X-Box to $149 later this month..

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

Here,

 

I dont get it. They must be losing a ton of money on the console at 199, so they decide to slash it to $149 now. If the X Box was made by any other company besides Microsoft, it would either still be at $299 or would be out of production by now. Its obvious that the machine isn't selling even half as well as they wanted it too, and with Nintendo and Sony putting out far better games for their respective machines, Microsoft was worried that their poor little X Box would get lost in the shuffle, especially during the upcoming holiday season..

[Guest El Psycho Diablo]

Actually..it just "happens" to come before the big Xbox Live launch.

 

There may be more to this price cut than you think.

[Guest KingOfOldSchool]

But $149, the same price as a GC? I know it's all about the games, and the GC has a stronger line-up already, but whenever I get my next system... this will make it a very hard decision.

 

XBox hasn't shown it yet, but the system is one that could last into the next gaming evolution. IMO, it has more long-term upside than the GC, based on it's power and what the software will look like when developers catch up. I'm beginning to think that Microsoft's thought process isn't so fucked up after all.

 

But like the article stated, what will GC and PS2 do to counteract? GC being same price as an XBox isn't looking too good for them, and PS2 would still be at $200, and they're one-year older than the 'Box.

[Guest redbaron51]

X-box has a good library already, its just many of you people are too narrow minded to realize that. Once the online system link comes out, it would just shatter the PS2 and Gamecube.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

The X-box has Halo, upcoming Halo 2, and Soul Calibur 2 (which I know will be for everything, but still). That's the two games coming out I give a shit about, I hate Mario and all Nintendo original titles aside from Zelda 1 and 3, and Metroid, and always have. Platform games in general don't interest me in the slightest.

 

Fightin' and shootin' dammit.

 

Plus, the internet gaming is going to RULE on the X-box

[Guest KoR Fungus]

Eh it's just a desperation move so that they don't fall too far behind NGC in terms of installed base. Not a bad decision though, because they can certainly afford to lose the money, and they needed to do something before things got too far out of hand.

 

As for X-Box having a good library, that's very arguable. I guess if you really like FPS games it's probably pretty appealing, but the only game that's out now that I'm really interested in is Morrowind (sp?). The future lineup looks okay, but because I don't like FPS games, there's not much there for me either.

[Guest El Satanico]

PS2 will be down to $150 by christmas.

[Guest crandamaniac]

PS2 will be down to $150 by christmas.

I said the same thing this time last year to a lot of people wondering if the price of the PS2 is going to come down, and they didn't drop them.

They should drop the prices down, but seriously, unless they started losing sales, I don't see them doing that.

 

I can see the X-Box dropping down that low tho. They just, as in a week or so ago, started offering the rebate plans on the DVD remote, to help lower the prices. As pessimistic as it sounds, while it seems like a good system, the X-Box will probably be on it's last leg come this time next year

[Guest redbaron51]

nope i see that when the online system comes out to the X-Box, this will give the big boost to launch all of their games with Halo 2 probably, Raw 2, Unreal Tournament and the sports games for only 25 bucks. (which is how much i paid for mine).

 

With online play, great dvd capability, four people, great multiplayer games, input own music and save with hardrive, 50,000+ its a really strong system.

 

When PS2 came out a year early, it had tons of shitty stuff, especially in the sports. The only thing that was impressive was the graphics, which are now out dated, by the X-Box again

[Guest jimmy no nose]

I saw a link on Gamefaqs I think to an article that said the same exact thing as this article from about 3 months ago when the Xbox dropped to $199, just with the prices and dates changed. I'd provide the link, but I don't have it any more. I'll try and find it.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

This is what the console in third place does.

 

...I still don't want it.

[Guest redbaron51]

oh if x-box flops (and it wont) bill gates has microsoft has probably earned all of its money from the x-box allready.

[Guest swan]

Add to the fact that one of the main guys involved with the development of X-Box left Microsoft several months ago. Bill Gates will have no problem pulling the plug if he doesn't get the results he wants.

[Guest Mad Dog]

Actually last I heard Microsoft was still in the red from the X-Box sales.

 

And I think the PS2 online lineup looks way better. Plus you don't have to pay for the stupid microsoft server. I own both and I at some point will have my PS2 online capable. My X-Box will never be. Why you ask? Final Fantasy XI. And almost anything the X-Box releases I can either get for PS2 or PC. So what's my motivation.

 

Buying an X-Box was the biggest mistake I ever made.

[Guest Mattdotcom]

On-line play really doesn't intrigue me. If I had a worthwhile connection, then it would. Ha. But what's the big deal with dropping your price for the second time in about a year because of the Internet play? Every system's gonna have it. I thought $199 was a good price.

 

Not that I want an X-Box.

[Guest starvenger]

oh if x-box flops (and it wont) bill gates has microsoft has probably earned all of its money from the x-box allready.

I doubt that. And Bill has moved on to pushing .NET at this point, since - unlike XBox - he NEEDS it to succeed.

[Guest jimmy no nose]

I saw a link on Gamefaqs I think to an article that said the same exact thing as this article from about 3 months ago when the Xbox dropped to $199, just with the prices and dates changed. I'd provide the link, but I don't have it any more. I'll try and find it.

Here's what I'm talking about, the article that pretty much started this all was http://www.xboxevolved.com/news/fullnews.c...031194204,38604, which is just a bit too similar to http://www.gamespydaily.com/news/fullstory.asp?id=3403 don't you think?

 

From the article from yesterday:

With the ECTS just taking place MS let the proverbial cat out of the bag earlier this week, indicating to retailers and analysts that the company will soon slash the U.S. price of the Xbox console to $149.99

 

The price drop is expected to take effect on September 23, 2002.

 

“The price drop for the Xbox isn’t going to be a shock to anyone in the industry,” said Edward Williams an analyst with Gerard Klauer Mattison.

 

The article from May 9:

With the Electronic Entertainment Expo two weeks out, Microsoft let the proverbial cat out of the bag earlier this week, indicating to retailers and analysts that the company will soon slash the U.S. price of the Xbox console to $199.

 

The price drop is expected to take effect on May 23, right in the middle of E3.

 

“The price drop for the Xbox isn’t going to be a shock to anyone in the industry,” said Edward Williams an analyst with Gerard Klauer Mattison.

[Guest Mattdotcom]

Wow, what lazy reporting/lying.

[Guest KoR Fungus]

<<<nope i see that when the online system comes out to the X-Box, this will give the big boost to launch all of their games with Halo 2 probably, Raw 2, Unreal Tournament and the sports games for only 25 bucks. (which is how much i paid for mine)>>>

 

If you're talking about a big boost in terms of quality, you're probably right. If you're talking about a big boost in terms of sales, you're definitely wrong. Online is niche. Halo 2 and Raw 2 are mainstream. A niche add-on does not help mainstream sales.

 

<<<With online play, great dvd capability, four people, great multiplayer games, input own music and save with hardrive, 50,000+ its a really strong system.>>>

 

With relatively weak third party support (compared to PS2 anyway), virtually no first party support, low installed base and weak mindshare, it's a system that has a high probability of failure. Even if it were good now, I'd still be very hesitant to recommend it to anyone because it might not be here in two years.

 

<<<When PS2 came out a year early, it had tons of shitty stuff, especially in the sports. The only thing that was impressive was the graphics, which are now out dated, by the X-Box again>>>

 

Shrug, I'd take TTT over the entire X-Box launch lineup. But even if you're not a Tekken superfan, PS2's launch was just a normal quality launch, ie two or three good games and a bunch of crap. DC's and X-Box's launches were the exact same thing. Launches always suck, no system is ever strong right when it comes out.

 

The reason that PS2 coming out a year early was such a big deal is that it had a 20,000,000 system installed base by the time either of it's competitors hit the market. That is an insurmountable lead. That's why launching early matters, having more games is just a little bonus.

 

<<<oh if x-box flops (and it wont) bill gates has microsoft has probably earned all of its money from the x-box allready.>>>

 

What money? He burnt $500,000,000 advertising the thing and has lost money on every single system sold since day one. He's made some back in liscensing fees, but he's still very much in the red on the whole project.

 

Unless the combination of the price cut and the online network makes the thing competitive, M$ has to consider it a failure (even though they'll never publically say so).

 

Edit: Typos and such.

[Guest TheArchiteck]

Hmmmmmmm.....

I have to rethink my future purchasing options.