Neowin.net - Xbox 360 Official Price Announced, Two Separate Models

Xbox 360 Official Price Announced, Two Separate Models

Posted by cashman on 17 August 2005 - 18:18 · 71 comments & 7902 views

Earlier reports today on the neowin message board of two different models of the Xbox 360 have been confirmed by Microsoft in a presentation to the press today at the Game Convention in Leipzig, Germany. The Xbox 360 will be released in Europe at 399 Euro (GBP 279.99 and USD 399).This package will include a 20gig Xbox Hard Drive, a wireless controller, headset, Xbox Live Silver membership and a bonus Media Remote Control.

The cheaper “Core” version will ship without a hard drive, a wired controller and a standard AV cable. This version will retail at 299 Euro (209 GBP and 299 USD). The Core system will lack a Xbox Live Silver membership. “With both the Xbox 360 and the Xbox 360 Core System, we’re offering consumers real choice and real value,” said Peter Moore, corporate vice-president of worldwide marketing and publishing for the Home Entertainment Division at Microsoft.

While the price has been announced the only thing that is yet to be announced is the release date. Microsoft assure us though that it will be available before the Christmas shopping period.

News source: Microsft Press Release

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(9 replies) #1 Posted by Ryster092 on 17 Aug 2005 - 18:26: Microsoft have been touting the fact that their Xbox 360 will connect to Xbox Live straight out of the box with free Silver membership. Now they say that the cheaper model will not include this feature... how many parents are going to buy the cheaper option and miss out on the silver live options that were supposedly "free". Well obviously they are not "free" or they would have included them in the core package too. If they really want to promote Xbox Live, the online marketplace and provide a real community spirit, they need to offer Silver membership to all Xbox 360 owners as originally advertised. Sigh... so close Microsoft.

(4 replies) #2 Posted by sharpy2k4 on 17 Aug 2005 - 18:59: Im not happy. have you seen the price of the games?! £44.99-£49.99. Is this because of High Definition? If it is im not pleased, i wont be owning a HD tv in the next 5 years...so why should i have to pay for a game with a feature i cant use...same with the 360 console itself...they should have different varients, Hd compatible and non Hd. Surely that would be more financial, so hardcore gamers can get the higher end, and all M$ have to do is disable the HD component for casual gamers....

(6 replies) #3 Posted by generalnewbie on 17 Aug 2005 - 19:07: SO the core package comes with Standard AV cables.. what type of cables will the other one have? So far im not seeing 100 bucks justified in what you get with the other package.....
More expensive package
•20gig Xbox Hard Drive- cost like 10 bucks
•wireless controller got my logitech on sale 2x 29.99
•headset - 5 bucks
•Xbox Live Silver membership - FREE
•Media Remote Control- 10

total.. i think this crap cost 55 bucks..IF THAT!!!!

Xbox 360 Core System - $299 (299 Euros, 209 GBP)
•Xbox 360 console
•Wired controller
•Detachable faceplate
•Xbox Live Silver membership
•Standard AV cables

Plus for my money i want to be able to play next generation DVDs hmmm PS3? maybe my next choice

#4 Posted by eilegz on 17 Aug 2005 - 19:09: too expensive basically if they dont lower the price the ps3 wont be that different

(7 replies) #5 Posted by sharpy2k4 on 17 Aug 2005 - 19:11: in uk, the Hard Drive costs £70 lol

(4 replies) #6 Posted by Fantmx on 17 Aug 2005 - 19:56: I cannot believe the hard drive is not going to be standard on every 360. How many developers are actually going to use it now? I hope it doesn't end up being like the PS2 hard drive. Other than that, looks cool.

Does anyone know if the standard cables will come with the 400 package?

(5 replies) #7 Posted by Batman2372 on 17 Aug 2005 - 21:09

What bothers me the most is that if you want to play your old Xbox games, you MUST have the hard drive...

QUOTE

The hard drive might seem like an expensive luxury to some shoppers, particularly those buying for someone else this holiday season, but for current Xbox gamers, it's a critical piece of equipment. Without a hard drive, the Xbox 360 will not be able to play any games from the current Xbox, including the phenomenally successful "Halo 2".

click here for the CNN article

That means that I pretty much am now out of the Xbox 360 market

#7.1 Posted by Ryster092 on 17 Aug 2005 - 21:13: Can't you just save up and buy the hard drive separately? Or wait a few months after release to save up and buy the premium version at $100 extra? It might have also dropped in price slightly too.

#7.2 Posted by Batman2372 on 17 Aug 2005 - 21:21: But why would I want to? From the price point they've offered, to wait until later, I'm looking at $450 if I wait and add the hard drive later, and I STILL HAVEN'T BOUGHT A GAME YET!!!!

$500 gives me a great graphics card and a couple GB's of RAM for my PC.

#7.3 Posted by dagamer34 on 17 Aug 2005 - 21:21: For the stuff you get, no way. You might as well get the $399 version.

#7.4 Posted by Ryster092 on 17 Aug 2005 - 21:29

QUOTE

$500 gives me a great graphics card and a couple GB's of RAM for my PC.

Then upgrade your PC, no-one is forcing you to buy a console

#7.5 Posted by Batman2372 on 19 Aug 2005 - 14:33: That's not my point... it's all a matter of too much money for too little return.

I already have a computer, I could chunk $400 into it and make my gaming experience even better than it is now on games I currently own. Or I could chunk $400 into the Xbox 360 and receive no better experience. The Xbox 360 won't make my current Xbox games any better looking (no optimization there) or improve performance on them, and that 400 doesn't include any new games to utilize all the cool features that makes the 360 so cool.

I work in the video game industry, and this pricing methodology for a console just blows my mind. $299 is a good chunk of change, whether people want to admit that or not. Eventually the price will come down, I know, but out of the gates, I've been priced out. I know I won't be the only one.

(3 replies) #8 Posted by deNuo on 17 Aug 2005 - 21:42: wow i really dont like this. he price is fine and whatever for the "premium bundle" or whatever its called, but to not have a HD for all versions is a bit stupid to me. I really dont care if all developers still would use the HD but since most younger kids and casual gamers will probably just have the standard $300 version, the developers have to account for a missing storage medium, and a lot of them will probably be lazy and just not utilize the HD altogether for the game. I hate memory cards so the Xbox1's hard drive has allowed me to save quite a few gamesaves without having to fiddle with the mem card. I hope that somehow microsoft urges developers to use the HD as well as provide for a means to not use it for the cheaper systems.

(1 reply) #9 Posted by Ajapi on 17 Aug 2005 - 22:00: Any of you know how long it will be until mod chips arise? I, for one, will not get one until then. I need my consoles to be region-free so I can watch my imported DVDs, and play my backup games as well. With little borthers in the house, you can never be too safe with your $60 games

(2 replies) #10 Posted by Epimetheus on 17 Aug 2005 - 22:08: where the hell did ryster come from? And why do you work for Microsoft?

(2 replies) #11 Posted by generalnewbie on 17 Aug 2005 - 23:03: well thought out... i dont think so.. seems to be preaching how good the consoul is.. before its out. and he has no idea what it COST...He called logitech wireless controllers crappy.. I dont know what hes smoking but its been Fing up his thinking.
Logitech has won all the wireless stuff. Not to mention Do you really think MS is going to just give you Extra Stuff without making money on it! LOL Some deal by getting the more expensive model. Hmmm lets see MS makes money on EVERYTHING. My prices may not be retail prices but more realistic to what MS pays for the stuff. I dont see why we should pay more... for something it should have

(2 replies) #12 Posted by ninor on 17 Aug 2005 - 23:25

QUOTE

The Xbox 360 will be released in Europe at 399 Euro (GBP 279.99 and USD 399).

What? $399.99 = €399.99 = £279.99 ????? Are we (this side of the ocean) so stupid to pay a 505$ (actual exchange) and get the same? THAT'S A 25% MORE! There's no VAT in Europe so high.

...

QUOTE

Xbox 360 Wireless Controller. (...) and battery life of up to 30 feet and 30 hours of life on two AA batteries.

ONLY 30 hours???? We'll need to recharge our 2000mAh batteries every week! Or buy a 4-pack every week.

...

and of course: NO HD-DVD. We'll have to buy it apart? Will it be so easy to change?

#12.1 Posted by Stef Nighthawk on 19 Aug 2005 - 10:13: VAT in Belgium is 21%, in some other countries it's 19%
That is high.

so $399 without VAT would mean €399 with VAT (€328 * 21% = €396,88 but rounded upwards it makes €399)

#12.2 Posted by Ryster092 on 19 Aug 2005 - 19:03: HD-DVD movies will not be mainstream for at least 2-4 years. In addition, developers are using less than half of the capacity of the standard DVD's that the Xbox uses, so HD-DVD is un-necessary right now and isn't really desirable either. When switching to a new drive technology, you lose all of the speed and access time advantages a tried and tested technology has gained over the years.

I am willing to wait for the generation after this one for HD-DVD.

In relation to the wireless controllers, to be rechargable you will buy a rechargable battery pack at $11.99. It would also be recommended to buy the Play and Charge kit ($19.99) that would allow you to connect the wireless controller to the console when the battery runs low. This would charge the batteries and allow uninterrupted game play.

Last edited by 64792 on 19 Aug 2005 - 19:10

(1 reply) #13 Posted by NextGen_Gamer on 17 Aug 2005 - 23:47: Well, this was certainly a surprise turn of events. The thing that many thought to be the Xbox's biggest advantage, its built-in HDD, is now lost. Yes, the $399 deal is good, but the very fact that not everyone will have a HDD means that games can only use it for game saves and downloadable Xbox Live content. No more can they cache textures to it to improve loading times, like most Xbox games do. This also has some other consequences as well, such as:

1) Some people are complaining about the lack of a Xbox Live Silver membership with the $299 package. Well, exactly what the heck would you do with that when you don't have a HDD to download any of the content to? Of course a HDD-less Xbox 360 means a Xbox Live-less experience. I'm sure the $99 20GB HDD comes with the free Xbox Live Silver membership though, or at least it should.

2) The $299 package will lack any sort of backwards-compatibility. Why? Firstly because most Xbox use the HDD to store textures and levels during gameplay to improve loading times, and that is something you cannot emulate (or at least not very easily). Secondly, the 20GB HDD is where the Xbox emulation profiles (one for each backward-compatible Xbox game) are stored in the first place, so without it, you simply will not be playing any Halo 2 on your HDD-less Xbox 360. I noticed how Microsoft made no mention of this in their press release, since they figured the announcement of a HDD-less Xbox 360 package would send enough hate mail to them already.

(2 replies) #14 Posted by eilegz on 18 Aug 2005 - 07:40: well as i said before this its expensive paying those 399 i rather get a ps3 that brings more thing

#15 Posted by jimbo11883 on 18 Aug 2005 - 10:56: One simple sentence... F-U-C-K Consoles!

(2 replies) #16 Posted by sharpy2k4 on 18 Aug 2005 - 12:04: hang on...."not everyone will have a HDD means that games can only use it for game saves and downloadable Xbox Live content. No more can they cache textures to it to improve loading times, like most Xbox games do"

im thinking that games should be able to detect whether their is a HDD in place, and can then cache the textures, this would mean people with a HDD will have faster loadings times, and the people without one would have a slower loading time, thus making them want to go out and buy a HDD as they are fed up with long loading times?

#17 Posted by digitallaughter on 18 Aug 2005 - 20:52: Big mistake, shipping two versions is a very bad idea. Way to throw away the game MS.

(1 reply) #18 Posted by loveless642 on 19 Aug 2005 - 17:21: guys, please STOP TALKING ABOUT THIS, YOU CONSOLE WHORES ARE GETTING ON MY NERVES, CONSOLES SUCK, INSTEAD OF WASTING $300-$400 ON A CRAPBOX 360 GET A TOP-LEVEL GRAPHICS CARD AND THE GAMEPLAY WILL BE MUCH MORE AMAZING.

#19 Posted by loveless642 on 19 Aug 2005 - 17:22: OH YEAH AND THROWDOWN LIKE 50 ON AN AWESOME WIRELESS GAMEPAD FOR THE PC, THAT'S THE TRUE GAMING EXPERIENCE.

#20 Posted by NextGen_Gamer on 20 Aug 2005 - 05:43: A couple of people have said that Xbox 360 games could simply detect whether or not the HDD is present and still be able to cache textures and whatnot to improve loading times. Well, this could work. On the Xbox's 8GB hard disk drive, there is a small partition of it reserved for use with games. So the question is whether or not Microsoft will have a reserved partition on the Xbox 360's detachable HDD as well. Why have a reserved partition? Well, what if you do have the HDD, but it is full of music and video crap? The game will detect that you have a HDD, and try to cache textures, but there will be no space to cache them too. It might make the game not work, or the game might just overwrite whatever you have on your HDD. Either case is bad.

So, two scenarios could happen. One is Microsoft does have a reserved partition on the Xbox 360's HDD so that is very easy for games to take advantage of it. And two, Microsoft will simply tell developers that if they want to take advantage of the HDD, they will have to do all the programming specifics themselves and make sure to take into account crazy situations like people that have a HDD, but it's already full. If the second scenario is right, a lot less developers will take the extra time to use the HDD. I mean, next-generation games are going to already cost twice as much to make as this generation, and most publishers won't care about improving loading times slightly at even more expense to them.

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