Backwards-compatible Xbox 360 to cost $399.

I think the whole thing has been blown out of proportion by gamers who think that the gaming industry should give them hand-outs. I'm sorry the XBOX 360 costs $399- get over it, stuff gets more expensive as time goes on. Inflation, and general market trends are to blame, why don't we start a blog on gas prices while we're all acting like 2 year olds who've lost their blankies... The "core system" is bait for consumers, Microsoft's true package is the standard 360, which many of you have erroneously labaled as the "deluxe" package. If you don't want to pony up $100 for the add on HDD, buy the 360, not the stripped down market ploy. And please quit whining about prices and saying "oh, M$ has screwed us, I'm going to buy a PS3 now because Sony has never told a lie". HELLO? To date, Sony hasn't given us ANY real info, just prerendered BS and a lot of smoke and mirrors. And the arguement that because the HDD is "optional" so it won't be supprted is bogus. M$ has told devs fromthe beginning not to rely on it like they did the for Xbox as it is removable. But hey, devs still support LIVE, even though only like 10% of Xbox owners subscribe to it, so what's different about the HDD? The ONLY thing that the optional HDD could hurt the system on is a devs ability to cache data on it. THis was important on the Xbox because of a measly 64MB of RAM. The 360 has 512MB and 6 software threads, so if you're worried about load times, you need to think about the hardware differences beween the machines. Other than that, the HDD will do the exact same thing whether it's optional or not. Furthermore, how is jumping ship and buying Sony's product going to be a better move for the "mandatory HDD" activists? Sony said they would ONLY sell HDD's as add-ons and that they WOULDN'T be used for games. Hardly somthing to look forward to compared to the 360's use of the HDD. Plus, if load times is your deal, try the PS3's 1x optical drive on for size. So for all the 360 people saying that M$ just screwed you and lied to your mother, you may want to do a little more research before you pledge to support Sony.

To sum it up-
THE XBOX 360 COMES STANDARD WITH A HDD
THE XBOX 360 COSTS $399

If you're cheap, you can buy a "bargain" 360, but don't expect full functionality.

If you don't like the core system, DON'T BUY IT!

ill trooper: I do indeed think we're on the same page...

Uh, Spartacus... You're missing the ENTIRE point of why everyone is pissed off.

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The "core system" is bait for consumers, Microsoft's true package is the standard 360, which many of you have erroneously labaled as the "deluxe" package. If you don't want to pony up $100 for the add on HDD, buy the 360, not the stripped down market ploy.
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The fact that they're even releasing the core system simply to say "you can buy a X360 cheaper than the competition!". It's misleading and dirty, because there WILL be people who think "oh, I'll just pick up this, it's cheaper!", and then they realize after 2 months that they are really disappointed with their purchase. I forsee a lot of returns on the bare bones system.

"HELLO? To date, Sony hasn't given us ANY real info, just prerendered BS and a lot of smoke and mirrors."
-Find me one source on the internet that can do more than speculate this. It's all speculation, so there are no facts to say that. Yes, it's more than likely prerendered, but you can't say that at all without making assumptions... We all know what assumptions do to you.

"Sony said they would ONLY sell HDD's as add-ons and that they WOULDN'T be used for games. Hardly somthing to look forward to compared to the 360's use of the HDD."
-What exactly is the X360's use...? To store profiles for backwards compatability? Yeah, the PS3 isn't retarded and it doesn't need this shitty feature, because they're ACTUALLY backwards compatable. Tell me how MS didn't pull a smoke and mirrors with that one. While us hardcore net nerds are well aware of the deal with it, people picking up a X360 will just hear "backwards compatable!" and think "cool! I can play all my Xbox games!". Saying that the HDD CAN'T be used for PS3 is really naive. Look at Wipeout Pure for PSP. You can download new levels and ships and music, expanding the game. That's honestly the most I expect from a HDD for my system. There's no reason what-so-ever that the PS3 won't have a similar functionality... Which in my opinion would be, USABLE FOR GAMES. Hey, that's just me though. *shrug*

I think you should really stop typing now, Spartacus.

Lol. Hey Christopher,I'm just saying what Sony said. THEY said it woudn't be used for games, not me. Furthermore the 360 HDD is used for LIVE content downloads such as game maps, new characters, gamer profiles etc. You know, all of the "micro-transactions" M$ has been talking about...

As for my smoke and mirrors comment- Look at the other blog post on this site. The one about Killzone being a FMV running at 5FPS sped up to 60. This has been known for a while. Also, take a look at the hype surrounding the Cell processor. The first time I heard about the Cell was in my Popular Science magazine which claimed the Cell would run at 8GHz. That's not a typo, I said EIGHT GIGAHERTZ. Later gaming publications said the PS3 would run at 4GHz. Now they're sitting on the 3.2GHz mark but dev kits are only running at 2.8GHz... This all sounds quite fishy to me, but you can think whatever you'd like.

I agree that the Core system isn't enticing. However that isn't to say that other people (the people who aren't represented on hardcore gamer blogs) won't appreciate it. The HDD is mainly for LIVE, lots of people won't use LIVE, so a simple mem card is fine for them. Believe it or not, lotsof people don't own an Xbox, so BW compatability isn't a priorty for them either. So M$ has catered to these people by offering a slimmed down version of the 360. This will maximize market penetration despite what fanboys and critics say. SOny and M$ have monkeys analyzing the market 24-7 and soothsayers reading animal entrails throughout the night to figure this stuff out. I can guarantee you that they are a little smarter, a little more informed and thus a little wealthier than any of us. Just my thoughts, you're welcome to disagree.

I think it is a great idea for the 360 to be selling for 400 bux with all of that extra stuff. the reason why is first of all the original xbox came out how long ago. Oh yea and the price was what? 300 bux. havent u ppl ever heard of inflation. the cost to make these systems goes up and the cost of buying them should go up. I was expecting to pay 400 bux for the dubbed down version i cant see what all the whining is about. Just buy the system or wait until the price goes down. It's as simple as that. stop whining

What I am not quite sure about is WHY everyone is bitching and whining about something so damned simple to figure out!
Get the $299 version, play your older games on your original Xbox AND the newer ones on the 360. As time goes on the newer games you are playing will outrank the older ones thus eliminating the NEED for the backward-compatibility at ALL!
Around and Around and Around you all go for NOTHING but to rant about somthing YOU have absolutly NO control over and of which MS could give a rats ass about. THEY know there are people out there who are GOING to buy their product either now or later. Get this straight, THEY DO NOT CARE!
Billy Boy Gates kids are getting .002% when he dies, thats over 10 MILLION dollars. THEY DO NOT CARE!
If they make it we will buy it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!