July 10th 2007 = Xbox 360 core system for $199.99 (opinion, not fact.) [Archive]

Anthony1

06-08-2007, 04:40 PM

I've been calling this shot for a long time now. I keep saying the core system will be $199. So far, I've been wrong, but come July 10th at 8:30pm at the E3 Media & Business Summit, Microsoft will announce a new price structure for the Xbox 360 platforms. The Xbox 360 Elite system will drop $79 to $399.99. The Xbox 360 Premium will drop from $399.99 to $299.99 and the Xbox 360 Core system will finally make it's existence logical, when it drops from $299.99 to $199.99.

I don't have proof positive information that this is going to happen, I just have my gut instinct, and also this:

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6172235.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=newstop&tag=newstop;more;3

"Analyst Heather Bellini of UBS AG also predicted a price cut for the console, although Microsoft refused once again to be drawn into commenting. However, Xbox director of project management David Hufford did note, "We are well aware that the sweet spot of the market is really $199."

ubersaurus

06-08-2007, 04:42 PM

You really need to stop advertising threads with pure speculation as fact.

Bronty-2

06-08-2007, 04:45 PM

Amen to that.

agbulls

06-08-2007, 04:46 PM

You really need to stop advertising threads with pure speculation as fact.

Eh, I'm mixed on that. Anthony has been hyping this concept for months -- and he's 100% right in terms of the importance of this potential pricing scheme with Microsoft winning the console war. They are unquestionably linked at the hip, and Microsoft knows this. It doesn't take a genius to look at the Wii sales, the Wii technology and the Wii price to make the connection.

I guess this is Anthony's way of saying, before the announcement, "I told you so." That confident now, huh? ;)

monkeysuit

06-08-2007, 04:49 PM

I'm hoping for that Elite price drop. $400 sounds about right for what that package comes with.

heybtbm

06-08-2007, 04:49 PM

The title of this thread needs a "?" at the end.

Trebuken

06-08-2007, 05:01 PM

Everything with a Blue Diode is dropping in price and summer time price drops are typical throughout the history of gaming so the question should be what will the new prices be?

I think $199 is too low, though the number of copies of Halo 3 that will be sold will likely pay for such a price drop...they might be brave enough to go for market share.

ubersaurus

06-08-2007, 06:44 PM

Eh, I'm mixed on that. Anthony has been hyping this concept for months -- and he's 100% right in terms of the importance of this potential pricing scheme with Microsoft winning the console war. They are unquestionably linked at the hip, and Microsoft knows this. It doesn't take a genius to look at the Wii sales, the Wii technology and the Wii price to make the connection.

I guess this is Anthony's way of saying, before the announcement, "I told you so." That confident now, huh? ;)

He's been hyping this concept for like a year now. I'm tired of hearing speculation, I'd rather hear about it actually being announced and happening.

slip81

06-09-2007, 12:01 AM

The hardware manufacturer, impressed by the success of the Wii in appealing to women, children, and older people, will be adopting a similar strategy to expand its demographic,

yeah, except that'll never happen since even the most simple 360 game uses way more buttons than the majority of the Wii titles.

Don't be daft MS, old people and housewives don't play games with more than two buttons. The market already has a company that makes games for everyone, they're called Nintendo.

Just put another combat FPS onto the 360 and you'll do okay.

Insaneclown

06-09-2007, 12:02 AM

When I see it...then I will believe it

That's that!!!

goemon

06-09-2007, 12:50 AM

yeah, except that'll never happen since even the most simple 360 game uses way more buttons than the majority of the Wii titles.

Don't be daft MS, old people and housewives don't play games with more than two buttons. The market already has a company that makes games for everyone, they're called Nintendo.

Just put another combat FPS onto the 360 and you'll do okay.

I've always thought that comparing the 360 and PS3 to the Wii is like comparing the Neo Geo to the Pico. Totally different systems and demographics. The 360 seems to be trying to tap into the PC gamer market, particularly PC game fans who can't afford to upgrade their computers every six months. The Wii, on the other hand, is going for people who play games casually and/or socially. If it wasn't for third party developers trying to milk every cent out of their multi-platform games, I don't think the Wii and 360 would overlap at all.

diskoboy

06-09-2007, 01:20 AM

Actually, Joystiq has an article speculating this, too..

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/08/microsoft-knows-console-sweet-spot-is-199/

And with Halo 3 coming sooner than we think, MS would be smart to lower the price. Most people are holding out on 360's for Halo 3. I can't imagine why they wouldn't...

Lothars

06-09-2007, 03:33 AM

I don't see Microsoft doing this anytime soon

It's something they should do but I would be surprised if this happens within the next 6 months, if anything it might happen just before christmas time this year. but otherwise I doubt MS would do it.

chrisbid

06-09-2007, 09:20 AM

MS should ditch the premium and stick with the core and elite. i dont see a price drop that drastic in the cards, a $50 drop for the core, and an $80 for the elite would probably do the trick.

swlovinist

06-09-2007, 11:16 AM

MS will not do a price drop unless they have to. I see a price drop of $50 by the holiday(I expect it)

hezeuschrist

06-09-2007, 01:44 PM

The world will end before MS would drop the price of any 360 prior to the release of Halo 3.

boatofcar

06-09-2007, 04:39 PM

The world will end before MS would drop the price of any 360 prior to the release of Halo 3.

...coming from the same person who said he would never again post on DP if Microsoft named their next gen console the Xbox 360.

Trebuken

06-09-2007, 04:46 PM

The more systems they sell, the more software they can sell. They must drive the sale of systems to drive the sale of software so a price drop in time for holiday selling would make sense. How Halo 3 affects this is interesting...I think the price drop will precede Halo 3 by a couple weeks simply for publicity reasons...

Anthony1

06-10-2007, 03:47 AM

I've heard this theory thrown around all over the place. It says that any price drop prior to Halo 3 would be total stupidity. The theory suggests that you don't lower the price right before you are releasing a system selling game. Halo 3 will drive system sales. No question about that. Some people will buy a 360, just because of Halo 3. Even at the current prices, people will buy 360 units specifically for Halo 3. So why lower the price before then?

I can understand the reasoning behind that theory, but I still don't agree with it. Personally, I think the price should have been dropped a long time ago, and it's long overdue. If you look at the monthly NPD numbers, you can see that the 360 is losing a bit of steam. 228K in February, 199K in March and 174K in April. It's trending downwards. I'm sure that May will spike up from that 174K, with the Elite's arrival, but I honestly don't think alot of Elite sales are going to new customers. I think it's more of the hardcore set simply wanting to upgrade.

Microsoft keeps talking a big game about how they want to expand their horizons, and break out into the mainstream market like Nintendo is doing. It's time for them to put their money where their mouth is. If they really want to expand their market, then they need a $199.99 box at retail. If they announce the new price, effective immediately on July 10th, that gives them like 76 days till Halo 3's release. The price drop could really cause a major sales spurt during July and August, months in which system sales traditionally lag. Then with the arrival of Halo 3 and GTA IV, the momentum just continues forward.

omnedon

06-10-2007, 02:53 PM

Simple marketing. They will drop it as little as possible.

In Canada, the original Xbox never got below $199CDN. It dropped to $199, stayed there, then vanished.

They need not be cheapest to sell the most. Therefore, they will drop the price no lower than necessary. That leaves room for future price drops.

Simple.

Bronty-2

06-10-2007, 04:49 PM

Yeah. The problem with dropping it to 199 now, like you say, is where do you go two years from now? It gives you no room to maneouvre for the future. You can't go that low that fast. Sure, profits come from software but let's not forget that hardware price cuts are expensive as hell when you're selling this many units. If you drop the price by just $20, you've cost yourself $200 million (!) on the next 10m units you sell. A $100 price cut will cost you a cool BILLION in PROFIT not SALES on 10m units sold. Buying market share is an expensive proposition, even for microsoft.

koster

06-10-2007, 05:10 PM

The Wii juggernaut must be looming large in Microsoft's rear view mirror. An Xbox 360 price drop will help Microsoft's short-term sales in the US; it will be interesting to see what it does for long-term sales (say 6 months after the price drop).

I think three system tiers is too many - any price drop will be in conjunction with elimination of one of the packages (core, elite, or premium).

hezeuschrist

06-10-2007, 05:29 PM

...coming from the same person who said he would never again post on DP if Microsoft named their next gen console the Xbox 360.

Hey, it was a stupid name, and it still is. I love the thing and I have a blast with it, but it's a dumb name. But you have to admit that dropping your price RIGHT before your massive AAA system seller title doesn't make sense; you're going to move those units at the current price point for that title. Give it 6 months after Halo 3 and drop the Elite to $450, the Premium to $350, and the core to $250.

There's certainly no way a $100 price cut is coming all at once, to any package.

Anthony1

06-11-2007, 12:38 AM

Yeah. The problem with dropping it to 199 now, like you say, is where do you go two years from now? It gives you no room to maneouvre for the future. You can't go that low that fast.

You can't go that low that fast? We are talking about the Xbox 360 core unit. The premium unit is going to be $299.99. So, only the core unit is going to $199.99, and many think the Core is not even worth considering. (personally, I think the core is a brilliant long terms strategy is used correctly).

Also, does everybody forget the first price drop for the original Xbox? The original Xbox dropped a full $100, from $299 to $199 in May 2002, only 6 months after the Xbox launched in November 2001. ONLY SIX MONTHS!!! If Microsoft drops the price $100 on the 360 this July, it will be 19 months after launch. Also, the theory that they need to drop the price, but do it in smaller increments doesn't hold water for me. A $50 price drop does nothing in the grand scheme of things. Long term, Microsoft would like to see the core at $149.99 and then $99.99, but that's a long time away. When they drop the price of the core to $199.99, they can leave it like that for quite some time before going to $149.99 or $129.99 or $99. So they still have plenty of room to work with, when it comes to the core SKU. This is what the core is all about. This is the only way the core makes any logical sense at all. Up until this point, the core has been pretty much meaningless, and more of a negative than anything, but once they have a $199 core, then it becomes a huge positive. (at least for MS) The Premium would still be $299, which isn't exactly cheap. 19 months after launch, the premium would be the same price as the original Xbox and the PS2. So, it isn't like the premium doesn't have tons of room to lower the price further in the future.

Bluteg

06-11-2007, 01:38 AM

Microsoft will drop the Core version before they ever drop its price.

Bronty-2

06-11-2007, 02:33 AM

OK well, kindly bump this thread on July 10th. We'll see who's right.

You can't go that low that fast? We are talking about the Xbox 360 core unit. The premium unit is going to be $299.99. So, only the core unit is going to $199.99, and many think the Core is not even worth considering. (personally, I think the core is a brilliant long terms strategy is used correctly).

Also, does everybody forget the first price drop for the original Xbox? The original Xbox dropped a full $100, from $299 to $199 in May 2002, only 6 months after the Xbox launched in November 2001. ONLY SIX MONTHS!!! If Microsoft drops the price $100 on the 360 this July, it will be 19 months after launch. Also, the theory that they need to drop the price, but do it in smaller increments doesn't hold water for me. A $50 price drop does nothing in the grand scheme of things. Long term, Microsoft would like to see the core at $149.99 and then $99.99, but that's a long time away. When they drop the price of the core to $199.99, they can leave it like that for quite some time before going to $149.99 or $129.99 or $99. So they still have plenty of room to work with, when it comes to the core SKU. This is what the core is all about. This is the only way the core makes any logical sense at all. Up until this point, the core has been pretty much meaningless, and more of a negative than anything, but once they have a $199 core, then it becomes a huge positive. (at least for MS) The Premium would still be $299, which isn't exactly cheap. 19 months after launch, the premium would be the same price as the original Xbox and the PS2. So, it isn't like the premium doesn't have tons of room to lower the price further in the future.

le geek

06-11-2007, 11:20 AM

Well I predict...

$50 price drop on Core and Premium, no price drop on Elite. And I think it will happen at E3.

Cheers,
Ben

Anthony1

06-11-2007, 03:15 PM

Microsoft will drop the Core version before they ever drop its price.

What kind of logic would that make? The fact that Microsoft even has a Xbox 360 that doesn't have a harddrive standard, suggests they have very big plans for it, from a longterm standpoint. Otherwise, why would they fuck themselves over like that? They are making development for the 360 a serious pain in the ass for developers who have to take into consideration the small number of 360 systems that don't have a HDD. They aren't doing that without having a very good reason to do so. Right now, developers might be really pissed off about the Core, but in time, Developers will come to love the Core, because it means that there games will have a potential audience 3 times the size it would have been had the Core never existed.

To abandon the core now, would be to admit they had no idea what the fuck they were doing in the first place. Microsoft is a smart company, and everything they do has a purpose behind it. The Core has a very big purpose behind it, and I honestly think that ultimately the Core will be looked back upon like a stroke of genius. It's going to end up being the key factor that ultimately wins them No.1 market share this generation (in the USA). The only sense the core makes, is the fact that it gives them a low cost box that they can pimp at Wal-Mart and Target to the average Joe Schmoes out there, that look at a $199 price, or a $149 price, and that motivates them to buy. That's the only purpose it serves. Without a core system, it would be forever and a day before Microsoft would have a Sku that could reach that price point.

hezeuschrist

06-11-2007, 05:29 PM

Your arguments are all full of holes Anthony, but so is everyone elses. It's all speculation and anyone can make valid arguments against why they would be smart to do X, Y, or Z.

You do make valid points for why it's possible that they could drop the prices on any of their versions, but honestly, they have three fucking SKU's... who saw that coming 2 years ago? It's pretty unreasonable to try and predict their next move here, and I don't think we need to bother. They're doing great in the states and in Europe, so they're obviously doing something right... even if it's just having an endless supply of money to throw at the project.

And lastly, comparing the 360 to the original Xbox in terms of pricing schemes is totally moot. You'd be better off comparing it to the PS2 in that respect, not to mention the original Xboxes intention was simply to establish it as a viable brand in the console gaming market, something it obviously did very, very well.

And as Bronty said, we'll bump this in a month and see what's up.

Overbite

06-11-2007, 05:40 PM

what the hell why isnt the xbox at 199 yet :(

segagamer4life

06-11-2007, 06:15 PM

http://www.huliq.com/24134/microsoft-cuts-xbox-360-price

I don't know how soon, but I guess there are alot of conflicting reports out there.

like this

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/795/795525p1.html

Anthony1

07-10-2007, 02:24 AM

Well, here we are folks. This is the day of reckoning for my long held prediction that Microsoft needs to make the Core $199.99. Some things have changed since this thread was made, that will affect the way things are going to turn out. When I originally did this thread, Microsoft hadn't charged 1.15 billion dollars because of the whole Warranty situation. Also, when I made this thread, I don't think Microsoft had come out with their statements of having a profitable quarter in 2008 or whatever they said it was.

Anyways, I'm still sticking by my guns. I really think they need to drop the price $100 on each sku. Well, at least on the premium and core. Take the Premium to $299.99 and take the Core to $199.99. They could lower the Elite to $399.99 or if they want to go the whole 9 yards, lower it to $379.99. The key of course is the $199.99 core. I just think a $199.99 Core would basically win Microsoft the No.1 marketshare position for this generation in "North America". Not necessarily worldwide, but North America. The reason a $199.99 Core is so compelling, is because your average Joe Schmoe can walk into any GameStop on September 25th, and they can bring $300 cash with them, and they can buy a Xbox 360 Core system, and a copy of Halo 3, and still have about $19.22 in change left over. Not enough to buy a 64 meg memory card, but pretty darn close. (I think there definitely needs to be a $19.99 64 meg memory card available in time for Halo 3 and GTA IV if the Core indeed does drop to $199).

The Analysts out there are prediciting there will indeed be a price drop announced at the keynote tonite, but they think it will be a $50 move, instead of a $100 move. I really hope MS doesn't pussy foot around with this. Go big or go home Microsoft. Don't bullshit. Either do the damn thing or don't. $50 isn't going to do shit. The Xbox 360 has been available for nearly 20 months, and hasn't had a single price drop. Normally, a systems first price drop is it's largest, and then the following price drops are much smaller. This is their chance to really put Sony down for the count in the USA. $199.99 Core and Halo 3 and GTA IV and a Madden that's running at 60 frames per second, compared to the PS3's version of Madden running at 30 fps. What more do you need? The War will be over. Do it baby....DO IT!!!!

Anthony1

07-10-2007, 02:29 AM

The world will end before MS would drop the price of any 360 prior to the release of Halo 3.

I'm warming up the crow right now bro....lol

Lothars

07-10-2007, 02:41 AM

$199.99 Core and Halo 3 and GTA IV and a Madden that's running at 60 frames per second, compared to the PS3's version of Madden running at 30 fps. What more do you need? The War will be over. Do it baby....DO IT!!!!

I don't see them dropping the price anytime soon but I still think even if they do it's far from over for Sony, mainly because I really don't see MS winning this generation but it's one of those things and we will see, I love E3 for just this reason :)

MegaDrive20XX

07-10-2007, 02:58 AM

You maybe crazy Anthony. Yet I will always read your ideas. No matter how far-fetched they may sound, you always bring up some really hard evidence to the table.

smork

07-10-2007, 03:26 AM

I'm with Anthony1 on this one -- they do it, and they get all kinds of sales bumps from it. It's textbook stealing of your competitors' thunder.

Besides, it's due. 20 months seems just about right to me.

hezeuschrist

07-10-2007, 07:53 AM

I'm warming up the crow right now bro....lol

The only reason I could possibly see this happening now is in response to the $100 PS3 price cut, and even then it won't be a $100 price cut. It still doesn't change much though, Sony is still at their original pricing plan ($500 and $600), so Microsoft really doesn't have too much incentive to drop before Halo 3.

Not to mention they're gonna be hurting pretty bad from that $1 billion in repair costs from the 3 year warranty, if they keep selling machines at the current price they're not gonna drop it.

heybtbm

07-10-2007, 09:09 AM

MS will drop the price before Christmas, but after Halo 3. I think this a obvious...unless they follow through on the rumor of this ultra cheap, 4th version of the 360.

NE146

07-10-2007, 09:14 AM

Wow that's awesome!

I'm heading out now to pick up a Core at $199. Thanks for the info :)

heybtbm

07-10-2007, 09:18 AM

Wow that's awesome!

I'm heading out now to pick up a Core at $199. Thanks for the info :)

Did you read the whole post?

chicnstu

07-10-2007, 04:52 PM

Anthony1

07-10-2007, 05:14 PM

I'm remembering the title of this topic being "July 12 2007......" for some reason...

It has been a weird couple days....

Anthony1, can you answer the question I asked you in another topic? You told me to buy the 360 at Costco because you got to take yours back and get another. My question was Did you have to buy some kind of warranty there to be able to get another? If so, how much was it?

No, I didn't have to buy anything extra. Costco did change their return policies on certain items. I know they changed it on TV's. But I'm pretty sure (not absolutely 100 percent sure), that the policy didn't change in regards to videogame hardware. Therefore, Costco is the ideal place to buy any high ticket video game hardware. My 360 died nearly a year after I bought it, and they returned it with no problems at all.

agbulls

07-10-2007, 05:32 PM

No, I didn't have to buy anything extra. Costco did change their return policies on certain items. I know they changed it on TV's. But I'm pretty sure (not absolutely 100 percent sure), that the policy didn't change in regards to videogame hardware. Therefore, Costco is the ideal place to buy any high ticket video game hardware. My 360 died nearly a year after I bought it, and they returned it with no problems at all.

What exactly does (or did) their policy say that let you do this?

NE146

07-11-2007, 01:02 AM

What exactly does (or did) their policy say that let you do this?

Dude. It's Costco. They have awesome return policies. They only recently changed their hdtv return policy to 90 days because everyone kept abusing it to upgrade their tv's LOL But hey, within those 90 days you can take back your hdtv with no questions asked. Everything else is still the same though I think, which means, return away.

studvicious

07-11-2007, 01:03 AM

Looks like it didn't happen.

Anthony1

07-11-2007, 01:20 AM

Wow, I'm quite shocked by that. I can't believe they didn't at the very least drop prices on all three Sku's by $50. The only thing I can think of, is that they didn't want to do it during their keynote for fear of looking like they are "reacting" to Sony. e3 isn't over yet, there are still a few more days of the show, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that the price drop news won't come tomorrow or Thursday or whatever, but I must admit I'm pretty shocked by this.

I'm also a bit suprised that there wasn't any other real stunners. Resident Evil 5 looked absolutely bad ass, no question about that, but that was really the only big suprise. No MGS4 announcement, no wii-mote ripoff controller announcement, all in all, pretty ho hum if you ask me. I was watching the whole thing on G4 (huge mistake on my part), they kept interrupting the show for commercial breaks. You would have thought that maybe they could have been sponsered by Microsoft or something and not had commercial interruptions during the keynote. That was very dissapointing as well.

Leo_A

07-11-2007, 01:39 AM

I thought Call of Duty looked fun, besides that I was bored.

swlovinist

07-11-2007, 02:34 AM

Microsoft, as much money as they have thrown at the Xbox and 360, still dont know the console market, or hardware. Several Billion dollars later and almost two years into the life cycle of the 360, we get to finally enjoy some good titles. The hardware revision and price drop must be adressed by MS if they are to stay in the lead. Software wise, they have alot "in the works" but like good ol Microsoft, they leave alot to be desired in the end. They promise the world and offer a continent. Ill admit that Halo 3 will be played ALOT, but dam they need to expand their demigraphic and market or they are gonna place second. The way I look at it, the Wii is gonna be the "David" system that was not taken seriously until it was too late.

Lothars

07-11-2007, 06:01 AM

I will say Microsoft had a really bad Press Conference easily one of the worst I have seen in a long time almost as bad as Sony's Last Year,

I mean we know that the 360 will have an awesome fall but I was thinking they would have at least started announcing more games for 2008. but I still am amazed at how bad the conference was.

Though RE5 looks amazing :)

segagamer4life

07-11-2007, 08:31 AM

I think they were focusing on this christmas, because its a big deal for developers/analysts and journalists and that's who was in attendance, so this was M$ pandering to its audience local, not on TV. Yes they should have done something to lock up MGS, but we all know some variant of that game will be on the 360, and even still, that game is no silver bullet, it won't win nor decide this console war, nor will KZ2, H3, Mass effect or Bioshock. It is going to be a good christmas for games, thats a good thing for us gamers.

gepeto

07-13-2007, 06:51 PM

I came across this on the web:) True or not well see. Ha ha ha

Things just got re-interesting-er!
by Zero Iscariot on 07.13.2007 22 comments

I'll be brief, because apparently nobody loves me on the dtoid snitch line, otherwise known as tips@destructoid.com.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's David Reeves stated that the 60GB PS3 is going the way of the 20 Gig model and being discontinued in late July in favor of the 80GB version, meaning that the console is still $599 American.

But that is only half of the story here. I have a very good source within a major Canadian retailer that guarantees that despite the lack of a cut at E3 this week, the Xbox 360 will drop $100 across all SKU's. When? Sooner than you think. AUGUST 1ST.

I can't confirm all the details, but basically in less than 3 weeks the console prices will be the following:

-Xbox 360 core, $199 American (with pack-in memory unit!)
-Nintendo Wii, $249 American
-Xbox 360 Premium, $299 American
-Xbox 360 Elite, $449 Canadian, possibly $399 American
-PS3, $599 American, $649 Canadian

So August 1st, Xbox 360 will be the lowest price console on the market with the core system, and the difference between the 360 Core and the only PS3 will be a staggering $400 US! You heard it here first!

If true, Microsoft is definitely turning up the heat this holiday.
Ron Workman's Metal Gear info better pan out too ;/