Rumored Price Drop Happened - Sort Of...
Maniac
in announcing the Xbox price drop during their press conference. But,
Wednesday morning the mega-company confirmed Xbox' price was now
$179.99 in the U.S. and $249.99 in Canada.
"Our commitment to the consumer is to offer the best system at the
best price with the best selection of software," notes Robbie Bach,
senior vice president and chief Xbox officer at Microsoft's home and
entertainment division. "This new price point for Xbox will bring the
world's most innovative interactive entertainment system to the
broadest audience."
Whether this price drop was planned or was merely in response to
Sony's price drop for the PS2 is unknown. Either way, it's a boom for
gamers.
Steven Hurdle
> May 14, 2003 - For whatever reason, Microsoft didn't have any interest
> in announcing the Xbox price drop during their press conference. But,
> Wednesday morning the mega-company confirmed Xbox' price was now
> $179.99 in the U.S. and $249.99 in Canada.
That Canadian price is a huge drop, given the previous price was $50 CAD
higher. Kudos to Microsoft for responding to the recent precipitous rise in
the Canadian dollar! I haven't heard what Sony's done, or not done, so far
with the Canadian price for the PS2. Does anyone know if they'd done the
same and Microsoft is merely matching it?
Sam Altersitz
<ya...@victoria.tc.ca> attempted to sound witty, but instead came out
sounding like this... :
> That Canadian price is a huge drop, given the previous price was $50 CAD
>higher. Kudos to Microsoft for responding to the recent precipitous rise in
>the Canadian dollar! I haven't heard what Sony's done, or not done, so far
>with the Canadian price for the PS2. Does anyone know if they'd done the
>same and Microsoft is merely matching it?
I don't know about the Canadian price, but Microsoft is meerly
matching Sony's linited time price drop on the PS2 until the new
PS2/Network Adaptor bundle comes out this fall at $199.99 in the US.
I'm not sure how that affected the PS2's price in Canada.
Whether the Xbox price will remain lower than the PS2/Network adaptor
bundle price when it hits remains to be seen. If so, Sony may or may
not drop the price of the bundle to match. It's too far off to tell
just yet.
I'm sure you can find out easily enough, though. Both Sony's and
Microsoft's prices were to take effect immediately, so calling around
should find out. But I thought you worked at a game store?
------
Sam
Knowledge is power.
Power corrupts.
Study hard.
Be evil.
-Saying on a friend's T-shirt, author unknown to me.
Steven Hurdle
> I don't know about the Canadian price, but Microsoft is meerly
> matching Sony's linited time price drop on the PS2 until the new
> PS2/Network Adaptor bundle comes out this fall at $199.99 in the US.
> I'm not sure how that affected the PS2's price in Canada.
Both of them are now at $249.99 CAD, so I imagine the story's much the
same here about the order of events. The price dropped 10% in the States
and 16.7% in Canada, interestingly. The rise in the Canadian dollar really
made a difference. I wonder what they would do if it dropped back down
again?
> Whether the Xbox price will remain lower than the PS2/Network adaptor
> bundle price when it hits remains to be seen. If so, Sony may or may
> not drop the price of the bundle to match. It's too far off to tell
> just yet.
That Sony bundle really isn't any better than the Xbox, so Sony would
have a hard time charging more for it, I agree. They'll both come with
ethernet out of the box now, but otherwise the story is the same: DVD (with
remote) out of the box on the PS2 but you need to buy one or more memory
cards; hard drive to save your games (and more) out of the box on the Xbox
but you need to buy the DVD remote to watch DVDs. They balance out for the
most part, but if either has an edge Microsoft does in that a memory card is
a required add-on for saving games on the PS2 whereas the DVD remote is
anything but a requirement for prospective Xbox owners, many of whom can
already watch DVDs, so Sony would have a very difficult time charging more
for something that ultimately doesn't offer better value on the hardware
side of things. If Microsoft was to do anything I think it would be to drop
the price of the DVD remote to $20 USD and keep the core system at $180 USD,
so you can pick the two up for the same price as the new PS2 bundle or you
can get the Xbox alone for cheaper than the PS2, and either way you don't
need to purchase an add-on to save your games so the Xbox would continue to
represent better value on the hardware side.
One thing that strikes me as curious. Sony's Network Adapter roll-out
was years in the making as Sony struggled to put together some kind of
online strategy (they launched the system in 2000 and the Network Adapter
almost *two* years later). Even after years of preparation, they still had
inexplicable availability issues when it finally released. Now they
suddenly can make one for every PS2 they build? WTF? I still wonder if
those Network Adapter supply issues in late 2002 were just to build hype for
the unit.
> I'm sure you can find out easily enough, though. Both Sony's and
> Microsoft's prices were to take effect immediately, so calling around
> should find out. But I thought you worked at a game store?
I do, but the phone was busy all morning at work so I wasn't able to call
in and confirm, and I'm off work today. :) I'm also on the West Coast so
it's still early in the day for a day off for me. ;)
LaPierre Henry
"Steven Hurdle" <ya...@victoria.tc.ca> wrote in message
news:byxwa.325486$vs.23...@news3.calgary.shaw.ca...
> That Sony bundle really isn't any better than the Xbox, so Sony
> would have a hard time charging more for it, I agree. They'll both
> come with ethernet out of the box now, but otherwise the story is
> the same: DVD (with remote) out of the box on the PS2 but you
> need to buy one or more memory cards; hard drive to save your
> games (and more) out of the box on the Xbox but you need to buy
> the DVD remote to watch DVDs. They balance out for the most
> part, but if either has an edge Microsoft does in that a memory
> card is a required add-on for saving games on the PS2 whereas
> the DVD remote is anything but a requirement for prospective
> Xbox owners,
To play devil's advocate, you're forgetting that like the mem card
being required to save games on the PS2, with MS a $50 Xbox
Live kit ($70 soon apparently) is required to get online with the
full selection of online enabled games.
Henry LaPierre
fre...@ix.netcom.com
Paul Angstrom
wrote in message <byxwa.325486$vs.23...@news3.calgary.shaw.ca>:
> One thing that strikes me as curious. Sony's Network Adapter roll-out
>was years in the making as Sony struggled to put together some kind of
>online strategy (they launched the system in 2000 and the Network Adapter
>almost *two* years later). Even after years of preparation, they still had
>inexplicable availability issues when it finally released. Now they
>suddenly can make one for every PS2 they build? WTF? I still wonder if
>those Network Adapter supply issues in late 2002 were just to build hype for
>the unit.
What ever happened to Ken Kutaragi's hype in 2000 about the PS2 being
the ideal home server that would allow gamers to essentially "jack into
the Matrix"? His predictions are at least 2 years overdue and counting.
From http://www.activewin.com/news/2000/feb_3.shtml
"The new Sony PlayStation 2, which goes on sale March 4 in Japan, is not
only a quantum leap in game technology, but because of its Internet
compatibility, it's Sony's bid to compete with AOL-Time Warner and
Microsoft on the Web. In an exclusive look at the new machine, Newsweek
reports in the current issue's cover story that the game console can
play movie DVDs, audio CDs and can hook into the Internet. ``You can
communicate to a new cybercity,'' Ken Kutaragi, the visionary behind the
PlayStation, tells Newsweek. ``This will be the ideal home server. Did
you see the movie 'The Matrix'? Same interface. Same concept. Starting
from next year, you can jack into 'The Matrix'!''"
Scott H
"Maniac" <man...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:rjp4cv427a60veukq...@4ax.com...
> May 14, 2003 - For whatever reason, Microsoft didn't have any interest
> in announcing the Xbox price drop during their press conference. But,
> Wednesday morning the mega-company confirmed Xbox' price was now
> $179.99 in the U.S. and $249.99 in Canada.
Whohoo! And EBgames just refunded me $20. Awesome
Maniac
up by the sony hype machine with claims that either since been proven
not true, or has yet to come true on the ps2.
Steven Hurdle
> To play devil's advocate, you're forgetting that like the mem card
> being required to save games on the PS2, with MS a $50 Xbox
> Live kit ($70 soon apparently) is required to get online with the
> full selection of online enabled games.
Live is a comprehensive online network though, so it's a different kettle
of fish. Some people would prefer the uncoordinated and less feature laden
approach available on the PS2 for free and some people would rather pay a
bit more and get more for it. There's no right answer, it's just different.
Online play, as important as it is to many of us in the newsgroup, is
still not an intrinsic a characteristic as savings games. 100% (or near
enough) of gamers will want to save games, but only a subset of them will
want to play online.
LaPierre Henry
> "LaPierre Henry" <fre...@ix.netcom.com> wrote
>
> > To play devil's advocate, you're forgetting that like the mem card
> > being required to save games on the PS2, with MS a $50 Xbox
> > Live kit ($70 soon apparently) is required to get online with the
> > full selection of online enabled games.
>
> Live is a comprehensive online network though, so it's a different
> kettle of fish. Some people would prefer the uncoordinated and
> less feature laden approach available on the PS2 for free and some
> people would rather pay a bit more and get more for it. There's no
> right answer, it's just different.
I have Live, and I have to say, it isn't as good as I expected
it to be based on the hype. The best thing it has going for it, the
voice chat, has also turned out in many instances to be its curse.
I can't tell you how many times I've encountered idiots who can
think of nothing better than to just continually blow, yell or shout
obscenities into the mic. And as for the promise of "security" I
got, specifically on PSO and my fear of hacking/cheating, when
I asked the MS reps at last year's E3, well let's just say that was one
promise that was broken. There's more cheating going on there
as of a week after the game's release (and outright hacking) then
I've seen in practically any online game. But back to basics, if you
want to play, then you have to pay. And for those folks, I don't
agree there's a difference.
> Online play, as important as it is to many of us in the newsgroup, is
> still not an intrinsic a characteristic as savings games. 100% (or near
> enough) of gamers will want to save games, but only a subset of them will
> want to play online.
I never said the two were equal in potential users. My post was
mainly thought of as a response to your comment that the Xbox had
Ethernet right out of the box. While that is nice, it's useless for many
games without Live. If you're going to show a comparison, at least
be fair about it.
Henry LaPierre
fre...@ix.netcom.com
Scott H
"Paul Angstrom" <angs...@no.spammers.please.invalid> wrote in message
news:5co5cvspt5urq5stoa046qpeocdbsann14@news11...
> On Wed, 14 May 2003 20:20:23 GMT, "Steven Hurdle" <ya...@victoria.tc.ca>
> wrote in message <byxwa.325486$vs.23...@news3.calgary.shaw.ca>:
>
> > One thing that strikes me as curious. Sony's Network Adapter roll-out
> >was years in the making as Sony struggled to put together some kind of
> >online strategy (they launched the system in 2000 and the Network Adapter
> >almost *two* years later). Even after years of preparation, they still
had
> >inexplicable availability issues when it finally released. Now they
> >suddenly can make one for every PS2 they build? WTF? I still wonder if
> >those Network Adapter supply issues in late 2002 were just to build hype
for
> >the unit.
>
> What ever happened to Ken Kutaragi's hype in 2000 about the PS2 being
> the ideal home server that would allow gamers to essentially "jack into
> the Matrix"? His predictions are at least 2 years overdue and counting.
Ah thank you, I've been looking for a website that actually has this quote
for a year or so now. For some reason right after he said it, the article
that quoted it was taken off line of the sites I read it on initially.
Steven Hurdle
> I never said the two were equal in potential users. My post was
> mainly thought of as a response to your comment that the Xbox had
> Ethernet right out of the box. While that is nice, it's useless for many
> games without Live. If you're going to show a comparison, at least
> be fair about it.
I would argue I was being fair about it. For one, you can use that
ethernet out of the box on the Xbox to do LAN gaming (which also opens up
Gamespy Tunnel and XBconnect.com), but LAN gaming is not possible on the PS2
without that expensive firewire cable. Does Sony even make that cable
anymore? It's no longer listed as an accessory on Playstation.com.
Sam Altersitz
> I would argue I was being fair about it. For one, you can use that
>ethernet out of the box on the Xbox to do LAN gaming (which also opens up
>Gamespy Tunnel and XBconnect.com), but LAN gaming is not possible on the PS2
>without that expensive firewire cable. Does Sony even make that cable
>anymore? It's no longer listed as an accessory on Playstation.com.
Apparently so few games utilized it, like the 'link cable' on the PSX,
Sony has removed the Firewire port from the new version of the PS2.
They'll probably have developers/publishers utilize Ethernet for LAN
games now, especially since the new PS2 versions will come with the
network adaptor.
LaPierre Henry
> I would argue I was being fair about it. For one, you can use that
> ethernet out of the box on the Xbox to do LAN gaming (which also
> opens up Gamespy Tunnel and XBconnect.com), but LAN gaming
> is not possible on the PS2 without that expensive firewire cable.
Being fair you'd need to compare the 2 out of the box, and
when doing so, a major feature of the $199 PS2 is that it's capable
of connecting to ALL online PS2 games of the same region. The
Xbox is not. For that you need XBL. You agree with that statement
don't you (that to match the online selection of the PS2 w/NA you
need XBL)? If you do, then XBL should be mentioned as a necessary
extra.
Also, since you bring up that the amount of people interested in online
gaming pales in comparison to those who want to save a game (which
I agree, it would), then I would add that the amount of folks interested
in using the Xbox in a LAN only fashion (since you're not adding XBL
to the mix) over that of those who want to use it with XBL would pale
by an equally high percentage.
> Does Sony even make that cable anymore? It's no longer listed as
> an accessory on Playstation.com.
The i-Link? If so, the stores in my area still stock it. Not sure if
it's old stock or if it's still being produced.
Henry LaPierre
fre...@ix.netcom.com
BelPowerslave
Apple has pretty much made FireWire standard for all of their machines...could
be why Sony still makes a few of them. I don't know...the demand can't be that
high, and there are so many other co. making FireWire cable...so you could be
right, they might have stopped making it.
Bel
--
Whip Ass Gaming: http://users2.ev1.net/~belpowerslave/
"If the Xbox falls console falls and hits someone, especially a small
child, it could cause serious injury." - The Xbox user manual
Steven Hurdle
> Apple has pretty much made FireWire standard for all of their
machines...could
> be why Sony still makes a few of them. I don't know...the demand can't be
that
> high, and there are so many other co. making FireWire cable...so you could
be
> right, they might have stopped making it.
I was reminded by another poster that the firewire port has been removed
in the new PS2 model. Will any firewire cable do or do you need something
different, such as a cross-over variant or equivalent? I don't think I've
ever seen firewire cabling available for purchase in a store (then again,
Apple's marketshare is much better in the States than in Canada here which
might be part of the reason).
I suppose there might be LAN games that support the ethernet port, but
very few used the ubiquitous firewire port and probably close to half the
PS2s that will ever be made have already been made, so probably roughly half
will have one and half the other. Not an ideal scenario for developers, eh?
:) I imagine it will remain virtually a non-feature amongst PS2 games, and
in any case there will never be as many PS2 games that support LAN play as
Xbox games. Last I counted there were 3 PS2 games that supported LAN play
over firewire and dozens of Xbox games that support LAN play over ethernet.
BelPowerslave
> machines...could
> > be why Sony still makes a few of them. I don't know...the demand can't be
> that
> > high, and there are so many other co. making FireWire cable...so you could
> be
> > right, they might have stopped making it.
>
> I was reminded by another poster that the firewire port has been removed
> in the new PS2 model. Will any firewire cable do or do you need something
> different, such as a cross-over variant or equivalent? I don't think I've
> ever seen firewire cabling available for purchase in a store (then again,
> Apple's marketshare is much better in the States than in Canada here which
> might be part of the reason).
>
I'm not sure if any FireWire cable will do, but you can usually find them at
CompUSA(at least, that's where I picked mine up). They can be ordered online
too.
>
> I suppose there might be LAN games that support the ethernet port, but
> very few used the ubiquitous firewire port and probably close to half the
> PS2s that will ever be made have already been made, so probably roughly half
> will have one and half the other. Not an ideal scenario for developers, eh?
> :) I imagine it will remain virtually a non-feature amongst PS2 games, and
> in any case there will never be as many PS2 games that support LAN play as
> Xbox games. Last I counted there were 3 PS2 games that supported LAN play
> over firewire and dozens of Xbox games that support LAN play over ethernet.
Yeah, even though Sony created FireWire(I think), even they don't support it
that much. There Viao series of PC's, again, I think, has them...but past
that...it's mostly Mac stuff that supports it. I have a FireWire external burner
and a Firewire external 40gig HD. IIRC, Apple says a lot of Digital Recorders
use it as well, which is why they said, initially, they started putting it on
the Macs(for the digital video editing and all, with iMovie, etc).