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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Will Xbox Live Survive 2008 Holiday Stress?Will Xbox Live Survive 2008 Holiday Stress?

This year many gamers will open new consoles for the holidays and many of those same gamers are going bring their console “live” on Xbox Live the same day. Traditionally we’ve found Xbox Live falls under the weight of the holiday rush much like Apple’s iTunes. Will we repeat history again?

Although a fully loaded Xbox Live service is money in the bank, how much money will Microsoft lose when gamers login for the first time to a service in a state of destruction? People say first impressions are extremely important, but Microsoft makes a poor first impression every holiday. Xbox Live’s Jerry Johnson told Eurogamer:

“I can tell you that when Robbie Bach is on the phone on Christmas Day calling people asking what the hell is going on, and that’s coming down from Steve Ballmer… that’s the kind of attention it got last holiday.

Many things have changed since then, and we realised [sic] the kind of growth trajectory we were on and had to prepare for it.” (Kotaku)

It’s obvious the top executives at Microsoft want to give customers a great first impression and, after a few repeated holiday down times, this year is the chance to change it all. By now, Microsoft should be fully aware of the holiday flash crowd and have a system ready to cover the load.

Plenty of gamers login because their console automatically signs in on startup, but a handful of those gameres will be shopping for Xbox Live Arcade games to see what Microsoft is now offering them and their new console. Many XBLA games the current 360 crowd is bored of will be fresh and new to holiday adopters so it’s very important to keep the system online.

Much like Amazon, sales will decrease when the service is busy or under heavy load. Hopefully Microsoft is ready to make a great first impression to new buyers and give them the option to buy high valued (high markup) electronic downloads.

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)

Episode 692: Final Failure 16Episode 692: Final Failure 16

[Reupload]

The guys discuss EA closing servers for older games, the Red Dead Redemption controversy, Tekken 8 and Killer Instinct.

The news includes:

  • Rumor: Microsoft planning on Xbox Series X Digital Edition
  • Square Enix’s profits drop after Final Fantasy didn’t “meet expectations”
  • Suikoden I & II HD Remaster is still planned for 2023 release
  • Street Fighter 6 fans hit out at $15 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles DLC costumes

Let us know what you think.