release
Paid: US$299 plus another US$250 on games and accessories (!)
Impression: "Was a big investment at the time, but had more than enough value from the past 4 years."

 

I don't think it's badly priced but I will be waiting a while before upgrading. I've barely had my xbox for a year now and I think it + my recently upgraded PC more than satisfy my gaming requirements for the time being. (and they're not what they used to be!)

There's always the option of buying one on release, keepig it selead then whacking it on ebay 10 days before christmas... But that idea's so unoriginal these days you'll be lucky to make a decent profit - and I doubt I could keep a 360 sealed for 6 weeks....

 

Four years ago in Novemeber, actually.

As soon as i get the cash to afford one, and there's a game i want to play on it im buying one. Even if it is £300. Obviously, if it's 9 months after release, ill wait another 3 till it drops in price.

 

Wow, didn't realize it was that old.

Good to hear all the older gamers piping up, but I stand by my argument. Of course some of the older generation still plays games; we were there when the NES came out, and most of us grew up through a variety of platforms. But from the perspective of the console companies, I don't believe we're the target market. I'm 24, living on my own in the Toronto area and working full-time. I'm gone almost 11 hours a day due to work and transportation, and when I get home I make dinner and collapse. Microsoft would like me to spend $300 US for the platform, plus $60 for games that from what I've observed have been getting shorter, not longer. I still have a PS1 with only a handful of games, but each one is a 30-40 hour game; I tried Fable on my brother's Xbox and beat it in under 12.

It's a DVD player? I have one of those. It plays MP3s and movies? So does a computer, and I have one of those. It connects to the Internet? I'm connected to the Internet all day at work. All I want is a console where I can throw a game in and not have to buy another game for like a month. The new consoles can't do that, and specifically aren't designed to do that. We original gamers grew up in an era where gameplay trumped all other aspects of a title. Now gameplay is secondary, and console makers certainly aren't interested in bringing it back unless it will pay off for them.

Microsoft will sell lots of consoles to you guys, I'm certain, but do you know why? Because you bought Xbox's too. And before that, Playstations. And before that, N64's, and so on, and so on. Microsoft is selling to people who want a better system, not a new one, and that's my point. If they're trying to package together all those extra features that take the focus off gaming, they're trying to attract a different audience; people who don't already own a console. And as one of those people, I'm not impressed.

Ever since the 1980's, console manufacturers have known they have to offer a new system every 3-5 years to keep their audience, and I believe that with these consoles, the trend will finally start to plateau. Microsoft is trying to compete with the prospect of the PS3, but they're not trying to compete with the bigger prospect; that instead of buying another console, people will just stop playing games. It's happened before; just look at Sega.

 

Right so let me get this straight..

Electronics equipment comes out, costs a bomb. A year later it is cheaper. Another year later, cheaper still...

What a strange concept.

 

Considering inflation rises prices, i spose it is.

 

NES? Bah, I still have my old Atari 2600 and I think my Telstar is in a box at my parents somewhere.

 

Likewise, my old Intellivision console is still at my parents' house - I keep saying I should plug it in just to see if it still works, but never seem to get around it