Sony Brands Xbox 360 as Too Expensive

[wraggster]

Is the $399 price tag of the 80 GB PlayStation 3 getting you down? Not to worry – the system offers you more bang for your buck than a similar Xbox 360 or Wii setup would, according to Sony.

In a recent press release, the Sony marketing team brands the PS3 as the best deal in gaming, and blasts the Xbox 360 for being a "burden on the wallet."

"The Xbox 360 requires additional money, multiple upgrades and additional external devices," the release reads.

Comparing an 80GB PS3 at $399 and an Xbox 360 Arcade unit at USD $199, Sony makes the case that to upgrade the latter to include all the features of the former would cost USD $449 - $499. Comparing the two consoles' features, Sony says adding a wi-fi adapter ($100), hard drive ($100-$150) and an Xbox Live Gold membership ($50 a year) to the cost of an Xbox 360 Arcade would push its cost over $400.

The release did not compare Sony consoles with other Microsoft SKUs, including the Xbox 360 Elite, which comes with a 120 GB hard drive for $399 and the Xbox 360 Pro unit, which features a 60 GB hard drive for $299.

But it's not just money that you'll lose if you pick a PS3 over an Xbox 360, in Sony's estimation. In addition to your hard-earned cash, you'll also be saying goodbye to valuable living room space. Sony accuses the Xbox 360 of requiring so many add-ons that it will "add clutter to the entertainment center."

The only unique Xbox 360 add-ons that we're aware of are the now-obsolete HD-DVD peripheral and the optional wi-fi adapter, which is about the size of a pack of gum and snaps snugly onto the back of the console. All other peripherals (controllers, cables, camera, chatpad, etc.) are similar for both Sony and Microsoft consoles.

The Xbox 360 bore the brunt of Sony's derision, but the Nintendo Wii didn't escape a beating. According to Sony marketing folks, "the Wii's lack of enhanced features comes at the expense of a comprehensive entertainment solution." Ouch.

What do you think about the comparative value of the three major game consoles? Is the Xbox 360 too expensive? Is the PlayStation 3 the best deal in town? Is the Wii a comprehensive entertainment solution? Let us know in the comments section.

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/942/942931p1.html

[Justise]

I agree with Sony in most parts. Now if only they were releasing more exclusives....
Wait a minute!..
They Did!
According to GT, 2008s console of the year was the PS3!

[pibs]

More fuel for the fanboys ey. This can only end bad...

*walks away*

[Shadowblind]

Lol. Aren't they gonna mention the $299 Xbox 360 Pro? Oh wait, that would moot the point huh....

[F9zDark]

Lol. Aren't they gonna mention the $299 Xbox 360 Pro? Oh wait, that would moot the point huh....

Its funny how Sony only compared the PS3 to the Arcade unit...

Then again, the Arcade unit is the only Xbox sold that absolutely requires at least 1 addon to work like a PS3 or even a standard Xbox360 (the HDD).

But in all honesty, I don't see why Sony is making a big deal of this NOW. And quite frankly, they could have made an even bigger deal out of the fact that HDMI comes at a premium for Xbox fans (having to buy the Elite model); rather than being stock to all PS3s ever sold.

Seriously, Sony should pick their battles, and this certainly wasn't one of them.

I have been saying this since day one, during the console and format war. 600 bucks getting a PS3 with wifi, card readers, and a Blu-Ray drive; with the same additions costing well over that for the 360...

[mcdougall57]

What is the point of nit-picking like this? I't sounds so childish.

[Darksaviour69]

lol, sony said the same thing like 2 years ago, comparing the arcade model and adding the extras separately and ignoring the premium model.

[firedragon_jing]

I find the Wii to be the most expensive. $250 for the console and it comes with one Wiimote and One Nunchuk. For the four controllers it cost $40 for each Wiimote or one with Wiiplay for $50 ($120-$130), $20 for each Nunchuk ($60), and probably $20 for each MotionPlus or at least $50 with WiiSPorts Resort ($80-$110). Then you might want two Zappers (w/Links Crossbow) to get the most out of shooters ($40), then you might want two to four Wii Wheels to get the most out of shooters ($20-$40 or $60-$80 if you get Mario Kart), then you might want the WiiSpeek to talk to friends ($30 or $70 with AC), then you might want the Balance Board for the games that use it ($90 with WiiFit). That comes to a grand whopping total to get everything out of the system $730-830 for a complete, new, and official Wii set-up.

Now for a complete set up of the Sony PS3 it's now $399 for the base system with the one DS3 which is all you need seeing the next one up just has double the HDD space, something you can more cheaply do on you own. The PS3 also always for use of many not made for PS3 accessories to be used, but if you want to go official: 3 more DualShock 3 controllers at $55 each ($165), a PSEye for the games that use it ($40 or $60 with Eye of Judgment), the Keypad if you really rather have it than a full wireless keyboard ($50), the Blu-Ray remote for those fancy HD movies ($25), and the Wireless Headset ($50 or $60 with Socom Bundle). That comes to a total of $730-$760 which for the extreme setup will cost less and accessories like the Keypad and the remote aren't needed as much as some of the Wii accessories. Not only that but you get the Blu-Ray power which is a $250 value.

[acn010]

and that is why i love my ps3 :D

[golgo13]

ps3 exclusive games are not more than hand fingers, every game out in ps3 is out in xbox360 too, same games catalog of xbox. and u can even c theres more released games in 2008 for xbox360 than for ps3. so whts the point paying additional 200 usd for ps3?? wanna waste money? ,blueray fan?... , anyway for gamers its not worth.

[Accordion]

Motorstorm [plus sequel]
Resistance [plus sequel]
MGS4
Ratchet [plus PSN episode]
Uncharted
Wipeout HD
Valkyria Chronicles
Warhawk
Heavenly Sword
LittleBigPlanet
White Knight Chronicles
Disgaea 3
GT 5: Prologue
Siren: Blood Curse

Those are just the greats, plenty more.

09 will see:
Killzone 2
Uncharted 2
Heavy Rain
God of War 3
inFAMOUS
…
Dont forget all the short PSN games as well.

hello!

[lmtlmt]

every game out in ps3 is out in xbox360 too

Your a dumbass mate


lets see hmm uncharted on 360 umm nope what about motorstorm franchise yeaa thats a no too, i could go on.


[edit] damn accordion beat me to it! :P

[paul3100]

What ps2/ps1 games can you play on the ps3 then ?

What xbox original games can you play on the xbox 360?

Now backward compatability isn't great on the xbox 360 but its 100000000000000 times better than on the ps3 unless you own an original ps3 that is!

I don't own either systems but the 360 seems to have more going for it, easy to back up games, some xbox compatability , but wha you can afford then upgrade as needed or afforded.......

paul

[lmtlmt]

i own both, so either way i win, haha

[sorceror]

If they can't lower the PS3's price, Sony needs to put out ads (not just press releases) that emphasize this. In a slower economy, if they have a more expensive product then they have to position it as a better overall value.

For my purposes, the PS3 was definitely a better value. Blu-ray plus media center plus games plus wifi plus off-the-shelf drive upgrades. (I was also scared of the 360's cheapness in the sense of quality, and I don't want to pay subscription fees for online.) I haven't had any regrets, and with the wireless keypad and a big-enough TV it's even a decent web browser, too.

[onetwentyeight]

though many games come out for both systems, i tend to buy the 360 versions since i like playing games at 1080i rather than 480p - thanks sony for the downwards upscaler!

on the other hand, i love paying $6 for a psx classic from the psn rather than $10 for a flash game with with achievements from xbla.

[F9zDark]

What ps2/ps1 games can you play on the ps3 then ?

What xbox original games can you play on the xbox 360?

Now backward compatability isn't great on the xbox 360 but its 100000000000000 times better than on the ps3 unless you own an original ps3 that is!

I don't own either systems but the 360 seems to have more going for it, easy to back up games, some xbox compatability , but wha you can afford then upgrade as needed or afforded.......

paul

Unfortunately that isn't truly the case with the 360. Backwards compatibility requires downloading of "emulation profiles" to make the game run correctly. Core and Arcade models lacked HDDs thus making BC not possible on these models out of the box.

Sony removed BC to cut costs. Why? Because Sony went the hardware route with BC initially. Each PS3 contained the essential hardware of the PS and PS2 to run these games. The benefit of this was damn near flawless BC. However it was more expensive than a software solution.

There is no doubt in my mind that Sony is at least working on getting a software solution out the door; because lets face it, the PS2 is damn near the most successful console ever made its obviously a poor choice to terminate PS2 support on the PS3 when probably every person who owns a PS3 OWNED a PS2.

[Harshboy]

To a family crowd the Xbox 360 is better since it is cheaper. You don't NEED a Wireless adapter, Live Gold, or a hard drive.

To the hardcore crowd, they don't care how much they spend and still don't NEED a wireless adapter. Not to mention Xbox 360 has way better games for the hardcore crowd.

If you don't own a Xbox 360 in my area you are lame. If you own a PS3, you're even lamer.

[blackrave]

If you don't own a Xbox 360 in my area you are lame. If you own a PS3, you're even lamer.

What's even lamer, is basing your life on what others think of you.

[JLF65]

To a family crowd the Xbox 360 is better since it is cheaper. You don't NEED a Wireless adapter, Live Gold, or a hard drive.

You NEED a hard drive, no matter what! Remember that updates to games go on the hard drive (since you obviously can't write to a DVD on the 360 :D ). No hard drive == no updates. No updates == constant crashes since many/most games are now released with insufficient testing since that gets them on the market quicker, and you can always release an update later. Selling a console like the 360 without a hard drive is basically spitting in your customers' faces. :mad:


To the hardcore crowd, they don't care how much they spend and still don't NEED a wireless adapter. Not to mention Xbox 360 has way better games for the hardcore crowd.

That's just one person's opinion. Taste in game varies, which is why there are so many, as well as completely different platforms.


If you don't own a Xbox 360 in my area you are lame. If you own a PS3, you're even lamer.

Now THAT is lame. :rolleyes: :p

[Shadowblind]

You NEED a hard drive, no matter what! Remember that updates to games go on the hard drive (since you obviously can't write to a DVD on the 360 :D ). No hard drive == no updates. No updates == constant crashes since many/most games are now released with insufficient testing since that gets them on the market quicker, and you can always release an update later. Selling a console like the 360 without a hard drive is basically spitting in your customers' faces. :mad:



Thats what a memory card is for. And even then its only for if you connect to online.

[lmtlmt]

If you don't own a Xbox 360 in my area you are lame. If you own a PS3, you're even lamer.

if you think owning a ps3 is lame, well then your obviously lame.

if you post in the ps3 section only to bag the ps3, well then you must be lame.

[JLF65]

Thats what a memory card is for. And even then its only for if you connect to online.

You can't put certain updates on a memory card. For example, from MS directly:


Original Xbox game support requires a hard disk drive (HDD) accessory on your Xbox 360 console.

Also, on MS's hard drive page it claims that some games require the hard drive. The example they give is Halo 2.

Finally, a memory card is going to cost more per MB of storage than a hard drive, so claiming a memory card alleviates the need for a hard drive is being silly. :D

[pibs]

Its actually not much for storage, MS offers an arcade upgrade kit for $30 which includes a 20GB HDD and 3months of live.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/hddoffer/default.htm

So its $200 for an arcade + $30 for HDD w/ 3months live +1month free for creating a gamertag. And if you are not comfortable using batteries on the controllers you can get the play and charge kit for $20.

In the end its about $250 w/o taxes. Still pretty cheap you have to admit. Its a good deal if all you want to do is play games compared to the least expensive PS3 which is now the 80GB for $400. Remember im talking retail here.

[JLF65]

Its actually not much for storage, MS offers an arcade upgrade kit for $30 which includes a 20GB HDD and 3months of live.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/hddoffer/default.htm

So its $200 for an arcade + $30 for HDD w/ 3months live +1month free for creating a gamertag. And if you are not comfortable using batteries on the controllers you can get the play and charge kit for $20.

In the end its about $250 w/o taxes. Still pretty cheap you have to admit. Its a good deal if all you want to do is play games compared to the least expensive PS3 which is now the 80GB for $400. Remember im talking retail here.

Yeah, that's not a bad deal. Now is a pretty good time to look at a 360 if one was interested in one.

[Shadowblind]

You can't put certain updates on a memory card. For example, from MS directly:



Also, on MS's hard drive page it claims that some games require the hard drive. The example they give is Halo 2.

Finally, a memory card is going to cost more per MB of storage than a hard drive, so claiming a memory card alleviates the need for a hard drive is being silly. :D

Yeah, the hard drive is neccesary for backwards compatability. But not for updates. And as of now we don't know whether the new 256mb internal memory in the 360 can be used for more then just holding the dashboard in memory. Though its unlikely it can.

And not really. Memory cards run for as low as $25. They are less of a value then the hard drive but if you want a simple memory holding device then a memory card is perfect.

[Darksaviour69]

You guys are all lame, the dreamcast is the best value by far!!


btw has anyone noticed that we have posts supporting either ps3 or xbox 360, but no-one is supporting the Wii, and its the most successful system by far!

[Malksta]

PS3 is better in overall value imo but ofcourse not such a large harddrive and wireless adaptor is mandatory for 360..

[JLF65]

While you CAN get by without a harddrive, the fact of the matter is no one will. The issue becomes, where do you get your drive? The PS3 is great on that respect as you can use any 2.5" SATA drive. I put a 300 GB drive in my PS3 (for only $100 for a top end Samsung from NewEgg).

[pibs]

btw has anyone noticed that we have posts supporting either ps3 or xbox 360, but no-one is supporting the Wii, and its the most successful system by far!

Wii-Fanboys are but a myth in the interwebs.

They are too busy trying to get fit, learning how to cook, fish, raise dogs, play sports, cheer, dance, sing, and doing other things wii don't really care about.:p