arstechnica.com — The Showdown continues. In the Showdown, we pick a topic, argue both sides, and then present the results to you. Today, Ben and Frank discuss whether the newly-announced Xbox 360 price drop is a sign of desperation or boldness on the part of Microsoft.
Sep 4, 2008 View in Crawl 4
Closed AccountSep 5, 2008
I freaking love my 360.
Closed AccountSep 5, 2008
lol the arcade version doesn't even come with component cables much less an HDMI port. I would look into it before you buy. The arcade version is a total ripoff. Don't forget you'll be shelling out $55 a year for service. Trust me, you'll end up regretting not buying a "Pro" or "Elite" version, even for a casual gamer.
Closed AccountSep 5, 2008
lets also throw in that 360 intends to copy that of Wii and have motion controllers such as that of the Wii
levithesmithSep 6, 2008
Team killers are ****s.
recidivusSep 6, 2008
Hmm, only the current consoles on market? I would go with a PS2 then, if pricing is all that matters.Other than that, if they've been waiting this long, why are they suddenly going to stop waiting?
chaosblade77Sep 7, 2008
It's probably on the lowest tier of my priority list when looking for a game console. The only thing lower would probably be the media card readers a-la PS3.And backwards compatibility is near the top of that priority list and we see how much console makers care about that, since only Nintendo still has excellent b/c.
kamiusdSep 7, 2008
60% of the people I know who also game have both at this point. Sadly, most of us use the ps3 for movies and exclusives. If it comes out on both and has multiplayer it's 360 all day well at least with our group. This price drop will help in the end to pickup some of the guys who are just looking for something better than their Wii.
topher06Sep 10, 2008
I think its desperate. Microsoft has lost ground to the PS3 this year, and the PS3 still hasn't had some of its best AAA exclusives released yet. The PS3 is looking very strong nearing its 2 year mark while the Xbox360 is showing signs of age and not securing enough good exclusives, which is part of why the original Xbox failed. If all the good games that are coming out for the Xbox360 are cross-platform titles, then people are going to start wandering over to the PS3.One thing most people seem to be ignoring is the fact that Microsoft's extended warranty program of 3 years is about to start having its first round of expirations, and Microsoft still has not addressed the quality issues of the Xbox360. As people stop getting free fixes for their Xbox360's, the dumber among them will just go out and buy a new $199 console and hope for the best (which is what Microsoft wants). The smarter among you should sue Microsoft if you have to pay a dime to replace another defective unit after the warranty expires.
tallguy78Sep 24, 2008
Desperation? No way! Recently, SquareEnix Decided to port FF XIII to 360 as well. Now Sony should be screaming like a 6th grade girl. Soon we'll have a metal gear solid 4 to 360!!!! All hail gates!