I know it's somewhat hypocritical to cite a quote I'm terribly tired of seeing myself, but I can't quite rant about it without doing so:
Tell me why you would buy a $600 PS3? People are going to buy two (machines.) They're going to buy an Xbox and they're going to buy a Wii ... for the price of one PS3...
-- Microsoft's Peter Moore#1 - He works for Microsoft. Did we expect him to say he was going to run out and buy one?
#2 - The "good", or decently bundled, version of the 360 costs $500. That's not exactly cheap itself. Why would I buy a $600 PS3? Why would I buy a $500 360? Oh right! I saved $100. That will buy two ... no wait 360 games cost $60 ... one extra game. Gee, thanks Mr. Peter Moore. Clearly, Microsoft's pricing structure is far and removed from Sony's.
#3 - Can I borrow Moore's crystal ball that tells him the Wii will only cost $99? Because that's how cheap it will be before I would decide to get both a 360 and a Wii instead of one PS3. Last rumor was the Wii costing $250. The cheapest I can find the 360 right now is a core for $450. $450 + $250 = $700. Or you know, more than $600.
Hey Microsoft: your console is damned expensive too. People aren't going to buy a 360 and a Wii simply so that they can blow even more money. Wow honey, after spending several hundred on this one toy and all it's peripherals ... I believe I shall spend a couple hundred more to have another one laying around. Yeah, that will go over well. Personally, I'll probably just get a Wii, some games and I dunno ... a nice steak dinner. A steak dinner is a lot better than having to send your console back when it overheats and dies anyway.
So in short ... what the Microsoft uber-evangelist has to say about a competitor is rarely ever all that important. Or sometimes even moderately realistic.
tagged: game, gaming
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8 comments:
Not enough truthiness around here. Everything ok? ;^)
I think I got too much cynical in my morning joe or something :)
Um.
I got my premium 360 package for $399 at Circuit City. I don't know where you shop. Maybe you're from Canada? Anyway, the $500/$600 pricepoints for PS3 are US$, so I assume it will be more expensive for AUS$ and CDN$. In the USA, the $400 premium 360 allows me $200 to spend on a Wii. Many are saying that the Wii will be $200 (although I'm thinking it will be $250.)
Well, Amazon may have lead me wrong on the $450 pricing, but most 360 bundles are $500 or more (usually more). Circuit City might have a good price on the premium, but it's certainly not the average.
And Moore is no more sure of the Wii's price than anyone else and most commonly I've heard or read $250 ... not $200. To make the "hey let's get two consoles for the price one" meme make any sense, you'll be buying two consoles at their absolute cheapest prices and probably won't have any games by the time you get home ... which is plain silly.
Moore crowing that they're the second most expensive console out there is hardly news.
Ah, the oddness is that core system is pretty much sold out ... so $450 is the going auction price.
So I'd admit ... you could possibly get 1 decent 360 and 1 game and 1 Wii and 0 games for $660. Which is still a dumber than getting 1 PS3 and a game for $660 (or $560 for the crippled model). Unless you just like staring at a Wii for no good reason.
I suppose it might come with Pictochat.
Also, you have to throw in that even with a 360+Wii combo, you're devoid of a high def medium player. Mumblevine has the HD-DVD add-on anywhere between $100-$200 extra.
The bundles you see on Amazon and any other online retailer are not put together by Microsoft. If there are PS3 shortages at all, you will see a very similar tactic with the PS3, so expect those bundles to go WELL BEYOND the $500/$600 price points.
If you look around at your local retailers (instead of online) it is actually MUCH easier to find a 360, and core systems are NOT sold out. In the Salt Lake market, Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, Gamestop all had plenty of Core systems in stock. I lucked out with my premium system because I called AS the truck arrived at Circuit City, and I refuse to buy stupid premium bundles which are just the premium or core system with a bunch of accessories and/or games I will never want.
I agree that it's certainly not super interesting news. I think it's a big deal in the media not because Moore is talking about price, per se, but that he is implying that he LIKES the Wii and would actually want to buy one.
I don't really care. Peter Moore is a big marketing flap, anyway.
I actually expect the PS3 bundles and eBay nonsense to set new records of crazy ... although bundling the 360 with a $5,000 LCDTV is going to be hard to beat (and advertising it as a 360 bundle ... not the other way around).
I disagree though, that Moore is sayng he likes the Wii. He calls it "innovative" ... sure ... but in another interview he insists that Xbox Live is just as or more innovative.
He "likes" Nintendo as in "they aren't Sony and we don't consider them a threat". Not "mad props to Miyamoto".
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