Xbox 360 Cutting Price Cutting…Huh?

For those that ran out to pickup a 20GB Xbox 360 for the low low price of $299… sit down. This may hurt a bit. Their is a new rumor stating the Xbox 360 is undergoing another price cut, for all consoles in their full array of consoles.

Let’s just get this over with quick:

  • Arcade (no hard drive) to $199
  • Pro (60GB) to $299
  • Elite (120GB) to $399

This is a highly competitive price cut making the Xbox 360 much more desirable, a price closer (and in some case beating) the Nintendo Wii. Imagine, a graphically powerful console for a price near that of the “last generation” graphics of the Wii.

Of course, those purchasing a Wii aren’t buying it because you’re saving money on a next-generation console. In the end, if this price cut is real, we’re seeing the next-generation console market really dropping to some realistic figures.

Bad for Sony, considering they’re still trying to make money on their expensive box. No doubt Sony’s in this for the 10-year plan but if they can’t keep competitive with Microsoft people may ignore you for the next 10-years because it’s too costly.

(Thanks, Kotaku)

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Final Fantasy XIII – Xbox 360Final Fantasy XIII – Xbox 360

Yoichi Wada of Square Enix has let the cat out of the bag. The cat is Final Fantasy XIII for the Xbox 360 and it will be simultaneously released with the PlayStation 3 version. This may be an end to an exclusive era for Sony as all their big brands jump to non-exclusion.

This is probably a result of gamers slow adoption of the PlayStation 3 hardware for various issues, one being cost. Personally I think Sony’s move to say “no price cut” in our near future is a grand mistake. It is well understood that they want profitability over quantity but you’re losing your exclusives to a broader audience.

Each generation of consoles brings new industry trends and, for now, exclusive games from third party developers is too risky when you look at overall cost to produce a block buster title like Final Fantasy XIII. Consider the sales of GTA IV, although they were in the millions, imagine how low it would have been if they only released on the PS3. They’d might have actually lost money on the game.

Square Enix can see the writing on the wall, that writing says “ship on as many mediums as possible.” Gamers are split between consoles with a huge segment on Wii and Xbox 360, if you can at least ship on one of those consoles along with the PS3 you’ll do better financially.

(Thanks, Kotaku)

Sony: PSN Matchmaking “In a Few Days”Sony: PSN Matchmaking “In a Few Days”

While full PlayStation Network service is expected to return by May 31, Eurogamer is reporting that an internal Sony source is promising that online matchmaking will be up “in a few days”.

SCE corporate communications director Patrick Seybold would not confirm this, only stating:

“We’re working to get the network back on as soon as we can.”

An unnamed PlayStation Europe community manager has confirmed that Sony is prioritizing online play, and getting online matchmaking up as soon as possible.

According to a tweet from Musterbuster:

“Once again, 31st May is the date for FULL restoration of PSN services. Restoration is phased. Online gaming will return BEFORE May 31st.”

We’ll keep following the story as it happens. Soon, PS3 gamers will finally be able to hack enemies to pieces with Kratos online in Mortal Kombat.